Low magic, all spell casters are weakened... fewer spells and magical abilities...
Castle forged items are considered 'masterwork' (MW) and Valyrian steel would be considered +2 or better
Priest exists with but will be tweaked, and need campaign specific gods like a Septa/Septon of the The Seven
(Crone, Smith, Mother, Father, Maiden, Warrior, Stranger), R'lloher, The Drowned god, .the Old Gods (druid).
Sellswords could be almost any class, likely fighter type...
Maesters: will be chainless/disgraced in some form... class in process lots of skills and some alchemy
knights: must be hedge knight ie poor knights, knights of Westeros have some religious affiliation, like holy
warrior/paladin
The MOST common classes are rogue and warrior, the commoners know a septon/septa (priest) although never seen
a spell cast and almost no one has seen an arcane spell caster, definately never seen a spell cast...
For those of you concerned about game balance... I am not encouraging anyone to be spell caster, but there might
be things to help you out role playing a spell caster (since weakened), but not written into the 'rules'.
GoT Adventure #1 on 1/13/13
1) Introductions: Colrehs, a researcher for Illyrio, who seems to be organizing this venture. Azure
Woodchuck (color/animal) a mercenary/unsullied who works for Illyrio. Sterling:
a young hedge knight. Min: a street smart Septon. Braunn: a black market businessman.
2) The group gathered at the docks , two of Illyrio’s men and three men who clearly dislike the
King
3) Colrehs took charge and gave the group 2 hours to gather supplies before heading into the ‘King’s
Woods’.
4) Magnar, a ranger of the King’s Woods escorts the group into the woods, along the King’s
road.
5) Colrehs shows the group a map he has unearthed in his research, showing King’s Landing with
a poem/riddle on the back. “ Among the usurpers trees, off the path,as
the ground rises, near the tree that never ends, as the mouth opens, only the brave will enter, a stone yoke awaits.”
6) Magnar informs the group that the King himself has scheduled a hunt for TODAY. He suggests “We all mind our pints and quarts around the King”, “ He complains that THIS favor better make him even with that blasted Cheese Monger.
7) Magnar leads the group further into the woods, sets up camp and quickly falls asleep.
8) Stannis Barathean and a small entourage entered the camp, complaining about how his brother is yet
again occupied by a lady friend and has chosen to be late for the hunt HE called for.
9) Some successful hassling of the squires was committed by Braunn
10) The group awakes with Stannis’ party heading
out early for a hunt
11) The party searches for caves (mouth) finds a fox den…
12) After much search and consideration, Min locates an odd tree that Colrehs confirms as the never
ending tree ( two branches were bent into a infinity symbol)
13) All of a sudden two bores defending their turf attack the group.
Several trees were climbed as Sterling and Azure quickly kill the bores. Sterling
was wounded in the melee.
14) A cave was located nearby, leading down, eventually into a carved stone corridor. Sterling seemingly fearless marches
down the hallway even after Braun warns of possible traps. Two arrows appear
out of nowhere narrowly missing Sterling, then a spiked pit opens up also narrowly missed by Sterling. He marches up a set of stairs and all the metal on his body starts to heat up. Sterling grabs an ‘egg’ off a pedestal and his armor starts to burn him. He races back and quickly attempts to strip off his armor as it is melting off him, severely burning him.
15) Several
members of the group seem very interested in what most consider the ‘stone yoke’ (yes
yolk would have given it away too soon) possibly a dragon egg
16) After much conversation, the group slaughters the bore and throws the majority of it into the spiked
pit. They then start a fire and wonder if they can safely leave without their
escort.
17) A LARGE wolf appears on a hill (smelling the blood of the bores) a fight ensues, the wolf is killed
18) The group left the woods w/o Magnar and made it safely back to Mud gate.
19) There was some discussion over who was carrying the egg…
20) Colrehs congratulates the group on a solid first run, but also tells them to stock up for a long
sea voyage “our next stop is up north, so dress warm and bring plenty of supplies”
any (standard book) item under 100gp was offered.
Adv#2 Up north diary of a party memeber
Up North
Dear Diary,
After 3 weeks at sea we were finally back on land!
We now have 3 weeks of travel to reach the Wall.
Colrehs says our Mission is beyond the Wall but he hasn't said how we're going to get over it.
We're traveling under the cover story that we're
wine salesmen. We have a cart full of Dornish wine casks and a horse to pull it.
Sterling has taken the cover name Dash Riprack and
Braunn is going by Bing Crosby. Today my name is Green Squirrel, but it's not a cover, it's how I roll. Min and Colrehs aren't
using aliases. Something I'm sure they'll regret later when the King's search bot indexes their names.
Dear Diary,
We've been traveling for 4 days with no one in sight.
Min's constant whining about how he has to ride on the cart is beginning to wear very thin. The woods are full of wolves but
they never approach to close. Thank the Spear Goddess Sterling can keep the horse calm.
Dear Diary,
We've traveled 5 more days without seeing another
soul. Braunn noticed a lady hiding in the bushes and got her to come out by offering aid. Her name is Saala Fox and she's
being hunted like an animal by the local lord named Ramsey Snow. Min healed her claiming the Power of the Seven. <eye roll>
Ramsey's hunting party showed up a couple hours
later. We hid Saala in the cart and claimed not to see her. I gave him a bottle of Dornish wine and he left to continue his
"search" for her.
Dear Diary,
We'd traveled most the day when half of Ramsey's
hunting party returned to buy a cask of wine. After a bit of haggling with Colrehs we sold them one. Min and Sterling were
anxious to avenge Saala's ordeal but our Mission requires us to keep a low profile so we spared their lives.
We plan to deliver Saala to Last Hearth keep and
resupply in the village there. It's out of the way but will ensure Saala's safety. Braunn floated the idea of a quick death
for her which I was going to 2nd, but flashbacks of my first puppy, Bazooka Fourpaws, kept me silent.
Dear Diary,
We've arrived at Last Hearth, so named because it's
the last of civilization between here and the Wall. We've restocked our supplies and delivered Saala to Master Eon at the
keep.
At the local inn Min took it upon himself to organize
a poetry contest with a 50 gp grand prize for the best poem demeaning King Baratheon. I wonder how he'll enjoy explaining
that to the local law enforcement on the return trip.
Dear Diary,
We've traveled a couple days and the Wall is within
sight, though still quite distance. Colrehs used some black magic called Trigonometry to figure we we're still 2 days away.
Dear Diary,
We've travelled 2 more days without sighting anyone.
It's turned quite cold, so I wonder if Min will finally stop going commando. <shudder>
We're finally near the Wall. There are two ruined
castles and Colrehs said to head to the one on the right. Braunn was doubtful but after a great deal of sideways squinting
decided that right was right. We had to hurry to beat the remaining sunlight and arrived just at sunset.
I found some treasure on the 2nd floor of an old
tower.
We made our camp in an old building that was mostly
intact, but a pair of bears got past the cart and attacked. Sterling was greatly injured and I only sustained a flesh wound
in the fight. Go me.
There's a door in the Wall's base that's frozen
over that leads through to the other side. The challenge will be melting the ice enough to open it. I also wonder what monsters
lay beyond.
The Wall... Pt 1
Dear Diary,
Today my name is Forest Scum. It reminds me of Ramsey Snow for some reason.
We awoke to find half of the small bear carcass had been dragged over near the main tower. There were a great deal of paw
prints but I suspect it was a raccoon. Stealthy little bastards, those are.
Sterling was hurt worse than anyone realized so we decided to rest for the day before attempting the door. We kept the
fire going (which later felt like a negative experience).
Min accessed that Sterling would probably need to rest for two more weeks before coming off injured reserve and so called
upon the Power of the Seven to heal him. He also healed the small scratch I'd received from the bear yesterday.
I suspect he's actually using some sort of salve similar to my Road House potions (Pain Don't Hurt) as the Seven are just
a bunch of fairy tales told to hedge knights so they don't cry when it's dark out.
Cohrehs searched the castle buildings some more but came back empty handed. He then announced that we were at the wrong
castle and would need to travel to the west one, name Woods Watch, (and earning himself another checkmark on my People to
Atomic Wedgie scorecard).
So it's another night in these Goddess forsaken ruins and then west in the morning.
Dear Diary,
Today my name is Ivory Toad.
We got an early scrimmage traveling several field lengths away from the Wall to avoid suspicion. It took most of the day
to cover the distance.
Woods Watch is only a few hundred years old so isn't as run down as the other castle. There's a row of three towers at
the center with several out buildings. There's also a forest surrounded lake that's filled with animals.
We parked the wagon and horse in the stable and proceeded to search the out buildings. It was immediately obvious this
castle was a major tannery.
The doors were locked on the towers but Braunn was able to jimmy the center one open without even removing his receiving
gloves. There were up and down staircases immediately in the door. Sterling followed Braunn up the steps and I followed them
about a flight back.
Colrehs said something about looking for a tunnel and went downstairs. I probably should have stuck with him but my coach
always said running steps is good cardio.
We went up four flights before we found an office. Braunn looked through a desk and Sterling searched a bookcase while
I stood guard. I took some books for Colrehs and several torches anticipating searching downstairs in the dark.
We continued up two more floors and the stairs ended so we went back down to ground level to look for Colrehs and Min.
We couldn't find them so we went to the west tower. I could have sworn it was locked but Braunn said it was a push door and
I was pulling the whole time. (I'm beginning to wonder if Braunn was a raccoon in a former life.)
Sterling searched downstairs in this tower and couldn't find them. We went up several flights (cardio!) and found them
in a Maester's office that was also a rookery.
There was also a large table covered in vials and bottles of various chemicals. Min was busy mixing things (probably to
try and make more Road House). Colrehs read the Maester's log book that said something was locked downstairs in a cellar.
We're going to investigate it tomorrow. Tonight we're camping in the Maester's office.
Dear Diary,
Today my name is Gray Flea.
Last night I heard wolves but nothing disturbed us. We went downstairs to the cellar door and of course it was locked.
This time Braunn opened it using only his left hand.
There was an iron ladder down and Colrehs was the first to go. Sterling followed him after lighting a torch.
Before I could start down there was a terrible cranking sound and Colrehs was attacked! He went limp, half hanging on the
ladder.
We could see two pairs of arms in the torch light that turned out to belong to a pair of people that had been locked down
here for decades.
Sterling attempted to body slam them by jumping from the top rope ladder.
The cranking sound turned out to be Min's crossbow and he successfully shot one but it hardly seem to notice.
I climbed down the ladder as Sterling was beset upon by both of them. Min came down and shielded Colrehs and revived him.
These things seemed impossible to kill and shrugged off blow after blow. They weren't slowed even after removing an arm
(which didn't bleed and continued to move afterwards)!
After a lengthy battle we were eventually able to defeat them by cutting them to pieces and burning the remains. During
the fight, Colrehs had enchanted my spear and it was very effective it hurting them.
Colrehs determined they were Wights, which are the undying spawn of the Other. I don't know if that's true but after what
I saw I'm even starting to believe in some of Sterling's ghost stories.
Whoever they were in their former lives, they were certainly well off, as we found (and divided) several valuable rings,
a necklace and a Valyrian steel dagger.
Tonight we camp in the Maester's office again and tomorrow I suppose we will attempt to open the frozen door on the Wall
or find a tunnel under it.
But if this the sort of monster we have to face on the other side of the wall, perhaps Illyrio isn't paying us enough...
North of the Wall
Dear Diary,
Today my name is Golden Tuna. Finally, a name no one can make fun of!
Strange goings-on this morning. When we awoke Braunn was missing. It's as though he was plucked from the world by a mysterious
force. Or he wandered off to piss and got lost. Either one is just as likely.
What's worse, Colrehs is not himself. He's like a completely different person and doesn't ever appear to be quite in the
moment. He brushed it off as being a little under the weather.
Unfortunately Sterling decided with Colrehs on the bench that Min was in charge. I didn't see any point in arguing since
Min is probably the only one who could decipher Colrehs' notes.
We decided to search the East tower. Of course the outer doors were locked. Colrehs mentioned there was probably a connecting
tunnel from the other towers below but was quickly dismissed as this was a chance to flex.
After some discussion, Sterling got the honor and used Min's mace to bash the door in a bit. But when he tried to kick
it in he nearly lost his shoe. Min ended up putting his considerable weight behind it and kicked it down on the first try.
As with the other two towers, there were stairs immediately up and down. I lit a torch and we proceeded up. Only 15' up
the staircase was broken and a large section was missing. Sterling was able to leap the gap and created a rope bridge to help
us across.
The room at the top of the first landing was filled with rotted furs and a great many rats. We didn't really search it
considering it was just a big rodent nest.
We continued up to the 3rd floor and were suddenly swarmed with rats! We killed a few and retreated a bit. Sterling held
the line allowing Min to throw oil that I lit with the torch. That held them at bay long enough for Min to summon a snake
from one of the seven pits of hell he talks so much about. The snake made short work of the remaining rats.
The room up here was filled with droppings and rat infested food stuffs.
There was another door at the top. The stairs only ascended a short way before abruptly ending. Guess they ran out of gold
or time to finish the construction.
Cohrehs said we should try downstairs. I admit I hesitated when he said there was probably another trapdoor down there.
Keep it together man!
We left a note for Braunn on the main tower door we broke down saying where we went and proceeded down. Sure enough there
was a trapdoor down here.
We searched the main room and found 3 barrels with sour wine and stale water. (Why is the water not frozen?) Also a wheelbarrow
and a holocaust cloak. I changed the setting on my spears to "Giant" just to be safe.
We opened the trapdoor and I dropped down a torch to be sure there was nothing waiting to pounce. On the wall opposite
the iron ladder was a 5' round door made of weirwood that appeared to have a face! My first impulse was to stab it, but Colrehs
explained it was a magical door related to the Old Gods. When he turned the handle it came to life and asked, "Who are you?!"
Apparently the cursed door thought it was a sphinx and we each had a turn at answering. Sterling said his full name and
title but it was unimpressed. I don't even remember Min's guess. After a quick huddle, I lied and said, "We are the First
Men" which only earned me a place in the Hall of Fail.
Then Colrehs steps forward wearing the holocaust cloak and read from A Dummy's Guide to Taking the Black,
Night gathers, and now my watch begins.
It shall not end until my death.
I shall take no wife, hold no lands, father
no children.
I shall wear no crowns and win no glory.
I shall live and die at my post.
I am the sword in the darkness.
I
am the watcher on the walls.
I am the shield that guards the realms of men.
I pledge my life and honor to the Night's
Watch,
for this night and all the nights to come.
and the mouth of the door opens right up like he's the King! (And in so doing, the little bookworm gets another checkmark
closer to an atomic wedgie.)
So we followed a tunnel under the Wall and through a door on the other side. I have to say it's gotten noticeably colder.
We climbed a shallow ravine and stopped to decide which way to go. Looking back I could barely make out the door we'd just
come through.
Colrehs explained our mission was to gather powerful magic for Illyrio and his research pointed to 3 items north of the
Wall.
One is the Horn of Joramun, which is suppose to have the power to destroy the Wall (which would make the return trip south
a lot easier). He also mentioned the Green Men and the Source of Magic but was vague on any details about those.
Two items lay to northwest and one to the northeast.
We traveled north most the day and it's definitely getting colder. We set up camp on a small hill, which meant putting
up Colrehs 3 man tent for us all to sleep in. I plan to take 1st, 2nd, and 3rd watch tonight.
We'd barely started setting up when we were attacked 4 enormous wolves! They were as large as horses! The fight was over
is less than 1/2 a minute but very fierce.
We were victorious with no thanks to me. I barely managed to stab any of them and was raked very badly at the start of
it.
Min conjured a blast of sound (you don't want to see that casting) that stunned two and killed one of the wolves and Colrehs
dropped one with his fireworks. Sterling hacked into them and claimed the last two in a single round.
After the fight Min used his powers to heal me and Sterling. We camped the rest of the night without further incident.
As promised, I stayed up on watch.
Dear Diary,
Today my name is Jasper Mite.
Sometime during the night Braunn returned to the party. How he got past me I'll never know. I must have nodded off or something.
But something is very odd about him that hard to explain. It's like he's there, but not really.
In the morning light we were able to tell the wolves were actually tracking some humans wearing fur snowshoes. There's
at least 2-6 of them. We put it to a vote and decided to track them for some reason. I guess now that we're north of the Wall
keeping a low profile doesn't matter so much.
Before we broke camp Min cured me and Sterling some more.
After a couple hours we found the humans by blundering right into their trap. There were 4 of them hidden in the trees
with longbows. There were so well hidden the first one to even notice them was Sterling and he was charging forward before
any of us realized what was going on.
After a hail of arrows, Sterling killed one and I killed a 2nd with spears. Colrehs hit another with fireworks and Braunn
fired a warning shot with his bow.
After they fired more arrows Sterling charged and hit the 3rd one while I hit the 4th with my last spear. Braunn continued
to fire warning shots. I was finally able to close the gap between the 4th and finished him with my short sword.
Sterling's 3rd started to run but was stabbed and fireworked before she got very far. I hit her with a spear and Min finally
knocked her down with his (now infamous) blast of sound.
Once the stench cleared we procured their snow boots, longbows, arrows, and foodstuffs. Colrehs said they're Wildlings.
I guess their philosophy is, 'tis better to rule in this northern hell, then serve in Westeros.
So we have a prisoner who we've bound and Min healed a bit. She should be worth a fair amount on the slaver's block.
For now we're camping again and I will remain diligently not in the tent, or rather, on watch.
Hardhome
Dear Diary,
Today my name is Lemon Snake. (Tastes like chicken! Well, glazed chicken.)
"Yovon" is the name of our Wildling prisoner. She is completely uncooperative despite my best efforts at Bad Cop / Worse
Cop. We finally decided that Braunn was the best person to interrogate her which he insisted on doing in private.
He said he eventually released her and she's now living on a farm to skip and play all day with her other Wildling friends.
We're 3 days north of the Wall and can't even see the top of it anymore. Colrehs has recovered from his ailment and is
guiding us to Hardhome in the northeast where some treasure Illyrio wants is waiting.
We've been marching all day (again) and have seen the occasional animal tracks, including bear prints. Finally camped without
incident.
Dear Diary,
Today my name is Onyx Groundhog. (*Still* tastes like chicken.)
Another day of marching ahead. We didn't get very far and found very large footprints, twice as large as mine.
Colrehs said they were Grumpkin tracks. Everyone laughed it off but it's hard to argue when there's actual tracks in the
snow, so we're all being extra cautious.
Made camp again and sure enough a 20' Grumpkin showed up during 2nd watch. By the time I was up and ready the battle was
already on! It was incredible to see a person as tall as a house swinging a tree for a weapon.
He teed off on Braunn's head and it didn't even wake him up! That Comfort-Select sleeping bag must really work.
It took the combined effort of all of us to bring him down. After it was over Sterling looked like he'd been air dropped
into a pine forest.
Braunn took one of the giant's toes and an ear as trophies. (I must remember to not accept any food offers from him.) Otherwise
we didn't find much treasure.
It's a couple hours before dawn but we moved our camp site 100 yards away from the carnage.
Dear Diary,
Today my name is Peru Scum. (It's imported!)
We've decided to stay in camp and rest most of the day. Sterling still looks like he's died twice despite Min's healing.
We travelled a bit and the Grumpkin tracks are becoming more frequent so we're turning east towards the coast to avoid
any chance of coming to a Grumpkin village.
We saw a dire wolf on a nearby rise but he was alone and so didn't bother us.
We've finally reached the coast and stopped here to camp and bathe.
Dear Diary,
Today my name is Melon Locust.
We travelled all day up the coast line without incident and arrived at the southern edge of Hardhome just before sunset.
How do we keep timing it so perfectly like that?!
Hardhome is basically a crumbled stone tower surrounded by burnt down houses. Like an fool I asked what happened to it
and Colrehs launched into his final thesis, The Life and Times in Ancient Hardhome.
Just before I nodded off he finished by saying it was either slavers or ghosts that destroyed the town.
Good job Colrehs! Tell Sterling ghost stories just before we have to march into a desolate town at sundown.
We made a bee line for the tower. I did a walk around but it was Colrehs who noticed one of the houses nearby had a basement.
We went in and discovered a natural underground tunnel.
With a torch in hand I led the way, always turning to the left when there was a fork. I ended up in a dead end and was
attacked by two giant spiders.
They nearly got the drop on me as I was expecting Darkmantles instead. We made short work of them and found little of value.
We back tracked to the main entrance and went right instead. There was a long corridor of worked stone much like the one
we found in the cave in the King's Forest.
I tried to volunteer Braunn to go first but he wanted a cash retainer up front so the job fell to Sterling because of his
prior experience.
He removed all his metal objects and I tied a rope to him (so we could recover his valuables if there was a mishap) and
he managed to avoid several traps. Eventually he reached the end of the rope and untied it.
At the base of the steps he picked up a set of armor and a sword which he came back and tossed to me. Then went back and
retrieved the egg. Like last time all the metal on him melted but he was only slightly hurt.
Colrehs said the armor and sword are enchanted and we now have a 2nd egg. Illyrio will be thrilled I'm sure.
We're camping in the basement tonight as it provides the best cover.
Dear Diary,
Today my name is Cobalt Sphinx.
We've decided to spend another night in this basement camp to rest some more. We woke up to find that spiders had covered
the ceiling in webs! I know this because darkmantles don't spin webs.
After a great deal of effort I was able to light a torch and started burning the webs that blocked the doorway out. I didn't
notice that two giant spiders attacked the party while I was doing that.
When I turned around to help defend, an enormous spider appeared and bit me on the back! Honestly it was worse than any
giant wolf or bear bite by far.
Sterling cut down one of the first two. It split open and a horde of large spiders came out of it and started swarming
us. I gotta say, that just ain't right.
Colrehs conjured a large ball of fire that burned the swarm. Thank the Lady, because Braunn killed the second spider and
another bunch came out of it and swarmed over Sterling. He purposely jumping into Colrehs' ball of fire to burn them off and
came out looking much worse for the wear.
Colrehs was also bit and looked near death!
I was bitten by the monstrous one again so drank a Road House potion to ease my pain. (Shut up! I can quit anytime man!)
Min blasted it with his sound attack and Sterling charged and dealt it a near fatal blow which allowed me to finish it
off with my short sword.
I finished burning off the webs while Min healed everyone. We moved the camp to the base of the ruined tower outside and
spent the rest of the day recovering.
Dear Diary,
Today my name is Brick Bat. I should investigate if that's a usable weapon.
We got an early start and headed West, following the coast line to avoid any Grumpkins.
We're two days south of Hardhome. Late in the afternoon a raven landed on Colrehs' shoulder. It had a message from the
ship asking us to report our status and return with any treasure we've found.
There was a long discussion which I mostly ignored and finally Min wrote a note telling the ship's captain that we were
to close to a possible site to return now and that we had indeed found some treasure.
So we continue on towards Craster's Keep to the west. It would be nice to find some civilization that doesn't want to immediately
kill us.
Dear Diary,
We've traveled for 4 days and the Grumpkin tracks are getting more numerous. We're heading south to avoid them. One Grumpkin
was bad. A hunting party would be disastrous.
We traveled 2 more days until we saw the top of the Wall and then turned west again. Min seems a lot more cheerful when
the Wall is in sight.
We're starting to see a lot of Wildling tracks so we're being extra alert. Wildlings are so "shoot first ask questions
later." A quality I find very annoying since they have so much cover in these woods.
We marched most the day and Braunn noticed the smoke from a presumed Wildling camp. We went around it to the south and
camped this night without a fire.
Dear Diary,
We've traveled 2 days and came upon two Wildlings across a clearing. They asked us what clan we were from. Min gave them
our cover story that we're missionaries of the Seven sent to turn them from their heathen ways.
Well of course a bunch of them appearing from the surrounding trees and started firing arrows. They're nothing if not predictable.
Sterling and I charged across the clearing towards the first two while Min summoned a wall of wind to deflect their arrows
from the rest of the party.
I figured we could use a prisoner so I used the haft of my spear to try and knock their leader out. I sorely underestimated
him and his iron shod staff though.
Helped by a couple arrows in my back from his woodland friend he knocked me out. When I came to they told me he'd surrendered
to Sterling and Min had saved my life with his Juju magic.
It's starting to become embarrassing how many times Min has rescued my bacon from the fire.
Our new prisoner's name is Salem. I wish to better understand the Wildling ways and so I plan to question him before Braunn
sets him free like the last one.
I just hope more of his friends don't show up before I can.
