Valgrim Escapes Solo play

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.

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.

The Misadventures of Valgrim in Opotal

I played another long session of Solo D&D 5th edition using the Solo Adventurers’ Toolbox. I am getting the hang of it and it has been quite enjoyable. Solo rules have been the best part. The D&D 5th edition rules have been a little clunky at times. Combat can take a long time and can involve a lot of swings and misses. D&D 5th edition combat is also not well designed for a single character.

Not helping things in this session was my really terrible rolls. I kept rolling the No answer for questions and in combat, I could not hit anything. But I rolled really well for my opponents. It is not surprising how things ended up.  I am not going to do a blow-for-blow accounting this time. I will just stick to the main plot notes.

Session Details

When last we left Valgrim things were looking up. He rescued Nisa the daughter of a way station keeper who helped him. Nisa and he had managed to make it to the town of Sandcrest.

I started the session rolling for a random quest since there were no obvious stories for Valgrim to pick up on.

Quest, commodity shortage, transport supplied. Received from a merchant.

The next morning, while Valgrim is enjoying breakfast and Nisa is out exploring the village, a merchant named Bertan Zerfal enters the Inn. He goes up to Savanna and has a quick conversation. Savanna looks over at Valgrim and then nods in his direction. Bertan comes over and asks to sit down. Valgrim nods but says nothing. Bertan introduces himself as a wine merchant. He needs to pick up a wagon of wine in the coastal town of Opotal and return it safely to Sandcrest. Unfortunately, he has not been able to hire anyone to guard the wagon. He heard from a fellow merchant that there was a mercenary looking for work staying at the Inn. Bertan offers 60 gold coins as payment.

Persuasion roll DC 15. Success!

Valgrim talks Bertan up to 90 gold. Bertan agrees without much argument. They shake hands and Bertan tells Valgrim to be at his warehouse in Opotal as soon as possible. He gives Valgrim a letter of authorization. Before leaving, Bertan says, “You will be careful?” Valgrim nods.

Is Bertan telling the entire story? Unlikely -2. Maybe.

I decide that Bertan has not told Valgrim that he suspects a rival merchant has persuaded local mercenaries not to protect his goods. But he does not expect any trouble with the shipment.

Valgrim tells Nisa about his job and advises her to wait in Sandcrest for his return.

Does Nisa want to go with Valgrim? Possible. No.

Nisa tells Valgrim that she is worried she will be in danger in Sandcrest if she does not have any gold. Valgrim reluctantly gives her 2 gold coins. Valgrim has Savanna pack him some lunches in a small pack.  Valgrim sets out on foot toward Opotal. The “road” to Opotal is little more than a marked path. But it is reasonably well marked with blazons on stones and posts staked in the ground.

Valgrim walks at a good pace to Opotal. By noon he can smell the sea in the air and the desert turns to scrub and then grasses. Soon he can make out small farms, copses of trees, and the road becomes more defined. He reaches Opotal by late afternoon. Opotal is a full-fledged town. The town is on the sea with a large seaport. It is surrounded by a low stone wall. Three large gatehouses allow entrance. At the entrance to the town, he can see the town guards are charging hawking tax but they take one look at his lack of possessions and wave him into the town.

Is Valgrim able to find the Zerfal Warehouse? Likely +2. Yes.

Valgrim goes straight to the warehouse. Bertan had told him it was near the docks and Valgrim finds it without any difficulty. The building is well built and is protected by some workers armed with clubs. They eye Valgrim suspiciously.

Valgrim tells the leader of the men to relax and he shows him the letter from Bertan. The man, Tekin, is very happy to see him. The cart is all loaded and ready to go and Tekin will be joining him as the driver. Valgrim, looks about, looks at the darkening sky and back at Tekin. He tells them they will leave at first light. Tekin argues, but Valgrim shuts him up with a glare. Then he heads into the town looking for an Inn.

What kind of Inn does Valgrim find? Warm, welcoming, good quality, male halfling proprietor. 

Valgrim stops and enters the Eye of the Wizard Inn. He is greeted by the halfling owner Eracle Townsend. He tells Valgrim that a room for the night will cost 8 silver coins. Valgrim hands over a gold coin and gets the change.

Is there a game of dice in the common room? Possible. Yes. Does Valgrim win at the dice game? Likely. 20! Rumour, person, human female, Merchant. 

Valgrim joins a dice game for several hours and comes away from the table with a total of 3 gold and 42 silver coins. During the game, he inquires casually about the trouble that merchant house Zerfal is in. Eventually, one of the players tells him that a new wine merchant of house Zimri has been putting all of the other wine merchants out of business. House Zimri is led by a woman named Sala Zimri who is reputed to have killed her two brothers to get control of the business. Zimri traders are located in Opotal. Valgrim collects his winnings and goes to his room for a few hours of sleep.

In the morning, after breakfast, Valgrim heads to the warehouse and inspects the cart. It is a flatbed, two-wheeled cart loaded with 12 barrels of wine. Tekin will drive the cart. Tekin hands Valgrim a light crossbow from under the bench seat. The set out on the road for Sandcrest.

Do they have an encounter with bandits? Likely +2. Yes.

On the road to Sandcrest about three hands of the sun after dawn, they meet four bandits on the road. The bandits have piled rocks in the road blocking the way forward. At this point, the road has a gully on one side and a ditch on the other so they cannot go around. Valgrim has Tekin stop the cart 70 feet from the roadblock. As Tekin asks what they are to do, Valgrim calmly gets down from the cart, loads the crossbow and shoots (and misses). The bandits yell in alarm and dive for cover returning fire with arrows. The fight goes badly for Valgrim. One bandit is gravely injured but so is Valgrim. Tekin hides and does not put up a fight. When things look there worst, Valgrim expertly turns the cart around on the narrow path and beats a hasty retreat (I rolled a 20 on animal handling).

Since there is only one trail leading to Opotal they are forced to return to the town. Tekin does not argue. Once back at the warehouse, Tekin agrees to pay Valgrim 5 gold for trying to get the wine delivered. Valgrim tells Tekin to have the cart ready again tomorrow morning. Tekin asks why? Valgrim tells him that maybe something will turn in their favor this time.

Valgrim tries to find information on the Zimri traders. Does he discover the location of their warehouse? Likely +2. Yes.

Valgrim makes plans to sneak into the Zimri warehouse that evening. After a short rest at the Eye of the Wizard Inn, Valgrim sets out in the evening for the warehouse he scouted earlier.

Does the Zimri Warehouse have guards outside? Likely +2. No. Does Valgrim find a side door? Possible. Yes. Is the door locked? Likely +2. Yes.

Valgrim spies on the warehouse for an hour and does not see any watchmen or any activity. He sees two entrances. Checking the back door he finds it is barred from the inside.  He decides to climb up to the roof. He tries but is unable to find a spot to attempt the climb up onto the roof. He moves back to the shadows to wait.

Does anyone enter the warehouse? Likely +2. No.

After waiting in the shadows until midnight. Valgrim still sees no activity. He decided to throw caution to the wind. He approaches the main door and sees it is barred from inside. He knocks loudly on it.

Is anyone in the warehouse? A certainty +6. Yes. There are six men in the warehouse. Does someone answer the door? Highly Likely +4. Yes.

After a moment, he hears someone call out something but it is muffled and he cannot discern it. He answers back with “Open, it’s Mmmph” hoping they open the door. The bar is pulled back and the door swings open. A man peers out at Valgrim who has a leveled crossbow pointed at the man. Valgrim successfully intimidates the man into fully opening the door. He tells the man to turn around, takes his dagger, and smacks him on the head with it knocking him unconscious.

The warehouse is a large interior space crowded with high stacks (like walls) of wooden crates. Flickering lamplight can be seen further into the warehouse but no one is immediately visible. There is a lit lantern lying on the floor beside the door probably belonging to the unconscious man. Valgrim closes the door and bars it. He drags the man by the feet into the shadows and blows out the light in the lantern.

Valgrim is outnumbered and in trouble

He moves quietly further into the warehouse. Valgrim moves amongst the crates until he hears a yell of surprise from a corridor made by the crates to his left. Two men leap from the shadows and attack with daggers. Valgrim fights desperately but cannot manage to hit his quickly moving attackers. The fight is soon over and Valgrim drops unconscious to the floor.

One day later. Valgrim awakens in a dark stone cell. All he has left are his clothes, the tattered battle pennant he carries, his dice set, and his tinderbox.

I had some really terrible rolls in the final fight. Valgrim armed with a scimitar and wearing leather armor was easily beaten by two unarmored thugs using daggers. But after everything he has been through I decided that the bandits do not kill Valgrim. They stabilize him and put him in a cell so he can be questioned by "the boss". I also think Valgrim has done enough to move up to level 2.

Let’s see if he can find a way out of this prison cell next session.

Ignominious End?

The Solo Adventurer's Toolbox

Another day in isolation and I try out another Solo roleplaying ruleset. This time it is The Solo Adventurer's Toolbox which I picked up on the DM's Guild. These rules are a collection of tables and ideas for playing D&D 5th edition solo. Many of the ideas come from other solo rules. The influence of Mythic is noticeable and credited in the text. Like Mythic, the direction of your adventure is set out by asking Yes/No questions that are modified by circumstance.

Below I have copied my journal text from a few hours of gaming. I decided to set the adventure in Aedenne (DF11 Guide to the Realms of Aedenne) a product I have owned for a long time and never made use. I rolled up a first level fighter named Valgrim and decided that the adventure would start with Valgrim marooned in the Khosian desert of Istandar. I had the image of Kevin Kline's character at the start of the movie Silverado.

I was hoping to get to try out the random dungeon generator but I let the dice fall where they may and a dungeon was not part of the story this session. I have to say I really enjoyed this session. It only takes a few rolls to get the hang of it and the basic mechanic is quickly committed to memory. I have only gotten into the basics so far.

The Wanderings of Valgrim in Istandar

Valgrim a mercenary from Isenwald was part of a caravan traveling through the Tahbasi Expanse from Delreaata to Yorque. On the third evening out of Delreaata, Valgrim was very successful at dice. So much so that there was some complaining from the other mercenaries. But after some grumbling, the other mercenaries got over it and they even shared their wine with him.

The next morning Valgrim woke up alone in the wastelands. He had a bad headache, is a little dehydrated and the camp had been struck and the caravan was long gone over the horizon. Much of his equipment had been taken and he had no food or water.

Figuring he would not be greeted warmly if he could catch up to the caravan, Valgrim set out for the coast. Putting the sun at his back he trudged off into the distance.

Does he have any wilderness encounters? No.
Does he become lost (Possible)? Maybe. Make a Survival check (13) failed. He becomes disoriented as the sun rises and he loses track of his direction.
Does he find any water (Unlikely -4)? No. Rolled a 1. He begins to suffer from dehydration (2 levels of exhaustion).
As evening arrives he spots a light in the distance.

Is it a village (Unlikely -4)? Maybe. Is the village abandoned (Likely +2)? Maybe.
He spots the light from a village that is abandoned except for one family living in an old waystation. There is a well and he drinks his fill as the sun begins to set.

Are the villagers hostile/bandits (Possible)? Maybe.
The villagers make a living supplying bandits with water and food as they pass the area. Valgrim intimidates the headman, whose name is Tarkan, into giving him food and water and allowing him to sleep within the walls for the night. Tarkan tells him the waystation is called Dry Water.

Quest Generation (13) Item Lost.
The next day, Tarkan, asks Valgrim to journey to a nearby bandit camp to retrieve his daughter Nisa who has been kidnapped. Valgrim is grateful enough for the hospitality that he accepts.

Does Tarkan give Valgrim any weapons (Possible)? Definitely.
Tarkan pulls out an old trunk and hands Valgrim an old suit of leather armor. He also gives him a rusty shortsword (-1), a couple of pieces of hard bread, and a full waterskin. Valgrim sets out for the bandit camp.

Does he find the camp? Roll survival. Maybe.
He gets lost for much of the morning even though the bandit camp is only three miles away according to Tarkan. By early mid-day, he spots the smoke of a cooking fire. Valgrim attempts to sneak up on the camp and scout it out.

He passes his stealth check and makes his way within 100 feet of the camp. There are four tents and one bandit on guard. Valgrim sneaks up on the guard and gets a surprise attack.

Bandits (4) AC 12, HP 11, SPD 30, Perception 10, Scimitar +3 to hit, damage 1d6+1.

Valgrim misses completely. The bandit stumbles forward in surprise fumbling for his scimitar and drops it. Valgrim swings again and strikes the bandit viciously (7 damage), who now cries out in pain and warning. The three other bandits in the camp are alerted! The bandit leaves his weapon in the sand, turns, and runs for the safety of the tents. Valgrim swings at him as he runs away but he misses.

Valgrim fires a stone from his sling at the retreating bandit. He misses. The bandit runs amongst the tents yelling loudly. Two bandits emerge. One is pulling up his pants. They check with the injured bandit and then yell curses at Valgrim and advance menacingly upon him.

As they approach, Valgrim attacks one but misses. Valgrim is struck twice (4 points damage). With a roar to intimidate the bandits, Valgrim slashes at one bandit and chops through his neck! The bandit falls to the ground and his head rolls away. The other bandit backs away to stand with the previously injured and now unarmed bandit. Valgrim closes on them and attacks but misses. The two bandits step in to attack, one hits Valgrim (2 points) but the other (who is unarmed) leaps at Valgrim and misses disrupting his companion. Valgrim attacks with advantage (and rolls double 18). Valgrim stabs the armed bandit. The armed bandit stabs back. Now Valgrim is in trouble (2 hp left). Time for second wind (10 hp regained).

Valgrim feels the adrenaline surging and attacks the bandit, he kills the bandit. The unarmed bandit lying on the ground puts his empty hands out in surrender. Valgrim gestures for the bandit to be gone and the lucky fellow scrambles away from the fight.

Valgrim checks a tent and finds some camp gear. The next tent contains only some more sleeping gear. In the final tent, he finds the bandit chief standing with a dagger to the throat of a young, plain-looking woman. The bandit yells out for Valgrim to stop and demands to know why he is here. "What business is this of yours?" Valgrim says he is repaying a debt. He tells the bandit he can die or live. Let the girl go free.

Reaction table. Rolls 00.
The bandit chief pushes the girl aside, draws his scimitar, and charges screaming at Valgrim. Valgrim sets himself and gets in the first swing. He misses. The bandit chief misses wildly and barrels straight past Valgrim and right out of the tent. Valgrim attacks again, (natural 20!) he stabs the bandit in the heart killing him.

Is the girl happy to be rescued (highly likely +4)? Maybe?
Did Nisa join the bandits voluntarily (possible)? No.
Nisa tells Valgrim that she was kidnapped but she does not want to return to Dry Water. Her father is cruel and beats her and makes her do all of the chores.

Valgrim ponders the situation. He must repay the debt. However, Tarkan only asked that Valgrim rescue Nisa. He said nothing of returning her to Dry Water. Valgrim tells Nisa to pack up some gear from the camp and prepare to leave with him.

In search of the campsite, Valgrim finds 5 gold coins. He also takes the best of the scimitars, a dagger, a bedroll, a tent, rations, waterskins, and 5 torches. Nisa arms herself in leather armor and takes a scimitar. Valgrim and Nisa set out for the coast.

Valgrim asks Nisa if she knows the direction to the nearest settlement (possible). No.
Nisa tells Valgrim that being kidnapped was the first time she left Dry Water since being a child. She does know that there is a village called Sandcrest about 2 days from Dry Water. She thinks it is to the Southwest.

Valgrim and Nisa set out on foot to the Southwest. They travel all day without seeing another soul. The horizon is flat and featureless. As night begins to fall Valgrim looks for a suitable campsite but cannot find one. They camp out in the open. Valgrim puts up the tent he took from the bandits. There is no fuel for a fire.

Are they disturbed while sleeping (possible)? No.
It is an uneventful night, which is a good thing because both were exhausted and no watch was set. It is another hot, sunny day. Valgrim and Nisa have enough water for another day of travel, two days if they ration it.

Does Valgrim find Sandcrest this day? Unlikely -2. Yes.
As the sun starts to set, Valgrim spots the lights of a village on the horizon. They make it to Sandcrest before the sun has set.

Do they find a place to stay for the night? Yes. How does the Innkeeper react? Civil.
What is the quality of the Inn? Poor. Are there any rooms? Four.

They find an Inn called The Greasy Spadger (the greasy boy). The innkeeper is a female halfling, Savanna Galpsi, she judges the pair with some suspicion but becomes civil and almost friendly when Valgrim places a gold coin on the bar. The coin buys them a room for three nights plus meals. Valgrim sits down at a common bench before a trestle table. He nods at several other travelers who are drinking.

Roll for Rumours. 2.
Valgrim keeps his ears open and listens to the stories the travelers tell. A pair of travelers from Ishtariopolis talk of the failing health of the current Priest-Queen in careful, low voices. Another merchant tells of losing three horses to a giant lizard that rose out of the sand to attack his caravan. They also lost four of the guards, but he seems less concerned about that then he does about the pack animals that were lost.

Is the Merchant looking for more guards? Likely +2. No.
Valgrim asks the Merchant where he is bound and whether he is looking for a new caravan guard? The merchant looks at Valgrim with some suspicion and says that they have enough guards. He says they are headed for Delreaata and that they have several loyal, and well-armed guards. Then he gets up and leaves.

After a meal and some poor quality wine, Valgrim and Nisa retire to their room and sleep the night uneventfully.

In Search of the Unknown Session 1

Session 0 was last week and I had two players. This week I had five players (although one dropped off) so I moved the action overland to Quasqueton. The players went through the caverns quickly finishing them in one session. I made a few mistakes but I think everyone had fun. Sometimes large dungeon crawls can drag in online play but this went quickly. The players did not have any character deaths even though the one fighter/magic-user has no armor. He did take a few hits.As before I was using Swords & Wizardry rules and we used Roll20 for the dice rolls, maps, and the voice. Below is the session report if you are interested.

Those who have read In Search of the Unknown will note that I made some changes to the adventure. I made it far more likely that the characters would enter the caverns first. I felt that the most exciting part of the adventure is in the upper level so I wanted it to be last. There was still a chance the players might find the upper-level entrance first but they did not. I also added an iron door between the levels to explain the separation of the monsters in the dungeon as a whole.

The Iron Door

Session 1 report

Players: Marta the Cautious (cleric), Manny Lightfoot (Halfling Thief), Raeish Farstrider (Elven Fighter/Magic-User), Gaeleath Olomaer (Elven Fighter/Magic-User), Daen Shieldbreaker (Dwarven Fighter).

The day dawned in the village of Larm with Manny Lightfoot sleeping one off at the Borderlands Inn and Marta comfortably asleep on the floor of the local church. Manny was joined by Marta at the tavern for breakfast. After breakfast, Manny went looking for Haldo the tavern owner, a good source of gossip. Unable to find the halfling she instead talked to some local fishermen who did not know much about Quasqueton.

There was a commotion in the village common so everyone went out to see what was causing the excitement. The village militia arrived back from a patrol in the nearby hills where they had ambushed a raiding party of orcs (called ruk locally). Manny and Marta pushed their way to the front of the crowd and managed to work their way into the conversation between the village mayor, Claus Oland and Commander Arbogast of the militia. It seems that the militia found a map on one of the orcs that might show the location of a large orc lair or possibly even Quasqueton (the lair was marked with a Q on the map). The Mayor introduced the pair of adventurers to the Commander and he appraised them and asked them to meet him at the militia office at noon. “And bring a few more bodies, you’re going to need them.”

Intrigued Marta and Manny looked about to see any likely muscle they could bring along with them. As luck would have it, the commotion in the village common had brought out every adventurer in the village. They soon spoke to the elf known as Raeish Farstrider, the elf Gaeleath Olomaer, and the soft-spoken dwarf Daen Shieldbreaker. The five heroes made their introductions and agreed they were all game to take on the task set out by the local militia.

Meeting with Arbogast they discovered that the map might very well lead to Quasqueton. The militia commander was not certain. But he was certain there was an orc lair that needed scouting.  He asked them to journey to the lair and report back on their findings. The lair was over 40 miles to the northeast and far outside the area of jurisdiction of the militia but if orcs from the lair could be found within a day's march of the village this needed to be investigated.

The five adventurers decided they would set out early the next morning. They split up and went looking for more equipment but little could be found other than more rations. They did spend a fruitless few hours looking amongst the farms for a draft horse or a cart. Marta resigned himself to a long walk. Raeish (Ray) managed to acquire a large mongrel puppy from a local farmer. He named it Muttley. Some of his fellow adventurers expressed doubts about bringing the mutt along but Ray assured them that the pup would come in handy guarding their camp at night. That evening the five got better acquainted telling stories of their adventures.

The next morning the five adventurers and one dog set out on foot toward the destination noted on the map. The map showed that the quickest route was to follow the Dolm river north into the mountains and then strike out directly east.  It took 4 days to reach the location marked on the map and the trip proceeded without incident. Once they came to the location on the map they found themselves in an area of heavily forested rocky outcrops at the foot of the mountains. Ever outcrop looked about the same as every other and there was no sign of an orc camp. They spread out and searched. After an hour Gaeleath called everyone over to some tracks he had found on the bank of a small stream. Orc tracks headed through the brush. They followed the tracks for an hour to another rock outcrop. The tracks continued around the tall hill but they also saw a tower on the hill. Although it looked like a difficult climb, they decided to leave the orc trail and set out for the tower. Manny discovered an overgrown trail up the side of the hill leading to the tower. The tower itself was recently built (in the last 20-30 years) but never completed. It was the shell of a tower with no roof or floors. Building material was stacked nearby overgrown with bushes. Ray climbed to the top of the tower for a look around. He found it was the highest point in the region but he could not see anything interesting. Disappointed, they trudged back down the hillside. Picking up the orc trail again they circled around the hill and came upon another entrance above a field of rock debris. An open cave on the side of the hill 20 feet up. A crude staircase led to the opening. Manny moved up silently and spotted an orc resting just inside the entrance apparently on guard but not very alert. Everyone came up the slope quietly. Then they moved to attack. There was a quick exchange of blows, Gaelaeth was pierced once with a spear. Then Ray cast sleep on the orcs and the creatures promptly fell over in slumber. (NOTE: I messed up the rules here. Ray was wearing chainmail and should not have been able to cast a spell as per the Swords & Wizardry rules for elves).

Marta argued that the orcs should be tied up and left behind but the rest of the adventurers felt a more permanent solution was needed. Manny delivered the killing dagger thrusts to the helpless orcs.

The lantern was lit and handed to Marta. The two elves and the dwarf could see in the dark and while the halfling could not see in the dark, she liked to hide in shadows away from the lantern light.

The cave entrance led to a much larger cavern. They spread out and checked the cavern. Gaelaeth spotted some orc tracks headed south but also a few tracks heading east to an empty alcove. Searching the alcove, the two elves found a loose stone that activated a secret door and revealed a secret passage. The passage showed signs of a lot of use by the orcs judging by the foot traffic. It led to another secret door that opened into an enormous cavern. A beam of sunlight high up on the wall shone into this cavern. The floor was covered in a foot of bat droppings. Heading east they found a few more cave tunnels. One tunnel led up into a cave where they discovered a sleeping orc. Manny moved silently up to the orc and killed it in its sleep. A search of the chamber revealed a few coins and a magic spear +2 claimed by Ray.

The group headed south again and passed into a cavern with the old litter of excavations that occurred to open up these caves. Suddenly, they were ambushed by six goblins running at them from out of the darkness. Ray, who had gotten a fair amount ahead of the rest of the team, was attacked by two goblins. But using his new magic spear he quickly dispatched them. Manny dropped two goblins with his sling stones and Gaeleath got the last goblin. Marta got into the fight but found it difficult to pin down the agile creatures. One goblin seeing the plight of his friends turned and ran off to the south. Following cautiously, they saw glowing purple fungus ahead. The five conferred briefly and decided to avoid the fungus and went east down a side passage. Almost immediately they came upon a door barred from the outside. Gaeleath removed the barrier but struggled to open the door. After several thumps and some sore shoulders, the door finally ground open. In the cave beyond, two angry troglodytes sprang forward and immediately attacked. The troglodytes were killed but not before releasing their sickening musk that briefly sickened Ray. Gaeleath was also injured in the fight.

Not finding anything in what appeared to be a prison cell for the troglodytes, they headed north and came to a flooded cave. A very cold pool of water sat below a wooden ceiling far overhead. In the water below something sparkled. A few efforts were tried to fish it out of the water with a grappling hook but all they caught was part of a human skeleton. Manny removed her armor and dove into the pool. She almost drowned in the frigid water but she did come up with a silver holy symbol of Law. Marta requested it and placed it in his pack.

Heading south again they walked for several minutes before coming upon a section with stone block walls and flagstone flooring. In the center of the wall was a heavy iron door with no locks or latches. A message on the wall read, “Once spoken, I am broken”. Gaelaeth immediately said “Silence” loudly. Everyone looked his way, then the door let out an audible clank and swung open.

Beyond the door were some chambers with stone block walls, floors, and ceilings (supported by wooden beams). Also, visible was a stairway leading up. Perhaps into the lost stronghold of Quasqueton?

In Search of the Unknown Session 0

I started a new online adventure, or series of adventures, we will see. I used the In Search of the Unknown rewrite I made for Swords & Wizardry. I advertised the adventure on Roll20 and had four players request invites. Only 2 players showed up for the game. I felt just two (even with NPCs or Henchmen) would be too light for Quasqueton. So we did a sort of session zero. We used Roll20 for voice, video, and dice rolls. Theatre of the Mind for maps. I did share some artwork. Everything worked fairly well from a technical standpoint. I have not tried to use the Roll20 native chat for a long time and it worked fine. I did have Discord ready as a backup.

I used a rewritten Village of Larm adventure from Brave Halfling Publishing. I redid the village map and a lot of the descriptions. I also redid maps of two of the short adventures. Everything was also rewritten for Swords & Wizardry. The players seemed to enjoy it. We still managed to come very near to a total party kill. We were one saving throw die roll away from it. But in the end, only one character died, and it was one of the NPCs I had tag along.

As far as where we go next, I will leave that up to the players. I have dangled a few hooks for further adventures in the village and they still have Quasqueton looming in the background.

Below is the session report.

Session 0: In Search of the Unknown

Players: Marta the Cautious (Human cleric 1), Manny Lightfoot (Halfling Thief)

Manny Lightfoot a female halfling wanderer and sometime collector of missing goods arrived in the village of Larm following up on stories of the stronghold of Rogahn and Zelligar. Known as Quasqueton, the word was that the founders of the stronghold have perished somewhere in the north leaving untold treasures unguarded. Unfortunately, no one seems to know where exactly Quasqueton is located.

Manny stopped at the Borderland Tavern hoping to pick up some information. She conversed with the owner and fellow halfling Haldo Bramwise. Haldo appeared to know little beyond what is commonly known about Quasqueton and nothing about its location. He did put Manny onto a local problem, namely the Forbidden Temple of Law located a short distance from Larm. This also got the attention of pious Marta the cleric of St. Cuthbert who was sitting enjoying his second lunch. Marta’s interest was piqued by the chance to make right a fallen temple of law. Marta is a former cloistered monk who has been encouraged by his order to head out into the world and right wrongs and convert non-believers (and to stop dipping into the wine).

Manny felt that just the two of them might not be enough to clear the temple. So she started looking for likely candidates to add some muscle to the group. Her eyes fell on an unlikely pair. Seeful the Unforgiving of the Church of St. Aleena and his friend Alho Rengate. Seeful was reedy thin and old seemingly not cut out for the adventuring life. But his companion Alho was every inch the adventurer. Over six feet tall of muscle he had the look of someone with northern barbarian blood.

From the Left Manny, Seeful, Marta and Alho approaching the boarded up Temple.

The four stopped at the local temple of Law to get some information and then set out for the temple. It was only a short walk up the hill overlooking the village. A dark and foreboding place built like a fortress. The front entrance was securely barricaded with beams and a large log. Even Alho could not budge the barricade. Manny commented that it looked like it was done to keep something in the Temple. The side entrance, however, was only barred by three planks of wood. Marta removed the boards with ease. They entered the temple and found it undamaged but full of drifting ash or soot. Everything was covered in layers of black dust. In a small confessional off of the nave, Marta discovered a skeleton wearing the robes of a monk. The skeleton attacked but Marta destroyed it. Examing the skeleton Marta found a Book of Law (prayer book) and surmised from the robes that the skeleton was that of one of the unfortunate monks of the temple who perished 30 years ago when the Temple fell.

The group made their way into the cellars where Marta twice got them past more skeletons of monks using the power of St. Cuthbert to turn them. The skeletons fled from his holy light. They also managed to get past a stone guardian that required proof that each of them was a follower of Law before allowing them to proceed.

Finally, in the crypt of Thorlief the founding abbot of the temple, they found the source of its downfall. A ceremony had been performed to destroy an evil tome by burning it. Something had gone horribly wrong transforming the monks of the Temple into the undead. In this crypt were the remnants of that ceremony and two horrid ghouls.

The ghouls attacked immediately and a desperate struggle ensued. Alho and Marta were in the front and were the first to come under attack. Marta was hit but survived but Alho was not so lucky. The fighter was killed in the first attack. Manny fired sling bolts from the door while Marta continued to tussle with one ghoul and Seeful fought the other. Seeful was hit and fell to the cold stone floor paralyzed. Marta had dispatched one ghoul but the second got past him and hit Manny, paralyzing the halfling. Now Marta was alone against the remaining ghoul.  A long and exhausting fight ensued as both combatants sought to dodge out of the way of the others strikes. The ghoul hit Marta but the doughty cleric fought off the creepy paralyzation with the force of his will. Marta then struck the ghoul twice finally destroying it.

Near TPK in the Temple

It took 2 hours for Seeful and Manny to recover from the effects of the ghoul attacks. Once they had recovered they opened the crypt of the abbot to check on his corpse. The body was undisturbed but he did clutch a beautiful mace. The decision was made not to disturb the body and leave the treasure where it was.

On leaving the crypt, Manny checked out one side room and discovered a hidden niche that held a wooden box holding a magic short sword. This sword came in useful as the three adventurers climbed up to the nave of the temple and found the five skeletons waiting for them. Marta turned two of them and the skeletons fled out into the sunlight. One of the remaining skeletons knocked down Seeful who was now near death. Manny destroyed two skeletons with his new sword and Marta and dispatched the final one. Marta picked up the limp body of Seeful and ran down the hill to the village church where the abbot was able to revive him.

The heroes returned to Larm and caused a big stir in the local population with tales of their exploits. At the local church, Manny surprised Marta by donating the two fine silver candle stands she had found in the cellar of the Temple. At the local tavern, Manny regaled locals with every more embellished tales of their exploits. So much so that Haldo suggested she and Marta go talk to the local miller who had a problem he needed to be sorted.

Nantwin the miller explained that giant rats had gotten into his cellar where he stored the village’s grain. He was no longer able to refine the grain into flour. One of the local boys had gone down into the cellar but he had never come back. The local militia was called but too many of their forces were out looking for marauding orcs.

Manny and Marta agreed to help. They learned that the Mayor was offering a reward and Manny negotiated the amount to 80 gold coins. Entering the cellar by a ladder they quickly found that there were at least six giant rats amongst grain sacks in one of the storage rooms. Manny announced she had an idea and lead Marta back up into the mill. Heading next door to the smith Burin, they asked the dwarf to make them some small spring-like metal spikes. Then Manny went across the street to the grocer and obtained some spoiled meat chopped into chunks. Bending the spikes they put them into the chunks of meat. Back in the mill cellar, they tossed the meat at the giant rats.

After a long wait, they descended into the cellar and found a pile of lifeless looking rats. Just as Marta got close to the pile of rats, two of them leaped forward and attacked. But Marta and Manny managed to put them down. Checking another storage room they found it undisturbed and full of sacks of grain. In the last storage room, they found the corpse of the local youth, a hole in the wall and a pool of water. Marta began blocking the hole with sacks of grain but three giant centipedes rushed out and attacked. He quickly dispatched two and the last one fled back into the hole which he completely closed off.

Marta and Manny returned to the miller and told him of their success. Nantwin the miller was broke but he did offer to get them free bread from the local bakery whenever they wanted any.

The Village of Larm (Players Map)