Actual Play Report - DW/Bloodstone Idol - The Tales of Amdor and Shanks.

(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.

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.

\m/

It was a delightful session. Totally chaotic fight.

D>

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?

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.

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...

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!

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.

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.

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 :)

Thanks, Noofy!

And I can post a few pictures of the larp if you want to see them...

Sure! I'll Show mine :)

Those are some hot costumes!

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.