Five Leagues from the Borderlands - The Gentlemen of Much-Piddling

[Mad Lord Snapcase]

Thanks LouieN, syrinx0 and Ultravanillasmurf.

The only thing missing was the frosty breath.

I never thought of that!

Bara and Thorvald, the misplaced quiver and the foetid eau de cologne can only be redeemed by valiant action as we set out to explore an old mine.

After camping overnight at the mine entrance, a strange but moving ceremony is enacted by the Compagnye members. During their last engagement with Hissing Sid, they decided to promote Hugh Pugh for services above and beyond, to the rank of Hero from his previous rank as Follower.

The Compagnye heroes had a whip-round and purchased some proper adventuring clothes for Hugh. Here we see the transformation from zero to hero!

Hugh, in his old gear, top left,



Hugh in his new posh gear, top left.

[Doug ex-em4]

He’s is looking proper Heroic - dressed a bit like me (Bara) actually. I imagine the youngsters want to follow their rôle model’s look; quite natural.

And what a night that was - Hew took the customary initiation ceremony very well, I thought, although I noticed Tiffany looking somewhat embarrassed (unlike Ilsa - ‘nuff said).

Doug

[FramFramson]

The company also got him a nosejob and salon treatment for his hair! No expenses spared I see! 

[ced1106]

> Everyone seems to have had time to train but not on the same day, is that because there's some limiting factor or were Thorvald and Tiffany too hung over to train when Bara and Ilsa did their training?

Well, there is a Campaign Action (sp) where *one* of your characters Trains and gains an XP point -- while the others do nothing. Officially, the character doesn't gain abilities unless it's the Resolution stage after a battle encounter, but I find that that's too much bookkeeping. (Could limit Training by saying a character cannot gain an XP that would gain anything.)

I love those "steps" in the winter mountain pass! Looking forward to seeing the next combat.

BTW, I like "too hung over to train" as an excuse, so asked ChatGPT to make a table of random excuses...

Here's a table of random excuses why your D&D character didn't train:

1. "I accidentally stumbled upon a secret library filled with ancient tomes and got lost in reading."
2. "A mischievous imp stole all my training equipment and hid it in different dimensions."
3. "I got caught up in an epic tavern brawl and spent the entire week recovering from the injuries."
4. "A powerful wizard cursed me with a temporary loss of my magical abilities, making training impossible."
5. "I was captured by a group of bandits and had to use all my skills to escape, leaving no time for training."
6. "An enchanted artifact transported me to a different realm where time flows differently, and when I returned, only a day had passed for me."
7. "I discovered a hidden underground city and spent the week exploring its vast wonders."
8. "A friendly druid asked for my help in protecting an endangered species, and we spent days tracking and observing them."
9. "I was invited to participate in a prestigious tournament, but I had to focus on preparing for the competition instead of training."
10. "A mysterious illness affected the entire region, and I volunteered my time to help the sick and find a cure."

Feel free to roll a dice or choose a number to select a random excuse for your D&D character!

EDIT: Added a "ChatGPT: Campaign Activities Fluff Text" file to the 5L FB group! Look in the Media files section.

[syrinx0]

I might have to use this table in my next PF1E campaign.  On an 11 & 12 you train otherwise...

[Mad Lord Snapcase]

The company also got him a nosejob and salon treatment for his hair! No expenses spared I see! 

       

It was a real makeover, he was even issued clean underwear!

ced1106, a very useful table there, thanks.

[Mad Lord Snapcase]

Another extract from the notorious annals of the Compagnye.

[Doug ex-em4]

Excellent…!

Without compromising Compagnye lore, it should be pointed out that the courgette was a recent replacement for the original cucumber. A necessary Health and Safety initiative as Compagnye stalwarts are only too aware.

Doug

[Mad Lord Snapcase]

Excellent…!

Without compromising Compagnye lore, it should be pointed out that the courgette was a recent replacement for the original cucumber. A necessary Health and Safety initiative as Compagnye stalwarts are only too aware.

Doug

Our Risk Assessment was that cucumbers and Bara were possibly the most dangerous combination known to man, the noxious gases resulting, possibly causing death, or serious disruption to the nasal passages at the very least!

Hence, the original company banner, carried into many a battle, when the Compagnye was larger than it is now:

[Doug ex-em4]

For shame that this Compagnye secret should be aired, much as is Thorvald’s unclean smalls, on a public billboard for the amusement of the unwashed hoi-polloi…!

[Mad Lord Snapcase]

For shame that this Compagnye secret should be aired, much as is Thorvald’s unclean smalls, on a public billboard for the amusement of the unwashed hoi-polloi…!

          

Trouble in the Lady Garden

This is our first delve in our 5LftB campaign. The scenario required Exploration Markers equal to the number in the warband. Seven markers were duly placed.





The enemy on this occasion were skeletons.

While the curses and injustices of the world are quite capable of animating the undead, these defenders seem to have been created specifically for the purpose.

I had thrown for nine skeletons and then the roll on the leader chart added a Sergeant, a skeleton with +1 toughness.

These were set out in patrolling groups of 3 with the Sergeant patrolling on his own. These were placed in the mine.









At the time of writing the game is not yet over. We played for four hours online, yesterday and had a great time. We should complete this next week. As a consequence of a long game and lots of photos, the AAR will come in chapters. To add some difficulty to the game, I placed everything and then gave Doug the job of directing movements. He had not seen the board previously and I covered it with sheets of A4 paper in order to reveal one room at a time.



The party was split into two, as there were two entrances to Lady Garden’s Mine.

Into the front seam went Ilsa von Spanckwürst, Tiffany Aching, Lew Pugh and Barney McGrew.



Whilst Thorvald the Skald, Hugh Pugh and Bara Brith ap Cyffylliog took advantage of the back passage.



Hugh Pugh, in his new gear, volunteered to scout.



They came across the first of the Exploration Markers in their first room.



Ilsa and party penetrated into the gloomy depths, but initially, no results.

To be continued…

[Doug ex-em4]

Yes - been a cracking game so far. The concealing of the mine’s layout made it so much more interesting than having everything in plain view. Obviously Snapcase knew where everything was but all the movement directions were handed to me who, as usual, knew nothing! It was very like the fondly remembered D&D games of 40+ years ago; behind every corner could be lurking something very nasty.

It must also be emphasised that this was a game played via Google Meet. It has worked much better than I anticipated - it feels like playing in a face-to-face, or at least damn near it. A very successful experiment and a 5 Leagues campaign has been an excellent vehicle for it.

As always, a massive ‘thank you’ to His Lordship for providing very special scenery, painting figures especially for the game, sorting the tech, taking the photos, keeping the records, doing the AAR - all this whilst standing on one leg, dressed in a tutu (probably).

Looking forward to completing the game next week.

Doug

[Mad Lord Snapcase]

As always, a massive ‘thank you’ to His Lordship for providing very special scenery, painting figures especially for the game, sorting the tech, taking the photos, keeping the records, doing the AAR

Cheers, an absolute pleasure, old stick!

all this whilst standing on one leg, dressed in a tutu

...and I did whistle Rule Britannia whilst on one leg! (For those of you interested in these things the tutu was pink and I sewed all the sequins on by hand!)

[Doug ex-em4]

...and I did whistle Rule Britannia whilst on one leg! (For those of you interested in these things the tutu was pink and I sewed all the sequins on by hand!)

It was just a shame you sewed your hand on as well….!

[Vagabond]

Blimey Snappers your mine is a work of art. I know I've seen it in the flesh but I was well oiled at the time and you kept most of it hidden with sheets of paper.

It looks fantastic 

I'll refrain from mentioning the rather common reference to Bara going up the back passage, especially as Thorvald was with him, standards man, standards.

I got the impression that the game was almost finished but it seems you've cut short your narative if not I want my money back.

Look forward to the concluding two thirds of the story.