One Man And His Dice #6: The Bigger Picture

When we last left Erik, he had just had his first (if brief) combat encounter of the adventure, striking the Giant Rat that he encountered dead with the first and final sundering blow of his axe. Taking in his new surroundings he did find a couple of interesting features in this simple yet well stocked larder. However, not being anywhere near desperately hungry enough to want to try something from the smorgasbord of Orcish cuisine on offer, or to risk attracting unwanted company by smashing open the locked box he had just found; Erik thought it best to press on through the only other exit in this room.

Before he does however, and we rejoin the adventure I want to take a brief moment to discuss a couple of the decisions that I took at this juncture, with regards to the overall adventures direction.

It was at this point that I started to consider the purpose of the dungeon that I'd be raiding. Who built it, and why? It would be easy to have the band of Orcs set up base in this set of caves, just so as they had a roof over their head as they raided the local area. Simple, but not very compelling in my mind. So I got to thinking. What else could be happening here?

It was then that I hit upon the idea of the Orcs being sent here by an imposing greater force to secure the cave for their arrival, or perhaps to retrieve something. Orcs do after all tend to be toward the lower ranks of the monstrous hierarchy, and it's totally conceivable that they'd knuckle under if someone of significant enough power told them to do so. With that imposing force probably having demonstrated their power by horrifically killing the head of the tribe, or by some other equally blunt display of force.

So there was something here that someone of power wanted.. Not something likely to be hidden in a bunch caves I thought, so toying with this notion I decided that beyond the door Erik was about to open was a dungeon of great craftsmanship. A place that someone in a time long since past had gone to a lot of trouble to hide. They'd built it into natural caves, in a remote area of woodland, ensuring no one knew of its location.

At this point however, I am quite happy to leave the exact nature of what they hid away from the world as a blank. Allowing this element of the adventure to take shape as the dungeon is generated around it, with the only certainty being that whatever this thing turns out to be, it will be a major plot point that drives the story forward long after this dungeon is cleared of the Orcish infestation.

That's really all the detail that I need at this point in time too. I now have an idea as to who built the dungeon, and why the Orcs have taken up residence here, along with a few additional ideas that I can use to shape the adventure as it plays out.

I think I'll leave it there for now, but please join me for the next One Man And His Dice installment; where we will return to Erik's adventure, and the wonders that now lay waiting to be discovered in in our newly imagined dungeonscape.

One Man And His Dice #5: There's A Rat In The Kitchen

When we last left Erik, he had just uncovered the location of what he believed to be the Orcish lair. Hidden by dense woodland, and concealed inside a cave to the north of one of the villages that they had raided; the only clue that this may be the place that he had been searching for was one grim totem left at the caves mouth as a warning to any would be trespassers.

Not so easily deterred by such warnings however, Erik makes ready his gear for the task ahead. Taking out his flint and steel, he ignites his torch and casts the piercing light into the gloom beyond the cave mouth; revealing the top of a rough cut stone staircase. Taking a firm grip of his axe with his free hand, Erik takes one last breathe of fresh forest air into his lungs before stepping over the threshold.

Referring to the map for this adventure I see that Erik will find a room at the foot of this flight of stairs; and like all but one of the rooms in this dungeon, its contents will be randomly generated using a couple of simple charts. Rolling some dice and comparing the results to these charts, I discover that the room I am about to enter is currently being used as a larder; and that I will encounter a monster there. Further rolling reveals that this will be a lone Giant Rat.

A rat in the larder I think. That makes sense. It was likely drawn there by the food. I then flicked through the pages of the adventure looking to see if there was any description for the larder, and it's contents. There wasn't. Looking again however, I did find a note near the charts explaining that the room descriptions were more of a cosmetic thing, and had no impact on play.

That's fine I thought, but as I had committed myself to the idea of there being food in the larder I decided to envoke the rule of simplicity and serendipity (as per the rulebook). In situations like this my instinct is to just wing it, and after mulling it over, 1D6 provisions seemed like a fair amount of food to place in the larder given its size. So I rolled a single dice, and got a 5.

Sorted! Splash in a few pieces of set dressing (a wooden table, and a couple of shelves), and the scene is set.

Back to the action. Unsure of what to expect, Erik descends the stairs into the murk and the gloom, ever watchful for guards and booby traps. He is only a few feet from the foot of the stairs, when an audible scratching catches his attention. Pausing for a moment, Erik pans across the room with his torch. Seconds pass like minutes as the tension slows the passage of time for him, and then he sees it. Reared up on its hind quarters in the corner of the room is possibly one of the largest rats Erik has ever seen. Easily the size of an adult pig, and with teeth comparable to daggers.

Startled by Eriks intrusion, and the sudden illumination of his torch the rodent bolts towards him. Possibly fleeing for stairs behind him. Possibly going for Erik. Erik just doesn't know, and Erik isn't willing to risk mutilation to find out. As it charges Erik, the rat bounds off of its powerful back legs through the air, lunging towards him. Adrenaline courses through his veins as he brings his axe down heavily into the leaping rats neck with one mighty swing, landing a fatal blow. The rats body flying limp and lifeless one way, and a spray of its jugular juices the other as Erik's axe parts the air.

Combat is over no sooner than it began.

Now alone in the room, Erik takes the opportunity and time to fully take in his new surroundings. Working by torchlight, he takes a quick inventory. Other than table and shelves that were immediately apparent, Erik sees a shoddy looking door in the far corner of the room; and beneath the table, a long wooden crate covered poorly by an old dirty cloth. He also takes a closer look at the food which does appear safe to eat, if massively unappealing to him.

Upon further inspection, Erik finds a heavy iron padlock on the crate. A sure indicator that there is something of value inside, but Erik is no locksmith. In trying to decide what he should do he realises that the best course of action is probably to leave it here for now. He could easily smash the crate open with a few deft swings of his axe he thinks, but the noise might attract some unwanted attention; and he reasons if someone locked it, then someone must have the key.

Seeing little else of interest in this room, Erik approaches the shoddy wooden door; ravaged by age, rot and damp ready to continue his adventure..

Before he does though, I decided at this point I decided that a couple of house rules were in order. One for trying to eat something you probably shouldn't (in this case, Orcish cuisine), and one for smashing open chests.

For the food I decided that a medium (4+) Hardiness ability test would be sufficient. If the character makes it, then they manage to keep the food down with no ill effects. If they fail the test however, they are gripped by vomiting and painful stomach cramps. They lose 1 Vitality and it is as if they had not eaten anything at all. A character can never die from this effect though, so if they have only 1 Vitality remaining, they do not lose it; but they still become violently ill.

When it comes to smashing open a lock, the player needs to make a Strength ability test equal to the Lock Picking ability test +1, as well as having something appropriate to smash the lock with; such as an axe, a mace, a hammer or, a heavy rock. So in the instance of the long crate above, Erik would need to make a medium (4+) Strength ability test to destroy the lock, as the original Lock Picking ability test would have been successful on a 3+.

Should the player fail however, the noise attracts a wandering monster as is appropriate to the environment they are in (probably Orcs in Erik's case).

I think we'll leave it there for now. There is still rather a lot to write up from yesterday's session, but as this post is already pretty sizable, it's probably better to break it up a little.

Tune into One Man And His Dice next time, where we'll be continuing our adventure through the Dungeon Of The Orc Boss, and finding out what's behind the door.

One Man And His Dice #4: Wood For The Trees

Following on from my previous post, we re-join our hero at the edge of the woodland where all signs indicate the orcish warband terrorising the local villages have set up shop. He’s close, but Erik will still need to find the den itself.. And the woods are a big place. Full of twists and turns that could easily see a stranger to these parts become lost or worse. No doubt the reason the orcs chose this location.

For this part of the adventure I decided to do something that is again not strictly by the book (oh, the rebel with a dicebag that I am!). I decided that searching such difficult terrain could take days, and in that time any number of things could happen.

To simulate this I gave Erik a fate roll every day that he searched for the den, with an initial target of 6. That target number then dropped by 1 every day, as an expression of the ground covered and the discovery of clues left behind by the orcs. This made certain that the adventure would not consist of endlessly searching through the forest, whilst offering up the strong possibility of some random woodland encounters (one of which would be generated for each day Erik spent searching without locating the orcs hideout).

At this point I also took a couple of more executive decisions with regards to this element of the overland adventure. In addition to the encounter (rolled up randomly with Explore To The Core), I decided that Erik would need to consume a provision for every day he traveled aimlessly. I did also consider having Erik hunt for water, but gave it up as rather pointless notion. The woodland around him was rich and green; so there was evidently no shortage of water in this area; and without a doubt as he trekked through the trees he would come across at least one clean source a day. He also had a waterskin with which to carry away some of whatever he found, which should be more than enough combined to offset any risk of dehydration.

So, day one of our game within our game and I rolled a 1 for the fate roll. Not a promising start, and worlds apart from the 6 I needed.  Time for an encounter. Rolling on the forest encounters table I found that Erik had been greeted by a friendly woodland spirit. Better than an angry one! The spirit accompanied Erik for a while as he searched the immediate area but seeing that he was getting nowhere and somewhat distracted by his puckish companion they both settled down for a rest, Erik planting himself upon the mossy trunk of a fallen tree.

Before they parted at nightfall Erik and the sprite played a simple game of chance. Whilst enjoyable, it was not profitable; losing a small amount of coins (5 GP) to the woodland creature. Erik did wonder what stock such a being placed in the material wealth of man as he lay there under the moonlight that night, but surmised that for this creature the coins where probably no more than a memento of the time they’d shared together.

With a warm feeling inside Erik settled into his uneasy surroundings; somehow feeling safe in the knowledge that such friendly beings inhabited this place.

Day two and Erik is once again up with the dawn chorus. The early bird catches the worm after all. However rolling a 3 for his fate roll today he doesn’t catch any orcs. This entire area of woodland is almost bereft of life friendly or otherwise, with the most interesting living thing being a patch of odd colored mushrooms growing in the shade of one of the mightier trees. Knowing nothing of them, Erik thinks better of eating any of strange fungus. The last thing he needs at this point is to fall ill. Suspecting there may be more to them than meets the eye however he does decide to collect a few, with a plan of learning more about them when he returns to civilisation.

Erik concludes the day by setting up camp and taking in his surroundings. It’s quiet. Too quiet. Could it be that the presence of the orcs has driven away many of the creatures that call this place home?

After a restless nights sleep full of dark dreams Erik awakes on day three. Taking a few minutes to compose himself, Erik takes a firm grip of the haft of his axe and steels himself with a gritty resolve; and soon the woes of the night have slipped into the aether like mist yielding to the sunlight. Unable to recall his dream, but unable to shake the feeling in pit of his stomach Erik presses on into the forest in search of the orcish blight.. And rolling a 4 for today’s fate roll, Erik finds them!

Only an hour or so after waking Erik comes upon a large collection of rocks in a clearing. Rocks the size of small huts, wildly overgrown with trees and shrubbery. Near perfectly concealing a yawning cave mouth worn away by the ages into one of the larger stones. Erik could have easily missed this if it were not for the subtlety of orcs, who wishing to mark their territory have planted a marker at the entrance to their lair; adorned in blood, tribal symbols, and crowned with a humanoid skull. A warning to anyone who would trespass into their domain.

To Erik though, this is far from a warning, It’s an invite!

This is as far as I was able to play through to in my first session due to time constraints, but as you can see I am far from done. There are a few seeds for future adventures down the road that have been planted, and I am just about to enter into my first dungeon; the Dungeon Of The Orc Boss.

Stay tuned to One Man And His Dice as we take the plunge, and delve into the depths of darkness to push back the green tide.

One Man And His Dice #3: Onward To Glory

Welcome back to the latest posting of the adventures of Erik, saviour of an as of yet unnamed village; and the scourge of the orcish warband in his wake.

We join our hero early in the morning, and refreshed after a fine night of food and tall tales in the elders home, discussing past triumphs with his new found friends. Gathering his kit, Erik assures the elder of the village that he will not return until he has driven the orcs in the north from this land. The elder replying only with a knowing nod and an assuring smile.

The area of land that Erik is traveling into is no less hospitable than that surrounding the village but for a distinct lack of roads or beaten paths, however as it is sparsely populated and infrequently traveled I decide that both a travel roll and encounter roll should be made.

The travel roll indicated that Erik had become lost, and a subsequent pathfinding ability test was missed by 1. I interpreted this as being more disorientated than lost, but the extra effort required to find his way did result in a temporary loss of 1 Will.. Erik should really buy a map! Taking the path less traveled does have some advantages however, as whilst Erik was taking a left when he should have taken a right he happened upon a small camp of scholars and intellectuals.

Curious about their work they explained that they were archaeologists and historians excavating some ruins that had been recently discovered (or at least I decided that is what they were doing based on the description of the encounter). Not being accustomed to some of the more physical requirements of field work, and seeing Erik as being rather impressive in stature they offer him some work laboring for them at a very good rate.

Tempted as he is by the prospect of some easy gold, Erik declines; putting his responsibilities before financial gain. He also takes the time to explain the situation to the scholars, who he notices are without an escort in these dangerous wild lands. They thank Erik for his warning but do not seem phased by the news. Perhaps they’re not as defenseless as they seem Erik ponders.

As an aside, this random event also struck me as a great seed for a future adventure; especially as four of the five dungeons randomly rolled up for this area are set in ruins. The group that offered Erik the work could be uncovering one of these very dungeons. I can’t deny being impressed with how easily and organically this all fell into place, and likewise I can’t deny that the system made this kind of intuitive leap very easy. Good stuff.

At this point I decided that it was time to allow Erik to find the woodland where the orcs had made their base, but not before the dying light so as to add a sense of foreboding to an already precarious situation. I allow Erik time to set up a simple camp on the outskirts of the large wooded area before nightfall; deciding that he would find it preferable to continue his quest after a few hours rest.

This also seems like a good point in the story to wrap this post up. Join me next time when Erik embarks on the next leg of his journey, as he searches the woodland in the hopes of uncovering his goal.

One Man And His Dice #2: Visions Of Valor

In my previous post we did all the set up required in order to get a game of SCRAWL underway. Although I should say at this point that you don’t need to go as far as creating a land in which to explore if you don’t want to. You can just dive straight into a dungeon as you would with one of the more traditional Fighting Fantasy novels if that’s more your thing, but I decided to do so for a couple of reasons.

One of these was that I wanted to use Explore To The Core, as it turns the journey to your dungeon into an adventure in itself; whilst the random seeds that it sows offer a wealth of inspiration for further off the cuff adventures. The other is a personal desire to work with the random elements in order to weave the narrative. It’s a good cerebral work out as a writer, that tests both your creativity and skill with the written word.

Back to the matter at hand however and our hero, Erik, is standing in a large town ready to embark upon his quest. Before doing so however he decides that it may be prudent to invest in a few additional supplies. Taking an hour or so to peruse the market place and the local merchants, Erik finds a simple but sharp dagger that he decides would be useful should he find himself in a pinch; and a waterskin that should do him well enough for his journey overland.

For a few more coins Erik gathers all the food he can carry before leaving the town, and heading north towards the area of the reported orc raids.

With SCRAWL you only roll for travel and events when moving from hex to hex if you’re playing by the book; but wanting to mix things up and keep things interesting I decided that the relatively short journey (about half a day) from the town to the more remote village was plenty of time for something unexpected to happen.

Rolling for an event I find that part of the roughly beaten track between the two locations has become a boggy mire. Not wishing to take a detour, Erik decides that the best course of action is to push on through the thick mud and sludge. It is hard work, but Erik does make it; if slightly more exhausted for the effort expended (-1 Will).

It’s at this point that I created a quick house rule that every ability roll attempted (the above encounter required two), grants your character 1XP once it has been resolved regardless of the outcome. This is a throwback to my many years of playing Tunnels & Trolls, where whenever you attempt to make a saving roll you earn adventure points. This makes sense to me, as even failing to achieve something teaches you something about the thing you are trying to achieve; and failure can often be a better tutor than success.

The rest of the morning and early afternoon passes without event, and Erik soon arrives at his destination where the villagers are hard at work building primitive wooden barricades and fortifications. This isn’t something that I rolled up, but rather something that I made up on the fly. I figured that being in a remote location, the villagers had probably felt that they were on their own in defending their homes. I then considered that with limited materials available to them, and not being either soldiers or engineers; a few hastily erected wooden blockades is probably all they could have mustered since the raids began.

I also decided that given their current woes the villagers may be a little suspicious of an armed stranger arriving unannounced, so a fate roll would be used to determine their reaction to the arrival of our hero. Weighing up the various factors, I decided that making a medium (difficulty 4+) fate roll would allow Erik entry to the village.

I rolled a 6, which I decided wasn’t just a success but a great success. Again, this wasn’t strictly by the book but it felt right. Working with this idea, I decided that Erik would be met by the village elder who would escort him to their home. There the elder would advise Erik that they had received a vision of his arrival, and of his quest. Whilst the vision did not tell of Erik’s fate or the outcome of his endeavor, it did show the elder a man of great conviction and with a ferocity of spirit. Enough for the elder to believe that Erik could do what he was setting out to do, and free their village from the orcish menace.

The belief of the elder of the village revitalised Erik (restoring the will lost to the boggy ground earlier), which again wasn’t strictly by the book; but I figured if trying circumstances can drain your will, then such a glowing endorsement could replenish it.. And it was only one point. This also seemed like a good time for the character to rest. Erik could have chanced a night in the wilderness, but with the villagers being quite hospitable; it seemed silly to go and sleep out in the cold. In fact, so grateful where the villagers to have a strapping young fighter around, and the security that this brought with it; that they fed and sheltered him for the night at no expense.

Eriks temporary respite also seems like a good stopping point for us too, as this post is getting rather lengthy. Join me next time, where we find out what happens when Erik sets back out into the world in search of orcs, their blood, and most importantly; glory!

One Man And His Dice #1: SCRAWL Good

Solitaire roleplaying is a subject that sparks a lot of debate amongst gamers. Some even go as far as to say
that it isn’t possible. With this new segment though, “One Man And His Dice”; I aim to prove that it’s not only possible, but also a highly enjoyable pastime.

For my first adventure I will be using SCRAWL, a rules light system specifically designed with the solitaire gamer in mind. I am lucky enough to have all of the current supplements to hand, along with a copy of the latest rulebook, and the DungeonOf The Orc Boss; but for the set up and first session I will only be using Explore To The Core, and the core rules themselves (along with a few of my own, that alter the game-play slightly but don’t break it in anyway).

Set Up

Before I can get underway I need to generate both a character, and the land that they’ll be adventuring in; both of which are accomplished with a minimal amount of dice rolls.

First, my character. Looking over the options I decide that I will play as a Fighter. Whilst they have no specific skills that will be massively useful for the overland adventure that I am planning for my first session; they should come into their own when they reach the Dungeon Of The Orc Boss, which I have decided will be the second session.  Martial classes also tend to be easier to handle, so if you’re starting out new with a system; they’re generally a good place to begin.

Character creation in SCRAWL is extremely easy. There’s no rolling what so ever! No rolling, no calculations; just pick a few options from a few lists, and you’re good to go. Which I have to admit took me by surprise. Not rolling up characteristics is almost unheard of, but it really works here. It lets you play the character you want to play, as opposed to the one that the dice rolls give you.

Fighters are particularly easy to generate. All you need to do is pick a weapon, and decide how many provisions and torches you want to take with you (up to three of each). Initially I did wonder why this was an option. It seemed almost a given that everyone would take the maximum of each. That was until I considered the nature of my adventure.

As I’ll largely be traveling overland, I really don’t need that many torches. If I take them however, they’ll count against my encumbrance; which means I’ll be able to carry less food with me. Something that is significantly more important when I know my adventure will have me spending considerable time away from civilisation. Far better to pass up on the freebies than to overload myself with stuff I have no immediate use for I figure.

Next up I decided to semi-randomly generate the land in which I would be adventuring. I knew for example that in order to run some aspects of the adventure that I wanted to, I would need a land that was largely plains with a wooded area to the north; with some mountains beyond that. Other than that though, I decided to let the dice provide the inspiration.

Rolling on the tables for temperate plains (as that seemed the best fit to the geographical setup I was going for), I rolled up two additional sites and five dungeons. That’s a lot of dungeons! Four of these rolled up dungeons were listed as ruins, but one was listed as caves. This is the one that I decided would be the orcs den, as it fitted best with how I imagined the narrative of the adventure progressing.

The two sites rolled for where a castle, and a wizard’s abode; which suggests to me that this land is in some way quite important (why else would you build a castle). It conjured up ideas of a rich and verdant land, which was largely at peace; but not without its troubles. Maybe the castle was here as a base of operations for a peacekeeping force.. Maybe it was one of the ruins? That’s something I haven’t decided yet, and as it has no direct bearing on the adventure at hand I’m willing to let it slide until it becomes significant.

So now I was all set up, I decided to flesh out my character a little more. I named him Erik, and in my mind I have modeled him after a dark age viking warrior. I decide that his weapon of choice will be a hand axe (with which he’ll receive the Fighters combat bonus), and that his reason for adventuring is to seek glory. He wants people to sing songs of his epic exploits, and to leave his mark on the pages of history. Erik is bold to the point of reckless and believes that his best hopes of becoming immortalised through his deeds is to make them truly great.

Hearing of the troubles to the north, Erik sees the opportunity he’s been waiting for and decides to wade in.. Axe first. From the stories he has heard whispered in the streets, the orcs raiding the border villages must outnumber him at least 20-1; and whilst this would make many lesser men pale with fear, it only serves to increase the thunder of Erik’s heart as it beats with excited anticipation.

That’s unfortunately all we have time for at the moment. Join me for the next One Man And His Dice posting, where Erik begins his journey for gold and glory.