We left our Heroes at the end of the last book relaxing after their brave excursion in to the Deserts of the East. And then a messenger arrives…He is a lowly acolyte looking for Brother Christos. The High Arch-Priest has summoned him!
Our brave band are required to help Christos find Father Brennan who has been on a secret quest. Brennan has sent word he has made an important discovery, but someone is trying to stop him reaching the Temple.
Chapter 1 – Bandit Pass
Part i. Rendevous (4XP per player).
Brennan enters on the northern side of the table, the party must meet him by crossing the table from the south and escort him back. Brennan will always attempts 2 actions. He will move straight towards his destination, unless he needs to defend himself. (Brenan is an experienced fighter with level 2 armour and a 2-handed axe).
When the AMBUSH! card is drawn, 1 Bandit jumps out of the closest bush.
Bushes are tall enough to block LOS.
Traps: There are no traps.
Deployment: Deploy all PCs 2” from the southern edge, then deploy foes randomly but not closer than 2” to any PC (if a foe appears closer than 2” from a PC, place it 2” away).
Foes:
1 Bandit Leader (Armoured Guard);
6 Bandit Thugs (Armoured Militia)
2 hordes of 3 Bandits
Victory Conditions: Play until all PCs are dead or manage to move off the Southern table edge with Brennan.
Complications: None.
Wandering Monster: If a wandering monster card is drawn, roll a d6. On a 1-4, a Bandit Thug appears from a random table edge and charge the closest PC. On a 5-6, a Bandit Leader appears instead.
Other individual rewards: A PC carrying an out-of-action PC off the table gains 1 XP.
Most of the starting bandits were to the west of the PCs, except for two thugs who were immediatly in front of their entry point. Brother Christos rushed forward and took one of the thugs down whilst Sir Robin engaged the one farther away.
Unfortunately an early failed activation drew the reinforcements card. Six bannits showed up at exactly the same spot that Father Brennan had entered the table (they must have been lying in wait just off the table edge!).
It's not looking good!
Having dropped Brennan in it with his failed activation, Sintamo the Ranger picked off a bandit with his bow and moved forward. With no foes in their vicinity the Eduardo Wizzard channelled the mystical energy of the Feathered Serpent (the magical benefit he gained at the end of the last campaign, on this occaision it increased his manna by +2). Eldarondo the Elf and Gunnar Lanlarolilson the Dwarf just advanced!
By the end of turn two Brennan had killed all his opponents, but had been wounded several times and was not looking healthy as a bandit thug approached.
The PCs shake the lead out and get going. On the other side of the table Brennan kills the thug and moves toward the rocks in the centre of the table.
Gunnar cuts down the thug baring their way but Brennan is ambushed from the rocks. But Eldarondo casually drops the bandit with a long range shot.
Travelling to the High Arch-Priest the party camp for the night. Suddenly Sintamo and Eldarondo both hear a muffled chink in the darkness beyond the firelight..........
Part ii. Camp 4 XP per player
The Party camps for the night. In the centre is a ½ inch diameter fire. Marked is a circle of firelight that extends 3” radius from the fire. The PCs start in the firelight.
Ranges outside the fire light count double (eg 2” to the edge, then 4” into the dark = 2+8 = 10 inches).
Traps: There are no traps.
Foes
1 x Bandit Leader (Armoured Guard) – if not killed in the last game .
2 x Bandit Thugs (Armoured Militia).
4 x hordes of 3 Bandits.
The bandits don’t appear as normal. Instead they start 6"+d6 past the edge of the firelight in a random direction.
Every time a 20 is thrown, a count is kept. When the count reaches 10 no more attackers will
appear.
At this point all monster appear etc cards that are turned up are rolled for. 1-2 Frenzy, 4-6 closest Foe.
Victory Conditions: Play until all PCs are dead or manage to move off the northern table edge.
Complications: None.
Wandering Monster: If a wandering monster card is drawn, roll a d6. On a 1-4, a Bandit Thug appears, on a 5-6, a Bandit Leader appears instead.
Other individual rewards: A PC carrying an out-of-action PC off the table gains 1 XP.
The initial deployment.
Bandits creeping up on the party. This time Eddie's magic is working and he swiftly roasts one of these groups with a fireball!
In the darkness the PC's archery is not as good as usual and several bandits manage to get into close combat. Gunnar rashly charges out of the circle of firelight and cuts down a group of 3 bandits, but receives two wounds doing so. Turning to return to the party id trips over a tree root and crashes to the ground (failed his one activation and drew a Loss of Balance card). That's usually the Ranger's trick!
Yet more bandits arrive to try to upset the party. FIREBALL!
The final situation when the countdown reaches 10. There is just a bandit leader and two thugs left to deal with. They are taken down with no further loss to the PCs.
Brennan had brought word of an ancient fabled city of wizards, frozen under an ice sheet thousands of years ago. According to rumours, parts of this city were now emerging from the ice and contained a great mystical secret of vital importance to the Order. Christos was charged to investigate the rumours and report back to the High Arch-Priest.
All he needed to do now was sell the idea to the rest of the PCs.....!
He had Eddie at "ancient fabled city of wizards".
"There with be great glory to be won, songs will be sung of the heroes that dare the perils of the frozen north" Christos added.
"Glory, I'm in!" announced Sir Robin.
"I always wanted to be in a song" mused Gunnar.
Eldarondo and Sintamo looked at each other and sighed.
"We can't really let then go off on their own, can we?"
"With Eddie's sense of direction they'll end up back in the desert"
"Oi! I heard that."
Great report sir
ReplyDeleteThank you, Will.
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