~Scroll to bottom for DM Takeaways on one of my final sessions running AD&D in the Living Urf Gaming Club.~
Last Time
The folding ship Stigandi washes ashore just east of Svarthold. On its way to Fairhair's raid the Mechanus Dwarves stole Gulleyja, sinking it to the bottom of the sea. Terrible storms, and impenetrable waves tossed the ship about, like a leaf on the wind. Dozens of giant owls in the distance are seen flying towards Castle Ontranto. The sky rumbles with thunder and rain begins to fall. The oceans continue to churn in a rage.
The hammer of Thor lights up the sky. Two ravens blue as the savage sea watch from the the crook of a widowmaker. A noose swings low and with a great gust the corpse beneath them spins to face the survivors. One eye opens staring into the depths of a man's being. A rasping hiss escapes its torn and withered lips,
"Seek the Sage of the Swamp, become an army, and by blood and steel, reclaim what has been taken!"
The rope breaks, waves crash over the body revealing a writhing mass of maggot and worms reducing it to bones before the crashing of the next wave, only to be carried out to sea.
After a time Jarl Hasteins men come to escort the crew of the Stigandi. "The High Priest says you have the eye of Odin upon you. You must come with us, before the the entire north falls into the sea!"
This Week
Training and debriefing the crew made a sacrifice to Odin for his blessing. They met with one of the ship leaders from the cancelled raid, Hallbjorn, who had been gifted the magic axe taken from Danebeard Axehead, and his twenty men. They added him to their quest and struck out to seek the Sage of the Swamp. A tainted air hung thick, but in a day they found the mound they were looking for. As they approached a opening appeared in the mound, but without warning countless skeletal arms grasped in the mire at the feet of those unfavorable to the Sage. Egil stepped forward toward the opening, his path clear, when the head of a colossal eyeless tortoise shot forth. Its beaked mouth opened as the creature howled and the sky darkened. The jaw broke and snapped back from the pressure of a human skull emerging from the end of amphibious neck.
The Sage revealed though questioning the way to Gulleyja is impassable via sea. You cannot reach the whirlpool to the bottom the ocean without being crushed by the ice flows. Should you even get there you will face an army of Mechanical Terrors. They must gather an army, or become one themselves. The Blades of this very swamp will grant that power, but the Blessing of the Aesir will only last the day, and the swamp will drain their will to live. "How can the extend the blessing of the gods?" But showing they have no fear. Capture Kveldulf, the son of Fenrir, in the south and prove they have no fear. "But how can we restrain a godling?"
Seek the site on the coast where you found past victory,
Free thyself of the chains of friend and family,
Beware the witch who watches with ire,
Forge from blood the ropes of linked chain,
Slay your heart and sleep now in the fire,
For when you wake you shall know no pain.
So they left the Swamp of Sorrows and ventured North East to the Thorp they had raided mere weeks ago.
Torfinn the ranger contracted an eye disease after a mandatory check due to adventuring in the Swamp and an encounter against 28 Giant Rats.
Day 2
When they arrived at the thorp they saw it was not sacked, but a complete replica Hnjoska, the location of their Meadery, their friends, and even family who should be on Gulleyja! But all was not right. This was not their home, these were but shells of their family, and Astra for whom Egil endeavors to save was not there. It was the work of one of the 3 Witches from the Norns earlier warnings, Sigurdy. She attempted to lure our heroes to their doom with revelry and a bonfire, but was seen through.
Hallbjorn lead his men against the memories of the peasantry, while the crew attacked the witch, and the forms in the shape of Hallr Priest of Ullr, Vigo Meadmaker, Viggi Vigosson, and Uncle Alf. These shapes where foul Ghasts!
A complex dance of death and battle involving Chainmail Mass Combat, Grappling, Overtaking, monsters with spells, dual classed characters, many many paralysis checks, and almost the potion miscibility table resulted in a nail biting conflict. In the end the successful morale checks of the Heavy Foot, and the Judo Master Herren where the only thing that prevented a TPK! Herren stepped into the black flames and grabbed the ghostly chains forged from the bonds he and the crew shared with the citizens of Hnjoska.
Now they must seek the wolf Kveldulf, raise an army, and find their way to Gulleyja before the sea swallows it forever!!
DM Takeaways
Normally I prefer to just give the players a buttload of hooks and let them decide what they want to do, but I am trying to wrap up things in a satisfying way so there is definitely a more confined series of even than normal.
That being said there are a lot of interesting lessons that can be learned, AND had they TPK I would have just let it happen. With only 3 Heavy Footmen and the Elf Magic User left to take on two 4HD Ghasts it very well could have happened.
Providing the players almost exclusively with compact adventure hooks above their “payscale”, for the entirety of the Gulleyja games, worked exactly has hoped. The sessions feel almost adventure of the week, but still maintained a through line. Almost every session had nail biting battles and situations as level 2-3 characters took on 4-8HD creatures, or lead troops in mass battles. There certainly were deaths, but the survivors reaped large rewards spurring them on to further epic adventures rather than a slow grind in the mud. Many battles would come down to a single player to prevent a TPK.
The Viking theme works great for this episodic feel as they can curse the gods, and sail to exotic locations, or venture into the artic wilderness. These games really were able to capture the feel of the Appendix N stories, and Nordic Sagas that I was pulling inspiration from.
Gary talks about this in the DMG, but the treasure should reflect the risk. I do not feel bad about giving out what some may consider Monty Hauls because the characters are getting their asses kicked every session, and lesser players would have TPK’d more than once. Plus while I am using the lair treasure it is not like I am pulling it out of thin air.
Rules do matter. Torfinn has a penalty to missile attacks now because he cant use one of his eyes. This is not the result of any wound, but rather the Disease and Parasite tables in the DMG. This penalty caused him to miss a few shots that could have really turned the tide of battle earlier against the Witch. I also need to get better at the Turn order: Declarations, Roll initiative, Changes then missile fire, then melee yada yada.
Don’t be afraid the throw in Mass Combat! There is a war raging in the Brosphere over Chainmail vs Scaled AD&D, but I have done both, I have even used Swords & Spells and here is my take away:
Play what you are able to manage, and improves your game, but remember to strive for excellence!
5a. If you have never played a wargame before, just use Scaled Combat. Jeffro shows you how to do it in the back of BROZER. At some point though, maybe you should set aside a night to learn how to play a wargame. This then gets into a whole other can of worms, is D&D a wargame? Well, I’ll tell you what. If you learn a wargame you CAN do them a the same time and letting your PCs command 20+ men as they crash into a force of 40 and need to take down their leader to force morale before they lose the battle IS epic and awesome. It is also easy and fun. Did I forget about the fatigue rule until after the 4th melee when it should have mattered after the 3rd? Yes, sure. But we did take Post Melee Morale into affect, and rolling fistfuls of dice was great.Even with the strict timekeeping (They played for two days and we ended on the night of the 17th.) this game could go on for a long, long time. It is not hard, they actions are building on themselves and the characters are pushing the narrative. Even these last three session which are a bit more on rails than preferred are still based on the Egil and the gang wanting to rescue as much as they can on Gulleyja before it is destroyed. I am ending the weekly sessions for a different reason, but creating long term campaigns is easy and repeatable.
Read a book, hit the gym, have a great week.
~ Jake