DF: The Pick-Up Game

PCs:

Alvin (Dave) -- Human bard, equipped with wit, song, and rapier.

Autumn (Bill) -- Human swashbuckler, armed with a rapier and main-gauche, she needs little else.

Bjorn (Craig) -- Northman barbarian, armed and armored with anything he can get his hands on.  (Built “freehand” and including the “Northman” racial template that exists in another campaign, he’s still a classic barbarian -- big, strong, good in the outdoors, etc.)

RC (Rich) -- Human wizard, of the Coma Bat school of wizardry.  RC is a stand-in until I can determine his actual character name.

The campaign/scenario:

This has been conceived as a “pick-up” game we can use if/when we’re missing the player(s) required to move forward in our slated campaign, or if the slated GM just isn’t quite ready to go.  Everything I have done has been put together with the idea in mind that the PCs in question may be ported over to another setting, or so that adventures/locations can be quickly inserted after a brief travel montage.  

All of the PCs save RC have been ported into a “generic” setting.  I let them keep their previous loot, save for their horses, which don’t make much sense in the current location, mostly because I thought it would be more fun that way, and the player making a new PC (RC) didn’t mind starting with a new “unestablished” DF character with only $1000 in gear.  New PCs are, at least for now, 250+50+5 point GURPS DF characters.  Maybe if this game is played more often it will eventually be bumped up to something higher, such as “avg PC point level -50” or something similar.  Otherwise, the name of the game is “get characters together, start (and hopefully finish) a single session adventure.  (I, for one, won’t mind playing a starting DF character even if everyone else is of much higher point value, as starting DF characters in the default mode are highly skilled within their niche -- just pick the right niche and you’re good to go, and instantly valuable.)

World building involved 30 seconds to draw on a map and 30 minutes to read some supplements.  The former was done at the table on the day of the game, the latter had been done the previous week.  Using Raging Swan’s Lonely Coast, which is available for free -- making it easy for players to obtain if they so desire, coming up with a quick adventure was easy enough.  I really enjoyed the random weather, which enhanced play by providing even better cover for a dastardly trick a villain played on Autumn -- not to mention providing some much needed local color.  (BTW, There are also a handful of scenarios and village details available inexpensively for the Lonely Coast from Raging Swan at Warehouse 23 -- good products IMO.)  

The First Session

The game begins with the PCs, for reasons not quite determined, decided to make a fresh start here on the Lonely Coast, and arriving in Wolverton, the big town and heart of commerce.  Even so, it’s actually a small town with around 1800 inhabitants that sits across a sandbar from the baronial castle of Lord Locher.  Given $50 as walking around money by the ship’s captain as thanks for their working passage, they are cut loose.  Time to find an adventure!

The four adventurers end up following the half dozen sailors to the Salt Wolf, the dockside tavern and brothel.  Alvin trades performance for free ale, food, and companionship for himself, while the others figure out how to walk on land again.

    There’s an actual inn -- the creatively named Wolverton Inn -- about halfway up the hill.  Wolverton sits on a hillside leading down to the docks, and relative wealth can generally be measured by how high up the hill one lives, with the poorest living in dilapidated houses on the waterfront which are prone to flooding during the frequent periods of inclement weather.

The following morning, the party decides to go and visit the Baron.  The castle sits across a sandbar from Wolverton.  During high tide, you can cross the sandbar; otherwise, you can row a boat across the treacherous channel.  It’s an impressive castle built on the ruins of previous ancient fortification on a spot that is itself naturally fortified.  

The cross the sandbar and are met by a lone guard standing in a wooden watch tower next to the open gate.  He tells them that they have 45 minutes to visit the castle, or they’ll be stuck for much of the day.  The trip to the castle takes 15 minutes, so they decide to stay for the bulk of the day.

In the main courtyard, a minstrel is in stocks.  This gives Alvin an opening, of which he takes full advantage.  Upon meeting Lord Locher, he offers himself as a minstrel.  The Baron agrees, and so he joins him for lunch.  During this time, he learns that all of the young women of Swallowfeld have been taken.  Aha!  Adventure!

Meanwhile, the rest of the party goes to eat with the soldiers.  Autumn, the only female fighter or adventurer in the barracks, is given some less than good natured ribbing, especially since she wears no armor and carries “light” weapons -- rapier and main-gauche.  She decides to bring on a moment of sublime awesomeness to silence her critics.  She asks a guard to toss her an apple.  As the apple is in flight, she rises to her feet, fast draws sword and knife, cuts the apple into thirds, and impales those thirds onto her parrying blade.  She then calmly sits down and enjoys her apple.  This makes quite an impression.

The party meets to return to the inn.  En route, they decide to head out first thing in the morning to Swallowfeld and determine if they can be of service.  (Roll for weather: cool and drizzling.)  Their one piece of preparation is to purchase rain cloaks made of old sailcloth -- these come from the lost and found bin at the Salt Wolf.  Nothing else of significance is readily for sale; the next market day is two days hence, and they’d really prefer to get moving, since they suspect that Lord Locher will send out some of his men to deal with the situation within a day or two.  By then it might be too late; either way they’d lose and reward.

They set out early and make the 14 mile trek by just past lunchtime.  Once again, Alvin trades his entertainment services for free ale and food.  The others pay with coin.  As evening sets in, the place livens up with a mixture of people from the local tin mine, farmers, and other laborers.  One stranger catches Alvin’s eye, as he isn’t mingling and seems out of place in spite of his garb.

Alvin approaches him.  The conversation is… Odd.  Obviously the guy just wants to be left alone.  But in speaking to him, Alvin catches sight of a concealed shortsword, and possibly another blade.  Suspicious, he resolves to keep an eye on him.  He returns for another set, at which point the stranger rises and exits the tavern.

Alvin signals his comrades to follow.  They catch the “subtle” hint, and Autumn and RC follow him.  (Roll for weather -- it’s time again: cold and light fog.)  Out into the fog.  To aid her, RC casts invisibility on Autumn, who follows ever so quietly.  She’s able to follow him around a stable, where she suddenly finds herself struggling for stealth in muck in the dark and fog.

In the battle of Stealth vs. Perception, Autumn loses.  A stab in the dark to her vitals causes her to cry out in pain.  She ducks into the stable, back against the wall, ready to lash out at anyone who comes at her in the dark.  Several heart pounding moments pass without incident, though she thinks she might hear something in the dark.

Meanwhile, RC hears the cry and heads -- cautiously -- for the sound.  He moves into the dark and otherwise empty stable.  With a bit of luck, the two meet without incident.  RC cancels his spell and begins first aid, casting Continual Light at the highest level on a rock.  Light to work by…

After a couple of songs, Alvin gets nervous about his friends.  He stops, joking that the “ale really runs through you,” and brings Bjorn with him.  They find the pair in an empty stall.  RC casts another Continual Light on Alvin’s knife blade at torchlight level.  Then they set out to find the stranger.  Their quest doesn’t take long -- they pick up a trail that leads them to a narrow space between two houses across the street.

Following through the narrow passage, Bjorn hears barking and obvious struggling -- the stranger has found a dog, and that dog has taken exception to his presence.  Bjorn hurls his Axe of Return, strikes the stranger, and recovers his weapon.  The man drops.  The ruckus causes the owner of one of the houses to come out and watch.  

Shortly thereafter, Alvin and Bjorn take the stranger into the farmer’s house.  The farmer’s daughter is one of the missing girls, so he’s eager to lend assistance.  They use his table for first aid -- just to stop the bleeding and awaken the stranger.  As they finish, Autumn and RC find them.  The stranger wakes up and seems a bit cooperative, but not enough to give any useful information.

Alvin attempts to use bardsong to influence the stranger.  But something goes horribly wrong, and everyone in the room seems prepared to believe the worst of him.  Before anyone can act, or even really discuss this, both the front and rear doors fly open.  Some sort of -- goblins? -- come rushing in.  Not in the least prepared for this, both RC and Alvin require time to recover from the suddenness of the attack.

Autumn and Bjorn are in no way so constrained.  The battle drags on with Autumn and Bjorn generating piles of bodies around them, while the farmer, RC, and Alvin are clonked on the head.  But both Alvin and RC manage to recover and join the fight.  At the end, only Bjorn is unharmed.  Autumn is ready to collapse, and Alvin and RC are somewhat worse for the wear.

And so the session ends…