OSE Solo #5: Out of the Dungeon and Into the Wild
This is part of a series of blog posts in which I play Old School Essentials as a solo RPG. You can read the first session here or the previous session here.
I am using a homemade adaptation of Appendix A from Advanced Dungeons & Dragons to generate a hexcrawl. You can download the tables for your own use on the Itch.io page.
Scenario
After the loss of her adventuring companions, Yaïma the Elf decided to leave town. She swapped her plate mail and pole arm for chainmail and gold to become a mercenary longbow-woman. She took a job guarding a caravan heading south-east, for 20 gold pieces a month.
The caravan consists of: 2 merchants (one of which is later named Hader), 8 guards (including Yaïma), 1 captain, 11 wagons, 10 extra pack animals, and presumably some un-numbered crew [RN: this is from straight from the Merchant description in OSE.].
Adventure
Day One
The caravan passed out from the town on a standard road, through a guard post to the south east. I haven't decided how elves fit into this human realm (human because it's Old School Essentials), but Yaïma was under the employ of a human caravan, so she was treated as such.
The caravan passed by a massive set of stone doors, standing on the plain. If Yaïma hadn't been on the job she would have investigated, so she noted this for later.
Four or so hours into the journey, the caravan stopped to marvel at a passing flock/herd of nine pegasi. Yaïma imagined riding one.
The caravan continued around a bend and off to the northeast. Suddenly, a massive herd of antelope emerged from the tall grasses. The caravan was blocked until the last of the herd crossed the path.
Finally, the caravan reached the highway that runs north through the pass to the next settlement. They followed the highway into the forest, where they set up camp.
At camp, Yaïma took a walk among the trees. She came across a herd of twelve deer, 20 yards off, that hadn't noticed her. She took aim with her longbow, hoping for some venison. She shot an arrow into a tree trunk——the noise sent the deer running. Yaïma went back to camp, defeated. The night passed uneventfully.
Day Two
The caravan set off to the north. Two hours into the day, a crashing sound was heard from the brush to the side of the road. Six giant striped beetles emerged, forty yards away and hungry!
Beetle Battle
The beetles rushed against the eastern flank of the caravan, attacking three of the guards. One beetle broke through, attacking and killing a merchant! Additionally, the guard marching opposite from Yaïma was killed by a powerful bite!
Yaïma and the rest of the western flank ran between the wagons to support their comrades and remaining employer. Only one guard was able to penetrate the hard shell of a tiger beetle, but merely wounded it. The living merchant dashed into the undergrowth of the forest to the west.
The guard team renewed their attack, dealing a few strong blows to the beetles. The beetles started to grab onto guards to try to drag them into the underbrush. One living guard was dragged; the dead guard and merchant as well. Three guards successfully resisted.
Because the guards put up a fight, the beetles switched their (crude) tactics to trying to kill them outright. Each missed its bite attack, and the guard being dragged broke free!
The beetles and guards traded blows back and forth, slowly whittling down each other's numbers. The guard to Yaïma's side was killed as they teamed up against a beetle, three-on-one.
A lone beetle remained, and began to retreat. The captain got one last good hit in before letting the bug run off into the forest. In all, two guards and one merchant were killed. The other merchant is unaccounted for, and two of the corpses were dragged to the tiger beetle lair. [RN: 300 XP]
Post-Battle
The guard captain decided that the first step to getting back on track was to split the guard group in two: one half to guard the caravan and the other half to track down the merchant to the west.
Yaïma was sent into the forest with 3 other guards: Linsey, Olam, and Perston.
Forest Search Party
Yaïma noted a trail of disturbed duff heading to the west, but the ground was too firm for any real footprints. The three guards let her lead the way. Unnerved by the giant beetle ambush, the party chose to track their patron quietly, at least at first.
The path left behind the patron became erratic, unpredictable. It was clear that Hader (his name now) had become lost. The party hoped that this meant he'd inadvertently stay closer to their starting point.
[RN: I'm going to roll a wisdom check here, to see if they locate him. Otherwise, I'm thinking an encounter check is next.]
Wisdom check: 8 under 10 = success!
Yaïma called out to Hader. A rustling in the bushes raised the party's collective heart rates, until the patron came bounding out, face dirty and tear-streaked. Together they returned to the caravan at the ambush site.
Resuming the Journey
The caravan was reduced to 1 merchant, 6 guards (including Yaïma), and 1 captain. The guards grew uneasy when the captain asked their employer what should be done about the body of the other merchant. They felt a bit guilty to be relieved when their living employee insisted they get the hell out of there!
They buried the body of the guard that wasn't dragged off, rested a short while, and continued on the road north.
Referee's Notes
This has been a useful learning process for me, in figuring out the OSE rules and old-school play-style. For instance I knew there weren't survival skill checks and at least Classic Fantasy doesn't have rangers, so I kinda just made up the use of a wisdom ability check. I don't know if other OSR systems have more detailed rules for tracking but that worked in this instance!
The map produced in this session
