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Eric Dodd
New Zealand
Martinborough
Wairarapa
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The Martinborough Gamers last RPG'ed back in July - real life from the other two members of our group (who have 5 kids between them) delayed, and then finally cancelled, my Call of Cthulhu campaign. Still, it had come to a kind of climax so a change to another system 3 months later wasn't that jarring.
I knew a bit about Dragon Age from the computer game, but only enough to know it was a gritty genre fantasy setting with a new system, that wanted to create moral quandaries for the players.
The week before our first session I read through the 60-odd page Set 1 PDF, and rolled up a few test characters. The character generation is a pretty good mixture of old school dice rolling with the latest in stream-lined mechanics. It's almost a rarity to randomly roll 3d6 for each of your 8 characteristics, swap one pair of them (if desired) then apply any modifiers for your chosen Background and Class. You even randomly roll for background features. I see that the Beta for the next set of rules (for levels 6-10) includes a point-buy system, but I quite like the random roll method used here.
After a little background from Scott the GM, I picked a Antivan Wayfarer Rogue (from the Beta rules Set 2) for my character based on the high Communication and Dexterity characteristics I rolled up. It seemed ideal to make Grenache a wine merchant for his house, looking for new markets for their Antivan wines, while also gathering information on Southern vineyards for the benefit of the Crows.
Mike had been called out by our volunteer fire service, but got back in time to play the unfortunately named Gonad, Avvarian Hillsman Warrior and muscle for hire. These two unlikely characters has bonded over their shared liking for and ownership of Mabari Wardogs. Rex and Testes sniffed out each other warily, but were soon happily playing together.
This unlikely group had travelled to a southern vineyard. Just as the winery building was coming into view past the rows of views, 5 evil-looking dog creatures rushed out to attack the adventurers. Grenache was badly mauled and knocked prone in the surprise round, and switched to a defensive stance as soon as he could, relying on his dexterity and short sword to keep off the slavering hound. Gonad was much better protected with his heavy leather and shield, and the strength of arm behind his bastard sword. Testes was bravely facing off two of the unnatural wild dogs, while Rex was trying to protect his master from the other beast.
Testes proved his warrior nature, savaging his foe in two rounds of fierce biting. He also managed to shift one of his two attackers towards his better defended master, who had disposed of the creature fighting him with some strong blows. Grenache was in serious trouble against his attacker with only a handful of health left, and it was with some relief that he finally slashed open the belly of the beast and turned to survey the course of the battle.
Rex was still uninjured and Gonad barely touched, but Testes was bleeding from multiple wounds as his battered foe fought on ferociously. Giving himself a clear line, Grenache dropped his sword and drew his long bow to help finish off the remaining dogs. Perception reveled to him which of the beasts was most heavily wounded. Feeling much more confident with his bow, he proceeded to roll two hits in successive rounds, the second with the bonus of a stunt hit that almost split the diseased hound in two. The final dog realised that further attack was useless, and sprinted off down the rows of vines. Grenache moved to take another shot with his bow, before the shout of his companion revealed that Testes was succumbing to his wounds. Gonad managed to use his barbarian Cunning to heal his dog.
The adventurers were finally able to catch their breath and look about the quiet vineyard. What exactly had happened here, and where was everyone?
Next time: The investigation (and possibly) role-playing phases.
Notes:
- Sorry about the character names. Try pronouncing them with a funny accent if that helps...
-The Dragon dice system has worked well so far. Stunts are fun, and give you some interesting options.
-We're playing with the D&D plastic miniatures on a perspex covered grid, where each grid is approximately 2 yards. Combat is much less tactical than D&D 4ed, but these details are still important, especially for my back-stabbing Rogue.
-This is the adventure from the GM's book, I'll check on the name of it next time.
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