The Ancient Way - A Basic D&D Adventure - Chapter 1.1 Merrick the Dwarf
Welcome back to The Ancient Way. A Basic D&D adventure set in an original world. In the last post, we created the three adventurers and the mission they will undertake. Now we will get to the action. Each chapter will be through the point of view of one of the characters. This first one will be Merrick the Dwarf.
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I reread the contract again. You can never be too careful with law-scribes. They don’t have magic but their written words carry much strength in the realm of men. I nod my head, it does seem in order. If and when the orb of fire is returned, I will receive a significant gold payment, the halfling Alberich gets a parcel of land suitable for settlement and the human cleric Portia is reinstated with her religious order of Bright Star. Seems like everyone gets what they want, we just need to find this orb.
Staring out at the mountains that overhang the city of Alsense, I sigh. Apparently, this Robert Iris lives high in the mountains with his village who will be of course loyal to him. The mountain humans are a rough group, used to fighting off orc incursions. While the dwarfs deal with them sometimes, they aren’t thought of as friends.
“Alright, look normally I wouldn’t team up with a human and a halfling, but our contract states we must do this together for payment. I say we make for this village with all due haste, find this Robert and the orb. Sound good?”
The other two nod in agreement. “OK, let’s be off!” The city of Alsense is carefully tucked away in a fertile valley, but every road out leads up and into the mountains. Consulting my memory of this region in which I’ve lived my whole life, I know the best way.
“A trip over the mountain pass would take weeks if the law-scribe was true about where they think Robert’s village is. Instead, why don’t we take the Ancient Way? The road that goes under the mountain, built by my ancestor’s ancestors? It will cut the trip time in half or more.”
“Dwarf, are you mad?” The human cleric asks. “The Ancient Way is haunted and the way is shut. No man or dwarf travels it anymore.”
“Ha! Humans are always scared little people. No offense halfling. The Ancient Way may be underused, but it is not haunted. That is a myth!”
The halfling clears his throat, “Oh have you taken the Ancient Way recently Master Dwarf?”
“Uhh no, I have not. But there is no way my people would let any harm come to that vital pathway. You’ll see! Otherwise, do you feel like trudging over mountain passes for weeks? No? I thought not.”
Reluctantly the other two agree to my suggestions, even if they say we will just check it out and decide when we are closer. They will see how safe and efficient it is!
Alright, so the Ancient Way is close to the city of Alsense. But when they get there, what does our party find at the entrance? Symbols from the card are Heart, Skull, and Shield, in that order. Let’s see how that plays out.
We march the short half day to the closest entrance to the Ancient Way. There are doorways all along its path and this entrance used to be very active in it’s trade with the human city of Alsense. I lead the way, and as we approach a human woman runs at me, clearly distressed.
“Oh please, please! You must help me! My child has been taken into these old Dwarven ruins by some sort of monstrous animal! I fear for her life! The royal guard says they have no jurisdiction in the tunnels but you master dwarf could go in. Will you? Please!”
Before I can protest Portia steps forward and says, “Of course, we will! It is our duty to ensure all innocent life is protected.”
I grumble. This will take us away from our quest but if there is a monster in the Ancient Way, it is my duty to hunt it down. I nod my agreement.
“Oh thank you, heroes! It was only a few hours ago that she was taken. Please go in there to help!”
We enter the Ancient Way quickly and light torches. I look around for any sign of a beast or a struggle.
Roll - Merrick - Beat a 12 or higher (DR12) - Intelligence +0
A 20! That’s one way to start off the adventure! Merrick spots a trail in the dust that looks like an animal dragging something. No blood which is good for the captive child. And for rolling a 20, I’ll let Merrick determine what kind of animal dragged the child away.
Let’s build a quick random chart for what it could be.
1 - Black Bear
2 - Fire Beetle
3 - Giant Rat
4 - Giant Racer Snake
5 - Wolf
6 - Something special
Ok, Now for the roll. A 6 of course. I’ll pick this one. It was a goblin that dragged the child away. They are a bit monstrous so it isn’t hard to imagine the lady mixed it up.
I look down at tracks on the dusty floor of the way. I see two sets of tracks dragging something. But these aren’t animal tracks! No, they look clearly like goblins.
“Companions, its Goblins. Ready your arms and prepare for a battle and worse things. Goblins are nasty creatures and they consume human flesh from time to time. We best be ready. Follow me!”
We dive into the Way, our torches spreading flicking light on the walls as we go. I wish I could have time to fully enjoy the ancient construction of the Way. Instead, I must hunt down foul creatures in order to save a human. Life is full of surprises I guess. We move quickly and it isn’t long before we see shapes ahead of us…
Alright, how many goblins are there? At least two, so I’ll roll a D6 and if it’s a 1 I’ll reroll. 5 Goblins.
Goblin Stats
A/C 6, Hit Dice 1-1, Move same as a halfling, Attack 1, Damage by weapon, Save as Normal man, Morale 7, Treasure type (R) C
I’ll roll their HP and the weapons they will use will be d4s (think clubs, daggers, flint spears, etc).
HP is 1,1,3,5,4, so not the strongest bunch of critters but they outnumber the group and that is dangerous in these older games. Because the party was rushing to catch up, I’ll say nobody has any surprise this round. Let’s start the combat!
Round 1 - Initiative - The Party a 3, the Goblins a 2. The party goes first.
In Basic for initiative, you roll a d6 for each group and whoever gets the highest goes first. Up first is movement, but we will say Merrick and Portia move to engage the Goblins while Alberich stays back and readies a shot with his bow. Next is Missile weapons.
Alberich - Bow +2 - Goblin AC of 6, needs a 13 to hit. Rolls a 12+2 =14, a Hit!
The bow does D6 damage and I rolled a 1. Good enough to kill a goblin! 4 to go.
Magic is next but there are no available spells. It moves to hand-to-hand combat. Merrick is up first and he goes after the bigger Goblin with 5 hp.
Merrick - Sword +1 - Goblin AC of 6, needs a 13 to hit. A 16+1=17, a hit!
His sword does D8 and I roll a 5! Killing the big Goblin.
Portia comes in and swings her mace at the next strongest Golbin
Portia - Mace +1 - Goblin AC of 6, needs a 13 to hit. A 18+1=19, a hit!
Her Mace does d8 and I roll a 4, killing another Goblin!
Goblins Turn - There are two Goblins left. HP 1 and 3. This definitely calls for a moral check. I’ll roll 2d6 and compare it against that score, higher and the Goblins run.
Goblin Moral 7 vs an 8. The Goblins drop the child and take off running. The party lets them go.
Wow, what a first set of combat! The party demolished those poor Goblins. I don’t think I’ll get that lucky again, but a great start. Now to type up how it happened dramatically.
Portia and I do not slow down when we see the Goblins in the distance. All of a sudden I feel the whistle of an arrow flying past and see it in-bedded in a goblin's throat.
I run straight in swinging my ancestral sword. I aim for the biggest goblin and swing at him. That beast is in shock and cannot defend himself before my sword separates its head from its shoulders.
Portia brings her mace down on another with a sickly crunch. The two remaining goblins drop the human child and take off running. I hold up my hand to stop the other two. No sense in chasing if we’ve beaten them and saved the child.
Goblins are pretty poor as far as monsters go, so they only carry 2 to 12 Electrum on them. For the three dead Goblins that's a combined 18 Electrum which is worth 9 gold. They split it equally. The Goblin’s crude weapons and tattered clothes are worth nothing at all.
The human girl is scared and does not stop crying. Alberich does his best to soothe her but what she needs is her mother back.
Portia taps me on the shoulder, “Master Dwarf, Goblins this close to the city is quite a discovery. Any travel through the Ancient Way without taking care of them will risk having enemies at our back. Plus they will continue to ambush the local villagers if we do nothing.”
This Human is correct. She does not know but I am honoured bound to seek out and destroy the enemies of Dwarven-kind when they trespass on our lands. The Ancient Way is, and always will be, Dwarf-land.
“Human, you are honourable and correct. We must stamp out this infestation before we move onward.”
The human cleric smiles at me, “Agreed. And please call me Portia.”
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Well, that is chapter 1.1 done. Already had a fight and some small loot. Not a bad start at all. Be sure to check it next week for the next chapter of The Ancient Way.
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Nice! I will back to your blog for more!
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