The ice that was still forming on the puddles in the muddy streets encouraged Broneslav to seek his entertainment indoors and he soon found himself a couple of Royals up in a card game when a yell in the street had him moving from his seat to see what was going on, just as a cartload of logs shed its load against the wall of the Rusty Sword tavern. The tavern was flimsily built and the wall gave way quickly. Skipping out of the way of the logs, Broneslav took this as his cue to leave. The rest of the day passed uneventfully.
Checking to see if the Elf carried anything that might identify him, Broneslav noticed a scroll tucked into the body's belt. He read it quickly and realised that the Elf had been a messenger coming from Kota-Hutan. Someone called Rahasia had sent the Elf to seek help, and the message was a call to arms for any brave enough to face the threat that Rahasia's village faced.
"Aha!" thought Broneslav, "This looks like the first step on my road to glory, and it goes in the right direction too, for this package I carry is to be delivered at this self-same village. So, I shall defeat this Rahib and then be able to return covered in glory and gold to my beautiful Milka, she of the rose red lips and snow white skin. I shall rest my head on her breast with my reputation established and all shall be well."
He pondered who and what the Rahib might be as he followed the path further. He or it was certainly some kind of sorcerer, for the curse seemed real enough even allowing for hyperbole. The acolytes at the temple, the Siswa, may have been turned by the Rahib's magic, hence their refusal to permit any of the villagers to visit and the disappearance of this Rahasia's father and of her fiancee Hasan. Yes, this was shaping up to be a proper adventure, and Broneslav could be the hero that saved the day for Rahasia and the two other maidens that the Rahib had demanded. Damsel in distress: check. Evil sorcerer: check. Hero with sword: check. Perhaps accounting himself a hero already was a bit much, but Broneslav was prone to such daydreaming. It was better than the cold, wet, muddy alternative of actually being on an adventure.
With his thoughts occupied by dreams of glory, gold and the reddest of lips, the last part of the journey to the village passed quickly. A few Elves were abroad at this time and Broneslav was quickly able to meet with Rahasia. She was incredibly beautiful, even by Elven standards of ethereal grace, but Broneslav's tastes ran to more substantial women.
"Bit too skinny for my liking," he thought uncharitably, before agreeing to sort the problem out as Rahasia requested. He thought he noticed some doubt in her face about his ability to cope with the Rahib, but he quickly dismissed it in his own mind. After all, three feet of steel sticking out of his chest should severely discourage the Rahib from continuing to live.
Rahasia had food brought for Broneslav and talked about the temple as he ate. She announced that she would guide him to the base of Grey Mountain where the temple lay so that he would be on the right path, but she did not dare go further in case the Rahib captured her.
With food in his belly and Rahasia's instructions in his ears, Broneslav took a hot bath and went to bed early. Tomorrow would be a busy day.
Character
Broneslav Torenescu (S16, D14, C15, I12, W10, Ch14, F1, HP 9, AC4, Sword 1d8+3, Bow 1d8)
Human (Traladaran)
XPs: 60
Traits:
Torenescu Family Member 1
Hunter 1
Keen Vision 1
Good Education 1
Empathy with Animals 1
Goal: Prove that he is an adult following the Shearing Ceremony
Goal: Slay a red dragon
Quest: Deliver a parcel to Merisa in Gray Mountain Village
What is this? Solo D&D?
ReplyDeleteIt's solo Scarlet Heroes (http://www.rpgnow.com/product/127180/Scarlet-Heroes?term=scarlet+heroes). I am really taken with the system which is streamlined, easy to play and yet still logical in ways that D&D never has been. It's perfect for a rules-light RPG. There's a free taster version on RPGNow too.
DeleteI'm currently running this character through the D&D Basic module B1-9 because I wanted to try the system solo and because I always wanted to play all the modules I have. I set out what I wanted to do in this post: http://ooh-shiny-complex.blogspot.co.uk/2014/07/scarlet-heroes-solitaire-rpgs-and.html
You know, I'm looking for a system which allows me to play a fantasy solo campaign with quests and experience and levels and all that stuff, but heavily centrated in hacking, slaying and scavenging. I was thinking about modifying Battle Troll but I'm not totally convinced. Scarlet Heroes does not look what I'm after either, thought it looks interesting and I will follow your adventurers.
ReplyDeleteCheers,
It's a shame Scarlet Heroes does not seem right to you. I like it, and it is heavily focused on solo gaming. There are lots of tables in the back to help you decide what happens, including tables for urban, wilderness and dungeon adventures. There is also a campaign system that goes with these so your encounters are linked. If what you want is a skirmish style RPG campaign then I understand why Scarlet Heroes would not work for you. It is more of a narrative game than a wargame, but I like that because it makes a change from the usual games I play.
DeleteI am actually using the D&D experience and spells with the Scarlet Heroes rules. They require only minor amendments to work and the monsters are easily translated into Scarlet Heroes terms too. The best bit, though, is the amendments to the combat system that the game makes, so that you can run a single character instead of needing a party of characters to complete a standard dungeon.
Anyway, I hope you enjoy the intermittent adventures of Broneslav Torenescu. I have scheduled the next three posts and hope to keep Scarlet Heroes Saturday going. In the meantime I still have reports to write on a couple of recent games we played. I had better find the time for that soon.
I'm not totally sure that SH is not for me yet. Could you tell me about its combat system, please?
DeleteThe combat system is quite quick. Heroes have hit points as usual in RPGs. Monsters use their Hit Dice as their hit points, instead of rolling for them. This means that a 1HD Goblin has 1 hit point. Roll 1d20 to hit and add your combat bonuses from class, level and stats plus your enemy's armour class. If the total is greater than 20 you have hit. You then roll your damage dice. Each die is counted separately and compared to a table. 1 = 0 damage, 2-5 = 1 damage, 6-9 = 2 damage, 10+ = 4 damage. If fighting more than one foe and you score 2 or more damage you can spread excess damage to other enemies after the first one is killed, so on a roll of 10 you could kill 4 1HD Goblins. Heroes also get a Fray Die, based on class. They can roll this against monsters of equal or lesser level, so my 2nd level fighter could use his Fray Die against monsters of 2HD or lower but not against a 3HD monster. The Fray Die is a straight damage roll against any valid targets and may be used once per round. It would not be too hard to play the game out using figures and terrain too. Check your email as I have sent you more detail than is possible in the comments on my blog. You can download the quickstart rules here:
Deletehttp://www.rpgnow.com/product/127458/Scarlet-Heroes-Quickstart?term=scarlet+heroes
They will give you more detail on the game.
@ Blacksmith - I will second Ruarudh in the thought that Scarlet Heroes IS the right ruleset you need. While he plays outdoor campaign, I did solo hack dungeon crawl with it and it was just perfect. But please note that free quickstart does not have the random tables used with solo rules, so you might want to purchase the final product....
ReplyDeleteThank you both. I'm considering to buy to play it with my 10 years old on weekends before he gets interested in girls :)
ReplyDeleteThat sounds like a good plan. :)
Delete