The wooden golem charges Talari and knocks him out of the window. On the ground, crossbow bolts rain down on the other Friends of Orthos.
The door is bashed in as a wooden behemoth, the same as has attacked Talari, tumbles through the stone. It clubs and Rolf and Rykus, and Icoriols mechanical flame turret after weathering a gout of flame. In the window above, the druid attempts a fear spell on Talari. The bandits beyond the keeps walls begin gathering weapons and moving as units. The Friends know they have limited time before they are swarmed.
In between sessions, I stole some of Mausritters rules and made some warband rules. Twice now I’ve have players storm bandit keeps without thinking at all and winning. I get this is 5th edition but that stretches believability beyond the point I’m happy with. Storming the bandit keep should at least have concrete evidence for why it’s a bad idea. You should not be able to say “well we stormed it last time and it went great! Let’s do that again.” If you can, the system has failed.
My intention here was not to engineer around the players decisions. I don’t want to invalidate them by magically making the bandits tougher after they ignored my railroad and climbed the walls. However, the rules inform the logic of the game world, and if the current rules dictate a version of the world that I don’t think makes sense, I’ll change stuff. If I had been better prepared it would have been like this from the start. I was fully transparent with the new rules and told the players. DMs have infinite ability to just make shit up. My advice: if you’re gonna pull some bullshit (affectionately), tell ’em about it.
Talari teleports back into the druids room and unsheathes his Rod of the Magician of the Red Realm. He invokes the power, and rends the constituent parts of the druid. She screams as she sees her own spirit, mind and flesh seperated momentarily.
Somewhere, far across Orthos, The Green Lich pours over patterns in leaf matter. There is a shift in the air, and he looks up over the horizon. In the direction of Talari, though he does not know it.
Miraculously, the druid survives (single digit health!). She looks at Talaris face, her eyes filled with fear, and dissapears. Before Talari can figure out why, the wooden golem surges forward. Talari leaps deftly out of the window and into the yard. By now they can hear heavy bootfalls. The bandits have regained their confidence and are beginning to surround the keep. The Friends regroup on the back wall and collectively leap off the wall.
In light of the new unit rules (or maybe some common sense), the party decided to get out of dodge. I got to use BXs awesome evasion table, and they succeeded! However…
As The Friends gallop through town, Talari yells behind him.
“The xorns gold! We can gallop past them and take it before the bandits catch up!”
“Are you crazy!?” yells Rykus, “Not a chance. You’ll find me at the front gate. Do not dally or we shall leave without you!”
“Fine! If any of you wish it, come with me.”
Talari and Vespertine split off from the rest of the group as they head down the main road. They hear bandits in the distance looking for them. They charge down the road, stopping at the pile. Talari quickly casts a floating disc spell and (after a short discussion about the physics of floating disc, which we did not adhere to) charges right through the gold pile, snagging some of the coins and ingots. This earns the ire of the Xorn, but before they can retaliate Talari and Vesper are away.
I did another evasion roll here, but with only four creatures the chance was 90%, easily passed.
The Friends of Orthos flee Red Rock with little gained but enemies. They return to Boruntun to rest, then on to Solemnity!
The Friends of Orthos are stuck in a queue. At the gates of Solemnity they are subject to a thorough questioning and search. Especially Icoriol, who’s magical reagents are the subject of much discussion. They are let in without much trouble.
Entering into the dusty miner-filled Mineria Ward, The Friends (who have arrived in the evening) gather at the Miners Rest Inn. From here they discuss plans and split into groups. Siriel wants to check on Ruxis Palatine, her guild. Icoriol wants to go see Lord Slade after the destruction of his tower. Rattner wants to visit his mother. Vespertine wants to find out anything she can about a rogue shadow monk she has been tracking. Talari and Rykus have nothing to do, so spend the day wandering, talking and listening for rumors.
I’ve been looking into methods of prepping cities recently. The one I’ve landed on lately is inspired by these articles (I and II) which embrace a low-prep improvisational style. This seems very freeing. This was the first session I’ve done it. Low prep isn’t entirely true, to me it seems more like “do a fuck ton of thinking” rather than “write a fuck ton of content”. For each district of the city I now have sight/sound/smell to draw upon in descriptions, a list of building types that are present and a list of NPCs that are present, which doubles as an encounter list. I didn’t use the lists this session, but feel like I may. What came in the most handy this session were the city Factions. My number one tip for running a living world is to have solid answers to a wide range of questions for each faction, principle among them being “what do they want, what is in their way, and what are they doing about it?” This type of likely question -> answer style thinking has taken practice, but led to robust factions over time. (Players are very good at pointing out obvious logical holes). In this case, I had a good idea of the people involved in each of the little sub stories and was able to improv the details. As you’ll see, this led to a bit of an anti-climactic moment, but in a very early d&d kinda way.
Icoriol heads up to the Solemnas Cliff, a quiet district of black stone towers high up on a cliff. He navigates to Reids Tower, previous guildhome to the royal academy of sorcerers, and finds it in ruins. He questions a passing astrologer and learns that Lord Slade has left the city entirely, perhaps heading north? (This is true, and happened at the behest of former PC Balthazar in his downtime discord play-by-post game.) He also learns that the astrologers guild, previously ruled by Ludo Discognia, is having a bit of a power struggle. (This I didn’t go into detail on, because I hadn’t thought about it beforehand. This is the kinda stuff I can’t improvise to save my life. If I had to, I could have looked at the list of nobles in the city and my records on factions and their goals. The problem is the astrologers guild notes were incomplete - they didnt have a goal or any real connections. Hard to improvise if you don’t give yourself the seeds.)
Rattner heads to Black Beach, a poorer district on the south of town. Wooden walkways stand above silty black-sand beaches. Wooden buildings creak in the wind. Rattner hasn’t been home in a while. About a year ago, he was kidnapped and held in a dark cell. During this time he was subject to several experiments which formed his bestial connection (he’s playing MCDMs Beastheart). Rattner finds his mother, Genine, at their old cottage. She is planting in the garden when he approaches.
“Ma…”
She is startled by the noise, then (I roll a reaction!) rushes forward and grasps him tightly. She begins to weep. After getting over what she is seeing, she brings him inside and finds him something to drink.
“You look… older.” She places a hand on the side of his face. “Where have you been?”
“They killed papa, ma. And they took me. Kept me somewhere dark. Did things to me.”
“Who? Who took you? What things?”
“Baron Laquor.” (This is the headmaster of the war college, a believed paragon of virtue)
“That… he wouldn’t… I don’t understand…” she looks at Ratter, old lines in her face creased in apprehension, “But… it’s over now. You’re safe. You’re home.”
“He took me Ma. And… I’m going to go do something about it.”
She looks distressed, “No. No you mustn’t leave.”
“It’s okay Ma. I have friends. I’ll show him to you, but you mustn’t scream.”
Genine looks confused. Before she can protest, Rattners mimic companion shambles over, turning into a jumbles mess of teeth and limbs before settling into the shape of a hamster. Genine screams and recoils. She stammers in confusion and produces no words.
Rattner gets up. “I have to go, Ma. I have to avenge papa.”
As he leaves Genine rushes to the door and calls out, “You’ll come back, Rattner. Won’t you?”
He turns to look at her. “Of course.”
My rough and embellished reconstruction of events here is a lot more eloquent than how it played. Not only do I have more time to think about what people say, but a heavy emotional scene like this is something I’m not good at coming up with live at the table, especially with an NPC .
Siriel walks familiar routes on her way to The Emerald Cat, a blacksmith that doubles as a front for Ruxis Palatine, the thieves guild Siriel was raised in. On her way, she passes through an alley shortcut she must have taken hundreds of times before. However, halfway down the tight passage, she sees a little girl peeking around a corner at her. She moves closer to investigate, and the girl emerges. At first Siriel does not recognize her, then recognition hits her like a bullet. She did see this girl in paintings at Hevlod manor (a haunted manor they burnt down in previous sessions). The girl, Teresa, is the twin of Gemima, a girl born with horns (this has occult signifigance in Orthos). The girl giggles at Siriel and looks around the corner, as if she can see something there. Before Siriel can get close enough to touch her, the girl runs around the corner. When Siriel goes to check it, there’s no one there.
This encounter plays on several threads from earlier sessions. I had the idea for it in the shower. I find it’s very easy to dangle mysterious encounters off of questions you know the answer to. Why was the girl there? Was she a ghost? Why did she appear to Siriel? I know the answers to these questions. That’s also what keeps the sessions from getting away from me. As soon as I don’t have a satisfying answer to a question, but I need it right now, thats the worst feeling.
Siriel arrives at The Emerald Cat and finds two guards out the front. She walks past them, her plague doctor mask obscuring her face, and finds Jiran the Blacksmith. Jiran isn’t technically part of Ruxis Palatine, but he serves as a liaison for most guild members. When Siriel approaches, she sees he is missing his right hand. He regards her with surprise and concern.
“Horns! What on earth are you doing here? You- who saw you come in?”
“Just the two out front, but-” she taps the mask.
“Good.” he looks around “Not here. Come.”
She is led into Jirans private quarters and turns to Siriel with a sigh.
“The guild’s gone, Horns. After Dodger died (also in a previous session) some guard started hanging around the smith. Must have been some sort of Captain or something, name Robin Pellireux. I think Dodger had something on him and after he kicked it Pellireux was free to show his face. They got everything, Horns. All the safehouses, everyone. Viper’s dead. Everyone else is scattered to the wind at best. Someone must have said something. It was too quick.”
Siriel is silent for a minute. “Fuck… that sucks…”
Jiran nods.
She is silent for a moment more. “What do you do? After.”
“Tried contacting some of the other guilds.” she shrugs at Siriels stare. “What? They could use a blacksmith, and I still needed work. Mostly I was looking for anyone of ours that might have found safety in another cabal but… well you know how they are. I don’t think that worked out for any of them. Also tried searching for any sign of what Dodger might have on Pellireux. Heard a rumor a long time ago that he might have had a secret safehouse of his own in Ovē Altura. Couldn’t find it,” he turns grim, “Then the guards found me. Like they know I was snooping around. They did this.” He holds up the stump of his right wrist. “Now that you’re back in the city, you could go have a look.”
“I- I wasn’t staying long. Planned on leaving tomorrow, actually.”
There is another minute of contemplative silence.
“Good move, Horns, it isn’t safe for you here anymore. Listen, I can make sure the two outside don’t tail you or ask too many questions, but I’m out of the game. Just a blacksmith now. Can’t afford them taking my other hand. I think it’s wise for both of us if this is the last time we see each other.”
Siriel nods.
“Before that, anything you need. I’ll do my best to provide.”
Siriel gets some studs in her leather armor, and gets a wooden prosthetic horn to fill in for the broken one.
Siriel is an experienced thief. When she leaves the blacksmith she doesn’t look back.
The idea that the guild was dissolved was fabricated almost entirely on the spot, but it was a synthesis of my faction tables (guards are paying informants to rat on thieves guildsl; Ruxis Palatine lacks a strong ruler) and thinking about how events could have transpired since the last time they were in the city. In another circumstance I could have determined the guilds fate randomly, but something came to me quickly today and I ran with it. This was my favourite interaction in the city. Synthesis of ideas as time progresses is the most fun I have prepping the game.
Vespertine is not from Orthos. She’s not even from Ajira. She walks through a completely foreign city, only have recently acquired the language most of it is lost on her. She takes it all in, moving through the Doson ward. Here she sees more and more fellow Ajira-ni like herself. Following the natural paths of the city she comes to the dock, where she makes a discovery. Sitting in the water, in a dock meant for long term storage, is the very boat upon which she saw the murder of two Ajira-ni nobles by fellow Winnowhead monk Asai and an unknown shapeshifting figure.
Using her stealth training, she sneaks around the minimal guard and onto the boat. She finds nothing of major importance except the bottomost deck is blocked by a thick iron door. She attempts to pry the door open with a shortsword, but it snaps (she rolled a 1!) and gets stuck in the door. It makes enough noise to alert the guards, and she has no hope of retreving the blade before the ship is searched and it is found. She opts to flee from the boat and return that night with allies that can lockpick.
Talari and Rykus search for rumors or Balthazar.
There are two possible points of information, but they roll poorly so they only get one (it cooler but overall less impactful than the other rumor they could have gotten)
The pair learn that after the defeat of Marquess Discognia, before the guards know what was happening, Balthazar uttered a single word and each fell to their knees. Some could also swear they saw a white light emanating from him.
After The Friends reconvene in Miner’s Fortune, Vespertine shares her escapade on the boat and asks for help getting in. Siriel, Rattner, Talari and Vesper head down to the dock.
There are more guards than last time, but Talari puts on a magical fireworks show as a distraction and Vesper knows a shadow spell that lets them pass without trace. To get on the boat proper (which now also has patrolling guards) Vesper uses a minor illusion of a mermaid. It’s just enough for them to get on board and into the boat.
Siriel picks the lock with ease (she rolled really fucking high) but notes that the lock is not of Korianian make. Beyond the iron door they find an iron chamber. A thick chain runs through a thick metal loop connected to three monstrous manacles. The floor and ceiling are covered in scratches into the metal. Sections of it have been burned, or melted entirely and resolidifed into a drooped pattern. Notably, the floor is affixed with a trap door opened with a level outside. The trapdoor leads down a shaft and into the ocean, but the mechanical action of it opening is extremely loud and alerts guards. The Friends move to flee, but before Vesper can jump, she hears a voice behind her, long and thin, in fluent Ajiran.
“I had wondered when you might come.”
Whirling around, Vesper sees the shapeshifting noble that committed the murders atop the boat. A well trained monk, she charges and lands a punch squarely into his chest. Rather than the cracking of bone she is hoping for, she hears the buzzing of insect wings. A cavity forms in the mans chest, and from it burst back hundreds of locusts. The whole man dissolves into insects and reforms behind her, deep laughter echoing around the iron chamber.
“Asai warned me about you. But it is no matter. And you are too late.”
Again Vesper charges, this time shattering the mans head into a volley of bugs. They reform at the door.
“You cannot harm me. I am The Master of Locusts! Remember my face, Vesper, for we will meet again.”
With that the man turns into locusts again and flees up the stairs just in time for two guards to burst into the chamber. Vesper escapes just as they arrive.
This was the moment that I referred to before when talking about something anti-climactic. It was a little fast even just here, but these lines are improved from what I actually said at the table. I wanted to give something cool to the players for getting into the vault, and reveal a step in Vespers personal story as a reward for her clever thinking to search. Overall I think this was a cool moment, but The Master of Locusts didn’t make a particularly strong first impression I feel. Oh well, he’ll be back.
The Friends meet the next morning to discuss further plans. After some brief discussion, they decide to leave town. Rattner considers staying to deal with the baron, but decides against it. Talari considers using his phantom steed to get to Fort Duvno in a matter of hours.
Rattners player was all for splitting the party, Talari’s wasn’t but thought about it for the sake of his steed. It might seem like being able to travel the whle kingdom in one day is a bit strong and defeats the hexcrawl gameplay, but the decision to split the party matters alot. I like that kind of design. Give them nukes, but don’t turn off my game systems!
The decision is made when Talari receives a magical message in his head.
“I am in Senago. Come to me, I will wait for you there.”
Magically he knows it is Balthazar, and so The Friends head on the road northwards. The journey to Fort Duvno only takes a day. They are excited to reunite with their long gone companion.
But when Fort Duvno appears over the horizon, it is not a joyous sight. Splayed out in the field before it, hoards of beastmen and soldiers fight in an all out battle. In the center of town, a giant made of a red substance something like clay smashes chunks off the forts walls. The beastmen have finally launched their invasion, and The Friends have arrived just in time.
Overall the city section of the session was logically sound, and satisfying on a structural level (inquiries made, information gained), but it lacked finesse. It’s execution didn’t feel as controlled as it could have been, but that’s the point of being low prep, isn’t it. I wonder how the players felt. The sessions of D&D I enjoy the least are ones where I feel out of breath at the end and fell apart. This session was more like a run, I was puffed by the end, but not out of breath. And I didn’t fall over.
Far south west, atop the mountain range of Nildazi…
The Baron Voghtairi strides through the gates of The Spiked Keep in his town of New Ornos. A faceless white-fleshed cross between an automaton and a living being takes his cloak and folds carries it as he walks to the throne room. Standing to attention there is Sir Adrian Valamo, Voghtairis right hand man.
“You have returned, my Baron.”
“I have, Sir Valamo.”
“And..? Has my lord succeeded?”
“Indeed I have.” Voghtairi says with pride. From his gold and purple robe he produces a glass sphere, a brown spiky fluid ungulating within it.
“It’s name is Caskoon. Hard fought to win it I was. Restless spirits cling to that wretched place, but Alamanders talisman opened to me with some study.”
“Very good, my baron. There is a matter I-”
“Silence, Valamo. Scrael quivers!” Voghtairi produces a different glassy-silvery orb from his robe and spins it in his hand. “They speak my name, though they already know of its power. Ah - it is the divine!”
Faintly through the orb, Valamo hears two stoic men discussing plans for repelling a beastmen invasion.
Voghtairis brow is furrowed. He thinks.
“I have made no such… Valamo, what messages have been sent to the beasthome?”
“None m’lord. Not on your behalf or anyone elses, I have made sure of it.”
Voghtairi is irritated. “I haven’t the time for this. Tell me, what did you find out about The White Rose?”
Valamo gulps “Not- not much, m’lord. I have men on their way to Solemnity as we speak with plans to learn more from-”
“Bah! If you have nothing to say then say nothing, Valamo. You know the glacial pace of your orders is of no use to me. There are more pressing matters, it seems.” he mutters to himself “Were my gifts not enough..? Ah, beastmen!”
He stomps over to Valamo. He huffs. “You will take a unit of knights through the midnight gate. Take the scepter and follow the coast around the far bend until you meet the dry hills. The scepter will give you safe passage through the forest. Finds Enclave Eshae, and turn them upon Caskoon. Pay them with jewels if you must. That should hinder their attacks long enough for you to get to Solemnity - they will have boats - and find out all you can about The White Rose. I shall go there now and meet you when you arrive. Problems grow like weeds in my future kingdom Valamo. I must find out for myself if the rumors about Discognia and his enemy are true.”
“It is time to nip a bud.”