I do not want to leave Valgrim alone in a cell facing death or starvation so I played another session to see if I could extricate him from imprisonment. I put some thought into how I would do this using the solo rules but I did not want to ask the question, “Does Valgrim escape?” So I decided to take a chance with overpowering the jailor.
As a reminder, this is 5th Edition D&D rules, and the Solo Adventurer’s Toolbox is being used as the GM emulator.
Valgrim Escapes!
Valgrim awakens in a dark stone cell. All he has left are his clothes, the tattered pennant he carries, his dice set, and his tinderbox. The cell contains a stone bench and a chamber pot. The door is thick oak boards reinforced with iron.
Does a jailor arrive to give him food and water? Possible. Yes. Can he catch the jailor by surprise? Possible. Yes.
Valgrim moves the chamber pot over to his side. He pretends to be unconscious on the stone bench. After what seems a very long time, the jailor looks in then opens the cell door. He walks over to Valgrim and looks at him briefly then sets down a plate of food and a cup of water. Then he takes some food off the plate and eats it. As he turns to leave, Valgrim leaps up and tries to smash the chamber pot over the jailor’s head. But he misses the man! The pot smashes on the stone floor. Valgrim then punches the surprised jailor on the side of the face.
The jailor curses at Valgrim and raises his club but swings and misses. Valgrim punches the jailor into unconsciousness. He does a quick check of the jailor and finds a ring of keys, 4 silver coins, and a heavy wooden club. He also takes the jailor's dirty clothing. Valgrim tries to disguise himself as best he can. He drags the jailor onto the stone sleeping bench and covers him in his old clothes. Then he leaves the cell and locks the door.
This gave me a chance to try out the Random Dungeon generation rules in The Solo Adventurer’s Toolbox.
Random Dungeon Generation, Size tiny, Cult Headquarters, starting area is a 20 feet square room with 3 doors.
Valgrim checks the room and sees a chair, and two torches in wall brackets. There are three doors. One door leads to his former cell. The other two doors are open. One leads to a passage and the other leads to stairs headed up. Valgrim quietly moves into the passage with the stair and heads upward. At the top of the passage, another passage leads off to the left. The passage narrows to just over five feet and then comes to yet another stair. This stair seems to go upward at least 25 feet and then enters another passage. Valgrim continues sneaking down the passage and comes to a stone wall dead end. Searching this wall he notices a protruding metal rod. Valgrim pushes down on the rod and a secret door swings open. It leads to what looks like a cellar for a home or business. There is light coming from around a door at the top of a wooden stair. Valgrim can hear voices at the top of the stair beyond the door.
Not seeing any other way out of the cellar, Valgrim quietly climbs the stairs and listens at the door. He can hear several men discussing merchant shipments and assigning which “crew” will hold up which shipment. It sounds like there are 4 men on the other side of the door.
Valgrim checks the door and finds it unlocked. He swings it open and runs quickly into the room brandishing his club. The room is the front room of a shop that appears to sell carpets. Four men are meeting around a tall table. They all whirl about in surprise.
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| Bold moves are the best course of action |
Valgrim runs up to the first man and strikes him solidly with his club. Two of the men recover in time to draw daggers and attack but both miss and one of them stumbles over a stool and falls prone. Valgrim strikes the prone man on the shoulder. The prone man stands, while two other men scramble around the table to attack, Valgrim is stabbed once (3 points) but barely notices the pain. Valgrim avoids some attacks and then crushes the skull of one of the men killing him. One of the men manages to stab Valgrim again (4 points). Valgrim blazes into a rapid series of strikes (combat surge) he knocks one man to the ground again and the man does not get up, then he strikes another man. The two remaining men attack (7 points). Valgrim calls up all of his reserves to renew his attack (second wind 8 hp). Valgrim strikes one man on the shoulder with a vicious blow (natural 20) that knocks him flat. The man does not get back up. Valgrim is stabbed once more by the last man standing (2 points) but it brings the man close to Valgrim and he strikes him in the side of the head. The man stabs Valgrim desperately (3 points) but Valgrim shoves him back onto the table and caves in his skull (natural 20).
Valgrim quickly takes stock of the situation. He is bleeding from several wounds. He throws off his robed disguise and takes a cleaner one from one of the corpses. While searching the bodies he finds 74 silver coins and a pile of papers is lying on the table that he also takes. He takes one of the daggers.
Do any enemies spot him leaving the shop? Possible. No.
Valgrim checks the entrance to the shop and steps outside into the street, judging by the position of the sun it is late afternoon. He notes the location of the shop with respect to the East gate and moves quickly to the docks. As he nears the Zerfal warehouse he hears a shout of surprise. One of the men protecting the warehouse yells for Tekin.
Tekin approaches Valgrim with a friendly wave and says, “My friend, we thought we had seen the last of you. Were you perhaps enjoying too much wine?” Then as Tekin comes closer he sees the blood dripping from several wounds and cries in alarm. He helps Valgrim into the warehouse and brings him to a cot to lie down. Tekin sends one of the men to bring a healer.
Are there any clues in the documents he found? Highly Likely +4. No.
Tekin takes the papers from Valgrim and looks at them. He tells Valgrim that they list merchant houses and the date of caravans. But this is common knowledge and is not really helpful.
Valgrim tells Tekin that he decided to search House Zimri and he ran into trouble. He awoke in a cell beneath a carpet shop. Tekin confirms that the shop Valgrim describes belongs to House Zimri. But he says that is no proof that they are holding up caravans. Valgrim could be wrong and they were just defending their warehouse from intruders. Valgrim looks at Tekin exasperated. Tekin clasps his shoulder and tells him, “Of course you are right. But we have only your word. Your word against Sala Zimri’s word. A respected merchant.”
A healer arrives and tends to Valgrim’s wounds.
That ends Valgrim’s adventures for now. I cannot believe I did not get an adventure hook out of the papers Valgrim took from the shop. Even at +4, I managed to roll low. The escape turned out to be pretty easy. A second level fighter against the first level fighter jailor. Even with a few botched rolls. I was lucky not to roll any encounters in the dungeons beneath the shop.
I like The Solo Adventurer’s handbooks a lot but I am not thrilled with using 5th Edition rules for the combat. It seems to take a while. It would likely help if I went with combat challenges which were more 1-on-1 as opposed to four against one.
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