Kage Gordain Chapter 11: Battle For Crossbones Island

(Read previous chapter here.)

Game System: Tunnels & Trolls

Tools: rpgsolo.com solo engine; Microlite20 RPG Collection 

(The above contains affiliate links.)

Setup:

Before I get into this chapter, I want to make a confession. I am not an expert on ships, especially historical sailing ships. I’m sure this is not a big surprise and I doubted anyone thought I was. The reason I bring this up is that in earlier chapters I described the Skylark as a naval cutter. Upon further research, I discovered that while there are naval cutters, the type and size of a cutter is not what I had in mind when I envisioned the Skylark. The ship I was thinking of and what will be depicted in the rest of this campaign is much larger. Therefore, I have gone back to my previous chapters and replaced any reference to a “cutter” with some other generic term, such as ship or vessel. I will leave the specifics to the experts.

[Scene 1]

Does the Skylark decide to head back to Sirisea?

(50/50 | 3[d10]) No

Does the Skylark decide to circle the island to scout it out?

(Likely (curious what is going on) | 9[d10]) Yes +Event (to be revealed later)

It is mid-afternoon aboard the Naval ship Skylark. Captain Manyard Pollard is sitting at his desk in his quarters when there is a rap on the door. After being given permission, the first mate enters the room.

“Any sign of the landing party?” Pollard asks.

“No, sir. Today will be the third day since they left for the island. What are your plans so I can inform the crew.”

“Not even seen a signal?”

“No, sir.”

Pollard thinks for a long moment. “The more time that passes the less likely they will return. Still, I don’t want to give up hope yet. At the same, I can’t afford to send any more crew ashore to search for them. I say we give them till the ‘morn, then we should think about heading back to Sirisea.”

“If I may offer a suggestion, sir?”

“Speak your mind, Hart.”

“We have enough daylight left to circle the island. I believe we owe it to our crew and passengers to take a look around in case they can be seen on the far side of the island’s peaks.”

“That sounds like a reasonable request,” Captain Pollard agrees. “Let the crew know and prepare the ship. We sail in an hour.”

[Scene 2]

“Back up you scum!” The pirate guard warns the caged prisoners, raking his dagger across the wooden bars. Beyond him, a couple other pirates are bringing the two prisoners back from the cave. Kristopher does not see Jochim with them.

Once the guard is satisfied that the prisoners are at a safe distance, he unlocks the padlock, unwinds the chain, and opens the gate. The pirates shove the rough-looking man and woman back into the cage.

“Where is Jochim?” asks one of the prisoners who was already in the cage.

[Do the pirates kill Jochim?

(Likely | 10[d10]) Yes, and…] 

“Unfortunately, he didn’t make it. But here’s something to remember him by.” [and…] He tosses Jochim’s head into the cage. It lands on the ground, rolls over, and comes to rest facing up. As the pirates are laughing, one of the male prisoners freaks out. 

“No! No!” he screams as he charges the gate. The pirates are caught off guard and are too stunned to do anything as the man pushes past and runs off. The pirates who escorted the men back give chase. The guard quickly closes the gate and throws the lock on the chain to secure it before running after the others.

[In chapter 10 when asking the oracle about the cage, I rolled an event: Open / Disruption-NPC negative. What follows is the result of that event.]

When they are out of earshot Dalen directs Kel’s attention to the gate.  “Look!”

In his haste, the guard forgot to wrap the chain around the bar of the gate. So, while the chain was locked, it was not attached to the door!

“Kel! Quickly, give me a hand.” 

Dalen rushes out while Kel holds open the gate and keeps an eye for any returning pirates. Dalen picks up a large rock and strikes the wooden post that the chain is wrapped around, cracking it nearly through. Tossing the rock away, he gets back in the cage and attempts to fix the beam so the damage is not noticeable. [Dalen makes a LCK SR for success. The higher the roll, the less likely the tampering will be noticed. Roll: 6,1+16 LCK=23 A L1 success.]

As Dalen is making the final adjustments to the bar one of the other prisoners warn him that the pirates are returning. They carry the escaped prisoner between them.  Did the prisoner get away? (Very Unlikely | 2[d10]) No;  Do the pirates make an example of the prisoner? (50/50 | 2[d10]) No] The guard quickly unlocks the chain and opens the door as the others roughly toss the man back into the cage. He lands face down in the dirt, the air rushing out of his lungs.

“Take it easy with him!” one of the females exclaims as she rushes over to check on him.

“Hmmph!” the guard snorts, re-locking the gate, correctly this time. “Be thankful that’s all we did. If he would’ve put up much of fight we may’ve had to cut his throat.” His companions laugh at that before heading back to the beach.

[The guard needed a L2 INT SR to notice the broken bar (L1+1 level for Dalen’s L1 roll) He rolled a 1,3+13 INT = 17 and failed to notice.0.]

[Scene 3]

Ellis casts his line into the waters as gentle waves lap at the tips of his bare toes dangling off the end of the pier where he sits. Captain Helton runs a tight ship and drives her crew hard, which makes these rare moments of peace all the more special for him. Earlier all the treasure found in the cave had been hauled out, brought back to the beach, and stored in the supply hut. Now that the search was over, there wasn’t much to do but celebrate. Some of the men cracked open a jug of rum. Others pulled out various musical instruments to lead the other in a few rounds of sea shanties. Ellis simply liked to fish. He enjoyed the time alone, gazing out over the sea and listening to the gulls. If he was lucky, he might actually catch a fish or two for that night’s dinner.

Yes, this is heaven!

And then Ellis sees it.

Out of the corner of his eye, the pirate catches a glimpse of movement. Coming around the south end of the island are the bow and jibs of a ship. The fishing forgotten, Ellis drops the pole and jumps to his feet. “Ship!” he yells, waving his hands and pointing at the approaching vessel. “There’s a ship!”

Most of the pirates ignore him...or more likely can not hear him over the music of the makeshift band. Ellis runs down the pier to the beach, continuing to warn the others as loudly as he can. One by one the pirates begin to notice and it isn’t long before the Captain realizes something is up. She strides over and meets Ellis at the foot of the pier.

“What is it?” she demands.

“Captain Helton. There’s a ship coming approaching.”

By now enough the Skylark has rounded the island that it was clearly visible from where Helton stands. 

“Serpents!” she cried, spotting the flag of the Orthan navy flying from the ship’s mast. “Start gathering the men and send them to the boats.” 

Spotting her first mate, Charles ‘Cruel’ Peyton, Helton calls him over. After informing him of the situation she instructs him to stay on the island with two other men (not including the pirate guarding the prisoners) while she and the rest of the pirates row out to the Broken Curse to help fight back the Orthan navy.

Does Udele send pirates to the ship from shore?

(Likely | 10[d10]) Yes, and… She accompanies them

[Scene 4]

[Ship’s stats and sea combat rules are based on the Microlite20 variant Gryphons & Gramarye, as found in the Microlite20 RPG Collection.

The Skylark is a medium sailing ship with an AC 8 and 121 Ship HP. Based on the random wind conditions, the ship’s current movement is up to 15 yards a round.

The pirate ship Broken Curse is a small sailing ship with AC 8 and 70 Ship HP.]

Captain Pollard of the Skylark stands on the deck next to his first mate who is scanning the other ship with a telescope.

“I only see a few pirates aboard their ship, Captain. Five or six at the most.” He turns the spyglass to the shore. “There is a lot of activity onshore, however. It looks like the pirates there are climbing into a couple of boats. I think they are going to try and race us to their ship.”

“Get the catapults ready.” Captain Pollard orders. “Fire once we are in range!”

[The Skylark has enough men to fire two catapults once every 5 rounds. They must be within 150-300 yrds. It will take them 5 minutes to get in range. To hit with a catapult, an attack roll is made with a d20. The attacker needs to roll higher than the opponent’s AC to hit. Shots do 3d6 damage. Additionally, any hits have a 1 in 6 chance of injuring 1d4 people for 2d6 CON points each (“Doubles Add and Roll Over” applies).

Do the navy use flaming shots? (Unlikely | 2[d10]) No

Pirates only have enough men on the Broken Curse to fire two catapults once every 8 rounds.

Do the pirates use flaming shots? (Unlikely | 2[d10]) No +Event: Overindulge / Attention-Move towards goal  (to be resolved during combat)]

Aboard the Broken Curse, the few pirates that are currently on the ship hurriedly ready the two catapults aimed in the direction of the oncoming naval vessel. As the Skylark closes in it begins to turn slightly to give their own catapults an angle of attack. Once the two ships are in range [Round 1], each lets a volley of shots fly. The Skylark’s shots were a bit hasty and miss by several feet. [Two misses: 5 and 4] The pirate ship has better luck, piercing the navy ship with both shots, one crashing into the deck, shattering wood and injuring two seamen. [Two hits: 18 and 12, for a combined ship damage of 13, two crewmen are injured for 11 and 5 points respectively]

[For the navy crew I used the same Wizardawn stats as the pirates, randomly determining if each member would use the “easy” or “normal” stats. This created crew members who had much higher stats than the two men who accompanied the PC’s to shore. However, having higher stats would not have changed anything in the earlier part of this adventure.]

As the pilot of the Skylark turns the bow back toward their enemy, the two lifeboats that are carrying Captain Helton and the rest of the pirates from shore have just left the pier. [It will take them 15 rounds to reach the Curse. They are AC 9 and each has 15 Ship HP]

“Captain, I was correct,” the first mate tells Captain Pollard as he lowers the telescope. “The pirates from shore are trying to make it to the ship.”

“Is that so? Officer Grandshine,” he says to the Pilot. “When we are roughly two hundred yards out, halt our progress and turn the ship to give our catapults clear shot to those lifeboats.” 

[This is the event rolled a few minutes earlier:  Overindulge / Attention-Move towards goal Seeing an opportunity to take out the enemy before they reach the ship, the Skylark will turn its attention to the approaching lifeboats.]

After several minutes [rounds 2-5], the pilot steers the Skylark into position and the men manning the weapons make their final adjustments. 

[Round 6] “Fire!”

Both catapults target the lead lifeboat. The pirates see the shots sailing through the air towards them. Mere seconds before impact they scramble over the sides, realizing they are about to be hit. The tiny craft is hit by both shots and torn to splinters. [Both randomly targeted the same boat. Two hits: 11 and 17 for a combined damage of 23 points. No pirates hit.] The second lifeboat, the one carrying the pirate Captain, has room for one more but Helton orders the rowers onward in the hopes of making it to the ship before the Skylark. [Per oracle rolls, Helton was on the boat that was not hit but does not pick up any of the floundering pirates despite having space for one.]

[Rounds 7-8] Captain Pollard gives the order to reload. He orders one catapult to fire at the pirate ship and the other to target the remaining lifeboat. While they prepare to shoot again, the Broken Curse fires another volley of shots at the Skylark. These shots, however, are too far and fly harmlessly overhead. [Two misses: 7 and 6]

[Rounds 9-11 Lifeboat comes within 4 rounds of reaching the Curse.] The Skylark fires again. The shot at the pirate ship hits squarely and rips a hole in the side. [Hit: 11 for 11 damage] The shot at Helton’s lifeboat clips the back end, but no one is hit and the boat remains afloat. [Hit: 12 for 9 damage.]

[Rounds 12-16] The Skylark’s pilot resumes his progress toward the Broken Curse, but keeps slow enough to stay in catapult range for one final shot. However, by doing so the pirates also have an opportunity for one more long-range attack. Their first shot is wide, but the second one buries itself into the ship’s side [One miss/one hit: 6, 9 for 5 points damage, no injuries] In retaliation, the navy fires off their final two shots. One falls short, but the other hits right in the midst of the men huddled around one of the catapults, killing one and injuring the other two. Additionally, a loose piece of metal flies through the air and strikes one of the pirates manning the other catapult. [One miss/One hit: 2, 12 for 13 damage, 4 pirates are injured, killing one.]

With this final volley over, the Skylark sails out of catapult range and closes the distance with the Broken Curse. the naval crew preparing themselves to board the enemy vessel.

The Skylark ... closes the distance with the Broken Curse

[Scene 5]

Back on Crossbones Island, the pirate guarding the prisoners watches the scene unfolding at sea from his vantage point on the rise overlooking the beach. Minutes earlier First Mate Peyton ran up to tell him to keep an eye on the prisoners and not leave his post. He had every intention of following orders, however, in his interest in the battle and a desire to get a better view, he has moved several yards away from the cage.

“Now’s our chance while the guard is distracted,” Dalen tells the others. He picks two men to help Kelseen and himself subdue the guard while the remaining prisoners carry Kristopher away to a safe location in the forest. Once everyone understands the plan, Dalen grips the bar that he weakened earlier and pulls it apart while Kelseen slips the chain through the gap. Throwing the gate open, the dwarf and three humans quickly run toward the distracted guard.

[They need a L2 LCK roll to surprise the guard, using Dalen’s stats. Roll: 6,4+16LCK=26 Success! Each character gets a free unarmed attack with 1d6.]

Kel and Dalen’s unspoken plan is simply to capture the guard. The other two prisoners, however, are less forgiving. All four tackle the guard before he knows what is going on. Kelseen just tries to hold him down, but the two prisoners are relentless with their fist strikes, taking out weeks of anger against this one pirate. The guard soon loses consciousness and might well be dead. [He is.] 

They strip the man of his weapons, Kelseen taking his sword and Dalen his dagger. Dalen finds the lock keys and hands them to Kel, telling her and the others to lock the guard up in the cage in case he awakens. [He won't.] While they are doing that, Dalen runs over to Sylralie and cuts her loose from the tree. The elf shakes her arms and legs to regain some feeling before the five of them head off to rejoin the others.

[Scene 6]

“Get up there!” Captain Udele Helton orders as her lifeboat reaches the ladder leading up to the Broken Curse’s deck. She follows after the eight other pirates have climbed up. Reaching the top she peers over just in time to see the Skylark pulling up alongside her ship, several of its crew aiming crossbows in her general direction.

“Duck!” one of the pirates cries and Helton backs down a rung as the navy lets crossbow bolts fly. On deck, the shots sink harmlessly into the boxes and crates behind which the pirates hide. [Each of 10 naval soldiers need a L3 DEX roll (based on distance and enemy size) to hit. All 10 missed. My conclusion after playing this campaign is that T&T missile weapons are basically worthless unless you have a DEX over 25 or so.]

Helton finishes climbing aboard as the Skylark’s crew throw grapples and secure the two ships together. Many naval men climb over the railing as the pirates draw swords and engage them in battle. Despite having an initial advantage due to the navy having to concentrate on climbing from one ship to the other, they are unable to benefit as their surge is quickly repelled by the trained man. [Despite each naval man having a disadvantage of 1 less die for boarding, the navy wins the first combat by 29 points. Damage is distributed randomly amongst the pirates.]

Another wave of navy climbs aboard the Curse as a couple of pirates fall. The sea thieves do their best to fight back but are easily overwhelmed by the attacking navy who outnumber them almost two to one. Despite being about to lose her ship, Captain Helton refrains from joining the battle herself, thinking more about protecting her own life. [Does Captain Helton join in the battle? (Unlikely | 6[d10]) No, but… the Navy can reach her if they win any combat roll, a fact that turns out to be irrelevant as combat continues.]

Within a mere couple of minutes the battle is over and Helton lays down her sword in an act of surrender. When the fight is over, not a naval man is lost, yet five pirates lay dead and the remainder are beaten, cut, and barely hanging on to life. [Navy wins by 337 points. The pirates only have a combined CON of 342, but instead of merely wiping them out I decided the pirates would surrender. I randomly rolled to see how many were still alive. The result was 9. The navy will send a boat to pick up the 10 pirates floating in the water, for a total of 19 prisoners.]

[Scene 7]

Peering around the corner of a small hut-like structure, Sylralie sees ‘Cruel’ Peyton and two other pirates standing side by side on the pier watching the battle at sea. She ducks back and quickly tells Dalen, Kelseen and five of the former slaves the plan.

After being freed by Dalen and meeting up with Kristopher and the others, it was discussed what should be done. Syl, extremely ticked-off at that point, was ready to take the fight to the pirates. It didn’t take much convincing as several of the freed prisoners wanted to join her. Kristopher was too injured to move, but Kelseen and Dalen, with their newly acquired weapons, were also ready. Three of the prisoners agreed to stay with Kris and the rest searched for heavy branches that could be used as clubs. Meanwhile, Syl used some of her recovered magic to heal her other teammates. [Leaving her with 11 WIZ]

Now the group is carefully sneaking up behind the three pirates. They are successful until one of the pirates happens to glance back and see the eight of them approaching. He immediately warns the others and they turn around. [Needed a L1 Luck using the worst stat (5) Roll: 13 fail] 

“Hey, how’d you get out!”

“I’m going to kill Wiley when I see him,” Peyton curses.

The two parties charge at each other and meet at the foot of the pier. Syl casts Take That You Fiend [at random target] as the others swing their weapons. The pirate struck by the spell is shaken momentarily but quickly rejoins the fight. Even though the pirates are outnumbered, the prisoner’s lack of fighting skill shows and their blows are easily deflected. Unfortunately, the large group also makes it hard for Dalen and Kel to get in a good strike. 

Syl casts another Take That You Fiend at Peyton [chosen randomly]. He winces but remains in the battle, his sword gutting one of his opponents. Most of the other prisoners have been cut and stabbed and, even though they are still standing, it's clear that they are fearful and overpowered. Dalen and Kel try to make up for their inexperience but are pushed aside by the others who are trying to avoid being hit.

[After two rounds of combat, the pirates have won both. One prisoner is dead. Syl’s TTYF spells did injure two of the pirates but didn’t reduce either to 0 CON.]

Out of magic, Syl reaches for a dropped club intending to join in the melee. Dalen, seeing another prisoner go down, thinks they might have a chance if he can incapacitate one of the pirates. Targeting the first mate, the dwarf kicks up sand with all his might, hoping it might blind the man. However, the spray of grit fails to reach high enough. This move exposes Dalen to Peyton’s attack and the pirate drives his sword into the dwarf’s side, sending him to the ground unconscious.

[Dalen tried a stunt by kicking sand. I discussed stunts back in Chapter 4, but did not talk about what happens if a character fails his stunt. There are no hard and fast rules and it’s up to the GM to determine the penalty. Some rule that the player cannot contribute any dice to the current melee attack round. Others say there is no penalty and the attack round continues as normal. I don’t like either of those extremes. There should be a penalty, but even if a character fails the stunt he may still be able to defend himself or cause some damage. The way I handle it is that I let the character gamble two of his attack dice on the stunt roll. If he fails the stunt, he loses those two dice from that round’s attack.

In this instance, Dalen needed a L2 LCK roll to blind the pirate. He rolled 4,2+16LCK = 22. A fail! Dalen’s attack dice are reduced by two.]

Before she can take a swing, Syl sees Dalen go down and all the other prisoners either dead or dying. Besides herself, only Kelseen is left standing. [Pirates won the last round by 40. Randomly assigned damage took down all the prisoners and reduced Dalen to 0.]

“Run for the water!” Syl cries and takes off down the pier. Kel follows with the pirates in hot pursuit. They are still several feet from the end when Kelseen senses that she is about to be overtaken. Stopping suddenly, she spins around with her sword. The pirate behind her tries to halt but the blade slices into his arm and he falls back, momentarily blocking his companion’s progress. Kelseen wastes no time turning back toward the end of the pier and jumping off, right behind Sylralei.

[I used the same race mechanic as in the tunnels, requiring the PCs to only stay ahead of the pirates for one round. One pirate did catch them, which initiated a round of melee which the PC’s won. Because they stopped, one more round was added to the race, which the PCs were able to win.

Once the entire campaign was over, I realized I made a goof at this point and was inconsistent with the rest of the story. When the PCs fled, the pirates should have gotten a free attack reduced only by a high SPD SR. If I base that SPD roll on the results of the first turn of the race, both PC’s would have been killed. However, I feel this omission is acceptable for the following reasons:

1. Prior to this campaign, I did not have any experience with choosing an appropriate enemy level for the level of my party. It was clear after a few rounds of combat that the stats I chose for my pirates were too high for this party. Omitting the free attack was one way to offset this.

2. If this were not a solo RPG, the person playing Sylralei would have probably asked how many CON each pirate had and would have targeted her TTYF spell appropriately to kill someone. If I had done that instead of choosing randomly, I could have eliminated one of the pirates. That alone would have been enough for the good guys to win.

3. I’m invested in these characters and wanted to give them another chance to survive. Solo Roleplayer’s Prerogative! Besides, their escape made for a more interesting final chapter (to follow this chapter)]

Syl’s leather keeps her from swimming, but she is able to find the sandy bottom with her feet. The water comes up to just above her chin and she has to tilt her head back to breathe or speak. Kelseen stands next to her, her head slightly further out of the water.

The three pirates stop at the end of the pier. “Should we go in after them?”

“Don’t bother,” ‘Cruel’ Peyton responds.  “They can’t go anywhere and they’ll have to come ashore sometime. We’ll just wait for them.”

With that, the three pirates walk back to the beach.

[Does Cruel dive in after them? (Unlikely | 2[d10]) No

Does he tell the others to chase them? (50/50 | 5[d10]) No, but...they keep an eye on the PCs so they can’t come ashore.]

“I really pissed this one up,” Sylralie confesses when the pirates have left.

“Yep!” Kelseen agrees.

“Aren’t you going to say I told you so?”

“You are standing in the ocean with water up to your mouth and nowhere to go. Do I really need to point out the obvious?”

“You were right. I got us captured. Dalen’s probably dead. What am I doing? I have no right leading this group. If we make it out this mess, I think I’m done.”

Kelseen says nothing but lets the elf wallow in her own thoughts.

The water comes up to just above her chin.

By now the pirates have reached the beach and searched the fallen men to be sure there were no survivors. Thinking of Dalen, Syl searches for any sign of her friend’s body. Surprisingly, she does not see any evidence of the dwarf. Her spirits lift slightly at the thought that he might still be alive.

[Dalen was at 0 CON, which meant he was only unconscious. While the pirates were chasing Kel and Syl, he rolled a L1 LCK to wake up and an L1 LCK to escape unseen.]

[Scene 8]

“Uh, Peyton, what’s going on?” One of the pirates point, directing first mate Peyton to the two ships.

Two lifeboats are heading toward shore. One has stopped near the pirates who were floundering in the sea after their lifeboat was struck by a catapult shot. The other heads in the direction of the shore. Even though they are still ways out, the pirates can tell that the men manning the boats are not their own.

“Gentlemen, prepare yourselves. We’re about to have visitors.”

“You’re planning on fighting them?” one of the other pirates asks.

“Of course!” insists Peyton. “We don’t run!” [Does Peyton decide to hide? (Likely | 3[d10]) No

What does he do? 1-2. Decide to wait for the boat and fight? 3-4. Go get the prisoners to use as bargaining chips? 5. Surrender     Roll (d5): 2 wants to wait and fight

Do the underlings agree? (50/50 | 2[d10]) No  Do they: 1. run and hide   2. run, take some treasure and hide 3. try to take Peyton prisoner to use him as a bargaining chip?   Roll (d3): 2 run and take some treasure]

“Uhh, suit yourself,” the other pirate responds. “I think we’re gonna go hide.”

“What! You cowards! If you were men you’d stay and fight.”

“I think we’d rather be alive cowards than dead men.”

The two pirates run inland to hide, leaving Peyton standing alone.

As the two fleeing pirates pass by the storage building one stops and makes a detour inside. He emerges carrying a crate full of bottles. Once he emerges, the two pirates disappear into the surrounding forest.

[During a chapter 9 oracle check I rolled an event: Heal/Pleasures.  I interpreted this as the pirates had a stash of healing potions and that they stored them along with a case of rum. Therefore, when the pirates took the case of rum with them into the forest, they also took the healing potions.]

As the lifeboat nears the shore it passes by Sylralei and Kelseen. They wave the naval officers on, letting them know they are OK. The lifeboat continues to the shore where ‘Cruel’ Peyton awaits their arrival. 

As the boat nears the shore, eight seamen jump into the shallows and draw their weapons. Peyton, possessed by the desire to avenge his captain and defend his land, waits defiantly. The first few naval men that make it to shore engage Peyton in combat. [Navy wins combat by 48, dropping Peyton to 11 CON] Too late the first mate realizes he has made a grave mistake and tries to run. Before he can make it two steps, however, the naval officers cut him down dead.

END OF CHAPTER 11

(Read next chapter here.)