Tag: tbd

GM: Sean Nittner
Players: Chris Moore, Mark Miller, and Max Külshammer.
System: Torchbearer
Module: Under the House of the Three Squires

Oh my, I felt so evil this game. The twists in this adventure are just so evil.

Prologue

Thrallson recounted the events from last session, Friends with Berti and Brot. He recalled their heroic deeds as well as Ronwald’s heartfelt confession.

After camp, Ronwald, impatient with the slow progress of the adventurers, snuck off to see what good he could do on his one.

Meanwhile…

Cleg (Mark wasn’t here last session) told us what he was doing during all of this… cleaning his apron!

Surviving the Horrors Above on Air

Turn by Turn

Turn 1 – Milton wanted to retrieve his fathers signet ring from the Kobold he traded it with. Thrallson lit a torch and they got about trying to pry the desk off the dead kobolds. [Laborer Ob 2. Result: Fail. Twist: someone has been watching them all along]. Hiding in their camp was the dirty figure of Elsa, a little girl who escaped her captors and hates mean old Ronwald because he’s going to cook up her dad. “Let me go you stinky kobold lovers!”

Turn 2– Cleg caught Elsa, but she didn’t trust any of them, as they had been consorting with kobolds and the kobold friend Ronwald. He tried to calm her down and prevent her from running off. [Persuader versus test. Result: Success.] Elsa is pacified… mostly by Cleg’s rations, or “Not poopy Ronwald food.”  Elsa did try to show them on their map where the kobolds were keeping her family [1D supplies for a future Cartography test].

Turn 3 – Worried that the Kobolds above would notice them and come after them, Milton set about staging Berti’s death to make it look like one of Saw Back’s kobold’s killer her. They then quickly left the treasure room and hid in the rubble from the rockfall. The took Elsa with them [Carried 2], begged her to quiet down, doused their torches and hid. Thrallson, born of earth and stone, quickly looked for hiding places for the party. [Scout versus Kobold Nature test. Result: Fail. Twist Another wandering monster…]

The Kobolds entered their passage and after Elsa shouted, noticed them. They pointed with their torches in fear. At first the adventurers thought they were scared of them… then they realized they were looking past them… into the shadows… into the eight red eyes of horror slowly descending from above! Uttan descended down and wrapped Milton in it’s stony clutches.  The kobolds (and their light) fled. Elsa screamed!

Total Darkness – Run away? Run away!

Turn 4 – Cleg was the first to run, so he captained the flee conflict! Which they failed terribly (and terror-fully)! [They lost with a minor compromise so I ruled that they were captured, wrapped in webs, but Milton could still get to his dagger].

Entombed in webs, they were carried through the dungeon, jostled about, ascending and descending many crevasses until finally coming to a rest in Uttan’s lair. Once there, and hung up, the felt strangely alone…in the dark. Everyone was worn out from their travels [Hungry & Thirsty]

Per the players choice (what a nice GM I am), Elsa was not part of the conflict, so she slipped away and was not bundled up by Uttan.

Turn 5 – Milton went about trying to saw his way out of the cramped webbing tomb. [Heath vs Nature (Uttan’s) test. +1 Ob for darkness. Result: Success]. Once free Milton dropped his tinderbox and listened for the drop to gauge the distance. When he didn’t hear a sound he opted to drop down anyway, back into more webs, but these thicker, older, and less sticky.

Turn 6 – Milton searched for his Tinderbox below [Scout Ob 3 (increased due to darkness). Result: Fail. Condition: Afraid]. Milton found his tinderbox, but after he recovered it, his arm brushed by a Cleg’s gruff beard, but he thought it was the spider’s rough carapace and shrieked in fear. From them on, Milton couldn’t get the idea of the spider descending down out of his head.

Turn 7 – Milton used his candle and dagger to free his friends from their wrappings. [Survivalist Ob 4 (for both). Candle and Dagger both used for supplies. Result: Fail. Twist: Cleg makes it out but his backpack doesn’t].

Turn 8 – Opting between sneaking out of her lair, and preparing to fight her off, the party instead opted to loot! [Scout Ob 3. Result: Success] Wrapped in a bundle held by a desiccated corpse were two scrolls. Magical scrolls containing the spells: Celestial Music and Wisdom of the Sages.

After all of this work, everyone was exhausted [Exhausted]. The squeezed out of Uttan’s lair, birthed from a womb of webs.  They found a narrow ledge with water pouring from above down a slick slope to the right. To the left was a deep crevasse which they could barely make out a flat rock outcropping on the other side. Having a moment of peace, they opted to fill their wineskins from water flowing past. They drank their fill!

Spell – Milton employed his arcane arts to conjure a mystic porter that would hold their backpacks, keeping them safe and dry while they descended the wet slope. [Ob 4 (increased due to Exhausted). Result: Fail. Twist] An eerie wind, possibly a baleful spirit summoned by the arcane energies, passed through and blew out their torch. When Cleg pulled a new torch from his sack and lit it. In front of them, a shimmering disk floated before them. It seemed to flicker as they placed their backpacks upon it, seeming to move of it’s own volition.

Turn 9 – Thrallson took gobs of the spider’s webbing, and wrapped then around his hands to make sticky climbing gloves to aid their ascent. [Crafting Ob 3 (increased due to Exhausted). Result: Success. +1D supplies for climbing down]

Turn 10 – Unencumbered by backpacks, aided by Cleg and his new sticky gloves, Thrallson set about to slowly and carefully lead the party down the slippery tunnel [Dungeoneering Ob 5 (increased due to Exhausted). Result: Success (and a glorious one at that)]. So steady was Thrallson’s grip that he could control their descent and move slowly and quietly enough to sneak up on a whole den of kobolds!

Thoughts on this game

Given Ronwald, Elsa, and all the kobold’s presence in the caves, I gave the players 4 turns (which I didn’t tell them till after the game) before Uttan came back from her patrol to devour them. I suppose if they had light and could try and fight her off, they had a chance, but frankly I was feeling bad that the would all be spider food.

I’m really excited to see what happens next session with the Kobold warren. They’ve got the advantage of surprise, and I know that both Max and Chris are plotting some mad scheme. It should be good.

Yay, we had a running in the dark conflict. I have been awaiting one of those and it was just as terrifying as I hoped it would be.

Milton, watch out for baleful spirits you might have awoken when you looted those scrolls. This is an addition I added as response (twist) to the failed Arcanist roll following the scroll recovery and combined it with the eerie wind twist. I have some fun ideas for this.

Oh Elsa and Ronwald, I’m really getting to love these NPCs, though I’m not sure their likelihood of survival.

Quote: Luke, why is “groping for your tinderbox in the darkness” not a skill?

GM: Sean Nittner
Players: Chris Moore, David Gallo, and Max Külshammer.
System: Torchbearer
Module: Under the House of the Three Squires

Missing a few players we decided to forge ahead anyway, and glad we did. New bonds were formed (and broken) over the campfire.

Prologue

Milton recounted the adventurer’s tales right up to the point of finding a room full of Kobolds!

Camping on Air

Camp Phase…continued

Checks ahoy. Stuffs done! While sharing camp space with Kobolds.

Thrallson made himself busy building rope from the piles of clothing (success)

Milton conversed with the Kobolds and persuaded them to tell him what the Kobolds were doing. He learned about the Crooked Tooth and the Saw Back clan, as well as rumors of Uttan (success)

Milton also dug the horrific story of Ronwald from his guilty conscience, that he had promised to cook the other humans “human style” in an effort to buy time. Unfortunately the Kobold had grown impatient and killed his brother already, expecting him to cook him up (success).

Camp disrupted by torchlight on the wall indicating a Kobold patrol nearby.

Adventure phase

Turn 1 – With all of the information gathered from the Kobolds, and not trusting them to not trigger an alarm, Thrallson sprung his trap on Brot and friend, trapping them and then crushing them under the mighty oak desk. [Result: Success]

Turn 2- Berti, seeing the betrayal ran for the steep slope, believing she could scale it before the adventurers caught her and ran off. The adventurers chased her(capture conflict), ran her down, and slit her throat. In the chase, Milton’s sacks were knocked into the fire and lost [Minor compromise].

Turn 3 – After the chase, everyone’s stomachs started rumbling. [Twist from failed cooking roll last session]. Was it the chase? Killing in cold blood? The smell of dead kobolds? Who knows. The human’s stomachs turned and even the notion of eating disgusted them. [Ob 2 Health test. Thrallson succeeded, the humans failed. Twist: You can’t eat until the next camp phase]

Camping… again

Despite the close proximity of Kobolds, the adventurers wanted to be able to eat, and try to recover again. They hunkered back down and made camp. I considered it a Dangerous Camp (a group of Kobolds making camp in the passage above), but the nevertheless rested safely [Rolled a 12 on the camp events table]

Check – With the aid of his previously created poultice and some faith in his gods (har!) Miles meditated and tried to get a good night’s rest. And little good it did him. When he woke he was just as sore and miserable as before [Ob 3 Health Test. Result: Fail]

Check – Milton drank some wine and tried to cool his heels over the whole event. And sure enough the wine did it’s job [Ob 2 Will Test. Result: Success]

Instinct – Milton tried to craft a map based on the description given to him by Berti and Brot. And what a map he made! [Ob 6 Cartography. Result: Fail. Twist. The map will only cause them pain]. Milton made a map that not only showed the location of the Crooked Tooth but also gave the party a way out of the tunnels. Which of course was completely wrong…

Unable to wait for the adventurers to “get ready” impatient Ronwald ran off!

Thoughts on the Game

There was some fantastic role-playing in this session. I think as a result of camping time, and talking with the Kobolds, Ronwald, and each other. I loved seeing Thrallson grind his teeth while Milton negotiated with Kobolds, speaking in their runty yipping tongue.

Must remember to bring that map back into the game sometime.  Also must keep track of what Ronwald is doing!

I borked up the 2nd camp phase. It should have ended after Milton drank the wine (because all the checks were gone and because he had just taken an action). I don’t feel too bad about it though since Milton could have used his instinct first, then had Miles use a check and end using a check himself without changing any of the dice rolls. Just something to watch for next session.

Yay for impatient NPCs causing trouble.

GM: Sean Nittner
Players: Chris Moore, Colin Madden, David Gallo, Mark Miller, and Max Külshammer.
System: Torchbearer
Module: Under the House of the Three Squires

Five awesome guys rolled up five desperate adventurers. Thrallson, the dwarf who’s name was taken from him by his own kin. Aranim, the elf who lost his wife, and in turn, his son. Miles and Milton, friends from the Wizard’s tower. Cleg, the son of merchants, trying to find his own way.

Adventuring on Air

 Turn by Turn

Turn 1 – Entering the inn, smelling it’s musk, they examined the inn and found the scales that had been shed. Milton looked at them further [Hunter Ob 2. Result: Success] His knowledge of Kobolds paid off! These were Kobold scales.

Thrawllson lit his lantern

Instinct – Before they went down the steps, Thrallson exampled them for traps [Scout Ob 2. Result: Fail. Twist] And he found them! But the trap found him too. Thrallson carefully inspected the steps and three down he found where they were sawed to collapse… and collapse they did.

Flashback to Aranim’s past – and see the tragic fate of his son

Turn 2 – Thrallson, with the aid of his dwarf-in-arms Cleg scrambled to leap up [Heath Ob 2. Result: Success]. He lept to the top, just as the stairs collapsed.

Turn 3 – The dwarves sent to making a safe way down. With rope and spikes from Miles, the built a rope ladder and secured it to the the floor of the inn [Weaver Ob 3. Result: Success]

Turn 4 – (what happened to turn 4?)

Tiresome work! Hungry and Thirsty. Rations eaten, water drunk! Thrallson’s lantern and Torch lit.

Turn 5- Hearing the whine behind the pile, the adventurers pull apart the giant pile of debris. Thrallson pulls the pile apart carefully [Laborer Ob 1. Result: Success]. After the door is open a German Shepard burst through.

Turn 6 – Aranim tries to sooth the dog with his ancient elvish words. Singing a soothing song [Nature (in place of Hunter) Ob 2. Success. Check gained]. The dog devoured the food and befriends Aranim.

Milton lights a torch.

Turn 7 – After recovering the casks of Sour Beer, Cleg investigated the wine cellar to see if anything else was there. [Scout Ob 3. Result: Fail. Twist: As the rack comes loose, a net trap falls on them].

Turn 8 – The Net trap falls and the party dives out of the way. [Heath Ob 3. Result: Success, they leap out of the way!]

Milton’s torch burns down and lights another. Lantern burns out and is relit [GM Error: This should have happened when the net fell, and made the Ob for escaping the net harder]. Loot found!

Clever Idea – Aranim used the smell from Ronwald’s helmet to help his dog sniff out his trail. Brilliant!

Turn 9 – Moving forward the dog ran into the pit trap set by the Kobolds. Aranim and friends had to dive to save him [Heath Ob 2. Result: Success]

Turn 10 – Crossing the pit, with some help of dwarven ingenuity! [Dungeoneering Ob 4. Result: Success]

Turn 11 – Making their way down a steep slope using the narrow steps, rope and spikes. [Dungeoneering Ob 4. Result: Success]

Turn 12 – At the bottom of the stone steps, Ronwald’s do lost his scent in the muck, however footprints both human and Kobold were found. Miles, taking charge set off to find the way. [Scout Ob. Result: Fail. Twist, his scouting was interrupted by a cave in!]

Fleeing the cave in the party stumbled right into a small group of kobolds, holding a man (Ronwald) by a leash! Startled by the quake, and the sudden presence of adventurers, the kobolds reached for their spears and slings!

Thoughts on this game

I botched all kinds test and turn order business in this game. I think I missed that Thrallson was using an instinct to scout for traps and accidentally applied conditions after turn 3 instead of 4. But then later I didn’t apply conditions after turn 8 or 12.

I really liked some of the players ideas (using the torch to mark passage and having the dog sniff it’s way to it’s master). I play with smart peeps.

And here is one characters’s backgrounds…

Aranim’s Story

Once known by another name, Aranim in his youth befriended a young human girl of unsurpased beauty and uncommon intellect. They soon fell in love and he would visit her often until one day she bore him a child and he stayed with her at the edge of the forest ot raise the boy. On his 13th year Aranim took his son Hrafnir boar hunting and he was mortally wounded. Unable to save him, Aranim rushed his son to the Elflands to beseech the aid of his kin. They were able to save the boy but for revealing their lands to a non-fey he was stripped of his name and banished forever.

Upon returning to human lands more years had passed they he and his son had realized for Elf lands have a strange effect on time; his wife had faded away her life being artificially extended by the Elf’s grace and his abscence and the grief she felt from his parting were too much to bare. Hrafnir was angry over this and developed a terrible grudge against his father, due partly from his mother’s death but equally from also knowing the beauty of the elf lands and knowing that he too, like his father, would never see them again.

Now Aranim wanders the land, longing for a life he cannot live and praying for death that he cannot bring upon himself.

GM: Sean Nittner
Players: Chris Moore, Max Külshammer, David Gallo.
System: Torchbearer
Setting: Under the House of the Three Squires

Over G+ and twitter a few more folks said they wanted to play, so we started up a group. Collin Madden and Mark miller are also in it, but they weren’t here for the first session. I didn’t know what dungeon they were going to crawl when we first started up, so I just called the invite Torchbearer – TBD. Once we started however I wasn’t ready with anything else, so I started them on Under the House of the Three Squires. The name has stuck however, and they are now my TBD group, which may or may not stand for “To Be Determined.” This short session was just character creation and a brief introduction to the Three Squires.

Character Creation on Air

 Roll Call

Characters created after this session