Solo ODND with Outdoor Survival

A look inside my ODND solo-play using a reimagined classic map

Hey there - while I work my ghoulish form to the (semi-exposed) bones on the Kal-Arath Kickstarter fulfillment (which is going very well!), I thought I’d let you in on a little piece of my ongoing solo ODND game using the classic Outdoor Survival map.

In my first several sessions, I played as Tiwo and Teera, a fighter and thief duo who ran afoul of a thieves guild in the city of Pentia.

These were some pretty wildly fun games - I’d never fought a dragon before in my entire time playing DND I don’t think, let alone kill a young one at first level through some crazy rolls.

Anyways, that’s a tale for another time.

I wanted to stay in the same world (especially now that I’ve commissioned this insane redraw from Valterink (shown in its glory at the bottom of this article), and decided to play as one of the servants of an emerging nemesis from the main game.

Enter Haxos, Anti-Cleric.

I know, he’s already L2 in the photo, I took this after the session!

Here’s a brief rundown of the session (didn’t include any rolls, because there weren’t many, but I’m using Delving Deeper more or less RAW, so…you get the idea), followed with some ideas, notes, and maybe a tip or two for your own games!

Enjoy.

Session One:

Haxos, servant of the mighty Silkanthos, lord of the fortress of Durakh-Hathas.

Mission: Sent south, through the mountains that rise beyond the city of Aino, to the cursed ruins of Akal’Beryth, in order to pass the Test and become named as an Umbral Knight in service of the forces of ruin and shadow. 

His travel is uninterrupted, but in the distance as he passes through the high mountain road called the Wyvern Gate, he sees the fortress of Antares, famed warrior, who walked with the giants of these mountains and tamed the wyverns for his comrades to ride -he sees these circling overhead high above the fortress walls. 

On the fourth day, Haxos reaches the ruins and delves into them. The ancient carvings tell him that this was once the seat of the Umbral Knighthood. 

Ethereal voices in other areas tell him the story of the fall of the order. 

Illusory warriors attack him, but he sees through the test. 

The bodies of those who have failed the test before him rise up against him and are crushed, though he is grievously wounded. 

He voices his intentions at the Speaking Gate, and the portcullis opens for him to claim gold, gems, a map, and the grim mace which he names “Darkness.”

Upon returning to the fortress of Durakh’Hathas, he is rewarded with the title of Adept, and knighted by his superior, Avanos, who is himself the lieutenant of Vandra, Dark Curate of their order. 

He is then tasked by Avanos to travel south, through the Vyr Peaks, to the land of Thalin. His mission is to re-establish the cult in that land, and to bring others into the service of the Order of Umbral Knights. 

It will be a difficult journey to reach Thalin, and its capital city of Grav lies some 100 miles of treacherous mountains from the dark fortress of Durakh-Hathas. 

Armed with the powers of darkness, Haxos sets out.
 

Behind the screen:

One of the funnest parts of ODND may be the rules for generating fortresses.

The implications it puts out there for the setting has been covered well elsewhere (see the now well-known The Original Setting), but my entire solo ODND campaign (which this new character Haxos is the latest part of) started from rolling up a single fortress. 

Durakh-Hathas is the home of an evil high priest, Silkantos, and his various servants and lieutenants. In my “main party” game, my fighter Tiwo and his lover Teera are working for a green dragon to bring down the corrupt masters of the city of Pentia, and more importantly, to destroy Silkantos’ protege Vandra, who has taken over the region to the south of the city near a large swamp. 

I wanted to play another angle from the “bad guys” team and always wanted the opportunity to play an anti-cleric in ODND, so Haxos was born. The idea of ancient evil order that has long fallen from its old power appealed - rebuilding from scratch, while the main bad guy’s lieutenants are otherwise engaged (and only between L3 and L5). 

The trip to the ancient fortress of the Umbral Knights was uneventful, even rolling three random checks each hex in the mountains. I want this world dangerous and filled with peril - the hexes are 12 miles, so I fast-ruled that 2 plains can be traveled, but only 1 mountain, with a 50/50 roll that no progress is made on any given day due to bad paths, getting lost, and others hardships. 

However - that big damn fort on the edge of the mountains…I rolled that it was occupied by a Neutral human fighter of 10th level. His associates? Giants, shapeshifters and wyverns. I combined this into a badass group of comrades who  *are* shapeshifters, and *ride* the wyverns, because why the hell not, and the giants are their stone workers and ground dominance. The fortress, Wyvern Gate, is a serious damn place in the Vyr Peaks - I haven’t worried about figuring more out about Antares, its lord, yet, but as the nearest fortress to Durakh-Hathas, I like the idea that he and his cronies are responsible for the much weakened state of Haxos’ cult these days, and so I stepped lightly around the fortress. 

Akal’beryth was generated using

Chaoclypse

“Solus” booklet and a few of my own monster tables. Skeletons were fought, illusory “traps” faced, a speaking portcullis that I decided was imbued with the spirit of one of the old commanders of the knighthood…treasure was obtained, including a nice Mace +1 that I’d already decided would be there as “proof” of passing the test and gaining access to the old war room. 

I’ve decided that Haxos’ main goal will eventually be restoring this creepy old place to its former glory. But first: Haxos earned enough XP to be “knighted” and attain “adept” status at L2, and is now equipped with a magic mace, a 1st level spell (Protection) and a decent amount of gold to go about his new mission of re-establishing their evil cult in the southwest kingdom of Thalin. 

Good times. I look forward to corrupting the region or dying trying. 

As a side note, a lot of times I too fall prey to the “shiny” syndrome of always starting new adventures or campaigns, but I find it annoying and draining to do this. Instead, I’ve been trying to maintain the same campaign/world and just play another group in a totally different area when I feel distracted. 

You can even do this with an entirely different ruleset solo because you don’t have to worry about convincing your table to play something else. 

This actually works really well for different cultures and different magic: in my campaign world, different magic systems exist which have different rule sets - it all works fine. Mixing Vancian slots for once class and giving another the ability to roll for a “Power” like Mörk Borg is surprisingly functional and interesting, especially if you don’t worry about stuff like “balance” in your game. 

I’ve always liked the idea of very different places having very different concepts of religion, magic and so on - in one of my worlds, one region can ONLY trade HP to cast spells, on a point for point basis with how high the spell level is…but they can also drink blood which gives them extra spell casting HP. This is the origin of the vampire in that world, as arcane casting fumbles give them certain aversions and weaknesses (think garlic and sunlight). 

Anyways, hope you enjoyed this little foray into my solo play!

I’ll be collecting a lot of the setting stuff into a zine, which will include the files to print your own version of this crazy cool map.

This will be one of many projects when the Kickstarter for Kal-Arath is totally fulfilled. In the meantime, it’s just how I’m winding down from the “real job.”

Keep your blades sharp. 

- Castle Grief