The adventure begins - Cries in the night

Ivi the Wood Elf has farewelled her parents and is venturing into the unknown (see https://steemit.com/writing/@drwom/ivy-elf-of-the-gaelding-woods).

This post is the draft of a role-playing adventure I have created for my daughter, who is about to set out on her first adventure in the DragonQuest game setting Frontiers of Alusia. My daughter has generated her character - Ivi, an Elf from the Gaelding Woods, who after learning (she thinks) all her mother and father have to teach her, has left the family home to seek adventure in a world of magic and heroes, monsters and dark evil.

The adventure begins as Ivi leaves the forest she has called home for all of her already long life (by human standards anyway - an Elf lives up to 30,000 years, barring death by misadventure) and begins the dangerous journey towards the town of Seagate.

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DragonQuest is an old school role-playing game (all you need to play are the rules, paper, pencil, 2x10-sided dice and a great imagination - and even more than the fun, the creative imagination encouraged and nourished by a game like this is, in my opinion, a priceless gift to a child and one which has every chance of developing into a great lifeskill).

The game is run by the GamesMaster who writes the adventure and steers the character(s) through it. The players adopt the traits and personality of their characters for the duration of the adventure. One of the reasons I especially love DragonQuest is because after an adventure the GamesMaster, me in this instance, awards characters Experience Points (much like rewards on our much loved steemit). Characters are awarded points based upon the character's successes in the adventure, but even more so on how convincingly the player becomes the character for the purposes of the adventure: foibles, heroic tendencies and all. And that bit is up to the player and at the very least requires consistency. Players then spend the experience points to develop their character - to enhance their combat skills, or further develop their magical prowess, or develop a skill (a ranger, for example, who is able to track adventurers and monsters through difficult terrains, or a thief, who can keep out of sight and acquire objects and treasure without un-nessessary bloodshed).

An adventure is a mixture of set (i.e. pre-written) encounters, and random events as determined by the rules. Here follows a summary of the three set encounters of this adventure. The events can happen anywhere really, but I have placed the exact location of these encounters on the map above.

The Ruins

As the character approaches a small hill, it becomes apparent that what she had previously mistaken for boulders on the hilltop were in fact the skeletal remains of an old fortress. Upon investigation it will be discovered that these particular bones have been picked over many times by passing adventurers.

But as she turns to go the Elf's keen eyes notice a strange feature built into a portion of the stonework nestled into the hill: strange knobs on the stone which look somehow unnatural. Upon further investigation, a mechanism is triggered and the outline of a door appears in the stone.

The door swings open easily to reveal a stone staircase leading down. The very air smells stale, like it had sat unmoving for a very long time.

If the character ventures down (remembering of course, that Elves can see in the dark as a human does at dusk), she will discover a chamber, empty except for what looks like the decayed remnants of a table and chairs in the middle. Parts of a similarly decayed door cling to rusted hinges in one wall.

Inside is what looks to be an armoury, except the weapons are rusted through. A stone jar has 36 ancient silver pennies (SP), and a further 12 copper farthings (CF).

If the character looks very closely, they will find amid a pile of decayed wood and leather 12 arrow tips which unlike everything else in the room, are as new.

Orcs!

As the player moves though an area of sparsely treed woodlands, there is a noise in the distance. Before she can react, an orc blunders out from behind a tree and looks straight at her.

As he sees her he lets out a bloodcurdling howl and charges. The orc is armed with a scimitar and wears ill-fitting leather armour. It has a companion nearby.

Between them the Orcs have 2 scimitars, a dagger, a knife and a short bow, all in reasonable condition. There is also a quiver with 9 arrows in it. They carry 3 SP, 24 CF and some disgusting leather armour.

Cries in the Night

As the character walks through the woodlands in the evening, stars bright in the sky overhead, she comes across a track. A faint trail of fresh blood on the track leads to a nearby campsite. Past the flames of a campfire soft cries can be heard in the distance.

Three human figures sit around the fire. They look to be armed with swords and spears. There is a small cage between them, containing some kind of beast.

If the character investigates the source of the cries, she will discover a pegasus watching the campsite from a distance. It dare not approach the campsite, but it will not leave its foal.

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During play, the above scenario will be played out applying the game rules as and when applicable. For example, the player will need to successfully role (on a dice) under her 'perception' rating before she will notice the out-of-place knobs on the ruins, or find the magical arrowheads. Extra details will also be filled in, like the endurance and fatigue ratings of the Orcs, which put together provide a number which denotes how many damage points each can be take before they go to join their uncaring gods in death.

And as you can imagine, there are many, many similar sorts of details.

More to come!

Photo of Dragonquest's Frontiers of Alusia map by @DrWom
DragonQuest was SPI's fantasy role-playing game. It is now apparently owned by Wizards of the Coast, but they don't give a toss.

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