Sunday, 1 April 2007
Many Orcs and goblins knew what it was ...
...to be skewered in the heart of the Great Forest that night, I can tell you.
Our WFRP group got together this weekend for a 4 hour session. I’m going to admit that the last 2 weeks have been jammed packed with other things that gaming has taken a backseat, so the session was short on preparation. Unfortunate too, as we had a new player at the table.
I hate the idea that he saw me not at the top of my game.
But I had some evil overlord actions to play out so there were actions taking place in the game world, of note was what the growing Waaagh! was going to do about 5 humies and a pointy ear crossing the forest to alert militias on the other side.
I threw 5 orcs and 10 goblins at them. At night. In the rain. I wasn't trying to kill the party...okay, maybe give them an “oh, shit” moment, and it worked, sorta.
See, I had to introduce the new player and without preparation I came up with a scenario: caught poking around in the forest by two elven ghost striders, the young bounty hunter was being hustled north for depositing where he could not make trouble. This was briefly described as a human tripping over branches and roots, making a lot of noise yet still trying to imitate the elves that seemed to glide over the forest floor. The player was unceremoniously deposited in the camp of the party.
The party had met one of the striders before so there was no need for introduction. The elves then meant to take the party, + 1, north to a place called Taal's Teeth (a place I made up on the spot), then east to the Kolsa Hills, thus out of the forest. The elves had been made aware of the party by word of other striders and the unusual interest by the greenskins moving north to investigate.
I beset the party first by 4 orcs. The elves, including the party's elf, handled them in the dark at standoff range, for the most part. Then another orc and 10 goblins. The goblins dispatched the new party member in short order; the PC was just unlucky and spent a fate point. He now has two nasty cuts, i.e., developing scars, on the side of his face from where the flat side of the goblin’s poorly crafted sword “slapped him,”, with killing force; the skin in that moment seemingly gripping the sword edge.
But enough of the story. I think you get the gist of the session. Oh, I provided opportunity for the players to do other things, besides hack and slash, like: a) collect the wood of a tree struck by lightening (a valuable magic ingredient); b) collect orc scalps (bounties paid in most towns); and c) capture a heavily wounded goblin for waterboarding or the like. Alas, the players missed all of these opportunities.
It could just be that I expected too much of the players to catch the hints, but I learned some lessons, tuning my rusty GM skills; all of them it seems are don’ts:
- Don't make NPCs too powerful.
- Don’t forget the Flashlight or the 150 watt bulb. I cite how the ghost striders did all the heavy lifting in the combat, they are just too advanced. I provide this reoccurring NPC as a balance when I think an encounter might just be too tough. Yet I seem to forget that I drive the encounter.
- Don’t kill the new player’s character in the first session.
Now, I need to think about just what future mysteries my new Talabecland landmarks of Taal's Teeth (a very large, natural and unnatural rock outcropping that has formed concentric rings, the center a pristine grassy plain, the roof clear of the Great Forest's canopy) and Taal's Knob (a rock circle atop the highest of the foothills in the Kolsa Hills) hold. Any thoughts from the readers?
Like this gets read. ~o)
