Blackbarrow Chronicles - Episode I, A Grave Occasion ( Battle On Blackbarrow
Bridge)
Blackbarrow Chronicles
is a series of reports on fantasy games
played on my Village of Blackbarrow table that I have been working on in bits
and parts for just about a decade. The rules for Episode 1 are a test of a “hacked”
version of the OSR “The Black Hack” ruleset
designed with specifically miniature gaming in mind. Overall it doesn’t matter what rules we use,
be it these, Otherworld Skirmish, Advanced Song of Blades and Heroes, or the
several others I’ve talked about the games flavor and Campaign Narrative will
continue. The are a lot of Characters in Blackbarrow, From Heroic Adventures and their Henchman, the
Townsfolk and the Royal Authority that rule them from Blackbarrow Castle, to
various power groups both good and bad , like Merchants guild, the town sheriff
and his guards, Mercenary groups for
hire, Evil Cultists and of course the local Dungeon chock full of monsters..
Future posts will be new stories or
focus on the overview of its town and its inhabitants
Basic Rules Notes-
Movement-
Everyone gets a move action and an action, you can sacrifice your action
for additional movement but not vice versa.
Dice Mechanic-
D20 All rolls to hit , avoid, save or cast spells are tests
against individual character stats
(STR, DEX, INT , ect)
Advantage/Disadvantage-
Advantage- if some has the Advantage they roll 2 dice and
pick the higher, if they are Disadvantaged the roll 2 dice and take the lower..
Distance-
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| I've reposted the scale chart to explain distances, HTML reads my typed version of this chart as code. |
Armor-
Armor Points- Some Characters have Armor, unlike traditional
Armor Classes, Armor Points used as
Damaged Reduction with a static total per battle when they are gone, they are
gone. In scenarios with multiple battles, there is an opportunity to repair.
Spells-
Spells may be repeatedly cast as long as a Spellcheck is
made testing INT with a penalty of the Spell Level, failing this the spell slot is temporarily lost.
Target number for Stat test is ascending . “ i.e you need
a 11 to hit”…penalties increase that number so you will see “ +1 Penalty” making
the target number harder or “-1 Bonus” making it easier. Often times we state
the reverse (-1 Penalty) but mean the same thing. I’ve kept the notations
linear in hope of keeping things as clear as possible.
Special Rules Episode 1-
This scenario takes place at NIGHT a light surce
is required or line of the sight will be limited
Darkness Rules-
Range:
Close- No Penalty
Nearby -with Light Source (Torch,
Lantern, Spell, Item) – No Penalty
Nearby with No Light Source –
Penalty
Over There, with Light Source- Penalty
Over There- No Light Source- No Ranged Attack is possible
Factions-
Hall of Tyr
Arturus, Paladin Level 2
His Lv 1 Henchman -
Cristoffe his Squire and Holger his Man at Arms
Harald the Cleric Lv 1
Killian, Ranger for Hire Lv 1
VS
The Necromancer.
The Necromancer level 3
His Undead Servant HD 3
Beleg, Cult of Orcus Leader Level 1
The Scene-
Heroes of the Hall of
Tyr, are alerted by the local gravedigger that a Necromancer is raising the
dead at the local cemetery and proceed to intervene.
The leader of Cult of Orcus has arranged a clandestine meet
with a Mercenary Necromancer to convince him to side with their cause, The
Necromancer is currently indifferent to needs of the Cult of Orcus and really
just wants to raise some minions for his
Cabal.
Experience to be
earned-
Hall of Tyr
+1 for surviving the battle (individual)
+1 knocking out opposing
team leader(s)OOA
+1 team if no one is knocked OOA
Necromancer
+1 for Survive
+1 for each undead raised and off the board
Beleg, Cult of Orcus
+1 Survive
+1 for any Heroes knocked OoA
Initiative-
All the heroes test against their dexterity those that fail
act after their opponents, here I
arrange the main participants in Dice Order, summoned creatures add to end of
the order.
1.
Arturus
2.
Killian
3.
Holger
4.
Undead Servant
5.
Necromancer
6.
Beleg, Cultist leader
7.
Cristoff
8.
Harald
Turn 1
Arturus, moves once
then sacrifices his action to also move for a total of 12 inches across the
bridge
Killian, wants to jump from the hill to the bridge and needs
to make a difficult terrain move check, since he is a Ranger he is not disadvantaged testing his Dex and
easily passes he then moves again scanning
as far the lanterns light will let him as he thinks he sees shadowy
figures moving in the graveyard
Holger, Arturus’s Henchman
follows the Paladin a step behind (12 inches) Carry Lamp, no darkness
penalty within 6 inches
The Undead Servant under orders from the Necromancers shuffles quickly toward the road to intercept
the incoming adventurers.
The Necromancer casts Lesser Animate Undead….he summons 3
Zombies and a Skeleton that rise up from the Earth, he then must spell check if
he retains the spell and 2 level slot , with a 15 INT, he only needs a 6 but it’s a 2nd
level spell so it raise to an 8, he rolls a 12 and keeps the spell in memory
for now.
Beleg the Cult Leader- moves behind Tree, waiting for opportunity
to attack
Cristoff, the Squire move twice to following Arturus and Holger
Harald, The Cleric – brings up the rear (moves x2)
Summoned Undead move to end of Imitative order
Skeleton moves
2 Zombies move toward Graveyard Gate..
One Zombie stays with Necromancer
End Turn
Usage Die Checks,
Kilian D10 Quiver – pass
Holger D6 Lantern- Pass
*Usage Die* are for disposable items..if a 1 or 2 is rolled
the die drops to the next lower tier (D10>D8>D6>D4) a 1or 2 on a D4
the item is depleted.
Turn 2
Arturus – Moves 6 hedging his distance with the oncoming
Undead Servant
Killian The Ranger -eyeing
the darkness he can just barely make out the shape of a freshly risen zombie at
12”” (“over there” range) the darkness penalty is +2 and the Zombie also has soft cover for +1 in addition
the zombie is 2 HD so an additional +1 for
being a level higher than the ranger . Killian dexterity is very high 17 needing only
a “4” to hit and despite + 4 to the roll pushing him to an 8.. He rolls a “17”
– the Arrow finding it mark no problem damaging the Zombie for 5 Dam.
Holger – moves next to Arturus
The Undead Servant -Charges Arturus the Paladin
*Charge Rule*- clear unobstructed straight line of sight of
more then 6 but no more than 12” to target attacker may move in to base contact
12” as a charge following with an single
attack at +2 penalty to hit but also adding +2 to any damage
total.
The Undead Servant uses the Necromancers INT as its Fight
Stat its needs a “8” to charge into
Arturus with the Penalty , however since this charge also forces him into base contact
with Holger he suffers the additional +1 penalty for fighting more than one
opponent.. The Undead Servant needs a 9 and rolls a 12 hitting the Paladin for
7 damage total with lowering his Armor points to 5 ….
The Necromancer- casts Lesser Animate Dead again this time summoning
a Single Skeleton- with roll of 12 on the Spellcheck his 2nd level
spell slot still memorized…
Beleg the Cult Leader remains hidden waiting to an opportunity
to strike..
Cristoff moves into combat melee along side Arturus and Holger
but must use both his move and his action to do so.
Harald moves to the rear to support his allies
Remaining undead shuffle toward the heroes..
1 zombie remains with the Necromancer so he can use it as a
shield.
Turn End.
Usage Die Checks
Kilian Quiver – Pass
Holger Lantern- Pass
Turn 3
Arturus - attacks the undead servant, he is a level 2 Paladin he
has 2 attacks
His “to hit” is based on his STR of 13 and the base to hit is an 8+, but gets a +1 penalty as the Undead Servant
is 3HD..pushing it to 9, However Arturus
has 2 allies in the fight each giving
him -1 bonus for a total to hit of “7” he Rolls a “9”- a hit resulting in 6
damage. On his Second attack he rolls a “20”! a Critical hit equaling double
damage he rolls a “3” for 6 more plus
there is a D6 critical hit table, but the result of a “1” yields no extra
effect. The Undead Servant has no Armor so 12 of his 17hp are gone a
lucky blow could put it down!
Killian -Fires an Arrow at the same Zombie as last turn rolling a “2” missing.
Holger- attacks the Undead Servant missing it.
The Undead Servant- Pummels Holger hitting him with a"16"…The man at arms has a large shield but isn’t using it, as he’s holding the lantern so the 5 Damage
punches a hole in his Gambeson wiping
out his 2 Armor and doing 3 damage…he has 5 Hp left.
The Necromancer – Seeing his servant is in trouble moves to the top of the Gravemound and within
Nearby distance casts “Protection from Good” upon his creature…He
needs a 7 on the Spellcheck as it’s a 1st level spell, rolls a 7…
*Protection from Good* gives the Undead Servant protection for incoming attacks from good
players. Those attacks directed at him
all now have a disadvantage.
Now his three attackers must roll two dice for each attack
picking the worst one..
Beleg, the Cultist Leader- isn’t interested in exposing himself
to harm unless he can make an easy kill. If undead start dying..he will flee-
in the meantime he stays put.
Cristoff the Squire -attacks the Undead Servant his base to is an 11 (10
STR) He gets a -2 bonus for his allies…but
+2 penalty because the Servant to 2 levels higher that he(Powerful
Opponent) after the Die Modifierts he still needs a 11
but with the Disadvantage from the Spell rolls 2 dice roll a 12 and “2” so he
misses.
Harald the Cleric -wants to try to banish some Undead but they aren’t close
enough (must be Nearby) and the Undead Servant is too powerful (Harald would
need to be 4th level to try to Banish (rebuke) it.)
He’s out of the fight for the moment until something
breaks..
Turn End
Usage Die
Killian Pass
Holger FAIL. Lantern
, Oil in lantern drops to D4
Turn 4
Arturus The Paladin -Atacks the Undead Servant. We roll 2 dice the results are another "20” and
a “14”As the Protection from Good spell is in effect we must take the
“14” which is still a hit, the resulting 4 damage is not enough to kill it, but
Arturus gets a second attack, the rolls are “16” and “5” we must take the 5 as a miss no doubt this
spell has kept Undead Servant in play ,as its almost dead and another hit will
surely kill it.
Killian- Now has a
“over there” shot at 11 inches with the Necromancer standing on the hill.
Although his base
to hit with his very high (17 Dex = “4”) but we have darkness ( +2) and
multiple “ in the way’ and cover issues (+4) so he looking at a 10.
he rolls a “16” to hit so they don’t matter the
Necromancer taking a big 7 damage from the Arrow which has the Necromancer
reconsidering his strategy.
Holger -desperately ties to take down the Undead
servant but again misses,
The Necromancer really wants The Undead Servant to put
Holger down, as he is carrying their teams light taking it out will limit LoS against
ranged attacked and buy his team some time as someone else will need to pick
the light up to use it.
The Undead Servant -easily smashes him with a but the 4
damage leaves Holger wobbling but standing with 1 HP!
The Necromancer -has offensive has more options but doing
so will leave him exposed to Killians arrows He decides to move twice to a position of relative safety
Beleg , Cultist Leader- really wants to kill a weak hero
in the name of Orcus preferably Harald but must bide his time..he passes
Cristoff- no luck for the squire against the undead
servant missing.
Harald - Finds himself “Nearby” the zombie who is just on
the otherside of the Graveyard walll and attempts to banish it!. He only needs a 7 with his Holy Symbol (-2 to
roll) that’s now a “ 5” he rolls a 15
and the Zombie feels for 5 turns (2d4) and we surely run off the board.
(fleeing Undead do count for
Necromancer XP here so its best to try to kill them)
Zombies advance to attack and delay Heroes
Zombie flees toward Board Edge
The Necromancer Commands both Skeletons to hold after on
move where they can engage advancing heroes if need be or escape depending on
what comes next.As the turn ends the Necromancer plans to summon more
undead…
Usage die
Killian D10-pass
Holger D4 - Fail the light burns out and hell to use a
new flask of oil (he has 3)on his action to relight it!
End turn
Turn 5
Holgers light is out so the battle at this moment is happening in
complete darkness
Arturus- His first attack rolls are a “14” and “1”
being disadvantaged we must take the “1” which is a fumble!(in the dark no less!) .which leads to him
ending up being “Dazed” . as a result he loses his second attack and suffers
further disadvantage next round.
Killian- Climbs up
on the bridge wall giving a clear 6” LoS to the Zombies in the rear , its dark
but the Zombie at 6” is nearby so he can fire with the +2 penalty he rolls a 14 hits sticking the zombie with a whopping
8 damage ( I should mention here that shooting (not throwing) ranged weapons at
less that 6 inches normally gives a disadvantage to the shooter , Rangers do
not have this penalty as a class bonus.
Holger- Takes a big gamble and withdraw from the combat, he
risks a free strike from the Undead Servant, but staying put is riskier . The Servant would
need a base 6 but needs a 8 due the penalty of being engage with 3 opponents…he
rolls a 6 so Holger escapes relighting the Lantern! Luck!
The Darkness, recedes as Light in his lantern blossoms.
The Undead Servant, is
badly wounded the Necromancer knows its
time is numbered so he has it attack the s\Squire Cristoff, before he gets a
chance to go this round…he rolls a “4” missing
The Necromancer cast another “Lesser Animate Dead” Spell
..This time he raises 2 more Zombies.
His spell check is an 18 so the spells again remains in
his memory
Beleg, Cult Leader again does nothing, hiding waiting for
a chance to strike- this is getting old
Cristoff attacks
the Undead Servant rolling a a ‘15” and “19” being disadvantaged we must take
the 15.. He rolls 7 points of Damage destroying the Undead Servant.
Harald - moves up into the gap where Holger once was and attempts
to banish the oncoming undead but fails rolling a “1”
The 1st Zombie he banished leaves the board
scoring for the Necromancer
The second pair of Zombies now engage the heroes, one
attacking Arturus and the Other attacking
Harald, its base touching both Harald and Cristoff for a 2 vs 1
The Necromancer- Orders his new Zombies to Attack, and his Skeletons to Hold.
Usage Die Killian Pass
Usage Die Holger pass
Turn End
Turn 7
Arturus- is still disadvantaged . Even thou the Protection from Good on Undead Servant stopped when the Undead Servant died. He's dazed from his fumble last round . He attacks the Zombie in his face and He rolls an "18” but roll again and
rolls a “10” which is good enough to hit but only does “1” damage AND being Dazed he only gets one attack.
Killian - Moves again
off the bridge wall and to his right up onto the hillside, giving him
LoS on the opponents at the Graveyard entrance. They just barely on the edge of
Holgers light so he can still shoot “over there” with penalties of +6 darkness
, powerful opponent, and hard cover..(+2 each) . This turns his easy 4 into a
10…or a 50/50 shot he rolls a 14 sticking the Necromancer for 4 more points of
damage leaving him 2 HP which dictating what comes next..
Holger moves up right behind allies to extend the Nearby
Light a bit further. He uses his action to swap his weapon out for his large
shield, so should he be hit again, he’ll at least have 4 armor points
The Necromancer doesn’t really have any healing options,
he’ll have to keep that mind next time, this time he orders his Zombies to
attack and His Skeletons to follow him off the board and he escapes the battlefield leaving down
the road off the table..
Beleg -decides he will wait one more turn and see if the
Zombies can break anything open hes’ not getting any additional XP unless he
claim a victim for Orcus…
Cristoff in battle with a Zombie Misses
Harald again tries to Banish all Nearby Undead and rolls
a 2! Failing…
Skeletons exit board
Zombie engaged with Arturus attacks…strangely enough this is the 1st
time in this melee that a standard HD creature has attacked the Undead Servant
being a counted as a “character”
standard creatures attacks are rolled defensively by the Character in
this case Arturus must test against his own STR to avoid the blow. HD levels above character level are added as
a negative modifier, which isn’t an issue here are we have a level 2 character
and 2 HD creature..base roll is an “8” or better to defend I roll a “7” so The
Paladin is hit, the damage is 4 and the Zombie rips off a piece of his plate
armor (The last of his Armor points) but does no physical damage..
Zombie engaged with Cristoff and Harald , attacks
Harald..who also has a 13 STR and needs a “8” he has an ally in combat but the
Zombie is a higher level , the die modifers cancel each out. He rolls a “10” successfully defending the
blow
Other 2 Zombies move 6 inches forward to the road
Usage Killian Pass
Usage Holger Fail drops to D4
Turn 7
Arturus unleashes
two attacks rolling a 5 and 11, the 11 striking the Zombue but leaving it
standing with 1 hp..frustrating
Killian -fires an arrow down the zombies coming down the
road and it misses
Holger- passes any move or action, he stands remaining
the light source, and trying to survive with 1 hp..
Beleg the Cultist moves out toward the road, looking for
an opportunity or an easy exit..
Cristoff attacks and misses
Harlad attempts to banish the undead again this rolling a
12, the Zombies turn and flee for 4 turns BUT.doing so gives The Heroes of the
Hall of Tyr free strikes as the zombies disengage from combat.
The resulting rolls cut them dwon, both of are destroyed!
The Remaining two Zombie both -uninjured shuffle down the
road but are short of engaging the heroes.
Usage Die
Killian FAIL quiver drops to D8
Holger PASS..whew…didn’t want to go dark right now.
Turn 8
Arturus- charges the nearest Zombie with two attacks his
impressive rolls of 16 and 19 and damage of 8 then 4 outright kill it..
Killian- now with eyes on Beleg fires an arrow at him
rolling a “18” the arrow knocks away his shield and pushes through his light
armor (no damage but 6 takes out his armor points)
Holger , again pass, no actions
Beleg, knows he’s
done for if he sticks around…he flees unfortunately only getting 1 XP for the battle.
Cristoff wants to charge the second zombie all undead
cause fear (which the Paladin is immune too) so he must pass a Fear test that
is check against his WIS and he needs an “11”
he rolls a 12 and charges in hitting the Zombie and doing 7 damage..
Harlad again tries to banish the remaining zombie time
with a “19” it turn to flee for but for only 3 turns but Cristoff free strike
is good for 5 damage just enough to kill it…
The battle ends.
Arturus- now lays hands on Holger healing him 5 points….the
group continues to graveyard to look around.
Experience
Hall of Tyr-
1 XP for each Team member for Surviving the Battle
1 XP for each team member for no one being knocked out of
action.
This is bring both Harald and Killian to level 2, The Henchman can’t reach level 2 until
Arturus reaches
Level 3 so they still get the experience its just held in
reserve for the time being. Arturus
needs 1 more XP for level 3 so the next mission
The Necromancer
+1 for Surviving the Battle
+3 for each Undead raised safely off the board.
The Necromancer must spend an 1 XP to create a new Undead
Servant…so he only banks 3 XP, he too
will need one more to reach Level 4,
But he now has 2
Skeletons, 1 Zombie and his Undead Servant at his disposal
Beleg, Cult leader, a bad day for him be he saw no point
in risking himself any alliance with the Necromancer went nowhere
1XP..
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| After the battle, the less conservative members from the Hall of Tyr celebrate after their victory. |
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| Sunrise over the town, from the back wall of Blackbarrow Castle |
So that's it for Episode one, I realize the battle was somewhat uneventful, alot to this was just getting a feel for the rules..it played pretty smoothly without alot of head scratching and rule look up, definitely doing the next one with this ruleset, While the Necromancer will surely be back at some point, Next time well look at some of the other factions in Blackbarrow, More terrain spotlight and painted models to come as well.
