Solo, Pen, Paper and Dice

Return from Syriholm S2E00-S2E01

So, I want to play test my Background Suprise Events ruleset. In order to do that, I’ve decided to return to my Hexflower dungeon crawl adventure and pick it up from there.
I’ll be switching gears from MiniSix which had serious balance issues for me, to Savage Worlds. So I went ahead and converted the two survivors to SW and since they got out of Syriholm alive, also gave them 5 exp, and an advance, which I spent.

Below are their stats.

Furi managed to recover the great axe heirloom from the hands of Gorkil. I decide that this axe of dwarven craftsmanship will inflict a +1 step on the damage die on a raise (d12).

Normally I wouldn’t list them, but since this is an example playtest of the ruleset I will describe the possible background events that may unravel for the party:

So, staying true to the Hexflower, I will be using In the heart of the unknown Hexflower engine from goblin’s henchman.
It has a terrain engine, an encounter engine and a weather engine all in one. I will be using the default encounters as described there. The party will start in the mountains.

What is the objective? I will start off with a Savage Worlds chase. Orc boar riders are after them. They must successfully escape, whether it’s defeating their pursuers or gaining enough distance. This will bring the group together, instead of splitting up to their own devices.

Additional rules

I’ll be using the Usage Die and Resource Die mechanic from Sharp Swords & Sinister Spells and the Addendum.
I feel that since there are dice steps, it will fit in well with the Savage worlds mechanics.

Prologue-Intro

Atiel wakes up to the sound of panicking and galloping horses. She’s on her feet within seconds and realizes it’s their own horses.
They’re already gone, but what startled them?
She puts her ear to the ground, and can hear the sound of hooves. Heavy and smashing to the ground. Two Orc boar riders with scimitars! She kicks Furi, her hard hearing dwarf companion to wake him up and she picks ups her gear.
Furi quickly follows and the two of them start running in the undergrowth as the boar riders appear in the distance, screaming their war cry.

I will be using the Savage Worlds Chase rules to run this. I will use a 5-round chase which is the default.
The orcs have a +2 bonus due to their boars speed.

Annotations
Wild Cards other than PCs will be noted with a ⚜️ in front. When a Wild Die is rolled, it won’t be noted, just the final best result between both dice.

Round 1:
Atiel: Agility (d10): 6: Success, 6♦️.
Furi: Agility (d6): 2: –
Orcs: Riding (d6,+2): 3+2=5: Success, 5♥️.
Atiel: Shooting (d10,-4): 9-4=5: Hit, Damage (2d6): 3/8: No damage.
Arrows usage (d12): 6, No downgrade.
Furi has no action card and doesn’t act.
Orcs are at long range and can’t attack.

Round 2:
Atiel: Agility (d10): 4: Success, 5♠️.
Furi: Agility (d6): 2: –
Orcs: Riding (d6,+2): 2+2=4: Success, Q♠️.
Atiel has an action card lower than the orcs and can’t attack. The orcs are at long range and can’t attack.

Round 3:
Atiel: Agility (d10): 5: Success, 8♦️.
Furi: Agility (d6): 2: –
Orcs: Riding (d6,+2): 5+2=4: Success, Q♥️.
Atiel has an action card lower than the orcs and can’t attack. The orcs are at long range and can’t attack.

Round 4:
Atiel: Agility (d10): 4: Success, 5♣️, Obstacle.
Atiel Agility (d10-2): 9-2=7: Success, she avoids Bumps and Bruises due to obstacle.
Furi: Agility (d6): 6+4=10: Success and Raise, ~~7♣️~~, 5♦️.
Orcs: Riding (d6,+2): 1+2=3: –
Atiel: Shooting (d10,-4): 5-4=1: Miss
Arrows usage (d12): 6, No downgrade.
Furi is at long range and can’t attack.

Round 5:
Atiel: Agility (d10): 4: Success, 10♣️, Obstacle.
Atiel Agility (d10-2): 4-2=2: She gets one Fatigue level due to Bumps and Bruises.
Furi: Agility (d6): 3: –
Orcs: Riding (d6,+2): 3+2=5: Success, 6♥️.
Atiel: Shooting (d10,-4-1): 6+2-4-1=3: Miss
Arrows usage (d12): 6, No downgrade.
Orcs are at long range and can’t attack.
End of chase, the characters escape.

Atiel and Furi sprint as fast as they can, the orc riders behind them in the distance. The terrain is on their side as the thick bushes and branches delay the boars as their riders force them through.
Atiel finds an opening and lets off an arrow which fails to penetrate the thick leather armor of the orc.
Elegantly she evades a tree trunk in front of her, while Furi tries to keep up.
Another arrow misses her target, and distracted as she is, she stumbles and falls in a small trench, getting bumped and bruised. Her next arrow misses again as she is disoriented from the fall.
Nevertheless they manage to climb atop a small hill and evade the orcish pursuit.
Without their steeds, they begin to walk back to civilization.

Episode 1

Day 1:
Encounter Engine: Wandering Monster, distant/improbable
Terrain Engine: Hills
Weather Engine: Sunny/Rain
Encounter: Lion

Atiel: Notice (d6+2,-1): 6+4+2-1=11: Success, Raise
Rations (d10): 5: Ok

The first day, they descend the mountains, and travel a hillside. It’s afternoon, when Atiel stops Furi and motions him to be silent. Her keen elven eyesight has detected a mountain lion in wait far in the distance. They decide to make a detour rather than face the beast.

Day 2:
Encounter Engine: Equipment Trouble
Terrain Engine: Hills
Weather Engine: Sunny/Cloudy
Rations (d10): 8: Ok
Encounter: Healing kit downgrade to d4

The next day, as Atiel checks on her gear, she has noticed worms! They have eaten through a significant amount of her healing herbs. Thankfully, she’s no longer bruised.

Day 3:
Encounter Engine: Major Settlement
Terrain Engine: Arid
Weather Engine: Raining

Q: Do humans live here?
A: Yes, and, it’s a bustling city
Time of arrival: Midnight
Q: Do the guards let them in?
A: No
Rations (d10): 8: Ok

Finally at midnight of the following day, they reach Camora. A huge walled city in the middle of an poor arid valley. No matter how much they knock and bang at the gates, no one opens, and they camp outside the walls, waiting for the dawn.

Day 4:
Q: Do the guards let them in? (Likely)
A: Yes
They will spend the night at the Green shield inn and listen to rum ours.
Smarts (d6): 6+5=11, Success, Raise
They find a quest.
Funds (d6, rent a room at the inn): 1: Downgrade to d4.
I’ve used donjon for the quest generator and GMA to find out what Sabazzu (see below) has committed.

In the morning, they enter Camora. They put on their cloaks again, as the humans seem suspicious of other races. A culturally diverse city like Camora thankfully is quite safe for the elf and dwarf adventurers.
After so many days in the wild and in the Syriholm dungeon, they decide to rent a room at a local inn, The Green Shield, and listen to local rumors. Their coins are dwindling dangerously.
As they drink casually in the bar, a priest named Enetros recognizes them as adventurers.
-Please noble warriors. Sabazzu the Terrible and his cultists committed a most heinous crime today. They defenestrated the high priest, a holy man, who fell to his death from the temple top floor. The local militia won’t see to the matter. Bring us justice and you will be rewarded!
Furi, worries about their financial state, and turns to Atiel.
-We have lost our steeds, and we are low on gold. Let’s do this one, and then we can part each to his own way.
-We have to help this poor man get justice. I’m with you on this one as well Furi Grinarsson.

Day 5:
They begin their tracking from Camora.
Tracking (d6+2+1-2): 4: Success
Encounter Engine: Equipment Trouble
Terrain Engine: Hills
Weather Engine: Heavy Rain
Encounter: Torches got wet and ruined due to the heavy rain, downgraded to d4.
Rations (d10): 2, Downgrade to d8

The party has found the tracks of Sabazzu fleeing Camora and follow the group to the wilderness.
Heavy rain catches with them and soon the tracks are gone. To top it all, the torches are soaking wet in the backpack, and they are left with only a few usable ones.

Day 6:
Encounter Engine: Signs of Civilization
Terrain Engine: Arid
Weather Engine: Storm
Tracking (d6-3): 0: Failure
Rations (d8): 3: Ok

The storm is so heavy that the tracks are gone for good and they can’t follow. They will continue in the general direction they think Sabazzu has went and hope they can catch up with the tracks soon.

Day 7:
I draw the final card and reveal all the 7 of them and I get an event!
Didn’t expect it so soon. The first three cards where spades!
This also means that whatever is happening has started a while and out character had no idea.
So Who? A: Atiel

Encounter Engine: Lair/Monster Settlement
Terrain Engine: Special, Chasm
Weather Engine: Clouds
Encounter: Giant Beetles

That’s some good luck for the experiment, but some bad luck for the group! As they meet some monsters in their lair, Atiel’s wound has reopened!

The storm has ended, and as the party moves on, the ground collapses from the torrents and they fall down in a deep chasm. Atiel screams, as her wound from the orcs of Syriholm sends waves of searing pain through her.
But that’s the least of their worries, Furi draws his great axe, while man-sized beetles crawl towards them, eager to devour their newfound meal.

Session Background: I didn’t expect that quick success. An event from the first week of play! Now, I know I have to give Atiel a chance to avoid this wound, but I need to think through the trait roll, so I will do it in the next session along with the combat!
For this adventure, I did the same as with the dungeon crawl in Syriholm, maybe even more pronounced. I played on a high level. I didn’t go into moderate or tiny details. Instead I focused out. This allows for fast, dynamic play. Less roleplaying though, but it fits well for what I want to achieve.