Against the Ungeheuer - A Broadsword Adventures AAR

Carmen, the buxom daughter of the landlord at the Fang and Flagon had been captured by Ungeheuer! The regulars at the Fang and Flagon were horrified but endowed too well with a sense of self-preservation to go up against such fearsome monsters, so it was up to the newly arrived adventurers in town. Two of them looked fresh out of the warriors guild, while the other two were battle-hardened and scarred, clearly veterans of many fights. The promise of gold and free ale was enough to pique their interest, so they set out on the trail of the monsters and soon arrived at the entrance to a large cave. (click the pictures for larger images)

The area was strewn with chewed bones and remnants of equipment from previous adventurers that had dared to enter this place. It stank too, foetid and warm. Bravely they moved into the gloom within, pausing only to light their lanterns. All was quiet to start with, but as they explored the caves either side of the entrance, a shuffling gait was heard coming from deeper within. Soon a shaggy monstrosity was sighted by one of the younger warriors. He grasped his spear more firmly, sweat breaking out on his forehead in his nervousness at his first fight.

As the monster came towards him, he cold see that it was still drowsy from its last meal and sleep, but that did not stop it from letting out a howl of fury at this intrusion. The warrior, undaunted, charged forward, thrusting with his spear. The point took the monster in its eye and travelled on up into its brain. It stared disbelievingly at the puny-looking warrior, before slumping to the floor in a pool of blood and brains, dead.

More howling was heard from deeper with the cave and a new threat could be seen lumbering towards the adventurers. The monster's mate was furious at the treatment meted out to her companion and was clearly out for revenge, her gaze focused on the gore-encrusted spear of the young warrior.

As she attacked, the warrior was able to fend her off, and then he counter-attacked, deftly manoeuvring her around so that his companions were now able to surround and attack her too. She roared in pain as weapons stabbed at her and flailed around, desperately trying to hurt her tormentors, but the end was not in doubt. Soon she fell with a dozen cuts to her body and a sword in her head.

With the monsters dead, the adventurers were able to search the caves in peace and soon found Carmen alive and unharmed. They returned home in triumph.

This was a fun little scenario from the rulebook that went particularly easily for Steve's adventurers. He had two Grade 2 characters and two Grade 1s. In Broadsword Adventures, there are three grades of character available. Grade 3 is a bona fide hero, Grade 2 is a stalwart adventurer and Grade 1 is cannon fodder. Imagine my chagrin then when my first mighty monster was attacked by a Grade 1 spearman and slain instantly with a blow to the head! Bah!! Well, thought I, the second monster will at least take one of them out. I shall be revenged!!!!! With the first monster spotting the adventurers, the second one was no free to act. I rushed her to one of the interior cave mouths, thinking to use the narrow opening as a way to hinder the adventurers. Unfortunately the same devilish spearman as killed the first monster won the melee round by a large margin and was able to use his skills to swap places with her, turning her around and getting her surrounded by the enemy. In Broadsword adventures, certain skills give you combat manoeuvres like this that you can use. I then proceeded to try to hit the adventurers and failed miserably, while they cut holes in the monster's hide. The end was really not in doubt. Steve's dice were hot, and mine were ice cold. All in all, it was a great game. The scenario was simple but we wanted to learn the differences between BA and our more usual fare of 45 Adventures, so that was not a problem. We both had fun and Steve went home with a huge grin on his face, having won a game, so we can definitely account this one a success. Time to prepare the next scenario.

If you want to check out Broadsword Adventures, you can download the demo rules free from the Rattrap Productions Speakeasy. The download is in the Broadsword Adventures download section and includes the scenario that we played plus some characters for it.