The Big Bad

For the final fight in this short Beowulf style adventure I used a mash up between a Displacer Beast and a Blink Dog from the Dungeons and Dragons Universe.


The Beast
Monstrous abomination Narrow Trait [+3], All teeth and claws Narrow Trait [+3], Fearsome Broad Trait [+1], Cunning Broad Trait [+3], Tough Broad Trait [+1] Lashing Tail x 3 Narrow Trait [+3]


This gave me Lovecraft / Grimm's Tales kind of feel that seemed right. I wanted it to be a boss fight kind of encounter so I made it tough and gave it a few extra attacks. This was to give the creature a good chance in a fight with many opponents. After the dust has settled I think I made it a bit too tough, and my Hero just got lucky with his RNG and lived.

Three or four times out of five I think I would have ended up with a total party wipe.

I will also put this down to my novice status with the Mythic GM Emulator and the Swords of Strange Aeons [SOSA] RPG system. Having finished my first play through, and enjoyed it immensely, I have a greater understanding of both systems and am looking forward to my next adventure.

I really enjoyed the random events generation built into the Mythic system. They really do interfere / interrupt the logical linear progression of a solo play through. The wolf ambush just before the fight with the Beast is a direct result of a random event generated by the Mythic rules at the beginning of a new scene.

Wolf
Fear crazed vicious predator Broad Trait [+1]


These random events are not a given, but they do throw a delightful spanner in the works when you least expect it. Creating, new plot threads, NPC's, divergent paths, obstructions to the goals of the characters, and sudden aid form nowhere. It's a very clever mechanic and really makes solo play using the Mythic System awesome.

As for my experience using the SOSA rules...Wow.

I mentioned before how brutal I though they could be, and that final fight proved my suspicions. My inexperience and enthusiastic monster design problems aside, I seriously could have lost almost the entire group of characters and their NPC retinue in the first round!

In SOSA degree of success is important. When you attack if you roll well, you hurt your opponent, a lot. If you roll bad, you don't just miss, your opponent hurts you, a lot! So in a round of combat you can have your ass handed to you on a plate two times.

By giving my Big Bad three attacks, I actually gave it a chance to attack, 3 + [#PC's] + [#NPC's] per round. In this fight with one guardsman NPC and three Characters the creature had 7 chances to ruin their day. Yes it also means that each of its attacks are a chance for the Group to hurt the Big Bad as well :)

Giving it too many synergistic traits, and tough ones at that, proved a real problem for my group of heroes. The guardsman was expendable of course, no surprise there, but I was sad to lose Olrun the Shieldmaiden, and Lugh the Rogue. Heck I very nearly lost Hagendar!

Oh and thank you GM Emulator for the random event that allowed the ghosts of the villagers to carry my Wizard off before the big fight. [Grumble grumble]

I also have to mention how happy I was with the way magic is handled in SOSA. It is a bit to get your head around in the beginning, being so free form and rules light. Though once you "get it", magic becomes the thing I have always wanted it to be in any game I play, or story I read.

Dangerous, powerful, and unpredictable.

Poor old Blacktongue cast only two spells in the entire adventure. The first spell caused a psychotic break, the second allowed a village full of ghosts to possess him and carry him off into the deep dark wood.

I wonder if we will ever see him again? He's still out there somewhere.

The shaman did get unlucky with his rolls. In the beginning of your adventures as a wizard you have a reasonable chance of nothing bad happening, reasonable mind you, not small :P As time goes by and your sanity crumbles this changes. Madness, possession, mutation, and death are inevitable. You just have to make each spell count.

The danger is worth it in my opinion as magic is very powerful. How powerful is up to your imagination, and the GM of course :)


To anyone that has been reading this following me along on my solo RP adventure, thank you. I hope you had some fun, I sure did!

I also hope that if you are finding it hard to game in a group that you may be inspired to have a go at solo adventuring yourself.

I think I will let brave Hagendar recover for a while, maybe even give him time to find his friend Blacktongue in the woods.

Adventure still calls, though now through time and space. I hope you will consider joining me in the future in a seaside town. A town haunted by strange sights, disappearances, and diabolical goings on in the darkest hours of the night.

A time of gumshoes, telegraphs, and Elder Gods...



Cheers,

Don.