BlaatSchaap

Hi guys
I recently started playing a solo RPG and want to post my logs here. The main character is Jared Hovel, an elven chaos priest. More will be revealed in the next posts.

? What is the quest that gets Jareds attention?
=> Advance open waterway.

From a young age, Jared was plagued by dreams of chaos spirits. However, the dreams have become more restless. In the last night, Jared had a vision of a cave behind a waterway. He knew he had to go there. It would lie in the nearby forest, so he wouldn't need to be worried about food and drinks.

? What does he encounter before arriving?
=> 4 stirges

When walking through the forest, Jared heard a zooming sound as if made by a giant mosquito. In the treetops he saw four stingers. They dove on to of him. Adrenaline was pumping through his veins.

Combat: 4 stingers

combat wrote: Stingers start, 2 stingers hit. 2 damage. 4 HP.
Jared misses and the fray die deals no damage.
3 stingers hit, (2 auto-hits) and has 1 HP remaining.
Jared gets inspired and hits around dealing 3 damage. (Normal attack = 2 HD and fray = 1 HD). One stinger remaining.
That stinger hits Jared and our cleric falls unconscious of blood loss.

? Who rescues Jared?
=> Scout

Hobgoblin Camp
Jared awakes in a bed and sees a Hobgoblin with a green cap over his head. The beast is not looking so he decides to try to slip out. Unfortunately for Jared, he didn't check whether he could and falls on his face when he tries to step out of bed. Then he notices that he is chained to the bed.
"I do advice some good bed-rest. You had some nasty injuries in addition to the loss of blood. It is a wonder that you survived." the Hobgobling said, "And in the mean-time you can talk."
"What do you want?"
The goblinoid took a very familiar amulet out of its pocket. "Interesting god you are following."
"WAIT WHAT?" Jared asked "Why do you think I have connections with the church? I must disappoint you. That is not a symbol of the church. I carved it because I liked the design. It is inspired by a dream."
The not-really-human got closer, drew his dagger and whispered in his ear. "So you claim you not only worship the winter king but receive visions of him too? That would be a bold claim. If it is true, you can do something very valuable for us. If not, I will personally make sure you die in the most uncomfortable way. So I ask you once. Are you really a chosen of the Winter King?"
"I don't even know who that is supposed to be. So how can I know if he chose me?"

? How is this resolved? (Test, questioning or forshadowing)
=> A test of faith.

"We have a ring in our possession that is created by the Winter King. You only can wear it and activate its powers, if you are chosen by him. Of course, you can't have it until you fulfilled a quest for us."
"Okay, lets get over with this, if that makes you happy" Jared complained.

? Does it activate or is the ring a scam? (Jared is certainly a cleric).
=> It activates.

The hobgoblin took out a small metal box and opened it. Jared took out the ring and it felt like it was whispering to him. Not hesitating but getting curious he put it on his finger. Then the magic happened.
Clarity, longing, the knowledge what the winter king wanted from him. This ring was made to become in his possession, of that Jared was certain.
"Take it off"
When taking the ring of, the clarity was immediately gone. The knowledge slipped away but Jared knew that he had known. If he wanted to complete his holy mission, he needed to get that ring back.
"What do you want me to do?" he asked the Hobgoblin, willing to do anything he asked for having access to that knowledge again.

? What does he want?
=> Gather fertile refuge.

To be continued

The hobgoblin shows Jared a map and tells him, "I want you to go to this town and gather the magical flowers near the church". It will help our clan a lot.
"I will do so"

? What does he encounter before arriving?
=> Leprechaun

After a couple of hours, Jared took a rest. Suddenly his money pouch disappeared from sight as if it was disintegrated. he looked around and after a couple of minutes he heard some laughing. However, he could not catch that damn leprechaun. An additional hour lost.

NOTE: Updated Jared to note he has no money.

Jared arrived in the town and looked to the inn. Then he realized that he still had no money. His hungry stomach couldn't be helped at this time. Nor could he be picky where to sleep. While it was a bit cold, it was at least not raining. He moved some snow to the side and sat in an alcove. It wasn't long till he fell in a trance.

In the middle of the night, he was rudely awakened by at least half a dozen bandits wearing forest green cloaks that have a snake motive on them. It is a varied bunch and most of them are not human. There is a female dwarf (with a beard, they are dwarves); two goblinoids; two reptile people (probably snake, maybe yuan-ti); something with a tentacle instead of its left arm and a half-elf teenager (which is remarkably normal compared to the rest).
The half-elf takes the lead and steps forward, sword raised, ready to be used. Give me your money.
"You are too late", Jared groaned while raising his arms, "A leprechaun has stolen my purse."
After a quick search, the bandits let Jared go, knowing that they couldn't get anything from him.
"Excuse me", Jared asked the bandits when they turned around. "I may be planning to steal the flowers in front of the temple. As you seem to know the underworld here, do you have any advice?"
The half-elf spoke back in Elvish. "A thief in priest cloths, interesting. Their magical defenses are not for the faint of heart. This includes magical alarms and spiritual guardians. I may or may not know someone who knows more details but what do you have to offer? Last time we checked you had no money."
"I may have no money but I can offer my services. I help you with a theft and you help me with one. Do we have a deal?"

To be continued.

? Does Jared have a deal with the thieves?
=> Nope

They all laughed. We may be thieves but we are no fools. We will not trust someone who loses their purse to a leprechaun. Heed our advice, don’t go steal the flowers if you can’t even deal with those little buggers.

Of course, Jared had to rob them. He gave a quick prayer to what he now suspected was the Winter King and then he got on his way. The sun hasn’t risen yet so this would be the perfect time.

Jared starts investigating the area and looks for clues about the wards. He succeeds in finding about the alarm.
? Trap: Proximity or remove? Phrase or divine aura?
Proximity and divine aura. 

Jared looked at the ward and said to himself. “I need to create some kind of distraction”.

? How does the temple look like:

• Diverse, clouded in mysticism.
• Known for lively prayer services and debates.
• Priests wear comfortable linen robes.
• Feature: A kneeler beneath a small statue or icon. Some kind of priest inside.

Plan: Jared will tinker some smoke-grenade from common plants, throw it in and lock the door with his manacles. Then he will quickly try to pick some flowers and steal them. Hopefully he will not be spotted, etc.

Execution Successful.

Fight with spirits (4 poltergeists)

combat wrote: Poltergeists hit 4 times. HP reduced to 2.
Jared attacks and misses. No frey dice because HD is higher.
Poltergeists attack again, HP is 0.

Jared is defeated again.

A door opens and Jared slips inside. There are the seven thieves he saw earlier. Slipping inside he follows them into a passage to the crypts down the city. They go left, right, right, second left, somewhere lost, etc. Then they speak to him “I told you that you shouldn’t steal these flowers”
Yeah, you were right. I wouldn’t have survived without you. How can I ever thank you?
“You shouldn’t have asked that to a robber, now that you do have something valuable. Give me those flowers and I will get you out of the city.”

? Can I keep one? I need it desperately.
Yes but you will owe us a favour. Be ready to pay it the next time you’ll meet us.

? Encounter forest?

combat wrote: 1 killer bee.
Jared kills it.

Jared trades in the flower for the ring and can continue with its quest to find out what is behind the waterfall. No altered scene or complication.

Some fight with 2 stirges. Jared kills them without any problems.

Behind the waterfall

? What is here?
=> Empty but with a harmless dungeon flora.
This cave-like room is filled with giant glowing mushrooms. There are two paths forward. A dark one that goes up and a brighter one that goes down, glowing fungals at the walls.
Jared takes the one that goes down.

? What is here?
=> Empty but a change in temperature or moisture
Jared arrived at an underground lake. Mostly submerged is an abandoned shrine. There is also a river-like path going out in the other direction.
He takes of his clothes and swims to the shrine. There he finds a book that has not been overly damaged by the water. He doesn’t have that many options to bring the book with him but he can have a short read. The book is about an ancient but never-ending war between the Winter King and Summer Queen. Each spring the queen takes over the land and each fall the King does.
This was clearly part of a shrine to the summer queen and this book paints a kind of propaganda.

After some time, Jared swims back puts on his clothes and goes back. He couldn’t explore further for now in this direction but there was another pathway. Maybe that holds other secrets.

? What is here?
=> Trap + treasure. Trap focus: energy. Treasure: longsword
There is a room with a flaming storm to the side. Inside you see a magical longsword. However, if you take it you have to walk through the sea of fire. Jared is not interested in trying to get the weapon because he can’t even wield it. Maybe this changes later.
Retcon: There is also a door behind the inferno of fire.

He goes straight instead

? What is here?
=> Special
A magical portal: Chides anyone who leaves Open: Were you raised in a Barn? There's Flies about!

? What is here?
=> Empty, some discarded items.

Behind the door is a small room with several glass jars with preserved food. Some broken, some not. This is a dead end.

Jared has three options to go further in the dungeons.

1. Go further at the water.
2. Somehow deal with the sea of fire.
3. Find a secret passage, if it exists.

He chooses option 1 and will look to craft a raft. He can make one from the jars, and wood. That is his plan. For that, he will need to gather wood. He collects it over the course of a couple of days and makes a raft.

? What is there?
=> Empty but with a sound. (2 paths).
I interpret this as the sound of a smaller waterfall, to the right. The path to the left is dry. Jared doesn't want the rift to be destroyed and parks it on the side, with a small piece of rope. Then he'll go into the unknown path.
I rolled for two paths from here.

? What is there?
=> Monster. Give it a desire of need that directly opposes Jared. Dead end. Monster (2nd roll): 2 beserkers.

Note: I want this combat to be more meaningful than a random combat.
? What is it about?
=> Assault Rumor. They want to quell some kind of rumour that Jared is somehow chosen by the winter king. This likely means they have a different entrance/exit, retconning the dead end.
? What is the battleground like?
=> Pitched ground (which makes total sense in a cave). The beserkers are on the higher ground.

"Surrender, you heretic, and give us that evil symbol of herecy you are wearing", the larger of the two beserkers says.
"Who are you?" Jared asks
"We are paladins from the summer queen and you are wearing the ring of the evil winter king. So are you giving it to us the easy or the hard way?"
Jared took a breath remembering the feeling he had when he put the ring on, for the first time. "If you want it, you'll need to take it from my dead body, you crazy paladins"
NOTE: This will be a fight to the death. If I fail, this campaign is over.

combat wrote: The two paladins will have a lower THAC0 of 16, because of the higher ground, in the first two rounds. However, jared goes first and with a hit takes down one beserker. He can't use the fray die because the HD is 1+1.
The second beserker misses, Jared misses, beserker misses, jared misses, beserker hits for 1 damage (5 HP). Jared hits the beserker and deals 1 damage, taking him out.
loot: 38cp

Further in the cave he finds a stairway up and sees some light. We can expect more beserkers and (possibly) some loot up there. But that is something we'll explore next time.

Jared finds some kind of improvised stairs and travels up the stairs towards some kind of light source. Maybe a torch or anything similar. It looks like a room used for something. He listens whether he can hear any friends of the two worshippers of the summer queen.

? What is in the room? (Using Ironsworn Delve cards, Hallowed Underkeep).
=> Hall or chamber, suspended, bridge
Jared doesn't hear anyone at the moment so he comes out and sees a hall, the size of a small church. Between him and the big entrance doors is a chasm. A rope bridge has been created over it. While crossing the area, Jared could see some spider webs in the darkness below. The so-called holy light was keeping the giant spiders at bay.
After crossing the bridge, our adventurer opens the door.

? What does he see?
=> Monster/treasure. Consider a way how the treasure is hidden.
=> Foundry or workshop.
=> 6 acolytes + one 3rd level cleric.
He sees a workshop room where several worshippers are sitting in the room. One of them, clearly a priest of some kind stands up and asks "Who are you?"

? What does the priest want?
=> Destroy Enemy. (Interpretation, he is clearly some kind of spanish inquisition leader but doesn't yet know Jared is an enemy)

"I am Jared and I came here to ..."
"To what?"
"To, ..., fuck it, ... to beat the crap out of you."

cleric stats wrote: **Cleric:**
Attributes: 9, 10, 14 (+1), 7 (-1), 12, 18 (+3)
AC: 2, THAC0: 19
Spells: Detect evil and detect magic.

Combat:

combat wrote: Jared takes initiative but botches up his attack.
Then the priests are dealing 4 damage, bringing jared to 1 HP.
Jared attacks again, taking out 1 acolyte, before he himself is taken out.

This is likely the end for Jared, who failed to complete the mission for the winter king. Our chaos priest ends up being escorted to the gallows, convicted for tripple murder.

To be continued. Not sure whether this will be with Jared or not.

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