The Dragonwilds (Solo/Vagabond)

[mikeawmids1]

I am running a solo game using the Dragonwilds setting from Zack Wolf/Spellsword, and the Vagabond RPG system by indestructoboy/Land of the Blind. I created four lvl 1 characters based on an old D&D party I have written about previously. I leaned into emergent story-telling, using a d6 oracle whenever it was necessary to randomly determine a specific outcome.

The party;
Fapp Longwood, Elf/Hunter 1
Mara Lemonrock, Halfling/Wizard 1
Horatio Hornstone, Dwarf/Fighter 1
Brian Blessedbeard, Dwarf/Luminary 1

Dragonwilds, Session 1

Every session, a shooting star randomly falls somewhere in the Dragonwilds, and reaching the crater within a reasonable length of time can infer a permanent mechanical bonus and/or horrid mutation. This first session, a star landed in hex G10 (nowhere near my starting location in I1), and tbh I did kinda' forget about this roll in the following sessions.

Our adventure begins south of the city of Lanternlight. Four would-be heroes follow the road through fields of rolling pastoral farmland. The steeple of a stone church can be seen rising above the talls hedgerows. An old man with a sour expression leans against a wooden gate, surveying the party as he puffs on the end of his pipe.

HORATIO: "What are you staring at?!"

OLD MAN (turning away): "Hmpth! You adventurers are all the same, no respect for anyone."

Brian wants to make an offering to Solarion (The All-Father, God of Sunlight and Family) at the church before heading into the big city. The church is tended by an elderly human acolyte called Friar Kelvik. The church bells ring abruply, loud and discordant. Friar Kelvik makes a gesture to ward of evil, and Brian asks why. Kelvik explains the belfry is haunted by a poltergeist, and there is a standing reward of 300 silver for the party that get the spirit to move on.

Brian and Mara climb the bell tower and talk to the ghost of a young woman called - I naughty word you not - Belle Tower. She is upset because she lost a silver locket that has great sentimental (and middling market) value. Brian offers to search for the missing locket and asks Friar Kelvik if he can go through the church's lost & found. He finds nothing matching the ghosts description, but does notice wide gaps between the floorboards underfoot, here a piece of jewellery carlessly dropped might have fallen through. Kelvik advises the undercroft lies directly below the church, and provides the key to get down there.

There is a horrible smell in the undercroft, and the heroes are attacked by a ghoul! Mara casts Burn (spending extra Mana to boost the damage), reducing the ghoul to a pile of stinky ash. In the creature's foetid nest they find a collection of junk that has fallen through the floorboards over the span of many years - including the bell-ringing ghost's missing locket. Brian returns the pendant to the spirit, finally enabling her soul to find peace. Friar Kelvik rewards the party with a scroll of Bless, and they move on toward Lanternlight.

Lanternlight is a large city named for the beacon tower rising above the batlements of Lord Erancord's castle, lit up every night to illuminate the streets and surrounding area. The heroes head for the Adventurers Guild. They are introduced to Guildmaster Palimor and given two quest hooks to choose between;

1: The sewers beneath the Noble District are infested with vermin of unusual size. The Adventurers Guild have been contracted to get the pest problem under control.

2: Kobolds have been spotted along the banks of Lake Brightshore, harassing the local fishermen.

The heroes opt to clear the sewers. They learn of a huge rodent that emerged from a drain to bite off a nobleman's ring finger. A further 20gp reward has been posted for recovery of the missing ring.

The Guild provides the heroes with a sewer key. Passing a waterfall of grey effluent, the group follow the turgid watercourse deeper into the sewer. Brian casts Light so the non-dwarves can see where they are going.

The group pass a locked wooden door marked 'Storage'. Horatio wants to break down the door, but Mara stops him saying it will be too noisy. She casts Knock, which causes "a loud knocking sound audible out to 300ft".

HORATIO: "Huh. Thought you said it would be quiet."

Noise triggers a random encounter. A huge, mutant rat squirms out of a sewer pipe to attack the heroes in a ravenous frenzy! Fapp crits on ranged attack, but this monstrous rodent has HP for days and keeps on coming despite the arrow shaft protruding from its eye! Horatio also crits and chops the huge rat in half with his greataxe. Amongst the steaming entrails is a gold signet ring.

The heroes finally get to search the storage room, which contains an assortment of rusty tools, crates of soiled linen and three giant centipedes. Underwhelming! They quickly close the door.

FAPP: "Hold on, shouldn't we kill everything? That's the job, right?"

The heroes debate how the Guild will detemine what they did/didn't kill. They reckon the monster rat biting off fingers was probably the big issue, and that's sorted. Horatio chops off the mutant rodent's head as proof of the deed. The party decide to poke around a little more to ensure there are no more giant rats around that might pop up in the future to make them look bad.

Another door, another Knock. This time the sound attracts a pox-ridden hobo called Old Phred, who warns them to keep their noise down lest they rouse Rat the Ripper. Horatio gestures to the severed head hanging from his belt. Old Phred is overjoyed to learn the giant mutant rat is no more. The heroes ask about other pests inhabiting the sewers; Old Phred describes a nest of giant rats nesting to the south, plus a group of human squatters who evicted him from his usual camp. He offers to lead the heroes to some treasure if they see off the squatters.

The now unlocked room contains a tangle of pipes and three large valves that control/re-direct the flow of sewage. The heroes decide not to mess with anything in this room.

Old Phred leads the heroes to a nest of giant rats. Both Mara and Horatio are Sickened (-2 to all healing until cured) by bites, but the giant rats are exterminated.

Next, they go to deal with the squatters picking on their new hobo besty. A weasel-faced man in tattered rags tells them to F off. Brian tries rolling Influence to persuade this unpleasant fellow to move along. Weasel is unmoved, he isn't going to be pushed around by a bunch of nobodies. Horatio loses his patience and punches Weasel in the crotch. Weasel staggers back and drops a Smokestick, filling the confined space with dense, blinding smoke. Horatio makes a Hindered Brawl test to tackle Weasel through the smog and rolls a Nat 20! As they roll around on the floor, Weasel produces a suprisingly fine dagger and tries to stab the dwarf. Horatio knocks the blade aside and headbutts Weasel in the face (broken nose and unconcious).

The smoke clears. The heroes tie up Weasel and notice a tattoo on his arm depicting a red eye. Also, the dagger he tried to poke Horatio with is coated with poison! There is no Common Knowledge/Lore skill in Vagabond, so I had the heroes roll against TN (20 - Reason) to establish if they recognised the markings. The roll was Hindered (-d6) to reflect the secretive nature of the organisation the tattoo is affiliated with. Fapp only goes and rolls another Nat 20. He knows that tattoo is the insignia of the Crimson Brotherhood, an order of spies and assassins seeking to take control of the Dragonwilds. How does Fapp know this? He rolls back his sleeve to reveal an ugly scar over what was once an identical tattoo.

TBC

 

[mikeawmids1]

Dragonwilds, Session 2

We rejoin our heroes in the sewer tunnels beneath Lanternlight, having just incapacitated a lone operative of the Crimson Brotherhood. Fapp knows from his own time in the Brotherhood that their agents are masters of subterfuge and misdirection. Weasel was not occupying this room because he enjoyed the ambience. The heroes search the room and find a secret door concealing a staging area for the Brotherhood's operations in Lanternlight. There is a shrine to a dragon-like entity surrounded by bloody offerings, and a chest containing red cloaks/sashes and an encoded message;

'The Red Eye watches the children play.
The Lion grows tired and hungry.
Betray the wandering weasels, for they'll devour the eggs of truth.'

HORATIO: "What the F does that mean?!"

This will need to be reported to Guildmaster Palimor immediately.

Their prisoner is rousing, so the heroes conduct an interrogation. Horatio waves Fapp forward to begin the questioning.

HORATIO: "Go ahead lad. I'm sure you two have plenty of catching up to do. But I'm watching you. One wrong move...."

Weasel proves uncommunicative, until Fapp reveals the mutilated tattoo on his own arm. Then he spits in Fapp's face and warns that the Brotherhood has big plans for Lanternlight - and there's nothing a traitor like Fapp can do about it!

Horatio eyes Fapp suspiciously now his murky past has been revealed. He too is familiar with the machinations of the Crimson Brotherhood, but for now he keeps this knowledge to himself.

Fapp recommends Old Phred find somewhere else to stay, as other Brotherhood operatives may return. As promised, the wily tramp leads the party to some sewer treasure: The Toxic Avenger (corroded longsword of sickly green metal, perpetually weeping foul-smelling slime, deals one extra damage die when fighting oozes).

Fapp gingerly passes the weapon to Old Phred, careful not to let it drip on him.

FAPP: "Thanks, but no thanks. You should hold onto this, in case the Brotherhood come back."

The heroes return to the surface with their prisoner and evidence of a plot afoot in Lanternlight. The Guildmaster arranges an audience with Lord Erancord up at the castle. The heroes meet the ageing - but still formidable Lord of Lanternlight, and his two sons Dalomir and Darix. The heroes report finding the Crimson Brotherhood's base in the sewers, and hand Weasel over to be imprisoned in the castle dungeon. Lord Erancord is impressed by the heroes and recommends they report to Major Beldin at Aderus Keep, the fortress defending Lanternshire's eastern border from the dangerous Borderlands beyond.

The heroes all advance to level 2.

After some dull shopping, the heroes leave Lanternlight and travel east toward the Borderlands. They pass through hex J2 and encounter some angry farmers yelling at each other across the property line dividing their fields. Brian wants to stop and mediate, nobody else is that bothered. Two families; the Ratburns and the McRoys are feuding over missing livestock. Each family accuses the other of rustling. The heroes (reluctantly) agree to stop and investigate.

In Ratburn's field, Fapp finds evidence of a burrowing creature that emerged from the soil to snatch the missing cattle. Now Horatio is interested. The heroes recommend both families move their remaining herds to graze elsewhere, leaving just one unfortunate heifer to serve as bait.

Hours pass. Darkness falls over the farmland. The sacrificial cow is becoming distressed. Something large is burrowing beneath the ground. A horse-sized insectoid monster erupts from the earth, mandibles clacking eagerly as it rears above the terrified animal.

The heroes attack, but their weapons barely scratch the creature's armoured carapace. Unable to harm the centipedal monstrosity, the heroes opt to flee. The poor cow watches them retreat with an expression of utmost betrayal writ large upon its face.

The creature drags the cow into its burrow and devours it. The noise is horrible. The heroes inform both families that a monster is preying on their livestock and to stop blaming each other.

FARMERS: "Did you kill it?"

HEROES: "Kill what?"

FARMERS: "The monster!"

HEROES: "Er, not exactly, no."

FARMERS: "What do you mean 'Er, not exactly, no'?"

HEROES: "Well, we injured it. Slightly. That just annoyed it. Best you stay out of its way until a group of higher level heroes deal with it. Good luck with that! Bye!"

The heroes continue travelling east (no random encounter). They pass a stone tower. A note pinned to the door reads: 'Off to see the Old Sparrow', whatever that means. There is nobody home, so the party move on.

By nightfall, the heroes reach Aderus Keep, a crumbling fortress of red stone blocks overlooking the trade route into the inhospitable Borderlands. Armed guards patrol the battlements, keeping a keen eye out for bandits and/or marauding orcs. The heroes are admitted to the quad, where a bounty board promises good coin for goblin ears and other trophies. There is also a reward posted for three bandit chieftains; Tasker, Rufus and Marus Blayd; who are all wanted either Dead or Alive.

The party stay the night in the Keep, then embark into the Borderlands the next morning, following what passes for a road as they travel further from the comforts and safety of civilization. A small band of halflings are being waylaid by callous highwaymen! The heroes kill half the bandits, the other half flee into the barren hills.

The halflings are ever so grateful for the heroes' intervention. One of their number is quite unwell, and they hoped to find a healer at the Keep. Brian examines the sick halfling, but cannot identify the nature of their illness. The patient seems to be wasting away, and is in constant pain. They are clutching something tightly around their neck. Brian prises their fingers apart to reveal a ring of blackened brass. The ring is giving off real crook vibes. Brian knows the ring is an unholy symbol of Sheeokk (demon prince of fear, darkness & treachery). He removes the neck ring from the halfling and their pain is immediately diminished. The other travellers want nothing to do with the cursed torc. The heroes will hold onto it until they find some way to destroy it permanently (maybe by throwing it into a volcano?).

TBC

 

[mikeawmids1]

Dragonwilds, Session 3

The halflings rescued by the party last session had been employed as diggers at an excavation site in a neighbouring hex - until bandits took over the operation. Their employer Kavin Woodfin (halfling archeologist) is still being held prisoner. The leader of the bandits matches the description of Rufus, one of three celebrity brigands with a tidy price on their head. Woodfin has uncovered an intact dragon skeleton beneath the dusty red earth of the Borderlands, which would command a princely sum from the right buyer, although it probably does belong in a museum. The halflings also know about an ogre mound south of the excavation site.

As they travel eastward, the heroes randomly encounter 4 outriders from Aderus Keep, and recruit them to join the attack on the bandit camp.

The party reach the excavation site around dusk. Several cloth tents are spread around a central pit where the dragon skeleton was unearthed. Fapp and Mara will sneak into the camp to rescue Kavin Woodfin, whilst the dwarves and their outrider allies raise a ruckus at the other end of the camp.

Despite being the stealthier members of the party, neither Fapp nor Mara can see in the dark. Bandit sentries hear them stumbling around and raise the alarm. Outined against the firelight, the bandits make prime targets for Fapp's arrows. They move into the camp in search of the captive archeologist. A tent flap is flung aside and bandit chieftain Rufus enters the fray. Fapp ends up dueling with Rufus, whilst his men gang up on Mara. She takes a couple of them down before being overwhelmed and reduced to zero HP.

(Like in most OSR clones, casters in Vagabond are squishy. Rules as written, a character reduced to zero HP is dead. No death saves, no countdown to bleed out. Straight up dead-dead. However, there is an optional rule in the book for 'Plot Armour', where a character reduced to zero HP can spend a point of Luck to immediately recover 1d6 HP. I opted to use this rule for my solo game with a slight caveat; spending Luck in this way reduces the characters actual Luck attribute by 1, so if there will come a point when their luck will literally run out.)

Horatio, Brian and the Aderus outriders begin to close in from the other side of the camp. Rufus sees them coming and decides to bug out with his few remaining men.

The heroes rescue Kavin Woodfin and admire the partially uncovered dragon bones. Even in death, the majesty of the dragons cannot be denied. Horatio spits on his hands and tries to pull the massive skull out of the rock face.

WOODFIN: " Good heavens, man! What are you doing?!"

HORATIO: "The bounty board back at Aderus Keep said 200gp for a dragon head."

FAPP: "I'm pretty sure that only applies to dragons we kill ourselves. This one has been dead for centuries."

HORATIO: "They should have specified."

WOODFIN: "How much do I have to pay you to stop what you are doing?"

They settle on 20gp. The party rest overnight at the dig site. The outriders stay to guard the excavation, while the heroes head south to clear out the ogre mound.

The heroes find a cave mouth littered with human and animal bones. A powerful ogre-like stench wafts from the dark opening. Horatio leads the charge into the creature's foetid den. Brian casts Light again so Fapp and Mara can see (and the ogre can see them). Man, this cave honks. The heroes must roll over their Endurance or be Sickened. Fapp fails. Horatio mocks his delicate elven constitution.

FAPP: "I really hate that dwarf."

Whilst they are bickering, the ogre ambushes them; rushing out of a dark side tunnel to twat Horatio with a knobbly greatclub. Horatio counters with his greataxe, but barely marks the ogre's tough hide. Fapp shoots the ogre in the fat folds of its neck.

OGRE: "You no steal magic beans!"

The ogre sweeps greatclub around, knocking Brian off his feet. Horatio roars in anger and finishes off the ogre, splitting open its thick skull like a really ugly egg.

Horatio rushes to check on the older dwarf and is relieved that Brian is ok; he had the wind knocked out of him is all. Fapp observes the encounter could have gone badly, and they should not have charged in recklessly. Fapp and Horatio glower at one another. Mara checks the ogre's sack for these supposedly magical beans. They look like garden variety lentils to her trained eye, but perhaps they conceal more esoteric properties? Horatio cuts off the ogre's head and puts it in his bag. It is worth 50gp back at the Keep.

The party rerurn to Aderus Keep to collect their bounty. There are no random encounters along the way. A merchant caravan is sheltering inside the Keep's strong walls. The merchant is an attractive human woman with flaming red hair called Ember. Fapp and Mara join the throng of travellers crowding around the merchant's stall. While waiting to be served, they spot Ember talking to one of the caravan guards. To their suprise, they recognise this man - he is one of the bandits they fought at the excavation site!

TBC

 

[mikeawmids1]

Dragonwilds, Session 4

Bandits have infiltrated Aderus Keep disguised as caravan guards. Fapp & Mara recognise one of Rufus' ruffians, and shadow the man to see what he's up to. They fluff their Sneak rolls, and realizing they've been rumbled, Mara casts Control on the bandit (Charmed, and must follow her commands - unless they involve self harm). Fapp disarms the bandit, and Mara orders him to explain Ember's plan. She is the second-in-command to bandit chief Tasker, who plans to capture the Keep by subterfuge. She and her not-actually-caravan-guards plan to open the gate from within for the rest of Tasker's host. After his loss at the excavation site, Rufus has also allied with Tasker, bringing his total force up to 50+ able-bodied fighters!

It will cost Mana to Focus on the Control spell, so Fapp knocks the bandit out and hides the body. Fapp goes to warn Major Beldin that his walls are compromised, while Mara rounds up the dwarves. Beldin assigns soldiers to help the heroes apprehend the false merchant. They confront Ember and her remaning 'guards' in the quad.

Ember casts Burn as a devastating fireball. Several of Beldin's men are incinerated, and both Fapp & Mara are reduced to zero HP. Brian casts Life (remote, two targets, cost 1 mana) to bring them both back up with 1HP (and one level of Fatigue). Life can also be used to restore HP. Most spells in Vagabond have multiple implementations to enhance their versatility.

Picking herself up, Mara points a shaking finger toward Ember.

MARA: " You like playing with fire?"

Mara casts Burn (remote, one target, 3d6 dmg, cost 2 mana). Ember bursts into flame, screaming as she flails around on the muddy ground.

With Ember down, the remaining bandits need to test against their Morale. Most enemies in the Vagabond bestiary have a Morale score - for Bandits it is 7 - so the DM needs to roll under that value on 2d6 for them to stay in the fight. Roll equal to or higher than that value and they surrender or flee. The bandits throw down their weapons, and Major Beldin has them locked up in the dungeon beneath the Keep.

Our heroes are in rough shape, but there is no time for a long rest. They do grab a quick Breather (once per Shift, eat a ration & drink some water to recover HP equal to your Might score). Sentries on the battlements report a large force marching on the Keep. This is Tasker's bandit army. Tasker himself turns out to be a disillusioned veteran with military experience and some knowledge of siegecraft. His men have bought ladders and a battering ram to capture the fort.

TASKER: "What happened to Ember?"

FAPP: (glancing over at her smoking carcass) "Things got too hot for her to handle."

Tasker commands his men to attack the Keep. Ladders are set against the walls and bandits scramble up them like rats. The battering ram trundles toward the gate. Fapp nocks an arrow and takes careful aim. Tasker is on the very edge of the longbow's effective range, but the elven hunter has marked his prey. Fapp rolls a nat 19, which is treated as a Crit with a Keen weapon. Fapp's arrow soars above the battlefield and hits the bandit chieftain in the guts. Tasker's men form a wall of bodies to shield their commander from further missile fire as they hustle him away.

Bandit archers return fire. Several Aderus defenders go down, Horatio is winged for 1 dmg. Mara casts Burn on the two nearest ladders, they burst into flame. Defenders on the other walls push the ladders away, but their numbers are too few and dozens of bandits are soon scrabbling over the battlements. With the defenders occupied, the battering ram's ponderous approach is unopposed. I rolled a d6 to determine how many rounds it would take to break through the gate, and rolled a 1. Brian follows Horatio into the melee on the walls. As a Fighter, Horatio is not Hindered when flanked, but Brian is hard pressed to defend himself from multiple opponents. Their is a splintering crash from the quad as the battering ram breaks through the main gate. More bandits spill into the Keep, lead by Rufus. He is spoiling for a rematch after his humiliating defeat.

Brian is getting the crap kicked out of him. The old dwarf falls to his knees, surrounded on all sides. With a frustrated roar, Horatio throws down his greataxe. Brian is dismayed that Horatio would surrender to save him. Mara has exhausted her Mana reserves, and Fapp is running low on ammo. Things are looking bleak. The bandits ounumber the surviving defenders many times over.

Aderus Keep has fallen. Bandits jeer as the heroes - along with Major Beldin and his remaining men - are marched down to the dungeons beneath the Keep.

TBC