Doomed Reach Session 1

Yesterday I kicked off an in-person open-table game here in L.A. using a hack of OD&D plus a lot of various hex-crawl tools mashed together.

The intent behind this campaign is to get as close to a West Marches as is feasible – I’ve run one successful West Marches late in college, and while I have tried a few times after that I’ve never breached the point of referee scheduling games to players scheduling games. I have a hope we can in this game, but I am not making it an outright goal, instead, I’m letting players loosely provide availability over the week, and if they schedule a game in my availability that’s great – otherwise I’m happy to book the sessions.

I had six players initially, for the first session I almost thought to have eight, but that would have been too difficult, as I was having trouble hearing even the middle of the table at points in the game store. So six players is a great amount, as long as I work to clarify what players say.

Characters

Our six characters were (and apologies to players if I’ve spelled the names wrong, feel free to correct me):

• Florby, the Elven Alchemist
• Apicius, the Farming Gorumond Fighter
• Leandril, the tough-love Elven Fighter
• Brother Murray, the Cleric of Light Above
• Yarlexia, the escaped slave-turned-Witch Elf.
• Wulfwig the Ponderous, Cleric of Light Above

Session Report

Our party met in the Copper Cockatrice, the local mercenary haunt and drinking hole in Fortress Solace. Amidst wine and banter, the party sought out a small collection of adventure hooks, including:

• A map purchased from a mourning Hobbit, having lost his companions to a crow demon at the end-point of their quest for treasure.
• Investigation of, and eventual elimination of a Chaos cult rumored to be abducting children, northwest of the fortress, paid for by a Bishop of the Church of Holy Law.
• A mining collapse in a small village of Bryny to the West uncovered an ancient Lightbringer temple, with the Church wanting such a site cleared out and sealed off immediately.

Having questioned the drunk Hobbit, our party heard horrific tales of a crow demon that slew his companions. Citing the fact that mundane weapons could not hurt the beast, the party instead decided to pursue the more local option of investigating the cult.

They interviewed and hired a slew of hirelings, including:

• Drogos the Mercenary, is a stout fellow who has experience with soldiering.
• Labrix the Link-Boy. A young herder who lost his flock, and wishes to scrounge up enough silver for an impressive herd.
• Hingle the Thug. A tall fellow with many notable facial scars and missing teeth, they wield a nasty hunting knife and has a conflicting relationship between his religion and his zeal for violence.

They also interviewed another henchman with wild eyes and a big beard who began shaking excitedly and licking his lips when the topic of combat was broached, but the party decided his eagerness was a step too far for their liking (as of now 😉)

While the party conducted these interviews, Yarlexia pandered traveling merchants with tarot and fortunes, playing to their egos, and earning enough payment for two silver pieces.

To The Caves

Our party marched off into the wilderness, seeking a strangely fresh forest to the northwest of the fortress. Easy going along the plains brought them to the border of these woods, whereupon they spied a Gnome burrow, a strange fellow named Fluppix had been drawn to recent migration in the area and he decided to start up a bakery and “art experience” to take advantage of the hinterland populace.

The party decided to partake in his venture, although Brother Murray thought better of the situation and kept watch. They ate the Gnome’s tasty bread and were subject to a rather rough massage (Fuppix’s chosen “art” for the day). Utilizing the time to question the Gnome, they did discover that a few dozen folks were camped somewhere nearby and that they did have Gnome-sized beings with them. Apicius provided the Gnome with an onion to feed his “children”, which turned out to include a rather portly badger.

The Gnome pointed out where they headed off to, noting that a troll cave lay between them, best to be avoided. Avoided this ominous cave they did, and found an oval-shaped valley beyond, beset by cliffs to the west, north, and south. Instead of pressing head-on, our group thought it better to circle around to the rear of these cliffs, gaining a vantage point over the many caves below.

Atop this crest, they discovered a camouflaged, but unoccupied watchtower or hunter’s lodge. Rooting around they found a spear and some items, as well as a buried lockbox in the earthen floor below. Brother Murray and Leandril kept watch and saw a hunter stalking a deer in the woods below. After felling the deer, the hunter sounded a horn, which drew members out of one cave to retrieve this deer, while the hunter made their way back to the watchtower.

Our party debated capturing or dispatching this hunter but decided discretion was better, leaving everything but the lockbox and making their way into a dense thicket for cover.

Yarlexia used her witchcraft to assume the guise of the Hunter and entered the caves below. She was met with a robed acolyte, wielding a metal staff whose end terminated in two collared zombies. Yarlexia played it off as if she had brought more food (in the form of her own sheep and goat), and the acolyte told her that the deer was more than enough to get them through the summer. He insisted instead that the goat, Luna, should have its name transcribed in the Book of Blood and enter into unlife as a new guardian for the community.

Yarlexia hesitantly agreed, but mentioned that she felt that she was ready to conduct the ritual herself, and would make her way into the ritual chamber. Passing by the guard she realized the cult’s complex was very deep, and she feared her illusion wearing off, so she turned and stabbed the cultist, calling out to any spirits or demons for protection. She was answered by a fell spirit demanding more supplication and ritual before providing aid.

Deciding against partaking in a full-blown ritual at the cave entrance, she grabbed the acolyte’s religious symbol, a blood-red skull, as well as the dual man-catcher zombie apparatus and returned to the group.

The party decided to make haste and double back to the fortress to provide proof to the bishop of the cult. They were promptly rewarded, and our session closed.

Referee Notes

Hopefully, I did the session justice, and apologies to any players whose antics or quips I may have missed. Running a pretty generative-oriented hex crawl involves juggling quite a lot of details at once, so I unfortunately sometimes misremember a few details.

Overall this was a fun session. Time was a little packed as half the session included character creation and setting summary, so I couldn’t quite get the spotlight on everyone as I would have wished, but I think there’s a decent way forward for everyone to grow and drive goals and ambitions.

I am running this game in real-time, so the party may have a week or more to carouse, do downtime, research, etc. before deciding if they want to fight this cult or go about another hook.

If you happen to be in the L.A. area and are interested in playing, definitely drop me a message and I’ll shoot you a player survey!