Solo D&D 5e Jorgin Taw apprentice wizard

Another round of solo play today. This time I am using the Mythic Game Master Emulator Deck again. I am using D&D 5th edition rules and I am running it in the setting of Uresia: Grave of Heaven. I bought the hardbound copy of the setting a few years ago and have never found a use for it before. Solo play offers me a good opportunity to use it. In the Uresia setting, there was a god war 1380 years earlier. At the climax of the war, all of the gods were killed and heaven crashed to the earth in a cataclysm that destroyed civilization. The remnants of the heavens are small continents to large islands set in the sea. Each island has been repopulated and has developed a fairly distinct culture. There are no gods anymore but that has not stopped men from continuing to worship them.

Jorgin Taw

PREGAME: Jorgin Taw is a half-elven first level wizard living in the town of Shadow River on the island of Temphis. He is an apprentice to the human wizard Olbrich. Olbrich has a home in East Corner but Jorgin lives in an apartment above a shop in The Bells. He grew up in the Bells district. He was orphaned and taken in by Brother Benedict of the Temple of Taur (god of the fall). He was raised as an acolyte of the temple. Five years ago he managed to save enough gold to purchase a membership in the Mages Guild. He was apprenticed to Olbrich.

Cold Start Event - Move toward a thread, Release Tension.

Does Olbrich have a mission for Jorgin? Exceptional Yes.

What is that mission? Imprison, Dispute.

Olbrich asks Jorgin to bail a woman out of prison. The woman Tirza Stentz was imprisoned for stabbing a man after a dispute in a game of cards. Tirza is due to be handed over to the Galonite priests for auction as a slave. Olbrich gives Jorgin 100 gold omens to bribe the Jailor to release Tirza.

Does Jorgin make it to the Jail cells without incident? Likely. Yes.

Jorgin makes his way to the Citadel and meets with the Jailor. He asks after Tirza Stentz and suggests (persuasion) to the guard that he would be willing to pay for the woman’s release. The guard takes offense (natural 1) and threatens to imprison Jorgin for attempted bribery. Jorgin apologizes profusely and beats a hasty retreat.

Jorgin comes up with the plan to break Tirza out of prison when she is being transferred to the Golonite priests. Tirza is transferred in a locked wagon along with two other convicts. Guarded by two militia (fighter 1).

Jorgin waits until the cart is in a narrow lane and then he approaches having used Disguise Self to make himself look like the jailor he met earlier. The guards stop the wagon as Jorgin approaches (roll against perception the guards fail). Thinking he is the jailor the guards ask Jorgin why he is here? Jorgin tells them that one of the convicts needs to be questioned immediately and he is to take that convict in hand right now.

Do the guards believe Jorgin’s story? 50/50. No!

The guards tell the Jorgin (in his jailor guise) that this is not proper procedure and they can only release their prisoners to a Priest of Golon. Jorgin casts Prestidigitation and makes a pile of apples of a nearby fruit vendor spill onto the street before the prison wagon. The fruit vendor starts running about with his apprentice causing a commotion. During the excitement, Jorgin uses sleight-of-hand to try and open the door to the cart. He is observed as he fumbles with the lock and one of the guards jumps down from the wagon and yells, “Ere’ What you on about?” Jorgin tells the guards that he was just testing the lock to make sure it was secure. The guard glares at Jorgin and gives the lock a firm pull. “See, Nuttin’ wrong wit it!” The shopkeeper finishes picking up the apples and the guards mount back up on the wagon. One of them turns to Jorgin and says, “Now push off Ralf, or me an’ Irm will be reporting you to the Castellan.” With that, they shake the reins and head off toward the Golon slave pens. Jorgin kicks at a loose apple in frustration and is shouted at by the irate shopkeeper. Dejected, Jorgin heads back to report to his master.  END SCENE.

Expected Scene: Jorgin reports to his Master and comes up with a way to rescue Tirza Stentz off of the auction block. Interrupt! Introduce a new NPC. Return. Bureaucracy.

Jorgin reports his failure to his master Olbrich. Olbrich is displeased but not surprised. “Perhaps, you are not ready yet for important tasks. But I have a task I think even you can manage.” Olbrich gives Jorgin a bulky envelope and tells him to deliver it to Magistrate Kelemon Sandor who works for the Castellan.

It is late so Jorgin heads back to his flophouse to sleep. The next day he gets up and takes the letter to the Kelemen at the Magistrates Hall near the Market.

Is Jorgin waylaid while delivering the letter? Unlikely. Yes!

Who waylays him? Frantically, Glorious?

While on his way to deliver the envelope, Jorgin meets Peric More, an old mage school friend who asks him to join him in a little carousing.  Jorgin is able to beg off and makes his way without incident.

Is Jorgin able to find Kelemen and deliver the package? Yes, Exceptional.

Jorgin asks for Kelemen and is directed to his office. Kelemen seems irritated by Jorgin’s interruption of his morning sword practice. But he quiets when Jorgin hands him the package. He opens it and removes a brass key. He absent-mindedly gives Jorgin 2 gold omens and waves him away. Happy to fulfill the task Jorgin decides to meet up with Peric at the Golden Orbs tavern after all. They enjoy an early lunch washed down with some Brindle’s Ale.

It is late afternoon when Jorgin finally arrives back at his Master’s shop. He is surprised to find a roguish woman waiting in the parlor. “So you’re Olbrich’s clumsy oaf of an apprentice. That business o’ trying to get me out of the wagon was poorly done!” Then the woman laughs and introduces herself as Tirza Stentz. Slapping Jorgin solidly on the back.

Olbrich hears the noise and enters the parlor with an absent-minded look on his face. “There you are, I thought perhaps you got yourself in trouble again.” He looks at Jorgin expectantly. “Well, don’t just stand there I have a job for you to do. Get dressed for travel!” Jorgin nods confused and heads to his rooms to get some traveling clothes. Tirza nods to Olbrich and follows Jorgin out the door. END SCENE.

Remove Thread, Release Tirza.

I put together a summary of the Mythic rules and the Fate Question chart and put it all on a single image so I did not have to consult any rules while playing. Just draw cards. The emulator went smoothly. Although Jorgin struggled to be competent. Jorgin came up with a plan but I just rolled poorly. Luckily, his Master bailed him out and has not booted him out the door yet.

By the end of these two scenes, my character list had 15 names on it.

In Search of the Unknown Session 2

My Roll20 Swords & Wizardry game continued this past weekend. The adventurers continued through the stronghold of Quasqueton. They ascended to the stronghold level from the orc caverns below. I am using the original maps with very slight modification and it is clear that this level was written to make map-keeping difficult. There are a lot of secret doors, winding passages that go nowhere, even a false door. I used a full-colour map purchased from the DM's Guild and Fog of war on Roll20. This meant the players did not have to draw a map. I do not think anyone would have enjoyed trying to map this. If I were going to play this at the table I would use the alternate map that is available on the internet that simplifies the layout of the dungeon.

The length of the winding corridors made the players impatient and they rushed directly into some wandering monsters because of it.

Session 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/NPC).

The five adventurers decided to advance up the stone steps from the lower levels of Quasqueton to the upper level. If the rumors they heard in Larm are to be believed this would be the final level of the stronghold.

They encountered only dark, dusty stone hallways. Then they entered a large throne room with stone pillars and yellow and purple banners hanging on the walls. While the others stayed alert, Manny checked behind a few of the banners. Suddenly, one of the purple banners leaped from the wall and swiftly wrapped the halfling up and began choking the life out of her. Gaeleath and Daen tried chopping up the banner but it was Manny who freed herself by wriggling out one end. After that everyone joined in hacking the banner to pieces. The two elves decided to help Manny search the chamber. Manny picked up a small pouch of gold coins lying on the floor while one of the elves found a secret door to the north.

Just then Daen heard a group of Kobolds approaching from a hallway to the north. The group confronted four kobolds. Rather than attack, the kobolds instead questioned Daen (who spoke Kobold) about their presence in the stronghold. Daen tried to convince the kobolds that the adventurers were invited guests. The kobolds asked the adventurers to wait in the throne room while they went to get their boss.

As soon as the kobolds departed the heroes quickly slipped through the secret door and arrived in a wood-paneled bed-chamber. They searched this chamber carefully and Gaeleath was able to locate two more secret doors. One led to a corridor headed west. Gaeleath heard the sound of many footsteps so he closed the door. The other secret door headed south through a secret passage that ended in another secret door.

This secret door led into another bed-chamber, this one furnished for a woman. Waiting behind the door were two ghouls. The ghouls quickly attacked but did not surprise the heroes. There was a quick fight and the ghouls were killed but not before Daen was struck and paralyzed. Deciding it was likely late at night now, the heroes decided to take a rest and get some sleep. Daen was tossed unceremoniously on the bed raising a big cloud of dust. Manny rifled through the dresser in the room and managed to find a silver comb and a silver mirror. After an hour Daen recovered.

They set watches for the night. Late in the evening on Daen’s shift, something tried to open the door to the south. They had blocked the door so it did not open. Daen awoke everyone and they got ready for a fight but whatever checked the door did not return.

The next morning they left the room they had barricaded in and set out. It ended up being a very long walk as the maze-like nature of the stronghold gradually became apparent. After walking about for a while they found themselves back in a corridor near the throne room. The noise of many feet was heard from north of them and they spotted another patrol of kobolds but they remained unnoticed. Shadowing the Kobolds north they found a one-way secret door leading into a parallel north/south corridor. They decided to enter this corridor even though the door closed behind them (they briefly spiked it open but decided that was too much of a marker of their path). Heading south they encountered the strange stone masks that shouted warnings at them. The elven mages surmised that this was a magic mouth spell and that it was repeating the same phrases. Further south they found a broken open exit or entrance to the outside. They headed back north but first relocated one of the stone masks as a possible warning system.

Heading north they found five dead bodies and bloody tracks headed west. Three of the bodies were human/dwarven and appeared to be adventurers. They found a simple copy of the map to Quasqueton that they possessed on one of the human corpses. The other two corpses were kobolds.

They followed the bloody footprints west and then back south for a very long time. Eventually finding the tracks ended behind a barred door. Breaking down the door they found a dead human. He appeared to have died within the last few days. Manny decided to strip the corpse of its equipment and leather armor. Gaeleath put the leather armor in his backpack.

The adventurers headed north again into a fungus filled “garden” room. A large chamber filled with enormous fungus. Daen was asked if he had seen any fungus this big before and he had not. Raeish hopped down into a shallow pit to check out some suspicious lumps under the mossy floor but he came under attack by an enormous ochre jelly. Only Gaeleath’s Magic Missile seemed to affect the jelly and once it was expended they had no other way to attack it so they decided to back away and avoid it. Leaving the dead-end garden room the adventurers took a very long walk first to the west and then back north eventually entering a winding portion of the dungeon corridor. Gaeleath took a break to put on the leather armor and discovered it was magical +1 armor.

They had slowed to a stealthy walk so the elves could check for more secret doors. Because of this, they were not surprised when they rounded a corner and were confronted by four more Kobolds. The fight was very brief. Two kobolds were killed in the first flurry of blows and the remaining pair of kobolds threw down their simple weapons and cowered in fear.

With some persuasion and a whole lot more threats, Daen managed to convince the Kobolds to lead them to their master “Zell’gar”. The kobolds lead the adventurers north and then east to a secret door. They opened the door and made to step back but Raeish pushed the kobolds into the chamber first. The room turned out to be a wizard’s workshop or lab. Dust coated everything but they did find one full bottle of some sort of gas or liquid. Marta disturbed a pair of large rats that were hiding under a torture rack. The rats attacked and Marta killed one quickly. The other rat vanished in a poof of gas when Manny hit it with a sling stone. During the excitement, one kobold made a run for it. Arrows were shot at it but it got away to the north. They then decided to kill the other helpless kobold. Daen doing the deed. They searched another wizard’s lab, this one full of wizard potion components but nothing useful. Although Gaeleath took a clay jar labeled, Dragon dung. The vanishing rat reappeared on a table and hissed at them and then vanished again.

Feeling tired the adventurers began discussing the possibility of resting. The decision was made that it made sense to rest outside of the stronghold. They were concerned that the kobold that got away would bring reinforcements. They decided to check out one more door that opened into a corridor headed east. A short distance down this corridor they found a strange, primitive image of what they thought might be a dragon or a kobold painted on the wall.

A Strange Warning

Ignoring the warning they headed east rapidly. Raeish broke a tripwire and they heard the sound of metal cans rattling to the east. Continuing rapidly along they turned north and ran directly into six kobolds. The adventurers were initially surprised but soon a furious melee broke out in the tightly packed corridor. Manny was pressed into one corner surrounded by kobolds. The kobolds fought desperately and at first were unyielding in giving ground.

Manny was stabbed with a wooden spear in the chest and fell to the floor clutching her chest unconscious. The melee was so packed Marta found that a kobold blocked his path to get to the fallen halfling. He crushed the kobold and stepped over the corpse to get to Manny and cast his healing magic. Manny awoke and immediately leaped to her feet fully recovered.

By this point in time, four of the kobolds were dead, the remaining two turned to retreat and one was cut down from behind. The last Kobold backed up to be joined by five more kobolds. The kobolds lowered their spears and advanced, just as Raeish finished shrugging out of his armor and cast a Sleep conjuration. All of the kobolds fell to the floor sound asleep. Manny and Daen walked amongst the helpless kobolds finishing them off.

A search of the nearby chambers revealed three Kobold barracks. The rooms had human-sized beds in them and were surprisingly clean for kobold quarters. In one chamber a false door was set into the east wall. Raeish attacked the door with a heavy hammer smashing it off of the wall but all he found was the stone blocks of the stronghold.

Clearly, this door is here for a reason

The adventurers headed again to the west following a winding stone corridor that eventually led them back to where they had started near the wizard’s workroom. They never did encounter their missing kobold. They decided to check out a corridor heading east and came to what appeared to be a prison with a series of cells. In two of the cells, there was a strange glowing blue crystal with no apparent purpose. The group paused for a breath before continuing on.

The Mysterious Crystal

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.