Sunday, April 15, 2018

Play Report: First Session in Whiteford

  The world building was summed up or linked.

Characters
Jack played Flavius, a 3rd level Cleric from a mariner culture.
Sam played Harald, a 3rd level Warrior Monk from the Patchwork Lands.
Nick played Butters, a 3rd level Dabbler from the Patchwork Lands.



The Adventure
  Having worked in the area as scouts, etc. for a few months the three knew each other but were looking for a challenge after the end of Winter. The Winter had been a hard one and there was a vague concern that the ice on the Silver River had been thick enough to allow things to cross over from the wilderness.
  Hearing rumors of trouble near Golspie they headed that way, hoping for an opportunity. In the village they soon learned that there was trouble in the 'outlies' - the farmers that set up in the wilderness outside of patrol range (and thus pay no taxes). Farming there might give you a chance to earn enough to buy a yeoman's spot, or build a stout wall, or such. But you might also vanish in the night.
  One outlies family, the Colbies, had been preparing to head back to Braemar; in the last few weeks they'd had 6 sheep and a cow vanish and had heard odd sounds in the night. A report that a hunter had seen a 'huge, shambling thing' by the Haunted Hill was the last straw. They's been selling things and packing to leave when they vanished. Neighbors said their farm was ripped up and all the livestock was missing, too.
  The party set out at first light and soon spotted a trail. Butters identified it as a tiny band of 2 kobolds and 2 goblins. They trailed them to a collier's shed near to an outlies farm. They carefully scouted and discovered that the creatures were asleep, including one obviously meant to be on guard. Flavius Summoned a wolverine, they threw open the door, and a short, vicious fight ensued. The wolverine savaged one kobold and then finished off one wounded by the party; Butters' thrown daggers were fairly effective; Flavius was good with his scimitar; Harald was Five Fingers of Death leaving one goblin effectively crippled but ready for interrogation.
  Interrogation revealed that the goblins and kobolds had slipped over in Winter and had been doing fairly well with petty larceny while avoiding notice...
  ...and then an ogre arrived and took over. The ogre had demanded they capture humans for his larder. The kobolds knew this was a bad idea, but when an ogre gives orders, kobolds obey. The ogre was inside the ancient crypt on Haunted Hill, so the party set out immediately, hoping to save the farmers from death.
  Haunted Hill a thick tangle of ancient forest about 3 square miles in area with a crypt on it so ancient the elves have no idea of its age. Locals avoid it since it seems to attract foul things. The party got as close as they deemed safe and then Butters crept up. there was a kobold on guard in the outer area with 2 more sleeping inside, away from the hated sun. A goblin slept in the arch of a stair leading down, his shield propped up to protect him. Butters used a spell to put the lone watchman to sleep and the party joined him. As Butters killed the sleeping kobolds Flavius Summoned another wolverine and Blessed the party. Then Harald attacked the sleeping goblin, getting a major critical and crippling him. But the goblin's shrieks of pain before he passed out obviously alerted the ogre below!
  Harald flanked the entrance to the stairs, Butters prepared his daggers, Flavius kept preparing a spell, and the wolverine waited for its target . The ogre burst into the room, a battle axe in one fist, and spotted Harald immediately, but that was little help. Harald slammed the ogre to the ground, stunning it as the battle axe bounced away. The wolverine pounced, biting and clawing, and Butters' first dagger hurt him badly.
  But the ogre leapt up and in one mighty blow broke the wolverine's back! He then struck Harald with a mighty fist, but Harald took the blow and was still ready to fight. Harald's counter-strike staggered the ogre, as did Butters' second dagger. Flavius, seeing the mighty creature was stunned, kept casting. Harald stunned the mighty creature again and Butters' third, and last, dagger found its heart!
  The party soon freed Mrs. Colbies and her three children (Mr. Colbies and their hired hand had been eaten already!) and found the ogre's wealth - 2 gold pennies, 25 bronze pennies, the fine battle axe, and an enchanted club. They gave the gold to the Colbies so they could start anew and kept the rest. On their return to Whiteford Sir Connar rewarded them with 8 silver pennies (for the goblins and kobolds) and 1 gold penny (for the ogre).

Players' Comments
  Compared to past play (many years ago) and the Rolemaster Unified playtest, this was much faster and smoother. The entire session was just under 2 hours and combat, skill checks, etc. was quick. My new Rolemaster FRP GM screen was a big help and I set it up so each player had their own weapon's chart and I managed criticals; the players agreed this made things faster and easier.

My Comments
I agree - things went very smoothly. The players are going to make more characters so we can do jazz banding and we will probably be joined by Alex and Jennifer soon, as well.

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