The Sunken Temple, Part 2

OK, so when I played The Sunken Temple, I did the whole thing in one go. I split the blog entries up for ease of use, but somehow I never got around to doing the second part of it until now!

Heroes vs. Zombies: The Deployment

When we last left Our Heroes, they had narrowly escaped certain death at the fangs of six wolves. And while they were all on their feet and reasonably safe and sound, it was an object lesson to not be so hasty in trying to just kill everything they stumbled upon. Which turned out to be a very good thing to know when they finally discovered the Ruined Chapel outside the Temple proper.

At the end of the 1st turn, there is already one Drowned Dead destroyed.

You see, there was a gang of bandits hanging out there. And they had an ogre with them. While our small band of heroes may think they're tough, they're not killing-an-ogre-with-buddies tough yet. And so, Rauffe de Corilla went to the bandit leader with all of the swagger and charisma that his fine breeding had gifted him, and he decided to negotiate. And the 2d6 roll was 10! The bandits decided to leave Our Heroes in peace.

Two Drowned Dead are left at the end of Turn 2

Now that the bandits had gone on their way, this left Our Heroes with the task of trying to figure out how to get INTO the Sunken Temple. The entrance was underwater. It took them four separate attempts to drain the lake enough to get into the Temple. And while they were exploring, a bit of a cave-in caused Frans a Light Injury, but the use of some medicinal herbs got him back up and ready to rumble. There was also a Holy Symbol found, worth 1 Gold Crown. And then they found the inner sanctum. This would be where the treasure was!

How is there still a Drowned Dead left at the end of Turn 3?

It was also the lair of six Drowned Dead. And it wasn't much of a fight. It was over in four turns, Rauffe's warband sustained no casualties, and everyone got a chance to fight, even if only six of them landed killing blows. It kind of reminded me of a Little League game.

And just like that, it was all over after the first die roll of Turn 4

The warband was able to recover some gold, two jewelstones, and three special magical items unique to the scenario (and you need to buy the supplement to find about them!) I was a bit concerned going into this game, as the Drowned Dead have a high toughness. But I lucked out and rolled a LOT of 6's, both to hit and to harm. And with that, Rauffe de Corilla, his sister Rosalind del Sur, and their assorted followers headed back to Aveijo.

As an aside, I built the Sunken Temple using 5mm foamcore board to the dimensions given in the supplement. I decorated it using designs from "The Garden" from Worldworks Games, modified as needed to fit the walls.

Five Leagues From The Borderlands and the supplements are available here.

The Sunken Temple, Part 1

Quite a while ago, I purchased the "Sunken Temple" scenario pack for Five Leagues From The Borderlands. Not quite as long ago, I built the scenic piece to use as the Temple itself. I've been itching to play it, but haven't ever really gotten around to it, because it didn't really fit much into my idea of what a Glorantha campaign should include. However, with the advent of my Generic Medieval Fantasy warband, it was suddenly a lot more viable.

Look! There's a new guy already!

It all started nicely enough in the town of Aveijo. The villagers were happy to share food and ale, meaning their would be no Upkeep cost (this benefit was sadly wasted, however, as the warband is not yet big enough to require any Upkeep!) They did some Labor to earn three Gold Crowns, and Recruited the scenario special Character Frans. Arminel went Fishing, he found a little spot, far away, where nobody else seems to come. He had a chance to catch four fish, and could count his Fishing Ability as +1 higher. He caught nothing, however. There was an Icon available for 5 gold crowns. It was not bought. A shield and helmet were bought for Thadrunlir Boghaeck. And they spent 1 Story Point to buy Full Armor for 15 gold, which was then equipped to Rosalind del Sur.

Lots of forest to deploy in...

Now, the fun thing about the Sunken Temple is that it's not just a matter of lining up against the enemy and fighting them. There are tasks to be done, explorations to be made, and things to be found. The first part involves searching for the temple itself, and it Rauffe and his buddies five searching turns to find it, acquiring exactly the eight Search points required. And once the location of the Temple is known, the group runs into a group of wolves...

I am using a werewolf for the "Big Wolf" as I only have two sizes of wolf in my collection

Rosalind and Velasquita were well ahead of the rest of the warband, engaging in a little girl talk when they stumbled upon the wolves' den. While the ladies tried to back away from the pack, the wolves leaped to engage! Velasquita went down quickly under a flurry of teeth and claws...

It went from a nice walk in the woods to very bad trouble for Rosalind del Sur

In a rush, the wolves quickly overwhelmed Rosalind del Sur and both dwarfs. No one seemed to be able to shoot the fast moving predators, but somehow Frans was able to dispatch two of the snarling hunters. Not bad, old man!

Almost half the warband has fallen to the wolves already...

Arminel found his mark with his crossbow, killing the wolf approaching him. Bernaldo held his own when the small wolf attacked him, and he even managed to put some between them. Menendo was not so lucky, taken down by the big wolf.

Well now, this looks like the situation is improving, right?

The small wolf then made short work of Bernaldo. Arminel, realizing that he had a better chance in melee with it than by shooting, tried to kill it up close and personal, only to be felled as well. The small wolf however was now wounded; Arminel had almost won! And the old Frans killed his third wolf. Somehow the wizened priest was becoming the hero of the day! And then, the little wolf succumbed to it's wound. Rauffe de Corilla and Frans were alone against the Big Wolf.

And then there were two...

With a mighty blow from his sword, Rauffe finally did something! The Big Wolf fell before his savage strike! And just like that, it was all over. The Generic Medieval Fantasy warband had survived it's first battle. Barely. And I am going to need to work on that name...

Victory by a hair!

Survival was going to be pretty scary with seven people down. Frans used his special ability to try to heal Rosalind, and with a lucky 6 she survived without injury. With judicious use of medicinal herbs and a few Story Points to re-roll injuries, it turned out that everyone would be back on their feet for the next chapter. Everyone received some Experience points, but no one levelled up. And so they set out towards the Sunken Temple proper, slightly worse for wear but still motivated to find some treasure.

This game was the hardest I've played in quite a while. I am usually playing with Anasdiazi's Raft, and those guys have gotten very powerful. These wolves nearly shredded my new warband. So I am a bit nervous about the upcoming encounters.

Stay tuned for the second part of The Sunken Temple, coming soon!

Five Leagues From The Borderlands and the supplements are available here.

Interlude: Medieval Fantasy

Okay, so I decided to pull the trigger and do it!

I am starting a second "Five Leagues From The Borderlands" campaign, this time focused on generic medieval fantasy and using some of the fun optional rules from Nordic Weasel Games. I am going to play using the "War Band" challenge setting, which is the default for the game. My main campaign is set to the "Adventurer" challenge setting, which is a little easier. I am also pulling the town of Broadhill from that campaign (where it is masquerading as the village of Oraskat) and setting in this campaign instead.

The fearless leader of Our Heroes is Rauffe de Corilla, sporting his full armor, helmet, and sword. His sister Rosalind del Sur serves as his retainer, with her helmet, shield, and mace. They are accompanied by Arminel, a farmer-turned-guard who is good with his crossbow, and Kherir Runonlir, a dwarf crossbowman. Also with them are a Thadrunlir Boghaeck (a dwarf Outcast Drifter,) Bernaldo (a Stout Yeoman,) Arminel's sister Velasquita (a Deranged Wretch,) and the bearded Menedo (a Wily Rogue.)

The campaign will be played at the Warband level, which is the default for the game. Set on The Long Coast, the Theme is A Fistful Of Arrows; the warband is fighting against banditry and reptile-people (and banditry by reptile-people!) In the initial Region, there are only two Villages. San Remo has Threats of Outlaws: 3, Dark Secrets: 4, and Old Kin: 5, while Aveijo has Threats of Outlaws: 6, Dark Secrets: 3, and Old Kin: 3. Finally, the warband's starting resources are 5 Story Points, 22 gold Crowns, and 2 doses of Medicinal herbs.

Five Leagues From The Borderlands and the supplements are available here.

Scary Skeletons Scattered!

Way back on June 19, I played my first game using The Silent Battalion, an exciting new Enemy pack for the game. And, I'll tell you, it was a pretty cool game.

It was great when it all began...

It started out simply enough. As the Raft had cleared all threats to the village of Oraskat, they were ready to move on to other things. But the people in the village were unusually hostile about the good fortune of having all these bad guys going missing from the surrounding territiory, which was a little odd and cost Our Heroes the opportunity to take an extra town action. They did some Labor to earn coin, called in some favors to do more Labor, and Puddles went fishing. All told, they brought in 15 Gold Crowns, and then spent a Story Point to ensure finding a Fine Bastard Sword for Pariwan Keetslander at a nice price of 13 Gold Crowns. And then it was time to blow off these ungrateful louts and move on to Berstavalb.

I thought it would be fun to keep a picture record of how many models were dead each turn

While on the road, they came upon a most curious stranger, a short squat person who seemed to be made of clay, with a animated stone head. Clad in fine armor and bearing a beautiful mallet, he was clearly one of the rarely-seen Mostali. While Anasdiazi and the Raft had their guard up, the dwarf seemed quite friendly after all. He explained that he was seeking a missing piece of the World Engine, and that his divinations had shown him that he would find it by accompanying the Raft (in game terms, the roadside encounter rolled was the Treasure Hunter; I had been thinking of a way to include a Mostali in the Raft and this seemed to be an excellent fit.) Gunjah the Treasure Seeker had joined the Raft, at least for now. Later, they passed a craftsman on his way from somewhere to someplace, who was wholly disinterested in them.

The end of Turn 2

As they passed a graveyard, they noticed a cloying mist around them. And then unnatural shapes moving near the vaguely-seen headstones. Upon investigating closer, they saw animated Skeletons, seven of them and what seemed to be their leader. Worse, it seemed that the infamous necromancer Tirian was with them! And if there was one thing that a bunch of durulz accompanied by a priest of Humakt hated, it was undead. The Raft attacked!

Pariwan Keetslander being a badass and totally not dieing for a change

The Silent Battalion started out with some among the headstones and some others wandering a bit further away. The Raft moved as a single group to investigate and bring battle to them. Contact was made almost immediately. Between the deadly archery and magical abilities distributed amongst the Raft, they accounted for Tirian the necromancer and four skeletons including the Lieutenant. But luck was not on Anasdiazi's side, as he went down beneath the sightless eyes and unfeeling bones, Quackmore valiantly falling beside him, and in a totally unexpected twist Gunjah the Treasure Seeker fell as well.

More Pariwan badassery!

Having seen Anadiazi fall, Mataw and Pariwan Keetslander leapt into action, accounting for another three of the Silent Battalion. The Raft in turn was unharmed, and somewhat awed by the ferocity of the duo as they tore into the undead enemy.

The dreadful duo

Pariwan easily cut down the remaining skeleton before him. Mataw and the Hanger-On moved towards the two skeletons behind them, and when those puppets advanced in return they cut down the Hanger-On. Puddles flew across the battleground to take a shot at the remaining skeleton, but he missed even at close range. He was now within the attacking distance of the animated bones! He managed to fend off the first assault by it, but would he be so lucky a second time?

Turn 3, the casualties thus far

In the end, the skeleton pushed Puddles back, who then used the opportunity to move even further away and shoot at the lifeless monster again. This time his arrow struck true and felled it. The battle had been won! But what of the fallen companions?

Puddles: Endgame

The first thing to do was to check the status of the casualties. Anasdiazi seemed quite dead, but a judicious application of some medicinal herbs showed that he was merely knocked out. Quackmore was lightly injured and would require three campaign turns. But three campaign turns is SO LONG TO WAIT! So I spent a Story Point to re-roll the recovery time, and he would only be recuperating for one campaign turn after all. Gunjah the Treasure Seeker was only knocked out. He stood up, brushed himself off, and was good to go. The Hanger On was quite dead, possibly from fright.

The final casualties

Searching through the bones (and the body of Tirian) the Raft found some evidence of what was going on around Berstavalb; this would reduce the highest Threat by one (this is an interesting situation, as Berstavalb is my Gloranthan stand-in for Hillshire Vale whose highest threat is Dark Secrets but it cannot be used as an encounter until the other threats are cleared.). The Raft had also reduced the Silent Battalion Threat by one as well. Assorted other finds were a Fine sword, a Fine longbow, and a shield. In Tirian's robes they found a scroll with the spell Trickster's Touch. Anasdiazi, Quackmore, Puddles, and the Nameless Priest Of Humakt all levelled up. Gunjah the Treasure Seeker was promoted to Hero status.

The last disposition

This was a really fun game. Ivan did a great job in creating the Silent Battalion. They are a bit more challenging to fight against than the regular run of losers that we have been facing. Losing Anasdiazi, Quackmore, and Gunjah right off was a little scary; I'd hate to lose my game Avatar, and I had just managed to acquire my long-sought dwarf. But it all turned out well in the end, and the Raft is safely in Berstavalb.

Five Leagues From The Borderlands and the supplements are available here.