Barbarian Prince: A Cal Arath Struggle for Righteousness

[BanzaiCat]

REMO WILLIAMS CAL ARATH: THE ADVENTURE BEGINS

Evil events have overtaken Cal's Northlands Kingdom.

Thanks to every plot device from every early 80s fantasy movie ever, his father, the Old King Khan Aratha (he much preferred to go by last name, first name, Gods rest his weary old man soul), is dead - assassinated by...guess what?

(a) A trusted and close yet somehow dastardly and inexplicably never discovered over many many years of said trust adviser
(b) A trusted and close yet somehow dastardly and inexplicably never discovered over many many years of said trust family member
(c) A sort of person that everyone laughed at because they were slow but secretly and somehow never discovered intelligent and plotting friend of the family
(d) Who cares, they're bad guys, deal with it

Regardless, they are rivals to the throne have somehow treacherously usurped the throne and taken over. Somehow everyone loyal to the old king, even though he liked to froth at the mouth and play with his toes a lot, decided to suddenly not be loyal to Aratha's son Cal (short for Calllllifornia looo-ooove - his parents were hippies when they were younger). This led to the usual shenanigans that happened in every early 80s fantasy movie (and D&D game for that matter) - the bad guys try to execute a ridiculously convoluted plan to jail Cal to silence him, when a knife kissing his throat would be much easier. Thanks to this convoluted plan (and to Cal's apparent plethora of muscles, and incompetent guards, and lots of campy wakka-chikka 80s synth fantasy music in the background), Cal is able to barely escape.

These usurpers now hold the palace with their mercenary royal guard. Cal has escaped, and must collect 500 gold pieces to raise an army of mercenaries himself to smash them and retake his heritage. Because apparently the bad guys only spent about half that on their own mercenary army, and 250 gold (let alone 500) won't get you through a season or two, not with the way gold futures are and what with Ogre Mae finance rates through the roof and all.

Furthermore, these usurpers have powerful friends overseas. If Cal can't return to take them out in ten weeks, their allies will arm and you will lose your kingdom forever. So I guess these powerful friends (enemies) are off on vacation somewhere...or, something?

We begin play as the Barbarian Prince, Calorie Celery Cal Arath, rightful heir to the throne of the Northlands Kingdom^TM.

Few humans can match his skill with trusty Bonebiter  ^-^ , his broadsword: he has a Combat Skill of 8.

Life in the harsh Northlands has developed his powerful body and magnificent physique to the level of US Navy commanders riding desks: he has an Endurance of 9. I mark this on the BP track I created. This track will be used to represent his Health throughout the game.



Alas, in making his escape, he could only grab a few coins; his Wealth Code is 2. Referring to r225, I need to roll 1d6 and see how many gold pieces good ol' Cal has.

Using Random.org, I get a six, but that's not really all that great as Cal apparently could only grab the spare change from the top of his dad's dresser; he has four whole gold pieces. I mark this on my track as well.



In addition, and despite him losing his kingdom thanks to lazy plot devices, he has a "Wit & Wiles" rating, reflecting his ability to react quickly to situations, think his way out of trouble, and convince people of...things. I roll one die to determine this WW rating, and get another six.

No, really, I rolled two sixes in a row. Seriously, I'm not kidding. This guy is smurt, y'all. (All poor joking aside, I really AM sticking to the results I get from that site.)


Pictured: Cal Arath, about to accept his MENSA certification.

To escape the mercenary and royal guard, Cal's loyal body servant Ogab smuggled you into a merchant caravan to the southern border. I roll one die to see where the caravan takes him (while poor Ogab faces the wrath of the royal guards back home, because...reasons) and get a 1 this time. That means he starts in Ogon (hex 0101).



Now, at dawn he rolls out of the merchant wagons into a ditch, dusts off his clothes, loosens your swordbelt, and gets ready to start the first day of his adventure.

It's important to note that if Cal finishes actions for a day on any hex north of the Tragoth River, the mercenary royal guardsmen may find him. It's in his best interest to skedaddle, and quickly, south of the river.



Might as well cross right here to avoid those mercenary masters of conquest. But first I need to check for crossing a river, and then check for entering a Countryside hex.

For my "Lost" roll, I get a 3 and 2, for a total of 5. He'd only get lost crossing a River (and how the hell he could pull that one off is a mystery since the river is, like, right there) on a roll of 8 or higher, so he manages to make his way from one side of it to the other without losing track of which side is which.

For the Event roll, I get a 3 and 4, for a total of 7. Events in a Countryside hex only occur on a roll of 9 or higher, so his crossing into this hex is uneventful.



Now comes the Food portion of the turn. Since he has none, he'll have to hunt. I take his Combat Skill of 8 and half his Endurance (which has a notation "V_z" and I have no idea if that means round up or down, so I'm going to round up because...BARBARIAN PRIIIIIIINCE) for a total of 13. I roll two dice (getting a 2 and 1, total 3) and subtract this from 13, getting 10.

Ha, nevermind, it's actually rounded down, so that's 9 food instead. Oh well. BARBARIAN PRIIIIIIINNNNNC

Good ol' Calgon (Ancient Chinese Secret^TM) gets 9 food. He snarfs one of the food units as his main daily meal, leaving 8 (because, MAAAAATH). He can carry the rest of this, but there's some rule called 'Loads'  ^-^ where each "man" can only carry ten such things. Each food unit counts as one load, so Cal has two loads open.



He ends his first day alone and crying himself to sleep in a crude lean-to.

[BanzaiCat]

DAY 2

Day 2 dawns brighter than the Barbarian Prince's mood. As the treachery of the last few days sinks in, the fear of pursuit has given way to a desire to crush skulls with his meaty man-hands.

From hex 0102, he has few travel choices. Going back to Ogon, or hex 0201, means re-crossing the river and possibly encountering the mercenary guard, a risk that has little reward for the Prince. That leaves going south into 0103, a mountain hex, or southeast into 0202, a forest hex.



Checking the travel tables, it's easier to get lost in a mountain hex than a forest hex, so southeast it is.



I roll a total of 5 on two dice, and the Lost roll for a forest hex is 8 or higher, so the Prince manages to not get lost and enters hex 0202 knowing generally where he is.



Note this is a pretty big map; this is just the top portion, in case you've never seen this game before.

Anyway, Cal needs to see if he encounters anything; a roll of 6 and 3 totals 9, and that's the number you need or higher to have one in such a hex...so the Prince is not alone.

I roll again on the Forest event table and get 'Elven Band' as a result.

Following a narrow forest trail to help ensure he has no pursuers, the Barbarian Prince's senses are on edge; he hears everything in the forest. Every animal sound merges into is a cacophony of noise, which is a comforting thing as silence in the woods would be indicative of danger ahead!

Suddenly, the sounds begin to abate, but not entirely disappear. The BP slows his advance down the path, hearing high-pitched voices ahead. Whomever it is, they're not animals, and they're not really concerned with their surroundings. Either they are very stupid, or very strong. Cal assumes the latter.

Before he can act, they come past a narrow bend in the path ahead of him. Six elves, loaded for travel, are debating some point or another in their native tongue.

The "Elven Band" encounter gives me three choices for interaction: Talk, Evade, or Fight. I'm going to try Talk, because fighting six Elves, each with a Combat Skill of 5 and Endurance of 4 is not an easy fight. Their Wealth of 7 isn't much of a tempting thing, either...not for the licks these guys would get in in a fight.

Choice made, the Barbarian Prince takes a deep breath and begins speaking. Elven is a language he had been taught as a young man, but not something he stuck with over the years. The Elves in front of him stop; their hands, which had already been casually resting on weapons, continue to do so as they stare in quickly-concealed surprise.

Cal hopes he's giving them a universal Elven greeting and not asking if they want a wild boar stuck in their nether regions.



I roll a 3, which means a conversation is entered into.

In an extended period of talking, he gradually discovers the interests and attitudes of the character(s) he's encountered. This takes a good deal of time; this will effectively end his day, though he'd be incapable of doing any more travel anyway.

More dice must be rolled - two this time. I get an 8, which is "Character(s) looking for fun and profit."

These guys want to be hirelings. I'd need to roll against my Wit and Wiles rating to see what their cost would be. However, the Barbarian Prince has no time for frivolities! Nor does the Barbarian Prince have gold to hire anyone.

"Our swords are for sale," said one Elf.

"Best Elven-made metal in the land," says another.

Cal merely waved them away. "I cannot take on hirelings right now," he says gruffly. "My path is just beginning and my resources are slim."

(Die Roll = 1, meaning they'd be willing to be hired at one gold piece per person per day - which is still way too rich for Cal's blood.)

"Oh, please," says a third. "One gold per day per Elf will mean utter-"

"I said no, blast you all." Cal's patience was wearing thin, but he tried his best to balance his frustration with them holding him up with a need for diplomacy. It wouldn't do to die two hexes away from home! Maybe three...but certainly not two.

Now, technically, I can hire just a few of them. He only has four gold pieces, so do the math with one Elf per gold piece per day. On second thought, it might be a good idea to hire one briefly. Cal would not only need to pay him, but feed him as well; Cal, though, has plenty of food, and they could hunt before making camp for the night.

Cal's demeanor changed as it dawned on him that an Elf might be incredibly helpful. "I have barely the coin to rub together," he started in a pious tone. "However, I'd be willing to take on one of you, if any are willing."

The first Elf to step forward, Cal pointed out and waved a thumb in a vague direction. "Let's go, Ears."

"My name is-" the Elf started imperiously.

"Your name is Ears," said the Barbarian Prince, making a point by flexing one of his tree-trunk-sized biceps. He lowered his sword, though, and tried to pose threateningly and impressively.



"That's a little gay," said the Elf.

"Your kind would know, Ears," said Cal in reply.

"I mean," the Elf said, nonplussed, "where do you carry your baggage? All I see is a sword and a loincloth. You're supposed to feed me each day, but if you're storing things where I think you're storing them..."

"Best not to ask questions," said Cal. "Here's your one gold piece for the day."



According to the game, their first day's pay is due immediately, which is kind of stupid since nothing can happen this day except for camping. Though, he can help with hunting. We may as well load up. With this follower, we can carry a total of 20 food units, and I have 8 on hand right now. Eating for the day would use up two of 'em, so it wouldn't be bad to find some helpless yet meaty woodland creature somewhere to ingest.

At this point we can assume the other Elves part company with us, and we find a suitable site for camping.

The hunt now begins.

I roll a 7 for the Prince, which is five food units.

The Elf has a Combat Skill of 5 and an Endurance of 4 (as mentioned earlier), giving him a base hunting number of 7. I roll boxcars for him (double 6s), so he comes up empty-handed. Cal snorts in derision as he drops the loads of freshly-murdered fuzzy corpses tied to a large branch for ease of transport.

We have a total of 13 food units now, and subtracting two gives us eleven. Math is easy in this game! Thank goodness.



The sun goes down and these two travelers fall quickly asleep.



Cal knows he's going to need to cut this guy loose sooner rather than later, unless he comes across a treasure trove. He finally falls asleep, cuddling Bonebiter to his bare chest, sucking his thumb, and dreaming of skinning his enemies alive atop a pile of gold coin.

[BanzaiCat]

DAY 3

don't remember what Events are best or where. I do remember playing through this game several years ago (10+ years or so? I don't recall) and posting the playthrough to BGG. That was a very short game - the Barbarian Prince found some helmet that made him King within four hexes of that northern river. That was the most womp-womp game of BP I'd ever played in my life, and I'd had the game back in middle school when it first came out! So many good times getting killed in new and interesting ways in this game.

Anyway, back to the story at hand.



I've got to start earning some coin, not because I want to keep the Elf around (you can see the brown counter underneath Cal's token), but because we need 500 gold pieces, and so far I've not done much.

The map shows some ruins to the south and a town to the east. I think ruins might be a better option for finding treasure, perhaps, so I think we'll head south.



Cal thusly needs to do another check for getting lost, and for an Event.

I get a 7 for the Lost roll, juuuuust barely missing wondering where the hell I am.

For an Event, I roll a 5, completely missing anything out there. There could be an empty wagon with 1,000 gold pieces just past the next bush, but good ol' Cal Arath has totally missed it. Sort of like the guard from this classic scene from Kentucky Fried Movie ('A Fistful of Yen').

That's about it for Turn 3, though I'm going to go ahead and have them hunt again. As usual, Cal is an expert huntsman, netting 8 food units. The Elf, proving that he is about the worst Elf ever, once again doesn't earn any of his gold piece and finds nothing.

I have to use up two Food units and one more gold piece. I think I'm going to let this guy go the next day. Thing is, you don't need to pay hirelings until the evening meal, so we can go through an encounter the next day and I can let his worthless self go. Who knows...maybe he'll earn his keep this next turn.



Of course, I'm assuming his gender here...how dare I, right?

Both travelers go to sleep again, with Cal dreaming of scalping the mercenary king and wearing it as a wig.

[BanzaiCat]

DAY/TURN 4

he fourth day/turn dawned the same as every other; the Barbarian Prince is poor and has a freeloader along for the ride.

Unless we come across some kind of magic Monty Hall hoard, he's going buh-bye before the end of the day.

For now, though, we want to trek southwards once again, heading into a Hills hex, 0205.



My Lost roll of 5 means we remain on track (you get lost on a roll of 8+ in Hills); my Event roll of 10 means we just manage to come across something more interesting than hill...uh...stuff.

A 5 and a 1 means...we run across a Giant.

You encounter a 12-foot tall giant, carrying a very big club. He is combat skill 9, endurance 8, wealth 10.

I assume he looks like Wilt Chamberlain's character from the Conan movie...I guess I might as well keep the theme going.



The Wealth Code of 10 isn't much...the best we can hope for is 14 gold pieces, which isn't worth a fight with a powerful Giant. Since I have options to Talk, Evade, or Fight, I'm going to try Talk.

The result is Pass. I momentarily breathe a sigh of relief...until I read the associated paragraph in the Rules book and find this:

Characters encountered look rough, but you try to talk your way out of a fight. Roll one die, if your wit & wiles exceeds the roll, they let your party pass and event ends; otherwise, see r330.

My WW is 6, so this should be easy...unless I roll a 6.

What?

You think I'm going to roll a 6, don't you?

Well, too bad for you...I rolled a 2. So there.

The Giant, I guess, determines that a trailer park male dancer in a furry loincloth and a lazy, good-for-nothing Elf aren't worth the effort. I'm pretty sure our total lack of shinies and baubles enters into that equation as well.

With a grunt, the Giant steps aside, trundling off into the forest.

That turn could have been much more interesting. Since it wasn't, I tell the Elf to go jump off a cliff or something so I won't have to pay him again. He simply nods and melts into the underbrush.

I had 17 food at the start of the day. The Elf, I will assume, takes seven of them with him (I can't carry it anyway). If there's a rule governing this, I'm not sure of what it is; I am aware that if you give an item to a hireling, it's theirs permanently, unless they die, at which point you can pull it from their cold, dead, extra background actor hands.

So in this case I'll just assume that this damned Elf wanders off with nearly half the food - food that the Barbarian Prince himself hunted, killed, and prepared. Cal watched the Elf go, considering stabbing the haughty creature in the back.


"I had to let him go...he was dead tired."

So that's ten food the Calmeister has; he eats one, still has two precious gold pieces left, and with that we end turn / day 4.

[BanzaiCat]

DAY/TURN 5

We (that is, Cal) is getting closer to the ruins in the Dead Plains. He has one more Hill hex to cross, though.





And, lucky Cal, he gets lost. As you know by now, a roll of 8+ in Hills means Lost.

So that means we're stuck in the same hex for the day, though we need to check for an Event too.



A 10 means we just barely get an Event.

So let's check that out.



First, we roll to see which row we get...





...and then, we roll for the column...





...and Cal comes across a Merchant.

(snicker) Joke's on him when he sees Cal's purse is lighter than Mirth's pretend loafers!



We don't have barely any money, but it might be more interesting than just hunting and resting to close out this day, so I'm going to chance an encounter with this one.





So, it's a farm, then, out here in the middle of the...hills. Okay, it must be some kind of fertile ground between the hills, perhaps.

Should Cal investigate?

I'm pretty sure he should. I mean, the day's kind of shot anyway.

According to e009, Cal can either approach all friendly-like, or raid the place.

Cal is going to be friendly. He's a hero, not some bloodthirsty brigand.

Choice made, I need to roll 2d6 again.



Uh-oh. Boxcars are really good, or REALLY bad.

According to the results, the farm turns out to be a magician's home. Since I took a friendly approach, he's nice and doesn't try to blow Cal's head off with a fireball or something.

He insists that Cal stay the night and tell him of his adventures to date.

(Cal's sorry to report that the most interesting part of his life ended just before he crossed the river, but maybe that's not a bad thing. Oh, but there was this Elf jerkwad...)

He doesn't have food to spare, so Cal will have to eat from his own pack. Not a big deal right now.

From the conversation, it turns out the magician may be interested in joining Cal. I might as well try to see what happens.



A 7 means he slowly but surely reveals himself through the conversation. I can choose to speak further, or continue on my way. In this case Cal's going to press his luck.





A 12 is, again, either a great thing or an awful thing. In this game, it's usually a great thing.

It appears this magician has a common cause with Cal!

You discover the character(s) know about your quest to regain your throne, and they too have a personal grudge against the usurpers there. They will join your party as followers, and remain with you at no cost (beyond food and lodging).

Well, that's a pretty awesome deal. Pretty damned lucky, too. I get a follower that won't cost me any coin, but hunting should be good enough to keep us both fed...I hope, anyway.

He is combat skill 3, endurance 5. He's not all that apt in combat, but he might prove very useful should an Event rear its head that requires his talents.

Well, Cal didn't manage to make it out of his hex today; he got lost but stumbled upon a friendly magician's abode. Through their engrossing conversation, the magician turned out to be an enemy of the ursurpers, having been chased out of the Northlands some months ago, and has seethed ever since. He sees helping Cal as a means to that end.

So, welcome aboard, mage.



He's a little rough around the edges, but he should be a great addition to the party.

Now, I'm not sure if I can hunt or not; I think the encounter sucks up the entire day, and as the event had earlier stipulated he can't feed Cal, but instead Cal will need to eat from his own pack, I'm guessing that means there's no time to hunt.

That's okay, because after eating, we have 7 food units left...plenty to last a few more turns.



With that ends the fifth day of the first week. Two more turns/days and the first of ten weeks is over.

Hopefully our little band will grow both in power and gold, and not die a lonely death at the bottom of some well somewhere.

[JasonPratt]

How have I missed this for a whole week!?!?

Note: I'm about 95% sure this is also available as a TTS mod.


Re Wits: this will help explain a number of things in this game, including "how could you get lost crossing a river"?

Re elf gender assumptions: in my head canon, the elf was female and joined up for obvious reasons relating to one of the Arnold screenshots, but BPCal though the elf was a guy. See also: Wits.

[BanzaiCat]

Ha, thanks JP!

It probably is in TTS, but with some games it's easier to 'play' it in Photoshop. That way I can manipulate graphics as needed, and more quickly.

[BanzaiCat]

DAY/TURN 6

So, where were we?

Oh, yeah...Cal was lost, but found a Mage to help out.



We were pushing towards the ruins in the Dead Plains to the south.

As Day 6 dawns, Cal and his mage pal head out, hopefully finding their way into the next Hill hex.



The roll is...



...a total of 7. We get lost on an 8+, so hey, they made it!



Now, to check for an Event...



...an 11 means yes, we run into something.

So, let's refer to that thar Hills table...



...and make the first roll...





...and the next die roll...





Oh, heyll.

You encounter a huge, winged, fire-breathing Dragon with combat skill 10 and endurance 11.

Roll one die, if the result is 1 or 2 you have found it at its lair, which has wealth 110 and wealth 60 both. With any other roll, it has only wealth 30.

So, let's see if we happened to step into a dragon-sized hole in the side of one of these hills and stumbled into a giant, murderous lizard's death trap, shall we?



:-\

Ohh yes, we shall!

We've found a dragon in a dragon's lair, no less.

As with most possibly violent encounters, we have a choice. In this case, talking is not an option; we can either Evade or Fight.

Heck with it. We're gonna fight.



Making a die roll...



...we actually have a chance at surprising the wee beastie.

r303 Surprise
Roll one die, if the number of characters in your party is less than the roll, your party surprises the characters encountered; otherwise you strike first in combat (r220).

So with two party members, I need to roll a 1...to surprise the dragon...but the rule further states that if I do not roll a 1, I strike first in combat...?

That doesn't make much sense, honestly.



And I roll completely the opposite of 1 on a die roll, so let's see how this pans out.

According to the combat rules, I see what happened - if I managed to roll that 1, the Mage and Cal both would get a free attack before beginning rounds, in which they'd get first attack. Since I bungled that roll, we still get first attack, just not a free one.

Let's just jump right in and see how quickly we die now!

Since we get first strike, I'll start with the Mage. He has Combat Skill 3, Endurance 5. As far as I can tell, the Mage has no special abilities other than possibly affecting future Events.

I take his Combat Skill and subtract the Combat Skill of his target (10) from that, getting a -7.

:DD

Now I roll two dice, and add the results to that -7...



...well, that's a good thing...maybe?



Certainly, it's not a bad thing...the Mage inflicts one Wound on the dragon.

Go Team Barbarian!



His excitement shows no bounds!

Or maybe that's just him giving the stink-eye to Cal for starting a fight with a dragon...



Next up is the ol' BP himself. Subtracting the dragon's dominating Combat Skill of 10 from the Prince's Combat Skill of 8, we get a -2.

Rolling two dice for the Prince, we get...



...a 7, and applying the -2 means a result of 5. One more Wound is struck against the Dragon.



Now, it's the dragon's turn...

...though I'm not seeing a rule that states a procedure for how a single enemy targets multiple characters in the Prince's party. I guess I'll have to wing it. If anyone knows, please post it in this thread!

I'll say the dragon attacks Cal on an even roll, an the Mage on an odd roll...



Cal it is!

CS of 10 for the dragon, minus Cal's 8, equals 2. For the dragon, I roll...



Oh, thank goodness. I know the Prince can die easily in this game and the more I think about it, the more I think this was a dumb idea. Those of you who have played it a lot recently are probably still questioning my decision-making process!

Two plus two more from the die roll is 4 of course, and looking on the Combat Table, there is no result for '4', so the dragon...misses.

Whoa.

THAT was damned lucky. I don't expect that to hold up!

Let's say, for example, I'd rolled a 12 instead of a 2. Twelve plus 4 = 16, which results in FIVE (count 'em) wounds.

That would have hurt. A lot.

So let's keep moving...the Mage goes again. I roll for him...



...double 3's, equaling 6, and taking that from -7 is...-1.

Still, it shows up on the Combat Table...-1 means one Wound.

We're tinking away at the dragon, slowly but surely...but probably way, way too slowly. I might need to dust off the 'escape' part of the rules to see what's up there.



Next, I roll for Cal...



...which ends up a 10. Eight minus 10 is -2, plus the 10 from the die roll equals 8, which is another wound.

We don't have a hope in hell of getting more than one wound a turn on this thing. The lowest result for that is a 10. Cal has to roll boxcars to get those two wounds on the dragon. Meanwhile, I'll take what we can get.



What happens next?

Will Cal and the Mage be successful and bring down this extremely powerful opponent?

Will the dragon laugh as he squashes our hero's innards like paste between his giant dragon toes?

All shall be revealed soon...tune in next time!

[BanzaiCat]

DAY / TURN 6, Continued

When we last saw you, Cal and Mage were battling a Dragon, and so far have been 'tinking' their way to a victory; the Dragon has four Wounds now.

The Dragon is mighty pissed, but one thing I forgot about in the previous combat rounds was, it gets a -1 on its die roll as it has at least one Wound, but is not quite to halfway wounded yet.



So now I roll for the Dragon...but first I roll to see who he attacks. Even roll = Cal, odd roll = Mage...



Guess the Mage is going to get the Dragon's attention, now. First I take the Dragon's Combat Skill of 10 and subtract the Mage's Combat Skill of 3, generating a 7. Then I roll 2d6 and add that to 7...



...getting a 5, so that's a result of 12. But I subtract 1 for the Dragon's wounds thus far, making it an 11.



That means the Mage gets one Wound.



Lucky thing, having that -1, otherwise the '12' result would have meant two Wounds for the Mage.

Now let's go to said Mage. Reeling from the Dragon's blow, he squints mightily at the scaled beast...



...but he kinda looks like that all the time, so that doesn't do anything.

The Mage's -7 Combat Skill differential still holds, but there will be a -1 applied also because of his Wound, making it a -8. Rolling the dice...

The Mage Akman'ma'Gummi is less than pleased, though with the Barbarian Prince or the Dragon, he knows not more which. Angrily, he makes the sign of the Maffa, sending a bolt of pure energy at the Dragon, concentrated emotion fueled by the pain coursing through his veins now...



...not bad, but not great since the Combat Skill differential is so high!

Eleven minus 8 is 3, which equals one Wound. The Mage continues to do well by slowly cutting the Dragon's health down.



Next comes Cal...

The Barbarian Prince's rage builds as the combat goes on; his muscles grow tired and his loincloth gets more flappy, offending everyone present. Nobody wants this done sooner than Cal does, except maybe the Dragon, and the Mage, who seems to get more squinty the more the wind blows.

Cal heaves his mighty Bonebiter  ^-^ in a wide arc as the Dragon leaves itself vulnerable for a split second...

Rolling for Cal, I get...



...a 10. The differential in Combat Skills is -2, resulting in an 8, which means yet one more Wound for the Dragon.



Now that the Dragon is at less than half his Endurance, both the Mage and Cal get a +2 to their die results...when it's their turn next.

Now, the Dragon gets a turn...

Bloody and battered, Swiftwind is still trying to figure out why these interlopers didn't announce themselves. Usually he ate anyone that dared interrupt his slumber, but they usually came around to sell the virtues of one deity or another, or sell Castle Scout cookies (those creatures were particularly delicious when mixed with their cookies!). Now, the half-naked muscle-bound one and the skinny little furry squinty one were starting to get the best of him. He couldn't let this stand, not in his house, not with his treasure on the line...the little squinty one was too fast, so Swiftwind eyed the muscle-bound brute and decided to strike at him...



Guess Cal finally gets the monster's attention. Rolling for the Dragon's strike, I get...



...a total of 8. The Combat Skill differential is +2, equaling 10, and we subtract one for the Dragon's wounds, coming up with a 9. That's a swing and a miss!

Barely avoiding the Dragon's bite, Cal sidesteps and rolls across the cave floor, taking on the water form his defensive arts teachers had taught him, coming up in a defensive stance.

The squinty Mage is serenely standing there, eyeing the Dragon with contempt.



The Mage draws a wicked-looking dagger and lunges at the Dragon just as Cal deftly avoided the giant creature's blow; unfortunately the Mage only connects with empty air, missing the Dragon.

However, the swift wind of the missed dagger strike causes the Dragon to turn towards the Mage. Leaping up from his defensive stance, Cal goes for a blow on the creature's neck...



...and Cal trips on a rock, falling flat onto the cave floor; Bonebiter's savage arc becomes a tepid child's strike, and gracelessly misses the giant creature.



Noticing Cal's antics and growling with laughter, the Dragon rears back to strike Cal...



The dragon's massive maw rears back and lunges at Cal, laying dazed on the ground. Wide-eyed, the Barbarian Prince rolls quickly out of the way and the Dragon gets a mouthful of dirt instead of muscle.

The Mage's eyes roll into the back of his head as he takes hold of his dagger, left palm flat on the bottom of the hilt, right hand grabbing it tightly, and with eyes closed, he lunges at the Dragon...



The dagger plunges into the Dragon's already-bleeding side, and it roars in pain and frustration, dirt falling in clumps from its gaping, deadly mouth.

Cal rolls up into a standing fighting stance, and lunges at the Dragon...



Bonebiter earns its nickname! Using every ounce of his considerable strength, Cal swings the sword down into the Dragon's fleshy shoulder, and it bites deeply to the bone. Dragon blood gushes over the sword and Cal's forearms, and the cavern shakes with an angry, pained cry ten times worse than any uttered thus far...



Two more wounds to the Dragon! An excellent strike by the Barbarian Prince!

Roaring madly with pain, the Dragon's choice of target is clear...it turns to the muscly lump of meat that had just dared to hurt it worse than it had ever felt in its thousand-year life, and through a haze of pain, it clearly sees its avenue of attack...



...but Cal is much too fast for the stricken beast; he easily moves aside, avoiding the angry bite.

The Mage, sensing the end of the combat and barely believing he only has a scratch, moves in to strike at the distracted, bleeding beast...



...but this time, the Mage's attack glances off of the Dragon's armored skin.

Cal, emboldened by his last strike, swings Bonebiter up above his head, intending to bring it down on the Dragon's scaly neck...



The swing strikes true, cutting the Dragon again; this time, its cry of pain is much weaker than before.

Could this be it, thought Cal? Could we really be killing a Dragon?



Swiftwind, knowing his time is short and feeling his life force ebb from his body, is determined to make this victory for them a painful one...he turns to the Mage, anger and fear in his massive eyes, and lunges...



...but in his weakened state, he just barely misses the Mage, whom lightly steps aside as effortlessly as a grand sword master avoiding a toddler's attack.

Cal swings again...







The Dragon is dead!

Exhausted, Cal and the Mage both catch their breaths as the Dragon's eyes grow dull, the spark of life evading it. Cal smiles at the Mage, but the Mage hits him in the shoulder, before they start rummaging through the treasure...



The roll of 5 cross-referenced with the first Wealth Code of 100 means 110 gold pieces!

Another roll for the Wealth Code 60 on the table results in...



...another 5, which is 70 more gold pieces plus a letter result (C).

For the letter result, I roll on the Treasure Table once again and cross-reference the result with the C line to see what happens...



The roll results in a Resurrection Necklace.

This necklace of black opals and tiny bones holds the secret of a second life. If the wearer dies for any reason, including voluntary suicide, at the end of that day the character rises from the dead. The necklace disintegrates as the character revives, and thus only works once. The resurrection occurs in the same hex, but the character is now free to select any action on the next day.

A character revived by the necklace, having been left for dead, will have lost all possessions and money, and the entire party will have scattered...

I guess that's not too bad a thing, but the funny thing is, after reading the other results of the table, a roll of 6 would have meant finding the 'Helm of the Northlands,' which is essentially a game-winner. Oh well...

We now have 182 gold pieces, a nice jump from 2 gold pieces. Plus, we have a Dragon's Eye, which can be used to gain better results when requesting audiences, and the Resurrection Necklace, which is a 'get out of death free' card. Not a bad result in exchange for one Wound on the NPC.  ;D



The sun sets and Cal and Mage both ready themselves for rest, eating, and not bothering with a hunt - not after slaughtering a Dragon. The next turn, they should be able to get into the Ruins to the south, but I might have them just stay where they are, and have the Mage heal one Wound and have Cal go off and hunt. We shall see.

[JasonPratt]

That dragon should have been more polite when the disciples of RNGesus game around...  O:-)

[BanzaiCat]

My rolls were pretty fantastic, considering this thing should have wiped us out in two rounds.

I like that the combat system misses on certain rolls - until you get used to it every roll is a mystery.

[JasonPratt]

It's surprisingly deep, even with what amounts to fixed options. Just lots of them!  O0