It's a Grand Old Duchy

Just a quick note. Summer is a busy time and I haven't gotten many chances to play my solo game. But I do plan on continuing the campaign. I'm hoping (!) to finish a session or two and post in the next week or so.

 After getting back to town, the group returns to the inn and sat somberly around a table. Toth ordered ale for everyone and raised his mug up and said, "To Kenton and Ullia."  "Kenton and Ullia" the group echoed. They drank. "So what now?" Alzador asked. Toth frowned. "I think it's fair to say that we're not having very good luck with the hill." Everyone nodded. "We could keep trying and see who gets killed next. Or," he hesitated, "We leave it alone and try someplace else." The table was silent for a beat, then Sergei chimed in, "I'm not looking forward to getting killed, but we haven't found a bent copper so far." "There's a 'reserve' we can use for travel expenses. At least enough to get to a new place. Try again." "Where?" Varis asked. Toth winced as he shifted. Still stiff from his wounds. "I'm open to suggestions." Toth said, "We can ask around...

  Party:  Toth’s Troopers Adventure: #2 “The Horror on the Hill” Session Number:  5 Session Date: 5/9/ 26  (Thaumont 27 Loshdain      AC 1000.) Adventure Background: Toth and his newly bolstered party return to the Hill to try again. The Troopers: Toth Casksword (L) Male Fighter 1. Leader of the group. Alzador (N) Male Magic User 1 Sergei (C) Male Thief 1 Aladana (N) Elf 1 Varis (L) Fighter 1 Ullia (L) Cleric 1 (CoT) Brother Kenton (L) Male Cleric 1 (CoK) After finding new recruits to bolster their numbers, Toth and the pthers head back across the water to the Hill. Once in the woods, they avoided the southern path that lead to the Ants and turned north at the far end of the lake. Following the path, they came to a rocky clearing. A cave mouth was visible from where the trail emerged. Toth was curious but cautious after the debacle of their last outing, so he sent Sergei the thief and Aladana the elf to investigate. In their lighter...

  Rather than try to write out a long narrative about Toth and his group trying to recruit new adventurers, I thought I would just sum up what happened. I took the stat blocks at the end of the module, and gave Toth a reaction roll to see how many possible recruits show up. He rolled well and the Troopers gained four new PCs. They are: Aladana, 1 st level Elf. From the Callarii, she has left the forest to explore the wider world. Ullia, 1 st level Traladaran Cleric. She is recently sheared and seeking adventure. Varis, 1 st level Fighter. A huge man, handy with an axe. Sergei, 1 st level Thief. A somewhat shifty fellow, but a handy trap-seeker and picklock. These four will be bolstering the Trooper’s ranks on their next foray to the Hill.  (The New Troopers)                * Party Leader

  Party: Toth’s Troopers Adventure: #2 “The Horror on the Hill” Session Number: 4 Session Date: 3/1 5 /26 (Evening of Thaumont 25. Moldain -26 th . Nytdain. AC 1000.) Adventure Background: Toth and his party have reached Guido’s Fort and the surrounding settlement. Their plan is to arrange passage across the river to the Hill in the morning and begin exploring. The Troopers: Toth Casksword (L) Male Fighter 1. Leader of the group. Alzador (N) Male Magic User 1 Bailey (N) Male Thief 1 Brother Kenton (L) Male Cleric 1 (CoK) Konstantin (Kon) Maras (N) Male Fighter 1 At the Lion’s Den Inn, Toth and his companions rested for the evening. (Kon pays.) While relaxing in the taproom, the party talked with some of the other patrons, trying to learn more about the Hill. “ There’s witches that live out there! They act kindly, but drop your guard and yer done for!” “ A friend o’ mine swore he saw a horde of ghouls roaming the riverbank. Hungry for human flesh!” ...

  This is more or less what it looks like when I take over the dining room table. One thing that is not visible is a roster sheet for the PCs. It includes very basic info like AC, HP, Primary Weapon THACO & damage, etc. for each party member. EDIT: And the OSE classic DM screen I lay flat for quick tables access.

  Now we begin the current adventures with the new party! Kon has successfully been recruited. He, and his relatively full purse, are a welcome addition. Party: Toth’s Troopers Adventure: #1 “The Road to the Fort" Session Number: 3 Session Date: 3/1 /26 (Soladain, 21 Thaumont. AC 1000 - Moldain, 25 Thaumont) Adventure Background: Toth and his party have heard the rumors about a monster-infested dungeon in the moors north of Kelvin. While they could strike out cross-country, they choose instead to play it safe and follow the river south toward Kelvin, then turn northeast up the Hillfollow to the Fort. It will take longer, but you can’t get lost following the water, and there are towns along the way. Once they reach the Guido’s Fort, they will plan their next move. The Troopers: Toth Casksword (L) Male Fighter 1. Leader of the group. Alzador (N) Male Magic User 1. Bailey (N) Male Thief 1 Brother Kenton (L) Male Cleric 1. (Church of Karameikos) Kons...

  By the 19 th of Thaumont, Kon’s wounds had more or less healed. At least enough that he felt he should start figuring out what were his next steps. He still had a fair bit of money left. He had suspicions about how Corwyn had come by so much more gold than the rest of them, but he dismissed the thoughts as disrespectful to the dead. He still had the mule, and some of the others’ gear in addition to his own, but he had no plan. Kon had always known he wasn’t a great thinker. It wasn’t that he couldn’t understand things, or reason them out. It was just that he had no patience study. He grew bored trying to focus his attention for too long on things that didn’t seem to matter outside of a book. As a result, he was remarkably ill-suited to the task he had set himself. As he sat in the taproom of the Gold Dragon Inn, he wondered if he should try to gather a new group of party members. “No.” he mumbled to himself, “They’d expect me to have a plan. That’s the whole trouble.” “W...

  This is the original group's 2nd adventure. Let's see how they fare after losing their Magic-User so recently. Party: The Eights in a Hole Adventure: #2 “Lakeside Ruins” Session Number: 2 Session Date: 2/16/26 (Loshdain, Thaumont 13. AC 1000) Adventure Background: The remains of an ancient town or village lie along the western shore of Lake Windrush, North of Threshold. Most believe the place was built in the times of King Halav, and the Golden Age. In truth, it was even older. Built by the mysterious Hutaakans centuries before. Many adventurers have poked around the stones over the years, and it is widely believed to be devoid of monsters or treasures. That doesn’t prevent the occasional party of beginners from taking a day or two to explore them and see if anything remains undiscovered. “ The Eights in a Hole”: Durlum Stronghollow: (Male Dwarf). A stout warrior who is keener than he looks. Ivana Borotsky: (Female Cleric) A passionate, if untutored c...

This is the write-up from the first foray into the solo campaign. It's mostly a first draft, so there may be fixes or edits forthcoming. Maybe an image or two. I like to add bits of dialog, etc. sometime to help show the oracle at work, making narrative sense of the choices made by the party. Party: The Eights in a Hole Adventure: #1 “The Ruined Burrow” Session Number: 1 Session Date: 2/14/26 (Gromdain, Thaumont 9. AC 1000) Adventure Background: To the north of Threshold, among the hills, lies the abandoned gnome burrow of the Shimmerhorn clan. The burrow was attacked from below by kobolds and most of the gnomes were killed. Those that survived fled to Highforge. Twenty years later, the survivors and some of their kin wanted to try to reclaim the burrow, but they were not great warriors, so they hired a half dozen dwarves as guards to escort them there and help clear it out. Shortly after entering the ruins, the group was ambushed by kobolds. While the dwarves fought...