This is a compilation of posts to the Two Hour Wargames Yahoo Group.
Having finalized the rules, which cover everything from small skirmishes to big battles, I wanted to revist the lair (dungeon crawl) mechanics which were one of the first things I had written for the game. You know the kind of thing. Make sure they worked as expected when used with the final version of the combat rules, etc.
Following then is a session report:
Putting the finishing touches on the Lair rules tonight. Ran some characters through to see how they would fare. This game will probably end up as the example for the Lairs Encounter. Note that the Lair could be any kind of monster's. A quick poll of my daughter's friends meant that this one would be a vampire's….kids today huh?
An Elf, a Dwarf, and a Man walk into a dungeon. No, it’s not that old joke, I’m being serious here!
The man, Seth, is a Rep 4 Harquebusier hailing from Altengard. The Elf, Elora is a Rep 6 Silver Guard. The Dwarf is the toughest of the lot, a Rep 6 Red Sun Anvil guard with heavy armor. I generated these figures randomly and the party counts as six rolls. I was quite lucky with my roll for the elf and dwarf.
Locals have been complaining of disappearances and strange goings on around a local wood. Our heroes go to investigate.
The opening to the dungeon (which is actually a burial mound), is a passage 9” long by 3” wide. At one end is a door. Along the right side of the passage is another door about 7” down.
The party opts to try the right hand door. The dwarf tries to open, but it’s a false door that triggers a trap. Fortunately Rothgar's armor absorbs the shock and he is unharmed. Time to try the remaining door. This door is locked.
As no one in the party has skill at picking locks they bash it in.
The door splinters revealing a 4x4 chamber with a door on each wall. On the other side is very aware and rather miffed Vampire!
The Elf and Dwarf started to charge, but the sense of dread emanating from the foul creature stopped them in their tracks. For its part the Vampire snarled defiance.
The stalemate was broken by the crack of the harquebus. With a thump and a howl the fiend crashed to the floor. Quick work with dwarven steel put it out of its misery. A quick search of the dust pile revealed no treasure. Now which door to open next?
Selecting the door on the left, the dwarf tensed and pulled it open. Another 4x4 room, this one with a door on the far end and on the left was revealed. Although there were signs of recent habitation the room was empty.
Forging ahead the dwarf opened the door on the far wall. This revealed a 12 x12 chamber with no other door. The room was empty, but as the party entered, the elf sprung another trap! She dodged deftly aside and avoided damage. Clearly this room is no place to linger.
Back through the door and into the previous room. The remaining door is not locked and opens easily on yet another 4x4 chamber. This one has a door on the far wall and another on the right. The dwarf sets off another trap although again his armor protects him from harm. There are no occupants here.
The left hand door opened on a passage way. Rather than risk setting off more traps in the room they currently occupied, our heroes made for the hallway. The hallway was only 3” long and 2” wide. It ended in a door. At the other end was another door that clearly opened on the sentry chamber.
Ignoring that door our heroes made for the other. It was locked but easily yielded to Rothgar’s axe. This door opened on a large 10 x 10 chamber with a door at the far end and another on the left. This chamber was occupied and at the far end of the chamber stood a Vampire, a skeleton warrior, two minor human spell casters, and two of the fierce mercenary bowmen commonly found in Altengard.
Uttering their battle cries, Rothgar and Elora charged the foe. Seth fired his weapon at one of the bowmen, who returning fire, almost hit the marksman.
As the dwarf and elf closed on the enemy, the evil sorcerers both spewed foul incantations but to no avail. Neither did the arrows of either bowman find a mark. Elora closed with the skeleton while Rothgar crossed blades with the fiend.
Elora beat back the skeleton chopping it to kindling. Rothgar's axe beheaded the vampire in one fluid move. Seeing the horror unfolding around them the two Casters scattered to get away from the melee. The two bowmen fled. Seth managed to get off a shot at one as he ran for the door but missed.
The two casters again attempted to spread evil through their craft. One focused on Rothgar while the other attacked Seth. Both attempts failed.
Rothgar now charged the nearest Caster. Summoning the remains of his craft, the Caster lashed out again, this time he had gone to far and crumpled to the ground spent. Rothgar’s axe soon made sure he would never cast another spell.
Elora charged the remaining Caster. For her part, the Caster turned and fired off a spell. Caught in mid effort, the Caster fell to Elora’s blade.
Now the looting could begin.
I've stopped here for the night. There is still one "blip" unaccounted for and it is most likely the Big Bad and his retinue. Going well so far but the two vampires dispatched thus far (both Rep 5) were pale shadows of their progenitor.
Rooting through the room yielded a bit of plunder that would allow the party an additional social advancement roll when they returned to town.
Following the trail of the two bowmen who had fled the encounter, the heroes moved into a 6” long hallway that ended at a doorway.
They advanced down the hallway and the dwarf opened the door which turned out to be unlocked. This room housed a solitary figure…the Vampire Big Bad; rep 5, AC 6, Hardiness 4, armed with a two handed sword and able to cast magic. This wasn’t going to be pretty.
Seizing the initiative, Seth fired and hit! The vampire shrugged off the hit and was none the worse for it.
The Dwarf and the Elf charged…and both cut down with single swipe of the foe’s blade. This wasn’t going so well. The dwarf was dead. The elf merely out of the fight, and no doubt facing a fate worse than that meted out to the dwarf.
With inhuman swiftness, the vampire charged Seth, who dropped his gun and drew his sword. Seth fended off the Vampire’s first strike, but was pushed back down the hallway by the fiend’s rush. The vampire quickly followed up this success with another blow and Seth met his end…
Moral of the story? Don’t go chasing vampires with small parties of low level characters. It would have been smarter for me to withdraw after the first session’s successes and try for some character advancement. Then with perhaps greater skills, and some followers, returned to put an end to the evil.
As far as the game goes it was great fun. The ease with which the Big Bad did away with my party, need not have been one sided. Indeed when Seth hit on his first shot, I was reminded of the two lesser vampires , each put down with no great exertion on my part.
The lair generator (which has been only slightly altered since I first wrote it in ’04) and the NPC movement system (which is brand spanking new) worked well. The combats were exciting, and the game would have run very quickly were I not writing everything down.
Hope you enjoyed the tale.
Regards,
Bob
