Kevin's Krawl

Last night I ran a dungeon crawl session. I jotted down a short report over at my Tales of the Templars blog.

Here are a few pictures. The quality of the materials is not very good; I was basically using whatever I had at hand, including the tiles I made for Space Marine games, some half-painted metal figures, a bunch of D&D pre-paints (although figures often had to represent other monsters), a 30 year old paladin figure, and even some Khurasan 15mm sci-fi miniatures.

The Goblin Lord goes down

Fighting imps (including some 15mm Khurasan figures)

The necromancer sends his zombie hordes against us

Despite the ad hoc nature of the materials, I feel that the game was a success. I was trying the new dungeon crawl rules I worked up (and which I'm calling Kevin's Krawl). In general, the rules met most of the criteria I discussed last week. The game went for 1 and 1/2  hours, which was not bad considering that we did 2 levels. We managed to get through about 10 encounters during that time frame!

As I mentioned last week, Kevin's Krawl (KK) uses rules loosely inspired by Castle Death although I use 2D6 rolls instead of a single D6. Generally, there is only 1 modifier to apply so math is minimal. Tiles are laid randomly until the party arrives at the quest room (shuffled into the stack of tiles) where it fights the boss. Except for the boss, encounters are randomly determined (I made cards but a table could work as well). All in all, it worked out smoothly.

One clever part (imho) is that the monsters do not make any rolls. The players win initiative on a roll of 4-6. When attacked, players simply make a defend roll (against a particular target number). This eliminates the need for a person to act for the monsters and keeps the focus on the players. (It's ironic that even though the odds may be the same, making a defend roll lets the players feel that they have more power over their own fate).

Nevertheless, there is room for tweaks. In this first draft, I put no limits on how many times spellcasters could use their spells. This allowed them to sit back and use magic rather than engage in hand-to-hand combat (which is a feature I like; I hate it when a wizard has to go toe-to-toe with a monster). However, this gave them access to unlimited heals. They needed a lot, but having limits would make the game more challenging. If I do add limits (I'll probably give spellcasters a number of spell points) I will need to give characters access to other forms of healing (e.g. potions).

I still need to do some work on character advancement, additional spells, and other bits and pieces. I am happy with the game and plan to run some more sessions in lieu of a full blown RPG.

Learning to Krawl

Nearly five years ago I worked up a simple set of dungeon crawl rules that I called Kevin's Krawl. I eventually abandoned KK when I discovered Four Against Darkness (4AD). Recently, however, I have been taking a second look at them.

My main concern with 4AD is at the higher levels. Once you reach level 5, you move to the rules expansion in Four Against the Abyss, which drops D6s in favor of D8s. Now I am no fan of funny-shaped dice and don't want to scrounge around for any in order to play. I kept wondering if there would be a single D6 mechanic that could cover all levels of play. A little while ago I started poking around with other rules-light RPGS such as Amazing Tales (which I converted to 2D6) and PDQ. However, not much came of it all.

My interest in dungeon crawls has recently revived, thanks to a video game. My wife had been playing a lot of Darkest Dungeon.

This got me interested in playing a pen-and-paper dungeon crawl. I also got inspiration from Squad-Hammer. It struck me that the simple 2D6 mechanics of S-H could be applied to skirmish level action. I then realized that S-H was somewhat similar in execution to Kevin's Krawl. So now I'm back to KK, utilizing ideas from Amazing Tales, PDQ, and Squad-Hammer to improve my original design. I have some thoughts jotted down - I just need to collect them together and then run some playtests.

Busy Game Day

Yesterday was a busy gaming day.

In the morning I was experimenting with the quick play soccer rules I discussed yesterday. Although I still used the soccer rules I decided to change the theme to grav-ball (I still want to add some fighting/injury rules). I created an 8-team league named after stars and constellations, which I called the Star League. I plan to play a 10 game season.

Here are the ratings for the league. Note that I simplified them into 3 stats. The Forwards stand in for the midfield rolls as well as for offense.

Ratings
Team	Forwards	Backs	Goal	Total
Antarens	3	4	2	9
Betelguesans	3	3	2	8
Canopans	5	3	4	12
Denebians	3	5	4	12
Electrans	2	2	5	9
Fomalians	5	2	3	10
Geminids	5	2	4	11
Hydrans	3	3	2	8
Average	3.6	3.0	3.3	9.9

I played the first week (4 games). Here are the standings after the first week:

Standings
Team	Games     Played	Wins	Losses
Galactic Division
Antarens	1	1	0
Betelguesans	1	0	1
Canopans	1	0	1
Denebians	1	1	0
Stellar Division
Electrans	1	0	1
Fomalians	1	1	0
Geminids	1	1	0
Hydrans	1	0	1

Below is a game report.

Last night, we played another game of Kevin's Krawl. This time, we entered an ancient dwarven mine overrun by kobolds. I added a game report over on Tales of the Templars.

A July Fourth Adventure

Last night I invited my brother over and we celebrated Independence Day with a Revolutionary War themed role-playing adventure.

I've been trying to get my wife into role-playing games for some time but she hasn't been very interested. However, she does enjoy dungeon crawl style board games, like Mice and Mystics. Unfortunately, games like this have a lot of components that make them a drag to set up. A pen and paper RPG doesn't really need anything other some dice and pencils (although some nice miniatures are tempting)

I was discussing RPGs with my wife a couple of weeks ago. I asked her what kind of game would she most be interested. She mentioned something with werewolves and witches. It dawned on me - Colonial Gothic, a game of supernatural adventure set during the American Revolution. I created a simple adventure involving a kidnapped Benjamin Franklin (the first part of the adventure is described here on my Tales of the Templars blog).

We used the latest iteration of my Kevin's Krawl rules, which I initially created for dungeon crawl games but which I have been using for my Space Templar games. This version is sort of a mash-up of Traveller and the Dead Simple RPG.

Character creation is very simple, and involves the following steps:

1. Select a Profession. For last night's Colonial Gothic campaign, the characters had a choice of Soldier, Scientist, Rogue, or Doctor. I am going to add Wizard as a profession but I did not announce it initially because the existence of magic is a secret in this world.
2. Determine Attribute scores. There are 4 attributes (from Dead Simple) - Strength, Dexterity, Intelligence, and Spirit (i.e. Willpower, Luck, etc.)
• Characters immediately get 1 point based on their Profession. For example, Soldiers get 1 point in strength.
• Characters then get an additional 2 points to allocate as they see fit among the 4 attributes.
3. Determine other statistics:
• Fight = Strength + Profession modifier (+1 for soldiers)
• Shoot = Dexterity + Profession modifier (+1 for soldiers)
• Defend = Dexterity + Profession modifier (+1 for soldiers)
• Health - starts out at 3
4. Determine stuff - the GM assigns starting equipment as reasonable

Task resolution is also simple, and is based on the Traveller rules. Roll 2D6 + attribute + profession modifiers + any other relevant modifiers. Typically, the target score is an 8, although the GM can adjust it. If a hit is scored, roll 1D6 to see if it wounds (on a 4-6) or simply stuns the opponent. As I noted before, the GM does not have to roll any dice. When characters are attacked, assume that they will be hit unless they make a successful Defense roll. I think this greatly speeds up play, and it gives the players the feeling that they control their characters' fates.

As you may notice above, the soldier gets a lot of professional bonuses in combat situations. Other professions also get modifiers. For example, rogues get a bonus for stealth in addition to any dexterity bonuses.

Last night's session went very well. It had a quick pace with plenty of opportunities for decision-making. Each character (we had a soldier, rogue, and doctor) had chances to use their abilities and benefit the party. My wife seemed to like it, especially because it was pretty straightforward without a lot of math. Because of her interest, I am planning a sequel.

Escape from Castle Grayrock

I've been thinking about the next battle in my ongoing Grayrock Revolution campaign. With the recent uprising in the capital, it seems logical that the Viceroy will call for reinforcements from the Bluderian army gathering outside the pass to the Maraconi plateau. This will leave the weakened Bluderian force ripe for a surprise attack by the rebels.

As I devised this scenario, I pondered how the Viceroy could have gotten a message to the field army when his forces were trapped in Castle Grayrock, surrounded by rebel forces. Obviously, a Bluderian messenger needs to sneak through enemy lines. Sounds like a great rpg-type scenario! Perhaps I'll give the mission to Black Bart; he needs to redeem himself after being accused of disobedience.

For this scenario, I plan to use my city battle board. Black Bart will start on one of the short ends and will have to traverse across the length of the board and then scale a wall in order to escape from Grayrock City. The scenario will basically be like a dungeon crawl using my Kevin's Krawl rules. In each square of the board, Bart will roll to see if he encounters anyone, like wandering rebel patrols. We'll see if he can make it out!

I'm getting excited about this scenario. I don't have all the materials I'd like (such as castle and city walls or a figure to represent Black Bart) but I'll probably improvise something. Perhaps I'll run this scenario this weekend.

Re-discovering the Tried and True

Ever since my interest in D&D began to wane in the late 80s, I've toyed with developing my own homegrown, generic RPG system. My ideas have gone through numerous iterations, inspired by countless published games, and those ideas have begun to coalesce around a system I call "Kevin's Krawl" (which I discussed last year). The task resolution system uses two 6-sided dice, to which attribute and skill modifiers are applied. It's quick, easy, and takes advantage of all the D6s I have floating around. I'm pleased with it, and have been pleased with myself for creating it.

Recently I was reading a copy of the Traveller RPG rules (the little black books from the 70s).

I realized that I did not create the 2D6 system. Traveller was using it 40 years ago, and I just ripped them off! Goes to show that sometimes tried and true methods work.

New Rules for my Starfighter Campaign

I've been thinking about adding maneuvers to my Starfighters rules but have been undecided how to go about it. Today I played a short combat from my Space Templars campaign when inspiration struck me. I could use the same rules for my Starfighters campaign.

For RPG sessions, I've been using variants of my Kevin's Krawl rules. The basic mechanic is simple - a roll on 2D6s of 7 or more is good but less than 7 is bad. I realized I could use that same mechanic for my starfighters.

There are 2 phases:

1. Maneuver - each of the player's fighters rolls 2D6.
• 2-6 means that the enemy has a shot at the player's fighter
• 7-9 means that fighter can shoot at an enemy
• 10+ means that they player's fighter has managed to tail an enemy (shooting bonus)
2. Shooting - once again each shooter rolls 2D6.
• 2-6 misses
• 7-9 causes 1 hit
• 10+ causes 2 hits

There are modifier's to each roll for pilot quality, damage, etc. In addition, I added a little bit of decision-making from my original starfighter rules. Each combat round, a pilot can kick in the afterburners. This gives an advantage to the maneuver roll but makes it more difficult to hit anything in the shooting round. The player then can choose to improve maneuvering, albeit at the expense of accuracy.

I ran a short mission with Gunn and Rowe on patrol. Their mission was largely uneventful, although they encountered 3 enemy craft (which fled after being damaged - I remembered to roll for break off after each round).

RPG Design - Which Dice?

Over the years I've been experimenting with home-brew roleplaying rules (such as Kevin's Krawl). Recently these experiments have taken the form of adventures on my Paladin's Quest blog.

One of the questions I've been trying to address was what type(s) of dice to use. I am not fond of the ubiquitous D20; it just rolls too much. Over the years, my preference for all games (including my home-brew wargames) has been for the classic D6. So much so that my initial attempts at RPG rules have featured a 2D6 system.

Earlier this year I switched to a D10. I made this change for 2 reasons:

• In order to speed up the game, I wanted to be able to make multiple attacks with one roll. I suppose I could have done it by using pairs of D6s of different colors, but that would require visually matching up the sets, which would slow down the game.
• To mitigate against the first issue, I tried a single D6 system. However, it did not seem to have enough granularity, given that I modify the roll by the character's fighting ability and the enemy's difficulty. A D6 rather limits the range of modifiers (e.g. a modifier of +5 would practically guarantee a hit).

I felt that a D10 satisfactorily addressed these two issues.

But now I am considering another change:

Not that there was anything particularly wrong with a D10 in terms of game play. However it has drawbacks when it comes to designing random rolls or tables. A D12 is more versatile because I can use it as a D2, D3, D4, D6, or D12.

I'll be experimenting with the D12 to see how it works.

Happenings

Some notes on gaming-related stuff occurring over the past week:

Coastal Warfare

I decided to play around with the Cruel Seas ships I picked up recently. I whipped up a super-simple, not-intended-to-be historically accurate set of rules and then went at it (because I don't have a big enough water battlemat they fought it out on the Glass Sea).

One of the ships gets hit by a torpedo (black puffs indicate damage)

But it gets revenge. After repairing damage it returns to the fray and in one devastating salvo it sinks the enemy ship.

I actually enjoyed the game and am now intrigued by the topic. I'm not sure if I want to get into another period, though. Even if I did, I would not use the Cruel Seas ships; they are just too large (these German boats are 4.5") for my coffee table. This has spurred a search for appropriate minis, leading me to Irregular Miniatures. I like their generic take on the topic, and the sizes are workable (1/900 I believe so the patrol boat is listed as 22m with the largest, the destroyer, at 40mm)

In the past when I wanted to do WW2 style naval battles, I actually used spaceships instead. I would actually like to do that for this topic; I just haven't been content with my scratchbuilt minis and I'm struggling to find minis that I like.

Organizing
On New Year's Day I mentioned that I wanted to organize my boxed games. I took a few steps in that direction recently.

My completed air war box, contained in a Tiger brand wide Tuff box.

Inside are rules, dice, markers, an erasable battle-mat (10 x 16 spaces) and containers with 1/600 scale miniatures.

I also started a sea box. My two Cruel Seas ships are in it.

Onyx decided he wanted to play.

Krawling
I've done some work on Kevin's Krawl. Recently I ran a second dungeon, this time investigating the catacombs under a church. There they find that death has taken control, and all manner of ghastly abominations prowl.

Here they take out the boss, a skeleton mage

And here is the final dungeon map.

A full report will be forthcoming on Tales of the Templars.

Recruiting
I went on a small miniatures spending spree mid-week.

From Irregular Miniatures:

• Vessels for coastal naval actions - specifically some patrol boats, a gunboat, and a merchant (yes, I succumbed to temptation)
• 10mm fantasy for dungeon crawls - a crusading knight, a dwarf, a wizard, an archer, some orcs, and wolves. Planning to convert my dungeon crawl to 10mm.
• 1/900 scale aircraft - a few 2-engine bombers for my bombing raid campaigns

From Pendraken:

• 10mm fantasy - some necromancers and some monsters

I also finished painting and basing some 1/900 biplanes. Looking forward to getting them into action.

Thoughts on Sci Fi Skirmishes

For a change I have a free morning. Soon I'll pull a game out, but for now I want to jot down some thoughts that have been in the back of my mind.

Over the past few weeks I've been considering options for some quick & easy sci fi skirmish gaming. I already have a set of home-brew rules that have provided many enjoyable games (featured in the adventures of Kate and Kip). However, I have become a bit bored of these rules because there is very limited scope for character advancement. They use a die pool mechanism, and adding even a single die to the pool significantly increases a character's power. I'd like something a little more gradual, as is common in role-playing games.

As I poked around the internet, reading reviews of various sci fi skirmish games and investigating free rules, I realized that skirmish wargame rules don't really offer the type of advancement I want. What I really need is a light RPG. This got me thinking back to a previous experiment that I called Kevin's Krawl. KK used a 2D6 task resolution system akin to Traveler. I successfully used KK variants for my solo Space Templars campaign and a short-lived lacepunk campaign played with my wife and brother.

The main issue with KK is that I never developed character advancement rules. I then began thinking of ways to tack some on. My preference is for a class-based system with levels (like D&D) because this makes character creation so much easier. In a roundabout way, this led me to X-plorers.

X-plorers is an old school style science fiction RPG using a simple D20 system. You can get a copy for free from RPG Now. I picked it up years ago when I was searching for a solo sci fi RPG and saw a review on Grognardia. It intrigued me and the price was right. I ended up not using it, primarily because there is no class that would allow me to play not-Jedi knights. Nevertheless, I like the character advancement system, with its 10 levels in each class. So now I am pondering how to convert X-plorers character classes and advancement to a 2D6 system.

RETROSPECTIVE - Space: 1889

While I was flirting with GURPS in the late 80s, I developed a crush for another new RPG of the day - Space: 1889.

I was perusing the shelves of the local game shop when this cover caught my eye.

The text on the back cover was equally evocative:

Role-Playing In A More Civilized Time. Everything Jules Verne should have written. Everything H. G. Wells could have written. Everything A. Conan Doyle thought of, but never published because it was too fantastic. Everything you need for adventures of the century!

 At that time, most RPGs were the generic, medieval fantasy or less frequently futuristic sci-fi. There were some historical RPGs (Gangbusters and Boot Hill come to mind) but they were a fringe of the market. What Space: 1889 did was to take a historical setting and turn it into a science fiction (some may say a science fantasy) game. This was very different than anything else. I was not particularly familiar with the Victorian Era but I was a history buff (I was more interested in the 17th and 18 centuries as evidenced by my fondness for Rafael Sabatini's novels). However, I had read Verne's 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea and knew about his other works that postulated trips to the moon. I picked it up and just fell in love with the setting. Frank Chadwick and the guys at GDW did a wonderful job of evoking the Victorian setting and ethos. I remember Carl Sagan talking about how Percival Lowell believed there were canals on Mars - which he took to be evidence of life. Well, according to Space: 1889, there were canals on Mars, and we could explore them! The game was like being transported back to the science fiction and scientific beliefs of the day.

The book itself was packed full of detail. From descriptions of Mars (a desert world) and Venus (a swampy world with dinosaurs) to lists of late 19th century equipment, Space: 1889 gave you plenty of material to work with. I spent hours just reading (and re-reading) the material and background information.

At first, I even loved the system. Character creation was skill-based, but it was not so complicated as GURPS. The basic system for determining attributes was very clever. There are 6 attributes; players assign each a value from 1 to 6. However, you could not use the same number twice. Therefore, one attribute will be very weak (a 1), another a bit stronger (a 2), all the way to 6. Thus, a character has a broad spectrum from weak to strong. Then players choose a career (or perhaps 2) for their character - this determines their skills. There are some options for free choice of skills, too. Creating a character is a breeze. The combat system seemed clever, as well. It simply used D6s (no "groping for dice"). To take an action, one rolled a number of D6s equal to their applicable skill level. Quick and simple.

Unfortunately, the system did not really hold up to use. I decided to run an experiment using an example given in the book. The hero, armed with a revolver, stumbled upon 3 Venusian grave robbers with daggers. In the book, the hero dispatched the enemy with ease and I expected the same. After all, the bad guys were bringing knives to a gun fight! I ran through it and the hero lost, badly. I tried again and got the same result. A couple more tries led to the same result. What was going on? Well, the combat system was a little different than the skill system - as I recall the number of dice was determined by the weapon not the skill level. Thus, what you were armed with was more important than how good your were. In our hero's case, the Venusian's daggers gave them lots of dice (especially because there were 3 of them). And once hit, a character needed to spend actions recovering. Basically, once the hero took a hit, the other enemies swarmed over him and skewered him. I was very disappointed (in hindsight, I think I was expecting something with a bit more pulpy feel to it, with the hero able to fight off hordes of minions). Anyway, I soured on the system and the game ended up collecting dust on the shelf.

I actually never playedit but I still love the setting. It is telling that when I got rid of all my RPG stuff in the 90s, I held onto Space: 1889. Over 25 years later, I still have that original book and I will never get rid of it. So how did it influence my gaming? I can't really say if it did directly, but it did spur an interest in Victorian history and science fiction. As a result, I re-read 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, and read A. Conan Doyle's Lost World. I would discover the Flashman series (historical novels set in the Victorian Era) and Byron Farwell. I still occasionally pull it out and ponder running a campaign using my Kevin's Krawl rules modded for the period. In fact, I'm going to close out this post and get out my old copy of the rules.

Black Bart escapes!

As promised, here is my game report for the Escape from Castle Grayrock scenario.

Finding himself under siege in Castle Grayrock, the Bluderian Viceroy called a conference of his top commanders to discuss measures. True to his nature, General "Black" Bart Blackwell urged that the garrison should sally forth and drive the rebels from the street. The Viceroy was more cautious, pointing out Blackwell's recent failure. Instead, the conference decided to send a messenger to the main Bluderian army is southern Grayrock. Disgusted by the lethargy of the other commanders, Black Bart offered to provide the messenger. Actually, he planned to do it himself in order to get away from the Viceroy and rejoin his Greenglade comrades with the main army.

Blackwell waited until a dark, moonless night. Clothed in black, he armed himself with a pair of pistols, a sword, and a dagger. He carried a couple of lengths of rope hidden under his black cloak. Deep in the night, he set forth.

A section of Grayrock City.
Black Bart (the green figure because I don't have a black one) is in the Castle (bottom)

 Notes: Pardon the bare bones nature of the board. I was in the process of making a proper castle and city walls, but Tommy demanded a game immediately! Instead, I used a few stone walls from Village in a Bag and a lot of imagination. The red cobblestony areas are the main streets. The gray areas represent built up areas - buildings and narrow alleyways. It is possible to move through the gray areas.

Black Bart dropped a rope from the wall and shimmied down. About halfway, he slipped and fell with a thud to the street below. He rose, but felt a stabbing pain in his ankle.

Limping, he managed to cross the main street and ducked into an alleyway. As he hobbled through the alley, he heard arguing from around the corner. He peaked and saw two local citizens, recently armed and acting as a rebel patrol. Ge decided to avoid an encounter, sneaking by in the dark. Fortunately, their argument was so loud that they did not hear him.

Black Bart sneaks past the citizen patrol.

 Turning a corner of the alley, Blackwell stumbled across a mangy dog. It began to bark at him. He gave it a swift kick and it ran away. Fortunately, no one was alerted.

He then had to cross a major street. Huddling under his dark cloak, he scurried across as quickly as his injured ankle allowed., but he did not go unnoticed. Someone called out to him. "Hey buddy!" Blackwell ignored the call, but the man repeated it. Blackwell turned, his hand reaching from his sword hilt. A ragged man came up to him. "Can ye spare a coin?" As Blackwell hesitated, the beggar stated, "I can see yer tryin' to remain hid. Spare or coin or should I make a row?" Blackwell pulled a coin from his pouch and gave it to the beggar, who smiled and moved on.

Black Bart meets a beggar.

 Blackwell moved back into the alleys. After a little way, he heard another voice saying "Hey Bud." Blackwell turned, whispering "I have a coin I can spare." The man approached out of the dark, with a dagger pointed to Blackwell. "I want ALL yer coin, and anything else on yer person, or else." Blackwell was having none of it. He whipped out his sword and lunged. The thug deftly dodged, Back and forth the two of them went - striking, dodging, and parrying as silently as each could. Neither one wanted to alert the patrols. At one point, Blackwell slipped and fell to his knees. The mugger rushed in, but Blackwell recovered and his parry disarmed his enemy. The thug kicked Blackwell and then jumped on him. Blackwell's sword rattled to the ground. The two men wrestled until Blackwell managed to draw his dagger. Two quick stabs and the fight was over, with the thug's life blood pouring from his veins.

Black Bart after an encounter with a thug.

 Blackwell fled from the scene, eager not to get caught. Fortune was with him and he was able to make it to the wall. His only encounter was with another mangy dog that he drove away with ease. Blackwell then tried to scale the wall, but his injured ankle made it difficult. He slipped and fell to the ground. He heard a crack and his ankle throbbed with greater intensity. Probably broken. He tried again, and through sheer determination, he made it to the top. 

Black Bart on top of the wall.

Tying his other rope to the top of the wall, he dropped the other end down the other side and slid down (falling once again!). He was able to make his way to his secret contact, who provided him with a horse. He rode off into the night! After a long, painful ride, he, and the Viceroy's message, made it to the Bluderian army.

I played this game using my rules-lite RPG rules (as described in my Kevin's Krawl and Space Templar posts).

Each turn, Bart could move 1 square. I then rolled for an encounter in the square. An encounter would occur on the busier streets on a 1-3 but only a 1-2 in the alleys (to make the streets more tempting, I should have allowed faster movement). If an encounter occurred, I rolled on the encounter chart.

1. Dog (Power = 6)
2. Beggar (Power = 6)
3. Drunk (starts a brawl) (Power = 6)
4. Thug (Power = 7)
5. Unruly citizens on patrol (Power = 7)
6. National Guard patrol (Power = 8)

The patrols would consist of 1-3 men. The Power number was what Bart had to roll to successfully attack or defend. For example, in his fight with the thug, Bart needed to roll 7 or better to hit and to avoid being hit. In a fight, Bart could take 3 wounds before succumbing to unconsciousness (and failing his mission).

When an encounter occurred, Bart had 3 options: sneak by it (using the encounter's Power number as the target for success), confront it (not always requiring combat, such as the beggar encounter), or run from it. I would roll the dice and interpret the result (very free-form; I just decided what seemed logical).

Bart also had to roll to climb up or down the walls. Again, I would interpret the die rolls. Also, after each failure I rolled to see if an encounter occurred.

Bart was fairly unlucky in some regards (6 encounters in 10 moves; had trouble climbing walls) but he was fortunate in the nature of the encounters (no National Guard patrols, for example) and in his rolls during confrontations. I thought about adding a second "level" of the game where Bart had to make it from the city to the army, avoiding highwaymen, wolves, and enemy patrols along the way, but I decided to take it easy on him.Throughout the game, I felt a sense of anxiety as I made the rolls so I consider the scenario a success (as it was for Bart as he made it out of the city).