[Fafnir’s Treasure is an introductory adventure written by Pendelhaven to introduce the game to players and gamemasters. The Other GM is using it for our playtest.]
[Spoilers – This will spoil the intro adventure for this game system, so if that’s something that worries you, be aware.]
Player Characters
Bodil – a female Daughter of Ratatosk, Death Dancer sub-type (E:6, D:2), Town Guard
Einar – a male Galdr, Enchanter sub-type (E:6, D:2), Gravedigger
Gunnarr – a male Skald, Wanderer sub-type (E:6, D:2), Foreign Import Merchant
Vigdis – a female Daughter of Ratatosk, Death Dancer sub-type (E:4, D:3), Hero of Renown
Elric Windgazer – a male Galdr, Diviner sub-type (E:4, D:3), Liberated Thrall
Missed the Session
Masrur – a male Ulfhednar, Wolfen sub-type (E:6, D:2), Hunter/Trapper
[Masrur’s player could not make the game and Einar’s player was able to make it this time. Gunnarr changed archetypes to match more closely the way he was being played.]
Day 1, Sometime in the 2nd year of Fimbulwinter
[We resumed right where we left off last session.]
After dispatching the group of rowdies in the Poortown part of Evingard, the group of vikings checked the bodies for things of value. There was a short discussion about whether taking things of the body of the recently dead counted as graverobbing and was therefore a major social breach or not. The consensus was that these individuals were not worthy of the attentions of Valkyrie nor buried yet, so they were still exempt.
The gang had a total of 16 skatt [local currency] total on them. Divided 5 ways made 4 shares of 3 and one share of 4. As killing the gang was done to help Vigdis get more information from the captain of the guard, Gunnar only asked for three of the skatt so he could pay his tab at the tavern. Vigdis gave him four as her food and lodging was covered for free [the advantage of being a renowned hero]. Vigdis also took the red cloth bands the gang members wore as identification.
Elric and Einar decided they wanted to speak with Rolf, a street urchin they knew who traded in information. They eventually tracked him down digging through the refuse from the tavern for food and anything of value. Einar asked if Rolf knew anything about the goings on at the mine. Rolf said he didn’t, but he knew something useful that might or might not be related. Einar gave Rolf a day's worth of food and Rolf told the two vikings that he’d heard a Jotun named Aud was in the area looking to hire capable servants for a quest he was on, and by capable he meant able to fight. If they were interested in the job, Aud was staying in a warehouse outside the walls of Evingard. Einar and Elric thanked Rolf for the information and went inside the tavern to wait for the others to get back.
Bodil and Gunnarr, meanwhile, followed Vigdis back to the barracks to see what information Hakon, the captain of the guard, might share. Hakon was in the main chamber of the barracks alone when the trio arrived. [There was a discrepancy here – the Norn said Hakon was alone in the building and we assumed there were no guards in the building. Apparently, he was alone in this room, with guards in other rooms. This difference might have changed what Vigdis did. Or it might not have – she was spoiling for a fight after not getting to do anything against the gang of rowdies.]
Vigdis threw all 16 cloth insignia at Hakon and asked for the information. Hakon looked through the cloths, noticing that most had some blood on them. Satisfied that Vigdis had taken care of the problem for him, Hakon told her there was a person named Volstagg renting a room on the second floor of the tavern who was looking to hire strong warriors for something. Hakon described Volstagg as a large man with a long beard and brown hair. As the conversation was winding down, Hakon insulted Vigdis [he referred to her as “Missy” in an insulting tone].
Vigdis pushed Hakon up against the wall and asked him to repeat himself. When he didn’t, Vigdis drew her smaller longsword [she has two, one regular sized and a splendid one that was larger than normal]. Hakon apparently felt threatened enough to call for help and attack Vigdis with his axe. She parried the axe back upon Hakon and he injured himself with it [she performed a Defend action and reduced his damage to zero, which activated her passive power Turn the Blade, forcing Hakon to defend against his own attack at full strength].
Gunnarr and Bodil initially stayed out of the fight, as it appeared Vigdis could handle Hakon by herself, but when five guards showed up, weapons drawn, they went after the guards. Gunnarr stepped up to face two of the guards, but was quickly overwhelmed. Bodil taunted the guards with wicked insults while parrying their attacks, drawing all their ire upon her and saving Gunnarr. Gunnarr repaid the favor by power attacking two of the guards trying to bracket Bodil with cheap attacks [Bodil could easily block any one or two attacks made against her, but five attacks was wearing her down quickly]. Vigdis repeatedly redirected Hakon’s attacks against her back into himself, bloodying him. Then five more guards showed up, calling for the vikings to surrender.
Knowing that meekly surrendering would make a poor ending for the tale of actions [and likely lead to Hakon abusing the trio], Gunnarr instead scrambled through a nearby window, ready with the song of the Apples of Ildun on his lips to heal Bodil’s wounds when she joined him in fleeing [Gunnar had two runes in contingency, one to cast Apples of Ildun, a healing spell he finally drew the rune for, when Bodil got close enough and the other to run after casting the spell on Bodil]. Bodil quickly followed Gunnarr through the window, gracefully jumping through it [she has the skill Athletics while Gunnarr doesn’t]. As soon as she landed next to Gunnarr, he sang of the Apples of Ildun healing Bodil as they ran down the street.
Back in the barracks, Vigdis could see that the tide had turned against her and she danced around the guards and climbed through the window. She quickly caught up with Bodil and Gunnarr and the trio laughed and ran through the streets back to the tavern, well aware that they needed to leave town quickly.
End of Session
[As you might have noticed, I did switch Gunnarr over to Skald, hence his use of spell song this session and not the Rune Blade.]
[After the session we worked out the Norn was using one of the attacks the guards had incorrectly, allowing them to do much more damage than they should have. Even so, the armor they had blunted most of our attacks. We also discovered the weakness of only having a Destiny of 2 and Essence of 6 – your options were limited in combat and you rarely got the exact power you wanted. Gunnarr never drew the rune tied to his single healing power until it was time to flee. Bodil had to keep her two runes ready for defensive actions, and never drew the attack that would allow her to attack more than one guard at a time. Vigdis, who had a Destiny of 3 and an Essence of 4 almost always drew the runes she wanted or at least a usable combination of runes.]
[We are starting to believe that 4 Essence/3 Destiny is a better solution for a starting character. Not for all circumstances, but for most, being able to draw most of your runes and having a consistent mix is beneficial. The downside is that your Essence is also your hit points (indirectly), so having a 6 Essence when you take damage allows you to stay in the fight longer and keep options. When Vigdis started taking damage, she quickly lost options as her runes were lost to the wound track.]
Session 1
Session 3
[Spoilers – This will spoil the intro adventure for this game system, so if that’s something that worries you, be aware.]
Player Characters
Bodil – a female Daughter of Ratatosk, Death Dancer sub-type (E:6, D:2), Town Guard
Einar – a male Galdr, Enchanter sub-type (E:6, D:2), Gravedigger
Gunnarr – a male Skald, Wanderer sub-type (E:6, D:2), Foreign Import Merchant
Vigdis – a female Daughter of Ratatosk, Death Dancer sub-type (E:4, D:3), Hero of Renown
Elric Windgazer – a male Galdr, Diviner sub-type (E:4, D:3), Liberated Thrall
Missed the Session
Masrur – a male Ulfhednar, Wolfen sub-type (E:6, D:2), Hunter/Trapper
[Masrur’s player could not make the game and Einar’s player was able to make it this time. Gunnarr changed archetypes to match more closely the way he was being played.]
Day 1, Sometime in the 2nd year of Fimbulwinter
[We resumed right where we left off last session.]
After dispatching the group of rowdies in the Poortown part of Evingard, the group of vikings checked the bodies for things of value. There was a short discussion about whether taking things of the body of the recently dead counted as graverobbing and was therefore a major social breach or not. The consensus was that these individuals were not worthy of the attentions of Valkyrie nor buried yet, so they were still exempt.
The gang had a total of 16 skatt [local currency] total on them. Divided 5 ways made 4 shares of 3 and one share of 4. As killing the gang was done to help Vigdis get more information from the captain of the guard, Gunnar only asked for three of the skatt so he could pay his tab at the tavern. Vigdis gave him four as her food and lodging was covered for free [the advantage of being a renowned hero]. Vigdis also took the red cloth bands the gang members wore as identification.
Elric and Einar decided they wanted to speak with Rolf, a street urchin they knew who traded in information. They eventually tracked him down digging through the refuse from the tavern for food and anything of value. Einar asked if Rolf knew anything about the goings on at the mine. Rolf said he didn’t, but he knew something useful that might or might not be related. Einar gave Rolf a day's worth of food and Rolf told the two vikings that he’d heard a Jotun named Aud was in the area looking to hire capable servants for a quest he was on, and by capable he meant able to fight. If they were interested in the job, Aud was staying in a warehouse outside the walls of Evingard. Einar and Elric thanked Rolf for the information and went inside the tavern to wait for the others to get back.
Bodil and Gunnarr, meanwhile, followed Vigdis back to the barracks to see what information Hakon, the captain of the guard, might share. Hakon was in the main chamber of the barracks alone when the trio arrived. [There was a discrepancy here – the Norn said Hakon was alone in the building and we assumed there were no guards in the building. Apparently, he was alone in this room, with guards in other rooms. This difference might have changed what Vigdis did. Or it might not have – she was spoiling for a fight after not getting to do anything against the gang of rowdies.]
Vigdis threw all 16 cloth insignia at Hakon and asked for the information. Hakon looked through the cloths, noticing that most had some blood on them. Satisfied that Vigdis had taken care of the problem for him, Hakon told her there was a person named Volstagg renting a room on the second floor of the tavern who was looking to hire strong warriors for something. Hakon described Volstagg as a large man with a long beard and brown hair. As the conversation was winding down, Hakon insulted Vigdis [he referred to her as “Missy” in an insulting tone].
Vigdis pushed Hakon up against the wall and asked him to repeat himself. When he didn’t, Vigdis drew her smaller longsword [she has two, one regular sized and a splendid one that was larger than normal]. Hakon apparently felt threatened enough to call for help and attack Vigdis with his axe. She parried the axe back upon Hakon and he injured himself with it [she performed a Defend action and reduced his damage to zero, which activated her passive power Turn the Blade, forcing Hakon to defend against his own attack at full strength].
Gunnarr and Bodil initially stayed out of the fight, as it appeared Vigdis could handle Hakon by herself, but when five guards showed up, weapons drawn, they went after the guards. Gunnarr stepped up to face two of the guards, but was quickly overwhelmed. Bodil taunted the guards with wicked insults while parrying their attacks, drawing all their ire upon her and saving Gunnarr. Gunnarr repaid the favor by power attacking two of the guards trying to bracket Bodil with cheap attacks [Bodil could easily block any one or two attacks made against her, but five attacks was wearing her down quickly]. Vigdis repeatedly redirected Hakon’s attacks against her back into himself, bloodying him. Then five more guards showed up, calling for the vikings to surrender.
Knowing that meekly surrendering would make a poor ending for the tale of actions [and likely lead to Hakon abusing the trio], Gunnarr instead scrambled through a nearby window, ready with the song of the Apples of Ildun on his lips to heal Bodil’s wounds when she joined him in fleeing [Gunnar had two runes in contingency, one to cast Apples of Ildun, a healing spell he finally drew the rune for, when Bodil got close enough and the other to run after casting the spell on Bodil]. Bodil quickly followed Gunnarr through the window, gracefully jumping through it [she has the skill Athletics while Gunnarr doesn’t]. As soon as she landed next to Gunnarr, he sang of the Apples of Ildun healing Bodil as they ran down the street.
Back in the barracks, Vigdis could see that the tide had turned against her and she danced around the guards and climbed through the window. She quickly caught up with Bodil and Gunnarr and the trio laughed and ran through the streets back to the tavern, well aware that they needed to leave town quickly.
End of Session
[As you might have noticed, I did switch Gunnarr over to Skald, hence his use of spell song this session and not the Rune Blade.]
[After the session we worked out the Norn was using one of the attacks the guards had incorrectly, allowing them to do much more damage than they should have. Even so, the armor they had blunted most of our attacks. We also discovered the weakness of only having a Destiny of 2 and Essence of 6 – your options were limited in combat and you rarely got the exact power you wanted. Gunnarr never drew the rune tied to his single healing power until it was time to flee. Bodil had to keep her two runes ready for defensive actions, and never drew the attack that would allow her to attack more than one guard at a time. Vigdis, who had a Destiny of 3 and an Essence of 4 almost always drew the runes she wanted or at least a usable combination of runes.]
[We are starting to believe that 4 Essence/3 Destiny is a better solution for a starting character. Not for all circumstances, but for most, being able to draw most of your runes and having a consistent mix is beneficial. The downside is that your Essence is also your hit points (indirectly), so having a 6 Essence when you take damage allows you to stay in the fight longer and keep options. When Vigdis started taking damage, she quickly lost options as her runes were lost to the wound track.]
Session 1
Session 3
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