Big playtesting step this week. Off the rails of converted materials like Cha’alt, Keep on the Borderlands, and Against the Giants and into the actual setting of Atlantean Exodus.

Changes Based on Feedback

Some changes based on feedback from previous sessions:

• One change to spirits and spiritism… when an unmanifested spirit harries an adversary, rather than cause the adversary to roll with misfortune (roll 6d6 and keep lowest 3), their critical failure range increases by one (from natural 3 to natural 3 or 4), with up to six spirits harrying an opponent (natural 3 to 9) at once.
• Also, setting an adversary on fire immediately imposes a morale check to them. They are on fire!

New Aspects for Playtesting

I introduced several new aspects to the game for playtesting.

• Great ancestors (influences on character creation)
• Random name generator (based on Sumerian and Egyptian syllables)
• Random geographic features (elevation, water, vegetation, etc.)
• Travel time (based on group composition, geographic features, and travel conditions)
• Exploration (camping, scouting)
• Random events (weather, wandering inhabitants, disease, temptations, etc.)
• Resource tracking (food, water, ammunition, etc.)

Session Preparation

I did no game master preparation for this session. It was entirely rolled at random by the players at the start of the session.

Players first rolled up the caravan’s great ancestors. I won’t go into the mechanics here yet, but the great ancestors influence caravan composition and character creation. The caravan is the pool from which new characters are drawn.

The players rolled up their level one characters:

• Ur the hunter (P2, R0, I0, D1, A3, S1, V29, F2; uses careful aim and find weakness against adversaries)
• Iggisim the priest (P0, R0, I6, D0, A1, S0, V25, F1; performs miraculous wonders)
• Urma-abgi the soldier (P0, R0, I0, D2, A1, S4, V40, F2; special training in weapons and armor)
• Bub the conjurer (P2, R0, I1, D2, A1, S1, V26, F3; performs spiritism wonders, especially conjuring, binding, compelling, and manifesting spirits)
• Ability key: P = perception, R = reason, I = intuition, D = drive, A = agility, S = strength, V = vitality, F = fortune

The Caravan Arrives

The caravan arrives at a savannah with mountains in the distance. It is moonsoon season; the easterly wind and rain is tempered by the mountains in the distance, but a steady mist falls day and night. The caravan sends out its first scouting party, the player characters.

Day 1: Snakebite

While camping, Bub is bitten by an adder. Iggisim the priest miraculously cures Bub.

Day 3: Ambushed by Cheetahs

Four cheetahs ambush the scouting party. Ur the hunter is not surprised, but the rest of the party is. Ur draws his bow upon one cheetah but the bowstring snaps (critical failure). The rest of the party struggles to grab their weapons as the cheetahs maul them, Bub worst of all.

Fortunately, Bub kept a fire elemental bound to their camp and manifested it on the spot, between Bub and the priest. The priest, shielded from the cheetah by the fire elemental, miraculously heals Bub. Urma the soldier hands off her bow to Ur and grabs her mace.

By the end of the fight, two cheetahs are dead and the other two flee while set on fire by the fire elemental. Fortunately, the rain keeps the flaming cheetahs from setting the whole savannah ablaze. Close calls for the conjurer and the hunter, but they survived.

• Cheetah (P1, R0, I0, D0, A2, S2, V25, PD 12, claw/bite +3)

Day 4: The Ruins

After surveying the savannah, the party heads for the mountains. At the base of the mountains are the ruins of a fort that surrounds a freshwater pond, fed by water falling down the mountain. Potentially useful resources for the caravan.

Day 5: The Tomb

The party finds a pass heading up into the mountains and comes upon a tomb carved into the rock, with a slab set in front of it. The tomb entrance is decorated with man-cheetah-eagle hybrid carvings. The PCs struggle to try to move the slab, but cannot. Bub conjures an earth elemental who moves the stone enough for Bub to squeeze in. The party has second thoughts about desecrating a tomb, except for Bub. 

There are grave goods around a stone sarcophagus: spoiled and non-perishable foodstuffs, and three cheetah skins. Bub slides the sarcophagus lid open. Inside is a skeleton clutching an ebony great club inlayed with silver; beside him is an ebony coffer. Bub slides open the coffer, sees silver coins and green gemstones in it, slides it closed and takes it. He tries to pry the club from the skeleton’s hands, but the skeleton clutches it and sits upright in the sarcophagus! 

Bub runs out of the tomb and commands his elemental to move the slab back into place, but the slab falls over, leaving the tomb wide open. The skeleton steps out of the tomb, great club in its bony hands. The soldier begins to run, but the rest of the party decides to stand their ground. Bub imposes his elemental in front of the skeleton, but the skeleton destroys the elemental in one blow. The hunter draws a handaxe and a knife, the solider returns with her shield and mace, the priest and conjurer hiding behind both.

After several rounds of melee, and a nearly fatal crushing blow against the hunter and a second fatal blow to another conjured earth elemental, the party vanquishes the skeleton. 

The conjurer, with his spirit sight, can see the ghostly form of a warrior. Not understanding each other’s language, with gestures and speech, the spirit and Bub manage to communicate that he was Enzi, a powerful warlord in this region, and that he was angry at first that they desecrated his tomb, but was now impressed at their ability. He would remain here, but would be willing to aid the party should they call upon him in the future.

• Enzi, ancestor spirit, level 6 warlord (P0, R0, I2, D2, A0, S3, V50, PD 15, greatclub +9)

Post Session

The session was well-received, especially when it sunk in that everything that had transpired was the result of their random rolls in the beginning and their exploration of the results, with no additional preparation on the part of the game master.