Day 9
Refreshed the party once again walks through the gates of the Keep on the Borderlands.
Heading along the road to the north, after a 10 hour march they camp for the night.
Encounters? None. Rolled usage die for rations.
Day 10
5 hours march north and into the clearing where they met the bandits. The party stops to eat. Food is running low and Corwin and Catmont are out of water.
I roll a d12 to pick a random direction to explore. Southwest they travel in the woods looking for the caves. No sign. (The party is heading in the opposite direction!)
Camp and roll for encounters. None. Roll rations and water usage.
Day 11
Today is spent hunting for food and refilling all the waterskins. The module states that there is a 1-in-6 chance of a person finding food for 1d6 men. Martin was a hunter before becoming an adventurer. I give him a 2-in-6 chance.
The only party member to spy some game is Handsome Brune, the man-at-arms. He kills a small wild pig (3 days of food).
The party made their way to the river in the south and refilled all waterskins. Note–I am using the Blackhack usage die for the waterskins, giving them an initial d6. If at the end of the day, I roll a 1 or 2 on a d6, then the usage die goes to a d4. The process repeats, but after the d4 is used up, then no water left!
Rations work a little differently. They get a d6 usage die and if a 1 or 2 is rolled, I deduct one day’s ration from the inventory for that character.
I don’t know how realistic this is compared to just crossing off a day of rations each day, but it is a lot more interesting.
Encounter? Yes! Fairies! One winged fairy finds the group. Reaction? Uncertain.
Corwin, the magician, makes an Int roll. Result=10 and tries to make friends with the creature.
Question–Does the fairy tell them where to find the Caves of Chaos?
D12 yes, d8 no. Result=Yes! The fairy tells them to follow the western hill when the road turns northward.
The party decides to camp near the river that night.
Encounter? Yes! They are close enough to area 1 on the map to merit a 1-2 in 6 chance of an encounter.
Three lizardmen sneak towards the camp. Arden and Catamont are on watch.
Do they hear the lizardmen? Roll 2d6 for each. Arden=no, Catamont=yes.
Catmont whispers to Arden that something is out there moving around. Arden wakes the others.
Do lizardmen attack? Yes. The lizardmen approach the fire with clubs and spears.
Arden hits one of them with his spear. The lizardmen attack hitting Catamont and Corwin with spears (1 pt each).
Arden cuts one with his greatsword (2 pts). Martin smashes a lizardman with his morning star for a critical hit! 3 pts of damage and a roll on the critical hit chart is joint damage +1 damage. So 4 pts total! Thane hits one with his handaxe for 1 pt.
Arden takes a club to the body, 1 pt. Thane is also struck by another strong creature’s attack for 1 pt.
Arden retaliates for 2 pts. Handsome skewers one with his sword. It dies! Thane strikes another with his handaxe.
Morale check=7. They fight on.
Lizardmen attack but no hits make it through.
Arden kills one (3 pts) Melkin’s club does 1 pt. The remaining lizardman flees but I rule that 3 of the party get an attack. Thane hits and Handsome gets a critical. The third lizardman is dead!
All of the party took damage only to their armor, but for Corwin, so no lasting damage. The party earns 15 xp each.
Martin tries to follow their tracks but lose them at the river’s edge.
More soon…
Damn Elf Press 