Rangers of Shadow Deep - Tor Varden, The Lower Level

The fourth scenario from Rangers of Shadow Deep Standard Edition. Played with Martin's hand-drawn 20mm figures and pop-up terrain. 

The Scenario

After the encounter at the bridge, you and your companions were able to slip past a couple of other gnoll patrols and reach Tor Varden. There were no guards posted outside, and very little indication of anyone inside. Then a muffled scream came from somewhere in the tower. It was a sign both good and ill. There is at least one man alive in Tor Varden, but you might already be too late to save him. You will need to move fast.

Our band of heroes consisted of two Rangers and their Companions: 

Ranger Alan De Paladin with his companions Bill Bagskott the Archer and McGregor the Dwarf.

Ranger Rogon Gosh Shadowstalker with his companions Geoffrey the Archer and Bill & Bull the Warhounds. 

The party had found keys at the Gnoll camp guarding the river crossing, they had recognised them as the keys to Tor Varden, so they knew that entrance to the tower should be easy.

In the room behind the first door, the Gnolls had constructed a torture room. Two badly beaten prisoners were shackled to the wall opposite the doorway. In the centre of the room was another prisoner and a Gnoll Sergeant. Two other Gnoll Fighters are in the room.

Alan De Paladin, Bill Bagskott and McGregor rushed into the room, attacking and killing the nearest gnoll fighter.

The Gnoll Sergeant and the remaining Gnoll Fighter charged at the heroes. Alan De Paladin was badly wounded.

Ranger Shadowstalker now rushed in with his companions Geoffrey the Archer and Bill & Bull the Warhounds to support the of Alan De Paladin. Both the Gnoll Sergeant  and the Gnoll Fighter were killed.

The party discovered the watchtower’s dog, licking its wounds in a corner. This encouraged Bill & Bull and increased their determination, courage, and ability to resist magic spells.

Shadowstalker, with Bill & Bull at his heels, rushed over to the centre prisoner and untied him. He joined the heroes as a man-at-arms. The two prisoners chained to the wall are too badly wounded to help the party, who planned to come back and help them later.

Geoffrey the Archer examined the far door, while Shadowstalker cast a healing spell on the badly wounded Alan De Paladin.

Behind the next door was a Storage Room. This room was filled with boxes, crates, bags, and barrels. 

The heroes prepared to enter.

With Shadowstalker and Bill & Bull in the lead, they charged the nearest Gnoll Fighter.

As the fight continues, the Gnolls in the room closed in on the heroes.

From behind cover, Geoffrey the Archer took a pot shot at a Gnoll Fighter but without killing him.

The first Gnoll Fighter died as the fight continued.

Bill Bagskott and McGregor killed the Gnoll fighter nearest the door, while at the same time the other heroes finished of the rest of the Gnolls.

When the fight was over, the party searched for clues and treasure; they found a Philtre of Fairy Dust containing one dose and bottle of the kingdom’s famous Golden Beer renowned for its healing properties. 

The heroes then readied themselves in front of the third door.

Behind that door was the Shaman’s Workshop. Whatever this room once was, it has been completely transformed into a horrific workshop. The room contained some scattered furniture, all of it covered in animal parts. In the centre of the room stood a table with an inanimate flesh golem lying on top of it. Next to the golem stood a Gnoll Shaman. Two Gnoll Fighters were between the table and the entrance door. 

Shadowstalker and Bill & Bull attacked and killed the nearest Gnoll.

The rest of the party moved up to help, and the Gnoll Shaman attacked.

The heroes quickly killed the last opposition so that the Shaman had no chance to animate the flesh golem.

The party rest to recover their health before deciding to continue up the tower.

Four Against Darkness #2

This is the second episode in the story of a party of adventures who took up the fight against darkness in search of fame and fortune within the deep and evil dungeons.

It was played using the Four Against Darkness, (4AD), a solitaire dungeon-delving game written by Andrea Sfiligoi from Ganesha Games.

The party were resting in the cave having looked after their wounds. The party consisted of Sir Dancealot the warrior, Father Braun the cleric, Little Tam the rogue and Salubran the wizard. Having recovered from their first delve into the dungeon, they wanted now to explore the remainder, in search of evil to defeat and more treasure.

After a quick discussion, the party determined the marching order, with Sir Dancelot and Little Tam in the front and Salubran and Father Braun bring up the rear. They went down the stairs and turned to their right, to the branch of the dungeon that they had not yet explored.

The corridor turned left and ending in a door. The door was unlocked and the party rushed in. There they met a horde of 13 giant rats. These vermin were quickly dispatched by the party. A quick examination revealed that they had no treasure.

Emboldened by their easy victory over the giant rats, the party charged through the door on the opposite wall.

Through the door they saw 4 coffins. One coffin was open and there was a mummy climbing out. The party attacked immediately. Father Braun attacked first because of his disgust of all things undead. Salubran unleashed a fireball as he hoped the mummy was flammable. Sir Dancealot and Little Tam joined in the fight and the mummy was defeated.

Salubran was wounded and Little Tam helped him bind his wound with bandages.

Father Braun searched the open coffin and he discovered a Scroll containing a Fireball spell which he gave to the party's wizard, Salubran.

The party moved on to the right hand door. They opened it but the room was empty. The searched the room, and hidden on the floor under a thick layer of dust was a pentagram. They read the words surrounding the pentagram which gave them a clue.

The party could go no further in that direction, so they traced their way back through the coffin room to the other door.

The party opened the door and charged in, their weapons at the ready. They were met by a ferocious minotaur. His bull heritage showing, the minotaur charged the party head down. 

Salubran immediately tried to put the minotaur to sleep using a spell. But the minotaur's bull-like charge unnerved the wizard and the spell failed gloriously.

Sir Dancealot sprang to the front and confronted the minotaur with an explosion-like attack with his two-handed sword.

The minotaur fought back, but Sir Dancealot kept up the fight and yet again he performed an explosion-like attack with his two-handed sword so he killed the minotaur single-handedly.

The party searched the body of the dead minotaur, and they found a magic ring of teleportation in the minotaur's nose. Even this item was given to Salubran, who was the most vulnerable member of the party.

The party advanced through the minotaur's room towards the next door, behind which was the lair of an Orc Brute, the dungeon's Big Bad Evil Guy.

Armed with two heavy choppers, the Orc Brute's two attacks could be very dangerous. 

Having failed in his last attempt, Salubran stepped forward and cast his second and last sleep spell. This time he succeeded, the Orc Brute staggered backwards, but didn't make it to the bed, he collapsed onto his owlbear rug snoring loudly.

The party searched the room and in a chest by the door they found 100 pieces of gold.

Happy with their treasure, and leaving the Orc Brute sleeping deeply, the party decided it was time to leave. They made their way back to the entrance without meeting any wandering monsters. They climbed up the stairs and back into the cave above. 

Map of the dungeon

Once in the cave, they looked after their wounds and rested, recovering so as to be ready for another adventure. But while sleeping, they always had one party member on watch, keeping one eye on the trap door and the other on the cave entrance. 

The next morning, the torrential rain had stopped and the sun was shining bright. The party packed up their camp and continued their journey to the town of Trumpton.

In Trumpton, both Sir Dancealot and Father Braun visited the armourer to purchase some heavier armour and to get it fitted to their exact measurements. While waiting for the armourer to complete his work, Father Braun visited the temple where he bought two vials of Holy Water and some bandages to replace those used by Salubran.

 

Four Against Darkness #1

This is the first episode in the story of a party of adventures who took up the fight against darkness in search of fame and fortune within the deep and evil dungeons.

It was played using the Four Against Darkness, (4AD), a solitaire dungeon-delving game written by Andrea Sfiligoi from Ganesha Games. 

Our story begins with a party of four inexperienced adventurers trudging woefully through the pouring rain in search of glory. The party consisted of Sir Dancealot the warrior, Father Braun the cleric, Little Tam the rogue and Salubran the wizard. Night was beginning to fall, the rain was turning into hail and Sir Dancealot was continuously moaning about what the wet weather was doing to his hairstyle. 

Sir Dancealot - Father Braun - Little Tam - Salubran

Little Tam spotted a cave in the hillside and she pointed it out to her companions. After a very brief discussion, they decided to camp there for the night and to cook their meal sheltered from the downpour. They carefully inspected the cave before entering, to make sure it was not already occupied by a band of kobolds or a pair of owlbears. When they were sure it was unoccupied, the party entered and started a fire in the hope of drying their wet clothes. In the light of the burning fire, Father Braun noticed a trapdoor in the floor of the cave, hidden behind a pile of rocks.

Having dried and fed themselves, the party decided to explore the trapdoor. When Sir Dancelot lifted the trapdoor, he revealed a stone staircase disappearing down into the darkness. Salubran lit the party's lantern and they descended. The stairs were wide enough for the party to go two abreast. Deciding that they were more warry of traps than undead, Little Tam led with Sir Dancealot while Father Braun and Salubran brought up the rear. 

Once down the stairs, the party were in a corridor [3]which went straight ahead and branched both right and left.

The party continued straight ahead without changing their marching order. They came to a door to a room [46].

The room contained a large stone gargoyle statue positioned in front of a narrow corridor and was otherwise empty. The party advanced cautiously towards the gargoyle, but when nothing happened, Little Tan stretched forward and squeezed the gargoyle's nose. The gargoyle immediately came to life, surprising the party and attacking.

It was a hard fight for such an inexperienced party [lvl 4 boss] however the party fought bravely and defeated the gargoyle. When vanquished, the statue crumbled into dust revealing 70 gold coins which the party distributed among themselves. 

The party continued on, down the narrow corridor behind where the gargoyle had been positioned. They came to a second door opening into a room [25].

When they entered the room, they were faced by 6 vampire bats. Swinging his two-handed sword with explosive energy, Sir Dancealot quickly despatched these vermin without needing any help from the rest of the party.

Leaving the room with chopped up bats behind them, the party changed marching order with Father Braun moving to the front with Sir Dancelot. They came to a door behind which was a corridor [32] with two further doors. 

The corridor was empty except for a devil-faced shrine. As the party approached, an eerie glow emanated from the devil's eyes casting a curse on Father Brown. The cleric, being trained in such evil at the seminary knew that he need to prey for divine help to bless himself and remove the curse. This he did immediately.

Forgetting to search the empty room, the party went to the left door. 

They opened the door and entered the room [43]. Here they found 3 zombies which they fought.

The zombies were troublesome but the pious Father Braun finally finished off the last zombie using his trusted mace.

Unfortunately, the zombie room contained nothing else of interest as zombies have no treasure.

Still with Father Braun and Sir Dancelot at the front, the party moved past the zombie corpses and came to another door behind which was a room [31].

Entering the room they were confronted by a Chaos Lord in the shape of a winged devil. Not realising how dangerous a situation they were now in [lvl 6 boss], the party chose fight rather than discretion.  

The Chaos Lord's Evil Eye stared at the party, and yet again Father Braun was affected by its curse.

Everyone in the party was seriously hurt during the fight, and were it not for Father Braun's healing magic then the party would have been quickly wiped out.

As the party were more numerous than a single opponent, Little Tam managed to sneak in some telling hits on the Chaos Lord.

Salubran tried two sleep spells and a fireball but none of these succeeded against such a powerful enemy.

Although he had trained for fighting dragons, Sir Dancelot's long sword managed some lucky hits on the Chaos Lord.

Having finally defeated the Chaos Lord, the party searched the room finding seven gold coins and a horde of Fool's Gold. While searching, Sir Dancelot found a scrap of parchment containing a clue.

When the party opened the door, they found that it joined up with the entrance corridor. They decided to leave the dungeon as they were all wounded, their wizard had no spells left and their cleric could heal no more that day.

The party retired up the stairs and back into the cave. 

The map of the dungeon

Once in the cave, they looked after their wounds and rested, recovering so as to be ready for another adventure. But while sleeping, they always had one party member on watch, keeping one eye on the trap door and the other on the cave entrance. 

Rangers of Shadow Deep - The Bridge Guards

The third scenario from Rangers of Shadow Deep Standard Edition. Played with Martin's hand-drawn 20mm figures and pop-up terrain. 

The Mission

Only hours after you arrived back from destroying the nest of spiders, you received a message from your commanding officer. Contact has been lost with the beacon tower of Tor Varden, and it is presumed to have been overrun. You are commanded to round up what men you can and proceed with all swiftness to Tor Varden to ascertain the truth. If the tower has fallen, learn what enemy forces now occupy it and harass or eliminate them as opportunity presents.

The Scenario

As you make your way towards Tor Varden, the gentle, rolling hills slowly give way to rocky plains, and finally into the boulder-filled maze known locally as ‘the Scree’. It is a barren, unnerving place – a perfect site for an ambush as the large rocks cut lines of sight down to just a few yards in most places. Proceeding cautiously, you eventually hear the Enthel River, which you must cross to reach Tor Varden. As you approach, however, you hear other noises as well, nearly drowned out by the river. Voices, of some inhuman type, a language filled with whines and barks.

Climbing to the top of a large boulder, you get a clear view down to the river. There, standing astride the old stone bridge is a pack of gnolls. Judging by the large cooking pot they have set up over the fire, these gnolls are camped here, likely to guard the bridge. The only other place to cross the Enthel River is a ford, in sight of the bridge, otherwise, it will take a least half a day to reach another crossing. There is nothing for it, the gnolls will have to be eliminated, as quickly and quietly as possible.

Our band of heroes consisted of two Rangers and their Companions:

On the left, Bill & Bull the Warhounds, Ranger Rogon Gosh Shadowstalker and Geoffrey the Archer.

On the right, Ranger Alan De Paladin with his companions Bill Bagskott the Archer and McGregor the Dwarf. 

The terrain was crowded with large rocks, small trees and shrubs which greatly restricted line-of-sight. The river was deep, fast running, shockingly cold and almost impassable except at a small stone bridge or a narrow ford.

Four gnoll archers patrolled the riverbank while a gnoll sergeant and two gnoll fighters guarded the bridge. Two additional gnoll fighters were in their camp, attending the fire.

The party tried using their sense of direction and stealth but with little result. 

So instead they advanced using the terrain to hide themselves from the patrolling gnolls. They split into two groups, a pincer manoeuvre, with Ranger Alan De Paladin moving to his right and Ranger Shadowstalker to his left.

The party spotted another gnoll fighter, who they had previously missed, appearing as if by magic from behind some shrubbery.

The party continued to creep forward, using the terrain to keep them hidden while the gnolls patrolled in what appeared to be a random and somewhat chaotic pattern.

Another gnoll that the party had not previously spotted appeared very closed to Ranger Shadowstalker and his companions. Shadowstalker, accompanied by Bill the warhound attacked immediately, killing the gnoll.

Alan De Paladin and his companions ganged up on a lone gnoll archer, and made quick work of him.

The gnolls were now alerted to the presence of our heroes. However the gnoll sergeant couldn't coordinate his troops and they moved forward in a haphazard fashion.

Shadowstalker and his companions jumped the nearest gnoll archer. The fight was fierce and Bull the warhound was so seriously cut up that he was out of the fight.

As if to lament the loss of Bull, a heavy rain started to fall which greatly reduced the range of vision and soaked the bowstrings making shooting dificult.

Alan De Paladin and his dwarven companion fought another gnoll.

The gnoll sergeant charged at Shadowstalker, Geoffrey and Bill. It was a hard fight. By the time they had beaten the gnoll, Shadowstalker was seriously wounded and he had to use a healing spell on himself.

At the same time as this fight with the sergeant was ongoing, Alan De Paladin and McGregor the Dwarf charged the gnolls on the bridge.

With a lucky shot, through the pouring rain, a gnoll archer shot Bill Bagskott the Archer. Bill is out of action for this fight, but may survive if given urgent medical attention, but will have a nasty scar for the rest of his life by which to remember this unfortunate encounter.

A giant Vulture was sighted flying high over the battlefield.

Alan De Paladin and McGregor killed the two gnolls guarding the bridge, just as a third gnoll fighter rushed in to attack.

By the ford, Shadowstalker, Geoffrey and Bill killed the last gnoll archer who had been patrolling the river.

The Vulture flew slowly and majestically down the centre of the battlefield, ignoring the carnage going on below.

The party rushed over the bridge, reaching the gnolls' camp and shot dead the last remaining gnoll.

In the gnolls' camp the party found a set of keys which were recognized as the keys to Tor Vardenx.

They also found a stash of gold and gemstones that will be given to the king to aid the war effort.