For years the kids have stared at the contents of my painting table and wanted to play with dads toys. Now the youngest is 4 and a bit I thought it time to let them lose.
Slightly simplified Savage Worlds as the rules, with the kids having to add up any dice rolls they made to work out what they did ( the 4 year old getting help from the 6 and 8 year old ) . They chose their own figures ( from the web ) I ordered and painted them:
Cowgirl ( link right hand mini ) d8 shooting with right hand, d6 with left and d4 fighting
Pirate ( link left hand mini ) d8 fighting with sword, d6 shooting
Indy ( link ) d8 shooting, d6 fist fighting, extra bennie ( he always seems to get lucky in the movies ) .
Revolvers had 6 shots each, the pirates pistols were single shot weapons ( nobody had reloads ) .
The terrain: 30"x47" coffee table, a village with 6 buildings, scattered trees and a barrel store on a hill.
The plot: Indy is searching a village in Galacia for a new exhibit for the museum, a mystical bell that can bring the dead back to life.
The action: After 15 minutes explaining what you could and could not do in the game we started. The kids decided to spread out as much as possible as each wanted to get to the bell first. Indy and the pirate raced forward, while the cowgirl decided quickly ( after turn 1 ) that being at the front was a bad idea and then kept trying to hide behind Indy or the pirate. The pirate searched unsuccessfully through piles of hay in the barn, while Indy found a crying woman in one of the houses and quickly exited. Pirate then moved quickly off to the forge, Indy to a small cottage while the cowgirl thought it was a bad idea that they had left a big house unsearched behind them but was too nervous to even look through the window.
The pirate found a woman hiding in the forge, but also a strong blue light in the corner which at the end of the turn disappeared leaving two skeletons behind.
An aside – the bell wielding skeleton and his boss are hiding behind the barrels in the store on top of the hill. Once the adventurers were spotted then every other turn 2 skeletons would be summoned in a random building ( each building only being chosen once in the game ) . Their arrival would be preceeded by a blue light, which would result in any civilians to scream and run away ( 4 of the buildings had Spanish women hiding in them – gave a mechanism to let the kids know where the next skeletons were coming from ) .
Well the next 8 turns or so saw Indy running to any building not yet looked in, skeletons turning up just after he did every time and him running away – this included him spotting the skeletons with the bell in the barrel store. In the meantime the pirate repeatedly fought and killed skeletons, while the cowgirl ran backwards and forwards shooting unsuccessfully at skeletons ( needing a 4+ on a d6 or a d8 ) , but mainly running away.
By this point there were quite a few skeletons on the board and Indy and the cowgirl managed to get themselves trapped between two different sets. The cowgirl managed to shoot one dead, but not before being wounded ( the skeletons needed a 6 on a d6 to hit and another 6 to then wound i.e. they were supposed to be scary but not hurt anyone ) . The pirate comes to the rescue, but Indy has told the cowgirl where the bell is and rather than stay to help fight the massed skeletons she runs off to get the bell. The pirate gets hit, but not wounded ( this knocks her over – simplier to play with 4-8 year olds than shaken ) and is in trouble with one skeleton next to her and 2 more coming. Indy is about to run after the cowgirl but is talked into helping the pirate first i.e. he shoots once and then runs away. The shot is a hit, but only a knock over ( he needed >4 on 2d6 and got a 2 and a 1 ) , but it is enough to allow the pirate to her feet before she is swamped.
Meanwhile the cowgirl is sprinting towards the barrel store, when she spots two big, mean skeletons hiding there. She stands and shoots twice failing to hit both times. She then sees Indy running to catch up with her and is about to do something silly when the skeletons come out to attack her and Indy.
Pistols blazing vs skeletons with swords ( all wild cards, though no bennies for the skeletons ) . Lots of attrocious dice rolling both sides and 3 turns leaves both skeletons wounded and the cowgirl taking her second wound ( one more and she is dead – which left me wondering how could this happen, the kids were supposed to be nearly unkillable? ) . Fateful turn skeleton gets a jack, the cowgirl an ace and with the last bullet in her right hand pistol she finishes the skeleton with the bell off.
Meantime the pirate has run to her assistance ( too late as it turns out, though she skewers a skeleton which was coming up behind the cowgirl ) and Indy has finshed off the boss skeleton with his last bullet.
Indy and the cowgirl run, leaving the pirate to face the last 3 skeletons alone. Then "bravery" sets in. Indy and the cowgirl realize the bell is on the ground behind them, back they both run into the face of the skeletons to get the bell. The cowgirl picks it up only to be hit and knocked over by a skeleton, who picks it up only to be knocked over Indy. The cowgirl uses the last bullet in her left hand gun to kill another skeleton that is about to pick up the bell.
Indy and the cowgirl now have empty revolvers and no other weapons, with the cowgirl injured in the arm and leg. The bell has rollen down the hill and two skeletons are left only a few inches away from our heros. The pirate then swings into action and with the last card of one turn and the first card of the next finishes off both skeletons.
The scene ends with Indy and the pirate walking into the sunset leading a donkey they had found on which has riding the injured cowgirl who has the bell.
Conclusion: Lots of fun had by all and while a few trees fell off the table at various ( exciting ) points, no damage was done.
