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  giorgis 10:19 am on October 8, 2019 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: MERP ( 14 )   

  Assault on Vespin Tower: A Hackmaster adventure in MERP 

  I’ve always wanted to play the Middle Earth Role Playing game (aka MERP) by Iron Crown Enterprises (ICE). Thing is, when I bought the books back in the ’90s I never got a chance to play it. So now that I discovered solo RP, it’s my chance to enjoy it.

  A little background first. MERP was released back when ICE had gotten the rights from Tolkien enterprises. It uses a slim version of the Rolemaster system and has a limit of 10 levels, serving as an entry point to the Rolemaster books.
  It’s a skill and level based system with professions. Resolution is done with d100 roll over mechanics, so it doesn’t suffer from BRP’s systems being broken at high skill levels.
  There are lots of tables to resolve combat, critical hits, spells, fumbles, social interactions, moving maneuvers, static maneuvers, wilderness encounters, herbs, poisons and diseases, even weather and precipitation tables.
  Character generation is pretty complicated. It can take you more than 30 minutes to create a custom character, and that is without spending time on background and personality.
  As you understand the system is dense and crunchy. It can slow you down while playing, but again that depends on expectations. In this effort I don’t want to resolve actions in seconds, but to have a more vibrant world, and using the input from these tables may be just enough to colorize the solo story. The story will be slower, but denser. At least that’s my expectation.

  Since I want to test if the system is to my liking I won’t be running it sandbox yet. I read through the Trollshaws sample adventures in the book, but I think it’s a bit on the deadly side for starting level characters. So I turned to a very simple sample adventure from Hackmaster basic. It’s called Assault on Vespin Tower. I won’t be indulging in details yet to avoid spoilers, but it’s really a 1-1/2-scene adventure. So it sounds perfect to start there. Plus it can fit in the MERP world, somewhere in Eriador I think.

  For characters, I won’t be spending hours on chargen. Instead, I will be rolling on three random choices of the 16 preset characters in the book. So, the toughest thing will be to find a way to fit them all in an adventuring party. Another cool thing about the preset characters is that the book includes tables (I’ve said that MERP has tables right?) for each level of progression. So if you don’t want to spend time choosing how they will advance, what skill choices to make, etc, you just look up the table.

  Overall I believe it’s going to be a nice change from the D6 system that has dice pools, since I will switching all those dice with a single pair of d10s. I’m certain that the time I will save from counting successes or adding numbers will be spent on looking up tables and adding modifiers!

  For the Oracle, I am keeping MUNE and for the scene setup, the modified MUNE I describe here.

  For random name and setting generation I am using donjon
  For the town/keep map generation I am using watabou medieval fantasy city map generator
  For NPC portraits I will be using dmheroes fantasy portrait generator.

  ---

  So a roll on the sample characters. I get the following:

  Camthalion, a Sindar Elf Warrior. He’s good with a bow, knows some spells, carries a sword and doesn’t wear armor. He wants to find what happened to his dead twin brother.

  Dwalin, a Dwarf Scout. He’s armed with mace and shield and wears chain armor. He wants to help recover a mythical dragon-slaying hammer. For know, he wants to travel and get experience.

  Leòwyn, a Rohirim Shield Maiden. She’s armed with sword and shield and wears armor. She is riding a horse. She wants to find the murderer of her lover.

  Now, apart of Dwalin, the other two backgrounds don’t fit directly to the story, so I decided that they will join because they need money for their adventure. Therefore, here comes the story.

  The setting

  

  Inhyrst Keep. It’s in north Eriador.

  I roll 1d12 for month, and I get 11: Hithui.
  I roll for chance of rain (Temperate climate) at ST-8 Weather Table: and get no rain.
  I roll for temperature and it’s around 3 Celsius (had to convert from Fahrenheit).

  For those used to my narrative/game mechanics descriptions so far, I will be doing the opposite approach to writing this time. All game mechanics and everything will be unquoted, while the story I will be narrating will be I’m quoted text. I think it makes more sense this way.

  At a cold fall day of Hithui, a young boy is ringing the bell in the town square of Inhyrst, north Eriador.
  “Hear ye, hear ye!” He shouts. “Brave souls hear the call! Investigate Vespin tower, north of Inhyrst keep and earn 10 silver! Sign up at the constable’s office!”.

  Soon after, the most weird company Inhyrst has seen in a while, has assembled. A dwarf, a blonde shield maiden and a gray elf.
  Constable Anulf watches them carefully one after the other, his thick long hair falling in front of his face.
  “Alright fellas!” He says as he brings out a document. “This is a writ, authorizing you to investigate Vespin tower, located 10 miles north. Once you have successfully completed your task, return here, to report and get your payment. Any questions?”

  Q: Who will ask?
  A: Dwalin, he has the highest Intuition.

  The dwarf, Dwalin steps forward. “Sir, what has happened that needs investigating?” He asks.
  Anulf sighs. “It’s been over a month since the tower’s previous watch disappeared. Their replacements were drinking their asses off in Vew, so we have no clue what happened. Now, sign your names under the writ, and a good luck to all of you.” He doesn’t seem to care to talk further, as if his work is done already.

  I roll for the time, it’s afternoon, 4 pm.

  I roll on the ST-10 Encounters Table. Activity Roll: 70 – Avoidance Roll 14 + 30 Due to Roads = 86. There is an e/s result which means encounter/sighting.
  I ask the Oracle:
  Q: Is it animal?
  A: Yes
  I roll on the Creatures of Middle Earth, Animals Encounter Chart and get that it’s eagles.
  Ok, they saw some eagles flying, no big deal, they move on. I won’t stop to write a text about it.

  At around 8 pm they arrive at the tower. Since its fall in northern Endor, it must be night already.

  Q: Is the scene stable?
  A: No, roll 1d8 on TWENE: Remove major element.

  So the adventure states that at night time there is a goblin (orc in our case) lookout with a crossbow at the top of the tower. Therefore I decide that instead he has taken a longer nap and hasn’t gotten up to the tower yet.

  Their travel to Vespin tower is uneventful. The dwarf and the elf march on, while Leòwyn trots on her horse slowly beside them.
  Finally they see the tower in the distance. Leòwyn dismounts and they all start a slow stealthy walk towards the tower. The 30′ high tower has no entrance. They approach to see if the rope winch that the garrison uses to get inside is available, but it’s not there.
  Camthalion turns to the party. “I will climb up the tower and tie the rope down for you to follow.” They nod in agreement and he starts his ascent.

  Climbing is a Moving Maneuver. I will follow the description of the adventure and say it’s hard to climb. Camthalion wears no armor and has a +35 MM bonus.
  Climb: 86+35=121: 90%. He climbs 9′.
  Climb: 43+35=78: 50%. He climbs 5′.
  Climb: 83+35=118: 90%. He climbs 9′.
  Climb: 84+35=119: 90%. He climbs 9′. He reaches the top in just 4 attempts.

  He ties up a 50′ rope and Leòwyn follows up.
  She is wearing her Chain armor and has a -15 MM penalty. She’s climbing with a rope, so now it’s a Medium task Moving Maneuver.
  Climb: 74-15=59: 40%. She climbs 4′.
  Climb: 08-15=-7: 5%. She climbs 0,5′.
  Climb: 39-15=24: 20%. She climbs 2′.
  Climb: 38-15=23: 20%. She climbs 2′.
  Climb: 51-15=36: 20%. She climbs 2′.
  Climb: 45-15=30: 20%. She climbs 2′.
  Climb: 29-15=14: 10%. She climbs 1′.
  Climb: 85-15=70: 50%. She climbs 5′.
  Climb: 74-15=59: 40%. She climbs 4′.
  Climb: 30-15=15: 10%. She climbs 1′.
  Climb:73-15=58: 40%. She climbs 4′.
  Climb: 05-(oh no! it’s an open ended fumble, you re-roll and add it minus)18-15=-28: Fumble! Just a few feet before reaching the top. I hope she doesn’t fall.
  I roll on the FT-4, Moving Maneuver Failure Table, with a modification -10 for being a Medium MM.
  Roll: 06-10=-4: “You hesitate and fail to act.” Phew! That was close.
  Climb: 69-15=54: 30%. She climbs 3′. She has reached the top, in 13 attempts.

  Dwalin follows. He is wearing Chain armor and has a -5 MM penalty. Since he’s using the rope as well, it’a a Medium task Moving Maneuver.
  Climb: 99+53-5 = 147: 110%. He climbs 11′. Wow an open ended upwards result.
  Climb: 66-5=61: 40%. He climbs 4′.
  Climb: 21-5=16: 10%. He climbs 1′.
  Climb: 17-5=12: 10%. He climbs 1′.
  Climb: 58-5=53: 30%. He climbs 3′.
  Climb: 74-5=69: 50%. He climbs 5′.
  Climb: 50-5=45: 30%. He climbs 2′.
  Climb: 98+72-5=165: 120%. He climbs 12′. With another open ended upwards roll, Dwalin reaches the top.

  Like a squirrel running up a tree, Camthalion free-climbs to the top of the tower. He has brought a coil of rope with him, and ties it up, so that his companions can follow.
  Leòwyn goes first. She is wearing full chain armor, and that doesn’t help at all during the climb up. Just before the top. She hesitates for a moment, worrying Camthalion and Dwalin who have waited around 2 minutes for her to get to the top, but finally, she takes her final steps, assisted with the rope and puts her feet on the tower top.
  Dwalin, brings out the renowned dwarf strength and tries to antagonize the elf, but he can’t win his time, even with the rope. He reaches the top, and Camthalion points to him the trapdoor near the edge.

  Here I should have spent some time, setting up the scene, using a grid maybe. Nevertheless I went with Theater of The Mind.
  First of all I ask The Oracle.
  Q: Is the scene stable?
  A: No, and, roll 1d10 on TWENE.
  TWENE Roll: 5: Increase major element. Instead of 3 orcs, there will be 4 orcs!.
  A side note here. MERP treats goblins and orcs as the same race, so for the goblins that the Hackmaster adventure states, I will be using orcs. I will be using the weak orc stats from ST-2 Creature Summary Table.
  The group opens the trap door, and I roll an Easy perception roll for the orcs to notice.
  Perception Roll: 65+18+20=103. From the MT-2 Static Maneuver Table, Perception & Track, I get: “You gain some information. Try again in 3 rounds.”
  I decide that this means, that they are a bit worried. Maybe they heard the trapdoor open, but they didn’t bother to check it out, as they’re still dizzy from the sleep, and eating the guard’s leg.
  Looking inside, the trio sees the four orcs, and they decide that the faster way to deal with them will be to jump down, instead of slowly walking down the ladder one by one.
  I give a Light difficulty to the Jump maneuver.
  Camthalion Jumps: 12+35= 47: 30%, activity in next round -70%.
  Leòwyn Jumps: 70-15=55: 30%, activity in next round -70%.
  Dwalin Jumps: 45-5=40: 20%, activity in next round -80%.

  Camthalion looks through the trapdoor, he notices 4 orcs below, sitting around, not doing much of anything. In the corner is a pile of mutilated corpses, probably belonging to the garrison. He draws his sword, shows 4 fingers to his teammates, and jumps down through the trapdoor. Leòwyn and Dwalin jump down armed, as well.

  Okay, so here goes my first combat in MERP. Initiative in MERP is a bit different than what we’re used. It seems derived from wargaming. Actions are resolved in the following sequence.

  1. Spells
  2. Missile Combat
  3. Moving Maneuvers
  4. Melee Combat
  5. Movement
  6. Static Maneuvers

  When two characters are in the same order, then the one with highest Moving Maneuver bonus goes first. I won’t go into details about detailed rules like opportunity actions, etc. Just giving the overall structure.
  So for this combat, Camthalion goes first, then the orcs, then Leòwyn and Dwalin last.
  The party has the penalties from the jumping, so they will go full parry instead (according to MERP rules, the Offensive Bonus can be partially or completely be turned to Defensive Bonus).
  According to ST-11 Action Table, the orcs will have a -30 penalty due to drawing their weapons. I’m going to give Orc1 a spear, and the rest Short Swords.

  I’m going to present the results in a table

  Round 1

  Attacker	Target	Roll	OB	DB(-)	Other	Total	Result	Critical/Fumble
  Camthalion	Orc1	67	0	25	-70 due to previous activity	-28	No hit
  Orc1	Camthalion	9	35	25+23	-30 due to unsheathing,-5,+10 using spear 2H	-29	No hit
  Orc2	Leòwyn	82	35	40+38	-30 due to unsheathing, -10 Short Sword vs Chain	-1	No hit
  Orc3	Dwalin	44	35	30+51	-30 due to unsheathing, -10 Short Sword vs Chain	-42	No hit
  Orc4	Camthalion	62	35	25	-30 due to unsheathing, +10 Short Sword vs No armor	52	No hit
  Leòwyn	Orc2	23	15	25	-70 due to previous activity	-57	No hit
  Dwalin	Orc3	10	0	25	-80 due to previous activity	-95	No hit

  Round 2

  Attacker	Target	Roll	OB	DB(-)	Other	Total	Result	Critical/Fumble
  Camthalion	Orc1	36	23	25	–	34	No hit
  Orc1	Camthalion	55	35	25	-5,+10 using spear 2H	70	No hit
  Orc2	Leòwyn	05	35	40	-10 Short Sword vs Chain	-10	No hit
  Orc3	Dwalin	37	35	30	-10 Short Sword vs Chain	32	No hit
  Orc4	Camthalion	20	35	25	+10 Short Sword vs No armor	40	No hit
  Leòwyn	Orc2	99+28	38+15	25	–	127	30E	52: minor forearm wound. +4 hits. 2 hits per round. Stunned 1 round.
  Dwalin	Orc3	9	51+15	25	–	52	No hit

  Round 3

  Attacker	Target	Roll	OB	DB(-)	Other	Total	Result	Critical/Fumble
  Camthalion	Orc1	19	23	25	–	17	No hit
  Orc1	Camthalion	17	35	25	-5,+10 using spear 2H	32	No hit
  Orc2	Leòwyn	–	–	–	–	–	–
  Orc3	Dwalin	46	35	30	-10 Short Sword vs Chain	41	No hit
  Orc4	Camthalion	65	35	25	+10 Short Sword vs No armor	85	9A	-17: weak strike yields no extra damage. +0 hits.
  Leòwyn	Orc2	56	38+15	25	–	84	9A	57: minor forearm wound. +4 hits. 2 hits per round. Stunned 1 round. Orc2 is down.
  Dwalin	Orc3	24	51+15	25	–	65	No hit

  Round 4

  Attacker	Target	Roll	OB	DB(-)	Other	Total	Result	Critical/Fumble
  Camthalion	Orc1	45	23	25	–	42	No hit
  Orc1	Camthalion	71	35	25	-5,+10 using spear 2H	86	13B	42: Minor forearm wound. +2 hits. If no arm armour stunned 1 round.
  Orc3	Dwalin	35	35	30	-10 Short Sword vs Chain	0	No hit
  Orc4	Camthalion	07	35	25	+10 Short Sword vs No armor	27	No hit.
  Leòwyn	Orc4	28	38+15	25	–	56	No hit
  Dwalin	Orc3	45	51+15	25	–	96	10B	71: blow breaks bone in leg. +12 hits. -40 to activity. Stunned 2 rounds.

  Round 5

  Attacker	Target	Roll	OB	DB(-)	Other	Total	Result	Critical/Fumble
  Camthalion	–	–	–	–	–	–	–
  Orc1	Camthalion	49	35	25	-5,+10 using spear 2H	64	No hit
  Orc3	–	–	–	–	–	–	–
  Orc4	Leòwyn	71	35	40	-10 Short Sword vs Chain	56	No hit.
  Leòwyn	Orc4	63	38+15	25	–	91	11B	28: minor chest wound. +3 hits. 1 hit/round. -5 to activity.
  Dwalin	Orc3	73	51+15	25	–	114	14D	17: minor fracture of ribs. +5 hits. -5 to activity. Orc3 is down.

  Round 6

  Attacker	Target	Roll	OB	DB(-)	Other	Total	Result	Critical/Fumble
  Camthalion	Orc1	66	–	25	Full OB to parry	41	No hit
  Orc1	Camthalion	71	35	25+23	-5,+10 using spear 2H	68	No hit
  Orc4	Leòwyn	43	35	40	-10 Short Sword vs Chain, -5 to activity	23	No hit.
  Leòwyn	Orc4	52	38+15	25	–	80	7
  Dwalin	Orc3	03	51+15	25	–	44	No hit

  Round 7

  Attacker	Target	Roll	OB	DB(-)	Other	Total	Result	Critical/Fumble
  Camthalion	Orc1	95	23	25	–	93	11B	79: medium thigh wound. +6 hits. 1 hit/round. -10 to activity. Stunned 2 rounds.
  Orc1	–	–	–	–	–	–	–
  Orc4	Leòwyn	38	35	40	-10 Short Sword vs Chain, -5 to activity	18	No hit.
  Leòwyn	Orc4	95	38+15	25	–	123	21E	43: minor chest wound. +3 hits. 1 hit per round. -5 to activity. Orc4 is down.
  Dwalin	Orc1	74	51+15	25	–	115	14D	11: minor fracture of ribs. +5 hits. -5 to activity. Orc1 is down.

  The fight is over.

  Having nowhere to run, the cornered orcs, growl curses in their orcish dialects, draw weapons and charge at the group. Two of them are locked in combat with Camthalion, who does his best to keep them at bay, but is wounded twice, while the two others facing off the dwarf and the rohirrim.
  These two are no match for the goblins, and soon Leòwyn kills one while Dwalin offs the other, breaking its thigh bones so much it can’t move. Then they turn their attention to the ones surrounding Camthalion, and dispatch them with ease.

  There are 12 torches, 13 cp and 2 spears as described in the Assault on Vespin Tower adventure.

  The party gathers up any provisions they find. They would like to bury the dead, but its going to be deep night soon. Instead they choose to return to Inhyrst keep to report.

  Camthalion casts a healing spell from Surface Ways.
  Roll on AT-9 Base Spells Attack Table: 84+30=114: -55, and a further -50 bonus to RRT Resistance Rolls Table, since the subject (himself) is willing to heal. I roll on the RRT: 6-105=-99, Success. He can heal 1d10 hit points. I roll, and get only 1 hit point healed.

  The party goes back to Inhyrst.
  I roll on the ST-10 Encounters Table. Activity Roll: 63 – Avoidance Roll: 80 + 30 Due to Roads – 50 Due to Night = 0. There is no encounter.
  They go to the constable to report what they found, and get a room at the inn for the night to rest.

  The party, tired and wounded returns to Inhyrst. The guards at the gates look at them. “Halt! Who goes there?”.
  “Evening! We have returned from Vespin tower.” Leòwyn replies. “We are to report to constable Anulf.”
  Some indiscernible speech between the guards is heard, and then the gates slowly open to allow the group to get through. The wounded Camthalion, and the orc blood on Leòwyn’s clothes make an impression on the guards, who quickly ditch their attitude, and step aside for the party. “I will get the constable.” One of them says, and runs off. The other offers them some water.
  A couple minutes later the guard returns. “Come, to the constable’s office. He is waiting for you.”

  Anulf watches them from top to bottom. “I don’t like being awoken in the middle of the night, but it’s best that you came now, so that noone sees you. I wouldn’t like panic and gossip to spread in the keep. Now tell me, what happened?”.
  “Orcs!” Dwalin says with a deep voice. “Bloody orcs. They had slaughtered the garrison and were eating their limbs.”
  Anulf’s face goes white for a second. “Orcs? Here? Did you..”
  “We made short work of the vile creatures.” Leòwyn cuts Anulf off. “Had no time in the middle of the night to tend to the dead though. You will have to send your men in the morning.”
  “Oh, my.” Anulf gasps. “I need to bring this to the commander. We are not ready for orcs.” He pulls open the drawer of his desk and gets a pouch out. “Here are your ten silver. Go rest. These are perilous times.”

  The party has gained 10 silver pieces more.
  Now for the experience points. MERP has a lot of tables for sharing experience. There is experience on hits received, kills performed, criticals scored (deducted from the kill experience), spells cast, static and moving maneuvers performed, traveling times, idea points and miscellaneous. Here goes.

  Hits points:
  Camthalion received 24 hits. He gains +24 experience points.

  Critical points scored. Table ET-1 Critical Point Table:
  Since Leòwyn and Dwalin scored criticals only on the orcs they killed, I won’t bother calculating those.
  Camthalion scored a critical on one of Dwalin’s kills. It’s a Critical B against a Level 1 opponent, which gives +10 EP.
  Also Camthalion received an A and a B critical, so he receives +100 and +200 EP respectively.

  Kill points. Table ET-2 Kill Point Table:
  Leòwyn killed two orcs. From the table, cross-referencing the level differences, its +200 EP for both.
  Dwalin also killed two orcs. From the table, cross-referencing the level differences, its +200 EP for both. But Camthalion assisted with an ‘A’ critical, so Dwalin gets -10 EP.

  Maneuver points. ET-3 Maneuver Point Table:
  The group performed no static maneuvers, only the climbing and jumping maneuvers. From the Table, I get the following. Only successfully accomplished maneuvers count. So these are 3×100% (10′) climbs. The jumps were not fully successful, so I won’t calculate those.
  Camthalion gets 3 Hard moving maneuvers at +100 EP each. Leòwyn and Dwalin made 3 Medium moving maneuvers at +50 EP each.

  Spell points. ET-4 Spell Point Table:
  Camthalion casted a successful healing spell, and gains +100 EP according to the table.

  Idea points. None given.

  Travel points:
  Since its a civilized area that they travel into, I will grant them 1/2 EP for each mile they traveled. They gain +10 EP each.

  Miscellaneous points:
  For successfully completing the adventure. I will reward them as per the Assault on Vespin Tower. +65 EP each. I know that there must have been a conversion or something, but I guess that will do.

  So total experience points awarded.

  Character	Experience Points
  Camthalion	809 EP
  Leòwyn	625 EP
  Dwalin	615 EP

  ---

  Briefing Summary: Overall I liked the system and I had fun. Yes, there is a lot of back and forth between tables. What I enjoyed is the fact that going crunch-heavy, frees you from the shackles of playing GM and player at the same time. The wargamey nature of the old-school games has rules so strict that you can’t arbitrate freely as in other games.
  One small combat took long (in real time) to resolve, but I liked every second of it. I still have a lot to learn, as there are rules that I can forget easily and have to go back and apply some modifier. Also I will need to print out several copies of the tables in the book so that I don’t go running back and forth all the time. The bookkeeping sheets are important as well. Nevertheless, even without any of those, just the book and some A4 sheets, it all worked out fine.
  There was a discussion recently regarding “Writing with dice.” I’ve noticed that in this particular case, this was severely limited. There was no character development either though, or any nice story scenes.

  Links | Solo, Pen, Paper and Dice is discussing. Toggle Comments

   

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• 

  giorgis 10:58 pm on October 4, 2019 Permalink | Reply  

  The ruins of Syriholm – S1E03 

  Hexflower dungeon crawling

  As Atiel returns, I will be rolling for alarms for every hex that she passes through.
  Alarm roll: 1: She encounters an orc patrol!
  Her sneak skill is successful and she passes past undetected.

  Atiel reaches the part of Syriholm where the rats killed Erias. Her sharp ear, catches the sound of footsteps. She quickly hides in a dark alleyway as 5 orcs armed to the teeth pass through. They look as if they are searching for something. Maybe they got whiff of the party killing their kind.

  ---

  Furi hex roll: 4 (doubles): goto 14: alarm
  Due to the doubles there is a second pass here, and also the alarm level is decreased by one to 1.
  The story clock is at 40/100.
  Q: Is it an orc of dwarven alarm?
  A: Orc
  It’s a simple contraption. A tripwire connected to a weight that is released and rings bells.
  I will roll Wit to see if Furi detects the tripwire, and then Agility to get past it (Easy Difficulty if detected).

  Furi walks through a tight stone corridor that is forking down the path.
  He notices that it is not very much walked. The stone floor seems to have gathered a thick film of dust. This makes Furi worried and then he realizes why. He notices a barely visible tripwire near the floor. With a careful step, he passes over it without triggering it.

  ---

  Atiel has passed through the tower gate where they defeated the big orc and his archer companions without any encounter. The exit is closer!

  ---

  Furi hex roll: 5 (alarm level increases by 1): goto 12: TRAP
  Story clock: 52
  Again, I will roll to see if he detects the trap and then if he avoids it.
  He detects it but fails to avoid it. Since I have the ancient Dragon Quest by TSR, I decided to draw a card from the traps deck, and I get a trap of Greek Fire!
  I decide it will do 5D damage for 3 rounds. Furi got an Incapacitated wound, but he succeeds his stamina roll and doesn’t fall unconscious.
  Also I ask if there is anything of interest in the room. Let’s not forget Furi has his axe destroyed, and fights with a hatchet!
  Q: Are there weapons in the room?
  A: Yes
  Q: Are there axes?
  A: No

  Furi comes upon what looks like a dwarven armory. It’s in ruins though and has been plundered by the orcs, only a few clubs remain in the weapon racks.
  As he looks around, he hears a ‘click’ he has stepped on a tile that moved just slightly but Furi knows dwarven craftsmanship. This is a trap.
  He tries to jump away but he fails to do so in time. A flaming liquid bursts from the floor upwards and he catches on fire. He starts rolling on the floor to extinguish it, but in the end he is scathed from the flames. Syriholm has been unforgiving to him as to his ancestors.

  ---

  Atiel is at the bottom of the chasm. Alarm roll: 1: She encounters another orc patrol!
  Her sneak skill is again successful and she passes again undetected.

  Atiel moves on, and at the bottom of the chasm she hears shouts. She quickly jumps into a ditch and soon sees orc boots passing in front of her. Another close call, but she is so much closer to the exit now!

  ---

  Furi doubles back to take the other fork in the path.

  Furi: Alarm roll: 3: No encounter

  ---

  Atiel reaches the entrance with the pillars. Alarm roll: 2: No encounter

  Atiel finally reaches the pillared entrance to Syriholm. She’s just a few steps away from leaving the ruins.

  ---

  Furi: Hex roll: 8: goto 19: BBEG!
  Story clock: 71, but doesn’t matter anymore.

  Q: Are there orc guards?
  A: Yes, and there is also an orc shaman.
  Intervention: Entity positive
  Q: Is it Furi?
  A: No
  Q: Is it Gorkil?
  A: Yes, the shaman has brought him a cart of gifts.
  Q: How many orcs? (1D)
  A: 8++!
  Q: Can Furi jump down to grab the great axe?
  A: No it requires at least one move?
  Q: Can Furi jump down on the cart of gifts?
  A: Yes, and, it’s so filled up he can climb on its top and get down undetected.

  Furi follows the second fork in the path through a dark unused corridor.
  As he reaches the end he hears sound of brute merriment. Drums banging and orcish laughter.
  Slowly he creeps on, and finds himself in a balcony overlooking the Syriholm throne room.
  Sitting on the throne is a black skinned orc with curved tusks. He watches in joy the festivities. This must be Gorkil.
  Entering the throne room is an orc with a bag of potions hanging from a net on his belt and various small feathers and bones tied to its garments. ‘An orc shaman’ Furi thinks.
  The shaman has brought with him a cart full of potions, mushrooms and trinkets that has been parked right under Furi’s balcony.
  To appease Gorkil, the shaman has also brought a pair of goblin dancers. The sound of the drums by a goblin musician give the rhythm and they dance to it in what the orcs must think is a sexual dance, as they seem entranced by it.

  Since Furi is so severely outnumbered and wounded, he will climb down to the cart and drink a potion. Again I turn to the dragon quest deck of cards and draw a Dragon’s Blood potion which increases strength. I roll and find that it will increase strength by 3D!
  So Furi’s Might is as good as if he wasn’t wounded.
  He gets down spends his Fate Point and charges at Gorkil!

  Furi slowly climbs down into the shaman’s cart. The orcs are captivated by the goblin dancers and don’t seem to notice Furi descending from the shadows. Once inside he picks up a weird blue vial and gulps down the content. ‘If it’s good for Gorkil it can’t hurt me’ he thinks.
  Within seconds he feels an inner fire, a rush, and invigorating strength. He draws his hatchet and with a loud roar that sounded like a dragon awoke, he charges to the throne. The orcs looking at him in disbelief.
  A disfigured burned up dwarf, his beard flailing wildly, bloody wounds still evident on his body, letting of an inhuman warcry as he furiously charges towards them.
  Gorkil manages to grab the great axe in the time it takes Furi to cover the distance between them. He swings the axe horizontally, but the berserk dwarf jump high and avoids the blow while simultaneously he brings down his hatchet to Gorkil’s head, severing it at the base of the neck.

  Considering what just transpired (their chieftain slaughtered in an instant by a mysterious berserk dwarf) I think that the orcs may flee, may attack Furi, or even each other to become the new chieftain (orc animosity rules from warhammer).
  So I ask.
  Q: Do the orcs fight Furi?
  A: No, and they fight each other for the chieftains spot.

  With Gorkil dead the orcs pause for a moment, as Furi lifts his grandfathers great axe from the headless body.
  Then they start snarling and growling. Within seconds each orc has started attacking the orc next to him.
  Furi has heard about how the toughest orcs became guards to chieftains and warbosses waiting for their chance to rise to the spot. Now they fight for the spot. They won’t bother with the dwarf.

  There is still the matter of the shaman. Sometimes shamans don’t care about power, so I will ask again.
  Q: Does the shaman attack Furi?
  A: Yes, and he won’t roll to see if he is intimidated by the bloody display. He is committed.

  The shaman does not seem affected by the squabbling of the orc big ones. He turns his attention to Furi. He pulls a curved serrated blade that drips with a red liquid and slashes at him.

  So Furi needs to kill the Shaman before the orc big ones kill each other and a new boss emerges who will hunt him down. If Furi is out of the throne room before this then the new orc boss will use its resources to establish rule. Otherwise it will try to eliminate the dwarf who killed the previous boss as a sign of dominance.

  Furi hacks the shaman badly who barely scratches him. But it’s enough for the poison to establish and cause him discomfort as it numbs him down. The potion of dragons blood he imbibed earlier seems to counter the effects of the poisoned blade.
  In the meantime orcish swords clash. Three orcs our of eight are down dead or mortally wounded.

  The fighting continues among all parties without much of a result apart from some scratches.

  But in the next few seconds Furi brings down the frenzied shaman as two more orcs are downed by their competition.

  I roll for Furi to climb up so that he can return from the way he came. Success.

  Not losing a chance, Furi climbs up the cart and back into the balcony as the three remaining orcs spill blood further…

  ---

  Out in the woods a wounded dwarf can barely keep his footing. Furi stumbles towards a small campfire in the distance. A figure approaches, and as he falls down from wounds and exhaustion he can almost discern the face of Atiel. The elf didn’t abandon him completely.
  The next day, a bandaged dwarf and
  his elf companion ride out. A relic great axe in possession, an oath fulfilled, and the memories of friends gone forever.

  Wow didn’t see that coming. The dwarf managed to get his family heirloom back, against all odds.

  Debriefing:
  I think my endeavor wasn’t completely successful, it was interesting though and I learned a lot from my mistakes.
  After 6 hexes, the party was decimated and I thought that the fun was over. Despite that, the story part of the hexflower kicked in. A side passage allowed Furi to reach the throne room after having to pass only alarms and traps! What a turn of fate!

  Mistakes:
  Low fantasy and dungeon crawling don’t mix unless you take it into account. So I didn’t want to have healing potions, clerics casting blessings and wizards casting fireballs. That’s a problem when you go into a dungeon. You need resources. The party strength is drained and needs recovery and healing one wound level at each camping, just ain’t gonna cut it.

  MiniSix and OpenD6, StarWarsD6 are not suited for party soloing even when streamlined with the success counts system that I homebrewed. MiniSix especially has a really high dice count. Furi and Cane for example had 7 and 6 dice respectively on their attacks and 8 dice on their damage. Add to that rhe other two part members, the opposed rolls and the enemy attacks, I was drowning in dice rolls. I won’t be using this game system again for dungeon crawls or for large combats.

  I don’t know the balance of MiniSix. I found it hard to balance the encounters, and sometimes my party felt either overpowered or nerfed.
  I had a feeling of 2D attributes, 3D skills for mooks and about 1D-2D higher for PCs and NPCs. At least that’s how Star Wars D6 is set up. But in MiniSix the numbers are way off in a higher range. I had the feeling many times that the combat was wrong.

  Being both story hexcrawl GM and player party at the same time is very taxing. There were just too many things to take into account. Since I was missing the tables that a traditional dungeon generator uses,
  I had to tap into my creativity and the Oracle as well as make PC decisions. That was tough. Bookkeeping was a mess (did I point out I’m lazy?), and I’m sure I failed to take into account some wound disadvantage at one time or two.

  Things I enjoyed:
  I found that the concept was fun and easy to run. I had traps, encounters, a story, and a dungeon not restricted by normal boundaries, while at the same time the randomness allowed for surprises. Patching with doubles allows for some tactics on the player part, and I was lucky to use this mechanic and find the BBEG when all seemed lost!
  The alarm clock mechanic seems okay as well as the story resolution clock mechanic. They may need fine tuning in the future.

  Overall experience: At times I was bored, at times I was frustrated, and at times I really wanted to see what would happen next. The Fate point mechanic saved the day, as in the Night of the Blood adventure I played. It’s quite strong but it gives a nice cinematic effect, and that’s really what it’s about. If I switch systems I’m going to miss it.

  If you think it’s interesting I can upload a second version with all the game system roll mechanics included.

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  giorgis 11:59 pm on October 3, 2019 Permalink | Reply  

  The ruins of Syriholm – S1E02 

  Hexflower dungeon crawling

  Hex Roll: 9: Goto 1: CREATURE
  Alarm +1

  The party moves on, Erias scouting ahead, with Furi following behind. Atiel and Cane act as rearguard.
  The path they follow leads them away from the large segregation of orcs in an effort to find somewhere to camp.
  They open the doors to a still standing dwarven building and set camp inside.
  Cane tends to Ariel’s wound, using healing herbs he carries with him. He removes the arrow and cleans the wound. Cane then boils some of the leaves of the healing herbs and puts the bandages in them, with which he covers the wound. He manages to help fix some of the damage done, though Atiel is still hurt.
  “Thank you young one.” Atiel says in gratitude.
  Cane just smiles.

  Now here is evident the advantage of using an event generated dungeon crawl. Instead of having a room with creatures, I decided that the scene will be empty, the team will have a chance to camp and rest, but they will be ambushed by creatures!
  I think that this gives a nice story like progression in the dungeon.

  I look up at the MiniSix fantasy bestiary and choose the giant rat as the most likely creature. I thought it would be easy to counter…
  I remove one ration from the party and roll to see at whose shift the rats will appear. It’s at Erias, that’s good, as a thief he has good perception.
  I roll 1D rats and get 6! I also roll to see if Erias notices the rats approach, and he fails! Woe to him.
  Also I made an on the fly call and decided that the rats would be able to attack him all at once. Have you noticed how they create a swarm and you can’t discern one from the other? They can fit their bodies in the tiniest spaces. That would be true for the gigantic variety. So here goes the description of the combat without game mechanics.

  The party is sleeping and the halfling is bored, counting his sling bullets. Unbeknownst to him, six giant rats crawl behind him and jump right on him biting and slashing with their claws.
  One rat has bit his neck, while another scratched his face. Under the gashing blood, he manages to let of a cry. “Help!”.
  The party is on their feet at once, drawing weapons and charging at the monstrous animals.

  The elf ranger quickly gets to her senses. Elves are light sleepers after all, and shoots an arrow into one of the creatures.

  Q: Do the rats keep attacking Erias? (Likely)
  A: Yes

  They haven’t managed to move an inch, and the rats keep gnawing at the poor halfling, who loses consciousness, as they keep eating him.

  Furi, still dizzy from his sleep, charges at the rats, and swings his great axe, but he misses by a mile and hit the hard stone dwarven table instead, bending his axe blade beyond use.

  Cane follows up with a hard swing at a rat, hacking it at the abdomen.

  Atiel keeps shooting arrows into the rats, but they seem to only sting the giant beasts.
  Some rats keep chewing at the dead halfling while others turn to their attackers, barely managing to scratch the furious dwarf.
  Furi draws his hatchet and incapacitates one of the rats, sending it into oblivion. Cane hacks at another one, wounding it so much that it turns and flees.
  Atiel stings another rat with her arrows which turns and jumps at her even if she is in the back beyond Furi and Cane. It slashed at her arm, wounding her further.
  One of the rats keeps eating at the halfling body.
  The remaining 2 rats fail to harm the warriors, who parry their blows with their weapons.
  Furi kills the rat that charged at Atiel with a hit to the neck, while Cane thrusts his bastard sword into the ribs of another rat, putting it down.
  Atiel sends another arrow to the rat that chews their dead companion, but it keeps at its task.
  Furi, locked in combat with one of the rats, finds an opening and slashes open its belly, as Cane brings down his sword to the rat Atiel targeted. She finally kills it with a well placed arrow to the ear.

  Cane rushes to Erias to see if he can be treated, but soon realizes he is dead. He closes his eyes and covers him with his cloak.
  “Noo!” Furi cries out as Atiel lets of a whimp and sheds a tear.
  No one speaks, as they dig a makeshift grave and put a large stone slab on top to protect the body from scavengers.
  Finally they compose themselves and Furi says a few words. “I shall forever carry your name with honor Erias Chily. You perished true to your oath, true to your ancestors. Unfortunately your debt was relayed in blood. May your last journey be without peril.”

  Maybe I miscalculated the giant rats strength. Maybe it was Erias unlucky Perception roll. In any way I had my first party death, and I will have to see how there will be progress without a thief to disarm traps and pick locks in the party.

  Here I decided to introduce a story clock mechanic. Add up the hexflower numbers rolled. If it’s greater than or equal to 100, then the story concludes and the next hex is the BBEG no matter what.

  Roll: 7: Goto x,
  Reroll: 9: Goto 6: PRISONER
  Alarm level +1: 2

  So I decide that the prisoner is going to be an NPC.
  I roll on UNE Confident tradesman who seeks academia.
  I roll a race and get halfling (Ruled out elves and dwarves due to enmity with orcs) and a name generated is Sonard Tunnel.
  Sonard is a halfling tradesman who seeks the lost tomes of Syriholm smithing. He is so confident in his abilities to trade that he tried to trade with the orcs, who found the entire concept funny and kept him alive as prisoner.

  The party, with heavy hearts and one less member, moves on. As they walk through the abandoned streets and pathways they detect brutish orc laughter.
  They draw weapons and close stealthily towards the noise. Furi and Cane go in front, while Atiel follows up, a dozen meters behind.
  Around a large fire four orcs are relaxing. In the middle of the group is a short person, a halfling, wearing fancy clothing and a hat with a feather. One of the orcs stands, towering above the halfling.
  “Tell me again Sonard! What did you expect from us in return? Bank notes from Gorkil?” The orcs burst in laughter, but the halfling is unafraid.
  “As I said before, Gashak, the stones you relinquished from my possession are a mere portion of what I intend to pay if you bring me the Tomes of Steel by Bari Turison.” He replies and the orcs burst in laughter again.

  Clouded by his hatred, Furi charges at the ambushed orcs, without a signal to Cane who, startled, follows up right after.
  Furi’s hatchet sinks deep into Gashak’s arm, splitting the bones and getting stuck. Gashak tries to remove the hatchet but the pain doesn’t let him and he cries out.
  Cane, startled fumbles as he charges and drops his sword a mere meter in front of him with a loud clanging noise.
  Atiel lets off an arrow which strikes the air.
  The three other orcs gang up on Cane. Two swords thrust through his torso and shoulder, and he drops down, spitting blood from his mouth.

  I roll to see what Sonard will do, giving (1: help orcs, 2-5: do nothing, 6: help the party) and roll a 6.

  Sonard pulls out a hidden stiletto from his hat and stabs an orc, wounding it’s left arm.

  Furi puts his foot on Gashak and pulls his hatchet. Then he rebounds with a second hit on the arm, spewing black blood everywhere, as Gashak falls.
  Atiel sinks an arrow into one of the orcs, who, with his fellow, turns and attacks the halfling. Sonard sucks from one sword slash, but a thrust from the other orc, pierces his abdomen through and through. The halfling clutches his belly and drops.
  The last orc, seeing Gashak down, growls and strikes at Furi from behind, hacking at his chest, severely wounding the dwarf.

  Furi exchanges blows with two orcs, but no one manages to get an opening. In the meantime, the orc that killed Sonard turns his attention to the downed barbarian, finishing off Cane with a thrust through the lungs.

  Atiel keeps sinking arrows into the orcs, one of which drops after having three arrows stuck on his torso.
  Frustrated, the two orcs and Furi keep fighting, but in the end, the stout dwarf emerges victorious, slaying one orc after the other.

  Furi kneels before his fallen comrade. Cane was killed in such a cowardly manner. Atiel breaks down in tears.
  “Let’s give him a ceremony worthy of a warrior.” Furi says and proceeds to build a bonfire for Cane’s funeral.
  They lay the barbarian on top, with his sword held between his hands. At the side they set the halfling who fell by his side, and light the fire.
  As the flames engulf them, Atiel speaks final words. “Few fought so bravely against such odds. May you find peace amongst your ancestors Cane!”.
  They stand in silence until the flames have devoured the bodies.
  Atiel looks at their wounds and turns to Furi. “Shall we abandon quest, Furi Grinarson?”.
  “Then they will have died for naught.” Furi replies.
  “As will we, unless we tend to our wounds. Let us leave and return anew another day.” She counters.

  I roll opposed persuasion and I get a failure on her part with a complication on Furi so I decided they will part ways.

  “I release you from your oath Atiel Nerdalye. Leave. I will find honor or die trying.” Furi says.
  She leans down and kisses him on the forehead. “As you wish. Farewell. May you find what you seek.”

  Two dead party members and the party split!
  Furi will press on, seemingly to his death, while Atiel will try to escape.
  But she is too deep in the dungeon and the alarm level has risen to 2. There is a 15% chance for each hex that she passes through that she may encounter orc hunting parties. The chance may further increase based on Furi’s actions deeper in the dungeon.
  In the meantime I am gathering pros and cons of the experience with the dungeon crawl I tried and will present all of them in the next (and probably final) episode.

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  giorgis 9:59 am on October 1, 2019 Permalink
  Tags: Solo ( 176 )   

  The ruins of Syriholm – S1E01 

  Hexflower dungeon crawling

  Hex roll: 8: Goto 7: ENCOUNTER
  Q: Is it orcs? (Likely)
  A: Yes, and they are boar riders
  Q: How many? (1D)
  A: 2
  I will roll Wit for both groups. Whoever succeeds has noticed the other group first.
  Party: 1-
  Orcs: 2
  So I decide that since the orcs noticed the party first, they will attack first automatically gaining initiative.

  The party goes through the ruined entrance to Syriholm. Huge columns of dwarven craftsmanship once marked the pathway, but now they lie in ruins, their sharp edges chipped, their blocks overturned and the statues and engravings crushed to pieces.
  Furi touches the stones as sadness and hatred overcomes him. “This used to be the home of my people. Oh what fate befell them!”
  Atiel puts her hand on his shoulder. “What is no more of flesh needn’t worry you child of the mountains. They are with the rest of your ancestors in spirit and in memory now.”
  The dwarf calms for a moment.
  Suddenly they hear a loud gallop, snorting and a scream “Waaaagh!” and Cane sees for the first time in his life orcs!
  Hideous humanoids with green skins and an ape like face. Tusks protrude from their jaws, and they are riding boars, charging towards the party!

  Since this is heavy on combat, to facilitate easier reading (and less transcribing from paper to electronic notes on my part) I will not be writing down the combat rolls, and only describing the combat instead.

  One of the orcs charges at Furi, but the skilled dwarf uses his great axe to parry the spear and the boar tusks. He follows up with an overhead swing, finding the orc straight at the chest, severely wounding him.
  The other orc has encircled the group from the other side and charges at Atiel. Lacking the sword skill, she jumps out of the way, unable to counteract.
  The Halfling tries to hack at the boar, but his dagger barely makes a scratch on the thick furry hide.
  Cane is at a loss, but recovers. He draws his bastard sword and hacks at the orc who missed Atiel, but the strike just nicks the humanoid.

  The orc rider now switches target and tries to ram his spear into Erias. He hits the Halfling, but it seems the orc miscalculated and the cloak took the brunt of the hit, leaving him unscathed. The boar tries to bite a chunk off the Halfling, but he evaded the attack.
  Furi makes another attack at the wounded orc, this time bringing it down.
  The other orc now turns his attention to the human who hit him, thrusting his spear with enormous speed. Cane through an incredible feat, turns around, and the spear just scratches his right leg.
  Atiel, out of the fray, carefully draws her bow, and shoots an arrow to the remaining orc. It pierced through its spear arm, causing a serious bleeding.
  As the creature screams, Cane loses no moment and slashes at its right leg with such strength, that he chops it off.

  Now the board without riders are frustrated, and the party gains initiative.
  Furi hacks at the boar in front of him, almost cutting it in half.
  The rest of the party try to bring the other boar down, but it’s stronger than they expected, lashing back at them unsuccessfully.
  Cane finally thrusts his bastard sword between its lungs, delivering a mortal blow.

  “What are these green skinned devils?” Cane asks as he clears his blade.
  “Orcs” Furi says as he looks around to see if there are more of them.
  “They thought we would be easy game. They will learn the name of Furi Grinarson.”

  Hex roll: 11: Goto 9: prisoner
  Q: Are there guards? (Likely)
  A: Yes
  Q: Are the prisoners slaves?
  A: Yes, and they’re miners
  Q: Are the prisoners dwarves?
  A: No, but they are from all the races

  The party moves trough the ruins silently watching for any sign of orcs. Then, the path they were following with the pillars comes to an abrupt end in front of a gaping chasm. Once there was a bridge here, as the few remaining stones dictate, but it has collapsed since.
  Erias lifts his hand, gesturing for silence. Now they can all discern the clanging sound of metal upon stone.
  They follow a stairway going down to the bottom of the chasm. Before coming too close, they see the root cause of the noise.
  Several demihumans chained are mining the rocks. Their sorry state barely reminds of what race they belong to. Their bones almost protruding from their skin. These men and women look like living skeletons.
  Furi clenches his hands on his axe handle and steps forward, but Erias grabs him. “Wait a moment master dwarf.” He says and points at the guards.

  Q: Are the guards orcs?
  A: No, but they are goblins
  Q: Are they alert?
  A: No
  Q: How many slaves? (3D)
  A: 5
  Q: How many guards? (1D)
  A: 3

  Short green skinned humanoids with pointy ears, red eyes and sharp teeth, holding spears and shields are guarding the prisoners.
  “I will try to free the prisoners.” Erias whispers. “If the guards get a whiff of me, take them out.”

  Again I won’t be describing all the game mechanics, only Oracle rolls.

  The halfling goes past the goblins unnoticed and with his lock picks manages to set a slave free from his manacles.

  Q: Does the slave make noise?
  A: No, but he tries to escape at once when free

  With his feet free, the slave doesn’t waste a moment and starts running. Before the goblins realize what occurred, the party is read for action.
  Erias backstabs one goblin with his dagger and it screams in pain.
  Atiel shoots a carefully aimed arrow right through its right arm, gashing it open.
  Then from cover, Cane and Furi charge at the humanoids. Cane severs a goblins leg at its base while Furi does the same at its friend.
  Within seconds the goblin guards were decimated.

  “These small orcs didn’t stand a chance!” Cane points out smiling as he observes the dismembered corpse in front of him.
  “They’re called goblins.” Erias corrects Cane who doesn’t seem to pay any heed.
  The party liberated the slaves who can’t believe their luck, and points them to the way out.
  “Tell the dwarves of Khizdumunz that Furi Grinarson sent you! They will take good care of you.” Furi instructs then.

  Q: Do the slaves have any important information to share?
  A: Yes, but obstacles need to be overcome first.
  I decide it’s going to be a path leading from hex 17 directly to 19 without rolling.

  A downtrodden slave approaches Furi as they leave. “Are you heading further in?” He asks.
  “Aye, I am after Gorkil.” Furi responds and the slave’s eyes widen.
  “Then be careful. If you get past the troll, look for a small side passageway to your right. It leads directly to Gorkil’s quarters. It is said he wants to monitor his troll friend closely.” The slave adds.

  Hex roll: 10: Goto 3: guardian
  Q: Is the guardian humanoid or monster?
  A: Humanoid

  The party moves onward in the bottom of the chasm, and they reach the other side, and start climbing the stairs up.
  Once on top they face tall walls with towers and gatehouses.
  “Syriholm keep starts here.” Furi says. “I suggest we keep low and try to enter through the third gatehouse. Our engineers often criticized its weak spots.”
  The party nods and does as Furi proposed. Slowly the enter the gate tower, only to come facing one of the largest orcs they have ever seen. The orcs first sees Furi and growls, but as it sees Atiel, it’s eyes glisten with rage and it lets off a loud roar.
  As it rises, orc archers appear in the balconies inside of the gatehouse.

  Q: How many archers? (1D)
  A: 2

  Atiel and Erias shoot arrows and sling bullets at the archers, but even though they hit, they bounce of their leather armour.
  Cane looks at the big guy, but he doesn’t flinch. He lets of a roar as well and charges at it. He swing the sword high, hitting the orc at the head. Cutting of a chunk and sending the huge body to the ground.
  Furi looks to the stairs to the balconies.

  Q: Are there stairs inside of the gatehouse leading to the balconies?
  A: Yes
  I decide it takes one round to go up.

  Furi climbs up the stairs while the two orc archers shoot at the elf. Their arrows find their target true. And Atiel, severely injured, falls back to cover.

  Furi charges at the orc archer in the balcony, hacking at its left arm, as it screams in pain.
  Cane climbs the stairs up as well to the other orc.
  Erias tried to hit with his sling but the level difference doesn’t help him and he misses.
  The orc fighting Furi tries to flee down the stairs, but it stumbles and falls.
  The other orc shoots a third arrow into Atiel, who tries to keep standing, but she falls down.

  Q: Do the balconies connect?
  A: No

  Furi, brings down his axe on the head of the downed orc, killing it instantly.
  Cane has reached the other balcony, slashing at the leg of the orc who wounded Atiel.
  Erias tried to shoot from below but his shots keep missing.

  The orc tries to counterattack Cane, but it’s skill is no match. Cane headbutts it, and in until it recovers, swings his sword down on its head, splitting it in half.

  As they recover from the battle, Cane diagnoses successfully the wound and the arrow.

  Q: Is it poisoned?
  A: No

  “We must rest and tend to her wound!” Cane expresses his concerns.
  “We must press on while we still have the element of surprise!” Furi counters.
  “You’re both right. We need to rest, but we can’t do it here. This is an orc pass. We must press on until we find a better spot, to tend to Atiel.” Erias mediates between the party.

  Currently the hexflower can draw forever. To make things more interesting I will introduce new alarm mechanics. When I roll 2d6 for the hex flower, I will roll a black and a white die.
  If the black die is greater than the white die, increase alarm level by one. If it’s doubles, decrease it by one.
  Events like alarms, fleeing enemies, etc can ofc increase or decrease the alarm levels accordingly.

  How do the alarms come into play? If the alarm level is

  I am ending the first part here.
  What I liked: The quick and graphic combat resolution. The wound levels on the D6 system are easy to monitor, semi realistic and deadly.
  What I didn’t like: The mini-six assignment of combat skills. The melee combat skills are under Might (Strength, Physique, Toughness). Which means there is an imbalance there, as the same attribute is used for to hit, to parry, to damage and to resist damage. The dwarf with Might 5D (and a bit less the barbarian with might 4D) are severely overpowered compared to other foes and their agile teammates. Add to this the +3D of a 2H weapon, they are war machines. I could of course homebrew this, but then I would have to rework the stock characters that I use from the book, so I stuck with it.
  What needs improvement: The hexflower mechanics. That’s the reason I’m doing this after all. I don’t want it to drag forever, so I need to add mechanics to drive the game forward. I will be testing more rules in the future.
  Overall mixed results. I like the setting, the choice of characters and the dungeon, but I feel like it’s bland at times. I won’t give it up yet since it’s an experiment that I want to see to an end. I feel that there is a lack of story that is to be expected with dungeon crawls and I’m not certain it’s to my liking.