Delving Deep on the Borderlands
Running the classic B2 module solo with ODND
Been slammed at work and blah blah blah…
Still finding a little time in the evenings some nights to run some solo sessions and my weekly group game about every other week.
Since the group is playing the post-apocalyptic vibes of Studded Leather, I decided to deviate from my usual stuff and take on some classic modules I’ve never run or played, inspired heavily by Wizard Deadloss YouTube channel.
I took a crack with BECMI, from my newly acquired Rules Cyclopedia, but I honestly found it…just a lot of rules I’m not used to managing.
I suffered a few TPK’s and came back to the drawing board.
First, I discovered an excellent resource for B2, in the form of a hero named “Black Wyvern” and his amazing re-treatment of the module, RIGHT HERE
Breaking up the Caves of Chaos and sprinkling them out across the map, adding basements and dungeons to the Keep itself, and so on - a godsend that turns the already excellent B2 into a real sprawling sandbox with a million options.
I rolled up a new character from my spankin’ new at home prints of the terrific Delving Deeper (which alongside the newly released “Wight Box” is by far my favorite treatment of ODND), and hit the road…to the Keep.
I like to run a single character solo. It’s easier for me to keep in my head, and invest in, which makes for longer and more memorable and fun sessions for me. I usually start with a sketch after rolling stats, and I generally always play human fighters, because…they’re not boring, they’re awesome.
Meet Thamøs!
Anyhow, here’s a recap of the first few sessions (I documented those longhand in my sketchbook) followed by a live session that I just finished up and typed as I went on my laptop. I still had a sketchbook next to me for notes and drawings as I went, but a lot of people complained about my handwriting so we’ll see if this works a bit better.
I hope you enjoy a quick look into my solo sessions of B2, this time more legible, but still with some sketches and images.
Keep your blades sharp!
(Recap is just below the subscribe button, which you should score a critical hit on by smashing it so hard, if you’re not already!)
B2: KEEP ON THE BORDERLANDS
Session One and Two recap -
A woodsman and adventurous young man named Thamøs is from a village called Koppyr.
Villagers have been acting strange, disappearing, and not returning to the village. The reeve, Vaeren, has sent him east several days to The Keep, where he hopes to speak with Curate there to see if he will visit Koppyr and ascertain what’s wrong.
Thamøs arrives at The Keep on the 14th of Summerwane, a few short weeks before Fall season.
The upshot is that he’s told by the acolytes at the Church that he must make a sizable donation in order to see the Curate.
He decides to follow up on some rumors of bandits and fell creatures stalking these lands in force.
He hears at the Guild House that a merchant and his wife and guards have gone missing, abducted with a wagon and horses from the road just west of the keep.
He hunts, getting some furs and game to sell at the keep, and runs afoul of the diminutive forest and cavern dwellers folks around here call “kobolds,” an evil type.
In the process, they’ve kidnapped some merchants as well, who escape with Thamøs’ help. When he returns to the keep, he sells his goods, and the merchants reward him with gold for his help. He uses this to hire four men at arms to accompany him.
By day four, he has found the merchants trail, spoken with an ill-tempered ogre who offers his services in combat if the group will kill the giant spiders making his life difficult in the grove near the fens.
They do so, but lose two mercenaries in the process.
The ogre, Cruagh, then demanded 100gp in addition, so Thamøs returns to the keep, asks the Guild to advance him the gold. They do. He hires 4 more mercenaries, and the 7 of them set back out to hire their dubious ally.
It is now Day 5, the 19th of Summerwane, midday, and they are at the ford of the river Hardrun, near where a few small islands stand in its center and the water is low enough to cross with men and pack mule.
By late afternoon, they’ve returned to the area.
Thamøs warily approaches the cave of Cruagh, the ogre. He is at home, and his disposition is still friendly (9 encounter rolll +2 modifier for previous interactions) - as friendly as an ogre who continually discusses the merits of eating you.
Thamøs communicates with him roughly in the tongue of ogre and giant-kind, and hands him the sack of gold. Cruagh takes up his club and cracks his neck. He tells Thamøs to “keep the little ones behind me. Don’t dream of crossing me, or you’ll all end up in my cookpot.
Thamøs nods agreeably, as this seems fair to him.
Cruagh leads the way of the hill a short ways with a huge finger to his lips, as they approach a cave mouth. He grins and jerks his thumb at a scrawled sign with a skull on it as though there’s a joke written there, but Thamøs doesn’t read hobgoblin.
As they approach a stout barred door, he notices a hidden catch as a mercenaries torchlight glints off of it. He releases it and the door swings inward, exposing a rough hacked tunnel into the side of the hill…
Going straight in, they make a left turn at the T, then come around a dogleg in the tunnel, before bearing right, and coming into what appears to be a torture chamber of some kind. Two enormous hobgoblins are here guarding 6 prisoners.
Combat!
Neither side is surprised (5,6).
Initiative is a tie, so actions will occur simultaneously.
The ogre charges in, Thamøs fires his longbow, and the 5 men at arms not holding the torch form a shield wall and advance.
Thamøs hits for 3 damage. (7 remaining)
Cruagh hits for 4 damage the other hob (4 remaining)
Five Men: All miss!
Hob 1 with the whip attacks Thamøs: he hits for 5(!) damage and Thamøs is stunned for one round!!!
Hob 2 attacks Cruagh, and misses.
We have initiative in round 2.
Cruagh strikes again. A hit. 7 damage. That hob goes down. The men at arms attack the other in a group. 2 hits for 6 damage. He has 1 left.
He attacks the ogre. And scores a hit. Cruagh takes 4 points. He is unfazed.
We have initiative again. Thamøs charges in with his battle axe, and misses.
Cruagh knocks the men at arms out of his way and turns the hob’s head to jelly with his club, and immediately moves to begin killing the prisoners.
Thamøs is badly injured, uses a healing salve. Then the other one. (+4 hp, back to 5hp) He immediately begins to reason with Cruagh that he has two large hobgoblins to feast on, and treasure to share, and that these lot might know where more is.
Cruagh is satisfied with this. (Cha check, success by 5).
Creatures: 500xp/8 = 62xp each.
Treasure: 7 gp. Arm ring worth 135gp.
Cruagh demands the arm ring and his share of the prisoners. Thamøs reminds him that the prisoners were why he came in the first place, but that mighty Cruagh can have the orc and the gnoll if he likes.
Reaction check - Cruagh does not like to be argued with. He wants the merchant’s wife. (7 - uncertain. Roll again. 5. Attack. Shit.)
Cruagh attacks. He’s down 4 hp, but has 21 remaining.
He has the initiative.
He attacks Thamøs first, being the one who has stoked his ire. He rolls a natural 1, his club strikes the ceiling and cracks.
Thamøs hits with a 19. He deals 4+2 with his axe +1 for 6 points. (15 remaining.)
5 men at arms: One hit for 5 damage. 10hp remaining.
Cruagh wins the initiative again. He is hurt and facing 7 men. We’ll roll morale. He succeeds. He will attack either Thamøs (1-3) or the last man to hit him (4-6). A 6.
He hits AC 6 with a 10. 4 damage. The man is badly injured.
Thamøs hits again for 6 points of damage. 4hp left.
The men at arms attack. 3 hits for a total 7 damage. Cruagh goes down.
+500xp/7 = 70xp. +100gp, and the arm ring. Another 32xp.
Total of about 170 for the encounter, and 185 for Thamøs.
He quickly sets about freeing the merchant, his wife, and their men at arms.
The orc says that if Thamøs frees him, he won’t forget it, and might spare his life if they see each other again. He is set free, and runs from the cavern.
They make a hasty withdrawal from the cavern, after the grisly work of removing the ogre’s head, and head down to Cruagh’s lair.
Rounded into gp: 365gp. A keg of brandy. A pile of fake gold coins. 6 arrows +1. A potion of invisibility. Magic scroll with 2 cleric spells: cure light wounds and hold person.
A good haul!
However…
Night is close to falling, and the party is in dangerous territory, and one man is badly wounded. They are a full day of travel from the keep.
Thamøs makes the decision, however dangerous, to push into the evening - the hobgoblins are sure to find their prisoners taken, their guards slain, and a dead ogre in the cavern and wonder what the hell happened.
They drive on.
Travel to the Keep is about 10 hours from here. It is currently early evening, so the party will not reach safety until the wee hours of morning.
Will roll two wandering encounters. Both ok.
The party reaches the Keep in the small hours, and tell the guards what’s happened, who immediately open the gates and let them in.
Day 6, 20th of Summerwane
In the late morning, after rest, Thamøs receives honorary membership into the merchant’s guild, a 100gp bonus, and the merchant’s wife gives him a dagger +1 for his service, and their two guardsmen express a debt of loyalty. Thamøs thanks them and says he will call that debt in if needs be in the future, but he has all the retainers he can handle.
He taps the keg of brandy, and throws a celebration in the tavern for his men-at-arms, awarding each of them a bonus of 10gp, for which they are extremely happy. He displays the ogre’s head outside the tavern in the fountain square, and the party catches on with many others, until the small square is quite the spot to be.
This catches the attention of more than a few people who reside here, and who we will meet next time.
Thanks for checking it out!
Fun read and fantastic art. Nice to see Delving Deeper getting some love and those Frazetta covers are killer. It's probably my favorite 0D&D clone.
Have you heard of Mike's World:The Forsaken Wilderness Beyond? It's by Geoffrey McKinney and it expands the wilderness beyond the Keep by a large degree. Maybe the scope is beyond what you're doing with this solo game, but it's pretty neat and worth checking out if you're interested.