Sellswords and Spellslingers. Modifying rules. Argonor - "Sneaking"

[Ethelred the Almost Ready]

Aelkwaffer, the mighty elven warrior and his band of self-righteous monster-abusers go on another mission to menace the creatures of the Dark Wood.
This mission is to destroy Simon the Sinister Sylvan Summoner and explore the Barrow of Weal.



The band advance down a narrow wooded valley.  Gloria, the pneumatically enhanced wizard likes her enemies well toasted and fries a few with a fireball, their fallen bodies litter the midground.




Despite some of his companions lagging behind, Aelkwaffer rushes forward heroically (some would say rashly) and engages Simon before he can do any summoning.



Simon can only thrust at Aelkwaffer with his snake-kebab, but this proves ineffective. 




Aelkwaffer spurns the gastronomic treat-on-a-stick and instead skewers Simon (with some belated help of his friends who try, unsuccessfully, to steal Aelkwaffer's glory).




A werewolf arrives on the scene, attracted by the smell of barbequed meat, but after many of his erstwhile allies decide to flee he decides he will just put in a cameo appearance.  As he slinks off he contemplates the universe and decides that the world exists in a universe that is, in fact, a giant kitchen.




With his dying breath Simon summons Sean, the angry ent who is also mercilessly slain by a combination of arrows, swords and Gloria's pyrotecnics (not good for a dry old stick like Sean).



And so ends the fourth adventure of Aelkwaffer.  The previous three aren't available as they were sadly eaten by his pet wolf before he could hand them in at the start of first period.

[Sunjester]

Sounds fun. I recently downloaded a copy of Sellswords and Spellslingers, after reading so much good stuff  about the rules on the LAF. I need to set up a table and give it a go.

[beefcake]

Looks fun. I may have to look into this.

[blacksoilbill]

That was a fun read, thanks!

[Severian]

Thanks for posting this - very entertaining! another set of rules worth looking out, I think.

I like the barrow, btw - where is it from?

[dinohunterpoa]

GREAT!!! 

[Ethelred the Almost Ready]

Thanks for posting this - very entertaining! another set of rules worth looking out, I think.

I like the barrow, btw - where is it from?

I bought it from Caliver books about five years ago, along with some monolithic stones, a Saxon church and a storehouse.  They are still listed under Saxon/Viking style buildings  and Ancient Monuments in the Battlefield Buildings section.

[Severian]

I bought it from Caliver books about five years ago, along with some monolithic stones, a Saxon church and a storehouse.  They are still listed under Saxon/Viking style buildings  and Ancient Monuments in the Battlefield Buildings section.

Great, thanks. I'll investigate further...

[shandy]

Thanks for the report, sounds like a fun game! Sellswords is a great game.

[Ethelred the Almost Ready]

The next chapter in the saga of Aelkwaffer is hot off the press!

This one is called

"Poor Tom's a-cold"
The intrepid heroes go on another mission of victimising innocent creatures of the mystical woods.  Although this time, perhaps, they are not so innocent.
Three trolls, unaware of the metoo campaign, have evil plans for some elven strumpet.  They wish to, literally, indulge in their vile appetites.  Tom stands guard while Bert and William (now have we heard those names before?) go looking for dry wood to roast the elf maid over.
In a rocky and wooded terrain (some of it hastily pressed into service) our heroes make for a cluster of boulders where the elf-kebab-to-be is tied.



Poor Tom's a-cold waiting for his friends to bring fire.



He doesn't have to wait long.  Boris Noris McMorris has made such a noise blundering around that he has attracted the attention of Bert.



Gloria, of the pneumatic boobies feels very clever slaying a Viking (still no orcs ) and decides to then fire off a spell.  She fails miserably and all magical power is drained for the rest of the adventure, leaving her feeling deflated.



Bert sprints for the captive, hoping to nibble her before the self-righteous bastards aka our heroes can rescue her, but misses by that much...
Aelkwaffer engages and is assisted by Boris who breaks his sword and runs off to Gloria to borrow hers.  Hypocritically, she turns her back on Boris and his incompetence, but does reluctantly give him her sword.



Aelkwaffer decides he will just have to do everything himself and brutally slays Tom.  Poor Tom's a-dead.



Boris continues to blunder and attracts the attentions of a giant spider, but finally finds his mojo and squishes the arachnid.



William is finally on the scene. He and Bert rush towards Aelkwaffer and friends to take revenge.



Everything seems to go the way of the monster murderers.  Bert is brought down.



Finally William attacks.  Boris breaks another sword and Aelkwaffer takes out his third troll.



The last act is too terrible to show.  The trolls poor pet wolves arrive to find their masters slaughtered. Loyally charging the party of now blood crazed elves and humans they are destroyed.

Potentially this game could have been difficult for the adventurers with three powerful enemies and the scaenario rules tweaked to allow the trolls to activate frequently.  Luck was generally with the heroes, other than Boris who failed multiple activations and broke two swords.  Gloria just had to keep out of the way with no spells or sword.  Her main role was to usher the elven captive to safety. But can two elf maidens coexist happily or will the claws be out?

[Montefortino]

Great write-ups, these games certainly look like they were a lot of fun. The rules sound worth a look for sure.

[Severian]

Great fun to read - thanks for posting.

[boneio]

Very much enjoying these write ups, thanks!

[Ethelred the Almost Ready]

Aelkwaffer was in action again today.  No report or photographs this time, but there were a few things that got me thinking about game mechanics.  Mostly around characters who can kill from afar without taking the same risks as those in combat - namely wizards and archers.

My archer with Strong" skill and wielding a Strongbow has become a major monster killer as he is able to stand off, hit large creatures more easily (due to size they are bigger targets and easier to hit) and does two damage every time he hits.  Three out of five large or significant creatures were delivered the coup de grace by the archer, far outstripping Aelkwaffer, the hero.

For larger creatures with thicker skin and larger muscle bulk it must be hard for an arrow to reach a major organ or vessel; more so than with a melee weapon.  I am trying some mechanics to alter this, but haven't yet found one I like.

I also prefer magic to be a little more restrained.  The activation rules sate " Any result of 8+ entitles that PC to perform 1 action. One action can be anything: attack, aim, cast a spell, read a scroll, drink a potion, pick up an object, or move".
This means my magic user can cast three fireballs if successful with activations. As horde creatures are only 1 hit wonders, fireballs will take out great numbers at a time.  It just seems too much.

While I like the game and don't want to interfere with it's simplicity too much, I am using this as a solo game and can therefore tinker as I wish without being troubled by what others think.  In a character's round, for each spell cast after the first there is a cumulative -1 on the to cast rolls.

[Ethelred the Almost Ready]

Oh, Ok, one photograph.  Playing around with my photo settings......
The dreaded archer.