1 Tales of the Burrow Actual play Resources • Game system : Usurper • Oracle : Recluse Solo Engine, simple three act/scene structure • Resources: Tales of the Burrow Format This will be the format for writing down my game system and oracle elements. This will be the format for writing down my story elements. This will be the format for writing down my resource elements. Character creation I create two characters, a bonded faery goblin and rabbit scout team from Tales of the Burrow. I use Usurper’s ‘Zero to Hero’ method, and select 3 traits for each character. I elect to use the optional rule of selecting a conviction for each character after the first adventure. I select 3 traits by writing down a few short paragraphs about each character, underlining the most important parts. Faery goblin Chort Snicklegrub is completely loyal to the Goblin Queen. As a Bloodnail soldier , he sees the Swiftspring rabbit colony as family. The rebellious Swiftspring Parsley Whitetail is a resourceful rabbit. As a scout , she loves to roam the forest above the Burrow. Chort’s traits : faery goblin, loyal, soldier. Parsley’s traits : Swiftspring, resourceful, scout. Adventure background This adventure will use the underground community of faery goblins and Swiftspring rabbits that feature in Tales of the Burrow as its setting. As a bonded scout team, Chort and Parsley are charged with defending the Burrow against any threat. Next, I generate an adventure seed: Adventure seed: Honeycomb expansion , Tror Lardscowl, Bloodnail Keep. I interpret this as the Goblin Queen approving an expansion to the Honeycomb. Tror Lardscowl resents the decision to give even more room to the Swiftspring rabbits. The Goblin Queen of Bloodnail Keep has asked Chort and Parsley to talk some sense into the market boss. 2 It was rare for the Goblin Queen of the Burrow, Zhortys Bloodnail, to summon a novice scout team like Chort and Parsley. However, they felt confused about their new assignment. They usually fought the centipede warriors of the Crawling Kingdom. Diplomatic missions were beyond them. What was old Zhortys thinking? Act 1 - Scene 1: Lardscowl I will use a simple act/scene structure for this adventure, and try to frame my story events accordingly. The first act will be about confronting Tror Lardscowl the market boss, with his public resentment of the Goblin Queen’s decision. The first scene of this first act will be about Chort and Parsley trying to find Lardscowl in the Goblin Shantytown market. My characters find themselves standing in front of the Goblin Shantytown when they exit Bloodnail Keep, so I ask Recluse if they manage to run into him in the market. I determine that the odds are likely, and I roll #45 a ‘Yes’. I look at the description of the location for input on how the scene plays out. GOBLIN SHANTYTOWN (excitedly/haggle) Description : improvised buildings constructed from scavenged materials found in the Oderweald forest. A large inn leans precariously against the walls of a dark underground keep. Bustling markets full of shrewd feary goblin merchants and wide-eyed Swiftspring rabbits. "Is that the fat idiot we’re looking for?” Parsley said as she sniffed a booth selling vegetables. "I can never tell your kind apart. Except for you, Chort. You have a very specific smell...” "Yeah, that’s him,” Chort whispered as he eyed the enormous faery goblin swaying through the crowd towards them. I wonder if the market boss would have cronies with him, I ask Recluse if there are any. Chort and Parsley 3 I determine that the odds are even, and I roll #3 doubles. This means some presupposition behind the question was wrong. Interesting! I interpret this as Lardscowl not having cronies, but it being clear that he is a cronie himself. For now, I keep Lardscowl’s ‘master’ simple. Chort and Parsley were suprised to see a hooded stranger walking next to an almost whimpering Lardscowl. "Who is that? I don’t recognize him, but Lardscowl seems afraid,” Chort worried to himself. Parsley nodded and moved closer. She tried to use her keen rabbit hearing to listen in on Lardscowl’s conversation with the stranger. Parsley tries to listen in on Lardscowl’s conversation. I roll on Usurper’s Action/ Event table to determine the result: (56) Action succeeds with a consequence. I decide that while Parsley’s action succeeds, the consequence is that she is spotted. To determine what Lardscowl and the stranger are talking about, I roll (4) on the Stirring Finds table for this location. Stirring Find: dead centipede wearing a saddle. I change the result somewhat to fit the story specifics. "Your ssshipment of cussstomized Ssswiftssspring sssaddles arrived in the Crawling Kingdom.” The hooded stranger lispeled. "Our deal ssstill ssstandsss? Goblinsss loyal to our caussse ssstand ready?” The nervous market boss broke into a sweat as he stammered his agreement. The hooded stranger suddenly noticed Parsley . "It ssseems we have intrudersss...” Oh oh. I ask Recluse if the hooded stranger and Lardscowl attack Parsley and Chort. I determine that the odds are likely, and roll ^62 doubles. Again, some presupposition was wrong. I take another look at the location description and the Stirring Finds table result for inspiration. The hooded stranger started to undulated in a horrible manner. Large crates burst apart as two centipede warriors emerged to attack. "Feed, my children!” The hooded stranger sneered, as he and Lardscowl made their escape into the screaming crowds. 4 Time for combat! Parsley and Chort will face off against two centipede warriors. The centipedes are small specimens, and each have a single monster trait: segmented body . Each character faces one centipede in the crowded market square. Exchange 1: Chort burns his soldier trait and rushes into battle hoping to defeat his opponent quickly, so he can help Parsley. Because I burnt Chort’s soldier trait, I roll twice and keep the highest result. I roll (26) and (88) on the Usurper Combat table : Opponent defeated. Chort’s centipede warrior burns its segmented body trait to ignore this defeat. Parsley just tries to kick her approaching centipede. She’s up for a fight! I roll (55) on the Combat table : Opponent defeated but character suffers injury. Next, I roll (17) on the Injuries table : Stunned. Not good. Parsley’s centipede warrior also burns its segmented body trait to ignore defeat. The two centipede warriors chittered across the market towards Chort and Parsley. "Hold on, Parsley!” Chort screamed as he saw his companion fall, stunned by a vicious blow to her head. Chort hacked away at his own centipede opponent’s segmented body, but the monster just kept coming! Exchange 2: Chort will have to survive against two opponents now. First, I roll (96) on the Combat table : Opponent defeated spectacularly. Not a problem! For the second opponent, I roll (61): Opponent defeated but character suffers injury. Next, I roll (11) on the Injuries table : Stunned. I guess this will become Chort and Parsley’s theme... Centipede warrior 5 Remembering his training kept Chort alive in his battle against two centipede warriors. He dispatched one of the foul creatures quickly by lopping its mandibled head cleanly off. The other one eventually fell to his blade, but not before slamming him into the ground. Everything went black. I decide to end the first scene here. Act 1 - Scene 2: The Goblin Queen Act 1: confront market boss Tror Lardscowlwith his public resentment of the Goblin Queen’s decision. Scene 2: report Lardscowl’s involvement with the Crawling Kingdom to the Goblin Queen. Both my characters were stunned, but not seriously injured. I will assume they recover to gather their wits. They will have to report the incident and the involvement of the Crawling Kingdom to Zhortys Bloodnail, the Goblin Queen. However, they will try to gather some proof first. I ask Recluse if there are any identifying markings on the crates the centipedes were transported in. I determine the odds are unlikely and roll @$4 doubles again! I interpret the most likely presupposition being wrong is that my characters have time to investigate. Some event probably interfered. Chort and Parsley slowly came around to the sound of someone yelling. Their heads throbbing with pain. "Explain yourselves, scouts!” A large goblin guard wearing Bloodnail Keep colors shouted at them. "How did these centipede warriors wound up in the Burrow, in the middle of Goblin Shantytown?!” Awkward. Parsley will attempt to convince the guard that they were not involved. Both characters didn’t have a chance to rest yet, so I’m not going to burn anymore traits for now. I roll (14) on Usurper’s Action/Event table to determine the result: Action fails and the character suffers a consequence of failure. Ouch. The most likely outcome will be getting taken in for questioning. I could ask Recluse, but decide to go with that. 6 As Chort and Parsley painfully got up, more goblin guards arrived at the scene. "You and that dirty rabbit can explain yourselves to the Goblin Queen,” the large guard spat at the ground. "Arrest these troublemakers and take them to Bloodnail Keep.” Chort exchanged a worried look with Parsley, "I guess dimplomacy really isn’t our thing.” While distrust of the Swiftspring rabbits is a common sentiment among faery goblins of the Burrow, I decide to ask Recluse if the guard is in league with Lardscowl. I determine this is unlikely and roll @#5 a ‘No’. At least I will have a chance at a fair hearing. I look at the description of the location for input on how the scene plays out. BLOODNAIL KEEP (dark/transform) Description : eerie shadows creep along black stone walls in the flickering torchlight. A lone gloomy spire proudly displays the Swiftspring banner alongside the crimson Bloodnail pennant. Two maw- like tunnel entrances flank the keep like hungry beasts waiting to be fed. It might be a good idea to ask Recluse if Chort and Parsley are going to be brought straight to the Goblin Queen, or to some other place, like the dungeon of the keep... I determine the odds are even and roll %6 a ‘Yes, and’, as both rolls are 4 or higher. My interpretation of this will be: yes, Chort and Parsley will be brought straight to the Goblin Queen, and she is already informed of events by the angry guard. I look at the Goblin Queen’s description for input on her reaction. Zhortys Bloodnail, Goblin Queen (kooky/leadership/being hated means you are doing something right) Old Zhortys Bloodnail looked distant and angry on her throne of polished black pebbles. "My guard informs me you have brought centipede warriors inside the Burrow,” she said absentmindedly. Zhortys suddenly became angry, "my trust in you seems to have been misplaced!” 7 "Explain yourself or be exiled into the Tunnels!” Chort will attempt to convince Zhortys that they were merely fighting the monsters that Lardscowl brought into the Burrow. I roll on Usurper’s Action/Event table to determine the result: (38) Unexpected event interrupts action. I look at the location’s the Queen’s Paranoia ’ table for input on this interruption and roll (5). The Queen’s Paranoia: bugs in the keep listen to everything. Well, that was disgustingly fitting. Before Chort was able to answer his enraged Queen, a sudden movement behind the throne caught his attention. "Have you lost your tongue?!” Zhortys continued. He tried to approach the throne but was restrained by the guards. "My Queen is in danger, an earbug is crawling behind the throne!” The Goblin Queen was repulsed, as her guards pulled the tick-like creature from behind the throne. As this turn of events completely fulfills what I set out for the second scene of act one, I decide to end it here! Act 1 - Scene 3: The Goblin Queen Act 1: confront market boss Tror Lardscowl with his public resentment of the Goblin Queen’s decision. Scene 3: find and eliminate Crawling Kingdom agents in the Goblin Shantytown. Looking at Zhortys’ second keyword and her theme in Tales of the Burrow, I decide that the Goblin Queen would react swiftly and brutal to seeing proof of the Crawling Kingdom’s involvement. After listening to their report, the old Goblin Queen adressed Chort and Parsley. Her brow trembled with rage. "I have a noble quest for both of you.” Parsley visibly puffed up her fur. "Remove the threat this hooded stranger poses to our combined people, Goblin and Swiftspring, at any cost,” Zhortys said. I take some time to look at the notes section for the Goblin Shantytown. 8 I find a mention of Lardscowl’s favorite haunt: Notes: h e (Lardscowl) often visits The Fungal Mug Inn (rotten/food) to check up on any outside visitors. I ask Recluse if Chort and Parsley know about Lardscowl’s visits to the Fungal Mug inn and roll #5 a ‘Yes’. Chort and Parsley left Bloodnail Keep as inconspicious as possible. No telling who was watching. Standing in a dark alley overlooking the Fungal Mug, they had a good view of the large leaning building. "How can you even stand the smell?” Parsley said disgusted. "That place smells like moldy bread and sour milk.” Chort hushed his complaining friend "Stop making me hungry and keep your eyes open...” My characters stake out the Fungal Mug, while remaining hidden in the alley. First, I ask Recluse if Chort and Parsley see any sign of Larscowl. I determine the odds are likely and roll %16 a ‘Yes, and’. Next, I roll (14) on Usurper’s Action/ Event table to determine the result of them trying to stay hidden while observing: Action succeeds with a consequence. I’m going to interpret this as seeing evidence of both Lardscowl and the hooded stranger being in/near the Fungal Mug. However, something they see worsens their situation. They didn’t have to wait long. Lardscowl and the hooded stranger arrived driving a large tarp-covered cart pulled by some workmice. As they headed straight into the Fungal Mug, two faery goblin thugs emerged and removed the tarp from the cart. Chort and Parsly gasped when they saw a dozen familiar looking crates, "if those are filled with centipede warriors, the Burrow is in big trouble!” Parsley hissed. Interesting situation. If they do nothing and go get help, the crates will be unloaded and probably hidden. If they confront the enemy, they run the risk of fighting too many centipede warriors. I take a closer look at how the hooded stranger summoned the 9 centipede warriors from the crates during the market fight. I determined he ‘undulated’, so probably had to ‘do’ something to cause them to break open the crates. "If we rush those thugs, maybe he won’t be able to call his centipedes from the crates” Parsley whispered to her companion. Chort considered the plan, "Maybe we do need to act boldly. If we wait, who knows where they’ll hide those crates.” They both nodded and sprang into action. Parsley and Chort will face off against two thugs, but I ask Recluse if the centipedes in the crates awake without the hooded stranger’s influence. I determine the odds to be unlikely and roll %@4 a ‘No, and’. This will mean that the centipedes stay in their crates for now, and the thugs are suprised. I think this grants Chort and Parsley the temporary advantage trait. Chort and Parsley will each face one thug. I will not give the goblin thugs any traits. Exchange 1: Chort and Parsley rush out of the alley and suprise the thugs. Parsley takes a giant leap to smash into her startled opponent. I roll (26) on the Usurper Combat table : Exchange not conclusive. Character suffers fatigue. Oh, dear. A result of (93) on the Fatigue table gets me Bruised and Worn (cosmetic effect). Could have gone worse! Chort rushes his opponent with sword in hand. I roll (04) on the Usurper C ombat table : Complete disaster - Character suffers a killing blow. No! I burn Chort’s temporary advantage trait to gain a re-roll. I roll (78): Opponent defeated. Phew. Chort quickly rushed his opponent as Parsley crossed the distance to Lardscowl’s thugs in one giant leap. The thug held what looked like a rusty cooking knife. Chort easily batted it away with his sword and the thug surrendered. Parsley miscalculated her landing and smashed nose first into the cart. Her opponent laughed as he hit her with a nasty club. 10 Exchange 2: While Parsley is bruised, she’s certainly still in the fight. I imagine now having to face two opponents is a challenging prospect for the remaining thug. I decide to abuse Usurper’s Morale table to determine the thug’s course of action. The risk certainly seems to outweigh any reward he might receive. I roll (12): Character will avoid action if possible. The remaining thug looked at his surendered companion and hesitated as Parsley took a step forward. "Surrender and we will let you live, resist and be counted a traitor to the Burrow!” Chort remarked angrily. The thug sighed and threw down his club. Bot thugs sat down on the floor with their hands behind their backs. "Time to fix the bug problem in the Fungal Mug,” Parsley smiled as she looked at the front door of the inn. Of course, Lardscowl and the hooded stranger had plenty of time to find another exit from the inn and make their escape. First, I ask Recluse if they are still in the Fungal Mug. I determine the odds are even and roll #3 doubles, so a presupposition was wrong! I decide to go with the hooded stranger seeking the confrontation out instead of waiting to be found, and taking precautions with Lardscowl. The front door of the Fungal Mug suddenly flew of its hinges. In the doorway stood the menacing form of the hooded stranger holding the swollen corpse of Lardscowl. "It isss too late! The ssshipment hasss arrived. The piecesss are in play,” the creature hissed as it dropped Lardscowl and removed his hood. The sight was disgusting. The Stranger’s face was a horrifying mix of goblin and insect features. Its mandibles clicked in hungry anticipation. Sludging noises came from the crates as the stranger began to move in a mesmerizing undulation and two centipedes emerged! This is going to be a challenging boss fight. So that calls for a little extra I think. I determine that the Stranger is a Nemesis and has an insectoid aura trait. At the start of each combat exchange I will ask Recluse if the Stranger undulates and wakes 1d6 more centipedes from the crates. The odds for this will be likely. There are a maximum of 12 crates. 11 However, I also determine the centipedes in the crates haven’t fully matured to warrior size yet, so they don’t have traits. They will join the fight in the exchange following their arrival. Exchange 1: First, I ask Recluse if the Stranger attempts to wake more centipedes from the crates and roll %26 a ‘Yes’. Chort will try to keep the two centipedes busy wile Parsley tries to prevent the Stranger from calling more centipedes. Chort bravely attacks centipede 1. I roll (81) on the Usurper Combat table : Opponent defeated. Easy peasy. He also engages with centipede 2. I roll (17) on the Usurper Combat table : Character suffers injury. Not so good... Rolling (29) on the Injury table gets Chort a nasty gash. This leaves him unable to burn traits until after at least one inactive exchange. Parsley attempts to distract the undulating Stranger so he doesn’t call wake more centipedes. Because he is a nemesis, I roll on the Action/Event table and get (62): Action succeeds with a consequence. I decide to be mean. While no more centipedes emerge, the aura of the Stranger causes the remaining centipede to mature into a centipede warrior and gain the segmented body trait. Chort made quick work of the first centipede as it slithered out of its crate. It was smaller than the creatures they had fought before. "I’ll distract him!” Parsley said as she pounced on the Stranger in an effort to stop him from undulating. The other centipede slithered between Chort’s feet and dug its mandibles into his leg. 12 To his horror, he saw the creature on his leg shudder as it shed its skin and grew into one of the segmented centipede warriors! Exchange 2: I will ask Recluse if the Stranger attempts to wake more centipede warriors from the crates and roll @51 a ‘Yes’. With Chort in trouble, Parsley will assist him in getting rid of the now matured centipede warrior. Better to face a lot of smaller centipedes later on. The stranger undulates freely and awakens 4 centipedes from the crates. Chort hacks away at centipede/centipede warrior 2. I roll (69) on the Usurper Combat table : Opponent defeated. The newly matured centipede warrior burns his segmented body trait in order to negate this defeat. Hopefully, Parsley will come to the rescue. I roll (80) on the Usurper Combat table : Opponent defeated. Good news! "We’ll have to take this thing down together!” Chort shouted as he flailed at the centipede warrior. Each of his blows found an increasingly harder plate segment as the beast shuddered and grew. Parsely nodded. She jumped on top of the creature and cleanly lurched its head off in one violent movement. "Awake from your nessstsss, my children!” The stranger undulated menacingly as four more crates burst apart. Exchange 3: I will ask Recluse if the Stranger attempts to wake more centipede warriors from the crates and roll $31 a ‘No’. Instead, the Stranger will join the fight. To speed things up, I divide the 4 centipedes into two groups. Chort will face the Stranger, while Parsley will have to handle two groups of centipedes. I roll a very lucky (93) for Chort on the Combat table : Opponent defeated, character in advantageous position. Obviously, the Stranger burns his Insectoid aura trait to ignore the defeat, but Chort still gets the temporary advantage trait. Now, lets see how Parsley does against centipede group 1. I roll (04) on the Combat table : Complete disaster - Character suffers a killing blow... Again?! NOOOOooooo! 13 I burn her resourceful trait and roll (51) instead: Opponent defeated but character suffers injury. Her result on the Injuries table is (48): Impaired leg. Painful, and the injury prevents her from burning traits for now. Also, she still has centipede group 2 to deal with. I roll (27) for Parsley: Exchange not conclusive. Character suffers fatigue. Her result on the Fatigue table is (60): Tired (roleplay effect). What a ride! I take a moment to compile all the results. "I will deal with you myssself. No-one can resssisst the Crawling Kingdom for long!” The Stranger said as he drew an evil-looking blade. It took all of Chort’s training as a soldier to stand against the Stranger’s onslaught of blows. As the Stranger lowered his guard, Chort sunk his sword deep into the belly of the monstrous goblin-insect creature. Expecting victory, Chort was shocked to see the Stranger shudder and ignore the grievous injury as the wound slowly closed itself. Meanwhile, Parsley felt overwhelmed by the centipedes crawling all over her. Only by rolling under the crate cart did she manage to shake enough of them off to stand a fighting chance. From her position under the cart, she crushed more centipede heads using her powerful bite, but cried out in pain as one of the creatures bit her leg. "I don’t know how much more of this I can handle!” Exchange 4: I ask Recluse again if the Stranger attempts to wake more centipede warriors from the crates and roll $41 doubles. Hmm. I interpret this wrong presupposition as the Stranger suddenly not being in the fight anymore for a specific reason. This would leave Chort free to deal with the remaining group of centipedes bothering Parsley. I roll (40) on the Combat table : Opponent pushed back, driven off or demoralized. How fitting, if the Stranger is suddenly out of the fight. The Stranger let out a high-pitched scream that almost seemed to be beyond their hearing. Moth-like wings unfurled from underneath his robes as it elegantly lifted itself into the air. 14 "We have eyesss and earsss everywhere. You and your rabbit will be dealt with sssoon.” The creature spat as it flew towards the two large tunnels entrances near Bloodnail Keep. The remaining centipedes quickly slithered away and soon dissapeared into the nooks and crannies of Goblin Shantytown. Chort helped Parsley get up up from under the cart. "No doubt we haven’t seen the last of him, or the Crawling Kingdom.” "Probably, let me catch a breather though,” the exhausted Parsley breathed. Well, playing through the first act was great fun! I’m really a fan of how Recluse works with Usurper. Chort and Parsley are nice characters to play solo. I hope to return to Tales fo the Burrow soon. The End for now. CREDITS: Publisher’s Choice Quality Stock Art Rick Hershey/Fat Goblin Games Art: Ramon Lucha, Copyright 2012 Page border: The Knotty-Works