There is an option in these solo rules to generate complex random encounters using what is called the Element Interaction Table. So I decided to do this interpret the results and watched Valgrim take off on an exciting adventure that I would not have thought of on my own.
I also made used the Random Dungeon generation rules to generate a full (albeit small) dungeon. It proved function but I find these random dungeon generators never generate anything like you would make on your own or would find in a published adventure.
Kidnapped
Now that he has a considerable fortune in his pouch, Valgrim decides it is time for some gambling.
Does Valgrim win at dice? (possible). Maybe.
Valgrim finds a dice game at his Inn and spends several hours building on his 100 gold coins. Then he loses all of his earnings in a few tosses. He realizes he has spent the entire afternoon at the dice tables so he gets up and goes to his room to sleep.
On the Story Element Interaction tables which are more complex random encounters. I roll a Creature/Situation/Situation/Situation. The creature is a giant eagle, bleed, manhandle, and glare.
Valgrim is awakened early the next morning by pounding on his bed-chamber door. He removes the chair he propped under the door latch and the door flies open. The assistant he met yesterday at Zerfal’s shop falls into the room.
“Come quick! Come Quick!, they mean to kill him!”
Valgrim tells the man to calm down and he starts to get dressed. While he is dressing the assistant tells him that two men broke into the shop and are trying to force Master Zerfal into a cart. Valgrim responds, “Look, what is your name?” “Master my name is Tuncer, but you must come quickly!”
Valgrim nods, “There is no watch I guess”. Tuncer shakes his head. Valgrim leaves the room and runs down and out onto the street. He takes off for the shop leaving Tuncer well behind.
Does Valgrim arrive before the thugs make off with Master Zerfal? (Possible). Yes.
Valgrim arrives too late, but there is a trail of blood leading out into the street and a set of wagon tracks headed out of town. Valgrim looks about for a horse and sees none around. He jogs after the cart.
Can Valgrim catch up to the cart? (Likely). Yes.
Shortly after passing the outskirts of town Valgrim spots the cart. There is one man at the reins whipping a single draft horse. Another man is struggling to tie up Bertan Zerfal with a rope. A giant eagle is perched on the sideboard of the cart. Valgrim quickly realizes he is outpacing the cart so he slows down slightly to conserve his strength. The eagle lets out a cry alerting the two men on the cart. They begin gesturing and shouting but Valgrim cannot hear them clearly. The man with the reins shouts a command at the eagle and it leaps into the air flying directly toward Valgrim.
Valgrim stops scrambles to load and aim his crossbow. But the eagle swoops down before he is ready raking him with its claws and digging into his shoulder with its beak. Then it leaps back into the air. Bleeding profusely, Valgrim still manages to get off a shot and the bolt rips through one of the eagles’ wings. The eagle struggles to maintain flight. Valgrim tries to load another bolt but he drops it into the sand. The eagle swoops back at Valgrim forcing him to drop prone in the sand.
Does the Giant eagle press on the attack? (Possible). Maybe.
The eagle comes about to attack again but a distant whistle summons the eagle and it climbs up into the sky and vanishes into the distance. Valgrim gets to his knees and sees that the cart is no longer in sight. But the tracks are still clear, leading across the desert. Valgrim is unable to find anything with which to bandage his wounds so he just keeps pushing on across the desert.
Are the thugs taking Master Zerfal to a town? (Unlikely). Definite No. Are the thugs taking him to a secret hideout? (Likely). Maybe.
Eventually, Valgrim follows the tracks to a trail leading into an oasis. The tracks become hard to follow and then he loses them entirely. The oasis is small with only four clay-brick buildings and a number of tents scattered about the area. It is midday and few people are outside. Those people who are about glare at him and watch him carefully. Valgrim walks up to a water trough outside one building and washes off most of the blood. He then heads inside. It appears to be a small trading post that also functions as a tavern. There is only one man in the room. A large, fat man leaning against the bar, he watches Valgrim closely.
“Well, met sir. Is this your Inn?”. The man nods sullenly. Valgrim asks for a healer or some bandages. The man says, “We have nothing like that here.” He then asks for a bottle of spirits. “We have nothing like that here.” Valgrim glares back at the man and then heads back out into the sunlight. He finds that a small crowd of six men has gathered standing by a well across the street. Not liking the look of things Valgrim moves quickly back out into the desert.
Do the locals follow Valgrim? (Unlikely). Maybe.
Two of the men follow Valgrim long enough to make sure he is clearly leaving the oasis. Valgrim waits until the men turn back and then he doubles back and approaches the oasis with stealth (average roll). Finding a good vantage from which to observe the oasis. Valgrim settles down and waits.
Does Valgrim spot any clues? (Possible). No.
Valgrim observes the oasis for the rest of the afternoon until evening but he does not spot anything interesting. That evening Valgrim sneaks back into the oasis and eases up next to an open window to the tavern.
Does Valgrim overhear anything interesting? (Likely). Maybe.
He hears two men discussing their fortunes in House Zimri but nothing that would lead to Bertan Zerfal. Valgrim moves through the Oasis and checks out the next largest building that looks like a residence.
Is there anyone in this residence? (Highly Likely). Definite Yes.
There are many lights on in the house and Valgrim spots a guard standing on a balcony on the second floor. Valgrim cannot see a way to approach unseen so he moves off and keeps his eyes on the house from a nearby hill. During the night a few men come and enter the house but no one leaves. Valgrim stays up watching the house for the entire night. Early, in the morning a familiar cart and horse approach the house. A large basket is brought out of the house by two men and is placed into the cart. Finally, Valgrim spots two familiar men come out of the house and get up on the cart. One man whistles and a giant eagle swoops down from the building roof and lands on the cart. The man chucks the reins and the cart trundles off out of the oasis. Valgrim follows the cart on foot easily pacing it as the men move slowly over the desert.
Where is the cart going, (1-2) Secret Dungeon, (3-4) Opotal, (5) Delreaata, (6)Yorque. Rolled Secret Dungeon. The number of rooms is 6, maze.
After a few hours, the cart turns into a narrow box canyon, and then it stops. Valgrim observes from a distance being careful to remain hidden. The man who controls the eagle gets down from the cart and approaches a stone wall. He kneels and then a passageway opens up in the rock. The man then comes over and helps his companion lower the basket off of the cart. They set the basket on the ground and take off the lid. A limp body is tipped out on the ground. The two men argue briefly and then one man drags the limp body into the passageway. While the other man heads back to the cart and walks over to feed the eagle. Valgrim waits for a few moments to see if anything will happen. But nothing changes. Eventually, he moves stealthily up to be within crossbow range. The man and the eagle do not notice him. Valgrim takes careful aim and then shoots without warning. The bolt rips through the chest of the man who chokes then crashes to the ground. The Giant eagle lets out a loud screech and launches itself into the air.
Does the Giant Eagle stick around and attack? (Likely). Maybe.
Valgrim does not wait around to see if the Giant Eagle is going to swoop down and attack. He dashes across the open space and dives through the entrance into the open passage. Then he slides down a down foot ramp of stone and piles to a halt in an enormous stone chamber. The ceiling is held up by crooked stone pillars. Valgrim hears a moan in the darkness. Unfortunately, he has no lamp or torch in his possession. The light from the doorway allows him to make out a trail of drag marks moving across the floor. Lying at the end of it is Master Bertan Zerfal. Valgrim swiftly makes it to the merchant's side. He appears to have been stabbed. Valgrim gets out his waterskin and wets his hand, splashing some water on the merchant's face. Bertan’s eyes open up and gaze upon Valgrim.
“It’s a trap!”
Valgrim leaps to his feet. He sees the other bandit race out from behind a pillar and dashes up the ramp.
Can Valgrim get up the ramp before the bandit closes the stone doorway? (Possible). No.
Just as Valgrim reaches the ramp, he sees a stone block slowly descending cutting off the sunlight. He crashes into the block just as it slides shut. It is deathly quiet in the chamber and in complete darkness. Valgrim slides down the ramp and crawls across the floor until he comes to Bertan’s body again.
“I think we may be in trouble, Master Zerfal”.
Bertan Zerfal tells Valgrim that the man with the Giant Eagle whose name is Osrit spent last night trying to convince him to sign over his business to Zimri. The convincing involved a lot of beating. Valgrim tells Bertan that he just killed Osrit a few moments ago. Bertan says “Good!”.
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| Valgrim rescues Bertan Zerfal |
Once they realized Bertan could not be coerced into signing away his business they lost interest. He overheard them talking about getting rid of him in the desert. But then there was some excitement. Osrit came to him and said, “We may have a use for you yet merchant”. They knocked him out. He woke up to the shock of a knife being stuck in his stomach.
Can Valgrim find something to burn? (Likely). Maybe.
Valgrim searches around in the darkness and comes across something. Touching it he realizes it is the leg bone of a skeleton. He breaks the leg free and takes a spare blanket out of his pack. Wrapping it around the bone he lights it with his flint and steel. It burns with a lot of smoke but does give light in about a twenty-foot radius. Valgrim lifts off the makeshift torch and notes that it gutters and dances.
“Bertan, there is a breeze! There is a way out somewhere in this place.” Bertan does not respond. He has passed out.
Valgrim picks a door and approaches it. He travels down a few corridors but is turned back by a securely locked door. He heads back to the large chamber. Checks on Bertan. The merchant is still breathing. He then picks the remaining door. It opens onto a steep stone stair. Valgrim descends. The air is foul with rot and decay. He turns into a passage and finds a half-dozen corpses. Humans all with their throats cut. Valgrim rips off some of their clothing to use as more fuel for his primitive torch.
Valgrim finds a stair leading still further down.
He descends to a corridor and finds a strange stone door in one wall. The door is circular shaped and has no hinges or handles. The face of the door is carved with a representation of a skeleton wearing a cloak and holding a sickle. Valgrim observes that the sickle can move. He slides it down and hears a click. The stone door rolls back into the wall revealing a chamber beyond. In the chamber are the remains of several men. The men have been eaten leaving only small amounts of flesh and bones. The bones have gnawed marks on them.
On the far wall, there is a lever and a portcullis. Valgrim pulls down the level and the portcullis grinds open. As he enters the chamber he sees a flash of light from his torch to his left. The glint of the eye of a giant snake that is rearing back preparing to strike. Valgrim levels his crossbow and fires pinning the poisonous snake to the wall. He moves through the chamber to an open archway leading into another room. This room is octagonal and empty. Another open archway leads into another room. This room has been damaged. A huge 10-foot wide crevasse has opened up on the floor and divides the chamber in two. Valgrim leaps across with ease. There is a door on the south wall. Valgrim pushes open the door. There is a stair descending even deeper into the earth. A foul smell wafts up from below. Valgrim shakes his head and closes the door firmly. Again he leaps over the crevasse and he retraces his steps up a level to the unexplored passageway.
The passage leads to an open doorway and yet another stairs down. Valgrim turns around and tries the other direction. As he moves along the stone hallway he comes across the remnants of a long-abandoned camp. Perhaps some adventurers were here many years ago. Most importantly he sees a pair of partially burned down torches. He lights one and tosses away his makeshift torch. The new torch allows him to see that the passageway ends in a deep pit. Valgrim can just make out the bottom and a passage entering from one side. It is at least 50 feet deep and Valgrim has no rope. So he reluctantly heads back to the stairs at the other end of the corridor that head down. The stairs descend a short distance and arrive in a square room. There are four doors leading out of the chamber. Some stone debris lay on the floor. A giant rat startled by his torch rushes out to attack Valgrim. It misses and Valgrim kills it quickly with his crossbow.
In the room, there are three more doors. The doors, like other ones in this maze, are made of stone. Valgrim figures out how to slide one open. On the other side is a stair leading down. He tries another stone door. Beyond is a stair leading up. Suddenly, his torch gutters and jumps from a breeze. He smells fresh air. Running up the stair Valgrim comes to a small chamber. One wall is partially collapsed and through an opening, he can see sunlight. Valgrim squeezes through the opening and finds himself in a winding gulley outside.
He follows the gully back to the box canyon. The horse and cart are gone. The corpse of the man he killed is gone. Valgrim hurries over to the closed secret door. Kneeling like he saw the man do earlier that day he examines the ground and sees the stone is carved with figures. Valgrim pushes on one figure and the doorway grinds open. He slides down the ramp and moves across the huge chamber to check on Bertan.
Has Bertan died while Valgrim was wandering through the maze? (Unlikely). Definite No.
He finds Bertan has regained consciousness and is leaning against a pillar. Valgrim rushes to his side.
“I wondered if you were coming back”
“I wondered a little myself. I kept going further and further down. But eventually, I found my way out”. Valgrim tells Bertan about the corpses he found. They agree they are likely victims of the bandits employed by House Zimri. They wait until early evening before Valgrim supports Bertan and the two of them struggle out of the stone chamber. They set out across the desert for the town of Sandcrest.
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| The Randomly generated Maze |
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