SESSION ONE AND MORE DETAILS
Previous Article…Campaign Chronicles #4 – Session Zero and Player Characters
Here goes another article about our ongoing campaign.
I spent some time preparing stuff to run the game. It’s nothing special, but they’ll work as guidelines so I don’t have to waste time during the game trying to elucubrate what the next steps will be.
The first thing we want is a simple diagram where the main events of the game sessions are chronologically ordered. It is possible that more than one game session is required to complete every step. You can never know how things evolve.
I assume that by the end of session 1, the player characters will reach the town of Seawell and it is possible they have time to explore the town or start the journey to the lighthouse.
In session zero (read the previous article to know more) the plan was to complete step I and II. However something went wrong so I merged step III into step II.
Step IV – Meg’s Tarots
Meg Mucklebones uses her special tarots to ask for an advice. I’ll use the tarots to address the player characters to the town of Seawell.
Step V – Journey
Seawell is located 7 days far from the player character’s lair. Before the journey begins Meg gives the party some magical items to help them survive the journey.
Magical Items:
- potion of healing (6)
- potion of disguise self (4)
- potion of thunderwave (2)
- potion of aid (1)
- scroll of expeditious retreat (1)
- scroll of charm person (1)
- scroll of witch bolt (1)
scroll of invisibility (1)
scroll of ray of enfeeblement (1)
bag of holding (1)
Vehicles and Animals: Three donkeys and a wagon.
Keep in mind that both players are playing their first adventure, if something could go wrong it probably will.
Then, before closing step V I want the player characters meet a group of non-hostile non-player characters. A caravan of workers, escorted by mercenaries, heading north to the city of Thorn.
This is a chance to see the players interact with someone and try to exchange informations. The captain of the caravan can share some rumors that could be useful to the party. Provided the players are willing to talk.
Rumors:
- a) the captain’s dog found tracks belonging to gnolls
- b) the workers are going to work into a quarry because Seawell is building a wall
- c) some ships never reached the docks, three of them are still missing
- d) the local militia is skirmishing against the lizardfolk who have become bolder
- e) Seawell is looking for someone to go and check if the lighthouse is ok.
Step VI – Encounter (gnolls)
Here the players discover that the captain of the caravan was right. Gnolls are in the whereabouts. I’ll have the gnolls attack by night, possibly when Maeve the Drow is mounting guard. I just want the players to understand the advantage of dark vision and how to get familiar with their racial traits.
I don’t know how many gnolls to unleash, I’m thinking about two, maybe three
The flowchart shows the option where the characters are forced to run. It’s unlikely, but it’s a possibility. If such event occurs then I’ll have to improvise something, probably I’ll send them to the halfling community. We’ll see.
Step VII – Seawell!
Finally the characters reach the “civilization”. Here I’ll try to explain the players that this is something new for them, because they spent nearly all their life isolated like hermits (indeed I chose the hermit background for each character).
I included a short description of five locations, no more. However it is highly possible that both players want to explore the town and this could take time, more than expected.
I have prepared a list of rumors for each of the five locations numbered on the map. For the unplanned locations, improvisation will be fine.
CHRONICLE OF SESSION 1
We told that in Session 0 a little mess happened. The players decided to attack Meg and thus I had to merge the Training step the Sacrifice.
Session 1 lasted 2 hours.
At this point I just remind the players what happened the last session and we start the game session.
Both agree to “surrender” and end the fight with Meg, who after all is still her mother-in-law.
The drow claims that she attacked Meg because the hag “ordered” them to kill their sisters.
I answer that it is not correct. Indeed Meg, after giving the curved dagger to the characters, just said “You know what to do”.
Now it’s time to trigger Meg’s Tarots, or step IV.
Step IV – Meg’s Tarots
Both players are eager to start and they clearly state they want to leave the cave and start travelling.
I follow the plan, but I accelerate a little bit the part where Meg reads the tarots.
I quickly describe Meg’s Tarots as a sort of magical item composed of 10 card made of human skin. Without any figure in them.
Meg draw 3 cards. As I decided previously the cards show a Lighthouse, a Black Horsemen, and the symbol of Sess’Inek (demon demigod).
Sess’Inek 
The Horseman 
I take the chance to explain the players that they can use their skills. Up to this moment the players had not used any skill yet.
I have them roll Religion and History skill check to recognize the symbol of Sess’Inek and the Lighthouse (located east of the town of Seawell). However they completely fail the check about the Black Horsemen.
The reaction is positive, because they both start to speculate about the meaning of the horsemen, assuming that he must be someone they have to find or kill.
Step IV – Meg’s Tarots is over. The players have some clue to think about and they are so eager to leave that they don’t even want to explore their lair.
Step V – The Journey
I skip to the scene where Kirk the Orc, their trainer and mentor, is waiting both. The Orc have readied a wagon and three donkeys.
Inside the wagon I place some equipment.
First I give the characters a custom made studded leather (enough for a witch). This will be chance for both to draw something about their characters.
Then I explain that they can pick a weapon of choice among the martial weapons list. In other words I gift the players with proficiency in one martial weapon.
However I do not explain the stats of each weapon, because it would be too confusing. I just open the Player’s Handbook on page 146-147 and present them the illustration of the weapons.
Maeve the drow pick the long sword while the Alegra the tiefling pick the Battle Axe. So be it. I just ask the players to keep note on their sheet of their equipment.
As it usually happens with new players taking note on their sheet, the notes are a total mess.
I give the players some magical items also. This is quite important for a new player because they’ll probably make mistake or do not employ their class at full strenght, and new players have the tendency to enter melee even if they are spellcasters.
I explain, more or less and without technicism, what these items do. The players seem to understand.
I show them the map and explain that they will arrive to Seawell in one week.
They ask if they have to roleplay each hour as we did in the previous session, I asnwer that no, not necessarily.
So, the journey will take a week. During the journey I have planned two encounters.
- A caravan. Heading north, to the town of Thorn.
- A pack of gnolls. Planned to occur during the night close to the bridge, three days before Seawell
However I make the quick decision to have an encounter one day before they meet the caravan. I do this because I am not sure that their first hostile encounter ever can be with a pack of gnolls.
Keep in mind that I decide to “roll” for possible events every night. The players don’t know what I am rolling for, but I ask both to declare in which order they mout guard.
The third night, while Maeve the Drow is on her watch, I have a single gnoll appear in the dark. The drow see the gnoll before the gnoll can see the drow (darkvision 120 feet).
Fine. Now the first hostile encounter is happening.
The reaction of the drow is unexpected. She screams!
It means that the drow doesn’t take advantage of her superior darkvision.
The Gnoll is now aware that he has been spotted. The Tiefling wake up, but the Kirk the Orc don’t.
I have the gnoll throw a javelin at Maeve the drow, the attack hits.
Now, I’m not going to describe each turn. However the players try to use a couple of spells before entering melee.
Alegra the Tiefling casts Hex and Maeve the drow casts Poison Spray dealing 6 damage (1d12 +1d6 enhanced by the Hex spell).
The gnoll is now aware that two persons are camping here – he doesn’t know the orc is there yet – and decide to charge and bite the drow, but fails the attack.
When the players realize that the gnoll is upon them they panick. Both lose concentration and draw their weapons to engage in melee.
Kirk the Orc is still asleep. I mean, he’s an orc!
As you can guess the gnoll is about to have the upper hand, especially when the two next rounds both characters fail their attack and the gnoll strike two successful hits.
The players ask – quite desperates now – if Kirk the orc hears their screams of pain.
I roll a passive perception and the orc wakes up. In the following round I have him charge toward the gnoll while both players – under my advice – make a step forward and launch cantrips (poison spray and chill touch) to damage the gnoll.
The charging orc deals a killing blow, finishing the gnoll. The combat is over.
We are close to the end of Session 1. The players have faced their first potentially lethal combat and they survived. They seem to have had fun because they are quite excited. Rolling dices is fun in some way.
Now, before closing the session, I decide it’s time to encounter the caravan escorted by mercenaries.
I want to show them that an encounter is not necessarily with hostile creatures. I need to see if they interact in some way with non-hostile npc. I just describe that both their characters spot a small cloud of dust rising from the route, around half-kilometer far.
They decide to stop their wagon. Maeve the Drow gets closer enough (by foot) to distinguish what or who is approaching.
I just describe what looks like a caravan. Nothing more. The drown just forgets she can’t see very well on day light. LOL.
The players decide that only the drow remains visible, while the tiefling and the orc find a place, out of the route, to stay out of sight.
Here I’m quite disappointed. The player don’t ask many question to the leader of the caravan, however the npc warns the character that he spotted tracks of gnolls.
In conclusion, the players have faced a single gnoll, and they have been warned of the presence of more ahead.
What are they going to do? I have no idea, but the town of Seawell is getting closer.
So session 1 ended. We all have to go.