Lead Adventure Forum

Miniatures Adventure => Fantasy Adventures => Topic started by: 6mmfan on October 06, 2022, 03:59:10 AM

Title: Sellswords and Spellslingers campaign Action report - Game 5 (Final) - 7th Dec
Post by: 6mmfan on October 06, 2022, 03:59:10 AM
This is the start of another Sellswords and Spellslingers campaign using the Ganesha games rules. For this campaign we downloaded the Demons Gate campaign off Grahams great blog (https://grahamsgaming.blogspot.com/) and we fudged a couple of some things like using goblin stats for Imps and came up with our own XP for victory points.

We introduced a house rule of party upkeep, as we have found over time we tend to not loot or collect items, because there's not a lot to do with the SP. What this meant was that we had to provide each PC with 10SP (Silver Pieces) upkeep per game. I have 5 guys in my party and Mark has 3, so I have more hungry mouths to feed!

Also Mark was using a custom trait called Parry, instead of a shield.

Game 1
What looked like a simple mission, which was to merely cross the board turned into an epic game. It was a close run thing, with all PCs wounded (most with 2 wounds, one more and they would be out of action) and one of mine died. Here's a few random photos and commentary.

Excuse the average photos, my phone is not a top of the line model!

The parties - the on on the left has a Magic user, Alchemist and a Thief. The other party on the right is more tooled up for fighting with a Cleric, 2 Fighters and 2 Archers.
(https://i.imgur.com/APvI8Ta.jpg)

The table. The objective was to enter from the right side on the road and exit on the bottom left corner, which sounds simple .....
(https://i.imgur.com/JK6NLsC.jpg)

The first time. the parties advanced and could see a number of dead bodies by the side of the road. Also quite a few angry Cultists blocked their way.
(https://i.imgur.com/39hkHDl.jpg)

Another view of the situation, its heard to see but there are a number of Cult Warriors who are better quality foes with armour saves.
(https://i.imgur.com/jhOz0zl.jpg)

Scenario Event. The local Captain of the guard is battling a minor Demon, and the Captain is killed before the party can help
(https://i.imgur.com/RxYffbb.jpg)

Some the characters turned around and shot at the Demon, and a mix of knifes and arrows killed it.
(https://i.imgur.com/pHjoexD.jpg)

As the parties advance, more Cultists arrive from all directions!
(https://i.imgur.com/o9wdLIO.jpg)

Meanwhile two PCs move in contact with the Guard captain, to hear him wish his last words and pass on some valuable campaign information.
(https://i.imgur.com/SDBLfGu.jpg)

More Cultists and a couple of Imps emerge from the forest. At this point enemy reinforcements really started to come on in large numbers
(https://i.imgur.com/VgC2ajv.jpg)

As two PCs were killing a group of cultists and checking their bodies for info, a Winged lessor Demon sneaked up on them and attacked.
(https://i.imgur.com/feyXkzJ.jpg)

While one party battled the Demon, the other was dealing with a particularly tough Cult Warrior (in the middle of the PCs), while a hordes of cultists bears down on them. The parties have given up looting by now as there were too many enemy around.
(https://i.imgur.com/jXcafyo.jpg)

The final battle. A large horde of Cultists were inbound.
(https://i.imgur.com/YjFugR0.jpg)

I got a bit caught up in events as 2 of my PCs went down so I forgot to take more photo of the game. After a close call in which all the PCs were wounded, everyone managed to escape. One of my Archer had been taken out and was carried off, and failed their post game roll and died.

So what started out as a easy stroll through the woods turned into a blood bath!

I played the second scenario a couple of weeks ago, so I'll add a report for that soonish.

Title: Re: Sellswords and Spellslingers campaign Action report
Post by: Sunjester on October 06, 2022, 07:38:33 AM
A great looking game, I'm looking forward to the next write-up. ;)
Title: Re: Sellswords and Spellslingers campaign Action report
Post by: blacksoilbill on October 06, 2022, 07:58:11 AM
That is a very nice looking game.
Title: Re: Sellswords and Spellslingers campaign Action report
Post by: Spinal Tap on October 06, 2022, 08:30:46 AM
Whenever I shelve this game to play other stuff (Frostgrave, Stargrave and Zona Alfa) someone comes along with a fantastic looking board, a brilliant game and wonderful miniatures, making me want to jump right back in.

Fabulous.


We introduced a house rule of party upkeep, as we have found over time we tend to not loot or collect items, because there's not a lot to do with the SP. What this meant was that we had to provide each PC with 10SP (Silver Pieces) upkeep per game. I have 5 guys in my party and Mark has 3, so I have more hungry mouths to feed!




I think I might have to steal this concept.
Title: Re: Sellswords and Spellslingers campaign Action report
Post by: Sunjester on October 06, 2022, 08:39:32 AM
We introduced a house rule of party upkeep, as we have found over time we tend to not loot or collect items, because there's not a lot to do with the SP. What this meant was that we had to provide each PC with 10SP (Silver Pieces) upkeep per game. I have 5 guys in my party and Mark has 3, so I have more hungry mouths to feed!

Buy potions, especially Healing ones, you will soon get through the cash.  lol
Title: Re: Sellswords and Spellslingers campaign Action report
Post by: Elk101 on October 07, 2022, 09:25:53 AM
Nice write up. I do like that mat.
Title: Re: Sellswords and Spellslingers campaign Action report
Post by: Argonor on October 07, 2022, 06:18:24 PM
Bloody bloomin' marvellous table!

I just dived into some fantasy last week (Warlords of Erehwon) after a two-year hobby hiatus (for various reasons), but I need to get my SS&SS rules dusted off as well.
Title: Re: Sellswords and Spellslingers campaign Action report
Post by: 6mmfan on October 08, 2022, 07:15:47 AM
Thanks everyone. I've offline but I'll post the second campaign battle soon.
Title: Re: Sellswords and Spellslingers campaign Action report - Game 2 added
Post by: 6mmfan on October 09, 2022, 08:21:07 AM
Here's our  second game of the Demons Gate Sellswords and Spellslingers campaign. Note this was posted on the Songs of Blades and Heroes Facebook group but I've added a few more comments and photos. I replaced my Archer that died and used my XP to upgrade my healers skill.

The task was pretty simple for the two parties, cross the town square and enter the Guildhall (round Mausoleum). However lots of Undead and Cultists were in the way.

I was a bit short on buildings so I had to make do with some ruins and 1/72 Italeri buildings, so the sandstone colours looked a bit weird on the cobblestone mat. I also got to use the massive Reaper bones Astrolab, which is not the most practical piece of scenery I own.

(https://i.imgur.com/VLHYH73.jpg)

(https://i.imgur.com/dGVLLjq.jpg)


At the start. Mark has moved his party but a group of Cultists deployed on my flank, too close for comfort. Also in the distance is an armoured Cult warrior (GW knight)

(https://i.imgur.com/V1ZzwCW.jpg)

Although the cultists were killed, now 2 Zombies/skeletons (we were using Skeleton stats for Zombies) have arrived!

(https://i.imgur.com/dAcGZQX.jpg)

After clearing most of the nearby foes, the parties advanced although the Rangers were lagging behind. Also in the background is a Cultist emerging from the ruined house.

(https://i.imgur.com/SM6OIqJ.jpg)

Ambush. A Zombie sprung out of the fountain and attacked a PC

(https://i.imgur.com/An2tONU.jpg)

A bit more progress. The grey marker is a rain marker which effects bow fire.

(https://i.imgur.com/sEvhLXY.jpg)

One of the parties is fighting Cultists.

(https://i.imgur.com/ti1VgWr.jpg)

Another ambush!

(https://i.imgur.com/Elr4gQj.jpg)

And at the same time is another battle with cultists. Most of the figures are Frostgrave cultist but I converted a few Night Goblins and Bretonnian archers into cultists

(https://i.imgur.com/Vphj6gC.jpg)

The undead are starting to arrive in bigger numbers. Up to this point we had had a very good run with no Monster Frenzy cards for the first 1/3 of the game. Monster frenzy cards activate all monsters on the table.

(https://i.imgur.com/LEHEP8q.jpg)

A ghoul springs an ambush on a wounded PC.

(https://i.imgur.com/Xa4GuZx.jpg)

More undead emerge from the ruins!

(https://i.imgur.com/tk9OKCh.jpg)

And on the other side a Cultist awakes

(https://i.imgur.com/0L6HzzJ.jpg)

The Rangers clear the immediate enemy but took quite a few wounds for their efforts. The Guildhall is just visible in the top of the photo and the way ahead seems pretty clear....

(https://i.imgur.com/uN0QUSM.jpg)

The other party has had a tougher journey with 3 PCs getting caught in snare traps - two PCs were trapped almost at the same time (there is one in this picture with a dice to show how much damage to the trap has been done).

(https://i.imgur.com/8vL35jK.jpg)

Eventually they progress while under a constant stream of attacks.

(https://i.imgur.com/blDlyQS.jpg)

The rangers are near the Guildhall but are fighting 2 Armoured Cult warriors, who are very tough

(https://i.imgur.com/J2JTcF7.jpg)

The other party rushes to help

(https://i.imgur.com/wRK4e17.jpg)

Meanwhile they have a lot of undead bearing down on them

(https://i.imgur.com/ykJymcP.jpg)

And they continue to battle them

(https://i.imgur.com/zIz5o3W.jpg)

Here's a shot if the table with all the undead reinforcements

(https://i.imgur.com/wlq04mB.jpg)

After killing the Cult Warriors, the Rangers decide to move backwards to kill the large horde of Zombies coming. Its a bad idea as on the the rangers gets stuck in a snare trap. The magic user desperately casts a fireball spell.

(https://i.imgur.com/BzaZGxO.jpg)

And the fireball is extremely effective, killing 11 Zombies!!!

(https://i.imgur.com/zt4wZGj.jpg)

The rangers decide not to take any more risks and make a hasty exit to the Guildhall. They have all been wounded and they can't afford to take anymore wounds.

(https://i.imgur.com/kRIdWC8.jpg)

The other party continue to battle a few undead ambushers.

(https://i.imgur.com/WVK671I.jpg)

Eventually they manage to slowly exit completing the scenario

(https://i.imgur.com/uAAtghP.jpg)


This was another tough game with almost all the PCs wounded and a lot were down to their last wound. The sheer number of reinforcements that arrived really caused us problems. Luckily no one died this time and a few experience points were earned.
Title: Re: Sellswords and Spellslingers campaign Action report - Game 2 added
Post by: robh on October 09, 2022, 10:28:30 AM
Great looking game, SS&SS is a wonderful system. I have downloaded the campaign you are using but not yet had a chance to run it, it looks pretty tough.

Your use of "Mausoleum" instead of "Guildhall" in the descriptions here did confuse me though (no spoilers).
Title: Re: Sellswords and Spellslingers campaign Action report - Game 2 added
Post by: 6mmfan on October 09, 2022, 11:22:00 AM
Oh your right about the Guildhall, I'll update it.

We noticed there is no XP for the scenarios so we have gone for 4XP for the first 3 scenariosand then 5XP for the last two scenarios.
Title: Re: Sellswords and Spellslingers campaign Action report - Game 2 added
Post by: 6mmfan on October 12, 2022, 12:44:12 AM
Part 1  of Game 3 of the campaign

For this scenario, the parties have to cross the graveyard and enter the Mausoleum. In their way are many undead skeletons and ghouls.

The table is covered with a graveyard in the top 2/3rd, and part of the town in the lower third. There is a partially ruined fence separately the 2 areas. I didn't manage to finish all my terrain in time so the gravestone pieces and the fences are not quite done.

(https://i.imgur.com/zu6LonK.jpg)

After the deploying, we were in action from the start, as the skeletons deployed outside the graveyard were close to our starting position.

(https://i.imgur.com/AGAGqD3.jpg)

A few fights and the odd fireball and the area outside the graveyard was mostly empty.

(https://i.imgur.com/quujyFV.jpg)

Inside a few ghouls entered the table

(https://i.imgur.com/vSIMCVH.jpg)

Once the Graveyard was clear, a brave (or foolish) Ranger rushed towards the Mausoleum.

(https://i.imgur.com/ANnkTjK.jpg)

However that triggered the appearance of a Wraith who came out of the door.

(https://i.imgur.com/9d0bi2k.jpg)

A couple of bad activation rolls later and the Wraith closed on the hapless Ranger. Meanwhile a group of Cultists lead by a Cult Warrior appeared on the players entry table edge, followed quickly by a horde of Skeletons.

(https://i.imgur.com/eC3MvRg.jpg)

Just to make matters worse the Minor Demon arrived as a Wandering monster along with more Ghouls.

(https://i.imgur.com/QpjOmrR.jpg)

I'll add the final part tomorrow of this game report.

Title: Re: Sellswords and Spellslingers campaign Action report - Game 3 part 1 now up
Post by: Burgundavia on October 12, 2022, 12:58:42 AM
Gorgeous game. We just played through game 2 as well - forgot to take pictures, but will write it up
Title: Re: Sellswords and Spellslingers campaign Action report - Game 3 part 1 now up
Post by: Sunjester on October 12, 2022, 12:32:28 PM
It's nice to see so many people playing this campaign through.
Title: Re: Sellswords and Spellslingers campaign Action report - Game 3 part 1 now up
Post by: 6mmfan on October 13, 2022, 06:25:07 AM
Part 2 of the game report

The situation

(https://i.imgur.com/g3oaimm.jpg)

The other party had entered the graveyard and was now advancing cautiously and one of the Rangers rushed to help out their friend. However the fight was not going well with the ranger wounded, and then they failed a Will test against the Wraith and attempted to flee. We gave the Wraith a free hack as the Ranger fled, and he was killed.

(https://i.imgur.com/GiOaqKw.jpg)

It only got worse for the Rangers as a skeleton ambushed one of them and a monster frenzy card brought the Cultists into a threatening range.

(https://i.imgur.com/e8teTu8.jpg)

The other party had advanced towards the Wraith and now contacted it.

(https://i.imgur.com/AxAeTMl.jpg)

And now it got worse. The minor Demon contacted the Ranger and their parry let them down and his was wounded again.

(https://i.imgur.com/wmZbi9S.jpg)

The Cultists had been picked off with bow fire, but the Cult Warrior was able to contact the Ranger's magic user who had taken a wound earlier from an ambush.

(https://i.imgur.com/KsXjaON.jpg)

Finally the Wraith was killed and the party tried to clear the area of foes and one rushed to help the rangers. But it was too late as the Ranger battling the Demon was taken out quickly followed by the Ranger's magic user. Now the whole ranger party was out of action!

(https://i.imgur.com/7RGIouc.jpg)

My party had a decision to make, abandon their friend and make haste for the Mausoleum, or stay and try and rescue the rangers. I choose to stay and a couple of Strong bow shots took care of the Minor Demon and the ghoul.

Other party members rushed to the edge of the graveyard and fought the Cult Warrior and undead standing over the Wizards body.

(https://i.imgur.com/WD6zrKl.jpg)

Meanwhile one of the already wounded fighters, who was battling a pair of ghouls was also out of action.

So now there were 4 PCs standing and 4 out of action!

I spread my party out and one of the fighters who was the most wounded picked up a Ranger and made for the Mausoleum

Then some luck with the dice, my Cleric who was standing next to the Ranger wizard rolled 4 activations, picked up the body and sprinted to the Mausoleum.

(https://i.imgur.com/Kk3XmwL.jpg)

Next turn both these both were able to successfully enter the Mausoleum. That only left my 2 Archers and 2 out of action Rangers. Fortunately there were no enemy nearby, so they both managed to pick up a body each, and enter the Mausoleum. Game over!

(https://i.imgur.com/yCjCACU.jpg)

That was another game that started well but it went downhill very fast. We both thought it was curtains for the Rangers and I didn’t expect to successfully rescue all of them, given how tight the game was. If I hadn’t had a couple of good activations after the Rangers had gone down it could have turned out very differently.

However after checking on the Rangers, the wizard had been too badly wounded and died, but the rest survived. 

A near run thing as they say!
Title: Re: Sellswords and Spellslingers campaign Action report - Game 3 final part
Post by: Burgundavia on October 13, 2022, 04:13:31 PM
Awesome game. We're playing this tonight - should be fun. The first two scenarios were nasty - the first almost everybody finished injured, while the second we got lucky with fireball a few times.
Title: Re: Sellswords and Spellslingers campaign Action report - Game 3 final part
Post by: Spinal Tap on October 13, 2022, 04:57:10 PM
Continuing to enjoy this very much.

If you want more scenarios I did a campaign last year where I adapted some book scenarios and some of Sunjesters to make them different.

They are posted on here if you do a search. Primary objective throughout them is to collect a number of magic stones, so you might win before the last scenario or, perhaps, fail and have to generate a couple more scenarios of your own to get them all.

Plus Sunjesters next book should be out soon, those scenarios are fun and challenging.
Title: Re: Sellswords and Spellslingers campaign Action report - Game 3 final part
Post by: 6mmfan on October 14, 2022, 02:19:44 AM
Thanks I'll have a look we are always looking for new content. I'm writing a campaign too and I hope to playtest it after this campaign finishes.

I'd also love to see this adapted to a dungeon crawl, I just haven't figured out how to do that yet!

Continuing to enjoy this very much.

If you want more scenarios I did a campaign last year where I adapted some book scenarios and some of Sunjesters to make them different.

They are posted on here if you do a search. Primary objective throughout them is to collect a number of magic stones, so you might win before the last scenario or, perhaps, fail and have to generate a couple more scenarios of your own to get them all.

Plus Sunjesters next book should be out soon, those scenarios are fun and challenging.
Title: Re: Sellswords and Spellslingers campaign Action report - Game 3 final part
Post by: 6mmfan on October 14, 2022, 02:20:40 AM
I'd love to see a game report. Yeah the scenarios look deceptively simple, but they are tough.

Awesome game. We're playing this tonight - should be fun. The first two scenarios were nasty - the first almost everybody finished injured, while the second we got lucky with fireball a few times.
Title: Re: Sellswords and Spellslingers campaign Action report - Game 3 final part
Post by: Spinal Tap on October 14, 2022, 05:17:03 AM
Here's a link to my Weirdstones campaign for you to have a look at. Might give you some ideas for future games.

https://leadadventureforum.com/index.php?topic=128623.0


Regarding dungeon crawling I've concluded that Frostgrave rules are a bit better suited and am working on some ideas at the moment.

Look forward to seeing if you can make Sellswords work in that environment  though.



Title: Re: Sellswords and Spellslingers campaign Action report - Game 3 final part
Post by: Sunjester on October 14, 2022, 07:01:55 AM
Yeah the scenarios look deceptively simple, but they are tough.
lol lol lol
Title: Re: Sellswords and Spellslingers campaign Action report - Game 3 final part
Post by: Sunjester on October 14, 2022, 09:37:37 AM
We have been playing around a bit recently with a dungeon setting for a few games. Room contents are randomly selected from a pre-generated list (I usually have twice as many posibilities as rooms in the layout).
Wandering monsters, reinforcements etc enter at the table edge and move as per the normal rules until they hit part of the dungeon complex, then they move within the limitations of the rooms or corridors. It is still a bit of a work in progress.

I also designed an underground scenario playing around with visibility. Torches illuminated a 6" radius, otherwise PCs could not see anything they were not in contact with, although they could shoot at targets in another pool of illumination further away. We also allowed fireballs the same illumination, but they flickered out at the end of a turn. A magician could throw fireballs ahead to try and illuminate the way, but if they could not see the intended target, there was a chance they would deviate 6" in a random direction, which got a bit dangerous!
Title: Re: Sellswords and Spellslingers campaign Action report - Game 3 final part
Post by: 6mmfan on October 16, 2022, 12:50:24 AM
That looks great.

I played Frostgrave and but it feels a bit hero heavy for me but there is a lot of good ideas in it. Same with RoSD, which has a wonderful backstory and scenarios, but I found it didn't have the same tension and excitement as SS&SS. I wish SS&SS had content as good as RoSD, but SS&SS is more of a toolkit.

Here's a link to my Weirdstones campaign for you to have a look at. Might give you some ideas for future games.

https://leadadventureforum.com/index.php?topic=128623.0


Regarding dungeon crawling I've concluded that Frostgrave rules are a bit better suited and am working on some ideas at the moment.

Look forward to seeing if you can make Sellswords work in that environment  though.
Title: Re: Sellswords and Spellslingers campaign Action report - Game 3 final part
Post by: 6mmfan on October 16, 2022, 12:56:03 AM
Yeah I can see how foes coming on from far away corridors/rooms might not work that well. Something like jump off points placed closer would be good, but then the balance of monsters arriving would need to change, or the PCs could (would) get overwhelmed. Or use markers (like in Spacehulk) and you only reveal what foe it is the party when its in LOS.

I like your idea of illumination and its not something I had thought about. Most of my experience with Dungeon crawls are from boardgames and the old Fighting fantasy books, but i can see it would be worthwhile introducing ideas from places such as  RPG systems.

We have been playing around a bit recently with a dungeon setting for a few games. Room contents are randomly selected from a pre-generated list (I usually have twice as many posibilities as rooms in the layout).
Wandering monsters, reinforcements etc enter at the table edge and move as per the normal rules until they hit part of the dungeon complex, then they move within the limitations of the rooms or corridors. It is still a bit of a work in progress.

I also designed an underground scenario playing around with visibility. Torches illuminated a 6" radius, otherwise PCs could not see anything they were not in contact with, although they could shoot at targets in another pool of illumination further away. We also allowed fireballs the same illumination, but they flickered out at the end of a turn. A magician could throw fireballs ahead to try and illuminate the way, but if they could not see the intended target, there was a chance they would deviate 6" in a random direction, which got a bit dangerous!
Title: Re: Sellswords and Spellslingers campaign Action report - Game 4
Post by: 6mmfan on November 12, 2022, 08:11:15 AM
Game 4

This game was set underground and involved the party navigating their way through a dungeon to the other side. We set up a reasonably open dungeon for this as we weren’t sure how t would go with the corridors and wandering monsters and the author of the original scenario had issues with this when they played this scenario.

(https://i.imgur.com/7zSoqJa.jpg)

The party had to travel from left to right in this photo

We had 6 main room areas joined by doorways and corridors. For the final 2 rooms, it was decide that we wouldn’t know which room had the exit until we got there.

(https://i.imgur.com/NcBTXfO.jpg)

Also it was our first game with these rules in a dungeon so we had to makeup some rules for certain situations as we went along. For monster arrivals we rolled a D6 for the rooms and a D4 for the walls and then placed the monsters next to the most appropriate piece of terrain, eg a crypt or door.

A note on the terrain. I've been making dungeon furniture and these dungeon walls for a while out of XPS foam but I ran out of time to finish them for the game. The walls join onto each other using rare earth magnets and this was the first time laying them out. Most of the sections are painted but I didn’t get time to give them any washing or weathering. I also have a bunch of extra pieces - shields, banners, torches, sewage pipes left to glue onto the walls.

And excuse the poor quality photos, I'll try my camera next time as my phone only has a cheap camera.

(https://i.imgur.com/tauvqrS.jpg)

Both parties started in the bottom doorway on the table. There was a group of skeletons near the entrance.

Turn One
My party went first and rushed into the room I managed to get most of my guys into the room but only one fighter contacted the nearby horde of Skeleton and subsequently was wounded in his first combat However my first turn was better than the other party who managed to rolled 2 sets of 3 failed activation dice, including triple ones!

(https://i.imgur.com/qSqE7Hf.jpg)

The second turn was better with both parties engaging the skeletons but there was a monster frenzy and a horde activates so all the foes got a bit closer. Two skeleton ambushes also jumped out of the skeleton cabinets in the room

We played it that the foes didn’t lose any movement for going through doors

The parties continued to fight the skeletons making hard work of it, and a couple more ambushes were triggered. We drew a "That may come in handy" card and decided it contained a clue as to which room contained the exit to the dungeon.

(https://i.imgur.com/ox1eLPK.jpg)

Due to some poor activation dice rolling (a common theme this game) the large horde of Cultists edged around the corner and were fireballed by the mage, killing 6 of them.

(https://i.imgur.com/vitCkXf.jpg)

Monster reinforcements began to arrive, firstly a minor demon along with 3 ghouls!

(https://i.imgur.com/HWUfeoF.jpg)

(https://i.imgur.com/H5F1RNl.jpg)

The parties continued to clear the first room, killing the last 2 cultists but some had taken wounds, so they paused to heal.

(https://i.imgur.com/ELPolGw.jpg)

While the ranger party floundered due to very poor activation dice, the other party boldly (or foolishly) moved into the main room. However it was very dangerous, with the Minor Demon and Chaos champion both activating and entering the same room!

(https://i.imgur.com/IbmWhLK.jpg)

(https://i.imgur.com/aP3tTgj.jpg)

Some very effective Strongbow fire downed the Chaos champion and then the Minor demon, while a group of ghouls popped out of a hidden section in the walls.

The other party was left fighting another horde of skeletons while some Cultists had arrived in the same entrance the party had. Shortly after fireballing the cultists, the mage rolled a 1 when trying to cast another fireball and was out of magic for the game!

(https://i.imgur.com/Thp7A57.jpg)

Back in the main area, some cultists were chanting at the altar, getting ready to fight.

(https://i.imgur.com/tv7eCwE.jpg)

The ghouls activated on a Hordes activates card and charged the 2 bowmen, while the cultists finished chanting and exited the room

(https://i.imgur.com/qmizgWp.jpg)

Back in the entrance room 2 groups of 6 skeletons arrived at the entrance after 2. They are at our backs cards were drawn, making a huge horde of 12 skeletons!

(https://i.imgur.com/zZ6Fnlq.jpg)

Meanwhile the Rangers continuing to fail their activations and were just making the way out of the first room

(https://i.imgur.com/FzMfCU1.jpg)

Another monster frenzy card was flipped over and the Wraith enter the main room. I’d forgotten the figure so I had to use a puny ghoul instead, in red clothing.

The party in the main room decided to foolishly charge the wraith, but it was a very tough creature. The managed to get 2 wounds on the wraith.
However in the PCs next activation they all failed their willpower tests and fled. One PC was cutdown while fleeing but this was actually a good result! Now the archers could shoot the wraith from a safe distance!

(https://i.imgur.com/OVYqGOs.jpg)

The first archer let lose an aimed shot, scoring another 2 HP damage and the second archer also got a lucky hit, killing the wraith!

The ranger party had cleared the skeletons in front of them and decided to make haste, as they didn’t want to take on the large horde of skeletons following them. The moved into the now empty room, but behind the door was yet another horde of cultists.

(https://i.imgur.com/Tx9avXL.jpg)

In the bigger room there were still some Imps and more cultist to kill. All the PCs had been wounded, but they had found some nice loot. The downed PC was checked and was wounded (-2 to activations, and half speed movement) but still alive.

The ranger were now fighting the cultists thanks to another horde activates card but were struggling to some appalling activation and combat rolls. The lack of armour in the party was not helping them either.

(https://i.imgur.com/y8b8Iqd.jpg)

Meanwhile the party had killed the imps and were fighting some cultists. Another horde of Cultists arrived as wandering monsters and charges the PC. The Cleric was cut down by them, while the archers desperately joined in the fight!

(https://i.imgur.com/eQOuNI8.jpg)

(https://i.imgur.com/WxI6pNG.jpg)

The rangers had finally got some decent dice and were able to clear the cultists and enter the last room. They fought the last ghoul and made for the mysterious looking cabinet on the far wall.

(https://i.imgur.com/MWTHiWq.jpg)

Back in the main room, the PCs were slowing killing the cultists, but an armoured cultist arrived and proceed to activate again, and charged the archer. With no shield or armour to save him, he was taken out. Desperately the wounded fighter and the other archer fought the armoured cultist and managed to kill him.

(https://i.imgur.com/v1xiz5I.jpg)

Two of the rangers had opened the secret cabinet and entered, while the third ranger stayed back to fight two Imps who had appeared.

(https://i.imgur.com/5yQRhcv.jpg)

The other party activated and the wounded fighter managed to roll well and moved 3 moves towards the exit.

More foes were arriving in the main room including another Chaos champion so the party decided to make a dash for the exit before the skeleton horde blocked their way.

(https://i.imgur.com/CByLQZQ.jpg)

Luck was on their side as the second fighter rolled 4 successful activations, so he picked up the cleric and sprinted past his party had through the door into the last room! Impressed by this the archer, got 3 success and picked up the other downed archer and followed closely behind.

(https://i.imgur.com/IpNib8i.jpg)

Back in the final room, 2 of the Ranger’s PCs made a dash for the safety of the exit. The ranger who was struggling to kill a couple of lowly Imps, was only 1 monster activation away from being swamped by a massive skeleton horde decided to break off combat and make for the entrance. They PC had not been wounded so far and rolled 3 successes. They broke off combat and took one wound but they were able to make a good dash into the last room and meetup with the other party.
More luck shined on the other party with the wounded PC who was at -2 on activation rolls, getting 4 successes and dashing to safety.

(https://i.imgur.com/3RaEpt7.jpg)

The remaining PCs managed to exit to safety just as the horde of skeletons entered the last room. Game over and another close call!

(https://i.imgur.com/0WhtnYJ.jpg)


Afterthoughts
Another tough game and a lot of that comes down to the sheer number of foes that turn up, which can turn into a slugfest. The ranger party had terrible activation dice all game and that meant a lot more actions for the foes everywhere!
Playing in a dungeon worked well but we made it pretty open and less like a groups of rooms with corridors in between. We noted that on the original game they had issues with monsters never getting into contact, but we didn’t have that due to the openness, small area and lots of monster actions. I’d like to develop this further type of dungeon crawl game further.
Losing the fireball spell early in the game really makes it hard to deal with large groups of foes, and it’s something to consider for our own scenario designs. We talked about less foes, but perhaps tougher, or a fixed number of foes in the scenario.
Finally I do think the strong bow is too powerful, and with 2 in my party I was able to kill 3 tough foes with relative ease. I have been considering a house rule were a strong bow has to exceed the DL of a foe by 3 or more, to get the second point of damage (kind of like a called shot), and I want to trial this in a future campaign.
Title: Re: Sellswords and Spellslingers campaign Action report - Game 4
Post by: Sunjester on November 12, 2022, 11:06:30 AM
  I do think the strong bow is too powerful, and with 2 in my party I was able to kill 3 tough foes with relative ease. I have been considering a house rule were a strong bow has to exceed the DL of a foe by 3 or more, to get the second point of damage (kind of like a called shot), and I want to trial this in a future campaign.

I have similar feelings about the strongbow.I was toying with making it need to be an aimed shot, ie two actions, to get the 2pt damage, but that might be too limiting.

A great looking game, your scratchbuilt dungeon looks great.
Title: Re: Sellswords and Spellslingers campaign Action report - Game 4 - 12 Nov
Post by: 6mmfan on November 12, 2022, 11:27:04 AM
Thanks, it was nice to lay it out on the table finally.
Title: Re: Sellswords and Spellslingers campaign Action report - Game 4 - 12 Nov
Post by: bazookajoe on November 12, 2022, 04:23:24 PM
This is really fantastic.  I have been wondering how to convert S&S into a dungeon crawl game as well. 
Title: Re: Sellswords and Spellslingers campaign Action report - Game 4 - 12 Nov
Post by: Ethelred the Almost Ready on November 12, 2022, 10:10:59 PM
Looks like a great game and set up.  The dungeon furniture is amazing. 

I have quite a few games of SS&SS under my belt and have fiddled with the rules here and there.
The activation and card system is great at creating tension and unpredictability.  I have played a few games where I became more and more frantic as wandering monsters turned up or scenario events were activated - it can make for a very suspensful game.
But it can be quite limiting in some respects.
I have played games where repeated failed activations  and resulting endless hordes of monsters saw my parted penned in one corner of the table all game - this became a long slog with no "adventuring" involved.
There have been other games where there are few monster activations, so they just stand in place as the player characters zoom around them.

Now, as I mainly paly this as a solo game I have the luxury to alter rules as I see fit in a way that suits me.
I eventually decided to make activation easier BUT the monsters also had some reactions that were not card driven (but were dice determined):
Archers could roll to evade people charging them.
Melee troops could charge characters who wander into range but had not engaged the monsters.  Likewise, archers that have characters wander into range may be fired upon.
Monsters that are shot at might stand, charge, or try to move into cover.

With the easier activation I also allowed group moves - allowable to lower level grunts with or without a hero in teh group. This roll was more difficult.  Group activations couldn't be done by a group of "hero" level characters and could not be done if in combat.

All this allows characters to do stuff (I play the game more as an RPG than a skirmish game).  Despite the reduction in failed activations and cards drawn, the  mosters get to behave less haphazardly and the reaction system compensates for fewer card activations of the monsters.

Moving into proximity of unexplored terrain or buildings I had scenario-dependent encounter rolls.  The forest on the left might be clear and provide good cover, or there could be a group of Orcs hiding there etc.

I have not worked out how to do dungeon delving, yet.

As far as strong bows go, they are particularly nasty.  I find they destroy large opponents with their +1 to hit and 2 damage.  For some large creatures it seems appropriate that, while they are easier to hit and might get shot somewhere critical (such as an eye) their thicker/heavier skin and greater muscle bulk serves as protection from arrows.  These get a save throw against each point of damage so an arrow hit might do 0, 1 or 2 damage depending on the save.
Each extra arrow fired by a model in a round gets -1 to hit. 

None of this might be to your tastes, but it works well for me.  I use a large table so that my characters can explore as much as they fight.  I hope this is of some interest.
Title: Re: Sellswords and Spellslingers campaign Action report - Game 4 - 12 Nov
Post by: 6mmfan on November 13, 2022, 12:09:22 AM
This is really fantastic.  I have been wondering how to convert S&S into a dungeon crawl game as well.

Thanks a lot

I think if the dungeon is pretty open and you still have lots of spawning points, then it seems to work. I know there was a dungeon variant in the works, but all the Ganesha games releases have been delayed.
Title: Re: Sellswords and Spellslingers campaign Action report - Game 4 - 12 Nov
Post by: 6mmfan on November 13, 2022, 12:40:14 AM
Looks like a great game and set up.  The dungeon furniture is amazing. 

I have quite a few games of SS&SS under my belt and have fiddled with the rules here and there.
The activation and card system is great at creating tension and unpredictability.  I have played a few games where I became more and more frantic as wandering monsters turned up or scenario events were activated - it can make for a very suspensful game.
But it can be quite limiting in some respects.
I have played games where repeated failed activations  and resulting endless hordes of monsters saw my parted penned in one corner of the table all game - this became a long slog with no "adventuring" involved.
There have been other games where there are few monster activations, so they just stand in place as the player characters zoom around them.

Thanks

Yes we have had the same, and a lot of it is down to the dice. We found we had stopped looting bodies as there wasnt much to do with the money, and that meant less actions used by PCs. For this campaign I've introduced a upkeep of 10SP per PC per scenario, so we have been looting a lot more.

Also in this campaign there is a lot of wandering monsters, and you can get bogged down as you mentioned. I went back and read the scenarios in the rules and there is a good mix of scenarios with wandering monsters, or a handful of powerful monsters. I think its a matter of mix up the different scenario styles a bit more or they can be a bit samey.


Now, as I mainly paly this as a solo game I have the luxury to alter rules as I see fit in a way that suits me.
I eventually decided to make activation easier BUT the monsters also had some reactions that were not card driven (but were dice determined):
Archers could roll to evade people charging them.
Melee troops could charge characters who wander into range but had not engaged the monsters.  Likewise, archers that have characters wander into range may be fired upon.
Monsters that are shot at might stand, charge, or try to move into cover.

With the easier activation I also allowed group moves - allowable to lower level grunts with or without a hero in teh group. This roll was more difficult.  Group activations couldn't be done by a group of "hero" level characters and could not be done if in combat.

All this allows characters to do stuff (I play the game more as an RPG than a skirmish game).  Despite the reduction in failed activations and cards drawn, the  mosters get to behave less haphazardly and the reaction system compensates for fewer card activations of the monsters.


Interesting ideas and not something we had thought of. There can be times where you party stands around while the monsters pile in, and we very rarely use the opportunity shot. I've thought of tinkering with the event deck and others have tried that too. Also Andrea has reease some new event cards through Patreon, although there isnt any guidance on how to use them, it helps with some ideas.

Also have you seen the Conan variant which have some great ideas, and I like how they use cards
https://miniaturescrum.blogspot.com/2020/03/striking-back-against-covid-19-free.html

I like the idea of group moves as there can be times where a PC is lagging behind due to poor dice and can get ambushed or worse.


Moving into proximity of unexplored terrain or buildings I had scenario-dependent encounter rolls.  The forest on the left might be clear and provide good cover, or there could be a group of Orcs hiding there etc.

I have not worked out how to do dungeon delving, yet.

As far as strong bows go, they are particularly nasty.  I find they destroy large opponents with their +1 to hit and 2 damage.  For some large creatures it seems appropriate that, while they are easier to hit and might get shot somewhere critical (such as an eye) their thicker/heavier skin and greater muscle bulk serves as protection from arrows.  These get a save throw against each point of damage so an arrow hit might do 0, 1 or 2 damage depending on the save.
Each extra arrow fired by a model in a round gets -1 to hit. 

None of this might be to your tastes, but it works well for me.  I use a large table so that my characters can explore as much as they fight.  I hope this is of some interest.

Yes we have starting fighting more monsters with saving throws and that helps, but I think strongbows are over powered, and that's why I don't think they should always cause 2 damage. But you kind of need a strong or bow or a fireball caster in a party, or it can be too tough, which I think goes back to your point regarding making activations easier and reactions .

The great to see other peoples perspectives and you've come up with some innovative ideas.
Title: Re: Sellswords and Spellslingers campaign Action report - Game 5 - 7th Dec
Post by: 6mmfan on December 07, 2022, 07:40:01 AM
This game is the 5th and final adventure in the Demons gate campaign. Ours parties have scraped through the games barely surviving and quite often carrying each other’s lifeless bodies to safety.

For this scenario, the parties have entered a large cavern and their goal is to kill or wound the High Priest and then escape with their lives. All the while the priest is busy summoning all manner of creatures and the parties have to cut their way through the minions to get to the priest.

I didn’t have any cavern scenery so I reused some scifi boards I made, along with rock crystals, clump foliage, lichen and GW Azrite ruins. Once again I used a large Reaper bones piece, this time as the portal where the creatures would enter.

(https://i.imgur.com/P99CvGR.jpg)

The priest is protected by a Chaos Champion, hordes of cultists and imps (we used goblins instead) and some rather tough Cult warriors.

(https://i.imgur.com/eVyclnX.jpg)

Onto the game.
After the party deployed on the opposite side to the portal, one of the first activation failures, caused a Minotaur to arrive through the portal (I used a large Gnoll as I couldn’t find my Minotaur figure).

(https://i.imgur.com/DLThbye.jpg)

A few more failed activations produced a Monster frenzy, That’s a big one and then Monster activates cards to come out. A cultist charged one of the Rangers but was cut down.

(https://i.imgur.com/mHVxAoq.jpg)

Then the horde of red cultists activated again and charged the Ranger. 

(https://i.imgur.com/K0RSa31.jpg)

Another Ranger rushed into assist and they made quick work of the cultists (unlike prior games where their dice were woeful, the rangers were rolling well tonight)!

(https://i.imgur.com/A65KIoO.jpg)

Then another complication card was drawn, and a Chaos Champion arrived through the portal.

(https://i.imgur.com/trC3UOF.jpg)

The parties continued to advance and were getting close to the 1/3rd mark

(https://i.imgur.com/dykd2h5.jpg)

Two “They’re at our backs” cards arrived in quick succession, and suddenly a horde of 8 cultists loomed behind the parties.

(https://i.imgur.com/gNETR1f.jpg)

Ignoring this the parties pushed onto the center. A horde of goblins got closer and a bigger Goblin broke off, while the Minotaur was killed by some bow fire.

(https://i.imgur.com/wBV7v6L.jpg)

A Horde activates card was drawn and the horde of goblins contacted the rangers.

(https://i.imgur.com/XpFrC12.jpg)

The high priest started firing magic blast at the two closest PCs, but they successfully dodged

Then a Monster frenzy which the large goblin and a horde of cultist contacting a couple of fighters.

(https://i.imgur.com/4bpK7E3.jpg)

Another creature arrived through the portal, this time a Mutant Souldrinker

(https://i.imgur.com/PlE9YjR.jpg)

The scrum in the middle continued and the Rangers had dispatched the Goblin horde, while other foes got closer. One of the Cult warriors gained a mutation in the form of an extra arm.

(https://i.imgur.com/Z4HkdzP.jpg)

Next the Chaos Champion is dropped by the rangers. They definitely brought their A game tonight and so far have had their best dice of the entire campaign. The 2 fighters are not making any progress against the horde of Cultists though.

(https://i.imgur.com/MyS6TCA.jpg)

Now the path was clear to the Warlock, the Rangers magic user let loose with a fireball! This was successful and the damage was enough to cause the Warlock to flee, through the portal, closing it behind him.

(https://i.imgur.com/LRDHRXk.jpg)

Game over or so we thought, until we read the victory conditions and realised we had to exit the table from where we had started!

Next one of the rangers was contacted by the multi-armed Cultist warrior, while the fighters in the middle made progress whittling down the cultists. In the back a horde of Goblins who had been slowing moving up attacked.

(https://i.imgur.com/30oICr2.jpg)

One of the Rangers was in a spot of bother with a Chaos Champion and a Mutant souldrinker bearing down on him.

(https://i.imgur.com/SY3nJSY.jpg)

And near the entrance two groups of cultists stood blocking the way to the entrance/exit.

(https://i.imgur.com/2dB8u3Y.jpg)

After dispatching the Mutant Souldrinker back to the underworld, the 2 parties began to retreat towards the entrance. Most were wounded (the red markers indicating the wounds they had suffered).

(https://i.imgur.com/YHYBrgm.jpg)

Then one of the archers was taken out of the game by a Cultist, and a Chaos Champion (the Warlocks bodyguard) was getting very close to the PCs.

(https://i.imgur.com/3UDS6TN.jpg)

A Ranger who had fallen over with a Loss of balance at an inopportune time, now had a Minor Demon breathing down on him. With the best dice of the night and the best use of a Leadership bonus, the PC turned all the 7’s turned into 8’s and stood up and ran for his life!

(https://i.imgur.com/HEG5LjG.jpg)

On the other side of the table a group of Cultists had been moving up and now threatened the flank of the retreating PCs.

(https://i.imgur.com/8cYi8do.jpg)

More good activation dice for the Rangers meant the Magic user (who had run out of casting magic) got to the exit, while 3 PCs were close behind.

(https://i.imgur.com/OWM2xZN.jpg)

However the fighter was valiantly fighting the Chaos Champion and a Cult Warrior while his friends abandoned him to his fate. The other PCs only had one wound remaining each. After heroically killing the Chaos Champion, the PC was killed by the Cult Warrior.

(https://i.imgur.com/qWZHK3O.jpg)

The Cleric who had been carrying the fallen Archers body to safety dropped the body near the exit and returned to help the other Archer, but he was too late to save the Archer, who was also killed.

(https://i.imgur.com/2qjsQ9b.jpg)

At this point with 3 down PCs and only 2 alive, the party had to abandon the other fighters body, vowing to return, and carry the 2 Archers bodies to the exit. The Rangers also completed their exit and it was victory to the PCs in the campaign!

(https://i.imgur.com/XYQNdwR.jpg)

Afterthoughts
We actually had a plan this game which was to not split the parties up and charge straight up the middle and kill the Warlock as fast as possible. This went well but we didn’t realise we had to exit again, so we should have had guys defending the return route.

The Rangers probably had their best dice of the campaign, and it was a good time, as the opposition in this game were a lot tougher. Overall we enjoyed the campaign and found some nice ideas and challenges in the scenarios. At times it was a bit of a hack/slash because there were a lot of foes on the table, and it did get overwhelming dealing with massive hordes of monsters.

What next? Well I’m writing our own campaign which we hope to playtest in the new year (or maybe sooner). Also Ganesha games have been drip feeding new monsters and other ideas through their Patreon so I plan to incorporate so of those into the campaign , along with what we learned from playing this.




Title: Re: Sellswords and Spellslingers campaign Action report - Game 5 (Final) - 7th Dec
Post by: Burgundavia on December 07, 2022, 09:06:55 PM
Awesome conclusion to your game - looking forward to seeing what you play next (the Lich scenario I co-wrote with Andrea is very very nasty). We just finished the 5th game ourselves, I should write it up more fully here and on the blog.
Title: Re: Sellswords and Spellslingers campaign Action report - Game 5 (Final) - 7th Dec
Post by: 6mmfan on December 07, 2022, 09:47:35 PM
Awesome conclusion to your game - looking forward to seeing what you play next (the Lich scenario I co-wrote with Andrea is very very nasty). We just finished the 5th game ourselves, I should write it up more fully here and on the blog.

Yes were we looking at that but our parties and especially the Ranger party, barely gained any XP during the campaign! Either they were out of action or the scenario didn't have a lot of XP rewards (we bumped those up for the last few games)
Title: Re: Sellswords and Spellslingers campaign Action report - Game 5 (Final) - 7th Dec
Post by: Burgundavia on December 07, 2022, 10:12:39 PM
Yes were we looking at that but our parties and especially the Ranger party, barely gained any XP during the campaign! Either they were out of action or the scenario didn't have a lot of XP rewards (we bumped those up for the last few games)

I bumped the final battle to 7 XP. We kept forgetting who killed what, so we had to retrofit that.
Title: Re: Sellswords and Spellslingers campaign Action report - Game 5 (Final) - 7th Dec
Post by: 6mmfan on December 08, 2022, 08:10:37 AM
It was mostly me getting the extra XP's  :o and the other party lost too many PCs during the campaign and so didn't gain a lot. I thought I read that a PC doesn't gain XP if they were carried off, but we may have got that wrong.
Title: Re: Sellswords and Spellslingers campaign Action report - Game 5 (Final) - 7th Dec
Post by: Sunjester on December 08, 2022, 08:23:08 AM
All survivors in a party get XPs. So if they are carried off, but survive the Out-of-Action roll, they still get their share of any XPs.