From the Tales of Ser Killian
Spoiler Alert - The following adventure is based on the D&D adventure Dragon of Icespire Peak. You may not want to read this if you plan to play that adventure.
Brother Winston Retires
Once they return to Phandalin, Brother Winston announces that he is retiring from the adventuring game. He will remain in Phandalin and work on rebuilding the church.
Game Note: After 3 "deaths" I think it is time for Brother Winston to hang it up.
PART 1 - THE MINE
After resting in Phandalin, a man rushes into the village. He identifies himself as Don-John Raskin, overseer of the Mountain's Toe Gold Mine. He reports that a gang of toughs seized the mine. He needs someone to reclaim it. Enraged by this act of aggression, Ser Killian readily agrees.
On the Road
The mine lies about 15 miles northeast of Phandalin. They have no encounters on the way.
An Unexpected Ally
Our heroes begin exploring the mine. They discover that a small band of Raskin's miners have holed up in one section of the mine. One of the miners, a brawny lad named Gavril, agrees to accompany the party.
Once again, I converted the published adventure into random encounters. I rolled a boon so interpreted it as meeting the miners.
Cave In
The party continues into the mine. At one point, there is a cave-in. The party escapes but their way is cut off. They need to backtrack.
I keep track of progress using "Progress Points." After gaining 3 PP, the party will discover the objective. However, this turn of events causes them to lose a PP.
Creepy Crawly
They run into a carrion crawler.
Gruff looses an arrow that buries deep into the monster. Then Haiden attacks, slicing it into bits.
Gruff did 2 wounds in the first round then Haiden did 3 a few rounds later.
Negotiations
Finally, the party runs into some of the toughs. Killian demands that they pack up and leave. They tell him that he has to talk to their boss. One of the toughs runs deeper into the mine and brings back the boss.
The boss explains that orcs have run them out of their home, an abandoned shrine. He is willing to leave the mine if the party clears out the orcs. Killian agrees.
The adventure has an option to negotiate a solution. I rolled to see if the toughs would offer it. When they did, I had Killian agree.
PART 2 - THE SHRINE
Our heroes, including Gavril, head to the shrine about a day away.
Landslide
As they cross the hills, there is a landslide. Fortunately, they escape unscathed.
Orcs
As they approach the shrine, a band of 6 orcs waylay them.
During the melee, Killian suffers two wounds. Afterwards, he calls upon his deity to heal him. He recovers some of his strength.
I realize that I forgot to account for his medium armor. Oh well.
Trapped
Our heroes enter the shrine grounds and spring a pit trap. Haiden falls in. He is shaken but otherwise unharmed.
More Orcs
The party meets 2 orc champions.
These are higher level orcs. These count as "henchmen" from my random encounter chart
Gavril manages to hit one of the orcs, severely wounding it. It strikes him back, but Gavril is only shaken. Killian and Haiden kill the other one, then Gruff finishes off the wounded orc.
Next they meet 2 more orcs. They dispatch these quickly.
The Ogre
Our heroes find the leader of the orc band, an ogre.
They strike it, but it merely shrugs off their attacks.
Armor negated any effect.
The ogre wades into the fray, swinging a large club. It strikes Gruff, and knocks him to the ground (a critical hit!)
Gavril strikes with his pickaxe, burying it deep into the ogre's arm. The ogre strikes back, but Gavril is only shaken.
Taking a cue from my dogfight rules, damage rolls might only shake up the target. I also instituted a "hero" roll, which allows the heroes to reduce the damage by one level. Gavril was extremely lucky. The enemy hit him many times, but he kept getting shaken results.
Killian steps in front to protect Gavril. He stabs and thrusts his blade deep in the ogre's chest. The ogre collapses!
The shrine is cleared. They can return to the mine victorious.
What happens next? Stay tuned!
