Arath Session 1

My character (in review):

Arath - Brooding Fighting Man 1 (XP 0)
Armor 0; Hits 12; Move 60’; Longsword (4); Sling (1)
Might 4; Mind 1; Reflex 1
Fortitude; Luck; Two-handed (+1 edge); Warrior (+1 to hit)

Longsword 4; Sling 1; Adventurer’s Pack 

I made one edit: I had Arath buy a sling so that he had some way to attack at range. That used up all his cash.
 
I got my existential angst out of the way, so now it’s time to roll some dice! Since I know absolutely nothing about Arath (other than that he's brooding – and he’s a fighting man), I will let the dice help me. Let’s go with possible for my questions. I need to start with where he starts… Is it a city? Definitely not (12). Is is the wilds? 6. Yes. He’s in the wilds. Is there some modicum of society like a fort or temple he’s at to start things? Yes. Is it friendly? Nope. Is he a prisoner? Hard no. Is he lost? Yes. Is it a temple? Yes.
 
So he’s lost in the wild somewhere, and comes across a temple that is not dedicated to his peeps. Is it cold? No. Desert? Yeppers. He just ended up in the Desert of Desolation… or rather, my version of the Desert of Desolation with the serial numbers filed off – good thing that I have a map for this place already and I’ve never bothered to flesh it out. The dice just told me I’m doing a hex crawl! Huzzah.
 
Is Arath a brooding fighting man because he was part of a mercenary army that lost a battle and he fled, finding his way into the Desert of Despairing Souls, crossing the Blight Mountains to find himself at the foot of the Ruined Temple of Aluh Tehar? The dice say no.
 
Oh. That seemed kind of obvious. Okay. Another temple then. Is it in Ubek’s Oasis? No. I guess I will roll 1d12 and enter from that point on a clock. 2. Arath is coming over through a mountain pass to the northeast, from the lands of the Norden. Was he part of a mercenary band? Yes. Against the Norden? Yes. So we he was a conscripted soldier who was hired to lead a failed invasion of a Nord stronghold, and he had to flee when his army was defeated. He’s found a temple as he’s on his last legs. How many days ago was this? I keep rolling 2s. Okay. So he fled two days ago, and has been on the move pretty much constantly. He’s used up 2 days of his 7 days of rations, giving him 5 days. Suddenly, food is kind of important. And water is about to be. Dang.
 
Is this a big temple? Yes. Temple keep sort of setup? Heck yes. Okay, so it’s a temple keep on the borderlands, set where the Blight Mountains meet the Desert of Despairing Souls. Is it controlled by humans? Yes. Are these humans who speak a different language? Yep. That’s going to be a problem. Do they hate outsiders? No. Whew. Do they worship something really bad? No. Kind of sketchy? No. Good? No. Obtuse? No. Hm. Running out of options here… Odd as all get out? No. Super boring? That’s it. A 2 again. What would be the most boring god you could possibly worship? Sand? Entropy? Stone? Stillness. Stillness seems boring. Oatmeal. That’s boring. Simpleness. That’s boring. Let’s start there. Is this a minor god that expects boring puritanical living? Yes indeed. So these are monks without any of the fun combat stuff. Is this a monastic temple of sorts? Natural 1.
 
Okay… he finds a temple filled with simple folk who have stringent codes of simplicity. They abhor excess. Let’s come up with some rules for these people…
 
No money? Yes. Money is bad.
Is this a commune? Do they expect everyone to work and share equally? Natural 1.
It’s a hippy commune.
Is there a dark secret? Is this a drug/enchanted mushroom thing? No.
Is there something else controlling them or pulling strings here? Oh yeah. Okay. I’m leaving this thread for later. No idea what to do with this yet, but I like it.
Is there a door that nobody is allowed to go through? No.
Stairs you cannot descend? No.
A building you cannot go inside of? Kind of a holy of holies sort of setup? No.
I was hoping for something like that. Oh well.
Is there a well? Yes. Is it sketchy or interesting in some way? Very. Like, super. I rolled a 1. Is the water magical? No. Is the well a portal? Heck yes.
Is this place only full of dudes? Yes. I’m going to go with x10 for the number of people here. 120. That’s a lot of frustrated monks. Are they all eunuchs? (Sorry, but I have to know). Yep. Well, that explains a lot.
 
So, we have a frontier keep/temple occupied by 120 eunuch monks who live a simple, communal life, dedicating themselves to a minor god of simplicity who has given them a well that generates unending water, but which also has a gateway to somewhere else, and this god is holding back some important cards.
 
Let’s see AI do THAT! Oh, it did? In seven seconds? Well, I still like mine better.
 
They have a rule. You can enter the keep on two conditions: no weapons or armor, and no footwear allowed. He can hide his boots and weapons/armor out in the wild, but there’s always a chance that these get found and stolen. That sucks (although the use of the luck die should pretty much prevent that from ever happening). I checked to make sure that luck didn’t specify in combat only, and it doesn’t. Whew. Okay.
 
I’m going to say it’s likely he has at least one encounter. We’ll go with diminishing chances of encounters as each happens… Yes. There is an encounter. Is it a menial? No. Level 1? No. Welp. Level 2? Yes.  Scorpion? Natural 1. Here it is…
 
Dread Scorpion - Medium fierce pest 2 [Armor 3; Hits 12; Move 60’; Two claws (1) + tail (3); Poison]. These are common wasteland predators. Their tail deals 2 poison for 2 rounds; foes check might to resist.
 
My poor dude is trying to move about quietly, and the scorpion is not. He sees it on his path, and it has not seen him yet. He can get a free sling attack at we’ll say 50’ away before combat begins. He misses with an 8; there is a very low chance that the scorpion doesn’t realize that it was just attacked. No. It realizes. It turns and runs at Arath, who switches to his sword and prepares for combat. Initiative.
 
Arath loses BAD. I could luck that, but the scorpion rolled a 10, so odds are against him winning initiative, and I have a feeling he’s going to need that luck… and a lot more. I did not reckon with a level 2 monster as my first encounter. The scorpion misses with both claws, but gets a natural 12 with the tail. Arath fails his armor check, suffering 6 hits. He’s already at 6. He makes his might check, so staves off the poison (and saves the luck point). On his attack, Arath swings with his sword and hits with an 11! He deals 5 points, and the scorpion fails its armor check. It’s down to 7.
 
In round 2, the scorpion hits with a claw and the tail. Drat. Arath fails both armor checks, and suffers 4 hits now down to 2 remaining. Not going well. He fails his might check and has to burn his luck to stave off the poison. It works; he succeeds with the re-check, and stays at 2 hits. He needs to roll really, really well here. He does not. He misses, despite his +1 edge.
 
The scorpion hits with 1 claw, dealing 1 hit. Arath is down to 1 (no bother with armor check, since half of 1 is 1). Arath gets a natural 12 on his attack! He deals 6 hits; the scorpion makes its armor check, suffering only 3, but is still down to 4 hits. This is enough to trigger a morale check for the scorpion; it fails and turns to run away. Arath lets it, dragging his sorry self towards the temple he sees in the distance.

Ready for Session 2?