Schneerim report: Bee and Honey - Part 4 The Hall of the Mountain King

[Teardrop World]

I will finally not write home brew rules for Schneerim, I've seen on a forum some years ago somebody using Pathfinder for solo dungeon crawling, but Pathfinder is too much complex for me (too much page of rules). A simpler french RPG will do the trick: Chroniques Oubliées (Forgotten Chronicles, not available in english, but it's based on open 3.5). It's solo gaming and I made some reaction tables for the opponent: are they awake, distracted or sleepy? Walking, searching or just standing? Reacting to noise or not etc. Markers are used to keep tracking of the different states of the miniatures. A sleeping guard have a malus on his test to detect a sneaky thief and can be killed very easily, distracted people won't really use their line of sight but searching guards will be a pain to deal with.
It's fun to play, and allow interesting twists in the scenarios.

Well, let's set the lights, listen to the sound of the wind and of a countryside. A long time ago, in a country in the centre of somewhere...


The Bards of Glendorf have a contest each year, they must broke a heavy crystal vase with only their voices. It’s been years that Castafiora, the local diva, win this prestigious contest, but a cold breeze recently shut her vocal cords. The only remedy is the rare Wild Honey from the Long Rocher mountains. Castafiora cannot go herself to those mountains, as they are infested by wolves and forsworns: the Forworms tribes.

Some adventurers will certainly do the job.

Lagrippe – thief, Medoc Chambertin – bard, Dovakhin – warrior, Nazbrock – forgesort (a kind of blacksmith)



A long path lead to the mountains, first the Valley entrance, guarded by the Empire’s soldiers. A bridge is the only access to the mountains, and the Empire try to prevent the Forworms to raid Glendorf. Every stranger found in this place will be treated like a spy by the Empire.

An overall view of the Valley entrance



Lagrippe is the fastest, one guard fall…



…then another, as the thief sneak to the tower



Nazbrock can see Dovakhin climb a cliff, but he fail himself to do the same.



The warrior discover an ancient dwarf monument. Old legends tell the story of a long disappeared race of dwarves: the Dwarfhammers. Could this statue belong to those dwarves? An inscription on the statue’s base is readable, a name, Vekus of Mylo.



After a walk on the hill, Dovakhin discover a magnificent panorama. Two guards sleep in a small fort. Too tempting for the warrior.



The sleeping guard sleeps definitely, an arrow deep in his heart. His comrade awaken an search for the culprit



Meanwhile, on the other side of the Valley. The bard has found a way to the tower’s top. The sentinel is looking away and the bard use his acrobatic skill to jump on the tower…



…but the stealth attack fails, it’s a duel to death between a weak bard and a hardened soldier



The thief attacks the soldier guarding the bridge. The soldier flee away, heavily wounded and screaming for help. Lagrippe cannot withstand against a troop and go back to the tower.



Nazbrock sneak along the cliffs, in search for plunder. The soldiers don’t notice him as they are arguing about something (maybe their last dice game was not fair)



Chest and corpse are awaiting to be stolen. The forgesort find a great amount of silver pieces in the chest, but only ropes on the dead guards.



Things go wrong on the tower, the bard is out of combat. Cautious, the soldier look where the bard came from, and decide to explore the place.



He jump on the gap between the tower and the cliff, but without the necessary  acrobatic skill. A scream, and the sound of broken bones.



A nearby patrol is alerted by the scream and rush to the tower…



…pictures of an onslaught on the other side. Dovakhin tried to jump from the cliff to take the guard by surprise, but clumsyness don’t rime with stealth. The soldiers ran to the warrior, and Nazbrock happily came to the rescue



The soldiers fight against a closed door locked by the thief. Lagrippe give some care to the bard



and they safely flee while the soldiers finally enter the tower



The adventurers gathers at the bridge, the journey can begin



Cheers

[Mad Lord Snapcase]

Great report, I like your scenery and set-up.

[throwsFireball]

Absolutely gorgeous terrain. You are the master of terrain, seriously.

Have you considered using Pulp Alley or Otherworld Fantasy Skirmish? They seem pretty suited to what you want to do.

[DeafNala]

OUTSTANDING! The Board is BEAUTIFUL, a WONDROUS place to play a game. GREAT STUFF!

[Reed]

Nice board and batrep, very evocative. Though, if you ask me, I'd say it lacks some "Fus ro dah".

[d phipps]

Looks great! I hope we get to see more.

[Teardrop World]

Thank you for your comments and interest

Have you considered using Pulp Alley or Otherworld Fantasy Skirmish? They seem pretty suited to what you want to do.

Though, if you ask me, I'd say it lacks some "Fus ro dah".

The RPG way let the game take strange ways and accomplish some actions that are not possible with normal rules. I was planning to play a very long and infinite campaign, adventurers slowly upgrading their weapons and skills, and as Dovakhin began at level 1, he can't shout his famous Fuss Rot Da yet  But the RPG rule let easily implement those kind of ....screams.

Looks great! I hope we get to see more.

It's Part 1. Next: Part 2, Dance with the Wolves. But there's a lot of work to do: preparing a light setup, a sound setup, must find a convincing wolf howl sound, paint a mammoth and work at trees. Only have hundred of them and I need another hundred to give a nice forest.

Best regards

[Teardrop World]

Our adventurers crossed the bridge and came into a narrow valley surrounded by high cliffs. They must find Wild Honey to heal the voice of the singer Castafiora. Here’s an overall view of the valley, the adventurers will progress from left to right.



…and Nazbrock the Forgesort, Dovakhin the Warrior, Medoc Chambertain the Bard and a thief – Lagrippe. They cautiously emerge from the wood, there’s maybe another Empire’s patrol? Lagrippe make a fast and stealthy run, his scouting skill could detect a possible ambush. But soldiers are always better opponent than the threat seen by the thief.



Slowly walking in the valley, searching for his food, a mammoth escorted by his giant shepherd. Lagrippe understand within a few seconds the huge danger and return warn his friends. He then return and try to pass the beast unnoticed, but the mammoth turn his head and look at the thief. Lagrippe’s heart stops for an eternity. He slowly take a handful of grass and throw it to the mammoth, but the giant beast continue to peacefully graze the valley weed.



Nazbrock (a dwarf people of little height) is scared by the giant pachyderm and fears to be crushed under the feets of the beast. The bard propose him to climb the cliffs, and Nazbrock firmly tie a rope on his waist. Medoc use his acrobatic skills to climb the rocks and pull up the dwarf.



They can now travel without the risk of an encounter with the giant and his pet. Their feet touch a soil where nobody has ever walked before.



Well, nobody past a few centuries, as a colossal statue of a Dwarhammer stand on the top of the cliff.



Down below, Lagrippe try to be stealthy, and the giant look at the thief trying to be invisible. The giant walk in the direction of the thief, look at the sky, at the ground, and then go near his pet as Lagrippe is believing in his own discretion.



The giant and the mammoth are looking at the thief, and Dovakhin run in their back. This menace is behind the warrior, some trees cutting the giant’s line of sight



As the warrior disappear in the woods, the bard take the opportunity to search inspiration in this wonderful and ancient place, Nazbrock run to the statue on the search of an ancient loot.



The bard and the forgesort then continue their way, until they meet a five meter gap between the cliff. Nazbrock tie the rope again and asks the bard to throw him on the other side. Medoc’s acrobatic skills are useful and the dwarf land safely on the other side, then the bard (always tied to the dwarf) take a run and jump. And fall. The dwarf feel the rope cut through his leather armour, the suddenly ultra-fat-clumsy-heavy bard balancing ten meters below and screaming to Nazbrock some injunction to not cut the rope. The forgesort use his intelligence skill instead of brutal force, a rock blocking the rope and a tree trunk used like a pulley. A long work and the bard can seat on the top of the cliff.



Dovakhin emerges from the wood, and freeze instantly. A long howling is in the air and the warrior slowly walk back, a pack of wolves is running in a clearing.



Dovakhin jump on a pile of rocks, joined by Lagrippe. The wolves are excited and run around a thing in the centre of the clearing. It’s an arrow festival, the long bow of the warrior taking one wolf after another, as Lagrippe shoot with his short bow. But the sound of the bows strings is eventually spotted by the wolves, who try to assault the two adventurers, as another wolf run to the back of the unfortunate heroes.



The bard and the dwarf come to the rescue, and the bard intone a song to motivate his friends. This gave them all a bonus for all their tests, and Dovakhin go in close combat with the fierce animals, followed by the thief.



Nazbrock feel useless in this fight and walk around. A howling underneath stops him, the lone wolf jumping on the rock’s side in hope to attack the dwarf. Nazbrock yell some unpleasant insults at the beast, moving his axe in a grotesque manner. In a distance, scared by the wolf howling, the mammoth try to flee away.



The giant is greatly irritated by the wolf and charge. One stroke and one dead wolf.



The giant look at the dwarf. The dwarf look at the giant. The giant smiles. The dwarf has a new friend.



Medoc and Lagrippe discover the body of a beekeeper, impaled. A close investigation is needed, and evidence are found: the Forworms tribe has killed the apiarist.



Meanwhile, Dovakhin has found a Wild Honey apiary filled with a small amount of delicious honey.The Quest is successfully fulfilled.



The adventurers are exhausted and hungry. A wolf meat barbecue with a honey sauce give their strength back.    ….but all the honey is gone with this feast. They must search deeper in those mountains.

...to be continued...

[Reed]

Gluttony is a terrible sin, for now they'll have to get deeper into the valley and meet the Forsworns. But that's ok for me because it means more battle reports and photos 

[Teardrop World]

Calciumo was ranting and swearing, his escort marching too slow. The Empire's soldiers were exhausted after the long walk they had from the Valley outpost, but the wizard of the Jarl of Glendorf forced them to hurry up. Calciumo was fresh, passed his travel sitting on a mule. He had discovered an antique scroll about an unfinished statue of Mefitica, the Stinking goddess, and asked the Jarl for an expedition. Two units of soldiers and a convoy were dispatched for the wizard's need.

An overall view of the foothills:



The main convoy must go trhough a narrow pass...



...while Calciumo walk to the statue



Meanwhile in the pass, a guttural scream in a strange and barbaric language: an ambush. The dwarves of Zu-rich throw trunks on the convoy, the soldiers are disorganized



A fierce battle begin, as more trunks crush the head of unfortunate soldiers



It's an onslaught, an angry dwarf slash three soldiers. Standing on a hill, a other dwarfs yell incomprehensible (but surely insulting) words at the Empire's soldiers



Two brave soldiers climb the hill to shut the mouth of the irascible dwarf, but one of them is pushed back and execute a deadly fall. The other will not have the time to flee, an axe cutting his head and ... (add some horrible details here)



Calciumo don't listen to the distant battle sound, all his mind is focused on the statue. An arrow push back one of his soldier. The heavy shield just saved the guard. A sniper is spotted, adjusting his crossbow for another shot. But the arrow miss again, maybe



Calciumo's escorts are distracted by the sniper and surprised by the charge of a small dwarven unit



A ferocious melee, elite soldiers of the Empire against rough Zu-rich dwarven. One dwarf strike with his sword and make a critical and deadly hit, but the soldier perform a critical defense roll: The two protagonists falls dead. Such blood, such violence. Wow. Not a game for the faint of heart.



The fight on the pass is over, and the dwarven sings and laugh, guiding the convoy to their homes



The mighty wizard and researcher, Calciumo of Glendorf, must postpone his work under the cruel jokes of the victorious mountainers.



And what about our party of adventurers? While the Empire and the dwarves were fighting, our coureagous heroes went for a stealth reco and discovered the camp of the dwarves. Fresh food and beer, weapon sharpening and other looting.



Hope you like it,

Cheers

[Bodvoc]

A wonderful set of photos once agin, very inspiring.

[Teardrop World]

We meet with our adventurers again. Dovakhin the mighty warrior, Nazbrock the Blacksmith Enchanter, Medoc Chambertain the bard, and Lagrippe the thief.

It’s been a few days of walk since they avoided the battle between dwarfs of Zurich and the Empire’s lost expedition. Their search for Wild Honey was laborious and vain, no bees sighted. Dissensions and angry mood between the adventurers are slowly mining their morale. As arguments and dispute occurs, they come to a bridge over a small river.

Overall view of the board, LED projector are used to give a nice ambiance (no photoshop used).



The bridge over the river, and the Hall: an ancient ruin build some centuries ago.



Lagrippe take the left path, the thief cannot longer listen to the bard’s voice. He prefer to continue alone, hoping to quickly find honey and go back to Glenford without the fellow members of the expedition.



After a stealthy and cautious walk, Lagrippe spots a dark goblin’s patrol. These are the Foulmehr, a nasty and cannibal kind of humanoid.



The Foulmehr are not a threat for the thief, and are quickly defeated



The party go to the right path, but the bard feel something in the air, could it be an ambush?



A lone Foulmehr is watching the road. He shot an arrow to the warrior. Dovakhin scream from pain and rage.



The warrior take his longbow and give back an arrow…. Bad dice and critical failure: The arrow nock was worn, and the string of the powerful bow cut the arrow in two part. A charge under the goblin’s flying arrows, a massive gesture with a longsword, the goblin is cut in half.



The scream of the dying Foulmehr is heard by his band, resting and cooking a few yards away.



The goblins rush to the ennemy, only to be slayed by the dwarf’s staff. The bard sing an epic song, giving courage to his friend (and a bonus for all tests).
Foulmehr’s bowmen flee away



A wounded goblin covers the escape of the bowmen and defend the bridge until death kills him... ...if courage was a goblin word, and it’s not. The last goblin flee after a few gesticulations.



Dovakhin take a look at the goblin’s camp. They were cooking, and their dinner’s meat is waiting in a cage. An old and wise man, called Balthasius, ask to be freed. As Dovakhin hesitate, Balthasius offer to give a long forgotten secret in exchange of his freedom: The Legendary Dragon Shout! Dovakhin quickly broke the cage’s lock and help Balthasius to exit his prison.



Meanwhile, Lagrippe climb the statue supporting the Hall. It’s not a great challenge for a such agile thief, but there’s a big and bad surprise on top of the Hall…



A Troll is guarding the hall. It will not be possible to pass without being noticed and Lagrippe think to climb down, but suddenly the troll look away: an extraordinary scream is echoing in the mountains, slowly fading. A shout that was not heard since eons and eons: Fus Roh Da. The troll begin to walk in the direction of the scream, and the thief take the opportunity



Medoc and Nazbrock are chasing the  surviving Foulmehr



But it’s a trap!



The approximative precision of the Foulmehr’s shooting is sufficient to take down the bard. Nazbrock is like a sitting duck on the bridge, all his past life and memories dances in his head as the goblin’s arrows whistle around him.



The storm of arrows stops, and Nazbrock hear a roaring. A rock crush a Foulmehr, a troll follows the rock. All the Foulmehr turn in direction of this new threat. A bowman shot at the troll but miss, his arrow nearly wound another goblin. The bowmen is considered like a traitor by another goblin and furious fights occurs between the goblins, the troll taking his toll and reaping goblins like dry wheat.



And Lagrippe?  The thief is escaping another troll.
The monster was watching a chest, the sound of a pebble made the troll walk away and the thief took the loot and walked away. But not stealthy enough. Did you know that some troll have very good ears? Lagrippe was not knowing.



A deadly chase begin, the thief cross the Hall



On the other side, the last Foulmehr begin a desperate fight, the sound of footsteps can be heard behind the troll who turn back, letting alive the last Foulmehr



Lagrippe is now in big trouble, only one stroke of the troll's weapon can kill the thief!

The thief has no choice………



…he jump off the Hall edge, trying not to fall. The two trolls really want him dead. The last Foulmehr and the adventurers take this wonderful opportunity and safely cross the Hall of the Mountain King



A deadly fall or eaten alive? Lagrippe don’t choose. His hands slips, a ten meter fall. A thief is kind like a cat, maybe not with nine lives, but only dexterity. Well, he didnt't exactly fall on his feet... but just avoid death.



The adventurers (running behind the last Foulmehr) find a way to the Mountain Pass. And a troll. Again.



The adventurer’s level is not high enough for a fight against a troll. Dovakhin shout his FusRohDa and project the Foulmehr against the troll



Only a few seconds and the goblin is a red porridge, the adventurers flee victoriously!



Lagrippe can no longer take the road and must follow the river, limping along after his fall.



Cheers