[AP] Carver's Cave

So, I've been on leave and got a chance to 'sell' and play through the villager playbook with an old hand at D&D (3.5) and a complete noob to roleplaying with great success! 'Trouble' the halfling (as in here comes Trouble) played by the noobie and 'Al' the dark? Elf (the player is a Wil Wheaton fan) by the D&Der.

They have spent two short sessions finding their goodwill in the heaving Port Blacksand (from Fighting Fantasy fame). After much skulking about avoiding the law and the clutches of the local thieves guild, (stolen from the Spanterhook starter) the daring duo ended up with some strong bonds and even stronger motives to leave town.

Trouble levelled up to thief and Al to a ranger using the new beta 1.1 rules. I decided to play RAW in order to give some feedback to Sage and Adam. So we went through Chargen with our backstories in mind, '1st' session principles and agenda in play. I grabbed a whole stack of Dyson's maps and printed the map on side and the 'blurb' he introduces them with on the other on an A3 page. This leaves lots of room around the map to write on other stuff or add sticky notes for relationships.

Chargen was a breeze, and I'm getting rather proficent now at letting the players do their thing and really ask some pointed questions to set up the starting situation. We already had established the stat blocks and alignments from the villager session.  Both players got the 7-9 hit on leaving home for the life of adventure.

Arwen (the elf) chose You’ve been rejected by the village. You no longer belong here, and maybe never will. Narrating that the thieves guild has no use of elfy, rangery types and she should head back to where she came from. The player really liked playing up the theme of alienation and predjudice, thus getting Arwen voted in as chaotic good.

Sketchy (the halfling) chose You are abandoning something precious to be claimed by a loathsome rival. Establishing without doubt his unrequited love toward an elusive, beautiful wizard named Morgan le Fey hinted at during the villager sessions is indeed the head of the Thieves Guild's (Silk's) mistress. One shall not covet thy boss's squeeze.

This gave me a few cool stakes questions that I quickly scribbled down - Is Morgan or Silk in control of the Spanterhook thieves guild? and Will Morgan develop 'feelings' for Sketchy? and How are inter-racial relationships perceived by folks? (given that Silk is human)

Look was next, Arwen having Animal Eyes, Wild Hair, Camouflaged Elvish Clothes and a Lithe Body. Through questioning it became apparent that her 'mentor' from the village sessions - an aged (drunken) elven veteran of the 'old' wars turned beggar named Thranduil - gifted his shifting elven war rainment to her, after having held onto it for 200 years in a tatty box hidden deep within the catacombs under the temple of Lolth 'What lies beneath' in Port Blacksand.

Ooooh, he's definitely coming under my cross[bow] hairs. I asked Arwen to write a bond for him, and she didn't like any of the Ranger options listed, so chose from the fighter playbook instead: I have sworn to protect Thranduil, as he has mentored me and been as my father. She likes the idea that her own background is ephemeral and to be discovered in play.

Sketch chose Criminal Eyes, Hooded Head, a Cloaked Outfit, and a Well-fed Body.

In terms of moves, there wasn't much to do other than choose from a few lists. Sketch went with the Poison Bloodweed (of course) cementing his evil ways. We established his source is a halfling smuggler named Caleb Deathcap, who tends to lurk down at the docks. I asked Sketch to write a bond with him and he chose: Caleb knows incriminating details about me. We easily re-incorporated that it was knowledge of Sketchy's sordid lust after Morgan, thus giving leverage to Caleb when he asks for 'favours'.

Arwen then had to detail her animal companion. She went with an tom cat from the seedy backalleys of Port Blacksand. She went with a Highly Ferocious, (stealthy / quick reflexes) Exceedingly Cunning (search / scout) and Instinctual (forgetful) English Blue named Cheshire.

Alignment came next and it was fairly obvious that Arwen was Chaotic Good, claiming that the inspiration for freeing folk was her mentor; Thranduil. Sketch is Evil through and through, though he likes to keep that little detail out of the public eye, going for a fairly neutral demeanour most of the time. I explained the new XP system (not that the players had experienced the old) and explained it was similar to the Goodwill from the villager handbook.

I like the new gear lists! Rather than doing the whole shopping 'mini-game'. The lists are quick and easy and narratively full of promise. Sketch went with a punch dagger and flamboyant but cheap 'fake elvish steel' short sword. His leather trappings included a  wide shoulder belt and pauldron, worn but servicable vambraces and a short studded kilt over his trews. His Bloodweed poisons are tucked away in vials on his baldric and he went with a healing potion too (just in case) and a bunch of adventuring gear stashed away in the many pockets and folds of his voluminous hooded cloak.

He also wanted some ubiquitous throwing knives. Hmmmm. I made a call and said sure, what do they look like? He described them as like a bandolier of death strung across his bulging belly. Nice. So I drew an analogy with a bundle of arrows, saying that his bandolier of throwing daggers was 2 Ammo, 2 Gold, 1 Weight. Sketchy grinned malevolently as he surveyed his kit.

Arwen went with a heavily personalised (albeit human) hunting bow and quiver of arrows, and a beautiful elven spear, in which the single edged blade was almost as long as a short sword. Her leather is the age old war suit of interlocking leaves and wonderfully decorated bands that camouflage her every move. She chose some adventuring gear and rations too, along with a herbal satchel, filled with poultices and unguents to prepare for her trip into the wilds.

The PC's have already been fairly well introduced, so on to bonds and a bit of further questioning....
Arwen says that Sketch doesn't know how to survive in the wild, so she will teach him. He's quite happy with that since he comes across to her as a happy, come-what-may rogue, when in actuality he is an evil, self-serving, sonofa[hobbit]bitch. They run a long running 'protection' scam together since being villagers which Arwen unfortunately thinks is communistically benevolent (though illegal).

The con is that they sell their services to interested merchants as 'guides to the safest toll-free routes through the wilderness'. They keep the pulse on the latest brigand movements and sell that information (protection) to the merchant caravans. This involves a lot of moving amongst both the merchant and smuggling fraternities. They take a cut from the premium paid to the Guild, and the merchants are (usually) safe from harm.

Sketchy infers a darker element to the arrangement, using his position to garner information on the movement of goods that may be of interest to more nefarious types.... Necromancers, ambitious nobles, slave traders, drug dealers and the like.

So I have this huge list of questions I've cobbled together to ask when I feel a little stuck, sort like the 'follow the characters around for a day' of AW.  So I got stuck in.
'When was the last time you two were in a fight with each other?'
Arwen pipes up and says it was over Sketchy killing someone (again) for money. She dobbed him in to Silk, hoping that the raw justice would change his ways.
'Oh yeah? Like he poisoned his targets?'
Just so. Sketchy concurs and authors in that the victims were one of the merchant clients - and his family - they had been fleecing under their 'wilderness guides' con.
 
So just like Sage advises I start the session with the group of player characters in a tense situation.

'OK, you are hauled up thieves court in front of a scowling Silk, demure Morgan and the caterwauling underworld masses deep in the bowels of the Spanterhook. Tell me why again?'

Next post - the Players are offered an ugly choice....

Really enjoyed reading so far.  Great set up.  Subscribed.

I am going to make a "follow the characters around" question list for my next game for when I get stuck.

I feel more at liberty to do certain kinds of prep for DW than I do for AW...

'OK, you are hauled up thieves court in front of a scowling Silk, demure Morgan and the caterwauling underworld masses deep in the bowels of the Spanterhook. Tell me why again?'

Sketchy looks nonchanlantly about about at the assembled masses; lurking under mouldy beams, clustered hungrily in the shadows and brashly positioning for favour in the dimly lit hall. He's obviously discerning the reality of the situation. Unfortunately his dice come up poorly and I glance at my general moves and correlate with my jotted notes from chargen, not having prepped any fronts (this being first session).

I go with turning his move back on him, and ask a question, using the answers as I too, am interested in exactly why they are here :)
OK, Sketch, so what one question do you want to ask about the situation?
Sketch indicates that he wants to know what here is not what it appears to be?
'Well, you can see the smug look on Caleb the drug dealer's face as he leans in to Silk's ear and whispers something that brings a scowl to his face. From where you are Arwen, you can read his lips with your elvish talents! Is he mentioning Sketch's mental dalliance with Morgan le Fey, or the fact that Sketch was the one responsible for yet another prominent poisoning in Blacksand's merchantile elite?'
Sketch's player is scowling at this point....

'Oh definately about his fantasies about Morgan. So creepy little man.' She smiles at Sketch. I note down a stake asking why Caleb has spent his leverage on Sketch - What does Caleb want from Silk?

So the head of the theives guild enjoys a sililoquay about the obligations of members of the guild, that despite there being no honour among theives, there WILL be respect. For those who flaunt this in fron of him, there will be consequences. These two constantly disrespectful nere'do'wells have been banished from Blacksand, never to return unless they prove their worthiness by retrieving the macguffin inspired from the Spanterhook Starter. A sort of 'prequel' if you will. It needed to be something that pointed toward answering my stake of whether Morgan or Silk was dominant in the control of the guild.

'So, Sketch, what sort of magic personifies Morgan?' He pondered before saying that is was demonology, arcane rituals, blood magic and all that. 'Cool. Silk proclaims your redemption lies in retrieving the Skull of Akatosh for the guild. You have till nightfall to leave town before your lives are forfiet. What do you do?'

Arwen wants to spout lore about the skull of Akatosh (just like I hoped, as I was leaving blanks about it.) 'Cool, what do you do?' She describes talking with everyone she knows, Thranduil in particular, in the limited time they have left. She manages a 9 on her roll.

'Hang on! I wanna help so she gets a strong hit.' Sketch says he pitches in by grilling the apprentice of a Necomancer he collects rare body parts for, slamming him up against a grimy alley wall behind a house of ill repute in the muck and mire and cobblestones, knife to his throat asking him to tell all on the Skull of Akatosh or he'll tell his master of his proclivity for a certain fantasy involving a priestess of the temple of Light and Life. This was becoming oh so sordid. This was introduced on the spot of course, and I could have broken it down into all the sequential moves (finding the apprentice, establishing knowledge about the skull of Akatosh, Defying Danger to waylay him). But I wanted to get on with the adventure! So I just said YES and let Sketchy Roll his Aid move. He managed to assist but at the expense of the apprentice's (who was named Gargamel) silent vow of retribution apon gaining power....

So now Arwen had a 10+ on her spout lore. I decided to disclaim decision making and asked her to tell us something interesting and useful. 'First, is it magical or mundane?' Oh most certainly magical she authors. 'And where is it to be found? Have a look with Sketch at all these dungeon maps and blurbs ( about 10 from Dyson's website) and tell me where it has been ensconced.'

The two adventurers spend their last daylight hours in Blacksand poring over dusty maps and discussing where the magical skull of Akatosh was to found. They decided on 'Carver's Caves'



We adapted the hook with a little brainstorming to the following:

Carver’s Cave was converted into a secret fortress by a group of bandits (led by Carver) decades ago, but with their dissolution a few years back (most probably due to internal strife caused by our Darstardly Duo's longstanding con) the cave and their fortress was forgotten. Now something strange and insectile has moved in and converted the back of the cavern into a bizarre hive.

But now it has become known that the Magical Skull of Akatosh was among the treasures that the bandits stole and rumor has pointed to their excavations in Carver’s Cave as its resting place  Thus a hardy band of adventurers is required to find the cave and then find the fortress and the lost Skull.

Our World map consisted only of a Rough scrawl of Port Blacksand, somewhere on the coast of the 'Kingdom', with Arwen's dis-enfranchised folk scattered into the wild forests. We had established the whole points of light ethos of D&D 4e and embraced the DW view as Dungeon World is a world of fantastic adventure. A world of magic, gods, demons, Good and Evil. Brave heroes venture into the most dangerous corners of the land to best fearsome monsters in search of gold, glory or redemption.

Through some enjoyable, time pressured, (each move or statement advanced the impending doom of the pair being hunted by their fellow thieves) world-building conversation and another Spout Lore by Arwen that determined the interesting fact that travel in the wilds around port Blacksand was arduous due to the heavily forested, mountainous terrain.... We discovered that Carver's Cave was rumoured to be scoured out of the sheer escarpments below Mount Grievous, deep in the tangled Woods of the Whispering Eye. (yes, someone had recently seen the film Role Models *sigh*) So Awesome! We had a rough map (on a large piece of art paper) of the Port and the mountains / Forest nearby. Following the principle of make maps, leave plenty of blanks.

'So its getting dark, you can feel the itchy trigger fingers of a dozen crossbow-wielding bounty hunters prickling your spines as you wander toward the crumbling poor quarter gates of Port Blacksand, what do you do?'

Undertake a perilous journey of course! Arwen as able to avoid the roll - being an elven Ranger - and describes them as being way off the beaten path, the dense forest swathed in mist and gloom, tracking their way carefully to the foothils of mount grievous, the ancient dwarven outpost protecting this end of the mountains staring bleakly into the valley. Nice, totally authored in. I run with that and as Sketchy hits his roll on a 7-9 tell them somewhat ominously that someone has been following them, though they haven't caught a glimpse of who or what it is....

So I grabbed my big box of dungeon tiles, sorted into caves / rooms / passageways, saying that we'll get to those later.... I then asked the players to choose a mini for their alter ego, and handed out HP as red glass tokens (I love those).

'You are staring up at the loft peaks of mount Grievous, swalled by the clouds, a fine drizzle blanketing the slippery, scrubby scree that leads aloft to Carver's hidden Fortress. You can see no discernable path, what do you do?'

Next time the heroes ascend with some danger to the Dungeon and explore its ominous depths in search of the Skull of Akatosh!

'You are staring up at the loft peaks of mount Grievous, swalled by the clouds, a fine drizzle blanketing the slippery, scrubby scree that leads aloft to Carver's hidden Fortress. You can see no discernable path, what do you do?'

Well, they must have had a path up there at some point, even if hidden or trapped or treacherous, right? Arwen's player was looking at her moves. 'I'm going to track the path to the entrance'.
'Cool, can you tell us how?'
'You know, scouring the landscape for old sign of travel, obvious dwarven craftmsmanship, that sort of thing'
Sounds  more like you are closely studying the place... Are you trying to discern the reality on how to get up there instead?

So she was, and on a 7-9 got to ask what she should be on the lookout for as she searches for the path? Inspired by Arwens initial suggestion to track, I decide to simultaneously go with pointing to a looming threat and the introduction of a new type of creature.

'As you warily scan the cliffside in the drizzle, faint dwarven steps slowly emerge from the gloom. Old and worn they offer a slippery, treacherous climb to the lofty heights above.' Scanning my newly cobbled together monster threat tables pasted onto my DM screen, I decide on a whim that this ancient Dwarven outpost is a Cursed Place. Why? well that becomes a stake to be answered later. It does however give me a move suggestion I like: Vomit forth a lesser monster. 'As you approach the lower tier, you see the unmistakable markings of a monster that has recently passed by. Do tell us what they look like and what monster made them!'

Whaaaa?! What do you mean? Arwen was flabbergasted, despite having roleplayed D&D a fair bit. I'm a fan of the characters and I want to give her a chance to shine (plus I'm making this all up as I go along!), so as I'm looking for interesting facts I nudge her a bit.

'Well, considering that you are in that surreal landscape of where the dark woods crash against the mountains and caves, you identify long scarring scratches in the stone, and a scat is most definately not of any wild creature.' I hand her my trusty 4e essentials monster guide (the digest softcover) and ask her to choose the monster(s) that made the scats...

Meanwhile, Sketchy proclaims that he is a trap expert and knows all about those pesky dwarves and their traps. So whilst Arwen is sniffing troll poop, he would be jauntily pointing out the various collapsable stairs and falling boulder triggers littered on the ascent. Unfortuantely he rolled a 6 and as he groaned, Arwen looked up with a manic look in her eyes. 'Its an Otyugh! The scats are filth it has left about as it wanders the scree, gouging its way along. I Always wanted to best an Otyugh!'

The proverbial plate was handed to me yet again. I put them in a spot and describe the Otyugh emerging from a murky pool at the edge of the treeline, All toothy maw and lashing barbed tentacles, it slobbers up the slope toward our heroes at an alarming pace. As the plucky pair describe readying themselves for battle, Arwen hastily taking aim and letting off a volley, bloodies the beast on a 7-9 for a few hp of damage and wasting a few arrows in the process. The situation is looking remarkably dire as the foul monstrosity flails within reach and after digesting the new stat block I decide rather than castrating its potential, to offer them an opportunity, definately with a cost.

'Well, you could stand and fight on the scree, but the Otyugh is the most fearsome beast you have ever seen, and will undoubtedly crush you in its rubbery tentacles and gobble you up or worse. You have but a split second to decide. Do you stand and fight, as honourable martyrs? Or do you just flee upward on the stairs, running the gauntlet of all the fiendish traps that Sketchy was unable to identify? What do you do?'

*thunderous applause*

Well done Noofy! The questions you ask your players are fantastic and that bit at the end with the monster vs the traps was inspired.

Stu.

Arwen decided that it wasn't worth fighting the beast, especially when I brought out the D&D mini and waggled it menacingly in front of them :)
She described herself turning tail up the narrow switchback path, skidding and slipping on the greasy stone steps. Sketch has been looking at his Playbook and says that he wants to use his Adventuring Gear and how does that work? I decide to go with giving him an opportunity that fits his class' abilities and suggest that he could find some useful climbing gear and take advantage of his thief skills to scale a sheer surface.

He beams at this and goes with climbing claws and starts feverishly climbing the cliffs to avoid the oytugh and traps both. Sounds like they are both defying danger to me! Both players got 7-9 results on their defy danger rolls (Arwen with her quick thinking +INT and Sketch as he gets out of the way in a spritely manner +DEX). I decide to offer an ugly choice to Arwen and a worse outcome to Sketch.

'You inadventently set off one of the rockfall traps in your haste to escape the beast Arwen! The 'click' of the trigger is quite ominous as the ancient stones cleverly released tumble down the now ruined path. You will most certainly be battered by the rocks if you leap upward continuing on the trail... or you could avoid the rocks as you turn and face the ravening Otyugh.'

'Sketch, your bespoke claws offer great purchase on the sheer wall, but the rain and howling wind buffets your progress. You manage to escape the Otyugh and traps both but end your climb on an isolated ledge, within view of the entrance to Carver's cave, but no way of getting there... What do you do?'

Arwen holds her hands in fron of her face and bravely stands firm against the falling rocks, losing a handful of HP and a few arrows as I use up her resources. As a nod to the monster, I descibe it being pounded by the bounding stones and retraeting down to its pool to lurk meancingly. Sketchy suggests that this ledge is a secret entrance as he jabs excitedly at the map. Whilst Arwen clambers battered and bruised to the ajoining cavern entrance he starts scouring the cliff face for a mechanism to open the door. I go for a simple custom move that replicates Trap Expert but uses INT instead, calling it Secret Door Expert, based on the knowledge they had collated earlier in Blacksand on Carver's Cave.

'Oh yeah!' says Arwen. 'Thranduil did mention a secret 'lofty' entrance for those with the skill to reach it'

Sketch rolls a 7-9 and asks if there is a secret door here and what activates it. So of course there is, and I say its a small rececessed lever that causes a counterweight to lift an ingenious sliding rock door. Considering it was a 7-9, I go with a soft move too, so as Sketchy slips quickly into the reavealed passageway, I describe an awful rending as the mechanism fails, causing the door to shut at an alarming rate. Sketchy is put in a spot and I seperate them. He decides to rummage in his adventuring gear for a lantern and as the door shuts with a resounding 'boom' yells to Arwen to meet him in the big cavern on the map.

We rummage in the dungeon tile box and using Dyson's map as a rough guide (its just a map after all), lay out the passageway Sketch is in and the cavernous mouth Arwen in sheltering in from the rain and wind with dungeon tiles. The players gingerly place their minis. The caves seem to extend far back into the mountainside, and the well constructed dwarven passage that Sketch is in runs unerringly toward the secret hiding place of the mysterious Skull of Akatosh!