Saturday, April 25, 2020

Rescue!

A One-Off Khamen and Candorra Adventure

Game Notes
A while back I had asked the Wargames Website for suggestions on 10mm fantasy figures. One suggestion was for Copplestone's heroes and halflings set. The figures did not really match the characters I was playing at the time so I passed. But now I wanted figures for Khamen (a thief) and Candorra (female elf); I found a couple of likely candidates in the Copplestone set so I figured I'd give them a try.

And here they are. Admittedly a bad paint job, but at a distance they do the job. Candorra on the left and Khamen on the right.

Now that I have figures for them, I wanted to give them a trial run. I have not finished the stats for the encounters in the next installment of the Stones of Sorcery campaign. Therefore, I decided to do a one-off (a "prequel" if you will). Once again I am using my tweaked version of Four Against Darkness.

Rescue from the Reavers
The daughter of the local magistrate has been kidnapped by reavers, a band of marauding orcs and hobgoblins. Khamen and Candorra have been tasked with rescuing the child.

The reavers have holed up in a nearby network of caverns.

Khamen and Candorra are met with hobgoblin guards (1). The villains are dispatched with alacrity.

"They have a cave troll." (2) Khamen kills it and Candorra dices it into pieces so it cannot regenerate.

They pass through winding corridors (2-3) to an empty room (4). They have to turn around.

Back into the entry hall (1), they run into a wandering monster - a catoblepas! Its gaze wounds both our heroes before they can dispatch it.
I swear that's a catoblepas! It only looks like a manticore to the untrained eye. ;)
Actually, I have taken a generic approach to monsters so that I don't need a large collection. I use the manticore as a stand-in for any large, 4-legged monster. That's also why the monsters are painted black; they're intended to be generic.

From the entry hall, they proceed down the right hand corridor (5). Both take wounds from vampire bats. After a long, empty corridor (6-7), they enter a room (8) with an altar to the orc's hideous god. On the stone slab lies a dead figure, a human sacrifice!

Khamen's blood turns cold at the thought that their quest could be in vain. However, it turns out to be an elf male, not the magistrate's daughter. Still, it is a chilling sight that leaves Khamen unnerved and vulnerable (cursed with -1 Defense)

Next (9) they tangle with four orc reavers. Candorra fireballs 3 of them.

"Now where did you learn that trick?" Khamen asks in awe.

"Never mind! Get that last one!"

But the remaining orc blocks Khamen's attack and rushes Candorra. He manages to inflict 2 serious wounds before Khamen kills it. Severely wounded, Candorra uses a healing potion.

Finally, they confront the reaver boss, an orc brute. It has the child bound and gagged, lying at his feet. It attacks with two whirling blades, but Khamen dodges. Candorra wounds it. He swings at her but misses. Her counterattack hits and Khamen also wounds the brute.

It throws its sword at the duo, forcing them to duck. In that instance, it grabs the hostage and flees through a secret door into an adjoining room (4).
After losing half life, it failed morale. I improvised the rest of the encounter.

Our heroes pursue. Candorra switches to her bow and shoots. It strikes the brute in the leg, hobbling it.
For the pursuit, I first rolled for a wandering monster in the room. If there was one, the heroes would have to fight it first. Then I made an opposed die roll to see if the heroes could close the gap on the enemy. In room 4, there were no wandering monsters and the heroes won the opposed roll decisively. This meant that they could attack the reaver. For narrative purposes, I added the bit about Candorra shooting it.

 Yet it refuses to surrender. Instead, it drops the child and turns on its foes. Khamen engages the orc while Candorra reloads. The reaver swings but Khamen dodges, lunges, and thrusts his blade deep into the brute's vitals. It collapses to the ground.

"Beat you to it." he laughingly chides Candorra.

"Only because I lamed it." she corrects him.

They free the hostage and returns her to a very grateful father.

Sunday, April 19, 2020

Across the Burning Sands

A Khamen and Candorra Adventure
(Using Four Against Darkness)

Part 1B of the Six Stones of Sorcery

Introduction
Note: This intro is pure fabrication and was not part of the game. Skip down to the Journey if you want to read about the actual adventure.

It had been nearly three days since our heroes had bested the sphinx and acquired the Book of the Magi. Atoz had been toiling away nearly non-stop, trying to discern the location of the Stones of Sorcery. Khamen was walking back to the Library after partaking of some libations in a nearby establishment. It appears that he was wrong; the Cult of Erlich wasn't going to attack. Nevertheless, he and Candorra took turns watching over the librarian.

As he neared the Library, he could hear shouts from inside. Atoz! He drew his weapons and rushed in. A cloaked man ran into him.

"Stop him!" Candorra shouted.

The man shouldered Khamen aside. As he fell, Khamen lashed out with his blade. It caught the man behind the knee. He fell with a shout, then kept stumbling away.

"Get down!" Candorra shouted. 

Khamen ducked his head. An arrow whizzed by. He could hear it thunk into the stumbling man's back. The man fell dead. Candorra walked over to him and grabbed a parchment from his grasp. She then rushed inside, Khamen at her heals. She made a beeline for the librarian's office, stepping over dead figures.

"Who?" asked Khamen.

"Cultists, of course." explained Candorra, as she reached the office. Khamen peered in and saw Atoz on the floor, blood staining his tunic. Candorra rushed over to him.

"Do you have the map?" Atoz croaked in obvious pain.

"Yes," replied Candorra.

"Then folllow . . ." the librarian commanded before passing away.

The Journey
The very next day our heroes were on camels, riding into the desert. With them was Abdul, an experienced guide. They had hired him to lead them to their destination, a lost pyramid deep in the desert south of city of Alatar. Fortunately, they were able to follow the mighty Phiaro River for most of the journey.

A couple of days into the journey, they were ambushed by several cultists (1). Abdul proved his worth as a fighter, taking out three of the enemy. Khamen took a minor wound but bandaged it up.
I made Abdul a 2nd level fighter, giving our heroes a little aid on the quest. Each character started with 1 bandage. Also, Khamen and Candorra had a potion of healing each.

The next day they spotted a pack of hyena-men (2), fierce inhuman raiders. The hyena-men gave chase but the party was able to outrace them and escape.
Because they were mounted, I gave the party a chance to get away. They easily won an opposed die roll so I ruled that they escaped without incident.

After sheltering from a sandstorm (3) and rescuing Abdul from a sinkhole (4), the party reached a point where the river bent to the southeast.

"We must leave the river, now" Candorra announced, as she read the map. "Our destination lies in the heart of the desert that way." she said as she pointed southwest.

As they made their way into the heart of the desert, four giant scorpions (5) pounced on them. Khamen was stung and poisoned before they drove off the horrid creatures.

"I'll be all right," Khamen insisted as Candorra tried to minister to him.

"Take your potion." she demanded.

"I'm fine," he repeated, despite his nausea and pale features.

Abdul concurred with Candorra. "You are ill. It could hazard your quest. Heal yourself."

"I said I"M FINE. Besides, I may need that potion later." Khamen reiterated as he stormed off.

"Stupid human pride." Candorra mumbled to herself.

The Challenge
Our heroes proceeded into the desert for a few more days. They found themselves surrounded by a seemingly endless sea of sand.

"Are we going the right way?" a visibly ill Khamen asked.

Candorra conferred with Abdul. "We think so. It's hard to tell without any landmarks."

Candorra stopped her camel and stood balanced upon its hump. She surveyed the horizon for a few minutes, then shouted in triumph.

"There!" she pointed.

"Where?" asked Abdul. Khamen grumbled about elven eyes.

"Follow me!" Candorra yelled as she galloped south.

Several minutes later Khamen could see it; a small hill in the distance. But no, that was no hill. It was too regular. An hour after that he could finally make it out. It was the top of a pyramid; the rest had been buried under the sands.

They drew near and dismounted. Suddenly there was a whirling wind and a blue figure appeared.

"Djinn!" exclaimed Abdul.

"Halt!" it declared. "You are forbidden to approach the Tomb of An-Makeran. Turn back now!"

"We are on a holy quest at the behest of the Temple of the Maker. We must enter that tomb." Candorra explained.

"No, you are not worthy. Turn back, or suffer the consequences."

"We will prove our worth . . ." but before Candorra could finish here sentence, the djinn summoned a whirlwind that slammed into our heroes. Abdul and Khamen were knocked to the ground, but Candorra managed to dodge and somersault up to the djinn. She slashed it with her blade.

The djinn pulled a heavy mace out of thin air and began to swing wildly at our heroes. It smashed Candorra, who flew several feet, landing heavily on her back. The djinn then attacked Khamen. Due to his sickness, he moved slowly and failed to dodge. The mace landed a heavy blow on him. He sunk to his knees. The djinn moved in to finish him off.

Just then, Abdul leaped to Khamen's defense. Khamen was able to crawl away while reaching for his healing potion. Abdul sparred with the djinn for a moment before it landed a blow. Abdul staggered back.

Candorra was back on here feet and attacked again, landing another hit. As it advanced on her, Khamen jumped into the fray, stabbing the djinn in the back. It turned toward him.

"I'm baaack." he quipped as he retreated before the djinn's onslaught. But the djinn was too powerful and knocked him to his feet. Once again, he readied a killing blow.

Suddenly, a sword point pierced through the djinn's chest. Abdul stood behind it, his thrust penetrating from behind.

With that, the djinn dropped his mace, which disappeared. It moved away from the heroes, then turned to face them.

"You have proved your worth." it announced with a bow. Then it flourished its hand and a whirlwind swept toward the pyramid. It blew away the sands, revealing a ramp leading down toward a stone door. Four bodies in cultist robes lie near the door.

"Who were they?" asked Khamen.

"They were not worthy." announced the djinn. It then disappeared from sight.

The heroes just looked at each other. They had proved worthy of this challenge, but what of the next? What of the Tomb?

Find out next time!

Game Notes
Obviously, I made quite a few tweaks to standard Four Against Darkness.

  • First, I turned it into a hex-crawl wilderness adventure. I created a grid of offset squares (which approximates a hex grid). The characters start in the first hex, following the river. I placed the tomb in a square that was about 8 spaces away from the start.
  • Each turn, I would first roll a D6 to determine the direction of the river. Then I could choose to follow it or strike out into the desert. I stuck with the river (more about that later).
  • I used my homebrew encounter table to determine the contents of each square.
  • I wanted desert-themed encounters, so I re-skinned standard 4AD encounters. For example, cultists were hobgoblins, the sinkhole was a pit trap, etc. The djinn began as a Chaos Lord but I changed its power based on D&D stats.
    • I have other 4AD supplements and probably should read through them for more options, but I was too lazy to go through them all. It would be nice if there was a single 4AD bestiary with stats for all encounters from all 4AD products.
  • I changed the location of the final encounter. I was originally following the river but then I rolled the boss before I reach the target space. Because I was on my 6th encounter, I decided to draw the adventure to a close. For narrative purposes, however, I wanted the Tomb to lie away from the river. I decided to move it on the map.
  • I also embellish a bit when I write the narratives. For example, Khamen took the healing potion right before Abdul scored the killing blow. I moved it a little earlier in the fight.

Thursday, April 16, 2020

Projects

With LARPing out of the question due to COVID, I have more time for tabletop gaming. Over the past week, I have embarked on a few different projects.

Khamen and Candorra
Last year, I painted up some 10mm figures for RPGs.


However, I did not buy rogue or elf figures. Now that my characters Khamen and Candorra are back in action, I wanted figures for them. I placed an order for Copplestone's heroes and halflings pack. I have two figures in mind to represent the characters (in the red box).


Sci-Fi
I was not happy with the 15mm sci-fi figures I purchased. I decided to scale down to 10mm. I placed an order from Pendraken. I'm getting Marines, Special Force troopers, and a wide variety of aliens. I plan on using them for more skirmishes using Age of Heroes.

Fantasy Gladiators
Over at Stronghold Rebuilt, Kaptain Kobold has been playing a bunch of simple, quick games. These have been giving me an itch for something similar. While I enjoyed the accounts of his prehistoric hunting games, my animal-loving wife would hate me if I did my own. However, the gladiator games piqued my interest. I had some reservations because I don't know of any gladiators in 10mm (my preferred scale for skirmish games) and I didn't want to start collecting a new period. However, inspiration struck as I experimented with Age of Heroes. That game calls for forces of 5 figures. How about team gladiator battles?!

I decided to use fantasy warbands; after all it's not a new period (see above). I ordered from Irregular Miniatures because they sell by individual figure. Each team would consist of 1 hero, 3 standard warriors, and a missile-armed warrior. I ordered teams for orcs, elves, dwarves, goblins, halflings, skeletons, and lizard-men. But I wanted some humans too, so I looked at their historical ranges. I could not decide on one so I ordered Romans, Gauls, Crusaders, and Arabs. That will give me more than enough teams!

For someone who doesn't like painting, I sure gave myself a lot of work.

Tuesday, April 14, 2020

Sci Fi Skirmish with Age of Heroes

For years I have been experimenting with different sci-fi skirmish rules, and the quest continues. Recently, I picked up a free set posted to Lead Adventure Forum. Called Age of Heroes, the author calls them "a set of fast, fun & open wargame rules." I decided to give them a try.

AoH is a very simple set of rules. There are 2 types of characters - heroes and and warriors. Naturally, heroes are a bit better. Your warband starts with 1 hero and 4 warriors. There are optional upgrades available but I did not use any.

A squad of robotrons have boarded the Federation Starship Fortitude. The ship's Marines, led by Corporal Simmons, rush to the scene.
AoH has a movement allowance of 10cm; I adjusted it to 3 squares.

As Simmons comes to an intersection, a robotron fires on him. Fortunately, it misses.
Attacking requires a simple D6 roll, needing to score equal to or above the figure's Shoot or Fight score.

One of the Marines guns down a robotron.
If a hit is scored, the target gets to make a saving roll against its Armor value. Failure results in a wound. Warriors can only take 1 wound.

Return fire misses. On the left, Simmons engages in close combat while his partner gets cut down.

Robotrons gang up on Simmons, but his armor protects him. On the right, another robotron goes down.

But a Marine is killed. Simmons takes out a robotron.

The last robotron on the right falls.

Simmons retreats through a room then pops back out and blasts the last robotron.

Victory for the Marines!

Thoughts

  • These are very simple rules, right up my alley. I will likely play some more with them, perhaps adding some upgrades.
  • Still, I think I may tweak them some more. Every figure can act in every turn. I prefer to have some kind of random activation in my games; it adds a bit of drama to the game. I will probably play around with something.

Sunday, April 12, 2020

Happy Easter

The tomb is empty. He has risen!


"On the first day of the week, very early in the morning, the women took the spices they had prepared and went to the tomb. 2 They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, 3 but when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. 4 While they were wondering about this, suddenly two men in clothes that gleamed like lightning stood beside them. 5 In their fright the women bowed down with their faces to the ground, but the men said to them, “Why do you look for the living among the dead? 6 He is not here; he has risen!" (Luke 24: 1-6)

In these times of grave uncertainty, we remember the sacrifice of Jesus that has already defeated death for us.

"So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand." (Isaiah 41:10)

Happy Easter!

Friday, April 10, 2020

A Little Animal Crossing Comedy

My wife and I have been playing the new Animal Crossing video game lately.


We had a little comedy moment recently.

I was playing and wanted to pick something up. I asked my wife "how do I do this?"

She replies "Y"

I respond "Because I want to move it"

"No. The Y button."

"Oh . . ."

Shades of Abbot and Costello.

So tonight my wife asked me how to do something. I said "Y."

She begins to explain why she wanted to do it. I started laughing. She looked at my funny until I elaborated "the Y button."

We did it again.

Thursday, April 9, 2020

About the Six Stones of Sorcery

When I was writing the introduction to this new campaign, I started thinking, "well, I am really ripping off the Marvel Cinematic Universe's Infinity Stones." Honestly, it was completely unintentional. Let me lay out my inspirations.

The campaign actually started back in 2019, when I ran a single adventure that I called Chaos Unbound. At the time, I randomly rolled for the boss and came up with a chaos lord. I then intended it to start a campaign against the forces of chaos. I lacked inspiration for the next chapter, however, so the campaign floundered.

The next step came because of YouTuber Seth Skorkowsy. He posts videos about various RPG topics; I find his videos to be interesting and informative. Anyway, I watched his video on saga vs. episodic campaigns. At 17:25 he introduces the idea of a blended campaign he calls the Five Glowing Gems.



The idea is that the campaign is essentially episodic, but has an overall story arc as the characters are trying to collect a series of artifacts (the gems are just an example) scattered across the world.

As I watched I realized that I have done this before. Back in 2016, I started a campaign for my LARP. The players had to recover the nodes of mana, concentrated particles of arcane power. These nodes gave the wielder access to incredible power (sound familiar?). Due to some drama in the group, the campaign fizzled out. But it seemed like a good idea for a Four Against Darkness campaign, especially since Khamen's expertise is in "retrieval."

There were 9 nodes in my LARP campaign, but did I want to do that many adventures? I decided to scale it back a bit. Then came another inspiration. Each node would be guarded by one of the 6 bosses in the original 4AD game! That would give me 6 nodes.

That created the next problem. Six Nodes did not sound very good. I gave it some thought and came up with Six Stones. Yes, that's it - the Six Stones of Sorcery!

As I was writing the introduction, I realized that my Six Stones sounded remarkably like the Infinity Stones. Any resemblance is purely coincidental, but if it worked for Marvel . . .

Wednesday, April 8, 2020

About Khamen and Candorra

Khamen and Candorra began back in December 2016, appearing on my Tales of the Templars RPG blog (which I have now retired). At the time, I wanted some level 1 characters for an experiment I wanted to run (more about that tweak below).

For some reason that I cannot remember, I decided to create a rogue character. Thus Khamen was born. This was an unusual choice for me; I usually go for holy warrior types. A rogue was really out of character for me. You may notice, however, that I turned him into a reluctant hero - forced to serve the Holy Temple, he has become devoted to repaying his former crimes and doing good, most of the time.

His companion, Candorra is a female elf. Again, I am not sure why I chose that class (like Basic D&D in the 80s, elf is a class in 4AD). Perhaps it was because I hadn't tried those classes out yet and wanted to give them a go.

What I have found interesting is that as I have written their adventures, they have developed a life of their own. I find that I keep inserting witty repartee between the duo. Candorra is normally a strong, silent character while Khamen has a bit of acerbic wit. Candorra will goad Khamen at times. Nevertheless, they have developed a strong, if secret, respect for each other (and Khamen has a bit of a crush on Candorra - we still do not know how Candorra feels).

If you would like to read more of their adventures, check out my Tales of the Templars blog.

Tuesday, April 7, 2020

My Four Against Darkness Tweaks

With LARPing out of the question for the time being, I have developed a real itch for some fantasy gaming. I decided to reboot a campaign I had started a while back but left hanging. It involves 2 characters that I created for Four Against Darkness (4AD)an excellent solo dungeon crawl game.

Now that I am posting new adventures on this blog, I thought I would tell you a little about the campaign. This turned into a rather lengthy discourse, so I have divided it into multiple posts.

First, let me tell you about how I play 4AD. While I really enjoyed it as written, I eventually made some changes to better fit my personal preferences. Here are changes that I am employing in this campaign.

Two Against Darkness
Before 4AD, I was running some homebrew solo RPGs with 2 heroes (essentially a main character and a sidekick). I found it a little easier to control the characters and it felt a little more cinematic. I actually created Khamen and Candorra to see if 4AD would work with 2 heroes.

I have given them a little assistance here and there to compensate for the missing party members. They start each adventure with a healing potion and I will reduce the enemies to manageable numbers. Sometimes an NPC will join them. Shortening the adventures (see below) also helps.

Overall, I like the change. I feel that I can concentrate on developing the main characters more (and they have certainly taken on a life of their own - but more about that in a later post). By judicious tweaking, I have kept the challenge level appropriate. My characters meet with danger but are not completely overwhelmed. It's been a lot of fun.

Shorter Adventures
I find that I start to get bored if the adventure goes on too long. 4AD does recommend using a time limit or a smaller map if pressed for time. This just felt a little artificial to me. Therefore I took some different approaches to speed up the game and reduce the time needed to finish a dungeon.

  • I restricted the map to a 4 x 3 square grid, with each grid equally a room or corridor. This means that there is a maximum of 12 encounters per adventure (although I have done some 2-part adventures). I have a rule that the boss cannot appear in the first half of the map unless the characters complete 5 other challenges. This prevents the game from ending too quickly.
An example of a 4 x 3 grid
  • Because I changed the map, I also changed how to determine room shape. It's pretty quick (no shuffling through pages to find the room). I lose a little flavor; the maps tend to be more generic and less interesting than straight 4AD. But I find the gain in speed worth it.
Streamlined room layout generator
  • I created an adventure sheet with the encounters listed on it. Before I start the game I fill in the potential encounters. This greatly speeds up the process of determining encounters during the game. It also allows me to create a more focused, thematic dungeon.
A blank adventure map
I fill in the possible encounters before starting
No Loot
I've written about this in a previous blog post but I will reiterate that I don't care for the RPG obsession with acquiring stuff. To me, that is not heroic. Therefore I have dispensed with looting and instead assume that my characters get needed supplies from a patron, usually the Temple (i.e. the church). This causes a couple of issues in 4AD:

  • Characters don't have money to bribe monsters. I generally just ignore the reaction tables. Instead, if there is a chance for a parley, I give the party an influence roll (I generally just come up with the needed value on the fly). If they succeed they can avoid combat. In most cases, however, combat is unavoidable. For example, when the heroes met the cultists in the Library, there was no chance for negotiation. In the campaign's backstory, the cultists were deadly rivals to my characters.
  • There is no chance to acquire random magic items. I alleviate this by allowing a chance of acquiring magic items after defeating the boss. The patron can also furnish items - for example, I start each character with a healing potion, courtesy of the Temple, at the start of an adventure.
Of course, I don't find these problems to be insurmountable. For me, dispensing with loot has increased my enjoyment of the game.

Monday, April 6, 2020

The Labyrinth Under the Library

A Khamen and Candorra Adventure
Using Four Against Darkness

Part 1A of the Six Stones of Sorcery Campaign

Introduction
Sent by the Temple on a quest to find the Six Stones of Sorcery, our heroes have traveled to the thriving port city of Alatar, in the kingdom of Palmeria. It is a hot desert land, watered by the great river Phiaro and famed for its palms, pyramids, and rumors of mummies. Khamen the rogue and Candorra the elf are searching for clues about the whereabouts of the Stones. And if you are in need of information, there is no better place than the renowned Library of Alatar, said to be the storehouse of all human knowledge.

At the library, our heroes convince the librarian Atoz (yes, a homage to a Star Trek episode) to help them out. He suspects that any information will be contained in the labyrinthine catacombs below the library. However, the labyrinth has been locked shut because of rumors that foul creatures had taken up residence there. Nevertheless, Atoz agrees to accompany the party.

Khamen and Candorra are level 3 each. I added Atoz as an NPC - a 1st level wizard

The Labyrinth
As the party approaches the labyrinth they find that the door has been forced open.

The Labyrinth
"This cannot be!" shouts Atoz as he rushes into the room (1) only to stumble into 3 rather angry cultists. One lashes out at Atoz but he dodges. Candorra shoots one and Khamen stabs another. Surrounded, the last cultist snarls, yells "For Erlich!", and then attacks. Our heroes easily defeat him.

"Erlich." notes Candorra. "That can't be good."

"I suppose they are looking for the same information as us." replies Khamen.

Our heroes proceed through the winding labyrinth, inspecting the shelves filled with ancient scrolls. None have the information they seek. They also encounter a ghost (2), fight off skeletons (3 and 6), dodge a boulder (4), and find a statue (5). Atoz takes some wounds so Candorra uses a bandage and healing potion on him.

They come across an underground river (7). Two crocodiles surge out of the river and attack. Atoz kills one with a lightning bolt; the other dives back into the river and swims away.

After surviving a swarm of scarab beetles and a pack of zombies (rooms 8 and 9), the party comes to a dead end (10).

"There must be more!" exclaims Atoz. "Look for a secret door."

Atoz is correct, and Candorra finds the door. They proceed into a room (11) filled with scrolls. In the center is an altar dedicated to the goddess of knowledge, Almarif. Atoz bows before the altar and feels that his mind is enlightened. I rolled the Blessed Temple, but since I knew that there would not be any more undead, I changed the benefit to one more fitting to the final confrontation.

"Come," says Atoz as he heads toward the next room, "the answer we seek is this way." Khamen and Candorra exchange puzzled glances. Khamen just shrugs and follows, with Candorra at his heels.

The Boss Encounter
(Sorry that this is so long-winded. Scroll down if you just want the bottom line).
They enter a huge cavern (12) with a ceiling that seems to stretch into infinity. On the far side is a book upon a pedestal.

"Is that it?" asks Khamen as he begins to cross the cavern. Then there is the swoosh of wings beating and a huge winged beast descends. Khamen has to leap away from the leonine figure. It is a sphinx!

"Halt." it commands. "I am the guardian of the Book of the Magi. I cannot allow anyone who is unworthy to touch it."

"And how do you determine if we are worthy?" asks Candorra.

"We shall play the riddle game. You must take turns answering a riddle that I ask. Once you answer three riddles, I shall surrender the Book to you. If you miss a riddle you must pay, in blood. Are your ready?"

Atoz steps forward. "Ask your riddles, guardian. We shall play your game."

"Very well, you first librarian."

The sphinx asks the first riddle.

"I know that!" exclaims Atoz. He then proclaims an answer. The sphinx smiles enigmatically.

"You are wrong, librarian." it declares. It leaps forward and rakes Atoz with huge claws. The librarian collapses to the ground. Candorra rushes over to succor his wounds.

"You are next, elf maid." declares the sphinx. Candorra stands to face him and he asks the next riddle. She is puzzled and fails to answer. The guardian lashes out, but she ducks. His claws graze her, drawing blood but she avoids serious damage.

"You seek to avoid payment?" the sphinx asks testily.

Candorra shows him a gash on her arm. "You did not say how much blood." she retorts.

The sphinx smiles. "Very well, then. New rule - if you can avoid my attacks, I shall forfeit your payment. Next is the human."

Khamen readies himself. He cannot answer the riddle but is able to dodge the attack and remains unscathed.

The sphinx turns to the librarian. In a painful, wheezing breath, Atoz says " I am near death's door. I cannot play anymore."

"Take this," says Candorra, handing him the last healing potion.

"I cannot"

"Take it," she asserts. "We cannot do this without you."

Atoz downs the potion. His wounds heal and he is able to stand. The sphinx asks the next riddle.

"Now I know this one." Atoz declares and answers the question.

"This time, you are correct. That is one. Elf?"

Candorra misses again. She dodges the attack but takes another wound.

Khamen readies himself for the next question. When he hears it, he begins to chuckle.

"This is no laughing matter!" Candorra scolds him.

"And you complain about my spending time in taverns!" Khamen replies. Candorra gives him a puzzled look.

"I lost a bar bet on this riddle! But now I know the answer." Khamen then gives the correct answer.

"You are the last one, elf." states the sphinx. "Answer or pay."

She misses again. This time the sphinx is ready for her dodge. He adjusts his attack and inflicts two serious wounds. Candorra falls to her knees. She knows that she must answer the next one, or die.

The sphinx, a gleam of triumph in his eye, asks the final riddle.

Hesitantly, Candorra answers. The sphinx scowls. "That is correct" it says and then flies off.

Aftermath
After winning the riddle battle with the sphinx, the party recovers the Book of the Magi. Atoz pages through it.

"Yes, yes. This information is priceless. I am sure it will have the answer to your question."

Khamen and Atoz help the wounded Candorra along as they retrace their steps through the labyrinth. Fortunately, they make it back without incident. They return to Atoz's office where he begins to pore over the Book.

"I may take some time to find the information you seek. Return in a few days and I will let you know."

"No can do, Atoz." Khamen replied. "With the Cult of Erlich on the loose, we cannot leave the Book unguarded. We will stay here with you."

"Ah yes, that is a wise precaution. Well, make yourself comfortable. It may be some time." With that, he returned to his study.

What will Atoz learn from the Book of the Magi? Find out next time!

And stay tuned for a series of posts this week about this campaign!

Saturday, April 4, 2020

MicroBattle: Fire & Sword

On my Battle of Taplaea post, Oliver asked for a copy of my MicroBattle: Fire & Sword rules. I have posted them below.


I designed these rules to give me simple and quick battles using the same core rules for a large swath of history. I use them for battles from ancient times until the end of the horse & musket era (19th century). During this time major battles generally involved clashes between big blocks of troops, which I depict with stands of miniatures.

I do not claim that these rules give an  accurate depiction of battle. They are quick (under a half hour for a game) and simple (I rarely have to refer to the rules), so they meet my design specifications.

Note that these rules are a constant work-in-progress. I often fudge or change things on the fly. In particular, I often tweak the unit stats. If you try these rules, please feel free to modify things to your liking.

Set Up

  • These rules are designed for a 6 x 8 gridded battlefield
  • I determine terrain randomly, using terrain cards that I created (I use 4 for a 6 x 8 field)
Terrain cards in action
(Top - Woods, Clear x 2, Hill, Bottom - Clear, Hill, Clear, River)
Also have cards for rough ground and fields
  • I usually use the army generation rules from One Hour Wargames. It has great scenarios, too. Well worth the purchase price.
Turn Sequence
  1. Initiative - Each side rolls a D6. Winner goes first this turn
  2. Payer 1 Turn
    1. Roll for Activate Units
    2. Take Actions (Move and/or Attack)
  3. Player 2 Turn
    1. Roll for Activate Units
    2. Take Actions (Move and/or Attack)
Activation
  • Roll two D6s. Take the higher roll.
  • Can activate number of units = roll
Movement
  • See unit stats for movement allowance
    • Move of 1-2 or 2-3 indicates a 50% chance of being able to move the higher amount (roll 4+ on a D6)
  • Movement is always orthogonal, not diagonal
  • Ranged infantry may move and fire. Artillery may not
  • Movement in rough
    • Any unit may enter
    • Heavy units must roll 4+ to exit
Attacking
  • Combat may occur if a unit is within range (see unit stats)
    • Range of 0 means that the attacker must be able to move into the defenders space
  • Only the attacker rolls
  • Each unit rolls a D6 + mods. Hit on roll of Combat Value (CV) or greater
    • + or -1 if advantaged / disadvantaged (I determine this on the fly)
    • -1 if SHAKEN
  • Defender in melee may counterattack if attacker fails to hit
Battle Results
  • For every hit taken, units roll a D6. Need to roll Defense (Def) or greater
  • Unit is SHAKEN if it fails the roll
    • Unit routs (remove it from the field) on a second SHAKEN result
  • Unit also RETREATS on a roll of 1
    • Retreat = move 1 space toward baseline
    • May move diagonal
    • Unit routs if it cannot retreat
Morale
  • If an army drops below 50% of its initial strength, roll a D6
    • Roll for each unit lost after 50%
  • Roll of 4+ means that the army continues to fight. Otherwise it retreats (game ends)
Unit Stats
(Move/Range/CV/Def)

From the Shock Period (Ancient / Medieval)
  • Heavy Infantry               1 / 0 /4+ /4+
  • Auxilia Infantry             1-2 / 0 / 5+ / 5+
  • Archers                          1 / 2 / 5+ / 5+
  • Skirmishers                    1-2 / 1 / 5+ / 6+
  • Warband                        1-2 / 0 / 4+* / 5+ (* 3+ when charging)
  • Cavalry                           2 / 0 / 4+ / 5+
  • Knights                           1-2 / 0 / 4+* / 4+ (* 3+ when charging)
  • Light Cavalry                 2-3 / 0 / 5+ / 6+
From the Horse & Musket Period
  • Regular Infantry            1 / 2/ 4+ / 5+
  • Light Infantry                1-2 / 3 / 5+ / 6+
  • Cavalry                          2 / 0 / 4+ / 5+
  • Field Artillery                1 / 4 / 5+ / 6+
Notes: 
  • I've been toying with ideas about making light troops a bit more resilient. Perhaps ignore a SHAKEN result if they retreat.
  • I also keep toying around with rules to rally troops. In the heat of battle, however, I constantly forget to use them.

Friday, April 3, 2020

The Six Stones of Sorcery

A Khamen and Candorra Campaign

I am beginning a new Four Against Darkness campaign. My 4AD heroes, Khamen the rogue and Candorra the elf, will embark on a quest to retrieve the Six Stones of Sorcery, powerful arcane artifacts.

Below is a rather wordy introduction to the campaign. If you don't feel like reading it all, scroll to the bottom for the short version.
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It had been another boring week since returning from the battle with the Chaos Lord. Nothing to do but hang around in taverns. Sure, Khamen worked for the Temple (only by an odd twist of fate), but he still would not consider himself a religious man. He could not see himself spending his free time praying at the Temple. So that left drink . . .

As he pulled his mug to his lips, a female elf rushed in - Candorra, his "business" partner. Usually she tried to sneak up on him. Maybe she gave up because of his superior perception. Khamen chuckled at that. She would never admit that he was good at something. She must have important news.

"Khamen," she called between deep breaths. She must have run here. "Come quick, it's important!"
_____________________________________________________________________

A few days later, Khamen found himself on a ship bound for Alatar, the capital of the kingdom of Palmeria. Alatar lay far across the ocean, south and east of his home. It was a land of ancient mystery, renowned for its palms, pyramids, and legends of mummies that walked the earth. Apparently, it was also home of one of the Six Stones of Sorcery.

Only a day ago, Khamen had never heard of the Stones. That changed after Candorra had urgently summoned him to the Temple. There they met the Preceptor of the Holy Temple in Scotsile. He had been Khamen's employer for the past few years, and had sent him on the mission to confront the Chaos Lord.

"Things are far graver than I suspected," the Preceptor began abruptly. "The Chaos Lord was not trying to summon a foul entity into our world. He was trying to commune with a demon."

"What for?"

"For information. About the Six Stones."

Candorra whistled in awe. Khamen was confused.

"What the . . .?" Khamen checked his language. "What are the Six Stones?"

"The Six Stones are powerful arcane artifacts. They were created by the Cult of Erlich, death worshippers, many eons ago. They give the wielder control over arcane power, far beyond any mere wizardry. When the Cult tried to conquer the lands, the Temple fought back and defeated them. The Stones could not be destroyed, so the Temple hid them, scattered across the continents. No one knows where they are now."

"Except demons," Khamen surmised.

"Except demons," the Preceptor concurred. "And if someone were to find all Six Stones . . . "

Khamen nodded. Candorra whispered "Death."

"Precisely," stated the Preceptor. "We are concerned that the Cult of Erlich has returned, and is using demonic summoning to find the Stones. We MUST get them first."

"And by 'we' you mean Candorra and me?" asked Khamen.

"Precisely."

And thus, the duo began their latest quest. There are rumors that the Library at Alatar has information about the location of one of the Stones so that is their first destination.
_____________________________________________________________________

TLDR Synopsis
After defeating a Chaos Lord, Khamen and Candorra meet with the Preceptor of the Temple. He has learned that the Chaos Lord was trying to commune with a demon to learn of the location of the Six Stones of Sorcery, powerful artifacts that have been hidden for eons. The Preceptor is worried that the death-worshiping Cult of Erlich is trying to recover the Stones for their own nefarious purposes. He wants our heroes, Khamen and Candorra, to find the Stones first. Their first stop - Alatar. The famed library of this sun-drenched land of palms, pyramids, and mummies is said to have information about one of the Stones.

What do our heroes find in the Library?
Stay tuned for our next installment!