Tools: rpgsolo.com solo engine; playeveryrole.com solo engine; other random generators
Game Notes:
I didn’t fully understand the awarding of Heroism points (Her) when I gave Leira 1 point at the end of Chapter 1. I was treating them as an ever-increasing pool of points that could be spent whenever you wanted to. That’s not entirely true. Points awarded by the GM are temporary and a character’s Her resets to its base value at the beginning of each adventure or scenario. What is fuzzy is what constitutes the beginning of an adventure. Is it the game session, the plot arc, or something else?. For now, I’ll consider it the current arc and let her keep the point. Expect this to be clarified further in the future.
Setup
How many days (2-3) is Duskcall from Swifthaven?
How many days (2-3) is Duskcall from Swifthaven?
(d2+1)=1+1=2
How many hours lead (2-7) does Bhartram have on Harper and Leira?
(d6+1)=4+1=5
Does Bhartram have an encounter while riding? (Adventurers! uses a 1-2 on a d6 to indicate an event.)
(d6)=3 No.
How many hours does he ride before camping? (Based on some research, horses can travel approx. 25 miles a day. Also looking up the average gait speed, I’m assuming Bhart will be traveling between a walk [4mph] and a trot [8-12mph], perhaps an occasional gallop. This makes a days ride somewhere between 4-6 hours.)
(d3+3)=1+3=4 (Since half the day was gone by the time he left, I’ll cut that in about half and say he rode for 2 to 2 and a half hours.)
[Scene 1]
After several hours of riding Bhartram reaches the edge of the forest. It would soon be dusk and he thinks it best to rest for the evening here instead of trying to navigate through the woods in the dark of night, despite the fact that the road goes right through. He does lead his mount off the main road several feet into the trees for some privacy. Before it gets dark he sets up a small noose trap with the hopes of catching a rabbit or squirrel. Then he starts a fire and sits down to eat some cheese and bread before retiring.
Bhartram makes a perception check (MND at -1 due to being off-guard.)
(2d6-1+3MND)=6-1+3=8 >7 Success!
Shortly after the sun completely goes down and he is finishing his modest meal,
Bhart thinks he hears a sound in the distance coming from the direction of Swifthaven. It sounds like the trot of a horse. Not too concerned that he is in any danger he doesn’t try to extinguish or hide the fire. Instead,he makes his way closer to the road to see who might be traveling this way after dark. Not smart to be riding so late into the forest,he thinks. Possibly someone is lost or needs help.
When he is close enough to the road he can see a small light, possibly from a lantern, bobbing in the distance, growing brighter as it nears. After a few minutes, he can see from the glow of the small light that there are actually two riders. Soon they are within earshot.
“How much longer should we ride? We are approaching the forest,” asks a female voice.
“I don’t think much longer,” answers a male voice. “I don’t mind heading further into the forest,
but I would have thought Bhart would have made camp by now.”
Leira and Harper! Bhart thinks, astonished. What are they doing here? Well, he could guess. Trying to stop him. If they are looking for him, then he better not let them pass by. Bhart steps out of from the trees.
Harper and Leira make a surprise check. (MND-2)
Harper (2d6-2+3MND)=3-2+3=4<7 Fail!
Leira (2d6-2+5MND)=1,1 (two 1’s is a critical fail in Adventurers!) Fail!
As the pair near the edge of the woods, a dark figure steps out into the road, startling both of them. Harper reaches for his sword with a curse, angry that he was caught off guard. Leira lets out a highly uncharacteristic frightened shriek. (A bonus reaction for failing critically.)
“Put that away, you fool, ” Bhart says to Harper. “It’s just me.”
Leira straightens up in her saddle, a bit embarrassed by her fright. She holds up the lantern a bit higher so that it can cast some more light in her brother’s direction.
Bhart looks in her direction, but can barely see her as the lantern is too bright to see past very well. “Leira! I told you to stay at home!”
How does Leira react?
The NPC gives: an angry response (But of course)
“And I told you the same! When are you going to start listening to me?”
“Listen to you? I’m your older brother!”
“But I have more common sense!”
“Okay! Okay! Enough!” Harper buts in. “We’ll have plenty of time to prove who’s smarter. But right now I see you have started a fire, Bhart, and our horses and ourselves are ready for a rest. Why don’t we all go set camp and we can discuss this in the morning.”
“Fine,” Bhart concedes and leads them off in a huff to his encampment.
[Scene 2]
Nighttime encounter check=4 (No Encounter)
Nighttime encounter check=4 (No Encounter)
Did Bhart catch anything in the trap?
(50/50 | 4[d10]) No
Morning comes and Bhart checks his traps. Unfortunately, they are empty, so he packs them up while. Leira cuts some slices of cheese to eat with some apples. The trio sits to eat. Harper is wearing his usual leather armor and Leira has on the shirt and rugged pants she changed into before leaving Swifthaven. As they eat, Bhart continues his objections.
“I’m fine. You two can return home.”
“I believe you,” assures Harper. “But it wouldn’t hurt for you to have someone else to watch your back. Leira said there were five men. If they are still together, do you think you can handle them alone?”
“I’ll figure something out.” Bhart takes a bite out of his apple and chews for a few moments in silence. “At the very least, Leira is going home.”
Leira starts, but Harper holds up his hand to her.
“I’m not letting her ride back alone.”
“Then I guess it’s settled,” Bhartram says. “I’m going on to Duskcall and you both are riding back to Swifthaven.”
Leira stands up and throws her apple core at her brother. “Bhartram Rosemight! Either you return to Swifthaven with us to bury father, or we are both going with you to avenge him. What is it going to be?”
The PC gives: an excited response
“What!? It’s not enough for you that Mom died and you took over for her around the house. Now Dad’s gone and you’re going to take his place, and tell me what to do! Well, that’s just not going to happen! I’m still your older brother and I still have a say, Leira. You’re going home!”
Bhart stands, grabs his blanket and pack, and storms off to begin packing up his horse. Leira watches him walk off. After a few moments, she softens and follows after him. Coming up behind,
she put her arms around him and lays her head against his shoulder.
“Brother, I know. I’m upset, as well.” She can feel his chest heave in short spurts as he sobs silently. “We both loved him. Let’s do this together.”
Bhartram catches his breath. “Someone needs to take of . . . of Dad and things back home.”
“Swifthaven is good people. You know that. I’ve already spoken to Desty at the inn. She’ll gather some folk to watch after things while we are gone.”
Bhartram turns to face his sister. She wipes a tear from his face. “What do say, big brother? Let’s get these guys.”
[Scene 3]
While Bhartram isn’t thrilled at the idea of traveling with Harper, he gives in and agrees that the three should continue together. Inside, he is secretly glad for his sister’s company. They quickly break down camp and travel along the road leading into the forest.
An encounter check comes up 6. (No Encounter)
After a day’s uneventful ride they reach the end of the woods and decide to stop for the evening,
knowing there is only about a half day’s travel left to Duskcall. Harper unloads the horses as Bhart sets up his rabbit trap again. Leira hears the gurgling of a small brook nearby and heads off to fill a skin with water.
Check for encounters while in camp=5 (No Encounter) Sorry. I was really hoping for some action myself, but I guess Bhart and friends live in a really safe part of the world . . . oh, except for those five guys who try to take advantage of barmaids and beat up travelers on the road.
Another night passes uneventfully and the trio rises early, eager to make it to the city. While they eat,
they discuss their next moves.
“Once we find lodging,” Harper says,
“I will check out the taverns and see if anyone knows about these men.”
“What do we know about them?” Bhart asks, looking in the direction of his sister.
“The leader’s name was Shylock. As I’ve told you, he is a large man, dark hair, beard. His partner was also large, but blond.”
“Does he have name?” Harper asks.
“Of course, only I didn’t catch it.”
“What about the others?”
“Lackeys? Hirelings? Not sure, but it was clear that Shylock and his pal were in charge of the group.” Leira thinks for a moment. “Oh. There is something else. I lifted this off of Shylock’s partner.”
She pulls out the dagger and hands it to Bhart. The sharp dagger is well made and crafted with care. Each side of the curled cross-guard features the decorative head of a bear. The ribbed handle ends in a small pommel, decorated with a bright green emerald. [RG]
“It’s certainly unique,” Harper comments as Bhart passes it to him to examine.
“Maybe someone has seen it before and can tell us about its owner,” Leira suggests.
“Perhaps,” Harper says as he tosses the blade back to Leira.
Harper and Leira make AGI checks.
Harper=7+2AGI=9 >7 Success!
Leira=5+1AGI=6 <7 Fail.
Harper’s toss is right on target, turning over once in the air, positioning the handle for an easy grab by Leira. However, she was not expecting the toss. Leira reaches out to catch the knife, but at the last minute pulls her hand away, afraid of being cut. The dagger falls harmlessly, bouncing off the ground.
How does Bhart respond to this?
The PC gives: a combative response
“What do you think you’re doing?” Bhart yelled. “That could have hurt her.”
Harper ignores Bhart and addresses the embarrassed Leira instead. “We need to work on that.”
Leira gives Harper a little smile as her cheeks flush.
End of Chapter 3
Wrap up:
Each character gets one experience point. Not sure why, as they haven’t done much, but since I withheld a point last session it’s probably only fair.
Thoughts of Chapter 3
I was hoping we would have some kind of encounter by now, whether it was fighting with an animal or monster, meeting an interesting person on the road, or finding some sort of curious trinket. I fear if nothing happens before the party reaches Duskcall that we’ll have a couple more chapters of little more than information gathering. I’ll see if I can whip something up, however, I’m trying to let the “roll of the dice” generate the story.
My intent was to have a conversation between Bhart and Harper while they traveled through the forest, the purpose being to explore their background and Bhart’s hostility toward the hunter. However, with no evening encounter and, having rolled in advance for the day’s journey, no daytime encounter, I felt another long conversation would be too much. There was already a lot of talking, as is. I will save that conversation for another day.
And, yes, the die roll on the final scene was totally unnecessary. In fact, when I initially thought of Harper tossing the dagger I pictured Leira simply catching it with ease, reinforcing to her brother that she was indeed capable of handling a weapon. But I was itching for some dice rolls and decided to have them make agility checks for the throw and catch. If either failed, I was hoping it would be Harper so Leira could make a dashing saving catch off a poor throw. But alas, what ended up happening was Leira fumbled the catch and Bhart’s concerns are simply reinforced.
(Continue the story here.)
(Continue the story here.)
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