Fria Ligans forum

Hey guys.

I am starting a new game of Forbidden Lands and I thought I would make a log of how everything goes. I am doing this for 3 reasons.

1) I hope it might help out others who are considering running their own game.
2) I want to hear from others. I will be talking about my plans for future sessions and such and maybe you guys will see things or come up with ideas I didn't think of. I am glad to get inspiration from the community.
3) I want to show off my GM style and how I do things. I think this can help other GMs or people considering running a game and might find it all a bit overwhelming.

So before I get into the campaign itself I am going to go over my GM setup.



I made my own GM screen (4 pages landscape). The blue tokens are willpower tokens I have a supply of. (I will get more into what I use them for in a bit). I have my dice. My note cards (these will usually have notes for the session), the little black box is a note card box with monsters and NPC and blanks, a printed up map of the forbidden lands with locations marked on it and where the races live. A piece of scratch paper for all the stuff I will need it for. Bellow the map are some other reference sheets I will get to in a minute. And of course dice. (bone attribute, teal skill, black equipment)



Here is an example of the note cards I made using a snip tool and my pdf copies of the books. If I know I need certain cards I have them stacked to the right of my scratch paper ready to go. I did it for the "common race" stat blocks too and I make one for each of the professions so if I need to make an NPC on the fly I have stats for them.



Here is how I keep them all organized.



I put all the stickers on clear plastic hexes so that I don't use them once and loose them.



I used a laser cutter to etch the symbol for Wyrm into a clear disc and colored it in to act as a "Player Marker". This is what the players will use to see where they are at. The amber disks are used to mark where they have been.


Okay. So with that bit out of the way I want to go over house rules I will be using in the game.

1) "Cross Classing". I allow my players to buy into the talents of other professions. I use the rules for learning magic to do it. Without someone to train you it costs 3x exp and that can double for magic. x3 for cross classing and x3 for no teacher for a total of x6 cost to just learn magic on your own as a Peddler or some such. It's unlikely we will see much cross classing at all, but I explain it to my players by saying "You have a history in which you have been trained to do this job and thats how you start. But that doesn't prevent you from learning a new job. It's just not what you are accustomed to so it's going to be more difficult without help.

2) Willpower for the GM. I like the idea of a meta currency for the GM. It gives me rules to follow and makes me more of a player. The players like that when I do certain things I am doing them within a frame work of the game. To that end I have and generate willpower and have certain ways to spend it. I based this heavily on darkness points in Coriollis. It works, currently, as follows.

I generate willpower when...
-The players enter a new hex for the first time. 1wp
-The players find a new adventure site. Variable based on the adventure site. Typically 1-3.
-The players push a roll. 1 WP
-NPCs push a roll. Same as players, I get 1 per bane.

I spend WP to...
-Choose a result on the monster table instead of rolling. 1 WP
-Cast spells and activate talents on NPCs. Same as players.
-Activate traps/environmental hazards. Variable based on the threat of the thing.

In the past I also had an option to spend WP to cause an equipment bane (it wouldn't change their dice results it would just add a bane to their roll). This was like spending DP to jam a gun in Coriolis. But It was a feel bad mechanic and I decided to drop it.

3) Action Economy. I give fast and slow actions a point value. Fast actions are 1. slow actions are 2. As per normal the players can make 2 fast or 1 slow and 1 fast action a turn. They can however keep making additional actions, but each additional action applies a cumulative penalty to the rolls. If they ever fail a roll they are no longer allowed to take actions until their next turn. I.E. they can move and attack. Then parry (-1). Or move, and swing, then attack (-2) and then parry (-3). They can only make 2 Run actions in a turn as they normally would. Mainly it makes it so they CAN defend themselves even when outnumbered but can still only defend themselves so much before they fail and start getting beaten into the ground. I prefer soft caps over hard caps. It's just how I do things.


Finally the game.

I have a 3 player Party.

-A Frailer Fighter who is looking to make his mark on the world. Power and Glory and Wealth are out there and he wants to claim his share. Dark secret is he loves the violence and sees himself as superior to both his human and elven kin.

-A Dwarf Champion who is on a quest to recover Scarnesbane. His Dark Secret is that in pursuit of Scarnesbane he betrayed his Kin to chase a promising lead and that betrayal led to some deaths. All the worse the lead was a dead end.

-A Wolfkin Bloodmagic Sorcerer. Out in the world in pursuit of knowledge and power. His Dark Secret is that Zygofer haunts his dreams and attempts to influence him.

The first session will be the first weekend in December 2 weekends from now. Each player will be given a number of Legend hand outs (a mix of adventure sites and artifacts) equal to their Wits + Lore. They will begin the game with 3 Will Power. The map will start like this.



Outside of their starting legends the group will be given a legend of a bandit hideout that predates the Blood Mist. The bandits have never been seen since the rise of the mist and were presumably killed off in the first year of it's existence. But their hideout and treasure has gone unfound. They will be given clues to find it within the woods where they are starting. The underground lair has been taken over by Trolls. I intend for them to fight one outside or just inside (depending on the time of day) and see how well they do. Then a second fight inside with either 1 or 2 more Trolls. Or maybe the 1 troll will be enough! Again, I will see how well they do in that first fight. Here they can acquire some loot to start. A bit of money, some adventuring gear off a dead adventurer or 2 that the trolls had killed and eaten, and maybe some valuables to sell. One of the handouts will be for The Hollows to the south of them. A good place to sell, buy other supplies, and get into the other aspects of the game.

I intend all this as a kind of tutorial that will last for the first few sessions at least. Here is a small 3-4 room dungeon/adventure site. Some monsters and some loot. Here is the travel mechanics while you hike into town. Time to do some RP, learn about the Rust Brothers from Starkas, the Raven sisters maybe, the nature of the undead in the world, and so forth... Then I will leave them to get involved in the Hollows as they see fit with the Smith taking a day or more to make anything they want made it gives them time to get invested in the events of the town. Or they can move on to any of the other legends they have. I intend for them to stumble into the Ravens Purge campaign and get dragged into it's events one way or another.

This is great! I look forward to future write up!

really nice, looking forward on your progress. have fun, stay healthy and all the best

Okay!

So here goes my first session report.

We wrapped up some final character things and allowed the players to make a couple quick changes to their characters. We rolled a couple times on the "how you guys met" table in the Legends and Adventures booklet to figure out how everyone met. And finally I gave everyone their legends to look over.

Public Legends they all knew include:

-The Hollows

-Weatherstone

-The Black Claw's Lair

"A farmer sold you a map and a story.

Before the Blood Mist rose and cursed the Ravenlands he claims this ancestor was a part of a bandit crew that harried travelers and villages from out of the Arina Forest. His forefather escaped into a village and survived, but nobody has heard of the Black Claw's since.

The sheep skin map to their lair has been passed down father to son but he wants no part in it. If you want to hunt the woods for the chance to find whatever might remain of their stronghold you are welcome to the risks and the rewards."

Böb (Boab) The Frailer Fighter:

-Grindbone

-Zytera

-The Well of Tears

Lucious The Wolfkin Sorcerer

-Zertorme

-The Spire of Quetzel

-The Bright Vault

-The Hexenwald

Krieg The Dwarven Champion

-Scarnesbane (but I left off the bit about the legend being a lie)

-Vond

-Grindbone

-The Stanengist Crown

I gave them the options to choose what time of year it was (they choose Springturn) and how early in the day they got started looking for the Black claws lair (they choose first light).

As in the OP I started them on the hex in the south eastern side of Arina Forest. "You have spent half the day searching the woods and looking for the markers on the map and you have finally come to what you believe is the Black Claw's Lair. Atop a small hill, covered in centuries of growth, only distinguishable by the shapes of what stones remain, you find the foundations of what once might have been a squat stone building. A minor fortification or tower. A portion of what would have been the floor divots into the crown of the hill. A Large tree with roots that weave in and out of the sides of the hill sits just outside the foundations.

You know from the map and the story that an entrance to the inside of the hill is meant to sit bellow the tree."

The players spend some time investigating the ruins and then checking the tree to find the entrance now overgrown with weeds and hanging moss and vines. They would have never noticed it without knowing to look for it. As they get near it they notice a stench that is just WRETCHED.

They move in and one of them notices that the roots around the entrance have some breaks that appear to be fresh. The walls appear compacted. Pushed in. Like something big and strong had made the space bigger then it originally was.

Inside they find what looks like a squat cellar room. to their left is a corridor that appears to have caved in (the divot from above), to the right a door way that leads further down, and across from them 2 other door ways who's ruins of wooden doors have long since rotted, their hinges rusted and fallen to ruin.

In one room they find what would have been the bunks. Not only does everything appear to have rotted into ruin but it looks to be smashed to pieces. The room is tossed. Remains of cloth are shredded. In this room they find a small silver chest with a simple peridot, 11 silver, and 17 copper coins. But then they hear grunting from the unexplored room and out bursts the troll. It's hunched in the tight confined space of the low ceiling cellar (I put a small penalty on it's rolls depending on the attack) and the fight was on. Lucious used Immolate at great personal risk to himself and suffered some damage to his wits, but managed to light the troll on fire effectively countering it's regenerative abilities. Böb took the brunt of the hits including a bile filled belch to the face. Kreig supported the front line with his flail which let him stay out of arm's length and the worst of the Trolls fowl stench. After 3 or 4 dangerous rounds the troll was finally laid low.

Inspecting the room it had come from found the corpses of several adventurers that troll had killed and eaten. Not much could be salvaged except for a hammer, a small bone figurine, and a torn backpack. Down the stairs they found the ruins of the Black Claw's store room. I gave each player a chance to name 2 items they wanted and I would roll to see if they found it in any state that was usable at all and what state it was in. Böb asked for a great helm (It had only 1 durability remaining and was badly in need of repair) and a dagger whos blade was intact but would need a new handle to be used. Krieg managed to find a functional animal fur and some rope that has managed to survive and keep it's integrity. Lucious the remains of a book whos binding was ruined and whos pages were moldy but usable and a long sword that needed desperate repairs.

Böb very much wanted a bath. They got out, traveled 1 hex to the south and made camp for the night. Böb rolled his ankle while looking for wood for the fire. This was not his day. Krieg took watch and managed to notice, but avoid a procession Flagellants (event 14). He decided discretion was the better part of valor, wanting nothing to do with people in such a shape, stayed hidden and let them move on.

The next day was slow going because of Böb's injury (I had him roll endurance to hike) but they made it to the Hollows by Midday.

At the gate they were met by a member of the militia who asked them to state their business. They asked for directions for a few things. Potential medical help (they were directed to The Rust Brother or the Midwife), a place to repair the damaged equipment they found (directed to Vike and Ness), potential work (Mrs. Pollmor), and a place to get food and lodging (the Dead Man's Hand). They went to the Inn and Böb got himself a bath while Lucious and Krieg made their rounds to the Smith and Gamemaster. The Smith after a good friendly bargain told them to head to the 3 Skulls if they want a better drink.

Krieg was of course, not welcome. But Böb managed to talk with one of the patrons who explained the situation between Yawim and "The Ol' Balif". Finally it was off to Mr's Pollmor's to try and speak to her on Yawim's behalf. Instead, she made her offer to them. Burn the boats. Be rewarded. They took the job.

And that is where we ended session 1 after about 5 hours of play. Next game is in 2 weeks.

Side note: They were warned by a couple villagers they had friendly interactions with. "Stay on the path." They took SOME note of it but I feel like they are mostly ignoring it. One of their plans is to burn the boats and then make their way to the Graveyard to hide out for a bit. The fools.