Exploring Kal-Arath - Episode 9 - The Decision

   Hi everybody,

Exploring Kal-Arath - Episode 9

The Decision

Mal-Shui (PC) - Str = 1, Tou = 2, Agi = 1, Int = -1, Pre = 1. Fate Point =1.

Male Human. Age = 24. Brown eyes and hair, 6'1" tall. 

Personality: Friendly, Moody,  Hp = 7 out of 7. Xp=1.

Equipment

Longsword, (Att +1, Dam +1),  Staff, Dagger. Leather Armour, after being cleaned and adjusted.

15 days' rations in a sack.Tarnak Berries R=1 (Sc=3), Waterskin and strap. Tinder and flint.   

 Rough blue tunic, an animal fur cloak. Terradon Tooth necklace with Tribal Totem carving.

Burvin's Journal in a water-resistant pouch. Speckled Eggshell serving bowl.

In pouch around neck - Gold Coins = 1. Silver Coins = 13.

Threads

 1) Scaleel or Goritan Village Member, 2) Wizard - Jis-Kel, 3)  Khainar Yak Folk, 

4) Ref Sodrav, Tan Muen and Cazen Goorte.5) Hermit,  6).Mad Folk, 

7) Melek-Kesh Symbol.

                                 Yamil-Torl  - Str = 1, Tou = 1, Agi = -1, Int = 2, Presence = 1.Fate Point =1.

Male Human. Age =34. Green eyes, Black hair.  5'11" tall.

 Personality: Independent, Opinionated. 

Goal: Wants to visit the jungle. Hp. = 4 out of 6. Xp = 1

.

Equipment

Sling, Staff, Club, (Att+0, Damage d6/disadvantage).Rough clothes. Bronze helmet. 

Hand Axe. Dagger. Silver Coins in pouch around neck = 17), 1 sack.

Rations = 7 in a sack, including Burvin's supplies. Tarnak Berries/ 1 Ration.

Sword and Shield (Melek-Kesh Symbol).

It is still the afternoon of day four. Weather - Cool and Cloudy.

Everybody was keen to hear about the mine and the magical skeleton that guarded it.  "This is its armour, shield and sword. Does anyone recognise the House sign?" They all shook their heads.

 Deramisk said that the elders would want a proper report on the mine, not a half-completed one, which is all that could be given at the moment, since they did not know all of the details.

"Then split your forces, half takes the food back to the village, and the other half can explore the mine with us, or as much as we can in a few days, and then we will come back with you. As far as we know, there are only a few rooms left to explore, but there is at least one part not on the map, so there might be more. We will not be able to explore the lower level in any event. It is your choice as leader of the hunt."

Boki applied fresh salve to Yamil's leg while they ate and rested."Thank you." Boki nodded, "It is healing nicely."

After lunch, they packed their camping gear away.

Deramisk spoke, "I have thought on what you said, Boki, Shemba and Kudu will come with me to the mine, the rest will go to the village."

Farind asked, "What about me?"

"Not this time, but you will come with me on my next visit."

"Yes, Deramisk."

"Nandak, you will lead the hunters on the way home. No detours unless you have to, you have enough meat, and you must see it gets to the village."

"Yes, Deramisk."

"Garamu protect you."

"And you"

 With that farewell, they started back to their village, and the other group retraced their steps back to the mine.

Mel and Yamil chatted to everyone about the game in the area and assorted tracks when they came to them. The time passed quickly, but Yamil was annoyed that he was slowing the group down.

"We are not worried, the others have bundles of food and will be assured of a good welcome when they arrive back home. It is good not to have to worry about the hunt, but we do have to worry about things hunting us, so we still have the scouts checking the path ahead."

The trail through the forest was mostly uphill. The two scouts were returning at intervals to report and be replaced by the other two hunters.

Boki explained, "By swapping men scouting the front, you do not get very tired or slip in your concentration. You get a break from being on high alert, although you are never really safe in these woods. We do not normally hunt in this area, but we had to follow the beast where it led us. It must have hoped to put us off its trail. But the snow and rain helped to preserve its tracks, and we were able to get ahead of it and ambush it."

"You did well to bring down a beast of that size."

"Yes, we are a good team."

(? Q - Get lost? 3 No)

The trees are beginning to thin out, and the going gets easier as the slope begins to flatten.

(?Q - Mishap? 6 - Yes)

A stone gives way under Mal's foot, and he slips, "Ahhh." and rolls down the slope a few yards. His pack had spilt its contents on the ground. His Tarnak berries have been squashed in amongst his tinder bundle and ruined it. The bung had come out of his waterskin, and half of the remaining liquid had leaked out. He took a long drink and then stoppered the waterskin again.

He picks up the rest of his gear and the flint. "They will be fine once they are washed, but my tinder is just a sticky mess."

Yamil reminds him, "These things happen on the trail."

"So they do," agreed Boki.

"We must be getting closer now."

Within a few minutes, they had arrived at the larger of the two mine entrances.

Yamil cried, "At last, I was wondering if we had missed a turning and would be wandering all night."

He did not show it, but his leg was itching fiercely.

Mal asked, "Do you want to camp inside or outside?"

(? D6 1-3 Inside, 4-6 Outside. 6 Outside)

"We shall camp outside tonight, and treat the mine as a hostile lair for now. We will camp around the corner, so that if anything wants to go in or out of there, it can do so without us getting in its way. But no doubt, it would catch our scent."

Mal added, "We did not see any creature tracks inside or at the entrance last time we were here, but we should stand watch at camp during the night to be safe."

They found a suitable spot protected from the wind by a rock outcrop, cleared the ground of snow and soon had a fire going. Mal melted some snow and refilled his waterskin. He plans to search for tinder materials in the mine in the morning. They took turns on watch duty.

(?D Yamil's healing roll - 2 + 1   Failed)

(D: Night encounter = 03 Nothing.)

Day Five - Heavy rain began during the night.

"It's too damp to get a fire going out here; we can have a cold breakfast, pack up and get warm in the mine", suggested Mal.

Yamil stated, "You are just eager to see what else is in there."

Mal admitted, "That's  true enough" he grinned, "Anybody disagree with the idea?"

Nobody did. They started with dried Terraton leg and nuts for breakfast, then broke camp.

Once they got to the mine entrance, Mal instructed, "Stick to the right wall, it's about 40 feet to where there is a left-hand bend, that is where we have left some torches. After that, there is a pool on the left and further up, there is a pit trap. Use the boards on the right edge."

"I will go first, Yamil will follow next. Oh, keep your spears up so you can find the low rocks in the roof. It will get easier when we can get the torches lit. Yamil, is your Tinder dry?"

"Yes, Mal"

"Right then, head down, spears up, right hand following the right wall. The scratching will be our helmets being bumped by the ceiling rocks. Let's go."

Mine map 3 - Entrance South, Vent NW, Exit East, Down Tunnel Central.

NOTE: Coming in from the East exit.

They entered in single file, getting used to the rock surface underfoot and overhead

Thunk, Mal's staff had hit wood.

"A crossbeam in the roof coming up. I think that was where the roof gets higher for a bit. Yes, it does."

A few paces forward.

Clunk.

"Ah, that must have been a bit further on."

A few more paces forward.

Mal announced, "I think we have come to the junction, wait there, and I will get a torch."

 He soon returned with a torch, which Yamil proceeded to light, "That's better. We would have been quicker with just the two of us. "

"Oh well, it's done now."

The others looked around at the different colours of the rock veins.

Mal pointed to the white rock overhead, "We think that is what they were digging out, but we do not know what they were after. It does look pretty with all of those different coloured specks in it."

They picked up a spare torch and continued at a better pace past the pool, over the pit trap and under the net trap into the communal room. Mal pointed to the other tunnel way out.

"It's left, straight on, right through the other chamber and out. You would have to curve left of the main path to get to your camp from the entrance."

"We have not done up this small passage, but it may lead to somewhere new. Be prepared."

Mal took the lead with his sword drawn, and Yamil came next with the torch and the staff prodding in front of Mal. After fifteen feet, they came to the chamber with the decapitated skeleton.

"That was our opponent, guarding the passageway; there may be more." 

Yamil pointed to the symbol carved on the wall, "This may be who they worship, Melek-Kesh."

They moved around the central pillar of rock and examined the entrance to the tunnel before entering, just in case more traps were waiting for them, but it looked clear. 

Mal was about to proceed, but Yamil stopped him. "My turn in front for a bit."

Mal shrugged and let him proceed first down the new passage.

After about five feet, the passage began to rise slowly, with occasional planks of wood on the floor.

Yamil paused, "That beam looks as it is at an odd angle, I don't like it. Back up a bit."

They did so while he picked up a small rock, which he threw at the plank.

Chunk, it bounced off the plank to the side.

Suddenly, a spear dropped down, splitting the plank where someone would have been standing on the plank.

"Another tripwire trap. They made a groove in the wall and covered it with mud, which pulled away the plug or whatever was holding the spear in place. It could have been nasty. The mud preserved it from rotting, and they put animal grease on it too."

"It's like hunting in reverse."

"Exactly, not something we are usually a part of, except when a terradon comes calling.at our home.or raiding our livestock."

"Let's keep going."

Ten feet along the passage,  they saw a torch propped up against the left hand  wall. Mal said, "That is not one of ours. If we did not get this far before, it is much more neatly made. Possibly another welcome gift for visitors."

Another rock flew straight, knocking the torch over, and another spear came out of the roof to the right of the torch and clattered on the stone floor. 

"They certainly had a liking for nasty stuff; this is no place for youngsters to go exploring just yet."

"No", Boki replied, "And I am not too keen either", he admitted.

Another ten feet and it opened up into a large chamber with three pillars, probably from the original excavation. They could see three normally sized exits and a large carved out alcove instead of a left wall, with an altar placed in front of it.

Yamil peeked around the left corner, "There's a central pillar, probably from the mining and I can make out something else as well."

"What is it? What can you see?" asked Mal.

End of Episode 9.

,

Mal-Shui (PC) - Str = 1, Tou = 2, Agi = 1, Int = -1, Pre = 1. Fate Point =1.

Male Human. Age = 24. Brown eyes and hair, 6'1" tall. 

Personality: Friendly, Moody,  Hp = 7 out of 7. Xp=1.

Equipment

Longsword, (Att +1, Dam +1),  Staff, Dagger. Leather Armour

14 days' rations in a sack.Waterskin and strap. Flint.   

 Rough blue tunic, an animal fur cloak. Terradon Tooth necklace with Tribal Totem carving.

Burvin's Journal in a water-resistant pouch. Speckled Eggshell serving bowl. 

In pouch around neck - Gold Coins = 1. Silver Coins = 13.

Threads

 1) Scaleel or Goritan Village Member, 2) Wizard - Jis-Kel, 3)  Khainar Yak Folk, 

4) Ref Sodrav, Tan Muen and Cazen Goorte.5) Hermit,  6).Mad Folk, 

7) Melek-Kesh symbol 

                                 Yamil-Torl  - Str = 1, Tou = 1, Agi = -1, Int = 2, Presence = 1.Fate Point =1.

Male Human. Age =34. Green eyes, Black hair.  5'11" tall.

 Personality: Independent, Opinionated. 

Goal: Wants to visit the jungle. Hp. = 4 out of 6. Xp = 1

.

Equipment

Sling, Staff, Club, (Att+0, Damage d6 / disadvantage).Rough clothes. Bronze helmet. 

Hand Axe. Dagger. Silver Coins in pouch = 17! sack.

Rations = 7 in a sack, including Burvins supplies. Tarnak Berries/ 1 Ration.

Sword and Shield (After being cleaned in the stream.

         Deramask  and the Hunters Str = 1, Tou = 1, Agi = -1, Int = 2, Presence = 1.Fate Point =1.

Male Human. Age = 18. Green eyes, Black hair.  5'11" tall.

 Personality: Independent, Willing to listen. 

Goal: Wants to keep his tribe safe. Hp. = 6 out of 6. Xp = 0

.

Equipment

Sling, Spear, Hand Axe, Dagger, (Att+0, Damage d6/disadvantage).Rough clothes.

Tinder and flint in a pouch. Waterskin, clay bowl. 1 Food sack. Tribal necklace. Hammock and sheet.

 Bedroll, Rations = 7 in a sack.

Call of Cthulhu - Episodes 1 and 2 "People on the shore" - Not the correct adventure title (Spoilers)

Hi Everyone,

                     Here is the first episode of a 1920's Call of Cthulhu RPG, I have just taken part in -         7th February 2026, with John and Richard as GM.

18 April 1924 -

Hank (myself) is an athletic scholar at a university. Frank is a Zoroastrian priest (John), and Caroline is a reporter (Richard).  Our Patron is a Mr Will Corbett, of Corbett Industries. His son, Master Mark Corbett and a Miss Emily Danvers have both run off from their parent's, and plan to meet up at a secluded location, and are coming from different locations.

Will has been tracking their movements by calling the gas stations in the area and seeing if they have passed by or got gas. Emily has passed Peabody and gone through Lynn. We think that they are heading for a stop in the Peabody area, according to the gas stations on the route, and then to a nearby Hotel, "The Swimming Hole". It is next to a lake, with a Stone Circle and half flooded church in the grounds.

    Frank has a sawn-off shotgun with 6 rounds, and I have a pistol with 6 rounds. Harry and Caroline have a knife each.

We follow the two lovers in Mr Corbett's roadster, with Henry, the chauffeur, at the wheel. When we arrive at "The Swimming Hole". The owners of the hotel are Zeke, who is in a wheelchair with a blanket covering his legs and Ned Garvey. Both are very powerfully built.  There is a shotgun on the back of the reception wall. The hotel is T-shaped, the reception and private owner's area are along the top, the first 4 rooms are on the front, and the other three are around the back, facing the lake. Further down is the wood and stone circle; the church is further around the lake.  

We check the register and find that Emily has booked in and is here in room 7, with another name crossed out for an unknown reason, presumably Martin's. There was no sign of his car out front; Emily's was still there.  A Mr Grant Jones is staying in number 4, with a local IronInn Fisheries van parked at the bottom of the T, probably his.

Glancing back through the register, while Ned is getting our towels, I notice that males seem to go missing on the night of the full moon, which unfortunately, is tonight. Emily Room is in room 7, Caroline and Henry take Room 2, Frank and I take Room 1. Looking around, we find tracks of something that has been dragged into the rear section of the hotel, we think either Emily or Mark. 

 We discover a spyhole in the wall, and Harry sees an octopus in the loo. John shoots it and blows the loo to bits. Frank then hears Zeke coming through a secret trapdoor in the floor, and Zeke now has Octopus legs. Frank shoots it, rolls 4d6 = 18, kills it/him. It falls back down the hole. Frank thinks he saw his backbone explode towards the lake. The rest of us think it's rubbish.

 Somewhere, a bell chimes midnight.

A slug slithers through the spyhole, crawls across the floor and bites me on the leg, for 1 point of damage. I kill it, and another one is trying to do the same thing. I manage to stomp on that one without too much trouble. 

Looking into the reception area, we see that Ned has armed himself with his shotgun and has vanished.

As we are passing room 4, the door opens, and a shadowy figure appears. 

 "Blub.alub.alub. Hallo, Blub.alub.alub. Hallo".

Already scared stiff by the night's events, I kill the creature with a pistol shot to the body. On searching the body, we notice that he has webbed hands underneath his gloves. We take his ID and keys to his van.

Episode 2, 

On seeing the recent events, Caroline had a psychotic episode, panicked, and ran off into the woods, and we chased after her. We hear chanting from the stone circle. As I approached the lake shore, I saw a sea monster and had an episode and froze in place, watching something or someone being chained to a rock by robed figures. Harry had an phyycotic episode, and his mind was taken over by the creature, and he started coming for me.

I broke free of my trance, turned to run away, yelling, "It's coming for me, Hank's coming to get me!"

Ferb took cover in the trees, and I ran past him. He jumped out, shot Harry with 1 barrel, and turned him into red mist.

"Let's get out of this mad place!"

 Ferb burned the fish truck, and we set off in the roadster up the driveway, where we got stuck in the mud. I jumped out and managed to bump us free. We went to Perdue to get more petrol. The gas station was locked up and deserted when we got there, so we had to break in and, with a bit of figuring,  manually started the pumps. We left some bills on the table to cover the gas and the lock. We filled up the tank, then looked around for some spare gas tanks and put them in the boot, where an "octopus child" leapt out at us. 

 I grabbed it by the throat and launched it up the road, like a football, where Ferb shot it with the last of his ammo, but it had launched a detachable hand at me and tried to strangle me with it. Ferb pulled it off me, and we squished it. We made sure that there was nothing else in there, slammed the boot lid and got out of there fast.                                                                                                             

Missing in Action - Martin, Emily and Caroline.

Casualties - Hank.

Enemies dealt with - Zeke, Gary. Ocopus Child, 2 Slugs.

Opposition Forces - Ned, the Chanters in the wood, your actual, real-life Sea Monster.

Ferb and I were the only witnesses to survive. We wondered how we were going to explain this to Will when we got back, certainly not with the truth, whatever that was. I am now a germophobe through the shock of it all.

The end of the beginning.....

There you go, that was about 5 hours' worth of fun and dice rolls, over two sessions, squashed down into a few lines. We were using luck points and losing sanity points all the way through that chaotic romp. Many thanks to John for saving my neck and Richard, acting as Harry and Caroline, along with being the all-powerful GM, for putting it on the line in the first place, splashing out for the rules and his time collecting additional pictures of props and stuff to flesh out the story for us. This was only one of many ways the story could have gone. 

We have played the third episode, which I will post soon.

Call of Cthulhu (C) 2026 Copyrights. All rights reserved. All persons in here are fictitious and are not meant to portray anyone living, dead or in any other plane of existence.

Regards all,

Ivor Cogdell

P.S. Hats off to the Silurians (C) Copyright Dr Who, just in case they are related.

Dark Things Chapter 1 Turn 7

 Turn 7 – The Gathering Storm – 1:30pm Saturday June 18th 1983.

Weather conditions – snowing in summer.

Emlyn strolls back to the others, not getting anywhere with Charlie.

He walks up to the driver and offers him his hand, ”I’m Emlyn, that’s Ramsay, we

work at the paper, that’s PC Tom and down the hall is Marrion, the receptionist, with

her boss".

At this point Marion returns as Thomas he boss is wheeled out of the door on a

stretcher by 3 men in Hazmat suits!

Speaking quieter, ”Something you should know. The Newspaper offices have been taken over

by this lot too. They don’t seem to have our best interests at heart. I recon we should

scram, it’s what the best way of going about it is.

Options

1. Run out the door and leg it to the right and split up then.

2. Me and Ram head for my land rover while you dodge round the corner and pick you up.

3. Out the door and go left and right

4. Any other ideas guys? Refer to Dexter's plan below

“I'm not sure what Marrion is going to do, she may be better off with her boss, and it

puts her in less danger.”

“What’s the deal with our mate next door?”

Ramsay says that two way contact has been made. There are 3 people and one

dog, there may be more hiding in there but not sure. The owner, waitress and man

with the sausage dog are prepared to either (a) hide in lockdown until the soldiers go

or (b) make a run for it out the back entrance to the bar and grill and join in an

escape via the walkway. They don’t think they can make it out the front as the guy

with the dog only has one leg!

“Tom, why were you armed today? How did you get from Crawl Ley. Which way did

that plane come from and which way did the jets come from?”

PC Tom's Witness Statement

The New Wyndham Police Station received a call from the land lord of the Corbitt House, Crawl Ley.

A family that was living there has gone missing and he was worried they had come to harm.

The family in question are the Marcarios. Professor Marcario works at the Eye, he has a wife, a

daughter and two sons.

The Police are a bit stretched, some officers are on plain clothes duty at the FA Trophy final at

Wembley where Wyndham FC have got to the final.

On a hunch, particularly as the Professor is a high security target, working at the Eye and most of his

details are not on record, Tom decided to check out a firearm.

Travelling to the Corbitt House in Carwl Ley, Tom was able to use a key provided by the land lord to

gain entry. Tom was searching the upper floor, one of the bedrooms when he heard a roar outside.

Looking out of the window he saw two jets chasing a third aircraft which was glowing blue.

The Corbitt House has a panoramic view of central and Northern Wyndham.

The 3 aircraft first flew to Mount Wyndham, from the direction of RAF Wyndham. Then blue

lightning seemed to strike the Eye. He thinks he saw missiles fired from the two jets and the blue

object chased by the jets flew back toward RAF Wyndham.

A cloud of smoke was rising from near the Eye, at the base of Mount Wyndham.

The blue aircraft was clearly in distress and started to lose height as it approached New Town

Centre.

At this point it had started to snow, and then suddenly without warning something hit Tom from

behind and he fell through the bedroom window. It’s a miracle he wasn’t killed, but his leg was badly

hurt as was his face.

He then staggered to his police car and hearing a loud rumble, no doubt the sound of the blue

aircraft coming down he drove with blue lights on to the New Wyndham station where he could see

smoke rising from the crash site.

Realizing the plane was down, Tom tried to get help from the hotel as the bar and grill was locked.

That’s basically where he met up with you. He reckons that the survivors climbing out the downed

plane don’t look right. His expert eyesight seems to indicate that they are small, maybe child size

and he also reckons they were armed!

Dexter's ideas

Dexter doesn't trust these people and will demand if he is going anywhere that he is allowed

to drive his bus. The Corporal seems to be supportive of this idea.

It will be more comfortable for people, with its heaters, than them crappy army wagons for

a start and he can't leave his bus, because it is bus company property. If people agree,

Dexter will convoy with the Army vehicles to the base, but will try to gauge any dissent in

the people on the bus, with the idea of overthrowing any Army guard aboard, performing

some crazy driving and escaping the convoy in the blizzard.

If he is allowed on the bus he will start it open to check the engine and generally buggering

about, before at an opportune time banging the revs up, dropping the clutch and trying to

knock any guard he has on board off balance and perform some crazy driving moves to get

out of the car park - Maybe shunt the cop car out the way, or a bus handbrake turn over

some flower beds or wot-not.

If neither of these options become available, he will ask people for food. He ain't going

anywhere without food and will ask if he can go to the bar/grill next door to get something

to eat. An opportunity to meet up with those hiding in there.

Options

The window of opportunity for escape is closing.

Option 1 – Escape now

Take Marion with you or not?

Escape on foot, vehicle or indeed both.

If escaping by foot, do you let those in the bar and grill know – they could sneak out the back and

join you, they think.

Escaping by foot wouldn’t be that fastest as PC Tom has an injured leg and if you’re joined by the

one legged dog owner and Morse code signaler from the bar and grill, well you’d be further slowed

down, unless it was basically everyone at best speed!

Escaping by vehicle is also problematic. The bus would give you punching power, able to shunt

vehicles out of the way. However, speed-wise it’s not the best. The land rover with its 4 x 4

capabilities would be a good alternative. Its mobility and speed would help, but you wouldn’t be able

to take many people, but those in the bar and grill aren’t willing to run out of the front of the

establishment and would rather hold in place until the soldiers have gone, unless a foot escape takes

place.

Tom thinks his Rover 3500 police car wouldn’t make it up the slope so rule that out.

Assuming some escape on land some by vehicle then the proposal is to loop around and pick up

those on foot in the vehicle and make good your escape.

Option 2 – Escape Later

Join in the convoy back to RAF Wyndham. At an opportune moment Dexter would make a sign, slam

the brakes to knock any soldiers on board off balance. Then they could be overpowered. You would

then break away and make good your escape.

Destination

Another consideration is where you run to if you escape. PC Tom suggests, odd as it sounds the

Police Station near the New Town Centre. It’s not far away and the police there are likely to be loyal.

Problem is that there aren’t that many staff on duty today and they’re likely to be pushed

responding to the weather.

The Newspaper – that may not be a good idea as you know it is under military control, but maybe

you could stop at a phone box and make a call to check if that is still the case?

The bus depot? Dexter has some friends there. Many may be out on duty stuck in snow.

Home? Select a base to regroup at a house of one of your group and assess the situation.

Clearly strange things are afoot and as Dexter keeps asking why is it snowing and where is the

food???.

Dark Things Chapter 1 Turn 6

Dark Things  - Chapter 1 Turn 6

Adventurers

Ivor as Emlyn, John as Dexter, Kitty, Paul and Wendy - they are currently in the adventure doing stuff that Emlyn does not know about yet.

Character: Emlyn Cadoc

Settings: Rules: d20 rules Interaction: ‘Go for it!’

Profession: Reporter at the Wyndham Whistle

Player: Ivor Cogdell

Description: Young with an innocent smile. Aged 23, Male.

STR: 14 DEX: 15 CON: 14 INT: 14 POW: 13 APP: 11 SIZ: 13 EDU: 12 MOVE: 9 LUCK: 11 SAN: 65 MP: 13 HP: 13

Attacks: 1 Punch

Punch: (-1 to hit) doing 1d3+1d4+1

Skills: Photography 60%, Acting: 50%, Writing: 60%, Credit Rating: 50%, Dodge: 57%, Drive Auto: 20%, Brawling: 45%, Welsh Language: 21%, Advanced English: 20%, Library Use: 40%, Research: 70%, Gather Information: 40%, Diplomacy: 40%, Sense Motive: 40%

Equipment: Smart office suit, boots, notebook and pen, wallet with about £20 and the keys to a Land Rover! Fire extinguisher CO2 (next to the seat in reception), Press card, bottle of water

Turn 6 – The Gathering Storm – 1pm Saturday June 18^th 1983

Emlyn turns to Dexter and asks how the vehicles are arranged outside.

Meanwhile Ramsay scribbles a couple of maps into his notebook (refer to the attached), one for the interior of the hotel (from the fire evacuation plan on the wall) and the exterior layout from shared knowledge as Emlyn was also able to look outside while talking to ‘Charlie the Tango Killer’.

The soldiers now seem to be moving up the hotel stairs searching the upper levels. One soldier has appeared from the far service room and is walking along the corridor.

The Colonel is in a bit of a heated conversation with the severe civilian guy with the clipboard. Dexter shouts over ‘I’m not going nowhere without my coach! It’s company property and if you want us at RAF Wyndham my coach would be a much better form of transport.”

You hear the Colonel saying “Adoph, that sounds like a good idea. We have no idea what we’re loading in the back of that army truck!”

It sounds like the Colonel likes the idea of commandeering the coach.

The 3 Hazmat suited personnel have left the hotel with Thomas the hotel day-manager, Marion's boss on the stretcher.

Both Dexter and Emlyn are set on a possible escape. Ramsay and Tom the Policeman are both up for it. Marion seems really scared and is shivering, but seems intent on following your lead.

Emlyn looks at the maps and determines that there would be a possible escape route if you decided to evade on foot. As you come out of the front of the hotel, which faces the railway station you could turn right (north) then right again and you would be around the northern corner of the hotel and out of sight of all the soldiers in and around the carpark.

You could then flee on foot along a footpath that runs east along the very top of the map away from the station area. No vehicle could chase, except for motorbikes but there are no sign of those.

Dexter's plan is to talk the army in allowing him to use his coach to transfer the 5 of you to RAF Wyndham, which seems to be an option from the response of the Colonel. You would form convoy with the military vehicles, but at an opportune moment he would veer off and make good your escape.

If they place a guard on the coach then at a signal Dexter could press the breaks, knock the guard off limits and you could overpower him.

A more dramatic course would be to gun it as soon as you are on the coach and make good the escape immediately. However, there seem to be a heck of a lot of military hardware on or near the approach road.

The five of you group together to consider your options.

Tom seems to favour the coach option. Marion is concerned that all these options involve abandoning Thomas and whoever the second casualty is. Ramsay favour's Emlyn's plan.

If it came to a vote it would seem to be 2 – 2 for the escape options with Marion undecided and the problem is that she doesn’t seem to be willing to make a decision!

Regards all,

Ivor Cogdell

Dark Things Copyright 2020 (C) Richard Burd. All rights reserved.

Thoughts On - Ironsworn Solo RPG

The FREE Solo Fantasy RPG Ironsworn by Shaun Tompkin

Hi Everyone,

                      If you are alone and/or stuck for something to occupy yourself with, when you are waiting for your models or your scenery to dry, take a look at  "Ironsworn" by Shaun Tompkin. There is a core rulebook and assorted guides to playing it, plus a character sheet. It comes in PDF, soft and hardcover versions. You need two ten-sided dice and a six-sided dice, or use an online dice roller on the net.

Ironsworn rpg download link

drivethrurpg.com/Ironsworn

The built-in setting is a Viking-type land, but this would suit any homegrown setting or fantasy module you care to drop it into. It uses an easy dice mechanic. The 2 x d10 "Challenge" dice and the single d6 "Action" dice with possible points modifiers, generate actions and outcomes.

 

For example -

Roll all three dice.

You score a strong hit, if your "Action" Dice plus modifiers beat both of the single scores (not added together) of the "Challenge" dice.

Eg. An "Action" dice roll of 6 + a situation modifier of 2 for a score of 8, beats both a "Challenge" dice roll of 7 and 5. Result -  A strong hit. (Meaning a Success with a bonus).

 "Action" dice roll of a 2 + a modifier of  1 for a score of 3, beats only one of the "Challenge" dice rolls of 9 and 2. Result - A weak hit. (Meaning a Success, but with a complication thrown in).

 "Action" dice roll of a 2 + a modifier of  1 for a score of 3, beats none of the "Challenge" dice rolls of 9 and 3. Result - A miss, the "Action" dice must beat the "Challenge" dice not just draw with it to win. A miss means just a complication - usually rolling on the "Pay the Price" table or losing health or supplies..

 Dice outcomes can be modified by bonuses generated through the game too. It may sound complicated written down like that, but it gives smooth gameplay. There are much clearer diagrams in the downloads.

                      There are lots of tables to aid in World history generation, "Oracle" tables to give outcome generation, scene setting, names, plots, simple movement tracking and journey time, character generation etc. Health and stores are tracked, which interact with the storyline and dice rolls. A large-scale setting map is provided.

Youtube

                       There are a few actual play sessions posted on "youtube" to spark your imagination and show the game mechanics, including one shot games and campaign sessions.

Youtube / ironsworn

More Goodness

There is an expansion pack on Drive through rpg called "Ironsworn, Delve".  - "Expeditions into perilous places, more foes and encounters, an array of new oracles (Tables), expanded setting info, mysterious objects of power, campaign threats, and much more!"

I have not tried it yet, but am looking forward to doing so.

drivethrurpg.com/Ironsworn-Delve

Support

There is setting support available on Roll20.net/. but I am not familiar with using Roll 20 so cannot give you the exact link.

 

 This is a boon for the solo player. Well worth trying out. Tell me if you like it in the comments. 

There is a space version coming out in 2021, Ironsworn: Starforged. so keep looking out for that one too.

https://www.Ironswornrpg.com/starforge-preview-july-2019

There is a small homebrew RPG on Youtube already.

Ironsworn: Starforge Co-op RPG | Episode 0, Part 1 - World Building & Character Creation

You can subscribe and see where it goes. I am a fan of both sets of rules.

Stay safe.

Ivor Cogdell.

 

Dark Things Chapter 1 Turn 5

Adventurers

Ivor as Emlyn, John as Dexter, Kitty, Paul and Wendy - they are currently in the adventure doing stuff that Emlyn does not know about yet.

Character: Emlyn Cadoc

Settings: Rules: d20 rules Interaction: ‘Go for it!’

Profession: Reporter at the Wyndham Whistle

Player: Ivor Cogdell

Description: Young with an innocent smile. Aged 23, Male.

STR: 14 DEX: 15 CON: 14 INT: 14 POW: 13 APP: 11 SIZ: 13 EDU: 12 MOVE: 9 LUCK: 11 SAN: 65 MP: 13 HP: 13

Attacks: 1 Punch

Punch: (-1 to hit) doing 1d3+1d4+1

Skills: Photography 60%, Acting: 50%, Writing: 60%, Credit Rating: 50%, Dodge: 57%, Drive Auto: 20%, Brawling: 45%, Welsh Language: 21%, Advanced English: 20%, Library Use: 40%, Research: 70%, Gather Information: 40%, Diplomacy: 40%, Sense Motive: 40%

Equipment: Smart office suit, boots, notebook and pen, wallet with about £20 and the keys to a Land Rover! Fire extinguisher CO2 (next to the seat in reception), Press card, bottle of water

Turn 5 – The Gathering Storm – 1pm Saturday June 18^th 1983

Emlyn smirks when Ramsay gives the translation of “SOS, What the Flip, Help”

Emlyn continues “Just about sums up our day”.

Ram asks ”Leg it to the pub?”

Emlyn shakes his head and says quietly, “It’s not worth the risk, these guys are trigger happy lunatics. They would take us down for just blinking in the wrong direction”

“Tell our mate next door to stay put and hide someplace, we will get him when we can. Get any info you can from him, name and so on”

Ram turns to Tom the constable and whispers ‘Let’s see if we can make contact, I’ll give you a dot and a dash and you tap your truncheon on the wall and we’ll see if we can get some answers about what the hell is happening’

Emlyn continues “I’ll go and distract the Colonel”.

Suddenly the hotel reception door opens and a bronzed man mountain walks in as snow and the cold wind follow him into the relative warmth of the reception room,

The guard near the door backs away, covering the newcomer with his weapon.

‘Where did you come from and who are you?” demands the soldier. The Colonel glances across at the commotion whilst continuing to talk on the radio.

The large man raises his hands in surprise before the soldier and says, "Where the hell did I come from? The BUS Man, I'm the Bus Driver, Dexter!! Where the hell did you all come from and why you got guns and shit?"

The young smartly dressed man approaches the colonel asking “Colonel, would it be ok for Marion to see Thomas, just to put her mind at rest, it would give her something to do.”

At this point the receptionist Marion gets up and walks calmly past the Colonel heading down the corridor with the first-aid kit!

‘Erm, young lady, stop!’ shouts the Colonel, ‘It’s my hotel’ she shouts back and continues down the corridor. Meanwhile the Police Officer continues to tap his baton, this time against the wall.

Dexter nods at the other civilians and asks the soldier "And who the hell are all these people?" before walking slowly over to the group and saying, "And who the hell are all you people?"

“I’m officer Tom Egar, erm…Ramsay, what comes next?”

“A dot, Tom” replies Ramsay, the older fellow who remains seated scribbling some message in his notebook while Tom knocks his baton on the wall.

“Erm, Colonel, orders please!’ shouts the soldier as he covers Dexters movements.

The Colonel frowns ‘Concentrate on the door soldier, reinforcements are nearly here’

The young man continues to annoy the Colonel asking “Can I use the other line to my paper, I am overdue to check in I won’t say anything about the situation here, unless you say so.”

The Colonel snaps “Sure, feel free Emlyn. Hey, miss I said stop!”

Marion shouts over her shoulder “and I said I’m going to help my boss!”

The Colonel smiles and says into the radio “Friendly on way to store room, hold your fire, I say again friendly”

The Telephone Conversation

Emlyn wanders over to the reception phone and carefully picking it up listens for a dialing tone before speaking:

“Hi Laura, Emlyn here, Tell Arty I won’t make it back to the office in time for our meeting, the land rovers’ playing up again. Aunt Margaret says hello, I saw her in the cake shop.” Code phrase – I’m in trouble.

Laura “Thanks for letting us know Emlyn. The cake shop is nice but is closed” Code phrase – The office is not safe.

“Oh, nice. Is she ok?”

Laura “She’s fine” Code phrase – we’re okay here.

“Yes, but her ankle is playing up so she doesn’t get about much.” Code Phrase – Held.

Laura “Her feet aren’t much good either” Code Phrase – we’re held as well!

“Her Roger has gone to Greece, got a great deal on a hotel, so she said. Lucky devil, first skiing and now this” Hint. Hotel and snow.

“You mean Roger, the guy in the army” Code Phrase – The army has us in lockdown.

“I’ll see you in the Bull when I get this rust bucket moving. Cheerio, now”.

“Bye”.

After the telephone conversation

“Thanks for that, Colonel”.  Emlyn calls over his appreciation, but the Colonel is far too busy on his radio that is squawking rapidly.

Dexter continues grilling Officer Tom and Ramsay:

"Why is it snowing?" “No bloody idea” snaps Ramsay, “A dash dammit, Tom, I said a dash!”

"Why aren't these Army guys out there helping at the plane crash?” Ramsay responds “There’s aviation fuel and it caused me and Tom to pass out when we went near the wreck”

Officer Tom follows up with a loud “This isn’t normal I tell you, not normal at all”

“Well it wasn’t normal you trying to shoot the crew” snaps an angry Ram.

“You say dot or dash to me one more time” says Officer Tom to Ramsay “and I’ll put a bleeding big dash on your head!”

Emlyn tries to take the Colonels attention away from the loud conversation between Dexter, Officer Tom and Ramsay by asking

“So, who or what is this Majestic Land One that’s coming over to help? It looks like you have everything you need for a bank robbery or anything else. Why haven’t you chaps gone upstairs to see if they can find him?”

The Colonel looks grimly at Emlyn responding “You’ll soon find out!”

The argument continues to get more heated as Dexter looks at the Policeman tapping his baton and says, "You might wanna put that away before you hurt yourself!"

“You guys do realise I’m a Policeman” shouts Tom, “Show me some bleeding respect!” Dexter backs off a bit as the officer shouts “No more bloody dots!!!”

Ramsay “Shush, jeez, just be quiet for a moment will you!”

Emlyn strolls over to the main doors, with his hands in plain sight, to see what is going on outside.

“One of my mates is in the army, The 15^th Infantry Brigade, the one with the Insignia of a falcon. What your name, Soldier?” Emlyn asks the young soldier on guard at the door.

“Just call me Charlie the Tango killer” replies the solder, clearly a little unnerved by the atmosphere building in the reception.

“Been in the service long? Seen anywhere nice?” Emlyn adds.

Dexter suddenly shouts out “Have you got any food?"

Tom the Policeman shouts “We could always ask next door, it’s a bar and grill”

Ramsay, “Shut up, you idiot!”

Emlyn wanders back over Ramsay, Tom and Dexter and whispers “You won’t believe what’s going on out there!” Emlyn goes on to provide a description of what he saw.

Outside of the hotel – Turn 5

Now parked outside and abandoned are the police car, a taxi, a land rover and a blue bus. Behind these vehicles is now parked a jeep and a lorry from which troops have climbed and are spreading out across the car park. They are moving cautiously around the back of the hotel and adjoining bar and grill.

Three men have climbed out of the jeep, all dressed in bright yellow hazmat suits. They’re moving toward the hotel each carrying a box and a stretcher.

Further back, at the crash site, a crane on the back of a lorry has lifted up the wreck, which looks vaguely egg shaped – no sign of wings, but then again they could have been ripped off in the crash. Slowly it moves the wreck onto the back of a lorry and a tarp is being put in place to hide the fuselage.

Ramsays message with the Bar and Grill – Turn 5

Ramsay relays the secret Morse Code conversation with next door, while looming over you all Dexter watches with interest, trying to catch up with the crazy turn of events.

The best Ramsay can make out from the Morse Code fiasco is that next door in the Bar and Grill are 3 people, the owner of the bar, a waitress and an ex-military guy with a sausage dog (at least that seems to be the description). They’ve locked themselves in and have turned off the lights.

So, it doesn’t look like there’s going to be any help coming from that quarter!

Turn 5a – The Gathering Storm – June 1983

Suddenly the reception door opens once more and in walk 3 figures dressed in yellow hazmat suits.

They’re carrying a fold up stretcher and several boxes. The Colonel indicates their route of travel and they shamble their way down the corridor toward the far service room.

Shortly after a large, severe looking man dressed in civilian attire which is well suited for the severe weather outside enters the reception, flanked by two soldiers. The Colonel points in your direction and the man moves over to you with his arms folded, staring at you intently.

“So gentlemen, we’re going to have to take you to RAF Wyndham for a quick medical check over and debrief. I would imagine, if all goes to plan, that you’ll be returned here tomorrow once the clean-up is complete.”

He produces a clip board from a brief case that he’s carrying and reads from it “During a routine training mission one of the experimental aircraft out of RAF Wyndham was struck by a surface to air missile fired by forces unknown. The crew gallantly kept the aircraft airborne managing a forced landing new New Wyndham Train Station. During the recovery exercise a second attack was launched upon the crew of the grounded aircraft and military forces opened fire to drive off the terrorists”

He looks severely once more at you, particularly at Ramsay and Emlyn “As you can imagine this is a major security situation so we would appreciate you keeping any mention of military action against our aircraft, just mention mechanical failure – that should do the job”

“Now, due to the aviation fuel and the possibility of this toxic material being transferred to your skin, and indeed transferred between you, we’ll have to take you for medical checks and a quick debrief. You’ll have comfortable quarters and we’ll inform all necessary next of kin and work contacts of the situation”

“I hope you understand the need for this official action. Colonel, are there anymore?”

You hear what must be the service door open and the yellow hazmat suited personnel appear, pushing a fold up stretcher with a figure (assumed to be Thomas) lay upon it. Marion follows, still holding the first-aid kit looking very pale.

“Put him in the lorry and young lady, please take a seat here next to these guys. We’ll need to get out of here soon”

The Colonels radio crackles and he calls over “There’s one more at the back, unconscious”

“Okay” replies the severe looking man, “we’ll send the Hazmats round to get that one too”.

“Better search the upper levels of the hotel just to be sure. Now, gentleman and lady, ready for a visit to RAF Wyndham for a debrief?”

Regards all,

Ivor Cogdell

Dark Things Copyright 2020 (C) Richard Burd. All rights reserved.

Dark Things storyline Copyright 2020 (C) Richard Burd. All rights reserved.