Peter has activated the magical spell that will send him through reality to the fantasy realm of The Lost Empire. This post records the events of the first couple of hours of solo play, including setting up the game, following creating the character of Peter the Lost.
Gathering the reagents for the ritual, Peter prepared for the one-way journey to a new world. Not knowing what to expect of the civilisation that surely must exist on the other side of the Portal, Peter packed light but made sure he took basic survival gear. On the last day of November 2003, he invoked the ritual and… disappeared.
Setting Up To Play
I’ve grabbed a Hex Crawl Worksheet (6:1 ratio) so I can work with the 5 miles per hex default of O.L.D. and have a 30-mile regional hex. I’ve drawn a symbol in the centre of the map to represent the Circle of Honour, the magical stone circle into which he will arrive.
Because I have been drawn to the image of a snowy landscape all week, I’ll make the terrain fit a sub-arctic theme – some imagined Frozen North perhaps. I like forest, so I am going to declare that the Circle of Honour stands in a clearing within an evergreen forest. Beyond that, I have few ideas on the nature of the setting and will leave matters to the dice.
Tools in use include:
- Welsh Piper’s Hex-Based Campaign Design article
- D30 Sandbox Companion
- D30 DM Companion
- B/X Wilderness Encounter Charts from the Expert Set
- The GM’s Apprentice Fantasy Deck
- O.L.D. roleplaying game
- The O.L.D. “Light and Darkness” appendix rules (Peter starts with zero Shadow)
- Dice
I decide to populate a single regional hex with terrain. I assign 15 hexes as evergreen forest, 5 hexes as hills, and one hex mountains. The remaining 10 hexes are plains. This is sketched onto a Hex Crawl Worksheet.
The Circle of Honour is granted a special effect: all warriors of the Light who rest here receive a +1d6 “to hit” bonus; duration of bonus = duration of stay at location. This potentially gives a reason to attract Light-aligned characters when the adventure starts. I’m not entirely sure what “the Light” means yet but it sounds cool.
As I begin, a couple of character ideas are bubbling in my mind as potential allies for Peter:
- A canid humanoid warrior inspired by the original Palladium Fantasy’s Wolfen.
- A ratman scout inspired by my own Bruxx species from Mystamyr.
And So We Begin…
There is a flash and the sensation of falling as Peter activates the magical circle within which he was standing. He feels himself collapse forward as an intense flow of magical energy courses through his body. Peter curls forward into a ball, foetus-like, and then he feels cold.
Under his feet and knees there is the sensation sinking slightly into coldness. Opening his eyes, Peter raises his head and sees that he is in a brightly lit clearing covered in thick snow. The air blooms with a foggy cloud as he exhales into the chill around him. Turning his head, Peter sees that there is a stone circle all around him. A pair of stones with a lintel across the top stands in front of him and other similar rectangular sets stand adjacent, running in an arc to circumscribe a wide area. The stone circle is perhaps 100 feet in diameter with each standing stone pair 13 feet high and 7 feet wide. Peter is immediately reminded of Stonehenge.
Standing slowly, Peter looks around the full 360 degrees and swears quietly under his breath. Pulling his coat around him, he zips it up and buttons the front. The weight of the backpack behind him shifts slightly as he shrugs his shoulders to make things more comfortable. ‘Good job I brought some survival kit,’ he thinks to himself.
Frosty air pricks at Peter’s face as he considers what to do next. He remembers that he has been curious about what lay beyond the effect of the portal ritual that he invoked back on Earth, but smiles as he realises that he hadn’t much considered what might actually lie on the other side. It occurs to him that the ancient Sumerians who wrote that ritual must have been in for a chilly shock when they arrived, given the Middle-eastern climate they were used to. Being British, Peter was ever so slightly more used to the wintry weather.
Roll for weather: I generate the month (3) to discover it’s late winter, -9C (15F), and simply a cold day with no precipitation.
Encounter Draw: Clarify Tension. “Slurred speech”. I decide to introduce the Canid character as a drunkard. Choose a name from the cards – Hasna.
As he adjusts to the quiet and cold clearing, Peter slowly becomes aware of a presence behind him. Over by one of the standing stones, some 50 feet away, is a tall figure apparently leaning against one of the frosty stones. Slurred speech emanates from beneath the long hooded cloak the figure is wearing, although Peter is at a loss to catch them in his surprise. The voice is growling, rugged but not unpleasant.
“I’m sorry,” tries Peter, “Could you say that again?”
After a pause, the words are repeated.
Is the language spoken anything like an Earth language Peter might know? Bad Odds – No; Earth = endurance and stability. I notice the Perthro rune and decide it represents Destiny in this situation. The scene is about establishing a stable relationship.
“Shit, should have expected this,” says Peter.
The humanoid moves towards Peter, staggering slightly as if drunk. Peter smiles, despite himself, and raises both hands in a gesture of peace and surrender. Some further words, more insistent, emanate from the hood.
Does the figure have access to a translation device? Bad Odds – No. Fire = aggression or energy.
The figure barks some kind of command, standing perhaps 20 feet from Peter, tipping back its head to reveal a wolf-like muzzle, sharp teeth, and dark fur.
“Shit!”
The creature behind it’s back and draws a long, curving sword. It growls out some more words. Peter begins to feel quite intimidated.
Dramatic Question: Can Peter calm the creature and establish communication?
Peter looks around briefly, trying to find some clue as to how he might proceed.
Roll Perception (3d6). I decide to invoke the “What Would Luke Do?” exploit and use all of Peter’s Luck Dice – with no risk of losing any of them – to get a success. It’s going to be Difficult to notice anything useful (assuming there is anything to find) and that sets a benchmark score of 16. Roll 3d6 plus Peter’s entire Luck Dice pool (3d6) = 20. Success!
Is there anything that can help Peter communicate with the creature? Bad Odds. Yes. Air = movement and curiosity. I notice the Uruz rune on the card too – courage required.
Looking to his left, Peter notices another shorter stone jutting up just outside the circle where two sets of standing stones appear to be slightly more widely spaced. This lower stone is around waist height and angled towards the centre of the circle. On the surface there is a faintly glowing runic mark, much like an X shape.
Peter points his left arm towards the stone and smiles, keeping his right hand upright with the palm towards the creature.
“Look,” he says slowly, “On that stone. There’s a mark.”
The creature regards Peter for a moment and then, slowly, moves its head to look towards the stone.
“Let’s go over there,” says Peter, taking the first step sideways, right foot over left leg.
Sword in hand, the humanoid wolf-thing shifts its gaze back to the human and growls deep in its throat.
Does the creature allow Peter to move towards the stone? Even Odds. Yes. Water rune = calm and hidden depths.
Seeing no immediate response from the cloaked figure, Peter takes another step leftward and shifts to face the stone runic mark. This is when it registers in his memory as a Gebo rune: the Norse Rune that represents gifts or exchanges.
“Surely not,” mutters Peter, “surely that’s not an actual Nordic mark?”
Slowly the two figures turn and walk towards the low stone bearing the glowing mark. The creature says something else that Peter doesn’t understand, although perhaps it’s a question.
Reaching the stone, Peter notices that the area of the stone bearing the mark is large and has two paw-shaped outlines carved either side of the large rune. Taking a chance, Peter decides to reach out and touch the left-hand paw mark, spreading his hand across the etching. As he does so, he feels magical flow tingle at his senses and Peter smiles again.
“Come, put your hand there,” says Peter, pointing at the right-hand paw mark.
The creature hesitates. Peter smiles encouragingly and nods.
Can Peter encourage the creature to touch the rune? I decide to test his charisma + psychology = 3d6 as a challenging (13) check. Not great odds, so I invoke some luck and chuck two of his three luck dice into the pool. Roll 5d6 = 17. Success!
Slowly, ever so slowly, the creature walks closer. Keeping its sword outstretched in the right hand, it reaches forward to touch the right-hand paw mark. As soon as this happens, there is a palpable shunt in Peter’s head and he notices the creature flinch a little too, although neither of them removes their hand from the rune.
I’ve decided the rune creates a linguistic bond between a traveller using the gate and any other single being with whom they share the stone’s power. This is a permanent ability to understand one another even when speaking different languages. To others, both will be heard in their native tongues but between each other communication is clear.
“Crikey! That was a bit trippy,” says Peter.
“You speak my tongue, pale-beast?”
“Woah. Erm… now I do, or you speak mine.”
The two regard each other for a moment. Peter is struck by the beautiful majesty of his companion’s form, like an uplifted wolf with intelligence and grace.
“My name is Peter,” he says, “I think I’m lost.”
“I am Hasna. It seems like you have been found, Peter.”
At this point I decide to go and create Hasna.
