After having much enjoyment reading the blogs of Aos and Jrients (and some others) I decided to start a casual old school game using the only rules I had lying around (S&W Core Rules) last weekend. This was mainly due to the fact that my usual gaming group is struggling to meet due to overseas trips and the usual real life interruptions.

So when last weekend came around and we had two apologies, instead of cancelling we started playing. We had so much fun, I figured I would share for a change

So in the down time I had on before the players turned up I started to write up a cheesy setting:

   Tocholt Setting
Over two centuries have passed since the Dragon Kings broke through the planar boundaries and ravaged the aging empire of Corlea. Once great cities were plundered and ruined; and once great people slaughtered, enslaved and scattered to the winds. It took the great heroes Ciofi, Seinael, Fase and Locio with the Blade of Aganathene to defeat and banish the Dragon Kings back to their home dimension, albeit at the cost of their lives. After four decades of brutal domination, Corlea was all but a fond memory with civilization centered in a few remaining city states.

The region of Tocholt had a different name in the days of Corlea (Malandistan) and all that remained was the crumbling ruins a long way from anywhere. Only scholars remembered the name and fewer still recalled what it once was famous for. The area itself was on the far western outskirts of the empire and now the closest major city state was almost two weeks by boat down the River Toc. In fact the only reason Tocholt existed at all was that an old silver mine had been discovered from a deciphered passage in a long lost moldy manuscript found in some ancient ruins.

Once the silver was discovered, a self-proclaimed Count, Raifin arrived with indentured workers in tow and built a fort on the top of Dun Frey. Count Raifin then proceeded to round up all the local bandits and offered them a job (declining the job offer was fatal of course). Raifin was self-serving, somewhat corrupt lordling but he wasn't brutal or demanding. For the offer of armed protection on barges south and protection of the nearby villages, he taxed the silver trade, all other trade was left alone. The locals were happy and mostly safe, the miners were a little unhappy but very safe and Count Raifin was very happy, quite wealthy and very safe.


I used the awesome hexographer to knock up a lightning quick overland map (here) to use. I started writing up some details of the landmarks, and then drew up the first level of a dungeon on graph paper.

The players turned up and in 5 minutes we had some characters rolled:
Oog Doorbasher: Dwarf Warrior. Familial hatred of all doors. Kicked out of guard on first day for drinking beer on the job. Inventor of the beard ring for holding tankards.
(it should be noted that some very unspectacular stat rolls left the dwarf with only 3 hp, and only one stat over 9 but a spectacular money roll meant he could buy platemail and shield to compensate)
Tuyen: Cleric. Enforcer of laws and rituals of the local Druidic styled priests. Has a habit of bringing people kicking and screaming to religion. Alleged eater of babies.

Session 1, Part 1
Tuyen, strong arm of the local faith, had heard from her superiors that an ancient temple deep in the plains had smoke plumes seen above it. The guardsmen of Count Raifin had spotted the activity while out on a patrol for some errant bandits that had been hassling the silver shipments recently. Determined to get to the bottom of it, and eager to violently stamp out any cults, Tuyen set off to the fort atop Dun Frey to get more details and any assistance she could.

Upon her arrival to the new community that surrounded the Count's new fort she spied a dwarf in his grandfathers platemail and wielding his ancestors battle-axe (known as Wood Door Bane). Oog, who had misunderstood the cultural difference between humans and dwarves, had gotten traditionally and roaringly drunk during guard duty on his first day. Out on his arse and with a non-existent beer fund, Oog quickly (and conveniently, and perhaps cheesily) took up employment with the young cleric.

Tuyen then proceeded to diplomatically hassle Count Raifin (who was keen to keep the local clergy happy with him) for information, supplies and the local children. Getting all three, Tuyen proceed to enforce the rituals of her religion on the local children with firm discipline. Oog got drunk.

The next day, with a guide to lead the way, they made their way north into the plains to find the temple.

On the second day out into the wilderness, the guide cut the trail of some humanoids. Deciding to follow their trail, the party soon came upon three goblins. One with a bow, two with short swords, all dressed in rather good looking clothing.

The goblin with the bow shot first at the guide in the lead and with awesome aim, splattered brain elsewhere. The other two goblins, emboldened by this charged into the fray, to be met by the awesome axe of Oog who felled one in one shot, and then Tuyen who squished the other with her morningstar. The last goblin, legged it into the long grass never to be seen again (or so they think).

Now without their guide, the intrepid duo headed north in what they hoped was the right direction. They wandered on for a couple days of pleasant travel through the plains, having miraculously managed to stay on path. Then they came across a small camp of three men, presumably belonging to a larger encampment spied further eastwards.

This time the duo thought to try parlay, alas however, Tuyen did not count on Oog's natural skills of dwarven diplomacy. During the haggle about how much coin would exchange hands for safe passage, certain anatomical impossibilities were voiced loudly to one of the guards about his mother. Quickly the moment slipped directly into a dwarven diplomatic exchange of axes versus pikes. Unbelievably, the dwarf handily won the debate, removing the head of the speaker, promptly causing another surrender as the other one legged it off into the grasslands.

To make his point, Oog left the remains of his argument on the end of a pike, while Tuyen forced her prisoner to scamper weaponless off into the grasslands with promises to never to be in her presence again. Their morale on a high, the adventurers headed up north towards their goal and arrived in just over a day.

Careful reconnoitering of their destination showed the all but disappeared ruins of a large building with two plumes of smoke presumably coming from two separate entrances to the complex below. One entrance looked little more than a hand dug hole, about the size a dwarf could fit through uncomfortable and the other looked like the large remains of a temple antechamber that had been repurposed by the current inhabitants. Each entrance was guarded. One small furry humanoid with wings at the small hole and three similar ones at the large hole.

A hasty plan was formed (as neither had a ranged weapon) and Oog hoisted a fist size rock and threw it at the flying guardian. His plan was to stun and charge, but this turned into miss, trip and roll down the hill. Inventing in the process the new "dwarven rolling axe attack" manoeuvre. The creature spotting the cunning ambush, casually lifted itself into the air and rose a signal horn to its lips and sounded it. Another horn responded in the distance causing the adventurers to tactically retreat, casually, at a dead run.

Session 1, Part 2
Having fled successfully the pair recouped and redeployed. Sticking with the plan they had they circled around the hill to come from the other direction, taking most of the morning to creep their way through the grass and ruins they tried to get closer to re-try their plan. This time they were entirely more successful. They sneaked up on two flying creatures near the front entrance and stunned them long enough for the pair to close into melee range. Suffering little more than a scratch, they dispatched the two, sounded a horn and lay ambush for the remaining two. Cunning won the day and the ambush succeeded handily, giving the adventurers the outside of the hill.

So into the ancient temple they went, noting that in the first room that new torches burned brightly in the sconces, lighting up the defaced and partially ruined statues of a buxom four armed woman with horns on her head. Following up the large passage way made with dwarven precision, they made their way to what once must have been one of the main areas of worship. A vast circular room with vaulted ceiling and a massive 3m tall (about 20'). The statue showed signs of having once been gilt in gold, was now a ruin. Broken off arms lay on the floor next to a destroyed head and chips were all over the body where tomb robbers had done their work.

Amongst all this, the adventurers noted there were other light sources in the room other than torches, coming from a pair of scavenging fire beetles. The dwarf, hating most living things we suspect, jumped atop the crumbling statue and with an echoing battle cry he leapt down with a vast overhand blow with his axe, causing green ichor to spray everywhere. Undaunted, the second beetle hooked its terrible claws into Tuyen's leg causing a deep wound but nothing was stopping Oog who was on a roll. More ichor graced the walls in short order.

The superior stone-cunning of the dwarf noted that two of the passages out of the room were cut much later than the temple walls and by much less skilled hands. Having reasoned this, they decided that straight ahead was the only way to go. This lead them to the most terrifying foe that Oog had ever and may ever face. A large, double stone door, clearly braced on the opposite side. Oog had never faced its like outside of his training grounds in distant lands, he knew immediately that not even his axe could defeat this foe. Shedding a tear and making a devout oath to return one day when had more friends, or possible an axe made out of the mythical adamantine, or even some sort of unknown explosive, the pair left in defeat.

Choosing arbitrarily to head to the left on the way back, the pair headed off into a hand carved, dark labyrinth of some description. Deciding to use the glowing remains of the fire beetles as their light, they headed to the right and down a sloping passage that ended in a rusted portcullis/grill. Oog deemed this to be a worthy foe and with the assistance of Tuyen hauled the rusted remains halfway into the ceiling where it jammed solid (this was seen as a successful kill).

Hearing something scuttling around in the next room they decided wait around the corner for whatever may. That whatever turned out to be some dog sized centipedes which scared the crap out of the cleric, but Oog attacked. Here things went downhill, bites, crippling poison and screaming retreats ensued.

The day ended with a dwarf barely holding onto life with a crippled leg and a cleric in little better condition. The pair hobbled south (stopping only to add a few more pikes and skulls) until they made the safety of the fort.

Things learned:

• It'd be good to have a random monster chart on hand for the very ad-hoc nature of the adventure.
• The player of the dwarven warrior had so much liberating fun in combat that he plans to take the same sense of fun and action back to his 3.5e and 4e games he is involved in.
• The fast, free flowing nature of the whole event seemed to strike a really positive chord with everyone, so we'll being doing it again.