Barf Forth Apocalyptica
powered by the apocalypse => Dungeon World => Topic started by: Doug Hare on February 03, 2012, 12:28:38 PM
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So, I got the DW Red Book last week, and was keen to play it, and talked two friends into letting me GM for them at our regular Thursday gaming session.
After a slight mix-up with the playbooks I'd printed out at work (possibly because of differing paper sizes), I had to reprint them using my ink-poor home printer, which might have left them a little hard to read.
Nevertheless, my chums played along, and opted for a Fighter, and a Thief. I wasn't as familiar as I might have been with the character creation, so I was going through it using the red book on the screen of my phone. But, we emerged at the end with:
Amdor, a dextrous and tough Elf Fighter, wielder of an ornate elven sword (an heirloom of his family, and his Signature Weapon, which is both Sharp and Versatile), lithe and whipcord-thin, with wild hair and eager eyes. Played by Keith.
Shanks, a Human Thief, similarly lithe and wiry, with his wild hair concealed under the hood of his cloak, which also conceals his rapier. Played by Dave. There's a minor rules issue where Dave wonders if Backstab is still based on Strength even if he's using a Precise weapon, and I agree to let him base it on Dex while I find out. So, should it still be a Roll + STR if the Thief is using a Precise Weapon and thus using Roll+Dex for Hack and Slash?.
Both players have eventually opted for the standard equipment bundles, and, because I want them both to survive despite not having a Healer, I let them have their choice of a pack of Poultices and Herbs, or a set of Bandages. They opt for the Poultices, and Amdor offers to carry them, since he envisages himself being more likely to need them.
I explain Bonds to them, and they decide to only fill in one Bond each, but that still leaves them both highlighting a stat for each other. Dave chooses Con for Amdor, and Keith chooses Wis for Shanks. I as GM choose to highlight Dex for both of them, since they're both using Precise Weapons, and will be rolling it a lot. I'm not sure at this point whether XP comes from successful rolls against that stat, or all rolls against that stat. I eventually mis-remember and opt for the former.
Aiming to start a little more in media res than usual, but having tried and failed to link the PCs to either Grundloch, Master of the Arcane Clay, or the Icescale lizardmen, our PCs were heading to the Hall Under The Hill to collect a bounty on goblin ears. We've likened having a tribe of goblins around the countryside firstly to having a wasps' nest in your garden, in that you might not do much about it until someone actually gets stung, and then secondly to having a camp of pikeys camping nearby a town. Only worse, really, because goblins aren't human.
We cut to Andor and Shanks in the back of a cart heading along the trade road toward the Hall, swapping stories with Hawken the skinner. He mentions that he did well in the city of Battlemoor - people are keen for furs and skins since it's been getting colder (foreshadowing the presence of the Frost Heave). Shanks considers using some of the equipment Hawken has in the back of the cart with them to murder him and take his stuff, but eventually gives it up. It's worth mentioning at this point that Shanks is quite Evil, and taking full advantage of the Flexible Morals of the Thief class. Amdor, by contrast is Neutral, Keith having been excited by the idea of a Fighter and his blade adventuring to seek out Worthy Opponents.
After asking Hawken to tell anyone who asks that they actually left his company in the next village (I don't yet know why, but it could just be a natural Thief's caution), the two clamber out of the back of the cart and head off-road to where the Hall is meant to be. They're aware of the Bloodstone Idol, but don't know much about it. I've also mentioned that the Cult of the Idol are largely defunct:
"There's nothing like living in a secret hideout and spending all your time venerating and caring for an Idol to Not Attract Women", says Dave.
So, the characters make their way cross country, down a valley to where the Hill With The Hall Under The Hill Under It is, on the shores of a lake, which already has frosty mist hanging over it (more evidence of the Frost Heave). and as they crest a rise, they get their first site of the main entrance, with the massive doors, slightly ajar, and the lengthy fight going on outside it.
Shanks Discerns Realities and notices that the goblins, who are closer, are better-armed than might be expected, having actual slings with lead shot (instead of stones)and metal-tipped spears (instead of flint). (I've decided to put all the Goblins in brown robes to make them more like Jawas, but the slingers have their hoods back for better aim). Despite their good gear, though, they don't know much about building barricades. Furthermore, he notices enough debris and disturbed ground to know that this fight's been going on a while, and realises that since the goblin barricade is further from the door, works out that the goblins must have a secret entrance.
Not taking the chance that their intervention might not make both sides focus on them for interfering, and realising at this point that ranged weapons might have been a good idea to bring, the two adventurers make a plan to sneak round and look for another way in. They've spotted the Standing Stones around the top of the hill, and resolve to sneak off that way.
It's at this point I have a problem. The players want to know how well they've avoided detection, if they have, and I can't find a move that covers it. So, I wing it for the rest of the game, but I really need help with working out what you do if your players are sneaking around. Is it just a matter of it being a soft move? I'd honestly prefer it if it was the dice, and success or failure at a move that means they do or don't succeed at stealth, rather than it just being a decision I as GM make for them.
At the Standing Stones, the two notice a smouldering fire, with a number of items around it, which are the Goblin Chief's offerings to any Planar Ally that might be attracted. There are coins, cups of drink, a haunch of meat, and a shrieking face carved out of a bone. Amdor keeps an eye out while Shanks moves into the circle of stones and Discerns Realities again, and works out that they're offerings to [something or other], and asks "who put them there?". He figures out that the circle must occasionally link to Other Places from the scattering of various stones, some of which aren't found around these parts. Because the player rolled really well, I mention that one of the stones is a rare piece of elemental earth matter, and Shanks scoops it up and puts it in a pocket. Amdor notices, though, but figures it's just Shanks making up for their lack of ranged capability with a nice heavy throwing rock. Small footprints lead away from the circle, and the two resolve to follow them.
Despite attempts by the goblins to hide their tracks, the two swordsmen find where the secret entrance probably is, hidden by a big bush and stones. After an initial chuckle at the phrase "big bush", the two pause for a second and discuss what to do next.
Now, I've had them find the entrance because if they don't go in, the adventure's pretty much over, so I want them to find a way in. But, I'm a fan of Raymond Chandler, and the closest thing I can think of to a guy coming through the door with a gun in his hand, is a small party of goblins coming out of the entrance. Amdor hears the rustle as the bush shakes and moves, and draws his ornate blade. Shanks takes cover on the other side of the bush, rapier drawn and held low.
A brown-robed figure emerges, and for a second Amdor and the goblin look at each other in an uneasy standoff. Keith checks the Parley move on his rule sheet. I mime the goblin's actions. He extends a hand to gently tell his two companions to get back, Amdor mistakes it as reaching for a weapon, and lunges forward with his sword.
It's the first Hack and Slash of the game, and the dice don't disappoint, coming up with a Strong Hit and enough damage to drop the goblin dead without him getting a hit in. I describe the tip of the sword emerging, bloodied, from the goblin's back, and his spear dropping to the ground from suddenly nerveless fingers. The goblin's companions dash out of the tunnel to avenge their comrade, and Amdor prepares to meet them, blade in hand.
Dave asks if they're aware of Shanks' presence, and because, as a fan of Shanks, I should want to see him stab people in the back, I say they're not. Shanks launches a Backstab at one of the goblins, and succeeds, again with enough damage to kill the goblin in one shot. I describe a goblin suddenly stiffening and coughing out a mouthful of blood before slumping to the floor, and then Amdor uses the superior reach of his weapon to keep the last goblin at a distance before running him through. Again, I mention the goblins' well-made weapons, even if they are a little brutal and too dirty for our heroes' tastes. Both adventurers are happy they weren't wounded by the goblins' filthy blades.
Dave marks off a use from Shanks' adventuring kit to fix a rope to help them climb down the drain into the Hall, and so I give them both a +1 bonus to Defy Danger as they clamber down the tunnel. Amdor and Shanks decide who's going to go first with several coin tosses. Eventually Shanks stops short of saying "All right, best of nine" and reluctantly goes first. He rolls well, and makes it easily to the bottom. I'm describing the smoky, messy, noisy main goblin chamber below as Amdor rolls to follow it, and then rapidly switch to describing a flurry of scree stones and gravel as Amdor loses his footing and slides down the tunnel into the chamber. Luckily, because there's a battle going on in the next chamber, and the scouting party's only just gone out, there aren't too many goblins paying attention. Still, Amdor loses a couple of hits from scrapes and bruises, and Shanks is knocked off-balance and puts his hand in something squishy while he tries to right himself. The goblins keep their rubbish pile near the exit because it makes it easier to carry out, and Shanks has nearly rolled right in it. I mention how that's surprisingly Orderly for goblins, playing up the influence of the Idol.
Shanks lets out a groan of dismay as he tries to find something to wipe his hands on, and this attracts the attention of the nearest goblin, who looks up from his job of basting some joints of meat on spits near a fire.
Amdor takes action and demands "Give me the rock". Shanks demurrs for a second before handing it over, and Amdor bounces it on his palm for a second before pitching it right at the goblin.
Again, the dice fall for a strong hit, and the goblin reels backward clutching his temple as the rock cracks hard against it. He's not out though, and the two adventurers make their way around the goblin cave to finish him off. Another two goblins are attracted by the noise (I feel slightly guilty for saying this, since I'm still not sure about how to handle attempts to remain silent and stealthy).
A brief fight ensues with coals being kicked at one of the goblins, the spit-master grasping a spit from the fire with his thick leathery gloves on and attempting to fend both PCs off with it, but to scant avail. The fight ends quickly.
Continuing to sneak around, the adventurers make their way through the Goblin cavern, noticing a ladder leading to a raised cave section where they overhear the Chieftan arguing with his advisors. I mention that the Chieftan has a deep and loud voice, but then qualify that with the fact that he's still a goblin, so still sounds like Mickey Mouse on helium. They elect not to climb the ladder and go for him now and instead sneak into the Idol's chamber, where the goblins and lizardmen are engaged in a pitched battle around the base of the Idol.
The light source in the main chamber, I've decided, is the Idol, which sheds a dull red light throughout the cavern, which is huge. The chamber has a ruler-straight line along the right hand side, which I interpret as being evidence of it being worked stone instead of natural cave wall, and I describe a large carved fresco facing the Idol. After trying to work out the nearest exit (these two characters seem loath to get into battle with many foes at once, and who can blame them?), they head along the wall, and I call that Defying Danger. The reason for that, and I'm sure of it, is that if they're spotted, they'll definitely be challenged. The rolls are not good, and the two are silhouetted against the wall by the light of the Idol, and spotted by four lizardmen.
Because I want to play up that the lizardmen are also here to find worthy opponents and prove themselves in combat, I have the largest lizardman pull his spear up and point it at both characters a few times, before tapping himself on the chest and assuming a fighting stance.
Amdor straightens up at this and hefts his shield, taking a few preparatory slashes in the air with his longsword. He attempts to slide in under the guard of the lizard's spear before striking upwards into his vitals, but a poor roll leaves him flat on the floor and nearly nailed to it by a downward thrust of the lizardman's spear.
Shanks attempts to Aid Amdor by yelling to distract the lizardman at a crucial moment. He rolls a weak hit, so Amdor gets the +1 Forward, but Shanks gets menaced by hisses from the other three lizardmen, and in no doubt what'll happen if he tries that again.
Amdor tries to twist away from the arc the lizardman's covering with his spear, rolls a Weak Hit, whirls like a dancer to the lizardman's side and lays his scaly neck open with the edge of his blade before the lizardman backhands him across the face with his spear, catching him with the shaft rather than the tip to explain the low damage. Amdor's starting to feel his wounds though.
Shanks shifts position to run if Amdor drops, and a lizardman reminds him not to interfere by hurling a spear in his direction. It misses, but Shanks isn't sure if that was intentional, though. On the other hand, a spear is a good weapon for keeping foes at a distance, so he adjusts his plans to involve grabbing it if things go wrong.
Amdor, meanwhile, aims a lunge to open the other side of the lizardman's neck, and the dice turn up a Strong Hit. The lizardman falls with a burbling hiss as the blade passes through his windpipe, and his fellows salute the victorious swordsman with their spears before motioning them to pass by.
This ends the session, as Amdor and Shanks look around for a quiet and safe place to hole up for a few minutes to tend their wounds. There being only two players, the task of "pick another player to increase Bond with" is simple, and I'm gratified when Keith and Dave say they've enjoyed themselves and are keen to continue next week.
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Lovely mix of story and mechanics Doug! Awesome AP! Welcome to the adventurer's guild :)
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Hooray for Chandler!
So, Highlighted stats aren't in the latest version, but for the record, you get XP for an roll, not for a success.
Sneaking is usually handled by GM moves (or non-moves) or Defy Danger (Dex). So if the Thief is sneaking around, I'll let him get away with a lot (i.e. give him a lot of rope...) before I call for a Defy Danger roll, but if it's the armoured Fighter, she'll be making a roll almost as soon as she could be seen or heard!
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Thank you for your clarifications, Anarchangel!
So, that only leaves one last question to resolve before tomorrow's session:
can a Thief use Dex instead of Str for Backstabbery if he's using a Precise weapon, or is this a conscious decision to prevent Thieves relying on Dex too much?
Many thanks,
Doug.
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Ah yes, I've run across that one quite a few times. I don't think the written rules help here.
I usually assume Sage and Adam considered that thieves would just about always be using precise weapons and chose STR for Backstab as a deliberate design decision.
I would naturally incline the other way and make it based on DEX for precise weapons (or amend precise to say "when you attack with a precise weapon..." (instead of "when you Hack and Slash...").
I'm not sure if my ruling at the table is consistent on this one.
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I'm with you, Anarchangel, but I'd be interested to hear the design philosophy behind why it's a STR-based roll.
Doug.
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I don't have a quote, but I believe Sage has said that the Thief is very DEX-focused, so Backstab uses STR just to mix things up a bit.
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I'm still going to have a hard time convincing my players that a Thief's main ability, of quick reactions and finding the enemy's weak spots, of niftily hitting just where it'll do the most damage or have an additional effect, shouldn't be based on Dexterity. Or, at the very least, Intelligence, for spotting the openings and reacting quickly to take advantage of them. Actually I think we're back to Dex again.
I think I'm just looking for arguments to have in my quiver when they query it, since it was the first thing Dave, the chap playing Shanks the Thief, asked last session.
Doug.
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A short session tonight, with a late start and an early finish because of matters external to the game. I shall write it up tomorrow afternoon for potential entertainment.
Our first Death's Door roll resulted in exactly what I'd been hoping for, a Bargain With Death!
More soon.
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Remember that everything you and the players do in Dungeon World comes from and leads to fictional events. So always begin (and end) with the fiction. So I would address the character Doug, and ask questions of Shanks, using the answers...
I backstab the Goraxx!
Cool, what do you do?
I hold desperately to its scaly dorsal fin, then plunge my punch dagger deep into its spinal cord, behind its ugly head!
Awesome! Roll+..... Hmmmm. Hang on Shanks, do you think its more about your precise skill at sliding your dagger between its armoured plates, or simply brute power as you hammer down?
Oh, definitely, my mighty thews! I raise my dagger gripped in two hands above my head and slam into the beast as hard as I can!
Cool! Roll + STR then.
Oh dear. 6 *gulp*
Well, your prized dagger is well and truly embedded into the Goraxx's amoured scales, [use up resources] but you have done naught but anger it immensely! You most certainly in melee with the fearsome fishbeast now as it drags you deep, down to the depths of the icy pool [put them in a spot]..... What do you do?
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That sounds like a good way to handle that sort of ambiguity, noofy.
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And here, if you will, is a Roll+Charisma based Backstab:
(http://i44.tinypic.com/2cfa4py.jpg)
D.
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Exactly :)
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And now, as promised, the report from Thursday's session.
With a few external matters slowing the players down, and brand new Beta character sheets to transfer things over to, we got off to a slow start.
Amdor and Shanks take a moment to lick their wounds after Amdor's duel with the lizardman, using up one of their two doses of Poultices and Herbs.
While they're doing this, Grundloch achieves a measure of control over the idol, and in a burst of red light and a sensation of tingling, it's power bursts out throughout the central cavern. Amdor and Shanks both feel it pass over them, leaving silence in it's wake. They both speak at once, and are relieved they're not deaf, but their voices carry in the newly quiet cavern.
Looking out, they don't hear the noise of the battle further down the cavern, nor any cries or hisses from the participants.
In fact, what's happened is that all the goblins and lizardmen in the cavern are paralysed for a short time. I remember from reading Michael Moorcock that the ultimate aim of Law/Order is stasis, without any change at all, and so that's what I imagine might be the easiest thing for the Idol to do to them if it's not fully under control. Grundloch's come to the conclusion that he'll need to command the denizens of the Idol's resting place if he's to win it over, and this is his next step.
Amdor and Shanks only know that the fighting's stopped. Shanks reckons now is a good time to shiv up the participants and take their stuff, but Amdor counsels caution.
Shanks Discerns Realities, rolls well, and works out that the Goblins are a tribe, so anything they've got that's worth having is probably held in common in their cavernous den. Although I've been stressing with every encounter that the Goblins are suspiciously well-equipped, when I mention that the Lizardmen were too, it starts to set off alarm bells.
"Why would someone arm both sides of a conflict?", muses Shanks.
"For greater profit?" offers Amdor, and he's so very right that I could hug the player.
With this suspicion in mind, the two head off for more answers, up the scree-laden slope to the Entrance Hall. They're both moving with their weapons out, so when those weapons start to glow and heat up, both adventurers are, naturally, concerned.
Even the daggers kept in their boots for emergencies are shedding radiance like flashlights, so they take a moment to sheathe weapons and muffle the light. They work out that the big double doors at the top end of the hall are the entrance they didn't come in by earlier, and sneak up to see if the fighting's going on out there, still, which it is. They opt to continue on out of the hall via the last unused exit.
They haven't got close enough to the main doors to trigger the magical effect that announces visitors to the hall, because they've been very careful about their positioning (they've told me this), so I decide a few things on the fly.
One: they've both suggested that Amdor and Shanks are not their real names, partly because there's a habit of people taking up the adventuring life and taking new names as they do so, or perhaps because Amdor's real Elven name is significantly longer than the one he's using. Thus, I don't want to blow their covers this early.
Two: since they haven't come in the entrance, and because I don't want the magic in here to be able to divine their real names without them offering them, I'm going to have it resort to it's default, which is to call them both "stranger".
So, when they head out of the south exit, an image appears behind them of an indistinct male figure, wearing the Order's symbol on his robes, calling out "TWO STRANGERS LEFT THE ENTRANCE HALL!".
This spooks them both, and they both whip out weapons before remembering the magical effect from the other room, and then being reassured that it's not happening here beyond the archway.
Amdor takes a step back into the Entrance Hall, and is announced "A STRANGER ENTERED THE ENTRANCE HALL", before turning back round again, and being similarly announced to have left it.
Now, at this point, I missed a trick. I did want to have a couple of lizardmen pursue the PCs through the place, and spring out when things got either hairy or dull, and possibly for the PCs to have fair warning by overhearing the automatic announcement as the lizards left the Entrance Hall. I even had a good place for them to make an appearance; just down the steps while Shanks was dealing with the lock to the Vault.
Amdor ticks off a use of his Adventurers' Gear to have a light source, and the two proceed on down the increasingly unsafe stairs to find the Vault doors looming up at them from their left hand side as the stairs turn downwards.
Shanks is of course a Trap Expert, and reassures himself there aren't any on these doors, except for the fact that they're big heavy iron doors. He realises that previous Goblin attempts to pick the locks have left them damaged and hard to open before entertaining a brief plan to uncouple the hinges of one door and swing the whole assembly like one big door, before a quick audit of his (STR 10) and Amdor's (STR 13) muscles leaves him less than confident of their ability to pull that off. So the two continue down the stairs to the cavern where the fireflies are.
Now, they haven't killed a goblin since last session, which was a week ago, so my mention of the fireflies communicating through "high pitched whistling sounds" goes right past them, and they attempt to split up to get past the fireflies.
Neither of them knows much about insects, especially orange-glowing, cat-sized, fiery phlegm-spitting ones, so they don't know that killing one might cause it to release chemicals alerting the others to it's death, and making them more aggressive. This then happens when Amdor stabs the nearest firefly to death.
The two split up to give the suddenly aggressive fireflies two targets. Amdor goes left, and blocks the only spit of glowing hot mucus that's on target with his shield. Shanks goes right, ducks and rolls. His Defy Danger dice turn up badly, and I describe a spatter against his lower legs that leaves them covered in painful hot spots and lose him HP, and a whoosh that goes past his hair and ear but doesn't seem to hurt him.
Amdor looks over and notices that, in fact, Shanks' back has caught fire.
A certain amount of panic ensues. Amdor launches himself through the fireflies to defend Shanks with his shield while the two of them get out of the cavern quickly, noticing as he does that his shield is now marred by a small hole where the superheated firefly spit has melted through it.
The fireflies continue to advance, and Shanks throws himself down into the muddy, squelchy floor of the passageway to put his flames out, scraping his back (lose more HP) as he does so. Coated in sludge as he is, his heat is masked, and so Amdor is left to face the two fireflies who started closest to him and are still pursuing. He drives them both back with ferocious thrusts from his longsword, keeping himself mobile to avoid any flaming spit attacks.
Shanks finally comes to rest, coated in sludge like Arnie's character near the end of Predator, and next to him are some crude buckets, some full of water. (the goblins left these here to soak their robes with when they have to pass through that cavern). He seizes one, and Volleys to throw it all over a firefly. He rolls a Strong Hit, and the cold water chills the firefly, cracking it's carapace and reducing it's core temperature to where it can no longer fly. Amdor finishes the fireflies off with quick thrusts, and the two continue on.
Shanks is wounded and filthy, but not so wounded that he wants to use up their last dose of Poultices.
The two make their way into what would have been the cavern of Grundloch's illusionary menagerie in the scenario as written, however, I've changed it. My version of Grundloch's been described as more of a master of animating and clay-based magic, so instead of an illusionary menagerie, I describe their lantern light dimly illuminating a writhing mass of snakes, which, as they get closer, they identify as;
the writhing tail of a hooded Basilisk,
the multiple serpents on the head of a Medusa
and, in between and around both of them, sinuous Cobras with mesmerising Emerald Eyes.
Now, because they've not spotted any decent treasure so far, I am stressing that all the eyes of these beasties are, in fact, gemstones. Even though unaffected by the magical gazes of any of these constructs (yet), the two adventurers freeze solid, and, through gritted teeth, try and work out what to do next.
At this point, I have a small group of Mesmerised Goblins attack.
Four goblins, two with sizeable flails, two with shields and javelins.
Shanks tries to get out of their line of sight and circle round unspotted behind them, but rolls a weak hit, so I rule that the flail-wielders might have stopped paying attention to him for a moment, but at least one of the javelineers was keeping track of him. A javelin narrowly misses him and he makes his way back up the passageway to comparative safety.
Amdor, on the other hand, chooses his ground and prepares. He calculates the distances and angles, and positions himself where the javelineers can't get a good shot without risking hitting their fellows. As the flail wielders close, he rolls a Strong Hit and drives them both back, pinking one hard in the shoulder and slashing the other one across the arm, robbing their swings of momentum as the goblins shriek in pain.
Shanks hears the screams, and, sticking close to the wall, makes the shadows his ally as he swiftly moves back to the fight. He moves in closely behind one of the flail-wielders and tries to run him through. A weak hit leaves him open to attack, and the javelineer's readied shot finds it's mark in his thigh.
"That leaves me on 0 hp", announces Dave, and I narrate Shanks' sudden surprise as his legs buckle under him and he goes down.
Quickly I switch to Amdor, who's beset with goblins now. The two javelineers have both used up the ammunition they brought with them, and are rushing forward to provide cover with shields and daggers to allow the flail-wielding goblin to strike a fatal blow. Amdor sees the fallen Shanks, and realises he either has to draw the goblins away or take them all down now if he's to save Shanks before he bleeds out.
Happily, Keith's dice are on fire tonight. His second 12 of the session allows Amdor to deal a crippling 16 damage to the goblins, as he happily accepts the chance of getting attacked in return for more damage. The flail-wielder takes his weapon in both hands and raises it above his head for a huge swing, before Amdor takes a step forward and slashes his point across the goblin's wrists, separating both his hands from his body. He kicks hard against one of the other goblin's shields and runs his point over the top of the shield until it sinks into flesh, and then whips the blood-flecked blade round to point at the last goblin, who, suddenly alone and outclassed, freezes for a fatal second before Amdor runs him through.
Meanwhile...
Shanks finds himself unwounded in the Cavern of the Idol, which is eerily silent. The Idol seems more human in front of him and he feels himself drawn towards it. (actually, he's been mortally wounded in one of the caverns that leads to the Idol, and the newly-hungry Idol is keen to absorb his soul)
Behind him, he senses something, and whirls around to see a female figure standing there. Clad in a thigh-length white garment (I describe it as a Greek-style tunic), she's wearing long strapped golden sandals, and carrying a sheaf of wheat close to her torso with her left hand, and a vine-wrapped staff in her right. Her hair's quite short, but she's looking slightly away from him, so he can't yet see her eyes.
Then her voice, her beautiful voice, rings out, with something he's not heard in a long time: his real first name.
She tells him he's not made much of the life they granted him, and he sputters in incomprehension.
She goes on to warn him that his path in life would lead him from her to the Black Pit, and even though I can't pronounce the Capital Letters in the name, I say that she certainly can, making the Black Pit sound a most unappetising place.
You would be among the lowest of the low in the Pit, she says, and Shanks begins to stumble over pleas that he's tried to be good, he really has, and so she turns her head to look fully at him and Shanks' voice dries up at the sight of her eyes, which are golden. Not golden coloured like humans have blue-coloured eyes, but golden all the way across, and Shanks remembers a tiny fragment from his education that "No God or Goddess, whatever form they take, can disguise the nature of their eyes", and suddenly Shanks realises what's going on here.
(actually, what's going on is that Shanks' education was conducted by a priest of this god, whom I shall let Dave the player fully define later, and the last real blessing that Shanks has ever had was in her name, hence she can intervene here)
The goddess tells Shanks he has a month to do three good deeds, or his fate, The Black Pit, comes due. Blinding white light streams out from all around and Shanks coughs and comes to back with his back cold against the cavern floor, and Amdor frantically trying to shake the life back into him.
Shanks is still gibbering as Amdor patches him up with the last of their Poultices and Herbs, and after a break to regain their composures, eventually Shanks is ready to continue on.
They stalk onwards through the cavern, electing not to interact further with the moulded clay menagerie, gemstone eyes be damned, and, taking precautions to shield their gaze, continue into the Stone Parliament's chamber.
After some close study, Shanks asks Amdor "What shall we do next?", and they're both surprised as the Parliament takes this as an opportunity for debate. The room is abruptly full of chatter in booming voices as the carved Dwarven statues recommend everything from leaving right now to continuing on to glory and all points in between.
Abruptly, the two adventurers realise what a marvellous alarm this would make, and hasten southwards where the passageway opens out into the library, and, bent over a table in the middle, the two of them catch sight of the well-robed, well-muscled, bald figure of Grundloch, Master of the Arcane Clay...
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PS - I've already decided that Grundloch and his assistant, Cassius, who I've also decided is the Brawn to Grundloch's Brain are in the main cavern with the Bloodstone Idol . This is just a simulacrum moulded from clay, but it will trigger the alarm spells in it if it's messed with. And the PCs might also get the chance to read some of Grundloch's notes about what's really going on here. We shall see....soon!
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So EPIC!!!
Doug that is pure brillance. There is so much in there that I want to applaud, but the few that stand out:
* The naming chamber calling them strangers based on the idea of their ' real names' being secret and something to be revealed later (like Shank's death move).
* The Fire-flies. I've run this adventure twice and each time the adventurers avoided the flies, so good to see them come into their own. I love the vision of a burnt muddy Shanks too :)
* The subtle hints you drop about the situation at large, but never railroading the players to your 'vision'. You are just playing to see what happens.
* The parliment debating the question 'What do we do now?' Such a good opportunity for shared authorship between players and GM, so cool!
* Grundloch being muscly. Hell yeah.
What Xp did you go with? The new Bonds / Alignment / end of session system? Are you leveling up at Level+7?
Once again, thanks so much for posting Doug. This truly highlights JUST how much DW lets us connect with the old skool reminiscence and indie story game mechanics. Whenever I play DW, it feels like the old Moldvay experience. But when I play Moldvay / OD&D now, it is so filtered by later incarnations (4e especially) and their iterations on game play that I can't seem to grasp that 'wonder and imagination' back and would rather be playing DW instead.
DW, for some unknown reason taps straight back into that childhood reverie and allows us to tell (for me) enfettered stories of improvised High Adventure, filled with all the Basic D&D tropes and none of the crunchy / tactical miscellany that came with AD&D/2e/3e/4e.
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Interestingly, one of the players from the game I ran a couple of days ago commented that it was more like Advanced Fighting Fantasy than D&D. AFF is my nostalgia game that I ran throughout my teenaged years, so I think it's fair to say that DW lets you channel your old school fantasy nostalgia regardless of what system it was!
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Noofy - thus far we've had one session with highlighted stats and one session with bonds and the End of Session questions. I think the guys are about ready to level up now, they've got a handle on how things work, and have filled their character's shoes, so it's time they got to differentiate themselves a little more and to further invest in their characters.
I think you're giving me more credit than I deserve, though. The reason why the magic in the hall refers to them as "strangers" is because they've not come through the main doors. If they had, it would have cried out "ANNOUNCE YOURSELVES, VISITORS TO THE HALL OF THE IDOL!", and then gone with whatever they said their names were. At the moment it's just using the default.
Plus, the mud and slime and insect vomit on Shanks' armour is going to dry up soon, and flake off, and only the glitter of gold dust will be left. I wonder, oh, I wonder what they'll do about that?
Even more plus - I'm planning on parcelling out information about the world bit by bit, except if it's an enormous assumption or something the players would be aware of. Case in point: I've had an idea that elves and dwarves are in fact two halves of the same dimorphic species - elves live above ground for the most, like sunlight and work well in wood and with plants; dwarves live below ground for the most part, can function without sunlight, and work well with metal and stone.
This would mean that there are no half elves, so I'd need to work around the background option move that I think the Bard, could be the Ranger has, but I'd just call it Friend to All Peoples or something of that nature, and have it reflect training or aptitude instead of mixed blood.
Furthermore, it means that both elves and dwarves can define themselves for how long it's been since their family/bloodline had one of the other born into it. And elves and dwarves can meet up every so often to swap over babies born of the wrong species.
But you can see why I'd want the players to sign off on that before enacting it?
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Oh yeah, totally! But remember, it ain't in the game until its in the game. To do it do it right? So if your ranger really wants Half-elven / dwarven blood, rather than just saying 'no', bring up your idea and talk it through. You'll have to ask lots of questions so that you can co-author that it as a 'special' maybe even arcane and mystical abberation. Sure you can be Half-elven, or half dwaven or half elf/dwarf! Humans may not give a damn, but you are sure as hell going to be treated as a mutant by both dwarves and elves alike. Sounds like an awesome story in the making to me.
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After skipping a week, we resumed play last Thursday. Fortified with coffee and chocolate biscuits, I recapped events thus far...
I also decided to let the chaps level up. I'm confused about which exp system is currently current, so I figure we can get it out of the way now. We roll for HP, and both players only manage to get an extra Base HP. Keith chooses Merciless for Amdor's new Move, already thinking of how much fun it will be combined with the "deal your level in damage" option from Defend. Dave makes Shanks Quick on the Draw. We continue!
Faced with an opportunity to deal with the sorceror Grundloch once and for all, and, even though he suspects a trap of some kind, Shanks moves stealthily forward to plunge his rapier into the robed man's vitals.
A decent Backstabbery roll, and his weapon slides into the figure like a needle into clay...which is almost exactly what happens. The simulacrum (because that's what it is), collapses with a noise like breaking ice, and for a second, a silver cord hangs suspended in the air, leading out of the library cavern the way the guys came in. A clamouring cacophonous noise like bells ringing speeds away into the distance, leaving Amdor and Shanks with a ringing in their ears and a seemingly empty library in front of them.
Quietly, slowly, they move up through the library. Most of the books and scrolls are decayed and near useless, even if these two were avid readers, which they're really not.
A noise in front of them startles them both, and they split up and hide.
(I decided it might be more fun to have Cassius here instead of in the cavern with Grundloch and the idol, and so, here he is).
A lantern springs to life in front of them, and in the glow is revealed a large porcine man, flinging a leather jerkin over his ample body, and hefting a large mattock in both hands. He moves forward to the next lantern and lights it, too. Amdor and Shanks realise their hiding places are getting less safe, but stay put for the moment. Cassius moves up the library, doesn't notice them, and investigates the fallen simulacrum. He can't hear any noises from up the corridor to the Parliament Room, and so concludes that the intruder must still be in the library. He turns round and chuckles "Nowhere to run now, little rats..."
Meanwhile, Shanks has shuffled over the bookcases to where the big man was asleep, and, after a quick and unsuccessful search of the baggage and gear there for a set of robes, improvises hastily with a blanket, folding it over himself to suggest robes in the dim light. Keith Discerns Realities and notices that Cassius, having got up recently, is barefoot, and hatches his own plan - he finds something breakable in the gear - the bottle that Cassius had half-emptied just before going to sleep. If he'd sniffed it, he'd have realised that Cassius had in fact fully emptied in and then half-refilled it during the night, but it's probably for the best that he doesn't know. Cassius lumbers slightly closer, his attention drawn by the faint disturbances the PCs are causing.
"Ah, there you are!" says Shanks, in his best EEvil Wizard voice.
"Huh?" says Cassius, confused.
"It is I, Grundloch, your master!" continues Shanks. "Put down that hammer and bring me my spell book!"
Dave wonders if this is a Parley, but then concludes he doesn't really have leverage over Cassius, and settles for a Defy Danger roll based on Cha. This is not his best stat, but even if he'd been as smooth as George Clooney, his dice roll would still have let him down.
"Really?", muses Cassius, and accusingly demands. "What's my name?". His suspicions confirmed, the big man comes forward, mattock gripped in two hands, ready to break things.
Shanks realises the game is up, and, more importantly, so does Amdor who hurls the bottle to smash on the floor in between himself and Cassius, hoping to trick the larger man into stepping onto some broken glass.
Cassius does indeed find some of the broken glass with his bare feet, and swears in pain. Shanks separates from Amdor, trying to find another way out of the library. He moves down the cavern, into a rough-hewn corridor where his breath mists in the air in front of him, and a cold seems to pierce his bones.
Limping and growling, Cassius comes towards the thief, readying his mattock to end things in a single great swing. Shanks has just enough time to see that one end of the mattock is stained, possibly with blood, before Amdor closes in on the big man to distract him.
Keith rolls a weak hit on his Hacking and Slashing, and Amdor slips the point of his sword through the gap in Cassius' unfastened jerkin, drawing blood, before being slammed back by the shaft of the mattock.
Shanks opts to Defend by whipping the blanket off his head and throwing it over Cassius, hopefully tangling up his arms and impeding his vision. He rolls a weak hit and gets 1 Hold.
Cassius turns his attention to Amdor, who's got a weapon out. Cassius balances on his good foot and prepares a big swing with the mattock. Amdor goes underneath it, lunges forward and stabs Cassius in the shoulder. It's a weak hit, so Cassius deals some damage by kneeing Amdor when he's close. This would have been a full-bore hit with the mattock if Dave hadn't spent his Hold to halve the damage.
Shanks' rapier whispers from its sheath now, and Cassius is beset by two foes at once. He twists to avoid Shanks' rapier, but Amdor's sword licks across his throat. He goes down in a spray of crimson. In the freezing cold corridor, his blood turns to red ice as it hits the floor. Amdor and Shanks turn their lantern down the corridor to the squat iron door at the end.
It bears two glittering runes, and both players Spout Lore recognising one as the rune Grundloch uses to identify himself and one as the runic symbol for Water, with a box indicating solidity over the top, hence meaning Ice. Neither of them know what the Frost Heave is yet, but at least they know there's something Icy behind the door.
Noticing the already frozen form of Cassius, the two opt not to try to open the door yet, and instead return to loot the little sleeping area Cassius came from.
Amdor's pleased to find a Nice Big Knife, which he straps on, and Shanks rifles through Grundloch's Big Box of Reagents before failing to identify any especially portable gear, and deciding that the box itself, which is about the size of an upended microwave oven, is too big to carry around with them.
They also find a few empty barrels, made of white oak, with brass banding. Various runes and symbols in iron are set into the bands. A check of the lids for residue reveals that they've been used to transport clay, but they're now as good as empty. (These are my idea, since my version of Grundloch's more a sculptor and worker in clay than an illusionst. The barrels don't only preserve clay - they'll keep anything stored in them fresh and usable when the lids are on. They'd be worth quite a bit, say, to an exotic fishmonger or caterer who wanted to be able to transport delicacies to noblemen's tables).
Also, the two have a chance to see what the simulacrum had in the pockets of its robes (not a lot), and what it was writing on. I've got a copy of the map that I've annotated and adjusted, so I give that to the players now. In addition to the map, they also have some of Grundloch's notes to refer to. He still has most of his notes about the Idol with him, but at least it will let me feed them information about the other rooms in the Hall Under the Hill.
Grundloch's notes do also mention what great luck it was to find a ready source of food here under the Hill, and especially since the Redsilk Mushrooms have healing properties. Reading that out loud, Amdor and Shanks check through Grundloch's rations and fix themselves each a bowl of 'shrooms. They decide to hole up for a short while, check the notes, and in essence Make Camp.
They get a strong hit on the roll, and opt to be "well-hidden from enemies". This isn't entirely possible, since they're actually camping on Grundloch's bed, but I interpret it (as a fan of the characters) to mean that Grundloch imagines Cassius will take care of any intruders, and is too preoccupied with his progress mastering the Idol to come back and check.
Fed, rested and newly-informed, the two retrace their steps and are confronted in the entrance to the library by three lizardmen, influenced to go there by the Frost Heave. Two of the lizardmen have shortbows, with one arrow each wrapped in oil-soaked cloth. The Frost Heave has sensed Grundloch's growing power over the Idol, and is worried, and has dispatched these three warriors to threaten to burn his precious books. It doesn't yet realise the warm blood it's been feeling nearby is that of our "heroes", and maybe it never will.
The third lizardman has a trident and a small shield, and is in charge. Before the two archers can ignite their arrows, the PCs decide to rush the lizards, and so it commands them to fire. The unaccustomed weight of the fire arrows, combined with the rushing attack of Amdor and Shanks, yields ineffective missile fire, and then it's a melee. Shanks darts past the lead lizard, trying to stop the bowmen reloading. His rapier finds a mark in one, and he moves to try to put that one between him and the other.
Amdor turns his charge into a lunge, but a disastrous roll by Keith leads to the elf almost being spitted on the lizardman's longer weapon. Amdor grits his teeth to keep from crying out in pain, thanking his lucky stars that the lizardman hadn't brought a spear, or it'd have been all the way through him.
Shanks continues to harry one of the bowmen with jabs from his rapier, but fails to pay attention to the other, who has removed something from his belt...
Amdor twists and spins like a dancer, inside the reach of the lead lizard (Keith decided to go all out here and deal an extra d6 damage but expose himself to a return attack, and then rolled a Strong Hit and 17! damage), and then runs the point of his blade straight through the lizardman's iron breastplate. The trident clatters to the floor as the lizardman collapses in agonised shock. The second bowman takes advantage of the space to hurl a missile at Amdor. I decided to play up the lizardmen's association with the Frost Heave, and made the attack a flask of supercooled brine, which crashes against Amdor's already-battered shield, chilling it and numbing the arm behind it.
However, now that it's two against two, in melee range and one pair is armed with long pointy swords and the other with shortbows, the score is soon Elves and Humans 2, Lizardmen 0. Amdor and Shanks each help themselves to a shortbow and 8 arrows, and continue on, past the Parliament, to the cavern of the Mesmerising Menagerie.
The cavern is deserted. The menagerie's gone. And all the redsilk mushrooms that used to festoon the walls are gone, too. (Grundloch did this.)
The PCs ponder for a moment, then continue on, nearly stepping on a goblin's corpse in the corridor leading to the Cavern of the Idol. This goblin seems to have died in horrible agony, its back bent like an overstrung bow. They pass two more similarly-demised goblins as they re-enter the large cavern (Grundloch did that to the goblins, too)
They move around the lower end of the cavern, studying the Scrying Pool. Neither of them dares touch it, since they've seen the note "Gaurrax?" on Grundloch's map. Shanks picks up a pebble from the floor and moves to toss it into the pool.
The pebble halts in mid air, and then is drawn over to the idol with a sharp crack. Shanks swears out loud and the two adventurers move over to the idol. They notice that the lower half of the idol is covered with old rings, swords, and even the two ends of an iron-shod staff, the wood long since rotted away. Amdor feels his sword twitch in the scabbard and backs away slightly.
Remembering the chaos that had reigned here in their last visit to this cavern, the two look around for any other occupants, but all is silent. What's going on here?
And at this point, since both the players and I were yawning, we decided to call it a night. I'm ashamed to admit that I was so tired, I forgot to do the End Of Session move. I might just have to assign the players maximum exp at the start of next session as an apology.
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It occurs to me that deliberately doing the End of Session move at the start of the next session might be a great way of recollecting what happened in the last session.
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I do usually begin the session with a recap of last time, but I do like the idea of making it slightly more formal.
I might just rename the End of Session move to What Has Gone Before... or maybe Last Time, In Dungeon World.... How about When We Last Saw Our Heroes...?
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Last time, in Dungeon World...
*cue wobbly camera effect*
I love it!
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I think we might have something here. Think of it as the credits to the Dungeon World TV show.
When you recap the last session, ask your players if any of their bonds have been resolved, and the scene where it happened, and mark XP for any which have, before replacing each with a new one. For every awesome moment (to a maximum of 3) the players recall from last session, everyone gets an XP.
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When you recap the last session, ask your players if any of their bonds have been resolved, and the scene where it happened, and mark XP for any which have, before replacing each with a new one. For every awesome moment (to a maximum of 3) the players recall from last session, everyone gets an XP.
So if they actually remember the last session, they get to double dip for XP they already earned from the end of session move? This isn't really a chore, even if one person gave the recap it would mean spotlight time for them. Why reward them further for it?
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I was imagining that this would replace the End of Session move when it was used.
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I was imagining that this would replace the End of Session move when it was used.
So was I. When I notice my players are struggling to stay awake (hopefully because both my players are working fathers of small children, and not because I suck as a GM), then I usually end the session at the next opportunity, and that makes me likely to forget the End of Session move.
As I said, I like to begin with a recap of last session anyway, and formalising it seemed like an idea worth exploring. Maybe it could be "For every cool thing someone else remembers your character doing from last session, you get an XP?"
Plus, if you award the XP at the start of the session, it might make levelling up a little quicker. Not that it's a long process now, though.
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Wonderful AP yet again Doug!
Did you find the players describing more than 'I hack and slash' or I 'discern realities' or 'I spout Lore'? To do it, do it, y'know? I suspect strongly that you guys did, it seems like from your write up that the Parley turned Defy Danger was a great example of 'mistake and correction', putting the fiction first, as too the making camp roll! I Love the 'sroomery - talk about a cool thing to re-incorporate.
It appears you have a very narratively involved little group, that seem to really been enjoying DW :)
I like your discussion with Hamish on the end of session roll as a start of session roll. 'Previously on Dungeon World'....
With perhaps the players having some questions that they could put to the group as a means of coalescing their purpose in the upcoming session?
It also gives the group a chance to discuss the fictional ramifications of anyone levelling up, and the advances they take. It allows the GM a space to formally hand out custom love letters as part of the process (if they have any).
I Like too! In fact, I think I may just start playing the end of session as 'start of session' move.
Great AP! More adventures of Amdor and Shanks! Yay!
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Drat, I keep forgetting to write up last week's session. Hopefully I'll get to do it tomorrow, and it should help me refresh my memory before the new session tomorrow evening.
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And here we go again:
We began last session with the End of Session move I forgot to do the week before, and so I introduced the session with "Last time, in Dungeon World..."
The players seemed to warm to this bit, and even with the delay in between sessions, recalled most of the salient points from the last game, and forgave me a few minor lapses.
(Here's a thing: Shanks has a bond "Amdor has my back when things go wrong". How is that bond going to be declared as resolved? When does it count?)
We return to the two adventurers studying the idol, which is festooned with the remnants of consumed magic items, and has cracks and interstices packed with Grundloch's signature magic clay. This, of course, is how Grundloch is controlling the idol - through a combination of the blood spilt in the complex to power the idol, the magic clay, and some sympathetic magic, he has impressed his will upon the idol, and is now mentally dominating the goblins and lizardmen to carry out his will. He's now heading off to put his new small army to use. It's a good thing he's not brilliant at military tactics, and that his assistant Cassius, who was better at it, came down with a slight case of death last session.
Amdor and Shanks consult the map and are highly curious about the room which "Was A Temple". It's nice and close, so they grab their stuff and head over to it.
The doors are closed, roped shut, and covered in goblin sigils, drawn in goblin blood.
The boys step over the corpse of a lizardman who died in agony (if the creatures resisted Grundloch's control, he used the idol's power to kill them, eliminating dissent), and study the door. A Discern Realities from Shanks yields no good ideas, and they're both shocked when the door moves slightly, as if shoved.
From behind them, the lizard's corpse sits up, and moans "Free me", in a long drawn-out voice, as Urlaz the captive demon struggles to make the voicebox work.
Swords emerge from scabbards as the two delvers go back to back. "Who said that?" is asked, accusingly.
Urlaz switches between pleading for release, and threatening consequences if he isn't let out. I start off by doing the drawn out hissing voice, but when my throat complains, I switch back to normal. Both players have used Charisma as a dump stat, or very close to it, so the characters don't manage to get a lot of information from Urlaz, except his name, and the fact that he doesn't know how long he's been down there. They're still not sure if he's the spirit of a long-dead member of the Order of The Idol, or something worse. Urlaz offers them treasure, but they don't bite. After scanning the doors to reassure themselves he can't get out, the duo leaves Urlaz to his own devices and heads off North, through the idol's room, and up the scree-laden slope to the Hall Under The Hill.
The slope's been nicely trodden down by 80 or so sets of feet (my own figures, and I don't tell them any number other than "several", and they make it up easily, and remember to sheath their weapons as they move through the Hall. The main doors are open now, and the guys notice that the barricades outside have gone (torn up by Grundloch's army for firewood). Also they spot that the doors have a new feature, a large deep gash across the symbol of the Idol that's on them.
(What happened here is that Grundloch got annoyed with the Hall's sentinel announcing the departure of all the goblins and lizardmen, and lashed at the anchoring runes with a powerful spell. It shut the sentinel down, and released more magic into the area for the idol to work with. Hopefully, it makes the characters more aware that Grundloch has a number of nasty strings to his bow. Metaphorically)
The two come away from the main doors, ready their lantern and head to the vault. Shanks uses pieces of soft clay and carefully removes broken tool fragments from the lock mechanism so he can pick it. He does, and the doors can be pushed inwards, allowing the two into the vault.
The two aren't fooled by my descriptions of the empty vault, with empty shelves, rusty stains on the flagstones at the back where chains used to hang, and grooved trenches for carrying away waste from the poor unfortunates chained there, and they start to search the room.
As he checks over his shoulder, Amdor could have sworn he saw a figure standing over near Shanks, but before he can call out, it's gone. Meanwhile, the shelf in front of him almost seems to rattle, and he prods it lightly. Oddly, it hinges upward, revealing a secret cubbyhole. In which is a mere length of rope. He pulls it out, and onto the floor, looking for anything more interesting in the small compartment and finding nothing.
Shanks, tapping the flagstones and wall at the rear of the room, feels the hairs on the back of his neck prickle, and whirls around, spotting another transparent figure seemingly reaching for Amdor's sword, and calls out in alarm.
That figure disappears, but another materialises far closer to Shanks, and the thief takes a leap back to put the wall to his back. The transparent figure is humanoid but it's face and outlines seems blurred, (like a photograph with a too-slow shutter speed). It reaches out a hand to Shanks, and Shanks panics, dashing for the door. The figure's hand passes through Shanks' body, and the thief feels a terrible chill grip his chest. It's only three damage, but it makes him even keener to leave.
Which is why it's such a shock when the doors slam shut, and now, clearly visible are six ghostly figures, three to each door, trapping the adventurers inside.
Amdor's blade whispers from it's scabbard, and whisks through the figures, disrupting them, although they reform a short distance away. Amdor gets a hand to the door and pulls it ajar, and Shanks hurtles through it, terrified.
As Amdor struggles to keep the door ajar, he hears a voice address him in Elven, and momentarily stops exerting himself to pay attention. Manifesting in front of him is an emaciated Elvish ghost with a slit throat.
The ghost explains why the spirits are trapped and begs Amdor and Shanks to help them. Suddenly there's a cacophony from all the spirits as they voice their various (and some quite insane) last desires. It turns out that the elf ghost wants nothing more than to see the sun again, and to be in the light once more, and it thinks Amdor's blade (which Amdor doesn't think is magical) can offer it enough purchase to get through the enchantment on the vault.
Shanks feels a twinge from the mark on his forearm. Did I mention that, since his "three good deeds" deal with the goddess who appeared to him during his Last Breath move, Shanks has had a black trefoil mark on his arm, with her symbol at the centre? Well, he has. Shanks offers his services, too, and ghosts try and ride out of the vault on a few pots of magical reagents he pinched out of Grundloch's kit. Shanks also grabs the rope from the floor (it's the Rope of Tricks) to carry, and ghosts also try and ride out on that, unbeknownst to the pair, who so far think it's just a coil of mundane rope.
Long story short, the two characters make a very creepy-feeling trip to the surface, and the cloying pressure around them dissipates in the sunlight, partly because it's what some of the ghosts want, and also because sunlight is a bane to Undead.
As the ghosts disappear, each character hears a whisper in his ear: Amdor hears the elven ghost, who thanks Amdor and tells him he's earned a favour with the ghost's family, the Dorallens.
Shanks hears a spectral whisper telling him about the secret cache in the Idol's chamber, and how to open it. He grins and, after a short moment of reflection, the two adventurers make their way back inside. (When Shanks next studies his arm, he'll discover that one of the leaves on his trefoil mark has turned gold. The players also got to mark XP).
The duo make their way back through to the carved fresco on the wall of the Idol's Chamber, and Shanks uses his new-found knowledge to open the cache, which is promptly looted. Shanks grabs the sacrificial knife, which I describe as being bronze, old, single-edged, and nasty.
Amdor helps himself to the shield, and the two each put on a pin with the Order Of The Idol's symbol on, for no other reason than they look cool. They discuss what to do next, near enough the lizardman zombie that Urlaz can almost overhear, which is why this exchange happens:
Shanks: I'd say we're almost done in here
Amdor: Still a few things left to do - we could try and deal with those flying fire things now we've got bows, and we've still got whatsisname to deal with.
Lizardman zombie: Urlaz!
Shanks: Aaah!
*Shanks makes a "let's move elsewhere" gesture to Amdor, and the two sneak away*
In fact, they sneak all the way to the Library, where they want to go through Grundloch's remaining notes, and any books they can find there to see if they mention Urlaz and how to kill him.
Not being natural readers, it takes them a little while to get organised, but they do manage eventually to worm their way through enough notes to Spout Lore, and they don't like what they come up with. They learn to expect Hellfire, and discover a few more similar demonic names in what they eventually come to realise is the Infinite Folio that's in the library. They deduce that the last syllable of Urlaz' name is key, since it denotes his lineage flows from Azogoth, a major demon, but since Urlaz isn't listed amongst that demon's captains and lieutenants, they're able to conclude he's a fairly low-ranking demon, and thus they start to imagine they might be able to take him down.
So, they hatch a plan involving the two of them tricking Urlaz out of the Temple and eventually pushing him into the Scrying Pool in the hope that the Gaurrax will attack him, and then they can finish off the presumably-wounded victor. Shanks has an idea involving using their newly-found coil of rope to lasso Urlaz, and is quite surprised when the rope picks the idea of "lasso" out of his intentions and forms itself into one. Amdor doesn't notice, and continues the plan, mentioning that they could cut tripwires from the rope. Upon Shanks hearing the word "cut", the rope picks that idea from his mind, and shivers like a snake version of Scooby-Doo. When Amdor says "cut" one more time, there's a flurry of motion as the terrified magic rope tries to hide in Shanks' backpack, whereupon Amdor draws his sword in panic, and the rope burrows to the bottom of the pack and seemingly refuses to come out.
Shanks taps his pack and makes soothing noises before it dawns upon him how insane he must look to onlookers, and giving up.
The two pack the Infinite Folio away as More Loot, and return to the Hall of the Idol, only to be brought up short as they notice a small group of goblins near the Not a Temple's closed doors. Three goblins are swathed in their brown Jawa-esque robes, but the robes are embroidered with a few symbols in black and red thread, but standing apart from them is a big goblin. Well, big *for* a goblin.
If your average goblin is the size of a halfling, this one is the size of a dwarf.
And I mention that this is a decent comparison, since this goblin is both bulky and pugnacious, and has just used the war-axe in his right hand to separate the lizardman zombie's head from it's body. This bellicose goblin is the first to notice the two delvers, and eagerly hefts both his axe, and the war-flail in his left hand.
Amdor grins, whisks his rapier from the sheath, and beckons the big gob forward.
Shanks, who is Never Caught Off Guard, has an arrow in the air before any of the robed goblins can react, but after a marvellous Volley roll, Dave only turns up a mere 1 damage.
At this point, one of the shamans (because that's what they are) calls out "STOP!", and to their surprise, the big goblin takes this advice.
Moving gingerly forward, the two adventurers engage the gobs in conversation, despite their every instinct telling them that they should be engaging them in combat.
This is Glug, the goblin chief, who's very annoyed at having his whole tribe either stolen or, in the case of the few who struggled, killed by Grundloch. It unfolds that these three shamans and the chief were in a protective magic circle carved into the floor in the Chief's quarters when the Idol's effects hit, and that's why they're not currently moving cross-country with the rest of their tribe and the remaining lizards, who the Chief also hates. They've come out of their cave to make one last check on the sigils binding in the demon, since last time he got free, it took the deaths of Too Many Goblins to put him back inside.
Even the goblin Shanks put an arrow into is fairly sanguine about it, since he was going to have to get cut anyway - the sigils on the door are drawn in his blood, and it's partly his life force sealing the door shut. They even return the arrow.
Shanks and Amdor start to wonder exactly what the hecketty hey is going on here, since these goblins are way too friendly and open, and one of the shamans points at the small pouch of coins hanging from Shanks' belt (the ones that he looted from the offerings in the stone circle at the very start of the adventure), and declares that the two adventurers are clearly their allies, having been summoned to, and taken their payment from the stone circle. His only regret is that the shamans and chief weren't there to greet the warriors, when the unfortunate loss of goblin warriors which has happened when they met the warriors could have been prevented.
Shanks and Amdor are still on the back foot, conversationally speaking, but since the shamans and the Chief (who doesn't speak a lot of Common, and has the shamans translating for him) have a fairly similar aim to theirs at this point, namely Find Wizard, Kill Wizard, they are gently persuaded to accompany the gobs on their way to go and do it. So they do.
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(Here's a thing: Shanks has a bond "Amdor has my back when things go wrong". How is that bond going to be declared as resolved? When does it count?)
Easy answer: whenever the players are done with it. In the fiction, that could result from Amdor leaving Shanks out to dry ("I thought you had my back, man!") or Shanks being increasingly reckless ("Look man, you know I have your back, but the shit you're doing is getting crazy.") Or it could just be that it's an accepted part of both characters that doesn't need to be played to anymore, i.e. you're bored with that as a bond, so you agree to pick something else.
I'm not sure what you mean by "when does it count". It's a bond, so it counts mechanically whenever you're using the aid/interfere move, and it counts fictionally whenever someone chooses to make it relevant.
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And, in yesterday's session, Amdor was too busy trying to kill a naughty wizard and avoid a mind-dominated lizardman berserker, that Shanks almost got his right hand bitten off by another grumpy lizard.
So, that bond has changed a bit.
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\m/
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It was a delightful session. Totally chaotic fight.
D>
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Naughty Wizards rule :)
Especially ones with reptilian pets!
Can't wait to read the next instalment Doug. What level have the lads obtained? Any cool new moves they have taken and worked with in the story?
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The boys are still level 2, but they're moving on up. Amdor's moving slightly faster than Shanks, because as a fighter, he gets XP from worthy opponents. There were several of those in the last session, too.
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So, we fade back in to find our heroes following the surprisingly narrow tracks of almost 100 pairs of feet (Grundloch has them moving in a tight column so he doesn't have to control too many different vectors) as those feet head towards what the two adventurers realise with horror is almost certainly Battlemoor.
With their goblins allies moving closely along with them, the delvers increase their pace - their intention is to catch up with Grundloch before he reaches the town and people start dying.
They spot a glow up ahead and, as they come to a slight rise, work out that there's a large fire in a hollow behind it. Hunkering down, there's a short pause while they work out how to proceed.
Shanks motions the other five to remain still, and creeps off into the night, quiet as a mouse, deadly as a snake. He crests the rise, and notices a lizardman stood on guard. Shanks Spouts Lore and remembers that lizardmen are mostly hunters by scent, and tries to remain downwind of him as he moves around the lip of the hollow. Deeper into the hollow, two concentric rings of robed goblins sat still around a large bonfire. Four larger figures are also huddled around the fire, sat 90 degrees apart from each other. They're all swathed in robes, and Shanks can't tell if one of them's Grundloch, if at all. Shanks moves on past the scaly guard, and continues down the hill into the hollow.
Meanwhile, Amdor's content to wait for Shanks to return, but is pre-empted by Glug the goblin chief. Using Thurgill the Shaman as an interpreter, the chieftain outlines a plan, and asks Amdor to use his Elven Magic Powers in concert with the shamans as Glug draws attention.
Amdor, slightly confused, agrees that he has the same powers as most elves, meaning, None At All, and this satisfies the chief, through translation errors.
The Chief moves up the hill, and attracts the attention of the guard. The lizardman's makes no overt moves, but his eyes follow the chief's movements.
Down in the hollow, Shanks is momentarily concerned when every single goblin head moves as one to look up the slope to where the action is.
Moving in an eerie lockstep, all the lizardmen on guard turn and march up the slope to where Glug is attracting their attention.
Up at that point, Amdor has moved into cover near a stunted tree to back up Glug. From below him, he hears one of the shamans utter a brief chant, and is mildly perturbed when a globe of hateful acid whisks over his shoulder and splashes onto the hillside above him. His venomous look at the shamans is lost in the darkness.
Shanks moves up behind the last lizardmen moving up the slope, and silently draws the big bronze sacrificial dagger he looted recently. He matches strides with the reptile, and then lunges out with the knife. Dave rolls very poorly on his Backstab, and barely draws blood. The lizardman jerks in pain, and then turns round, colour and animation returning to his eyes as he shakes his head, as if awaking from sleep.
Hissing like an angry kettle, he swings at the thief, knocking him back. All the goblins turn as one to regard Shanks.
The remaining lizardmen reach the top of the rise, and face the goblin chieftain in a pack. The chief takes a deep breath and drops to his knees. Then, things start to move quickly. Metallic noises ring out as the lizardmen draw weapons and rush at the goblin chieftain. The shamans at the bottom of the hill conjure up a large reeking mist which rushes up to surround the lizardmen, who begin choking and writhing. One stumbles out of the cloud, clutching his chest, and Amdor moves to engage him.
More bad dice rolls, and Amdor's initial attack is batted aside by the reptilian warrior, who sets his spear and charges at the elf, intending to skewer him to the stunted tree. Only Amdor's armour and agility prevent him from being run through, but he still feels blood trickling down his abdomen from the wound. He uses the spear as purchase, and opens the lizardman's throat with a vicious slash.
A few yards away, the chief, still holding his breath, plunges into the stinking clouds and begins smashing kneecaps and hacking at scaled vitals while the lizardmen are still incapacitated with racking coughs and wheezes. Catlike, Amdor picks off a few lizards who stumble out of the roiling murk.
Down in the hollow, Shanks feints, ducks and rolls to escape spear thrusts from the lizardman, before finally getting enough space to draw his rapier with his other hand and stab the lizardman through the belly, putting him down. He drops on top of him to minimise his profile, and finishes him off with the sacrificial dagger. The lizardman gasps in agony as his remaining life force is converted into magic energy, and abruptly a red glow erupts from under the robes of one of the larger figures as Grundloch's replica clay idol drinks the free magic and surges to be free.
As the Master of Clay struggles to control his Idol, he issues the goblins with a single simple mental command: Get Him!
The goblins scramble after Shanks, who, aided by fear, legs it off towards where he remembers Amdor and his allies being.
(there's a brief interlude here where coffees are refreshed, dogs are let in or out, and this gives Keith enough time to find and cue up the Benny Hill Theme Tune, aka Yakety Sax for Shanks' next action. We all have a good laugh)
The lizardmen guards almost dealt with, Amdor leaves the last couple to Glug and dashes down the slope towards the figure he's identified as Grundloch (the one with shafts of ruby light shooting from gaps in his voluminous robes). He gets almost with striking distance before the wizard notices him and hurls his vicious striking spell at him. Amdor darts sideways at what turns out to be the last moment and the blast hits nothing but the hillside, leaving a gash the length of a man in the soil.
Amdor's blade leaves a noise like tearing cloth in the air as he slashes at Grundloch's chest, and for once the dice seem to be on the players' side, as he hits the wizard for a good two-thirds of his hit points, slicing through his robes to draw blood, and furthermore, to cut deep into the child-sized clay idol Grundloch's clutching close to his chest. Abruptly Shanks hears the sounds of coordinated pursuit behind him devolve into confused noise of no-longer mind-controlled goblins.
Amdor's big hit on Grundloch was boosted with an additional d6 damage for inviting an attack from the wizard, and Grundloch uses his remaining vestiges of control over his troops to throw the deadliest into the fray. The three figures near the fire leap to their feet and throw their heavy robes off, revealing their well-muscled and nearly naked bodies. Scars, brands and trophies adorn the lizardmen berserkers as they roar and bellow their battle cries.
Slaver drips from the first warrior's gaping mouth as it hefts two cleaver-shaped swords and dashes through the suddenly separating* goblin crowd to launch itself at Shanks.
*(I described this bit as "like Moses and the parting of the Green Sea". Dave was suitably disturbed)
Two lizardmen move to support Grundloch who is beset by a resolute Amdor. Amdor attempts to manoeuvre to put the wizard between himself and a lizardman's initial charge, but realises that will leave his back open to the other berserker.
At the point, Glug the goblin chief charges out of the darkness and tackles the second berserker, the momentum carrying both goblin and lizardman into the bonfire.
Seeing their chieftain in action and peril, the goblins swarm to the fire to assist...
Amdor presses his attack against Grundloch, sanguine at the prospect of taking several hits from the lizardman berserker. The first roll I ask Amdor to make is Defy Danger using +INT since he's having to think and react quickly, but subsequent ones are based on DEX after that first one doesn't go At All Well and I quickly realise that I've misjudged the odds here as both adventurers are rolling poorly, and things begin to look grim.
Shanks is taken off-guard by the lizardman's rush, Dave rolls poorly on a Hack & Slash and I give him the choice of taking damage or being separated from his rapier as he's hurled aside. He chooses the latter. The lizardman takes him in a bear hug, droplets of saliva spattering the thief's clothing as the lizardman opens his mouth to bite him. Shanks wriggles free and hurls the contents of a pot of magical reagents into the lizard's face, and rolls a miss, so all that does is make the lizard angrier.
Shanks pulls the bronze dagger and tries to stab the enraged reptile, but rolls equally poorly, and the lizard grabs his arm, claws digging into the flesh to make him drop the dagger as the lizardman fastens his jaws around Shanks right forearm and bites down hard. Shanks feels teeth meet together in his flesh as bones protest under the pressure and screams in pain.
I should note at this point that I'm giving each player a couple of exchanges before I shift back to the other, giving the occasional update on what's happening around them - instead of a more usual D&D "each person gets one action in a round" mode. I've not really done this before, so I'm just trying to keep things moving.
Amdor rains blows onto Grundloch's guard, feeling the clay-like hardness of the wizard's muscular flesh turn aside most of his jabs and swipes, still trying to avoid the berserk lizard and finish the spell-caster. There's a frantic exchange of blows that leaves Amdor floored for a second, before he shucks off his backpack and shield for greater manouevrability. Finally, Keith rolls well, and, at the cost of taking an axe in the upper thigh from the lizardman, launches a thrust at Grundloch's vitals that pierces robe, clay idol, flesh, guts, flesh, and finally robes again and the point of his heirloom blade bursts from the wizard's back. Grundloch grunts and collapses face down onto the floor, crushing the idol underneath him as he goes.
At this point, the light dully emanating from the replica clay idol flares up for a second as the combination of blood, bloodstone fragments and magic clay tries to hold together, before it collapses into a undifferentiated blob crushed under the wizard's body. There's a tiny pause before, miles away, an explosion is heard, muffled at the very first, but then echoing louder and louder as the sympathetic link between replica and real idol damages the larger idol back at the Hall Under the Hill as the little one is mangled out of shape. The sound of the explosion washes over the characters as they see, in the direction of the Hall, a serpentine shaft of red light thrash and writhe against the sky.
The lizardman gnawing on Shanks loosens it's grip for one breath, and Shanks seizes the opportunity to jam three vials of Oil of Tagit into it's face. Dave rolls a Volley, and even though it requires him to use up all of his ammunition, the lizardman staggers, lets out a long yawn, and collapses, asleep. Trying with his other handto stem the free flow of blood from his wrist, Shanks moves back to rejoin Amdor, who has finished his lizardman opponent off with a thrust through it's open mouth and out of the back of it's head.
The goblin tribe have largely extinguished the fire, some of them by using up the water rations Grundloch made them bring from the lake, some of them by using another readily-available source of liquid, to Amdor's intense disgust.
Glug the goblin emerges from the steaming bonfire, singed and blackened but very much alive. The shamans appear from the shadows and dispense a restorative brew to the chief and overly-eager members of the tribe who've been burnt.
As Amdor's looting Grundloch's corpse for a pouch of gemstones (they formed the eyes of the clay menagerie back in the Hall Under the Hill) and also getting the head off it to claim the bounty the players have decided is on it (and I'm not going to tell them otherwise just yet), the shamans offer "Wound Binding?" to him and Shanks. Both nod gratefully, but are unprepared for the shamans to produce pouches of what looks like tobacco, and a flat bowl from under their robes, vigorously chew the herbs to soften them before applying them as a poultice to their wounds. It's messy and smelly and unhygenic, and if I hadn't told them it also restored 5 hit points, I doubt the players would have gone along with it. But, since this more than doubles Shanks' remaining hit points, they're happy.
The chief calls all the tribe to order, and, amazingly, they stand up and salute their "brave allies" before turning on their heels and walking off in the direction of home, where the geyser of red power still fountains up into the sky, although less brightly than before.
Having looted all the remaining bodies to their heart's content, Amdor and Shanks decide to head back to the city.
After ten minutes walk through the dark, they're accosted by a nervous peasant boy with a lantern. The boy's about 15 or 16 years old, but the crossbow he's got looks to have him beat by a few years. Not wanting to argue, the exhausted adventurers are persuaded by Hendrik the miller's son to rest up in the barn before he'll take them into the city in the morning.
And, after remembering this week to do the End of Session move, is that.
Now I just have to hopefully plan in most of the directions the PCs might go so that I'm not caught flat-footed by What Happens Next...
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So full of WIN Doug :)
I love the climatic battle, the near death of the protagonists and your sense of 'oh oh' as the rolls started being miss after miss. Did it help to have a few sessions under your belt and realise that there are many options for you as a GM on a miss (to make a move)? You seemed to handle it with aplomb!
The alliance with the goblins is pure gold. I don't know if you have read AW, but you have just set up the beginnings of a NPC-PC-NPC triangle that is full of promise. Just re-incorporate another faction or NPC that is at odds with either the players or the goblins, and then amenable to the other faction. The Black Guauntlet springs to mind as an obvious choice... Introduce a situation that pits all three together, with a need or want that drives the scene: instant adventure!
Don't stress about not having anything to go on, or preparing for every direction the players may go. Make a front, an impending doom (countdown) with associated grim portents, a few monsters you like the sound of and maybe a dungeon. Tie it all together with a situation and all will be well. Reincorporate as much as you can of what you and the players have already authored. Just rely on the moves and the conversation to guide you.
Maybe the lads want to carouse when they return to Battlemoore? Maybe that ceremonial dagger that Shanks is hanging onto carries far more baggage than he realises? I'm sure the Spanterhook Theives guild will be very interested in what the boys discovered in the hall under the hill!
Thanks for the AP Doug, wonderful stuff! More please!
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I definitely have a couple of ideas for what might happen if the guys carouse; I've asked Keith and Dave to imagine another couple of adventurers they might meet or have already run into before.
I do want to bring in the Black Gauntlet, too, but I'm not sure I left enough clues in the Halls of the Idol that the BG were behind arming the goblins. Maybe Amdor will get his shield* or his armour **repaired and recognise the maker's mark on the items in the forge. Maybe something better. I'd be content to back-burner the goblins for a while, though, since they're unlikely to come into Battlemoor looking for either Amdor or Shanks.
I do have another idea involving Hawken the Skinner from the very start of the last adventure, and him being worried about a monster that's taken up residence somewhere near him and is disrupting the local fauna. I might develop that a bit.
Thank you for the feedback, Noofy - I know at least one of the players is tickled pink by the idea that people read and enjoy the session reports.
*it's got at least one hole melted in it by firefly spit.
**it too has taken a battering from lizardmen.
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So, the session begins, with new character sheets again, and wouldn't you know it, the only misprinted ones in the new character sheets are the Fighter and the Thief. The changes to Hit Points cause a certain amount of conversation, with both players keen to see how this, and the new rules on variable monster damage, will work in play.
Also, Keith notices that from the rules on XP, that Amdor's levelled up, and, upon reading the new Moves involving sacrificing Armour to mitigate damage, opts for Iron Hide as his new move.
Dave bemoans Shanks' lagging behind, but I remind him that now misses yield XP, and also his alignment has finally stabilised now that the Chaotic option exists. Especially since he thinks that's the way he's been playing Shanks all along.
So, we open with the two PCs blissfully asleep in a barn, waking up, being given a basic breakfast by Hendrik the miller's son, and then escorted to the road by him, which they pay him for in stories of derring do and bravery. Hendrick may yet reappear, but for the moment, he bids them farewell and lets them on their way to Battlemoor.
Battlemoor! I get a chance to describe it, so it's essentially a big hill-fort, and it's Market Day (because I know the characters want to buy stuff and fence items). Also, I mention the bright tents and banners of a company of travelling players, partly because I've got something I want to do later to the characters involving it, but also as a bit of colour, and an option for them to go and have fun if they want.
First off, the two opt for finding a place to claim the bounty on Grundloch's head, mainly so they don't have to keep carrying around a head in a sack. They find the Sheriff's office, snatch the Wanted Poster of Grundloch from the notice board, notice another poster for a bandit called Eisen Helmbreaker, and head on inside.
The Sheriff isn't in, but one of his lackeys verifies their claim, after some suspicion and a warning that if they've killed someone who just happens to look like Grundloch, their ignorance will not be a defence to a charge of murder.
Stealing quite shamelessly from both Firefly and A Song of Ice and Fire, the deputy recants a tale of a rash of midget murders when a bounty was placed on a notoriously short human arsonist. The characters are curious, and Shanks even dredges his knowledge of Criminal Ways to identify the villain as Keneb Firesprite. Now, I thought this might just have been a throwaway detail, but Keneb may need to make an appearance at some point...
We debate slightly over what Grundloch's head might be worth, and eventually settle on 75g, roughly halfway between a run-of-the-mill killing and an assassination on the price lists. Keith is tickled by the idea of a standard run of the mill killing.
But, eventually the deputy is satisfied, and issues the two of them with a receipt for the head, stamps it to make it official, and heads to another room to unlock the safe where all the cash is. Shanks is too busy listening to the noises from the safe to pay too much attention to what his larcenous hands are doing, which is why, when Dave rolls a miss on attempting to steal one of the official stamps, he accidentally knocks the pot of red ink all over the desk, before attempting to mop it up with various parchments.
Shanks cries out in innocent alarm, and the deputy returns to the main office with a small sack of coins.
"Here you go. 70 gold", says the deputy.
"Erm..." say Amdor, "Didn't we say 75?"
"Minus the Cleaning Up My Desk and Several Destroyed Sheets of Vellum Tax".
Not wishing to argue, an angry Amdor and a red-handed (literally) Shanks leave the office.
Then begins a shopping expedition. Amdor trades in his chainmail and hands over coin to have a breastplate and scale made to fit him, paying extra for quick results. He also notices that the maker's mark on some of the armour in the shop is the same as on the armour on some of the goblins back at the Hall Under The Hill (this is because the Black Gauntlet bought it to supply them, but Amdor doesn't know that) Meanwhile, Shanks hunts for a duelling rapier since he can now afford one, but his first roll on Supply yields another big Miss, hence the weaponsmith he encounters refuses point blank to deal with the scruffy, bloody handed rogue, and tells him to get lost. The weaponsmith doesn't want noble customers frightened off if any of them should happen by to discuss rapiers and finely engraved crossbows.
On a happy note, these two misses have left Shanks with enough XP to level up.
Amdor visits a jeweller's, and is impressed with the security, while trying to fence off the pouch of gemstones they got from Grundloch's pockets. The Imbued status of the gemstones attracts the elven jeweller, who believes this might make the gemstones easier to enchant, or possibly result in magical properties if they're used in crafting, and thus he's easy to persuade. He offers Amdor a large sum of money for the lot (250g), which the fighter gladly accepts.
Meanwhile, Shanks has used his knowledge of Criminal Dealings to Spout Lore that fences and dealers in shady merchandise often have a sprig of mistletoe on their signs to indicate this, and has indeed spotted such a spring sticking out of a hat on a milliner's sign. Hence, he heads in there and casually utters a few code phrases to indicate that he is In The Know, and Willing to Buy and Sell.
The shopkeeper recognises the words, if not the speaker, and the two head into the back to conduct mutual dodgy deals. Shanks comes out of the deal with new throwing knives and a cameo ring for dispensing poison, but sadly, not a blowpipe and darts which he'd hoped for.
The two meet up again in the street, and Amdor notices that Shanks, despite visiting a hat store, hasn't bought a hat. Shanks, for his part, notices that Amdor isn't wearing his armour or carrying his shield. Neither of them notice that they're being scrutinised by a member of the Spanterhook Thieves. Shanks, having given the code phrases, is off-limits as a visiting professional, but Amdor isn't, and thus, unbeknownst to our heroes, a plan is hatched.
Shanks makes one more attempt to find anyone who might be selling fine duelling rapiers, and rolls a Strong Hit on a Supply move. He not only finds one, but gets a decent discount on it.
Meanwhile, Amdor is checking out maker's marks for every seller he can find, and indeed, most of them were also present on the weapons or armour on the goblins and lizardmen he encountered recently. Amdor attempts to Spout Lore regarding goblins and their weapons, but rolls another Miss, so not only does he not reach any conclusions, but he finds at the end of his wandering that his pouch has been expertly slit, and that a good chunk of his coin is missing. Luckily, he paid for his armour in advance.
The two rendezvous at the coaching inn, where they intend to rest up for a day or two, until Amdor's armour is ready, and then head out. Their companions in the inn are mostly merchants and a few caravan guard captains, who mention the dreadful bandit Eisen Helmbreaker again.
The two adventurers dine well, and drink well, exchanging drinks and stories with their companions. Then, entering the common room come the travelling players, or at least, those few of them with portable acts or convincing voices.
"Come!" they say "See the awesome marksmanship of Seamus! Thrill to the tricks of Niknak! Witness the fiery powers of Vladimir! All on show at Novak's Travelling Carnival!" (and here I'm glad that neither of the players attend the LARP I go to, because I have in fact nicked this lock-stock and barrel from there)
And, apart from a juggler and sword swallower doing minor tricks to entertain the crowd, and as a hint at what greater delights might be on offer at the main show at midnight, a fortune teller is making a round of the bar. I describe her as the classic gypsy fortune teller, all silk scarves, bangles and big silvery ear-rings.
Shanks, as a fan of the short con well done, takes her up on her offer and asks her to divine Amdor's fortune. She produces a pouch of runestones, and asks Amdor to draw out five for his fate. Amdor chooses The Sword, The Gods, Life, The Demons, and Death, and is thus informed that his is a hero's fate, and that he will stand between good and evil, life and death, and make his way entirely by his skill with his sword.
Discerning realities, Shanks detects a hint of cold reading in the interpretation of the tiles, but also a worrying hint that there might be more to this than just a clever woman playing on the gullible.
The fortune teller offers Amdor the same choice; does he want to pay to have Shanks' fortune told, and sportingly, he does.
The tiles are returned to the bag, and the bag is re-tied and shaken, before being untied and offered to Shanks.
Shanks reaches into the bag, and feels the tiles almost skitter away from his grasp. He twists his hand left and right and finally grabs a tile and brings it triumphantly from the bag, to the relief of Amdor, who thought Shanks was drawing out whatever joke he was playing a little too long.
The tile is blank. Shanks turns it over in his hand, only to reveal another blank side. The look on the fortune teller's face suggests that this isn't a usual occurrence.
She accuses Shanks of slipping in a blank tile. Shanks protests his innocence, and, in his haste to show that there's nothing up his sleeves, reveals his still faintly-red hands, and the Mark on his left forearm. The fortune teller identifies the symbol on the mark as a combination of Hearth, Home and Children, but maintains that her pouch of runestones doesn't have a blank in it. She demands that Shanks draw again, properly this time.
Shanks reaches into the bag, and withdraws another blank tile. And another. And another.
Colour fades from the fortune teller's face and, all pretence aside, she whispers in a voice suddenly free of artifice and accent "What did you do? What's going on?"
Shanks, continuing to pull blank tiles from the bag, can only shrug.
The fortune teller, suddenly afraid, pulls the bag from Shanks, scoops the tiles back into it, and throws the two gold pieces the adventurers paid her back onto the table, before fleeing. Moments later, all the travelling players are gone from the inn.
The two adventurers sit in silence for a moment or two before Shanks deflates the tension with "Is it my round?" and Amdor gratefully answers "Heck yes!".
Shanks takes a trip to the bar, where he's flirted with by a comely barmaid, and, when he responds in kind, the two of them wander off to "discuss matters in private", while Amdor enjoys a goblet of special mead.
Then, since he's very tired, Amdor heads for bed. The reason he's very tired, is of course, because the mead was drugged. Drugged by the Spanterhook Thieves, those rascals.
Amdor comes to; there's a scent of roasting meat in the air and he idly thinks about breakfast, except that it's still dark outside, and he can see that because the window shutters are open, and of course there's the screaming.
The screaming also wakes Shanks, who is lying in the street behind the inn with a lump on the back of his head like half a pickled egg, from where he's been expertly sapped. A quick and reflexive check of his possessions yields nothing missing, which mystifies him. He shakes his head to clear it and identifies the room the screaming's coming from. The one with open shutters! Their room!
Amdor sits bolt upright in bed. In front of him a skinny human clad in dark grey is desperately trying to loose his grip on Amdor's sword, which remains resolutely stuck in it's scabbard. Furthermore, wisps of smoke and a sizzling noise are coming from the thief's right hand, where the hilt of the sword appears to be burning through his gloves and flesh as if it were red-hot.
Amdor moves his legs under himself and then launches himself at the intruder, knocking him to the floor, but not dislodging the sword, which continues to burn the young man's flesh.
Shanks appears at the windowsill, leaping into the room like a master of parkour. Noises are beginning to come from elsewhere in the inn as the screaming continues.
Between the two of them, the adventurers subdue the intruder. Amdor reaches out for the sword, which seems almost to leap into his hand, cool as a summer stream.
Finally roused, the innkeeper hammers on their door, which Amdor blocked with a chair before he slept. The obstruction is removed, and the red-faced man begins a torrent of hissed words. During this conversation, the thief shudders and dies. Eventually, after a number of confused exchanges including
"I was unconscious outside"
and
"well, it's never done it before"
the corpse is unceremoniously flung out of the window and dragged by the innkeeper's son to the the midden.
"We'll talk more in the morning", says the innkeeper.
"No. We'll say nothing about this in the morning", says Amdor, and, since it's getting late, we opt for the End Of Session move there. Shanks levels up now, since he's got the pencil out.
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Oh Ho! The plot thickens! I really wish I played in your LARP, Doug - The travelling minstrels sound amazing!
I love the way you used the steading moves to snowball the story in unexpected ways. Far more than a 'player's turn', the shopping trip and bounty collecting and subsequent carouse turned up all sorts of neat hooks. I personally can't wait for Messers Helmbreaker and Firesprite to turn up in future adventures!
And all that without one hack and slash, volley or defend. Awesome :)
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Thanks, Noofy!
And I can post a few pictures of the larp if you want to see them...
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Sure! I'll Show mine :)
(http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5297/5544869698_66eab75340.jpg)
(http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5297/5544319591_e61af1734e.jpg)
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Those are some hot costumes!
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Now, I apologise for not having updated this in a while. A summary of the events in the game will follow, and then I can get back to Actual Play reports as the sessions occur. Oh, and I'll post a few lrp photos.
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So, Amdor and Shanks have made enemies of the Spanterhook Guild, after Amdor's sword magically maimed and killed a thief who tried to steal it, so, the two of them tried to find their hideout, using Amdor as a stalking horse, and Shanks donning a monk's habit to follow at a distance.
This leads them through the warehouse district, where they completely fail to understand the clues that might have lead them to the hideout, and then into a botched ambush which leaves two thugs dead, and one cutpurse dreadfully maimed and accidentally poisoned after a self-inflicted accident.
The two take the newly-one-handed cutpurse to an apothecary while he recovers, and bump into a bulky moustachioed figure, the town's actual Sheriff. He allows them to finish their business with the thief, before questioning them about their motives, actions and all the time seems to be troubled by a foul odour in his nostrils, before passing on more information and suggesting that they get out of town for a while and try and bring Eirik Helmbreaker to ground, while the Spanterhook Guild loses interest in them.
They spend a night in the barracks, the Sheriff's idea to keep them safe from thiefly attentions in the night, and in the morning, collect Amdor's new armour before venturing out, equipped for hunting.
For the next session, our chum Greg is in town, and through a long series of text messages, he creates a Ranger character for a cameo appearance, and this proves very useful for the party, since there are tracks to be followed and wilderness to be braved.
Gilthanas (the name of an old favourite character of Gregs) is a leathery fellow, sharp-eyed and hooded, bearing two swords under his camouflaged clothes, and followed everywhere by a sinewy and savage wolf called Tok.
The two adventurers first encounter Gil the Ranger taking a lunch at a farm up in the hills north of Battlemoor, and then Shanks and Gil realise they've crossed paths before over the Goblet of Shun affair. Amdor brushes their concerns aside and suggests the three team up to take down Eirik.
Two days of tracking and weird footprints leave the trio outside a hunting lodge, ready to take on Eirik and his gang, rumoured to number around eight or ten. Tok's been showing signs of caution and fear of the unnatural for hours, and the three have no idea what they'll face in there, which is why they're surprised when they see Eirik dashing down the valley towards them.
A mess erupts - of fire arrows, frenzied wolf howls and hideous growls from within. A monstrosity squats within, half man and half troll (despite the impossibility of that), and surrounding it, bones and bones.
Eventually, the party wins out over the monstrosity, setting the hunting lodge ablaze in the process, and finding out the secret behind Eirik's reputation - Quercer, one of Eirik's gang is an illusionist, and had been modifying the gang's appearances between engagements. Shanks dons a magic Hat of Illusion, and takes on Eirik's appearance and is nearly maimed by Tok after Gilthanas thinks he spots Eirik escaping and sets the wolf to "Sic'Im!". Eventually, Shanks sheds the hat, and Tok is persuaded eventually to heel. Greg regrets taking the Savage and Forgetful qualities for his companion.
So, that's what's gone by, and next session I'll get back to full reports. I'm thinking about doing something drastic to the gameworld. Possibly a demonic invasion.
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Oh how wonderful Doug! Tok and Gilthanis make a fine addition to the ragtag bunch. Savage and Forgetful? puts the Dire Wolves of Stark et al to shame :)
Did you have any of the antagonists worked out after Battlemoore? Was it a mini-front that you had for Eirik and co or just 'play to see what happens'? Either way it worked beautifully.
So excited to hear about your campaign front-building, a demon invasion sounds suitably dire and epic at the same time! Hmmmmm, how could you re-incorporate what has come to pass and the events in previous adventures and tie it all together in a synergistic, diabolical conquest? Ooooooh, the possibilities. On a side note, is it just me, or does the 'Goblet of Shun Affair' drive a splinter of curiosity into your mind?
Have you got a campaign map going? Obviously you have Battlemoore and the Hall under the Hill and the hills north of town.... Where else have the PC's been, where did the Goblet of Shun affair take place? Where will the Demons spew forth?
What a great AP. I hope Greg can make a few more games, it would be a shame to see Gilthanis fade into the forest as it were. Have the lads levelled again? How are they finding their mid-level moves and advances? Does it change the nature of the narrative much? We found it did (in a good, heroic way).
Oh, and LARP pics? :) Thanks for sharing mate.
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Your reports are so good! I really like how you continually cforeshadowed threats, made the adventure your own by focusing on the master of clay aspect, and really pushed the threat of the idol into immediate events. Overall, really inspiring.
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Larping photos:
(http://a2.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/307230_10150444205909741_1132708781_n.jpg)
This first one is the most current. I'm on the right, because I help run games for Profound Decisions in the UK. This image may help you pick me out of the pictures that follow.
(http://a4.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash2/38402_414357508250_671608250_4635223_3777788_n.jpg)
This is one of Profound Decisions' games: Maelstrom, essentially the conquest of the New World by the colonial powers of Europe, but with the fantasy dial turned up to 10. These people are all watching a nativity play put on by a group of snake people who worship a rat, and a reformed demon. It makes sense in context.
(http://a8.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash2/38769_10150231679865206_509050205_13772021_4296242_n.jpg)
That's me at the front, in the long coat, with the blunderbuss across my back. We are all happy because we've just tested the world's first flamethrower (or, in the terminology of the game, Portable Dragon Cannon) on an annoying angel. And it has worked, superbly.
(http://a8.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash2/19052_265909770971_716875971_4329101_1409571_n.jpg)
Different system now - this is me as a fighting healer at the Lorien Trust. My first attempt at european style maille. I've got better since.
(http://a4.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-prn1/19052_265881075971_716875971_4328828_2247400_n.jpg)
Here we all are, playing monsters at a Lorien Trust event, hence the simple and re-usable kit.
(http://a6.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/4672_98819737580_733527580_2482943_372509_n.jpg)
I'm in the green shirt and gold armour, because I'm playing the Champion of this particular nation (the Dragons). The gold armour is an in-game artifact. It's practically indestructible, and it makes the person wearing it fairly tough.
(http://a7.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/4525_202970440093_826375093_7131922_3640615_n.jpg)
Back to Maelstrom. That's me, and our mercenary company's quartermaster. Yes, that's a larp-safe crowbar. It's even got an engraving on it.
(http://a8.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc7/2612_139357465533_902175533_6274310_5519332_n.jpg)
No one ever notices I'm in this one. I'm behind the pretty lady.
(http://a6.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc7/191_10176282395_635752395_635511_7114_n.jpg)
The chain of events that lead to this picture would make your head spin.
(http://a4.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/2101_115837130290_624060290_5490897_1143_n.jpg)
Again, I'm behind the pretty lady.
(http://a5.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/2612_139347340533_902175533_6273931_3712551_n.jpg)
One last one for now. That's me at the front. I'm carefully breaking all the bones of the corpse on the floor in the hope that we'll thus be able to throw it further. Gnollish games of skill and dexterity are peculiar things.
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Wonderful! I'll most certainly have to make it to a British event sometime soon, though the thought of getting kit through customs? That will be interesting. Thanks for Sharing Doug!
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Yes, getting kit through customs can be fun. I used to look after a large bag of replica firearms for some chums from Northern Ireland who were sick of the trouble they had getting them into and out of the country.
Onwards to adventure!
Two days have passed uneventfully, and the three adventurers and one wolf are approaching Battlemoor, and at the distance they notice the gates are closed and the walls manned.
A thin cry of "Halt and be recognised!" reaches them on the light breeze, and the three delvers halt in their tracks. Gilthanas makes a few clicking sounds in his throat, and Tok the wolf barks once before heading off away from the city.
"Told him to go hunt his own meals for a few days", grunts the ranger. "Walls aren't his favourite places". (Greg has returned to his home Down South, and Gilthanas is playing a nominal part in this adventure to make sure he gets his share of the cash, but doesn't get in the way)
The three men move slowly forward towards the walls, and Amdor studies the troops' deployment on the walls - he Discerns Realities and notices that they're looking in both directions, and armed with a mixture of polearms and crossbows, so he realises they're alert for threats in both directions.
Amdor cries out their fidelities, mentioning that they're working with the Sheriff, which causes a certain amount of consternation on the gate, which dies away as two soldiers clamber down from the gate and the portcullis is gradually raised, so the three pass through it, before being held up and forced to peace-bond their weapons into their sheaths. I narrate Gilthanas complying first, to encourage the other two to act. No one mentions that Amdor has a big knife concealed in his boot, or that Shanks has several smaller knives about his person, or that Eirik Helmbreaker's warhammer is wrapped in canvas inside a sack over someone's shoulder, and the soldiers don't search them closely. Knowing that they've got options, even if their main weapons are briefly out of commission, the adventurers make their way into the city, chatting among themselves about what's happened to make this settlement so newly suspicious.
And it is. Very suspicious. The group are stopped twice by patrols of soldiers as they move through the town, the first a simple perfunctory check that their weapons are bonded, but the second group contains a soldier who remembers Amdor and Shanks from their stay in the barracks, and a longer conversation ensues.
It transpires that the Sheriff has been poisoned by forces unknown, and with the ruling lords still absent (as they have been for nine months now*), the Lieutenant in charge of the barracks has declared martial law in the city, while the entire town is searched. Shanks realises that's a massive and unwise action, because there aren't enough soldiers to cover the whole settlement very quickly, but has the good sense to keep his mouth shut. The delvers ask if they can see the Sheriff, but are told he isn't seeing anyone right now.
The sergeant of the patrol pulls out a scrap of paper from his sleeve, and scrawls on it with a stick of charcoal - it's a request to the landlord of the Silver Stag Inn to find these good men a bed for the night, and to grant them credit because they can't get their bounty money until the Sheriff recovers.
Amdor and Shanks share a glance at the thought of returning to the Silver Stag, but realise it's probably useless to argue the point, and, bidding the soldiers good luck, the party heads for the Inn.
As they enter the Inn, the innkeeper looks up in the middle of filling a tankard from a cask under the bar and the colour drains from his face as he goes still, and only the dripping of ale on the floor is audible.
"You!" he splutters eventually. "I can't believe you...you came back here". Amdor grins, moving forward with the order in his hand.
"I can't believe it either. Read this and then find us a room, won't you?"
The innkeeper has by now turned a marvellous shade of purple, and Shanks revels in his discomfiture by taking a seat at a table and snapping his fingers at the server.
Eventually, civility reasserts itself, and the three swordsmen are served a meal with wine (the innkeeper's wife realising that if these men are due a bounty, they might have money to spend, and she's keen to help them spend it. Even before they get it)
As the meal is demolished, the three discuss the consequences of the Sheriff's misfortune, and a voice from another table injects itself into their conversation.
It transpires that the owner of the voice is part of a merchant caravan who's got something on his impounded wagons that he doesn't want found, and who'd pay to have someone go and get it without the soldiers noticing them, and naturally, before it got discovered.
He talks around the subject before he gets down to his actual ideas, but Shanks (master of criminal activities), rapidly Discerns what's being offered and discussed here, and that the merchant is offering too little reward when balanced against the risk.
But, they demur, and the merchant gives up the information they need to help him - the markings on his wagon, and the location of the concealed compartment where the contraband is, and the duo of Amdor and Shanks sneaks out into the streets, dodging patrols... (Gilthanas at this point decides he wants nothing to do with this, and remains handily off-screen for the moment)
It's been mentioned that a call has gone out for apothecaries to help the Sheriff, and Amdor and Shanks are naturally curious as to why the apothecary they met last time they were in town hasn't volunteered, and, after they find out her shop is closed, dark and locked and the sign has been taken from over the door, one of her neighbours informs them that it's because she's dead. They piece together the timeline of events, and realise that her death occurred before the Sheriff was attacked, and the manner of her death (choked to death, mouth and throat stuffed with herbs, right arm severed and missing) sounds like the actions of an enraged cutpurse who'd been told there was nothing she could do for his own missing arm, and with horror, the two realise her death is their fault.
Lacking any better options, the two make a visit (dodging more patrols as they cross town) to the only other person either of them can think of in town who might know enough about poisons to aid the Sheriff - Shanks' fence/dealer contact in the milliner's shop.
The sign is still swinging gently in the breeze above the door, and the mistletoe's still depicted in the band of the hat, even if the shop doesn't appear to be open for business, so the two try knocking hard on the hat shop's door. They're just about to give up and leave when a panel in the door slides back, revealing two beady eyes studying them. Shanks gives a code phrase, and the unseen person replies, and asks if Amdor is also a brother to the widow's son (ie, is he also a working thief entitled to professional courtesy).
Shanks answers in the affirmative (not especially truthfully), and the unseen person spits out a curse
"Damnations! If I'd known that, this whole thing would have run differently. Come in and we'll talk about this"
The two are ushered through the unlit front room to the back room, where even more hats are visible in display cases, together with a variety of hat-making paraphernalia. I wonder whether the adventurers are going to mention the Hat of Disguise they've looted recently, but they seem quite reticent.
A stilted and coded conversation ensues, which Amdor completely fails to follow, and his failures to keep up leave their host unconvinced that Amdor is a thief, or entitled to any courtesies from other criminals. However, this doesn't stop him brewing up a pot of delicious tea while the three of them talk about the Sheriff's recent bad luck, and the adventurer's recent exploits in bounty hunting.
Shanks tries to Discern Realities to work out whether their host is adulterating the tea in any way, but Dave rolls so badly that he's happy to take an experience point and remain unaware.
The tea is indeed drugged, and they realise it's affecting them when they both only manage a weak hit each on a Defy Danger -Con roll and I give them a -1 ongoing as the drug hits their systems, clouding their thoughts and making them feel heavy and leaden.
Their host continues on with his conversation, his voice taking on acid tones as he tells them that yes, he knows who poisoned the Sheriff, since he's a member of the Spanterhook Guild too. He helped finger Amdor as a target for the Guild's more light-fingered members, and he was involved in killing the Sheriff's deputy, and furthermore, he's looking forward to seeing what else he can reap from their bodies after the drug takes effect.
Amdor and Shanks leap into action, as their host cackles.
"Go ahead!", he cries "With every move you make, the drug takes greater effect!", and he's right. Shanks tries to grab the tea tray and throw it at him, but all he does is spill it all over the place. Amdor tries to remain calm, and instead of his heirloom blade, he reaches into his backpack and pulls out Eirik Helmbreaker's hammer. Twisting it to shake the cloth wrapping off it, he rises to his feet and attempts to swing it hard against their enemy.
It's at this point that Keith realises that if he isn't using a Precise Weapon, he's rolling +Str to Hack And Slash, so he's not surprised when he misses, smashing the table in front of them to flinders.
Their opponent makes a slash at Amdor's face with a dagger that's appeared in his fist, but Amdor's still awake enough to defend himself - he moves lightly and the swipe that would have opened his face merely strikes a silver-edged gouge in his shoulder armour.
Shanks fumbles for one of his hidden knives, which seems to be buried deeper in his clothing. He struggles, wondering whether to stab with it, or throw it. His opponent moves away from the table, diving over a display of hats, and a "click" is heard from behind the display as a secret compartment is opened.
Shanks dashes across the room to cut off any retreat, and then screams in pain as the sly fence throws blinding powder into his face. He throws his arms out around him, trying desperately to find purchase on his opponent, or something to allow him to orient himself. His groping hand finds a set of shelves, and he pulls hard on them, hoping to topple them over on his enemy.
What actually happens is that Dave's dice turn up another miss, and Shanks pulls the shelves over on himself, hurting himself and forcing himself forwards, closer to his undrugged, unblinded, knife-wielding enemy.
With measured steps, Amdor moves across the room, to get their enemy's attention while Shanks recovers. He takes a few experimental swings with the hammer, getting used to the weight of it. Shanks takes a clumsy step or two forwards, and wraps his arms around their opponent (Dave goes for the Aid Another action, and this is the best he can think of), and, while he's held still, Amdor goes all out with his best overhand strike with the hammer.
Keith's dice turn up a strong hit, and with a Fighter's high damage dice, and an extra d6 for risking damage from the enemy, and an extra d4 for Amdor's being Merciless, and an extra d6 I tell Keith to add in because he's doing exactly what you have to do to activate the warhammer's magic power, the eventual total is enough that there's a noise like someone bringing a rolling pin down on an upturned china bowl full of porridge, and their assailant drops like a stone.
The duo slump to the floor also, the drug wreaking havoc in their systems. They're lucky no one disturbs them while they breath slowly and recover.
Then, the looting begins. Shanks has been here before and seen at least a couple of extra compartments containing illegal thiefly loot, so the two of them tear the workshop apart, Shanks rolling Trap Expert to find all the secret things and potential threats he can, and for once, Dave's dice turn up a nice Strong Hit.
So, I give Shanks two uses of "Miscellaneous Looted Thiefly Kit", to represent things he might pull out of his pack at a later date, and Dave instantly asks "Might I have found a compact black hand crossbow?", and I'm happy to agree that, yes, he might have.
Meanwhile, Amdor has found a pot of black salve which Shanks confirms as Ghostweed poison, a ledger written in coded symbols, and a tiny black glass vial with a mark carved into the base.
A search of the dead guy's body has revealed a few items; a couple of nice rings, an amethyst pendant on a silver chain, a barbed S tattooed on his right wrist, and one more concealed, envenomed knife. Amdor surprises me here by saying "Well, we'll leave that on him. We're not here to rob him, just to find out if he knew about the poison"
And while I'm still gawping at that he says "Now I think we need to summon the Guards in here", and then does exactly that.
Shanks and Amdor then proceed to cooperate with the soldiers when they arrive, and barely protest when the Lieutenant turns up ten minutes later and asks them both to "accompany him to the barracks".
The two are placed under guard while their story is verified as far as possible, and meanwhile, Shanks turns his attention to the ledger.
Using the data he has got, including stuff he's bought from and sold to this fence in the past, he's able to decipher it (well, that and a Strong Hit), and works out that the fence paid a whole lot of money for a few things in the past - the amethyst pendant uses the same code character as the black glass vial, so the vial's either an antidote, or a superbly potent poison, since the amethyst is a periapt against poison. He identifies the ruby ring the fence was wearing as a piece of probably magical jewellery, and then studies the Infinite Folio to identify it as the work of an enchanter noted for his protective items.
Essentially, Shanks is on a roll here. He asks one of the guards to fetch their Lieutenant, and then asks that officer if he can send a couple of soldiers to retrieve the expensive items from the fence's shop, because he thinks they can be used to cure the Sheriff's poisoning. The Lieutenant, after some reassuring words from Amdor, agrees, and men are dispatched, and told to meet with the Lt. at the Sheriff's house, where his men are guarding him. The Lieutenant's slowly becoming convinced that the two swordsmen aren't just a pair of mercenary chancers keen for their bounty, and do genuinely want to help. There's a touching moment when Shanks realises that he really had stopped thinking about the reward money, and was really concentrating on just doing his third good deed.
There's a certain amount of tension between the sheriff's men, and the lieutenant's men, when they all get together but eventually the presence of Amdor and Shanks and the various items helps to convince them that they really do intend to help.
They're taken in to see the Sheriff, who's on a bed in the lower room of his house. He looks terrible, pale, drawn and barely breathing, and also much less imposing without his breastplate on. His eyes are open, but he doesn't seem to be able to focus on anything. At Shanks' direction, the periapt is placed around the Sheriff's neck, and they wait, eagerly, to see if it has any effect.
It doesn't. The ring is placed on his finger, and similarly, nothing of any great import happens.
Shanks swallows, deep in his throat, as he realises it's down to the last coin-toss. He explains that the glass vial contains either a potent restorative, or a presumably deadly poison.
Amdor chuckles "If I were in charge, I'd make you taste it first". Shanks shoots him a venomous glare, and is probably right to do so, because the soldiers and guards exchange glances, and an unspoken consensus forms in the room that that's exactly what should happen.
Shanks licks his finger, dips it into the vial, and then puts the finger in his mouth. After a few sweaty-forehead seconds, he doesn't show any signs of keeling over and dying, and he then lets out one great and sour fart, to the dismay of all the soldiers who were drawing closer to peer at him for any evidence of poison.
Since it's proved non-fatal on Shanks, the remainder of the vial's contents are administered to the Sheriff. He starts to thrash around like canvas in a hurricane, and his men move to hold him down so he doesn't hurt himself on the furniture. Then, the Sheriff emits the most terrible sustained burst of flatulence any of them have ever heard (Ever see that episode of the Young Ones where Vyvyan is convinced he's pregnant, but it just turns out to be an enormous fart? Just like that) before colour returns to his cheeks and he begins breathing again.
"My gods!" he cries out "It smells like a privy in here!", and the tension breaks in the room. Laughter breaks out in every direction, although the guards do also open every window they can find, and one of them says
"It's a good think you can afford a covered lantern, Boss! If your room was lit with candles, we'd all have been killed in the explosion!"
The Sheriff is recovered, and ravenous. He dismisses his men back to their homes and their wives, thanks the Lieutenant, and then demands that everyone give him a moment's privacy so he can put some fresh clothes on and then get himself fed. He takes Amdor and Shanks by the shoulders and orders them to take him to an inn, where they can tell him all their news, and he can eat until he's full.
They do, and we close out the session.
Both Amdor and Shanks are level 4 now, and they've both gone for the same move - Amdor's taken Multiclass Dabbler, reasoning that he's been watching Shanks fight, and has learnt a few lessons about rolling with blows and not getting hurt, so they've both taken the Underdog move.
Dave wonders if Thieves can multiclass, since he's seriously considering taking a move from the Cleric playbook once his divine penance is complete, and I mention that it will be gone as soon as Lhydia, goddess of civilization, home and hearth, next thinks to check.
(I also want to see if I can manoeuvre Shanks near a temple at some point, to have another, rival god make him an offer)