Wednesday 4th January thru to Saturday 7th January.

The break in the severe winter weather did not last long. Within hours the bright sky became overcast and heavy snow once again began to fall.

With each weary step they got closer to the Far Mountains. Often having to avoid hungry wolves, undead from beyond the vail and goblin kind who roamed the land, they made slow progress.

On Saturday 7th, tired and with their provisions running dangerously low, the mountain range came into their view. Crea’s spirits seemed to lift, “home”, she exclaims.

The companions continue on towards the woodland that creates a natural boundary between them and the Far Mountains. Crea and her moose lead the way. They need to shelter for the night and Crea says she knows a place in the woods where they can shelter from the cold and snow for the night.

What place is Crea leading them to? 1=Crumbling Watchtower, 2=Overgrown Temple, 3=Abandoned Druidic Grove, 4=Sunken Fortress. D4 roll =2.

Crea leads them deep into the woods until they reach an ancient temple hidden beneath a thick canopy of ancient trees. “Our room for the night”, she announces. The others look less than happy.

I have drawn a simple floor plan for the temple on an A4 sheet of half centimeter squares. This will allow the companions an opportunity to explore should they choose to. I find for my solo games a quick simple map is often good enough and can be used for other adventures too, any needed interior details can be penciled in and erased once the adventure is over.

Culdus the Enibrian Acolyte has religious lore skill. He makes a d20 roll against his Intelligence of 11 + 1 for Religious Lore skill. d20 =11, He has some knowledge of what the temple once was.

Crea sees her companions are not keen to enter and tries to reassure them that it is safe, “I have stayed here now and then, when I needed time to be alone, or to work through doubts about my vocation. I assure you the temple is empty and of no danger. Of elven design I think, and long ago abandoned”.

Culdus shakes his head, “abandoned log ago that is certain, but of Elven design it is not”, he points to the crumbling archways, their stone blocks intricately carved with symbols of forgotten deities, “this was built long before elves or man came here. These carvings show gods worshipped by Ancients”.

“The Ancients”, exclaims Hew, “I’ll not set foot inside ther…”

Strawberri cuts him off, “If Fae built then I would agree Hew, but there is nothing to fear from a civilization long gone”.

Culdus agrees with her, “and better to be inside than out in the open in this weather”

Crea, leading her moose, Culdus and Strawberri enter the temple, its entrance more than large enough to allow the moose inside.

Inside, the air is thick with the scent of damp earth and decaying 
leaves. There is hardly any light entering the temple from outside, but they can make out vibrant ferns and delectate flowers that have taken root in the cracks of the stone floor. An alter, draped in ivy and covered in a thin layer of soil stands in the center of this first room. The temple is strangely comfortably warm .

Culdus has the ability to sense magic, so I ask the oracle if he can. 50/50. d100 roll = 40%, No.

Culdus stands and seems to fall into some kind of trance, staring at the alter, after a few minutes he comes out of it, walks to the entrance and shouts, “It seems safe enough in here, see if you can find some sticks to light a fire, it would be good to have a hot meal”.

Rhian volunteers to see if she can hunt something they can eat, there must be some woodland animals here.

Rhian has a Wisdom of 13 & +1 with her hunting skill so needs 14 or less on d20. Roll = 6. A success.
What animal does she find. 1=Snowshoe Hares, 2=Deer, 3=Squirrels, 4=Wild Boar. d4 =4, a wild boar (link).

Rhian doesn’t have to go far from the ancient temple before she is able to sneak up on a large wild boar. She steadies her longbow and loosens an arrow at the creature (a hit, the boar takes 5 damage)

Roll for boars reaction. 1,2 does nothing, 3,4 runs away, 5,6 charges Rhian. d6 roll = 1,

The boar seems quite unaware that it has been hit by an arrow and continues trying to get to some food under a layer of snow. Rhian takes a second shot, this time she uses on of her enchanted arrows, (a second arrow hits the boar for 3 damage)

I roll again for the boars reaction, d6 roll =6, charges.

Suddenly the boar lets out a terrifying squeal, it turns towards Rhian and begins to charge straight towards her. Rhian is able to loose one more arrow (no magical this time, d20 roll = 14, a hit for 4 damage. The boar is down to 2hp).

The boar continues its charge towards Rhian who is quick enough to sidestep the oncoming beast (boar combat roll is a 3, which is a miss), Rhian whacks the creature with her staff, (combat roll =19, a hit for 5 damage), and the boar becomes the companions evening meal.

This is a large animal, so Rhian must pass a strength check to see if she can carry it back to the temple, She needs to roll 13 or less on a d20, d20 roll =4, a pass

Rhian removes the arrows from the poor animal, then lifts the creature up and over her shoulders, carrying it back to the temple.

Back at the temple Strawberri and Karina have managed to gather enough wood and dried leaves to get a somewhat smokey fire going. (Strawberri made an Intelligence check to see if she knew where to look for dry(ish) wood, needing 12 or less, she rolled 3).

Caring little that the smell of roasting wild bore may attract unwanted visitors to the temple in search of food, the characters enjoy their feast, Culdus takes a wine skin containing fine wine from the Enibrian abbey in Winterton, “a gift from Abbess Gallach”, he announces and all are keen to share it with him.

Question. Does the smell of cooking meat attract any creatures? Likely +20%, d100 roll = 16+20, 36. No.

Hew is the only one who is a little nervous, he is not comfortable staying in a temple built by the ancients and stands by the entrance, ready to get out quick if need be, but also to get in quick if need be too. He notices that the smell of the roasting boar cannot be detected outside of the Temple, this only fuels his fear of remaining in the temple. At least the smell won’t attack any unwanted visitors.

Will full bellies and warm from the fire and the wine, the companions settle down for the evening, even the moose makes the most of ferns and flowers found in the cracks of the floor and seems very content.

They spend a restful, comfortable night in the temple, each taking turns to stand by the entrance, keeping watch outside. The night passes without incident. In the morning they prepare to leave and continue to the monastery in the far mountains.

Culdus wants to look around the temple but Crea, keen to get going, tells him the temple is empty, the only thing of interest is a large stone statue at the back of the temple, there is no light at that end of the temple and not worth lighting a torch just to look. Culdus makes a mental note to return to the site once their mission is over.

A giant statue at the back of the temple, two gems, the colour of dioxazine Violet which sit in its eye sockets, see through the darkness, it watches the companions, . It is happy to let them go.

to be continued

A thought about rolling dice and asking questions.

After I typed this up, I wondered to myself if some of my dice roll were necessary. Did I need to get Strawberri the fae foundling, to make an ability check to see if she found wood for a fire, after all, they are in a forest, there is bound to be wood even if wet and under snow.

Maybe its better to only roll when success and failure add great interest to the game, and just assume that a party of adventures will have the knowhow to collect wood and light a fire.

Do you roll for every little thing, or do you let some pass? What kinds of rolls are you more likely to let pass?  Let me know.