Troll Lord Games

Hi everyone, Im new to C&C, but a 30 yr veteran of RPGs, starting with D&D in the white box. Recently found C&C and was immediately struck with its simplicity and ease of play. At Halesowen Boardgamers, I run some RPG sessions in the holidays for the junior members (you can read of their previous exploits on my blog Brass Jester). This year, I decided to go back to fantasy and use C&C. This then, is the Journal of the Wayfarers.

I decided to restart the campaign world, again using a campaign system I found on the Net as a base (of course, by the time Id finished messing with it, it has evolved somewhat). The system is called the Microlite Campaign System. Basically, you design what you need and no more, add to it as you need and as the games are played. Using a hex map, pick a hex and this is the start (in my case, the town of Kularni). Then, in each of the surrounding hexes, place an encounter of a suitable level to the campaign (so mine are fairly low-level). I then ran an adventure for Ben C and Joe, to get used to the system and then did some more design work on Kularni (so there were a few NPCs to meet and places to spend money). I then ran a further adventure (the Ogre Hunt) that Daniel, Ben and John joined in; meanwhile I went back and revised the first adventure, building on some leads they had found. I also (provisionally) located a couple of other places on the map that had been mentioned; these were further away and as of yet I have no idea what lies in between. Map travel is simple; each hex is about 4 hours travel, so two hexes is a normal days travel. Should the PCs all get horses (or something) I may revise this, but itll do for now. Because Ben C and Joe and talked about the first adventure; they all decided to head back there. During that adventure they found a map to another adventure; I now located this on the main map and finalised the design work so that this is now ready to play. Meanwhile, Ben and Joe had expressed an interest to seek out the Tomb of Karian, which is on the Far Isles; so I have now started developing that area. Also, back in Kularni, more work is going on, there is now a more detailed map of the place.

So, the campaign world evolves as the games are played, reacting to meet the needs and wants of the players; rather than the more traditional method of creating the world and history, then dumping the players in the middle of it. I do have some idea of how things came to be, but at the moment Im keeping an open mind.

It was the on the calends of Pretor when Whistler, a fighting man (played by Joe Wallace) and Shadow Blast (!), an Elven Ranger (played by Ben C), set out from Kularni to investigate a ruined building just off the disused North road, in the False Forest. Approaching the ruin they met two fighters, locals out to seek adventure. They were brothers, called Lorn and Dorn, and they readily agreed to accompany them. Investigating the burnt-out ruin, they found lots of cobwebs, a spider-like carving on the wall and a flight of steps down. Investigating the steps, they were ambushed by some goblins, these were killed but Lorn (or Dorn) was badly wounded. Dorn (or Lorn) stayed with his brother whilst Whistler and Shadow Blast pressed on. A large L shaped room held more goblins, these too were taken out. Returning to check on Lorn and Dorn, it appeared that something had snuck in and killed both of them, leaving only drained husks.

An ill-advised attempt to burn a large tapestry revealed another door, but resulted in clouds of smoke that attracted a crowd of goblins led by a hobgoblin. The situation looked hopeless but Skluff, the Hobgoblin, made a deal as he was planning something and dont want none of my boys killed. They had to pay over all the gold they were carrying, but at least they escaped alive.

Returning via the village of Axbridge, they were stopped by a panic-stricken villager. An ogre has been raiding the northern farms they must help

Stopping overnight in the village, the following morning they were joined by three other adventurers, a Ranger called Fluff (Daniel), a Fighting man called Smily (Ben) and a Wizard named John (John). The village Reeve (for such he was) promised them a reward for proof of the ogres death; then led them through the fields, passing a burnt-out farm, to the edge of the False Forest. Stepping-stones crossed a small stream, on the far bank, in the mud, was the imprint of a large clawed foot. Heading into the woods, after some time they found a hut with and old man sitting by an open fire. Talking to him, they found out that to find the ogre they must travel north. Where the path divides, use your common sense. At the Stone Pool, throw in a sprig of hazel and a coin at midnight; then follow what you see. He also gave then a handful of Goodberries; advising that they be used before the next of the full moons (there are two moons in this world). John asked him to describe what hazel looked like.

Travelling north, they came to a fork in the path. The left-hand path was straight, smooth grass, lined with flowers, whereas the right-hand path was twisting, boggy and choked with briars and thorns. Remembering that they were in the False Forest; where all is not what it seems, they chose the right-hand path. All except Shadow, who marched off down the left-hand path?

The right-hand path was difficult going and brambles and thorns sorely scratched them. At one point, in the distance, they heard thudding hooves and the thwack! of a bowstring, followed by a long drawn-out scream. Oh dear, they thought, before continuing. Eventually the path joined another coming in from the left, passed through some thick gorse bushes and emerged back at a muddy clearing they had found earlier.

Meanwhile, Shadow headed along the path, all his Elven senses alert for danger. Without any warning, he was attacked from behind by a huge wild boar. He managed to loose off a shot, but was badly gored and knocked out.

Leaving the clearing and heading north, the track climbed up into the hills, eventually ending in a hollow with a huge standing stone archway. The trail ended just beyond in a grove of trees. A suggestion was made to burn the trees, fortunately, as shall be seen, they did not pursue this course of action. The old man had told them to seek a stone pool, but finding nothing they returned through the gathering dusk to the inscrutable wise old coot to seek clarification. However, when they got there, they found the garden overgrown, the hut ruined and no signs that anyone had lived there for years. Puzzled and at a loss, they went north again; at the Straight Path they were amazed to see Shadow calling to them. It transpired that he had only been knocked out (true! BJ). Night was falling; lighting torches they hurried up the path to join him. Suddenly, Fluff was charged from behind by a wild boar. He and Smily were unhurt and John felled it with a Sleep spell. To their amazement the boar shimmered blue and disappeared.

Back at the standing stones, it finally dawned on them to climb up and look on top. In a hollow on the upper surface was a pool of rainwater. Cutting a sprig of hazel from the grove of trees, Fluff threw it and a coin in at midnight. The image of a cave mouth appeared, followed by a constellation of seven stars, and then faded. Looking in the sky, the constellation was seen, low in the west. Heading west along the hill line, after about three miles they came to a cave; the lair of a mean one-eyed wolf that dealt Smily a grievous wound before being killed. Trying to heal Smily they found out what the Goodberries did (provide healing and nourishment).

After a short rest they continued along the hills, the forest a dark brooding mass below and to their left. After about four miles they came across another cave. There they found the outlaw Rogar and his female companion Kira. Kira was badly wounded and dying. Rogar offered to help them find the ogre, but only if they first help Kira. It used their entire supply of Goodberries to help her; she was still not cured but at least she now had a chance. When asked how it had happened, Rogar simply replied that it had happened during their escape from the prisons of the Red Cardinal. At dawn, he pointed out a ruined tower jutting up like a broken tooth about four miles to the south, the lair of the ogre.

Approaching the tower, the ogre appeared to be asleep, judging by the noise. Shadow crept forward and woke it up by shooting an arrow at it. The ogre grabbed a club and came out fighting but a concerted attack soon killed it.. A search uncovered some treasure, plus a fragment from a diary making reference to the Tomb of Karian, somewhere on the Far Isles.

Returning to Axbridge, they collected the reward for the ogres head, then returned to Kularni.

Following the Ogre Hunt, the Wayfarers spent some time in Kularni, buying stuff and waiting for Smily and Shadow to heal fully. Fluff hired a warehouse from Orrando the Merchant for 15 weeks, John bought a mule and saddlebags to transport stuff. During a talk over drinks one evening, Shadow and Whisper mentioned the goblin lair, after some discussion they decided to pay it a visit.. They set off on the 10th Pretor, reaching the ruined house by midday. There was a brief encounter with a wild-eyed fighter called Sturm who was seeking the wizard Karalyon; Sturm claimed Karalyon had ripped him off and that he was going to put such a cleft in his pointy hat when he caught him. No-one knew who or what he was referring to, so Sturm headed towards Axbridge.

Descending the steps, they ignored the old guard room (where Lorn and Dorn had died) and headed into the L shaped room. Major lesson to be learned do not assume the room will still be empty.. A brief battle with the goblins left the goblins all dead. Exploring south, the passage led to a large hall, lit by a central fire pit, its flickering light revealing a hall full of leaping, cavorting goblins. Fluff and Shadow shot arrows at the nearest two, Fluffs shot failed to take out the goblin, who screamed for help. The rest charged in and attacked. The hobgoblin Skluff, who was sitting on a throne at the far end, recognised Shadow and Whistler, he opened a compartment in the arm of the throne, took out a pottery sphere of some kind and threw it at the party. A cloud of grey dust enveloped Fluff, John and Shadow. Skluff then ran to the corner of the room but a Sleep spell from John took him out. Eventually all of the goblins were killed. A search turned up some loose change, Skluff was carrying an iron key, a map (to some big blokes wiv lotsa cash) and some gold (actually what he took off Whistler and Shadow earlier). Smily experimented with the throne and found that pulling up the left arm opened a secret door in the wall. Heading through into a narrow 5 wide passage, Shadow had to leap backwards as a pit opened under his feet. This was crossed by climbing down it and up the other side, as it was judges too dangerous to try and jump it. On the other side a lever in the wall opened a secret panel into a bedroom. Searching this they found two potions (of Healing) that Fluff took possession of. The door out led back into the L shaped room, although at first they didnt recognise it and decided that something else was going around the dungeon. Heading back to the Goblin Hall, at the T Junction, a huge spider dropped from the ceiling onto Whisper. He was bitten and poisoned before the creature was killed but fortunately the poison had little effect. However, they had to use one of the healing potions to cure him. Moving through the hall of dead goblins they went down a short flight of steps to a strange temple an altar block and a round plinth with a demon-like statue ( which John recognised as being Demon-Lord Firakh, Servitor of Gorthan, Lord of Evil). This knowledge, perhaps, should have warned them not to mess. The statue eyes were gems, looked like fire opals, Whisper and Shadow set about prising these out. Smily investigated the altar, he tried to open it, the top would not move but he did find a series of small holes just under the rim. As the last eye came out a horrible gurgling noise came from the altar and a grey gunge began to flow from out of the holes. This formed into an amoeba-like creature. Fluff hit it with his axe, only to see in horror that the axe-head dissolved. The thing spat out an impossibly long tendril and hit Shadow, causing some nasty acid burns. They ran out of the temple, looking back Shadow saw and heard the thing pursuing them, albeit somewhat slowly. Back at the corridor junction, another spider landed on and poisoned John, he nearly died but the last of the healing potions was used to cure him. The grey ooze was nearly upon them so they ran out of the dungeon, found that Johns mule was still where hed tied it up (and hadnt been eaten!) and returned to Kularni.

In Kularni

Having escaped the slurping grey ooze, back in Kularni, the Wayfarers amused themselves by advertising various services and items. On the Ides of Pretor the following adverts appeared on the information post at the Four Gates: -

Are you no good at archery? Want to kill forces unknown? Come to Fluffs archery place. We will help

Whistlers Heads. Ive got five heads, 10 gold per head. Useful balls

Need an adventurer or a bodyguard? Ask Shadow Blast (Shadow) TODAY!!!

Fish! Fish! Fish!. Learn the art of fishing. Contact John the wizard. Give a man a fish, he will eat for a day. Teach a man to fish, he will eat a lifetime

Whistlers Fighting Lessons. Only 5gp a session. Work on self-defence and help annihilate killers

Fighting Lessons! Destroy the dark forces of evil. Contact Smily

Johns writing lessons. All equipment provided. 10 gp per hour session. Look for the wizard named John

Need to track an animal? Lessons 5 gp a lesson. See Shadow

Whistler and Shadow started making plans to travel to the Far Isles, to seek out the Tomb of Karian.

The Hall of the Gargoyle

Seven days after the Ides, Fluff, Smily and John had gone to spend some time fishing. Shadow and Whisper were joined by three new adventurers, a fighter named Asumel (Alec), a Korslander barbarian named Jim (!) and a wizardess called Bobita ( played by James and Charlotte respectively). Kularni was buzzing, a 10,000 gold reward was on offer for the notorious bandit Toorkman. His latest outrage was to raid a caravan belonging to the Red Cardinal, but he is also notorious for cutting off the third finger from the left hand of any noble lady he captures. After some asking around, they learnt that Toorkman raided along the east road. Working out that the reward was worth 2000 gold each, they decided to capture him. They bought some equipment, Bobita bought a scarf out of the market.

Setting off along the east road, passing through Axbridge they crossed the bridge and followed the road . After an hour or so they heard strange, fey music coming from out of the woods to their left. Climbing a tree, Shadow saw a ring of toadstools with several merry pixies dancing round, drunk on elderberry wine. Bobita tried talking to them, all was going well ( although the conversation was somewhat giggly and random) until Shadow tried to grab one of them. The pixies got annoyed, handed over all their treasure (3 blood rubies), then vanished. Asumel, Bobita and Jim took a ruby each. Bobita glimpsed a stone building deeper in the wood, square with a domed roof and four entrances, one in each wall. Inside was a 12 stone pillar with a gargoyle on top, staring at a spot on the floor. Shadow shot an arrow at the gargoyle, they decided it was probably a statue. Asumel found that by pulling the right arm, a hatch slid back in the floor where the gargoyle was staring, revealing steps down.

At the foot of the stairs there was a choice of passages, The right passage had a human skull nailed over it, the left hand passage had three orc skulls nailed over it. The centre passage had nothing. They found a lever on the wall that opened and closed the sliding hatch. They chose to investigate the right hand passage. All, that is except Bobita, who chose to go it alone along the centre passage

The right-hand passage led to a guard post with 2 orcs. These were easily taken down but not before one yelled an alarm. More orcs came from the west passage, again after a brief fight the party won through to a larger room where they found some treasure and evidence that it was a larger guardroom.

Meanwhile, Bobita found a large hall with an artificial ditch crossed by a drawbridge; the bridge was down and the winding mechanism was on the far side of the ditch. She continued through into another hall with four supporting pillars. An archway led to a sloping passage down, there was a rank, sewer-like smell. A further slippery slope dumped her into a water-filled passage. Wading along this, suddenly a huge shape reared up in front of her

Having cleaned their weapons, Asumel, Jim, Whisper and Shadow headed through the south passage. Turning left at a crossroads they came to a large hall with an artificial ditch, crossed by a drawbridge. Over the ditch the hall stretched away, with passages to the left and right. The bridge was down and the winding mechanism was on their side. They raised the drawbridge; as they did so a party of orcs came out of the left passage, stopped in confusion and then, in guttural Common, asked to be let in. There was some argument and eventually the orc leader smelt a rat and told his men to go round the other way. Shadow then confirmed their intentions by shooting an arrow at the leader ( which missed). The Wayfarers chose to stand their ground and ambushed the orcs as they came charging down the passage. Shadow took out the leader with a superb shot though the eye, Jim and Whisper took out two and Asumel leapt forward to protect Shadow from the last orc. After a brief rest, they lowered the bridge and ran across, heading right.. They passed into the pillared hall but ran straight through the archway (unknowingly following in Bobitas footsteps). Turning left, they found a dank-smelling room with a set of manacles and chains fastened to an iron peg in the wall. They surmised that this was a prison cell. Investigating a sloping ramp, Whisper, Jim and Asumel lost their footing and slid down it into a flooded passage. Jim landed head-first and swallowed some water; he spent some time retching and throwing up. Shadow managed to keep his balance at the top of the ramp. The water surged and suddenly a huge, slug-like creature reared up in front of Whisper, a hideous sucking maw had traces of Bobitas scarf stuck in it. Whisper hit it, but then took a serious wound from the creature. They retreated down the passage; Asumel struck his foot on something under the water. It was a sword in a scabbard; the blade was bright and had runes of power inscribed on it. Telling the others to escape, he faced the slug-creature alone. The sword dealt it a serious injury, bits of dissolved bone spewed out of the wound and it retreated. They managed to get out and back to the pillared hall. Investigating one of the passages, they triggered a spear trap that hit Whisper in the back, nearly KOing him. Asumel led the way and narrowly avoided falling into a pit trap. Two orcs across the pit entered into a brief shooting match but were taken out, but there was no way of crossing the pit. As Whisper was hurt, and with no way of healing him, they headed back to the surface; meeting nothing en-route. They made it back to Axbridge by nightfall.

So, what happened to Bobita?

I think we found what was left of her