I don't usually post in forums but I thought I would share how much fun my friends and I had playing a small adventure using these awesome rules. I've only played a PnP rpg years ago and only once or twice but with the winter looming over the small town I live in I thought it would be a nice thing to attempt while we are stuck inside on those cold nights. Aside from one other player who had played a few sessions of a different game none of the players had even tried a PnP rpg. So i printed off some rules, read some articles about running an adventure, and rallied the troops. Everyone I invited showed up! (I think that was the biggest suprise to me.) Pizza was cooked and brews were cracked, time to get started.
The small adventure I choose to run was a download called "The Burning Plague". A small town fell victim to a nasty disease and the silver mine that keep the town running was on the brink of being closed. I changed and added a few details here and there and made some npcs, mapped out a town, and called it good enough for the first adventure.
We only used the basic rules except for the classes and races from the expert rules on account of some players wanting to try them. Character creation was very easy. We only had a few questions on some of the math but we got it all figured out in the end. The players were an elf cleric, an elf fighter, a halfling rogue, a half-elf paladin, and a human druid.
The game opened with the PCs locked up in the guard house from a night of drinking. They blacked out the night before and woke up to an unhappy guard telling them that they caused a lot of trouble and are now in debt to the town for the damage they caused. Once released they were given their possessions back and set loose on the tiny town. Almost right away the rogue had started trying to cause more trouble and was eventually put back in jail by the chief guard. The fighter tried to save his friend by attacking the guard, but also was jailed. And nearly killed. Both were released with a very stern warning eventually. The more civilized characters set out looking for information on how they could get the debt paid and eventually got information about the mine and a job offer of clearing the mine out from the owner.
I must admit I was not prepared for the amount of interaction my players wanted to have with the NPCs. I thought it was going to be a race to the dungeon. I went with it the best I could, but I will be more prepared for them next time.
After they got all they wanted from shops and such they set out. Their paladin had fallen victim to a powerful sleep spell! (She fell asleep IRL) But the debt must be paid or a very angry guard is waiting for them. Looks like they are a woman down.
Upon arrival at the mine the characters dove right in and encountered their first kolbolds. Combat was super easy, except I forgot to take into account one of my players was using a two handed weapon and was robbed of his x2 str bonus to damage. oops. We used no grid of any kind but that made distance a little hard to figure out so next time maybe I'll bring graph paper. There were a few hidden treasures my players did not find. All of them giving loud groans when they found this out at the end of the night. They'll look harder next time I'm sure. As they got closer to the end the druid fell victim to the same spell as the paladin. (asleep IRL) This actually led to what was the best part of the whole night IMO. Right after the druid fell asleep the players found themselves at the bottom of a 10' pit. The cleric only had a 5' pole (the paladin had the other half). The rogue had a whistle he purchased, so he blows a loud toot. With no need for me to interfere the druid wakes up(IRL)! He is awake just long enough to lower a rope to the players and then falls back asleep. (This was all luck but a moment me or the players will never forget.) They make it to the last section of mine and finish off the baddie and cure the plague. Victory! Upon return to the town the debt is paid. A check of the clock reveals 3:30 am?! What? We started this at 8pm! Something must have went right I guess...
All in all we had a great time despite not getting every detail right. There was not a lot of magic that was used, and a lot of skill rolls that were totally made up as they came around. I think those things will remedy themselves on a better planned adventure in the future. All of the players said we will have to do this again some time, so I have a lot of work to do.
I have a new found respect for anyone who has ever run an adventure or campaign. I had no idea the amount of work that goes into making even one small adventure happen. I will be much more prepared with NPCs, graph paper, and a little more details with the rules next time. The players all had their input on what they would like to see in the future as well. I was very happy that all of my friends could see past the "nerdy" stigmas that these games carry with them and get into it. Because we were just taking a "test drive" the characters did not have any back story but the players were good at role playing them anyways. Next time I think I will have them bring back stories with them.
As you can see by this giant ramble we had a great time and everyone is looking forward to the next session. I only hope I can get more prepared as a GM, as it was much more work then I thought it would be. So that's how it all went down. Nothing less then awesome! Thanks to all who worked hard on this, you have brought us a new way to kill a whole night and love every minute of it! (Even if they pass out earlier then the rest of us.)
