ODnD Solo Session 1
This will be a mixed bag of a solo session and also me just figuring out how ODnD works.
So, to start let's go over what I used for this session. I started with Delving Deeper grabbed the character sheet PDF off the Immersive Ink website to use. And finally I grabbed the Solo Gaming Sheets from Perplexing Ruin. I figured to try to keep things small so I don't get overwhelmed with having many resources in front of me.
I usually try to only make one player character when I do solo RPGs. I like the idea of inserting myself as the main character when I do these types of things. But last time I played Mörk Borg solo, I ran it using 2 characters and that worked out REALLY well for me. So I hoped that my dice rolls would be decent for these next two characters I was going to make. Instead of the normal 3d6 down the line, I did 4d6 down the line but dropped the lowest number. First character had:
Str - 8
Int - 14
Wis - 9
Dex - 10
Con - 7
Chr - 14
Not bad so I made this character a Magic User. 110 gp to start, I picked out a staff, some miscellaneous items, rations, and torches. First level magic users start with a spell book with all 1st level spells so I tried to be careful with the spell I picked to memorize for the day.
Second character's stats:
Str - 14
Int - 16
Wis - 18
Dex - 16
Con - 10
Chr - 15
Some crazy stats here. I was tempted to make this one a cleric with that maxed out Wis, but I didn't want to run one so used this to make a fighter. It was at this point, fiddling with weight and carry capacity was annoying me. That didn't take long. So I added an extra mechanic. You can have as many items as your AC + 5. I first read this from Luke Gearing's Wolves Upon the Coast (check the encumbrance rules) and thought it would work the best for what I'm doing. Bought a short sword, shield and other necessities.
With my fresh characters, Rildor the Human Magic User and Francis the Human Fighter, I was ready to start playing.
We start in the village of Clouded Falls. Nothing of incredible note but the center of dealing with the regions cult problem (even after finishing this session I still don't know what the cult is all about). Used the quest generator to make up a couple jobs on the towns job board. Normally I start my games in media res but wanted to try a more 'classic' approach. One of the jobs was simple. Deliver a package to the nearby town Rock Valley, payment on delivery.
After collecting their reward, they decided to head back to Clouded Falls. Maybe being so central, more interesting work will show up. And there was! There were news of the hit job they did for Rock Valley so the request to put and end to a cultist plot in another nearby town called Frostfall came up. But also another to capture a messenger thats eluded the regions guards was available as a job as well. I thought best to try this capture of the messenger would be better before trying to stop whatever cultists had planning in Frostfall.
Last known location of the messenger was south. Freshened up on supplies, the two traveled over rolling hills in the country side. Only stopping when they ran into a patch of mushrooms. Brightly colored and obviously poisonous, I thought Rildor would want to keep some. Never know when poisonous mushrooms could be useful. The following day, they did find the cultist messenger. A level 3 fighter with a magic sword. Knowing the sword would be a big issue in a direct fight, I had Rildor try to cast Charm Person on the messenger. It failed of course so I felt there was no other option but to fight after a failed spell. I tried to follow the subdue rules in Delving Deeper to what I thought the text meant. I ruled it as any missing hp from the maximum you roll under that percentage to successfully subdue them. Not sure how other folks do this but in the moment this is what I ran with. After a couple rounds of combat and thankfully not getting that hurt, the messenger was subdued and tied up. Me not knowing that magic sword would try to dominate the mind of the wielder, I have Francis take the sword. Thankfully his Chr and Wis are so high I didn't even have to roll or do anything once I stated out the magic sword. It's a +1 sword called Frostbrand. +3 to anything weak to cold and could detect gems, gold, and silver! Its purpose is to also slay golems, that hasn't been something that came up but good to keep in mind.
Couple more in game days and the messenger in custody at Clouded Falls. More information was provided on the cultist plot in Frostfall. Something strange is about to happen in a cave in town. Knowing this, the two resupplied and hurried other.
Frostfall is by far the wealthiest town so far. Evidence of cultist activity was well hidden. But thanks to the high charm that Francis carries, he was able to buy the information on where this cave is.
The two rush in to the darkness with torches lit and hopeful that they can put an end to what is going on. (I rolled a really small dungeon here so there wasn't much to explore at all). It doesn't take long to find the ritual room. Another high ranking cultist is here in the middle of conducting a ritual. Several of the zealot followers in a trance standing in a circle. Unsure of what to do, the party figure it best to disrupt the ritual in whatever chaotic manner that they could. A magical explosion disintegrated many of the zealots and the one conducting the ritual. Rildor makes it out just fine but Francis leaves magically scared. (I forgot he needed to level up at this point and the HP I rolled on the new hit dice was lower). The ritual incomplete had other consequences of spirits of some kind leaving the cave. Hopefully this won't be of any consequence.
But anyway this was where I ended this session. I felt really satisfied with the amount I gone through and felt proud I was able to sit down on this one for a few hours. I'll work on fleshing things out more but that'll also come with more play with these characters.
So far I don't feel I need to make any additional changes to Delving Deeper. I'll probably post things I adjust as I move things along but I really like this system so far! I can really picture using ODnD the catalyst in make your system that's unique to your table. I might push it on my table some time and see what happens.