Thursday 30 April 2015

Dungeon for Lina and Hendrik / Level 2

This is my entry for the ONE PAGE DUNGEON CONTEST 2015.


dungeon level 2

1 You went down a ladder to level 2 of the cellar beneath the royal kitchen. The cook sent you to look for Alex, the kitchen boy. In another room somebody is playing „Soura ke mastoura“ on a bouzouki.

2 This room is filled with amphorae in all sizes. Some carry a sweet strong wine. A strange animal is crawling on the floor. It is yellow, green, blue, pink and red, about 13 inch long and has eight legs. Although it looks a bit like a carrion crawler, it’s harmless. It even smiles at you. If you are easily scared, you need to make a fright check now.

3 The door to this room is locked. Alex, the kitchen boy, practices playing bouzouki, a Greek guitar. He tells you that two large mouse-like creatures locked him in and ran away with the keys. If you find the keys in level 3 of the dungeon and free Alex, he will tell you that the cook is beating him regularly. He will try to persuade you to flee with him in a small boat. He will invent a treasure island to persuade you.

4 The door to this room is locked but not too difficult to open. There are many amphorae scattered on the floor, most of them broken. Three skeletons equipped with swords and shields will attack you. They have been waiting to do so for 100 years.

5 random monsters:

1 A giant olive on legs, wearing sneakers.
2 A couple of bugs that glow in the dark.
3 A group of goblins. They say your grandmother is fat and poor. They can count up to 100 and will ridicule you in every possible way, otherwise they are harmless.
4-6 Nothing.

6 A 3m x 3m room with a hole in the floor. A ladder leads to level 3 of the dungeon. In level 3 you encounter two dire mice with the keys to room 3. You also find a boat.

Tuesday 21 April 2015

The Waltrop Campaign / Day 1 + 2

campaign map day 1+2

This is how our campaign map looks like after two days of gaming. So what happened?

The Greeks from Saganakia, also called the Aquarians, who started shipwrecked in hexagon 61, moved up the beach. They didn’t encounter monsters and were able to occupy hexagons 51, 50 and 41. In hexagon 32 they met the Greeks from the island Kalimera who have their camp there. The two commanders had a short conversation.

-Γεια σου.
-Γεια σου. Πως σε λένε;
-Με λένε Σπύρος, εσένα;
-Ηρακλείδης.
-Ωραίο όνομα!
-Ευχαριστώ, Σπύρο! Πώς είσαι; 
-Δεν ειμαι και πολύ καλά σήμερα.
-Γιατί; Τι έχεις;
-Ειμαι πολύ χάλια σήμερα.

Heracleides was able to convince Spiros, the Aquarian, to join his army and explore hexagon 31. There they encountered a group of Orks. The Greeks had never seen such horrible creatures before. The Orks probably thought the same about the Greeks.

We simulated the battle that ensued with a 36 point game of HotT. I played 22 points of Greek hoplites and Thracian riders:

Spear General (C-in-C), 8 Spears, 2 Riders

Sven played 12 points of peltasts and psiloi:  

Hero General, 3 Shooters, 2 Lurkers

Krüger played two battle groups that were 24 and 12 points strong, using these elements:

Warband General (C-in-C), 6 Warbands, 1 Hero, 3 Beasts

Hero General, 4 Riders

(I was so busy counting the other players’ elements that I forgot to count mine. I ended up with 22 points, instead of 24 points. And the same happened to me the next day.)

We placed a couple of large rocks, some rough terrain and a waterhole on the board. We decided to play without a stronghold. Krüger started to deploy his troops and put his large battlegroup on one side of the table and his small battlegroup on the other side.

ancient greeks versus orcs

Since warbands are very good against spears, Sven and I decided to field the spears against the riders and the lighter troops against the warbands. Our plan worked and we won the game. So the Greeks under the command of Heracleides were able to occupy hexagon 31 which gives them access to fresh water.

On day 2 of the campaign Spiros, who was in a better mood now, convinced Heracleides to explore hexagon 40. He wanted to look for a base camp for his army. There they discovered an Ork village. Krüger told us the locations of the other Ork villages: hexagons 20, 68, 78 and 38.

We placed tropical forests and some rocks on the battlefield. Krüger was the defender.

Krüger’s large battle group (24 points): 

Warband General (C-in-C), 7 Warbands, 1 Hero, 2 Shooters

His small battle group (12 points):

Hero General, 4 Beasts

My army (22 points):

Spear General (C-in-C), 7 Spears, 2 Riders, 1 Shooter

Sven’s army (12 points):

Hero General, 4 Shooters

The armies deployed more or less in the same way as on the first day and we used the same strategy. We fielded our spears against Krüger’s beasts and our shooters against his warbands.

thracians versus goblin wolf riders

There was a moment in the game when Krüger thought he would win. He got very nervous and started to chew on my DBX ruler.

krüger

We lost 2 spears, 1 rider and 2 shooters. Krüger lost a hero, 3 warbands and 4 beasts, thus loosing the battle for hexagon 40 and a village on the campaign map.

The village was occupied by the Aquarians under the command of Spiros.

Wednesday 15 April 2015

Campaign Rules

old school hexagon campaign map

Here are some ideas for a narrative map-based campaign I will start with Krüger and Sven this week. It's a first draft. Comments are welcome.

We will use different rulesets like HotT and Warhammer to play out battles, maybe even GURPS for special scenarios.

I play ancient Greeks who just landed on the island of Waltrop. They start on hexagon 32. Sven plays Greeks who start on hexagon 61. Krüger plays Orcs. He will choose 5 hexagons in secret to place his villages. Until the Greeks find the Orc villages hidden in the jungle, they fight random encounters which could look like this:

random encounters beach

1 orcs
2-3 goblins
4-6 nothing

random encounters jungle

2 orcs
3 goblins
4 cannibals wearing scary masks
5 field of magical green crystals or old temple
6 nothing

If the Greeks win a random encounter, they occupy the hexagon they fought in, otherwise they retreat.

After the first orc village has been discovered in the jungle, the Orcs will start to move on the campaign map the same way as the Greeks. Random encounters for Orcs could include other tribes of savage Orcs and Greek warbands. If Orcs and Greeks meet in a hexagon, they fight for it. The looser has to retreat.

How an army fights and which hexagons it occupies should have a relation to the composition of the army.

In the 4th edition of 40K there were good rules for upgrading units or characters that fought especially well.

In our case, switching between different rulesets might present some difficulties. HotT is much more abstract than Warhammer, and GURPS would be best to play out special missions for characters.

At the beginning, armies could have some restrictions. Orcs might need to own hills to field trolls and giants, for example, and Greeks might need a temple to field priests. We could allow players to build havens, temples, even cities, but then we need some kind of monetary system. Will players receive gold if they sack a village or camp? I need talk to Sven and Krüger about this.