That's All Folks

Going forward, I have decided to consolidate all my gaming posts to my Warwell's Wargames blog. Existing posts will remain here but any future RPG posts will be on my other blog.

Thanks for following along and I hope to see you on the other blog.

The Demonic Caverns

A Windhaven Adventure
After their adventure in the crypts, our heroes returned to their patron and informed him of the tunnel into the depths of the earth. The Baron of Windhaven sent them back to investigate the source of the growing evil.

The party returned to the crypt and entered the mysterious tunnel (1).

In this corridor, they discover a rock-hewn altar with the terrifying sacrifice.

Onyx, Grizelda, and Rowan (L to R) find the bloody sacrifice

The tunnel then opened into a large cavern (2). As our heroes entered, they were attacked by 9 imps. The party drove them off, but Grizelda was wounded. Fortunately, the next cavern (3) contained a pool of water with healing properties. Grizelda was soon back to full health.

Next (4) they battled a large rock creature. Onyx struck with his ax, chipping a piece of rock of the beast. Then Grizelda used her staff to strike it with lightning. The bolt caused a split in the rock. Rowan then drove his sword deep into creature's body. It shrieked in pain then collapsed.

In the next cavern (5) our heroes fought off a swarm of hungry grubs. Note - I don't have figures for all the possible enemies. Instead, I substitute. Below, scorpions fill in for the grubs.

Next the party entered a cavern filled with toadstools. As they passed, one spewed forth spores. Rowan and Grizelda managed to cover their mouths and avoid contamination but Onyx breathed in the befouled air and immediately began to choke. The coughing spell lasted but a minute, however it left him visibly weakened.

The party then traversed an empty corridor (7) and entered another cavern (8). In it, a large shadowy form stood in the center of a pentagram.

"Something devilish, I'll warrant." said Grizelda.

The figure then spoke to them. "Are you from the bishop? Tell him that I serve him no more!"

The party looked at each other quizzically.

"Begone!" the foul abomination screamed. It then spewed forth a breath of hellfire. Rowan used his shield to fend off the fire and Grizelda stepped behind him for cover. Onyx, however, was late in shielding himself and suffered some dreadful burns.

Rowan then dashed into the fight, striking the demon hard. Grizelda used her staff's final charge - her lightning bolt struck true. Finally, Onyx swung his axe and cleaved deep. The demon swung wildly, but the Onyx blocked the blow and Grizelda dodged. Grizelda then struck with her staff. A burst of magical energy surged through the staff and zapped the demon. It howled in rage then with a poof was banished to the planes of perdition.

Grizelda strikes down the demon

With the source of the corruption gone, our heroes returned to the Baron. When told of the demon's words, he grew concerned.

"Does this mean that the bishop has been corrupted? We need to speak with him. Bring the bishop to me!"

What will happen when the party confronts the bishop? Find out next time!

The Crypt of Doom

A Windhaven Adventure

A couple of weeks after our heroes' adventure in the local graveyard, the Baron of Windhaven once again summoned Onyx the dwarf, Rowan the crusader, and Griselda the sorceress to his presence. They noticed that the bishop was present, and appeared very overwrought.
The Baron explained that the bishop had come to him after one of the acolytes had gone missing. He has been sent to the crypt under the church and never returned. An investigation found his corpse, mangled and gnawed, in the entry corridor. The clergy at the church are now terrified of the crypt. The Baron asked the trio to investigate the hideous goings-on.

And thus our heroes once again went forth into peril.

A map of the crypt

The entrance hallway (1) was lined with sarcophagi. As Griselda passed, one of the lids fell off, but she agilely jumped aside as it crashed to the ground.

"Wonderful," thought Rowan as the sound echoed throughout the catacombs, "we have just announced our coming to the whole world."

Sure enough, the sound warned the inhabitants of the next room (2). Four zombies shambled toward the entrance. Onyx and Griselda dispatched two each with ease.

Fighting "zombies"

The next room (3) featured a deep puddle of slimy water. Onyx and Griselda fell in, sucking some of the contaminated water down their throats. They went into a spasm of coughing that left them weakened (I treated this like poison - it caused a wound)

The heroes then entered a corridor (4) where two ghouls were snacking on some corpses. They attacked Rowan, inflicting a couple of wounds. He managed to kill one. As the other prepared to pounce upon Rowan, Onyx cleaved it in twain with a mighty blow from his axe.

While binding his wounds, Rowan complained about the "damned abominations." Griselda replied with a quip - "Hey, ghouls just want to have fun." (my wife's joke)

Backtracking past the slimy puddle, the party passed a rotting corpse (5) and then fought off some giant roaches (6). Then the party entered a room (7) with a wight. The party leaped into action and quickly cut it down.

"I guess we had the wight stuff," joked Onyx. Rowan just groaned. (my joke)

After passing through an empty corridor (8) the party came across a holy water font (9). Was it still blessed or had it been fouled? Griselda had her raven sniff it. It seemed OK so they tried a sip. It healed them of their wounds! The were ready for the final boss!

They explored an empty room (10) before finding the source of the corruption. In the last room (11) they discovered a skeleton mage. When it saw them it gave a bloodcurdling scream. Fortunately our heroes were made of stern stuff so they did not flinch from the battle. Instead, Onyx attacked and hit the mage; it countered and struck Onyx in return with its staff. Griselda launched a fireball that set its robes afire. It attacked her but she deflty dodged and flamed it again.

The mage stepped back and launched a lightning bolt from its staff. It struck Rowan in the chest; he reeled back in pain. Once again, Griselda fireballed him. The intense heat began to disintegrate its bones. As the deathlike figure began to decompose it shouted out a warning.

"You may have defeated me, but you cannot defeat death. Death takes us all!"

The skeleton mage falls

The party then checked the room. Griselda was able to recover the skeleton mage's staff. Rowan discovered a hole in the wall, which opened into a tunnel that led into the bowels of the earth.

"I think these abominations are coming into the crypt from these tunnels" Rowan remarked,

"I think we found our next adventure" suggested Onyx.

What dangers does the tunnel hold? Find out next time!

The Ghastly Graveyard

A Windhaven Adventure

Once upon a time in the Barony of Windhaven, there arose rumors of foul deeds occurring at the graveyard beside the old church. In the mornings, the caretaker would find graves defiled, coffins unearthed, tombs opened, and corpses mangled and chewed. After three days of such horrors, the Baron decided to send a team to investigate.

He choose two stout warriors, Onyx the sturdy dwarf and Rowan the valiant crusader, and the friendly sorceress Griselda Romero.

On a night when scudding clouds obscured the wan light of the moon, our heroes ventured forth into the ghastly graveyard. Entering through the main gate, they had barely entered when 4 figures shambled toward them.

Rowan called out "Identify yourself!" but the only answer he received was from low moans.

"Zombies!" warned Griselda.

With that, our heroes launched themselves into battle. Onyx and Rowan each struck down one of the walking corpses. One of the others clawed at Griselda, wounding her. The warriors then finished the job.

The warriors then readied to push on, but Griselda held them up.

"Some lovely gravestones for my rubbings," she explained. Rowan just grumbled under his breath.

Once Griselda was ready, the trio pressed onward. The jumble of gravestones and overgrown shrubs forced the party to turn left and then right. In this next section of the graveyard, a foul, clawed figure jumped them. It rushed at Onyx but he could not act; he was paralyzed with fear. Rowan's service as a crusader, however, had steeled him against supernatural horrors. He stepped forward and felled the abomination.

The party then wound through the graves until they came to a mausoleum. The family crypt of the Barons of Windhaven!

Rowan opened the gate and was greeted by low, inhuman moans. Griselda pushed Rowan aside and tossed something inside. There was a loud explosion; a gout of flame erupted from the tomb, singing Rowan.

"Next time a little warning!" Rowan scolded.

Two zombies, engulfed in fire, burst forth. Rowan cut one down. The other attacked and wounded Onyx before Griselda smashed it with her staff.

Finding nothing else unusual in the mausoleum, the party debated which way to go. Griselda released her raven, which circled and then headed left. They followed, and soon could hear the sound of digging. Rounding past some tall grave markers, they noticed a suspicious character unearthing a grave.

Onyx immediately recognized the figure as a necromancer. Before the enemy knew what was afoot, Onyx raced forward and clove him in twain with his axe!

The party looks upon the vanquished necromancer

And with that, our heroes solved the mystery of the ghastly graveyard. The next morning, they returned to the baron who was pleased with their service.

Game Notes

• This adventure marks the start of a new adventure, using a new/old set of rules that I call Kevin's Krawl.
• The party consisted of my character Rowan, my wife's character Griselda. We added Onyx because our cat Onyx was messing with the game pieces. Clearly he wanted to play! We choose the dwarf because we showed him the box of figures and he sniffed that one first.
• Defeating the boss was a bit anti-climatic. Onyx (the cat not the character) jumped on the table, knocked the necromancer's figure down, then shoved him off the table. According to house(cat) rules, that figure is considered out of action. Game over, necromancer!
• Like Four Against Darkness, character creation is quite simple (and somewhat free-form). Players simply choose a class, which has set starting equipment. Each class has certain abilities - like the sorceress' spells. I let my wife choose which spells her character got. She wanted to heal but also have a fireball, so I gave those to her. The raven was an ad hoc addition based on the figure (which I need to finish painting). Character level and armor determined attack and defense bonuses. And with that, we were ready!
• I created the adventure a week ago, using a template I created for Four Against Darkness. It results in relatively short adventures - perfect for my attention span!
• The picture above shows the set-up. I used 2 boards; one where I drew the "dungeon" map and another that I used as a battle board.

Chaos Unbound

A Khamen and Candorra Adventure
Using Four Against Darkness

Life had been quiet for Khamen ever since he returned from the adventure of the Three Rings. Oh, the High Priest at the Scotsile temple found occasional work for him - minor tasks below his skill level. He spent much of his time in the taverns, gambling and drinking (much to the annoyance of the High Priest).

One day as he huddled over a mug, he heard the tavern door open ever so quietly. He turned to look at who had entered, but could see no one.

"Hmm," he thought, "I must be getting rusty. I could have sworn that someone came in."

He returned to his mug, then felt a sharp point pressing gingerly into his back.

"Stay still, be quiet, and listen," came a rough, husky, voice.

Khamen relaxed his shoulders in relief. "What do you want Candorra?"

His elven friend gave a soft chuckle. Khamen hated to admit that he found it pleasing to hear her.

"Can't fool you, huh? And I thought you had let yourself go."

Khamen did not want to admit to her that he had not noticed her sneaking up on him. He just could never forget her voice, although there were many times he wished he could.

Instead, Khamen just repeated his question.

"Come with me. We have a new job!"

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A few days later, the duo rode up to an abandoned chapel.

"There have been rumors of foul deeds." Candorra explained. "We need to check it out."

They entered through the main doors into the narthex (1). The hallway was gloomy and covered with cobwebs, but not a creature stirred. Our heroes then entered the nave (2). Here they approached the altar. It had been defiled with foul sacrifices. Candorra felt a shiver of fear throughout her body. She knew that the horrid sight would distract her in coming battle. Clearly that was the evil intent of the new overlord of the church.

Khamen then led them through the western door into a long corridor (3). They could see a torch heading their way. Before they could back away, they heard a voice. "Intruders!" Four robed figures pulled out wicked-looking daggers and attacked. Candorra shot one down with her bow then drew her sword. Khamen dodged a blow and sunk his blade into his foe's vitals. He then backed away into the shadows. The remaining pair advanced on Candorra. Khamen got behind them and back-stabbed both.

The party entered the door at the end of the hall. Three devilish creatures lingered in the bare room (4). They rushed the duo, who retreated back down the hall. When the imps saw the fallen corpses of the cultists, they began to feast on the dead flesh.

"I guess we'll try this way," Candorra said as she crossed the nave and opened the eastern door (5). As soon as it opened, the duo heard a resounding roar. A three-headed monstrosity attacked. Khamen ducked under the beast and sunk his blade deep into a draconic head. The monster's head lashed out at our heroes - both were wounded. Khamen struck deep again. The dragon head crunched his arm. With a mighty blow, Candorra struck off the dragon's head. The wounded beast rushed past them and out of the church.

Our heroes bandaged their wounds and then steeled themselves for their next encounter. At the end of the corridor (5) they came to a door, which opened into a room (6). The walls were covered with arcane runes. In the center stood a robed figure.

The figure spoke. "I am surprised you made it past my guardian. No matter. You are fools if you can think you can stop the triumph of chaos."

He then raised his hand to cast a spell. Candorra pulled back her bow and shot him. Snarling in anger and pain, the Chaos Lord drew out a sword and attacked. His whirling strikes wounded both Candorra and Khamen. Stepping back, Candorra muttered an incantation. A bolt of energy leaped from her hand and struck the villain. He quickly recovered and struck both heroes again. Candorra backed away, reaching for a healing potion. The Chaos Lord advanced on her, sword at the ready.

Khamen then stepped in front of her. "Over my dead body, toad breath."

"That can be arranged, puny mortal!"

The Chaos Lord swung. Khamen somersaulted under the blow. Coming to his feet behind the foe, Khamen thrust with his blade. It drove deep into the Chaos Lord's vitals.

The enemy screamed in rage "Chaos shall overwhelm you all!" and then collapsed in a heap.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Upon returning to Scotsile, our heroes reported to the High Priest.

"So there were no other enemies at the site?" he asked.

"None," Khamen responded, "and no clue as to what he was up to."

"The runes are the clue," the High Priest explained as he scanned a sketch of the arcane signs on the defiled church's walls. "Clearly he was trying to summon some abyssal entities into our world. I fear that we have not heard the last from the powers of Chaos."


OOC Notes

• My wife has gotten into Darkest Dungeon (a video RPG). It inspired me to write a new dungeon for Four Against Darkness. As I was pulling out my 4AD stuff, I found the game sheet for this dungeon. I must have played it last year but never bothered to record it. I decided to jot it down now.
• Note that I used the stats for orcs for the cultists and goblin swarmlings as imps. The guardian was a chimera.
• I notice that 2018 was a bad year for this blog. Only 3 posts and none since May! We'll see if I can do better in 2019. I have some thoughts and plots for a campaign. I hope to talk my wife into playing with me.

Howl and the Game Tournament

Part Two of Howl's Tales - an Amazing Tales adventure

After befriending Lucky Liam the leprechaun, Howl the white wolf and his new pal travel through the fairy wood, looking for food and gold.

They hear a banging noise ahead. Howl tries to sneak up on the source of the noise, but he only manages to frighten a fairy away. In his haste, the fairy drops a stack of flyers. Lucky Liam reads the notice to Howl.

By the Order of Queen Thomasina

A Games Tournament Shall Be Held

Today at Noon

At the Gleeful Glen

First Prize - 500 gold and a free lunch

"Five hundred gold!" exclaimed Liam.

"Free lunch!" exclaimed Howl.

They decided to try their luck at the tournament.

Arriving at the Gleeful Glen, they see colorful toadstools arranged throughout the clearing. Queen Thomasina is on a perch overlooking the scene. Fireflies are flitting throughout the glen, creating a dazzling light display.

At first, the crowd is scared of Howl, but he reassures the attendees with his friendly manner. The pair sign up and are assigned the same toadstool.

As they are waiting for the tournament to start, a smelly goblin enters the glen. The guards are ready to throw him out, but he issues a challenge.

"Five hunnerd gold sez that I win this tournament!" he bellows. Queen Thomasina nods her head. The organizers sign the goblin up, and assign him to Howl and Liam's toadstool.

The game of the day is Settlers of Catan. 

"Excellent!" thinks Howl. "My bargaining skills will really come in handy."

"Excellent!" thinks LIam. "My luck will help me win!"

Howl tries to engage the goblin in some uneven trades. "Three of his sheep for one of my logs. He's stupid enough to go for it!" thinks Howl. The goblin just laughs at Howl and proceeds to build cities with the cards he holds. Meanwhile, Liam mutters in frustration. Unluckily, he just can't get any useful cards. At the end the game, the goblin emerges victorious.

As Howl and Liam hang their heads dejectedly, the goblin dances upon the toadstool and crows about his success.

"The tournament is not yet over." Thomasina reminds him.

The goblin laughs. "'Tis in the bag! I'll even up the ante. The goblin's hoard, in exchange for yer kingdom!"

"Enough!" the queen scolds him. "Respect the game or you shall not be allowed to play."

This makes the goblin angry. "Not play?! Then I'll be takin' the winnings!" With that he leaps onto the prize table, grabs the gold and a picnic basket with the lunch, and scampers into the woods.

"Not the gold!" cries Liam

"Not the lunch!" cries Howl.

"Find him!" cries Queen Thomasina.

"With your nose for food and my sense for treasure, we should find him easily!" says Liam. Howl nods in agreement, and the pair chase after the goblin. They track him to a dark, desolate looking cave.

"Let me check it out first," announced Howl. Stealthily he creeps into the cave, following the goblin's scent. Suddenly, a swarm of goblins jump him and tie him up! He barely gets a howl out before he is dragged off!

Meanwhile, Liam is anxiously waiting at the cave mouth.

Notes

And thus ended our first session. It was made very interesting by our heroes' inability to make their rolls. For example, in the cave, Howl's stealth roll was a 2 on 2D6!

By the way, I changed the task resolution system to use 2D6. In standard Amazing Tales, players will roll a D6, D8 or D12, depending on their skill, with a target of 3+. I'm not fond of multiple types of dice so I use a straight 2D6 roll, with a target of 5, 6, or 7.

Howl Makes a Friend

Part One of Howl's Tales - an Amazing Tales Adventure.

Once upon a time, there was a friendly white wolf named Howl. He lived in the fairy forest ruled by the benevolent queen Thomasina. One day, Howl was walking through the woods, looking for some lunch, when he ran into a little man. At first the little man was frightened of Howl (who had big, scary looking teeth), but Howl reassured him and they became friends.

"I am very hungry and looking for something to eat. Do you know where I can find something?" asked Howl.

"Nay," said the little man. Actually, he was a leprechaun named Lucky Liam. "I am looking for some gold. Do you know where I can find some?" he added.

"Sorry, I don't." replied Howl. "Perhaps we can help each other look."

So the duo began walking through the woods together.

Notes
And thus begins an adventure using Amazing Tales (which I describe in a post on my other blog). I picked it up because I thought my wife would prefer it to the typical math-intensive RPG. She came up with our characters (she is playing Howl and I'm Liam) and the setting and things went on from there. It was a natural for the ruler to be named Thomasina. That's our cat's name and for years we've been jokingly saying that she is really a fairy princess.

Howl is a white wolf who is good at bargaining, stealth, howling beautifully, and making friends. Liam is a leprechaun who is lucky, is good at finding treasure, likes to drink, and can walk on rainbows.

Anyway, I will be continuing the narrative in later posts.

The Last Ring

A Khamen and Candorra Adventure
Based on the Three Rings (A Four Against Darkness module)

Our heroes, Khamen, Candorra, and Rikk the Ranger, have been searching the South Wood for the last of the three rings. They encountered a large cave and have decided to investigate it.

Map of the cave

The entrance (1) was empty. The party decided to turn right (west). In the adjoining room (2), our heroes ran into a party of goblins. They took one look at Rikk, who was renowned throughout the forest, and ran out the south door.

The party followed into the corridor (3). At the intersection stood a statue of an armed warrior. Intrigued, Rikk advanced towards it.

"Interesting," he said as he reached out to the stone figure.

"No!" warned Khamen, who rushed to stop Rikk.

But the ranger's finger made contact. Suddenly, the statue came to life and swung its sword at Rikk. With cat-like reflexes, the ranger ducked. The blade continued, and smashed into the advancing Khamen. He hit the floor, his ribs badly bruised.

Rikk wasted no time, and stabbed the statue. Candorra peppered it with arrows.

Enraged, the statue rushed forward at Candorra. Its swords grazed her but she drew her own blade and engaged the figure. Their swords clashed as they circled one another. On occasion, Candorra's sword flicked out, stabbing or slashing the statue. Finally, her blade penetrated to its very heart and it crashed to the ground.

As Candorra and Rikk surveyed the enemy, Khamen came up, rubbing his sore ribs. Gesticulating at Rikk, he gruffly commanded "Don't touch anything!" and then stomped down the corridor.

In adjoining rooms, the heroes scared off some rats (4) and dodged a spear trap (5).

In the next corridor (6), the party ran into a group of orcs. Candorra fireballed one and Rikk shot one with an arrow. In the ensuing melee, all the heroes were wounded, Candorra badly. Yet they managed to slay the enemy. Candorra had to use a heal.

After passing through an empty corridor (7), the party entered a cobweb filled room (8). Suddenly, a giant spider dropped on them from above. Khamen and Rikk wounded it, but it sank its fangs into Candorra. She could feel the venom coursing through her veins, weakening her. It then turned on Rikk and gashed him. Fortunately, he pulled free before it could inject any venom. Finally, Khamen got behind it and stabbed it dead.

Despite their wounds, the party continued on, dodging a spear trap (9) before confronting more orcs (10). Both Khamen and Rikk took wounds before the heroes finished off the orcs.

After backtracking, the party finally found the orc reaver boss (11). In a blink of an eye, Rikk loosed 2 arrows, which struck the reaver in the chest. It howled with pain, rushing at Rikk. Its twin blades both struck into the ranger. Khamen tried to assist but the reaver moved like lightning and also wounded him. Candorra attacked, scoring a couple of wounds on their enemy. The orc swung at Khamen but he managed to dodge.

Candorra stabbed the reaver again but her blade got stuck in its body yet it did not die. As Candorra struggled to free her blade, it turned on her and delivered a crushing blow. She fell to the floor. The orc stood over her, lifting its blade for a death strike. Candorra pulled out a dagger, rolled between the reaver's legs, and plunged her blade up into its groin. The stab cut open a blood vessel, and a shower of black viscous blood showered over her. The reaver stumbled and fell dead.

Rikk tended to Candorra's wounds while Khamen searched the reaver boss. In its pockets, he found the object of their quest - the last of the sacred rings!

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Days later, the party made its way from the forest and arrived at the abbey. The monks were ecstatic that the rings were back in their possession. They took care of the  heroes, using the power of the rings to heal their wounds.

"See Khamen," Candorra scolded him. 'Those aren't just some fancy jewelry we went after. Their powers provide aid to the community. We helped those people."

"Maybe." Khamen mumbled, unwilling to admit that he was wrong about accepting the quest. "But next time, don't volunteer!"

Searching the South Wood

A Khamen and Candorra Adventure
Based on the Three Rings (A Four Against Darkness module)

After finding the second ring, our heroes returned to the crossroads. After a short rest, they began to follow the southern path.

In the first clearing (1), Rikk the Ranger got caught in a snare. It whipped him from his feet and suspended him from a tree. He bruised his head when he swung into a tree.

Khamen had to suppress a laugh as Candorra cut Rikk down.

"Watch yerself," the embarrassed ranger growled.

They followed a path (2) south. In the next clearing (3) Rikk discovered tracks leading south.

"Now what would ye do without me?" Rikk smugly retorted.

"Be without our comic relief" quipped Khamen.

"Khamen!" Candorra scolded. "Let's not start a fight among ourselves."

They continued south into a muddy field (4). Suddenly, the mud formed itself into 5 human-like figures. Candorra and Rikk cut down 2 of the mud-men with their bows. Then there was a brief struggle before the rest were defeated.

The path led south to a clearing (5) then turned west. As they proceeded along the path, they ran into a swarm of goblins (6). The goblins tossed poisoned javelins at the party. Candorra was hit in the thigh but the other two managed to dodge. Our heroes rushed into battle and easily defeated the goblins (game note - the party rolled 3 sixes in one turn).

As the path turned north (7) the party passed a field of large mushrooms. Suddenly, 5 funghi folk rushed to the attack. Candorra turned into a killing machine, cutting down 4 of the abominations. Khamen then dodged and took out the last.

Next they came across a pile of skulls (9). "Careful," Rikk cautioned. "Remember the last skull pile we found." Suddenly, the pile morphed into a dozen skeletons that attacked the party. The heroes were able to defeat them without too much trouble.

Following the path as it turned south again, the came to a rocky area. Before them, they could see a large cave.

What will they find in the cave?

Uninvited Guests

A Zina and Zach Slipstream Adventure

After rescuing Roarona the lioness from the rock-men, Zina and Zach lead her back to the rocket ship, pursued by more rock-men. As they approach the ship, Zach begins yelling "We need to lift off!"

The chief engineer called back "I'm not sure if she can handle it yet."

Just then, one the rock-men chucked a boulder that landed a few meters from the engineer. He shuddered and said "I guess we'll find out."

The crew and passengers clamber aboard, just as a boulder strikes the hull. Zach jumps into the pilot seat, opens the throttles, and blasts off!

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A few days later Zina and Zach find themselves on the planetoid Simba, home of the Lion Men, They are guests of honor of King Raorr, who fetes them for saving his daughter Roarona. Yes, Roarona is a princess! On this particularly fine day, the king is hosting an outdoor banquet a short ways from his castle.

Suddenly, there is a roar of engines as a horde of shuttles set down. Out leap squads of Primals (red markers), minions of the evil Queen Anathraxa. With shouts of "Kill them all!" the Primals advance of the banquet-goers.

As the guests (plain circles) flee to the castle, the Lion-Men warriors try to stem the invasion. King Raorr personally leads one warband (second from the right) while he calls Zach (circle) to lead another.

Raorr's wild charge routs a band of Primals while Zina and Zach find themselves in a brutal melee.

Meanwhile, a band of Primals tries to cut off the fleeing civilians.

One group of guests makes it to the castle.

"Zach!" calls Zina as she points to the straggling civilians. "They're unprotected!" Zach looks back and sees the vulnerable civilians. He leads the warband back to cover the retreat.

 The Lion-Men slowly fall back to the castle. Another Primal warband (left) routs.

And another routs, but reinforcements arrive!

Then the unthinkable happens. As Raorr's warband holds off the Primals, a blast echoes across the valley. A ray strikes Raorr in the chest. He collapses! (His band, on the right, routs). His men drag his mangled body back to the castle.

The remaining civilians make it to safety.

Zach leads the rear-guard.

Until his troops can make their escape.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

After their harrowing escape, one of the Queen's rocket ships hovers over the castle.

"Fools! There is no escape for you. You have been sentenced to death by the order of Queen Anathraxa for treason against her most gracious rule, and you shall die on this planetoid!"

Suddenly, a flight of rockets passes overhead, spraying out a fine purple dust.

"Death Dust!" exclaims one of the guests. He explains that the Death Dust will slowly kill all living things on a planetoid. Within months, every plant, animal, and humanoid will perish. Simba will become a desolate wasteland.

A few minutes later, Zina and Zach are called before Raorr, as he lies in bed, struggling for life. They approach and he addresses them.

"Hunter and Marks," he begins (addressing them by their last names) in a labored breath "once again, you have done my people a great service. I cannot thank you enough." He stops for a moment to cough and shudder in pain. "Yet I must ask, for the sake of my people, for an even greater service. It is said that the planetoid Sandpit has discovered an antidote to the Death Dust. I know it is much to ask, but please go to Sandpit and bring back the antidote!"

Raorr collapses back onto his bed.

Zina steps up and says "We will, and it will be our honor to do so."

Raorr smiles, nods his head, and says "Save my people." With that, he passes away.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A few days later, Zina and Zach are strapped into their new rocket, one of the shuttles abandoned by the Primals. They are checking the controls in preparation for blast off. They get a prompt on their telereceiver. Princess Roarona appears on the screen.

"Our sensors tell us that the Queen's forces have set up a blockade around Simba. Be careful."

"Always." smirks Zach. Zina scowls.

"And remember" Roarona continues "the Lion Men are eternally grateful for your aid."

With that, Roarona signs off, and our heroes' ship blasts off into the teeth of Anathraxa's rocket forces.

Will Zina and Zach get through? FIND OUT NEXT TIME!

Game Notes

• This scene of the Plot Point campaign is another straight up fight. I turned it into a miniatures wargame (with markers instead of minis).
• The rules were an adaptation of FU, as per my other scenarios in this campaign. As I have mentioned before, FU doesn't really work for me for solo play - it's too free-form. For future scenarios I will be looking toward other rules.

Cavern of the Rock Men

A Zina and Zach Slipstream Adventure

In our last episode, Zina and Zach rescued a lioness princess from space pirates, but then were forced to crash land on a rocky fragment.

After the landing, the surviving crew went to work to repair the ship. Zina and Zach decided to investigate the strange planetoid. They were joined by Roarona, the lioness princess.

In their wanderings, Roarona became separated from the group. Suddenly, there were roars and snarls. Zach turned and saw Roarona being dragged off by two large, rock-like humanoids.

Zina and Zach pursued, and witnessed the rock men dragging Roarona into a cavern. Cautiously, our heroes followed.

They entered a corridor (1) that branched out into three directions. Choosing the middle one (2), they entered a cavern. In the center was a fountain with healing properties. They would need it soon. They entered the next room (3) and fell into a pit trap. Scrambling out, they retraced their steps and used the fountain,

In the next room (4), our heroes ran into three of the rock men. Brandishing a sword taken from the pirates, Zach charged. He swung and hit, but his sword barely dented the rocky exterior of the granite-like humanoid. With a contemptuous swing, it knocked Zach across the floor.

Zina began shooting her ray-gun, with deadlier effect. One of the rock-men shattered in a cloud of dust. Temporarily blinded, Zina could not fire again for fear of hitting Zach.

Seeing Zina's success, Zach unholstered his ray-gun and blasted one of the rock-men as it lumbered towards him. It too shattered into pieces. But behind it was another of the creatures. It knocked the gun from Zach's hand and began to pummel him with its rocky hands. As Zach passed out, the dust cloud parted and Zina fired. The last rock-man was pulverized!

Zina used her med kit to revive Zach. Although a little wobbly on his legs, Zach insisted that they proceed to rescue Roarona.

Passing through a corridor (5), the duo was beset by centipedes. Zina was wounded but was able to apply an antidote to the poison injected by the creature.

Finally, (room 6) they found Roarona. She was imprisoned by a massive rock-man. Zina tried to reason with it, but it attacked Zach! With its massive fists, it smashed Zach to the ground. Both the heroes opened fire, striking it multiple times. Finally, it fled through a secret passage. Our heroes let it go, rescuing Roarona and escaping from the Caverns.

But what about their ship? Will they escape from the rocky planetoid?
FIND OUT NEXT TIME!

Game Notes

• In the Plot Point campaign, this scene is simply a fight between the rock-men and heroes. For solo play, it seemed really boring so I created a dungeon (cavern) crawl instead.
• I'm still using FU, but have pretty much decided that it is not good for my solo games. Instead, I'll go back to modifying Four Against Darkness for sci-fi games.

The Goblin Lair

After searching the East Wood, our trio of heroes found a secret lair.

Entering, they found a passage that split into 3 corridors. They took the right hand corridor and entered a square room. Inside was an iron eater! Rikk the Ranger tossed some gold coins at the beast and the party retreated from the room.

Choosing the middle corridor, they passed through a few rooms with goblins and orcs. In one of these, the heroes were beset by 8 goblins. The monsters attacked, and Khamen suffered 2 wounds. Candorra was a master with the bow, taking out half the enemy.

After bandaging Khamen's wounds, the party entered a hall with 3 trolls. They managed to dispatch them quickly, but one revived and attacked. Candorra cut it down, but it immediately popped back up. Finally, all three managed to slice it to bits.

They passed through a doorway and encountered a she-orc reaver, Deko the Dreadful!

Candorra and Rikk loosed a volley of arrows that peperred the reaver. She just howled in anger and charged. The sweep of her broadsword sent Khamen and Rikk scurrying for cover. Rikk was a little too slow, and the blade sliced into his arm. He whipped out his saxe and sliced, wounding the orc again.

Then Candorra stepped into the fray. With a dizzying display of swordsmanship, she slashed and stabbed the reaver multiple times. It fell dead at her feet.

"Huh." grunted Khamen, his mouth open in surprise.

"What?" Candorra asked as she turned toward him, her blade dripping with gore.

"Never saw you fight like that with a sword before. Remind me never to go toe-to-toe with you."

She brandished her sword. "I think this should be sufficient reminder." she announced.

With that, they searched the she-orc and found another ring. Two down, one to go!

Entering the East Woods

A Khamen and Candorra Adventure

Based on the Three Rings (A Four Against Darkness module)

Previously, our heroes had explored the north woods, found the skull cave, and retrieved the first ring from the orc reavers. They retraced their steps to the crossroad and are now investigating the east woods.

They had not gone far (1) when they heard a rustling in the undergrowth. An abomination, half-snake and half-man rushed out and attacked Khamen. It sank its fangs into him; Khamen managed to wrench free before it could inject its poison into him. Candorra and Rikk the Ranger leaped to his aid, each slashing the beast. It kept after Khamen but he ducked and dodged from the deadly maw. Again, Candorra and Rikk struck, and the monstrosity collapsed dead.

A little further along the path (2), our heroes encountered a pack of 4 wolves. The creatures attacked; one grasping Candorra's leg. She brought her sword down, striking it dead. Khamen managed to dodge and slay his attacker. Rikk was unable to get an arrow off before the wolves were on him. He drew his heavy sax and began to slash madly. Two wolves fell to his sturdy blade.

The path began to wind around. As they approached a curve, they could hear singing coming from ahead. From around the bend appeared a very jolly halfling. He stopped and conversed with the trio. He warned them of dangerous wolves inhabiting the forest.

"Well, that's helpful." Khamen whispered under his breath. Candorra kicked his shin and scowled at him. The halfling seemed not to notice. Unfortunately, he did not have any knowledge of the orc reavers. Our party had no choice but to push on into the wilderness.

Later, they had a similar encounter with a traveling merchant and his armed guards. None of them had any knowledge of the orcs.

As the sun slowly sank to their backs, the party startled a beautiful bird with golden and purple plumage. Khamen immediately recognized the commercial potential of the bird's feathers and he drew back his dagger to throw at the creature. But Candorra grabbed his arm, and the bird flew off.

"What did you do that for?" Khamen snarled.

"That's a forest phoenix; very rare. Best to preserve it for all to enjoy rather than slay it for your personal gain."

Khamen shrugged. She was probably right, but oh the coin it could have brought them!

As they wound through the forest, Rikk spotted a faint track that led to a copse of trees.

"Orc tracks!" he noted.

Peering into the copse, Rikk saw a path cleared out.

"It appears to be a lair!" he declared. "I'll bet we'll find some reavers here!"

What will the find in the lair? Find out next time!

Prison Breakout

A Kate and Kip Adventure

Last time, our heroes found themselves imprisoned by Dominion robots.

They are locked in a cell while robots patrol the corridors.

Hugging one of the walls so he can stay out of sight of the guards, Kip reaches into his boot and withdraws a small sonic blaster.

"They didn't search me very well," he whispered. "Act natural."

While Kate stands at the cell door, Kip works on the force field mechanism. He manages to open a gap and to squeeze through. Stealthily, he works his way to the corner, and blasts the guard!

With Kip providing cover, Kate pries away the robot's blaster. Another guard spots her and raises the alarm!

Kip peeks out around the corner and blasts the enemy.

The duo try to sneak through the corridors. The last guard has been alerted and investigates.

Kip provides cover.

"Now!" he yells, and they both rush out of cover, blasting away. Their shots deflect off the robot's armor. The guard then zaps Kate.

"Run for it!" exclaims Kip." Wounded, Kate is unable to comply. The robot guard turns on her.

It has her cornered. It levels its blaster and is about to shoot. Kate closes her eyes, expecting the end to come. She hears a loud blast, but feels nothing. Opening her eyes, she sees the robot lying in a heap. Behind it stands Kip, sonic blaster in hand.

"It didn't watch its back." Kip quipped.

Kate nodded her thanks. "Let's get out of here!" she said. The duo raced to the docking bay, where their scout ship was located.

Pirate Panic

After being sucked through a black hole, Zina and Zach stumble across a battle. Zach decides to aid the larger ship.

Our heroes' ship rushes into battle. Zach shoots but misses.

He comes alongside the larger ship. A large hole has been blown in the ship's side. A swarm of armed men rush from the smaller ship through the breach.

Donning a helmet and grabbing a ray gun, Zach exits the scout and boards the larger rocket. Zina reluctantly follows. In the first compartment, they confront a huge, brutish warrior.

Game Note - I lack proper figures so I improvise with meeples and tokens. Here is an example:

The heroes fire at the brute but miss. It charges Zach, who dodges a blow from the monster's powerful fists. Zina shoots, and nearly hits Zach!

The brute continues swinging at Zach. He dips and dodges, avoiding the blows. Meanwhile, Zina finds her aim and blasts the enemy. It barely flinches.

Finally, the brute lands a blow on Zach. He staggers and fall. As the brute leans over, Zina aims carefully. Her blast strikes the brute squarely, and it falls to the ground.

 Our heroes exit into the hallway and run into six pirates armed with blasters. In the ensuing firefight, Zach is hit twice but the pirates are scattered. After receiving first aid, Zach leads the way toward the bridge, fighting off some strange alien creatures that look like a cross between a yapping poodle and a lizard.

As they near the bridge, the heroes come across a lioness-like humanoid struggling with three sword-armed pirates. The one furthest away is bellowing orders to the rest of the crew. Must be the captain, surmises Zach.

The pirates knock the lioness to the ground. Zach and Zina open fire, taking out the pirate minions in a single fusillade. The enraged captain charges Zach. Zach dodges the captain's blow, grabbing a sword lying upon the floor. Zina shoots the captain, then Zach strikes him with his sword. The captain charges past them and flees back to his ship!

"I hope you are OK" Zach says to the lioness.

"Lt Hunter," Zina retorts, "I doubt that this alien species can speak out language."

"I am well, brave warrior." the lioness states with a slight bow. Zina jumps in surprise. It won't be the last time that the Slipstream catches her off guard.

Suddenly, there is a loud explosion! The ship rocks, shakes, and begins to yaw. Zach races to the bridge. The bridge crew is dead or unconscious so Zach takes the controls.

"No!" he screams as he checks the viewscreen.

"What?" Zina asks as she follows him onto the bridge.

"Those darn pirates blew up our ship!"

But he has no chance to wallow in misery. The ship begins to plummet toward a nearby rocky planetoid.

"We're going to crash land!" Zach announces.

Screaming toward the ground, the rocketship careens off a large hill.

Zach manages to right it and avoid another hill.

He puts the ship down but cannot stop it. The ship crashes into a rocky outcrop.

Zach and the lioness are thrown forward and knocked senseless. Zina begins to administer first aid,

Then she begins to hear a loud crashing. It sounds like large rocks banging together.

What terrors does this strange fragment hold? Find out next time!

Game Note
The plot point adventure in the Slipstream book is a straightforward fight against pirates. I tweaked it a bit to turn it into a simple dungeon crawl, Four Against Darkness style. Here is my map.

I used FU for the rules. I must say that I am souring upon them a bit. The BUT and AND options don't really work for my solo games because I just want to roll dice to come up with the result. I actually create the narrative details as I am writing up the report. I also feel that 4AD does a better job of providing a little granularity to the encounters. I'll continue to use FU for the 6  by 6 challenge but will probably move on to something different when I'm done.