River Blood Campaign: Play Report
Posted: Mon Aug 11, 2014 11:04 am
This is my first time playing an adventure using the system, and if anyone has any ideas about where I could take the Company on their next adventures, or anything else please don't hesitate to post your thoughts! So without further ado:
THE COMPANY
Wyn the River-maiden, a Woodwoman of Wilderland, a descendant of the River-Maidens.
Idrenlan, an Elf of Mirkwood, a raft-elf by trade and nature.
Tanta Took, a Hobbit of the Shire, a gentlewoman with an adventurous streak.
The year is 2950, and the tale begins at Midsummer on the banks at the head of the Dusky River.
The Woodwoman, Wyn, and Hobbit, Tanta, recline on the bank, while Idrenlan, unknown to them watches from the eaves of the forest, scouting ahead of his Rafting party. Suddenly, all three of them are drawn to the sight of a River-maiden, a water spirit, rising through the water and appearing before them. Wyn and Tanta stand transfixed, while Idrenlan draws his bow, and leaps forward to intimidate the River-maiden. Though at first frightened, Wyn's gentle words convince the maiden, whose name is Silverbell, to reveal her purpose for being there. Silverbell offers the company a challenge; if they reach the Black Tarn by the Dusky River, they each may claim a wish. Though Idrenlan and Wyn are sceptical, doubting the spirit's nature, Tanta is drawn in and soon endears the other two into both accepting an uneasy fellowship and the River-maiden's challenge. The players are a bit slow to start, constantly wary, but after a grand total of ten minutes, they decide to get move on. Their journey rolls leave them with a six day trek. I placed Fatigue difficulty at 16, since the river veers between moderate and severe, 14 and 18.
Idrenlan bids goodbye to his old friends as he sets out on the river by raft, with his new companions in tow. Tanta's dried provisions keep the party going for three days, but they soon need to bank to find more supplies. Unable to leave the raft, they sleep among their gear. Wyn succeeds in taking down a stag, and gathering some herbs, which Tanta promptly transforms into a hearty venison stew. The company sleep. Successful Hunting rolls from Wyn and Tanta's Cooking speciality helped this along.
Tanta is woken at midnight by sounds from the river, and looks out to see a second River-maiden washing her hair. The two compete in a game of riddles;
"Alive without breath
as cold as death,
never thirsty, ever drinking,
all in mail, never clinking."
Despite her best efforts, Tanta is confounded by the riddle, but Idrenlan, who was keeping watch, guesses correctly; "A fish." This subsequently earns him a kiss from the River-maiden, whose name is Sunshadow. Wyn falls prey to jealousy, and becomes spiteful towards him for his achievement where her ancestors are concerned.Tanta's player rolls unusually low, and Idrenlan's player guessed as themselves, so I let them have it. Idrenlan gained a point of Hope, while Wyn and Tanta made corruption tests, Tanta succeeding while Wyn failed.
They continue down the river, but bad luck forces them down a waterfall! Tanta survives unscathed, while Idrenlan and his raft suffer a few injuries. Wyn, however, falls to the bottom of the riverbed and starts to drown. Suddenly, the voice of the River-maidens sounds in her mind, and the tide pulls her to the surface, where she is pulled to shore by Tanta and Idrenlan, nearly drowned. Idrenlan sets himself to raft-repairs, having quickly recovered, and Wyn gets back on her feet after a day's rest, but Tanta spends so much time cooking and making tea and mending clothes that she has payed no attention to herself, recuperating very little in one day. A failed roll incurred a Hazard, which was Out Of The Frying Pan Into The Fire, and I decided to throw in Scanty Provisions because I'm mean. Wyn rolled an Eye of Sauron when falling, but a Gandalf Rune when drowning. Idrenlan lost about seven Endurance, while Tanta lost four points, and Wyn was Wounded and Miserable.
On the seventh day of voyage, the company reach the Black Tarn. There they see Silverbell again, and she offers them their wishes. However, they are warned against this by the voice of a mysterious third maiden, Duskwater.
Silverbell enacts a spell to snatch the sense from the company, snaring Idrenlan and Tanta, but Wyn is yet again rescued by the voice of her ancestor spirits. Tanta shakes off the spell, and the two of them quickly sail to the edge of the lake, a bewitched Idrenlan unable to help. As soon as they reach shore, Silverbell sheds her human guise; revealing that she is in fact not Silverbell: she is a Secret Shadow, a servant of Sauron. As the Shadow wings its way towards the company, a quickly notched stinging arrow from Idrenlan's bow strikes the creature in the throat, robbing it of its voice. It does, however, continue to fly, fastening its leathery wings around little Tanta, who wastes no time in pulling out her dagger and ripping the thing's wings to shreds. Barely alive, the vampire is beheaded by Wyn's long-hafted axe.Again, Wyn's player scores a Gandalf Rune, ignoring the spell, while Idrenlan and Tanta fail. Wyn manages to rouse Tanta through an Inspire test, and when the Secret Shadow came to the fore, it was very nearly KO'd by Idrenlan's player spending a point of Hope when firing his Stinging Arrow. Tanta got in a decent attack. Wyn rolls a Gandalf Rune again but it hardly mattered because it had two Endurance points left.
Duskwater thanks the party, though the real Silverbell and Sunshadow are dead, and, as the last River-maiden of Middle-Earth, offers the companions a wish each as a reward. Tanta immediately asks for treasure, and is rewarded with an Elvish tiara , from the riverbed, which she quickly adorns herself with. Idrenlan asks that the River-maidens' plight be remembered, and Duskwater erects a statue of the maidens within the woods of Rhosgobel; as a reward for his unselfishness, he earns a second kiss, freeing him from all negative conditions the voyage had brought him. Wyn asks for the knowledge of her true mother, and Duskwater replies that it is her. Mother and daughter were reunited, shadows were kept at bay, and the river-maidens were remembered for time immemorial. Tanta got twenty-two points of Treasure, selected from the treasure index, Idrenlan gets a point of Hope to replace his spent one, and Wyn gets a nice piece of fluff, which had all the players "aaawing" into their coffee.
If anyone has ANY ideas concerning where I could take the campaign, based on characters, locations or anything else, please post your ideas.
THE COMPANY
Wyn the River-maiden, a Woodwoman of Wilderland, a descendant of the River-Maidens.
Idrenlan, an Elf of Mirkwood, a raft-elf by trade and nature.
Tanta Took, a Hobbit of the Shire, a gentlewoman with an adventurous streak.
The year is 2950, and the tale begins at Midsummer on the banks at the head of the Dusky River.
The Woodwoman, Wyn, and Hobbit, Tanta, recline on the bank, while Idrenlan, unknown to them watches from the eaves of the forest, scouting ahead of his Rafting party. Suddenly, all three of them are drawn to the sight of a River-maiden, a water spirit, rising through the water and appearing before them. Wyn and Tanta stand transfixed, while Idrenlan draws his bow, and leaps forward to intimidate the River-maiden. Though at first frightened, Wyn's gentle words convince the maiden, whose name is Silverbell, to reveal her purpose for being there. Silverbell offers the company a challenge; if they reach the Black Tarn by the Dusky River, they each may claim a wish. Though Idrenlan and Wyn are sceptical, doubting the spirit's nature, Tanta is drawn in and soon endears the other two into both accepting an uneasy fellowship and the River-maiden's challenge. The players are a bit slow to start, constantly wary, but after a grand total of ten minutes, they decide to get move on. Their journey rolls leave them with a six day trek. I placed Fatigue difficulty at 16, since the river veers between moderate and severe, 14 and 18.
Idrenlan bids goodbye to his old friends as he sets out on the river by raft, with his new companions in tow. Tanta's dried provisions keep the party going for three days, but they soon need to bank to find more supplies. Unable to leave the raft, they sleep among their gear. Wyn succeeds in taking down a stag, and gathering some herbs, which Tanta promptly transforms into a hearty venison stew. The company sleep. Successful Hunting rolls from Wyn and Tanta's Cooking speciality helped this along.
Tanta is woken at midnight by sounds from the river, and looks out to see a second River-maiden washing her hair. The two compete in a game of riddles;
"Alive without breath
as cold as death,
never thirsty, ever drinking,
all in mail, never clinking."
Despite her best efforts, Tanta is confounded by the riddle, but Idrenlan, who was keeping watch, guesses correctly; "A fish." This subsequently earns him a kiss from the River-maiden, whose name is Sunshadow. Wyn falls prey to jealousy, and becomes spiteful towards him for his achievement where her ancestors are concerned.Tanta's player rolls unusually low, and Idrenlan's player guessed as themselves, so I let them have it. Idrenlan gained a point of Hope, while Wyn and Tanta made corruption tests, Tanta succeeding while Wyn failed.
They continue down the river, but bad luck forces them down a waterfall! Tanta survives unscathed, while Idrenlan and his raft suffer a few injuries. Wyn, however, falls to the bottom of the riverbed and starts to drown. Suddenly, the voice of the River-maidens sounds in her mind, and the tide pulls her to the surface, where she is pulled to shore by Tanta and Idrenlan, nearly drowned. Idrenlan sets himself to raft-repairs, having quickly recovered, and Wyn gets back on her feet after a day's rest, but Tanta spends so much time cooking and making tea and mending clothes that she has payed no attention to herself, recuperating very little in one day. A failed roll incurred a Hazard, which was Out Of The Frying Pan Into The Fire, and I decided to throw in Scanty Provisions because I'm mean. Wyn rolled an Eye of Sauron when falling, but a Gandalf Rune when drowning. Idrenlan lost about seven Endurance, while Tanta lost four points, and Wyn was Wounded and Miserable.
On the seventh day of voyage, the company reach the Black Tarn. There they see Silverbell again, and she offers them their wishes. However, they are warned against this by the voice of a mysterious third maiden, Duskwater.
Silverbell enacts a spell to snatch the sense from the company, snaring Idrenlan and Tanta, but Wyn is yet again rescued by the voice of her ancestor spirits. Tanta shakes off the spell, and the two of them quickly sail to the edge of the lake, a bewitched Idrenlan unable to help. As soon as they reach shore, Silverbell sheds her human guise; revealing that she is in fact not Silverbell: she is a Secret Shadow, a servant of Sauron. As the Shadow wings its way towards the company, a quickly notched stinging arrow from Idrenlan's bow strikes the creature in the throat, robbing it of its voice. It does, however, continue to fly, fastening its leathery wings around little Tanta, who wastes no time in pulling out her dagger and ripping the thing's wings to shreds. Barely alive, the vampire is beheaded by Wyn's long-hafted axe.Again, Wyn's player scores a Gandalf Rune, ignoring the spell, while Idrenlan and Tanta fail. Wyn manages to rouse Tanta through an Inspire test, and when the Secret Shadow came to the fore, it was very nearly KO'd by Idrenlan's player spending a point of Hope when firing his Stinging Arrow. Tanta got in a decent attack. Wyn rolls a Gandalf Rune again but it hardly mattered because it had two Endurance points left.
Duskwater thanks the party, though the real Silverbell and Sunshadow are dead, and, as the last River-maiden of Middle-Earth, offers the companions a wish each as a reward. Tanta immediately asks for treasure, and is rewarded with an Elvish tiara , from the riverbed, which she quickly adorns herself with. Idrenlan asks that the River-maidens' plight be remembered, and Duskwater erects a statue of the maidens within the woods of Rhosgobel; as a reward for his unselfishness, he earns a second kiss, freeing him from all negative conditions the voyage had brought him. Wyn asks for the knowledge of her true mother, and Duskwater replies that it is her. Mother and daughter were reunited, shadows were kept at bay, and the river-maidens were remembered for time immemorial. Tanta got twenty-two points of Treasure, selected from the treasure index, Idrenlan gets a point of Hope to replace his spent one, and Wyn gets a nice piece of fluff, which had all the players "aaawing" into their coffee.
If anyone has ANY ideas concerning where I could take the campaign, based on characters, locations or anything else, please post your ideas.