The Hundred Millionth Day, Session 1

What the hell. I normally don’t to Actual Capitalized Play for reasons I’ve stated many times and places, but I figure I’ll do it now to keep a rough narrative record to jog my memory. So:

Each of them came to Heron’s Rock to escape an ordinary life. Arisha, novice of the antitheist Infinite Lotus Sect (Hum. Monk 1). Eileen the Prestidigitator, protege of a local sage (Hum M-U 1). Kaith, a young local villain of no particular accomplishments (Half ElfFtr/Th 1/1) and his older brother Quareth of the Wood (Half Elf Druid 1). All of them live in the shadow of the ancient Heron, a hundred-yard tall statue from whence the Rock gets its name.

The Heron marks the Old Dungeon (also called the Heron, or the Rock; one learns the difference between town, dungeon and statue by reading context, and locals enjoy confusing visitors with twisty phrasing): a mine first assaulted by Thulbane and his Spiders, cleared by subsequent adventurers and now worked by tireless folk who haul out ancient valuables, rarely suffering attacks from the Deeps.

Hopeful adventurers look for tailings, remote posts — any prize in a rush eight decades old, and withering. Half the town is a horde of transients: miners and “freelancers” who might turn to banditry when the silver runs out. Legitimate commissions are rare. Wizards are often in the best position to pay. Taverns are ideal locations: neutral, relaxed and full of witnesses, just in case.

So yes: They met a wizard in a bar who hired them to go on an adventure.

This was Eileen’s old master, Liam the Perspicacious, willing to offer a fast 100 gold to anyone able to follow up on a clue: an enchanted dagger with the mark of that ancient magus, Colm Devilbinder! Legend says Colm had a fortress lab deep in the Heron (the dungeon) almost two centuries ago. Watch outriders found it on the body of a bandit three days south east of town. Liam believed another tunnel into the Heron could be found in the area. It might lead to Colm’s treasures.

Arisha was versed in the egoistic, lawyerly stratagems of her sect (alignment: LE) and asked why the discovery was worth so much. What was he getting out of it? Liam complained that any answer would be awash in complexities whose full explication would prevent the timely commencement of their mission! (The negotiations were very Vancian.) He eventually admitted that he’d get a five year cut of profits arising from large scale mining. Liam was eventually persuaded to offer a fraction of that cut (5%!) in exchange for a smaller flat fee (50 gp) and of course, liberal access (first three picks per month) to any treasures acquired by the party!

Immensely pleased with themselves, the adventurers were quick to start the journey (. . . and I rapidly thumbed through the DMG. It said three days over rough terrain was 15 miles. I rolled the dice for wilderness encounters).

As they set up camp on the first night they felt a chill and heard a deep howl. They scrambled up a bluff just as a horse-sized white wolf came through the tree line. They exchanged glances, the great silver beast looking up with a curious, malefic gaze. Quareth was too far away to attempt magical communication.

(and I rolled the Winter Wolf’s reaction. It decided not to pursue.)

After a silent beat, it left. Quareth sifted through his memory. That beast was strong enough to kill them all. (6 HD — wilderness encounters don’t level!) But what was it doing out on the hunt when there was only the slightest hint of Autumn in the air?

Final Thoughts: 1e has really cool systems for determining encounter distance, type and creature behaviour. Wilderness encounters aren’t geared to level. Anything can happen; the Winter Wolf was way too tough for the party in a fight, but unlike other editions of D&D the creature wasn’t there for a specific style of encounter. Instead, a bunch of rules suggest what it might do and how the party might act instead of leaving the DM to build tailored challenges and tasks. A close encounter with a 6 HD monster was pretty cool at 1st level, especially in a game with no guarantees of balance. Players were more cautious and avoided hard contact.

Now I could get all OSR and talk about how this came from the free spirit and improv-friendly nature of older gaming. Nope! I got this from mostly following the rules as written! The Winter Wolf showed up and behaved according to the tables governing it. I provided a context, mandated a few ability checks to scramble up the bluff.