(Read the previous chapter here.)
<Author’s Note: For this campaign, I will be using the Tunnel & Trolls rule system. Since I have used this system already in my previous Kage Gordain campaign I will not spend much time explaining the rules, other than give a quick TL:DR version. However, if you are interested in learning more, please check out my prior campaign. It’s also a good background for this campaign.
I am actually playing a hybrid version of Tunnel & Trolls. Starting with version 5 of the game, I modified it using updated rules and clarifications found in several quick-start guides and other references. Of course, I’ve also come up with several homebrew rules, primarily to accommodate solo play and better facilitate my gameplay/storytelling style.
I expect much of this adventure will be a hexcrawl. Generally, each day the party will be able to travel 3-4 hexes on my map (adjusted up or down due to distractions and events). For each hex, I will randomly determine what major thing(s) they find or encounter. To determine this I will be using the extensive hexcrawl mechanics found in the d30 Sandbox Companion.
For each hex, I will roll for natural features or phenomena, settlements, and encounters. After figuring out if the party runs into anything of note, the tables can then be used to fill out the details. I will consider these results guidelines only, feeling free to adjust (or disregard) as necessary to best fit in with the flow or logic of the adventure.
One last word before I start. I am going back to RPGsolo.com to use as my oracle and primary answer/description generator.
Characters
Sylralei Lumnum - Lvl 2 Female Elven Wizard
STR: 12 CON: 19
DEX: 12 SPD: 8
INT: 15 WIZ: 26
LCK: 15 CHA: 20 Total Personal Adds: 3
WEAPONS: Magic Quarterstaff (2 dice, reduces WIZ cost for spells); Bich’wa Dagger (2 dice + 3)
ARMOR: Blue Leather w/Silver highlights, custom fitting (6 Hits); +1 Cloak
(1 Hit)
TALENTS: Balance (+1 DEX); Marksmanship (3 pt. bonus to missile attacks);
Well-Connected(Might know someone who can help in certain
situations.)
LANGUAGES: Elven, Common, Serpentine, Simian
SPELLS: (LVL 1)Detect Magic, Lock Tight, Will-O-Wisp, Knock Knock, Oh There
It Is, Take That You Fiend, Vorpal Blade, Oh go Away, Teacher,
Hocus Pocus (LVL 2) Poor Baby, Magic Fangs, My Wish Your Command,
Glue-You
---
Dalen Dimflayer - Lvl 2 Male Dwarven Rogue
STR: 23 CON: 20
DEX: 13 SPD: 7
INT: 14 WIZ: 6
LCK: 17 CHA: 9 Total Personal Adds: 17
WEAPONS: Broad Axe (4 dice); +1 Sax Dagger (2 dice + 5 + 1[magic])
ARMOR: Scale Mail (8 Hits); Target Shield (4 Hit)
TALENTS: Roguery (+4 INT); Literary Knowledge (+4 INT);
Well-Connected (Might know someone who can help.)
LANGUAGES: Dwarven, Common, Trollish
SPELLS: (LVL 1)Oh go Away
---
Kristopher Miglward - Lvl 2 Male Human Rogue (Outlaw)
STR: 17 CON: 20
DEX: 13 SPD: 12
INT: 12 WIZ: 10
LCK: 17 CHA: 14 Total Personal Adds: 11
WEAPONS: Scimitar (4 dice); 2 Dirks (2 dice + 1)
ARMOR: Leather (6 Hits)
TALENTS: Roguery (+4 LCK); Endurance (+4 CON); Search (+4 INT)
LANGUAGES: Common
SPELLS: (LVL 1)Oh There It Is
---
Nen Goldmore - Lvl 1 Male Halfling Wizard
STR: 6 CON: 14
DEX: 11 SPD: 8
INT: 14 WIZ: 171114 Total Personal Adds: 6
WEAPONS: Dirk (2 dice + 1); Sling (2 dice, 100 yds)
ARMOR: Leather (6 Hits)
TALENTS: Ambidextrous (Ignore DEX for the second weapon; Nightsighted (can see in
dark)
LANGUAGES: Common, Halfling, Ursine (bears, wolves)
SPELLS: LVL 1)Detect Magic, Lock Tight, Will-O-Wisp, Knock Knock, Oh There
It Is, Take That You Fiend, Vorpal Blade, Oh go Away, Teacher,
Hocus Pocus>
[Scene 1]
The next day Sylralei and the party prepared for the journey. Weapons were sharpened. Armor and clothes were patched. Kage Gordain’s supplies were perused.
<Everyone is starting with healing potions, but since I don’t know how many potions the organization has, I asked how many each adventure be able to take. “Who has 2 healing potions?” (Likely)
Syl: Yes…and. She has 3
Kris: Yes…and. He has 3
Dalen: Yes + event (Intolerant/Emotions)
Nen: Yes + event (Truce/Randomness)>
[Scene 2]
The following morning the day was clear and without a cloud in the sky <per d30 companion>. Then four adventurers going on the journey, as well as Garlen and Tozhug, gathered just inside Baybrook’s northern gate. Garlen typically didn’t make a special show of seeing the group off on missions, however, this time was different. He was saying goodbye to one of their members. In fact, he had come to treat Sylralei as a daughter, and now this might be the last time he ever spoke to her.
“Where’s Kelseen?” Kris said to Dalen as they gave Garlen and Sylralei some privacy. “Isn’t she coming to say goodbye?”
“I think she’s a bit pissed. Syl just sprung this on us.”
“But Tozhug is here.”
“The two are close, but they’re not inseparable. Tozhug didn’t come with us to Crossbones Island.”
“No,” Kris agreed. “But that was a job. This is . . . well, this is the last time Kel might get to see Syl.”
“She’s hard-headed. . . and stubborn.” <resolution of event Intolerant/Emotions>
With farewells complete, the travelers mounted their horses and started off through the city gates.
<Below is the starting map for the journey. The map came from the fantasy world generator found on Donjon. [https://donjon.bin.sh/fantasy/world/] I had an idea of the general shape of the land’s coast and browsed the options on the site until I found something that worked. I added Baybrook’s location and the main path to Cyenannore. Additional features (roads, locations, names, etc.) may be added as the campaign goes on. As mentioned above, a single day’s uninterrupted journey will cover 3-4 hexes.>
Hex check: Nothing for Features or settlement. Attacked by 3 individuals.>
Barely a mile from the gate, they rounded some trees and were out of sight of the city walls. A rope (hidden under the dirt of the road) snapped up taught right in front of Syl and Dalen and pulled back. The two were caught off-guard as the rope tightened against their chests and dragged them back off their mounts. <L2SR DEX, Syl: 3 (automatic fail under 5) Dalen: 10+13Dex=23 fail>
Out from hiding among the trees alongside the road stepped three human individuals. Two of them were armed with bows and had them drawn and trained on Kris and Nen, who were still on their horses. The third man stood between and slightly in front of the other two. He had a roughened face and was a bit more muscular. He did not hold a weapon but had his hand ready on the hilt of a sword hanging from his belt.
“Good day, travelers,” he said, mainly addressing Syl and Dalen who were still on the ground. “I am so glad to see you out for a ride today, but I must inform you that this road requires a toll to be collected for its use.”
“What are you talking about?” Dalen asked. “This is not a toll road.”
“I am sorry, you must be mistaken,” the bandit continued. “This road has gotten pretty dangerous and extra funds are required to keep the county’s citizens safe.” His mouth turned up in a conspiratory grin. “If the four of you would kindly pay the 20 gold coins a head we will be happy to let you go on your way . . . unharmed. Otherwise, my friends and I might just have to rough it out of you.”
“Don’t be an idiot,” Sylralei said. “You are not a tax collector and we are not fools. There are four of us . . . trained in fighting, by the way . . . and only three of you. Your best move here is to just step back and let us leave.” <L3SR CHA (30): 5+20CHA=25 Fail>
The man laughed. “Girl. We would cut you down before you stood up.” He drew his sword from its sheath and the other two pulled their bowstrings a little tighter. “Now you be smart and pay up!”
Suddenly, Nen spoke up, addressing the bandit leader. “I think you should listen to the woman. She knows what she is talking about. Listen and Oh Go Away!”
<”Oh Go Away” is a spell that allows the user to make the victim leave. To adjust the spell for solo play I roll a d6 for each, adjusted for the following comparison. The combined IQ, Luck, and Charisma of the caster is compared to the same stats for the defender or their Monster Rating (MR), whichever is appropriate. If their totals are greater than 2 points apart, the higher total gets additional dice based on how much greater their total is. Each person’s highest die is compared. If the caster wins, the victim is turned.
Nen and the bandit are close enough that each only roll 1 die. N: 6 Bandit: 1. Nen wins>
The bandit leader looked at Nen and Kris on their horses, then at Syl and Dalen slowly getting to their feet. He let out a grunt as he turned and walked back to the hiding place among the bushes, resheathing his sword. The two bowmen, having noticed the leader turn, glanced at each other questioningly. They quickly turned back to the two on the horses -- a warning to stay in their place -- then looked back to their leader. One of them offered a shrug, then lowered his bow and followed the leaving man. The second took one quick look back at Nen before doing the same. <Do the bowmen follow? (Likely) Yes>
Syl got to her feet. “Quick. Let’s go.”
She and Dalen mounted their horses and the four of them trotted down the road before Nen’s spell wore off.
[Scene 3]
<Hex check: Nothing for Features or settlement. Encounter came up positive for another attack, but for variety, I decided to use one of the encounter tables found at LitRPG Reads.>
“That sure helped us out back there,” Kris said to Nen and they rode along. The four settled back into the same order they rode in as they left Baybrook, with Sylralei and Dalen at the head and Kris and Nen a little ways back.
“You’d be surprised how many times a successful ‘Oh Go Away’ spell can avoid a horrible disaster. I used it many times against my classmates when I was younger.”
“Younger? Do you come from a family of wizards?” To date, most of Kristopher's conversations with Nen were superficial. If they weren’t about Kage Gordain business, they were little more than small talk about daily life. Now with nothing but time on their hands, it gave Kris a good opportunity to learn a lot more about the halfling.
“Oh no,” Nen said. “In fact, my dad couldn’t do a simple coin trick without someone spotting the gold piece tucked in his palm.”
“Then why magic?”
“Necessity, of course! You see, when I was growing up in school . . . Hey! What’s that?”
Without finishing his thought, Nen kicked his horse forward to catch up to Dalen and Syl. They had stopped by the side of the road and were peering down at a heap on the side of the road.
“What’d you find?” Nen asked as he rode up.”
“Not sure,” Dalen admitted as he slid off his horse and walked over to the heap.
It was clearly some kind of animal, about the size of a large dog. The fur was primarily brown with streaks of white and was matted down, covered in crusty blood that had come from several large gashes. Using his axe, the dwarf poked at the corpse’s head in an attempt to tell what it was.
“My best guess is that it was some kind of rabbit,” he said. “The ears look rather long.”
<The encounter table roll above resulted in a dead rabbit on the side of the road. Is it normal sized? (50/50) No. Can it be identified easily? (Slightly unlikely) No. A L1 SR on INT resulted in Syl and Dalen being able to determine what it was.>
“That’s a mighty big rabbit!” Nen exclaimed. Glancing around he added, “That looks like it was attacked by a wild animal. Do you think it is still around?”
“Perhaps,” Syl answered, “But the corpse looks old. Whatever did this is probably long gone.”
“Unless it lives nearby,” Dalen corrected.
<Killed by a person? (50/50) No, but . . . you can see footprints. Signs of a struggle? (50/50) Yes. Only human footprints? (50/50) Yes, but . . . they are old, this happened a while ago>
“Looks like there was a struggle,” Kristopher said as he reached the group. “They are faint, but you can still see several footprints around. The grass is matted, too. Maybe it was a fight. Or they were also attacked by the beast.”
Mostly out of curiosity, the four dismounted and made a cursory search of the area. Most of the area was a large field, Here and there broken blades of grass and churned-up soil could be seen. <L1 SR on Luck: Everyone passes to find another place of struggle> Nearly a hundred feet from the mauled rabbit the sight of a struggle was clearly seen. A large portion of the ground was torn up and a few small plants and bushes were crushed. Dark brown stained the ground, the dried remnants of the bloody battle.
“Skat! Get out of here!”
Everyone turned to the sound of Dalen yelling as what appeared to be a dog ran away through the grass, away from where the dwarf was standing behind a shrub.
“I think I found one of the people who were attacked,” he said.
Everyone joined him to see a partially decomposed leg sticking out of the ground, exposed to the knee. Except for the area just around the lump, the ground seemed neatly patted. Having spent most of his life collecting and telling stories, Dalen did his best to interpret what he saw.
“If I had to guess, I would say another group of travelers came upon the rabbit while it was being attacked by a wolf or a bear or another animal. They attempted to scare it off, either to save the poor creature or even take the meat for themselves. Whether their efforts worked or not, the attacker came back and attacked the group and they ran. Unfortunately, one of them, this one here, didn’t make it and was killed while the others got away.”
“So why is the body buried?” Kristopher asked.
“I suspect the rest of their group either eventually scared off whatever attacked them or, more likely, waited until it had left. They tried to give their friend the best burial they could. That dog I just scared off must have smelled the body and was digging it up.”
Tired of the delay, Slyralei decided it was time they moved on. “There’s nothing here and we wasted too much time already. Rebury it and let’s go.”
The elf turned and headed back to the road, leaving the other three behind to take care of the remains. The rest stood motionless until a distant growl reminded them that wild animals might come along at any time and it would just be easier for them if they had moved on.
[Scene 4]
<Hex check: Nothing for the third hex.
The fourth and final hex for the day revealed the remains of an unknown demi-human.>
The group rode late until the afternoon when they decided it was time to make camp, no inhabitable village or town in sight. For safety and privacy, they traveled about a mile off the main path to look for a clearing. They found one alongside a small brook and began to lay out their bedrolls and prepare a simple meal of their rations.
Dalen took the lead in scouting the area. Just beyond where they stopped he noticed something on the ground covered by overgrowth and filth. It was a skeleton, worn clean by years in the open. Many of the bones were scattered around the area but he could tell they belonged to a human-like creature. However, it certainly was not a human. The hands appeared to be elongated, perhaps tipped with claws, and the front of the skull stuck out like an elongated snout or face. Among the sharp teeth were a set of longer fangs. Dalen’s best guess was that it might have been a lizard-man.
Besides being old, the remains did not appear to be damaged or broken as they might have had there been a struggle. Most likely, whatever it was had either died of natural causes or some superficial wound that left no sign on the bones. Regardless, this finding did not raise any immediate concerns and Dalen headed back to camp.
<Are there any signs that the being was executed? (50/50) No>
(Read the next chapter here)
========
Judges 18:5-6
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