After a long break from solo gaming, I want to get into my “Not Bannerlord” campaign. I built out the map, the cultural descriptions, then took a hiatus to play a lot of video games…and while I could get in there and finish out my major world building, really, I just need to get this campaign started.
I’ll be using GURPS, at least as well as I understand it. No way to learn but to start using the system.
I have my 100 point basic character, and could start play immediately as an adult just come of age, but looking over my cultural notes for the Vish (one of the two “Not Sturgia” cultures that live in the rugged lands north of the Empire), and I see that at age 12, a spirit quest takes place, so i decide to play that out:
1st Session
Setting up Mythic
Starting PC: Gerard Longknife
No NPC’s:
Starting Thread:Seeking a spirit animal
Scene 1: Gregard sets off from his village into the woods, seeking a sign from the spirit world that will guide him in life-
Event: Negative for Gerard Longknife: The arrival of randomness
Quick bug test of my Flash based Mythic GM Emulator: Q1 “Yes, E New NPC:Vengeance of Hero, Q2 Yes…so the emulator is working. (Sometime, the flash player bugs out and provides a special event with every roll of the die)
Immersion Roll (from DM Yourself): Sees Something Disgusting, dusty and faded with age
Okay, so the logical question, given the arrival of randomness, is this a person? And wow! What do you know? The first test queston introduces and NPC seeking vengeance.
So I roll for the NPC’s stats based on some guidelines I’d set for the campaign. I figure he’s a levy and a deserter (a regular soldier in mail armor would outright kill me!), and roll a d3 for Tier, getting a Tier 2 foe. That puts his main weapon skill at 13 by my tables. Then I randomly generate his other physical stats as 9+d3. So he is Weapon Skill 13, Dex 12, Strength 12, Health 11. Let’s assume a spear, shield, heavy cloth armor, steel helm.
Is he Lathani (Empire)? No, so Belton (Battanian) seems likely…so probably not steel armor.
Does he have a Great Weapon? No, so spear and shield is likely.
—
I am heading east from my village into the woods, following the hunting trails my father showed me, towards the deep woods where men do not normally go…where the spirits dwell, and man eating beasts are said to lurk. There, I hope to find my courage, and my destiny.
A come across a strange sight, an old battle standard leaning up against a tree, with half decayed human heads haning from it..the flesh of the men is starting to rot, but their long hair on top of the skull still holds them to the standard.
Q: Does he issue a fair challenge? NO
Foes default Stealth of 7 vs my Perception/Observation of 12. He fails his check with a 15, I pass mine with a 12.
I draw back, confused…then hear someone behind me. I spin around raising my spear. There is a Belton warrior, wearing heavy leather hides and carrying a spear and shield….blood and rage in his eyes!
(My speed is higher, I Ready my spear. He readies his spear.
I wait, and will strike when he gets in reach. He closes to do a Move and Attack with a -4 to hit (so he’ll need a 9 or less, but I strike first! My spear skill is 11, I roll a 12, and miss him. He rolls an 11 and misses me! I try all out attack, opting for +4 to hit…I roll a 10 and hit! He rolls a 13 to block with his shield…his shield skill is 13 so 6+3 is his block, target 9+2 for Medium Sheild, target 11. My two handed spear thrust hits! I roll d6+1 for 7 impaling damage! I roll an 11 for location, hitting the torso, which is armored, so 7-2 DR= 5 pts impaling damage for 10 hit points of damage. So he has 1 hit point left! This is a Major Wound, so in addition to a Shock Penalty of -4 on his next turn, he must pass a Health Check, which he does, rolling 11 of 11.)
So…does he surrender, very unlikely: Exceptional yes!
I ready my spear in both hands, terrified by his fearsome appearance and rapid charge towards me! I thrust my spear at him, narrowly missing him as I slip to the side of his spear thrust as well. Then in desperate fear, I lunge at him, slipping my spear past his shield and up underneath his collarbone. He cries out in pain as my spearhead drives deep inside his flesh.
Crying out, he drops his spear and falls to his knees. “Mercy!” He cries.
(who is this guy? Using Universl NPC Emulator- Hostile-Surrender, yeah, makes sense. Focus on Experience, Manage Cowardice, Process Prosperity, Strive Dreams…so this is a man who was seeking to prove he is not a coward so he can become a leader in his commmunity) Older then me? (at age 19, I”m actually 12 in this scene), No.
I stand over the foreigner, my bloody spear in hand, now leveled at his throat. His weapon and shield on the ground in front of him. He looks at me with pitiful eyes, pleading for his life. He’s a young man, just come of age it seems. I glance at the severed heads on the standard.
Q: Do i recognize the heads? (even chance) YES Q: from our village? NO Q: bandits? EXCEPTIONAL NO Q: men? YES
I recognize them as a pair of hunters from Steagle, the village to the south of ours.
I thrust my spear through the man’s chest.
I fall to my knees and vomit.
Sick to my stomach over having just killed a man in cold blood.
But he was a murderer, and would have killed me without a thought, as he killed our kin.
Scene 2:(Positively Altered) Scene #2 (Positive Alteration):
I sit down beneath the thick canopy, near the dead man, his blood and my vomit staining the round between us. And as i look up at the banner from which my kinsmen’s heads hang, I realize that I am stronger than I thought.
(Immersion, sound, wilderness, yelping)
I hear the sound of wolf pups crying out for their meal, and yet, I am unafraid. I stand up and clean off my spear. Then I take the man’s knife, and cut off his head as he had done to our people.
I look to the treeline and see a wolf watching me.
Q: Is the wolf my totem? Likely-YES
And I smile. I am a hunter. A defender of my pack, and of my people. I didn’t realize it then, but I would also always be a “pup” in the eyes of my kin, unable to grow a proper beard, always looking young for my age, but no matter.
I tear down the banner and wrap the three heads inside it. Then I look through the man’s camp.
Q: Do I find any valuables? Unlikely-NO
He has a bit of food, but not much else. His knife, his spear, and his shield. I take those with me. Normally, one might spend several nights seeking a vision, but I decide to return home now. There is nothing else for me here.
Following this adventure, I need to make some adjustments to Gregard’s character sheet. The disadvantage “Charitable” seems inappropriate given that he just killed a man in cold blood, and I forgot to roll it. Though, six years prior to the start of the campaign, perhaps he became charitable? Regretting his action? Hmmm…possibilities.
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