Shadowdark One-Shot: Wherein I run an online session

Well, here we go - with the conclusion of Tim's Scorn campaign, our band of cretins are running rotating one-shots. I got short straw to run first. Joe's out with his own projects, so we recruited one of our "loyal viewers" to join the frivolity. 

The game: Shadowdark. The scenario: Kabrel's Tower

The miscreants: 

• Mike: Beregar, Sea Wolf; Aran, Halfling Thief
• Tim: Mire, Elf Mage
• Paul: Ignatius, Human Priest

Opened the session in my usual one-shot ritual: Random Hats! Along with a few character questions.

I initiated the scene with a deceased mutant being brought in by farmer Mordecai to the sheriff. The party, of course, was recruited to investigate. 

They accompanied Mordecai to his farmstead, where he reported that the mutant's companions had absconded with a couple of farmhands. Mordecai's wife and son emerged from their home, relieved that he had safely returned. The party stayed the night, and was fed by the missus. Wulfram, a stout boy of 15, volunteered to guide the party.

Leading them along an abandoned trade road, the party spotted a figure on horseback. Aran diverted into the woods to flank. 

sup, yo.

The figure disappeared, reappearing with a few companions, most with obvious 'changes.' Plus, Naked Dude. Who charged Ignatius.

Ignatius, not wanting whatever the fellow was offering, dodged. And Beregar split the fellow asunder, taking some acidic blood damage...

Aran realized that the horse was not normal, and shot at it instead of the rider. The rider cast a spell on himself and encouraged his mooks. The horse bit Aran on the head.

Campaign Journal: Lindwurming

 Cresting the dunes, we see:

• Slick
• Jax
• Fulvus

(Frederick and Rondel joined later).

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Before them were arrayed placer deposits of ruby along the dune faces and valleys. Snogriz Stormvault, dwarven assayer, squealed and trundled off to assess the resource...

like this, but ruby

Of course, something else was there. The PCs recalled that the elves had mentioned that any negotiations for the ruby would need to be with "Calaquendi-Culu." The sand shifted, and Snogriz got himself half-buried in the dune face as he attempted to scramble back to the party.

It was a worm, or, at least, a lindwurm.

howdy

Because desert, of course. Anyway. It lunged at the party, taking a large chunk out of Jax. Goober thought better and was off attempting to dig out Snogriz, avalanche rescue dog style. Slick disappeared, to go be secret-stabby, and Fulvus did his bouncing halfling thing. Much stabbing, biting, sand-burrowing, and attempted constricting, and the thing lay dead. Head too large to recover, but claws make for a good trophy.

Snogriz, now dug out of the dune, recovered his senses and took over. The party spent a few days winnowing the sands to separate enough ruby (and plenty of surplus) for new lens construction. Somewhere in this, Slick wandered off and came upon a terror-bird nest with a deceased parent and conveniently-hatching egg.

They Met at a Tavern 8: Ruining the "Notebook Failure Dungeon"

Greetings, weary travelers, we come across another party of randos who joined me for an evening oneshot. Although not totally random, as we had two Repeat Offenders(tm). The game, Shadowdark. The headgear, random as always.

Back for more abuse:

• Dakota (Halfling ranger, Long flowing hair)
• Claire (Elf priest, AMAZING curls)

Always there because My Shorter Half:

• Seana (Elf Knight of St. Ydris, Blank-faced helm)

New and enthusiastic:

• Declan (Half-orc thief, Brown, tasseled hat)

The venue: "Notebook Failure Dungeon," scene of one of my favorite early meetup games.

And off we go...

The PCs arrived at the entrance, short on coin and hoping for a bit of a boon. Some discussion on the wisdom of climbing into the entrance chasm or roping across somehow. Punctuated by the appearance of the carrion crawler. All safety across, crawler threatened with torch and dropped rocks.

got carrion?

 Entrance lock deftly defeated by thief. Party read goblin graffiti in the entrance foyer and added their own. As they negotiated the partially-collapsed walkway further in ("There are some serious code violations here."), they were set upon by the goblins from their secret watch-post. Goblins summarily defeated, although one escaped to tell the tale.

Following them into the guard-post, the party paused to look through gear ("Ooo, goblin fanny-pack!"). Which gave them time to hear the orcs coming up from deeper in. And lay a tripline across the door for them. The orcs' goblin mooks got tangled up in the tripline and were summarily shanked. As this was accomplished, the party was jumped by the orc guards and took some heavy damage, including felling the thief. The priest crit-failed her crossbow and replaced the string in a panic. The shaman big-bad then waded in, and failing his spells, chose to cast scimitar against the priest, skewering her through a chair she hid behind. The halfling ranger, after having little success, even with a holy weapon-blessed sword, finally stabbed the shaman dead.

ANOTHER Baker's Dozen of D66 Random Tables...

A second (!) collection of random D66 lists originally posted here on the blog (plus an extra, for my deserving readers!) for use, abuse, or inspiration at your table. Contents include: wands, ships, dogs, and multiple random dungeon content generators! The generators have been stress tested in the real world(tm), so have at 'em....

DriveThruRPG Link

Previous batch here

Campaign Journal: Crossing the Border

 Who's picking sand out of their teeth?

• Jax – Barbarian
• Fred- Thief
• Slick – More Thief

The group began at the restored spring/shrine, recently divested of corrupting demons. Without further ado, they headed for the border post of Eliond with their desert elf guide, Imiriel.

Slick, always slightly invisible, spotted a party of elves a distance off. They didn't quite look like the elves that the party is traveling with, so he circled back to notify Imiriel. She trotted off on her axebeak, and there arose a heated discussion. The other elves were apparently from a neighboring clan, straying across territory in search of a pair of killer lions. After some negotiation, Imiriel gave them a sigil to allow their trespassing, on the condition that any slain lions be brought to Eliond.

As if by fate (or dice) the party was jumped by one of said lions as they traversed a wash. It leapt at Imiriel, injuring her, but she was able to stay astride her bird. Slick, Jax, and Durkan attacked the sprawled beast. Imiriel's bird did a fair Goober impression and stomped it to death.

Onto the wagon with the lion's corpse, and away they went. 

Night fell, and as if on cue, a commotion arose in the dark. “Damnit Kavderak!” The elves threw stones into the dark. Goober stayed close this time. Slick went invisible. The dragon poked his head into the firelight - “Ooo, I smelled blood!” He proceeded to investigate the lion's corpse, damaging the valuable hide. Slick, in his ongoing quest to touch new and interesting creatures, touched the dragon. Kavderak, started, looked around, sniffed, “I see you!” and shot out a cloud of sleep gas. In the entirely wrong direction... Slick revealed himself and gave some BS line about being honored to be in the presence of such an imposing and wise and beautiful dragon, yaddayaddayadda.... So they got along famously and chatted the evening away. Kavderak took his leave, and relieved Slick of some gems, as well as swiping a scroll.

“Worth it!” - Slick.

On to Eliond, a small border village, and welcomed by the local clan-mates. 

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