Magic World solo - Part VI - battles lost

As it is 10 years to the day that I posted the beginning of this adventure, you might not remember where it left off. You may accordingly wish to review the other postings (there are only 5 in total) before continuing the thread of the narrative. If so, click here.

I'm going to wait a fortnight between this post and the next to give everyone a chance to catch up (plus I'm really busy). At the end of this post can be found an explanation of why this campaign (nearly) died and what I did to pick it up again.


Scene 9

Chaos: down to 8

Setup: Modified (was: return to camp)
Altered: difficult trip

NPC list: bad guy(s), bad guy minions, contact, quest giver, interested 3rd party, Sergeant Eldega, army, other army, sorcerer, sorcerer's demon ianitor

Threads: Who am I? ; What am I doing? ; Who did this to me? ; Mission

Having been given an enchanted bronze mirror to take to General Angklabas, our heroine fled the sorcerer's tower and walked alone toward the lake [Navigate roll to walk to lake shore directly: 05, success]. But a small enemy force has encamped by the lake, so she must go round.

[Search (66%) roll to notice before too late: 54, ok. Hide (47%) roll to evade: 15, ok. The detour adds (1d6=) 6 hours to her trip. She needs a Stamina (CONx5%) roll to plod on: 17, ok

Q: any more problems? Unlikely: 81, No.]

She avoids all the sentries and patrols, but it is the middle of the night when she finally trudges back into camp.


Scene 10

Chaos: down to 7

setup: Modified (was: give mirror to general)

Interrupt: Remote event - Usurp / A project

She reports immediately to Sergeant Eldega. "You're late. But I wasn't going to denounce you as a deserter until morning. 's always a nice start to my day! Let's go take the general his prize. And be warned: he's not going to be in a good mood. Word round camp is they're sending a new general to relieve him of command. Probably be here in [1d4-1=] three days."


Scene 11

Chaos: down to 6

Setup: give mirror to general

[the general's reaction: hostile -20%; PC needs to make a Charismax5% roll: 96! not good]

"You sent this... this... person on such a delicate mission?" says General Angklabas to Sergeant Eldega. "And you! You're late! And where's the rest of your unit!? Incompetence! Get out of my sight..."

[Q: What are the general's intentions? Overindulge / Leadership
Q: Can PC return with the sergeant? 50/50: 47, Yes.]

"Well," says the sergeant, "I did say he'd be like that... Now go get some sleep. I think you're going to be needing it."


Scene 12

Chaos: up to 7

Setup: the battle

In the morning, Angklabas orders the army to prepare for battle. The whispers that a new general is arriving to usurp his command are already winging through the camp, but there's no way he'll let himself be replaced in the field. They will attack the enemy this very day! Units begin to be called into formation before they've finished their morning rations, and harried soldiers must pull on their armour after they've scurried into line. Sergeant Eldega's irregulars are shunted to the front ranks of the army's right wing.

The clarion sounds and the army marches south to the village held by the enemy barbarians, whose spies have already warned them of the approaching host. The attack is signalled at once, and the battle is joined.

[I used the Adventurers in Battle Results tables from MRQ Empires to determine the course of the battle.

A roll of 1d4 indicates a Losing battle (appropriately).

My PC is not looking to play the heroine in this -- and is still at only 7hp -- so she chooses to fight Cautiously (1d10 with no mods = 10; resulting in (1d2=) 2 kills and an encounter to be played out.

Foe level 1
-surrenders when injured, does not accept surrender
-same HP as PC
-weapon skill 11% worse, smaller weapon (shortsword, 51%)
-leather armour
-Dex 9

So, then...]

Sergeant Eldega's unit is sent forth in the first wave. Some manage to outmanoeuvre the enemy and break through their lines, whilst others engage in a pitched battle along the rocky shore. Our heroine is one of these latter. Two barbarians fall beneath her sword, but then she finds herself caught between the rocks and the surf, and cut off from her allies.

A young nobleman -- not a barbarian by his dress but certainly one of their supporters -- comes suddenly before her, shortsword at the ready. His dress is far too elegant for the battlefield: fine raiment and jewellery over a suit of costly leather armour. He seems unsure of himself at first, but summons all his courage and rushes to attack.

[Round 1]
His opponent is faster, and is already swinging her heavy sword at him as he draws near. But she has terribly misjudged his velocity; the blade that should have crashed down upon his brow falls well short and clangs against a large rocky outcropping, snapping off at the hilt [Attack roll 00 -- fumble; d%=weapon breaks]. The noble misjudges his own sword's length as well, but his blade only swishes through the air before his target [he rolled 93, a regular miss].

[Round 2]
She drops the useless hilt and hurriedly draws a dagger [-5 dex ranks=9, simultaneous actions]. The noble turns aside her blade with his own. She easily sidesteps his riposte [both attack rolls succeed; he parried, she dodged].

[Round 3]
But she easily regains the advantage. Lashing out with her knife she stabs him in the side, right through his armour. The wound is not terribly deep [4 damage puts him at 8hp] but bloody nonetheless. He throws down his sword and shrieks, "Please don't kill me!"

"Fine," she says, picking up his sword, "you are officially my prisoner. Let's get moving back up the beach."

The noble, Ealdwig by name, readily complies. But they have hardly gone 100 paces when trumpets sound.

"They're sounding the retreat," she says, "I guess we're through, then." She remarks the terror passing over her prisoner's countenance at her words, and hastens to add, "I'm not going to kill you. How about you give me some of those jewels as ransom and we call it quits."

He pulls off [1d3=] a medallion and two rings and hands them over. He is about to pull off his last ring when he hesitates. "This has been in my family for generations..."

"Keep it," she says. "Call it payment for the sword. Now go home."

[white gold ring 54bp, gold medallion 274bp, silver ring with flawed peridot 53bp]

Scene 13

Chaos: down to 6

Setup: aftermath

The camp has been over-run, so the survivors of Angklabas' army must trudge further north to into the forest. Fortunately, few of the barbarians are interested in harrying their vanquished foes, not whilst they have an entire camp to loot.

[Q: Did the Sergeant survive the battle? 50/50: 63, Yes (but wounded: 1d8=8 damage, 5hp left]

Our heroine regroups with the survivors. She can't find anyone from her unit, save Sergeant Eldega herself, who is bleeding from the forehead and boasts several new dents in her armour.

"Oh, it's you," says the sergeant. "I should have guessed you'd be the one to survive. This is all a mess: the general's dead, morale's low, hardly anyone survived the rout..."

[prejudiced-doubt-current scene]

"So why stay? If it's over...?"

"Got to wait for reinforcements!" [hostile-destruction-allies]

"Seriously?"

Sergeant Eldega shrugs.

"I'm no use here. Send me to the temple with the rest of the wounded." [fast talk (40%) 14, ok]

"I'll think about it."

It takes [1d3-1=] two days for the remaining commanders to rally the surviving troops and begin the northward trek. Once out of the forest, the army splits in two halves. The able soldiers march to the north east and the wounded (to which group our heroine is happy to have been appointed, despite being still under the yoke of the good sergeant) make for the temple to the north at a slower pace.

[Q: Is everything (relatively) ok? 50/50: 78, No.
Q: Enemy attack? 50/50: 80, no.
Q: Disease runs through camp? 50/50: 21, Yes.
Q: Problem on road? unlikely: 96, exceptional no]

But disease has already sped through the camp, and our heroine succumbed the night before the march. Many are those who are left to die upon the side of the road, but she forces herself to ignore the creeping chills (and the somehow still healthy sergeant's cajoling) and put one foot ahead of the other until the temple of the sea nymphs is in sight.

[Disease rolls redacted. She's down to 4hp by the end of the march.

Q: Magic healing given? Very unlikely: 05, Exceptional Yes. =Healing Trance spell
Q: Robbed whilst unconscious? Likely: 10, Exceptional Yes. She loses her 1d6=3 most valuable possessions.]

She is barely conscious as she crests the hill, and only dimly aware of the sergeant shouting something at a frightened novice, who then rushes her off to a makeshift dormitory. She sees the novice, or perhaps one of the higher clergy, standing over her and pronouncing soothing yet incoherent words, then drifts away...

When she comes back to her senses, the scene is much changed. The noise and confusion are all gone. In their place are orderly rows of low cots with convalescents clad in white robes. She finds that she too is similarly clad, and her things (or what remains of them) are stowed on the floor beneath her bed. Her armour is gone -- probably thrown away -- as is her sword and most of her jewellery. Only her dagger and the tarnished silver ring with the flawed stone escaped the predations of her former comrades-in-arms. She also finds a scrap of tattered parchment has been pinned to her robe, covered in a curiously child-like scrawl. It reads, 'Yer the worst soldier ever. Enjoy civilian life. Sgt Eldega'.

[Time for experience rolls!

Potential increase is the usual 1d6, or 1d8 for Occupation Skills. One occupation skill increase roll automatically succeeds -- fortunately, for the dice were not terribly kind to her.

dodge x
fast talk (occ) +8
nature x
navigate +3
hide (occ) +4
move quietly (occ-auto) +5
listen (occ) x
search (occ) x
sense (occ) +1
track x
sword x
dagger x

She also got to roll to see if her POW increased, but sadly it didn't.

The next scene was played a little while later, apparently after I'd written up my MCSV rules.]


Scene 14

Chaos: Average/d10

Setup: to the city

NPC list: bad guy(s), bad guy minions, contact, quest giver, interested 3rd party

Threads: Who am I? ; What am I doing? ; Who did this to me?


Sensing that she may have overstayed her welcome, she bids farewell to the haggard priests and harried temple staff and sets out for the city to the south.

[Q: Can she get to city unmolested? 50/50 (4+): O4 C6 - yes.]

It's a relatively pleasant walk. 'I can't remember the last time I've not been going about with wounds or sickness or broken bones,' she thinks. 'Disappointing that the magic only healed my physical ailments...'

When she reaches the city gate, the guards demand she pay the entry toll. She's not a single coin to her name, but pleading poverty does not move them to shew charity. [Difficult bargain (20/2=10%): 52, fail.] In the end she hands over her ring, as she doesn't rate her chances outside the walls after nightfall; even if there weren't the remnants of an army spread through the countryside, the glowering clouds promise rain. The guards accept the trinket, and let her pass. She briefly entertains the notion of asking them just what city this is, but decides against it lest they think her mad and eject her from the gate.

She wanders the streets aimlessly. Nothing sparks her memory, nor gives her the slightest inkling of ever having been here before. None of the myriad faces look familiar, nor does anyone call her by name with a friendly greeting. Nor even an angry one.

A walk through an open-air market reminds her of the desperation she'll soon feel if she can't find anyone to help her. She surmises that help for one of her skills and (apparent) standing will not be forthcoming in the more wealthy districts she's been drifting through, and so makes for one of the less respectable quarters to try her luck there.

In no time at all a gaudily-dressed youth does call out and wave her over, and addresses her with a torrent of sweet blandishments -- but it's only a pander trying to drum up business for an exotic brothel. [Cities random encounter] The gentleman is truly sorry to hear of her reduced circumstances, but cannot offer assistance himself. He does at least give her directions to the docks when she asks.

[One more encounter check. I'd rolled major personage in the Cities tables, but since I didn't have any defined, I rolled on the d30 Sandbox Companion's NPC column in the adventure generator section.

1d30=magic-user, d6=f
Q: What does she want? Take / Trials - looking for a companion in her trials
Power level? UNE table R-3 (standard): d%=89, Slightly Stronger (has been on 2-3 adventures)

I picked a name off my list and rolled a quick stat block and beginning spells (I have an Excel table that rolls random spells with levels up to 1/2 INT):

Tzingaal
STR 11   Grimoire:
CON 11   Agony (2)
SIZ 10   Sorcerer's Strength (1-3)
INT 16   Witch sight (3)
POW 18
DEX 11
APP 15

Q: Can she help with memory? 50/50 (4+): 02 C3 - No, but... might know someone.]

She makes her way south towards the harbour (she hopes). Her circuitous path takes her down a shadowy narrow street, full of dark, shoddy tenements and boarded-over shops. The only soul with her on the street is a young woman in a costly yet very well-worn dress of light blue. She moves with a willowy grace, gliding down the cobbled street like a phantom. The overcast sky lends extra radiance to her long red hair, but redder still is the arc of blood seeping through the fabric from her shoulder blade down to the middle of her back.

Our heroine is struck with a sudden pity for the wretched creature before her, and cannot help but quicken her pace to see if she can be of any help.

"Are you alright? You're covered in blood."

The woman stops abruptly and turns round.

"I--? Oh. Of course I am. I'm fine. Relatively speaking. Are you a healer?"

"No, I'm... this is just the robe they gave me at the Oceanid's temple. After the battle..."

"Oh. I just heard... I've been away."

"Do you live here?"

"No. I hadn't intended to come back. But circumstances forced my hand."

"But you know the city?"

"As well as any."

"I'm not from here."

"Your accent does rather give it away. Are you lost?"

"You could say that."

"Where are you trying to get to?"

"I don't know. I..."

"You don't know...?"

"I can't remember anything."

"Because of your injuries in the battle?"

"No, I remember the battle, and being conscripted. But before that... nothing. I've tried to piece it together, but, nothing makes sense. I learnt a pair of names -- no more."

"I've not got the widest acquaintance in the city, but I might be able to help you find them."

"I think someone called Gzashal had my, uh, comrades and I ambushed because we worked for someone called Yuclender."

[T Fast Talk (43%) to gain trust: success
? Insight (41%): fail, no suspicions

Q: Names mean anything to T? Unlikely (5+): O6 C2 - Yes, and...
Q: Involved with one or other? Unknown: 1d6=5 Unlikely: O6 C4 - Yes, but...
Q: Which? (1d6) 1-3 G, 4-6 Y : Y
Q: Relationship? (1d6) 1-2 good 3-4 neutral 5-6 bad: N
Q: How does T know him? (1d6) 1 retainer, 2 acquaintance, 3 business associate, 4 owes debt, 5 owes gratitude, 6 former student: d6=2
Q: Does T have any ideas about heroine? 50/50: O3 C2 - No, and...]

"Do you believe in fate?"

"Fate...? I don't know. I mean, I don't think so."

"Maybe you'd ought to do. It just so happens I was on my way to find an old colleague of mine... by the name of Yuclender."

"Oh! but, just what sort of person is this Yuclender?"

"He used to be a sorcerer, until something robbed him of his magic. Probably. Now he's a crime boss of sorts."

"Are you a sorceress?"

"Well, I'm no criminal!"

"That's a relief. Or, wait--"

"Oh. Sorry. I didn't mean... look, why don't I make a discreet enquiry before dragging you in front of him, in case you have it all backwards. My business with him is of a more mystical cast, anyway, so it won't do to dwell on his more... pecuniary concerns. This is his street. Why don't you just linger out here whilst I go in and have a quick word."

The sorceress slips into a building through a door that is cleverly disguised as having been boarded over securely, as our heroine anxiously awaits news of her fate.

~~ End of Part I ~~

Notes on a campaign that failed... and then flourished

This adventure began and then fizzled out back in 2015. I tried to write up the bits in this post back then, but got discouraged and put the whole thing aside.

The main reason it failed was my experiment with the PC. Amnesia seemed like a good idea for revealing the character's background piecemeal, but the dice just weren't super helpful. Maybe it would have worked better in a more defined setting, and maybe it was just bad luck with what few clues I did roll. And trying to write 3rd person narrative about a character with no name is a lot less fun than one might imagine!

But the real death blow came in the encounter with the sorceress. Just from the little bit I knew about her (the stat block above), she seemed like a much more interesting character than my current PC, even with the big revelation when the sorceress went to talk to the mysterious Yuclender. So I put it aside and went off to do other things. I thought about picking it up again once or twice, but inspiration was lacking. I even thought about just consigning it to the dustbin and starting a completely new adventure with the sorceress as the main PC. But I was kind of curious to see what sorts of trouble the two of them might get into together. And I was also curious to see what happened with Yuclender himself. He got a random stat block and then a random Profession from the MW rulebook. So he was a Sorcerer, but with only a 15 POW he wasn't able to use magic (requires 16+); instead of changing the stats or re-rolling, I just ran with it. And as that was too good to discard, I knew I had to keep the whole thing.

The UNE result that said the sorceress was "slightly stronger" than my PC provided the key. I had interpreted that as having been on 2 or 3 adventures already. And instead of giving her a handful of random experience checks and maybe an extra spell, I decided I could just play out those adventures. All I had to do was make sure she got back to the city and had some reason to meet this strange ex-sorcerer, Yuclender.

I'd probably have posted some of it before now, but (due in part to computer woes) I played the first bit totally offline with books, pencil, and paper -- and I have a slight aversion to typing up my notes once they reach a certain length. And I do have quite a few games going that I've never posted about, so...

In any event, Magic World became one of the standards in my eternal rotation of games, and it inched ever closer to the point where the two adventure strands were destined to meet. Of course, had Tzingaal died that would've scuppered the whole thing, but (spoiler alert) she didn't. Everything worked out without me having to put on my GM hat to force things to go a certain way, and it provided plenty of impetus for further adventures. The only difference between the meeting as it originally played out and as written above is the detail of the blood seeping through the back of Tzingaal's dress.

It is the tale of how she came to find herself in such circumstances that shall form the matter of the next series of posts.