The Second Four go at it again some time later, in a nearby village… “well, that was a bit of a waste of time. sure, we now we have a bit more experience with this exploring thing, but we didn’t find any indication of where Pettic’s party could be, what happened to them and… well, there are no two ways about it, we got our asses handed to us by some magical beings, or invisible ones, whatever it was that happened there. we were very lucky by being immediately by the entrance, otherwise I doubt we would have survived without weapons or potions”, says Julienne [you can read more in the previous adventure ]. a new year just started and this seems like a good time to visit The Second Four again, on a new 4AD session. one innovation that I am trying this time is to use dry-erase pages instead of a notebook. I also printed a bunch of tables to avoid flipping back and forth pages in the book(s) even further and devote time just to playing. it is still a very simplified game (a dungeon crawler), at least at this stage, and perhaps that would make it more evident and prepare my playing style for future games (and the rest of the series). last time I played was 4 months ago (I wasn’t as constant as I told myself I would be), so I might need to refresh my memory on some rules briefly. and, well, let’s see how our characters evolve. if I recall correctly, the main points are: a 1 is an auto-fail a 6 is NOT an auto-success, but dice explode selling gems for the stated price is correct just today, I found outthat Four Against Darkness - Expanded Edition has been available since December 20th-24th (roughly). this book consolidates some rules and clarifications from forums and FAQs from the original edition, which I was applying mostly on the last session. I will not use it yet, as it adds a lot of content, but I already got a copy of it for my/your perusal. ## Intro the party looks at their joint funds: 53gp, and a brooch worth 140gp (they estimate). this one seemed to be part of a pair, or a set, and perhaps something worth keeping, but they are in dire need of money if they want to go out again in search for their family and friends. they returned to a small village, perhaps not exactly the same one they departed from (adventurer’s do not pay attention to such minor details), partaking of food and drinks using previous funds, and considering their options. not sad, not happy, but decided to move forward after some rest. when they wake up, outside, a thin layer of snow covers patches of grass or soil. it was not a big snowfall, but a sparkling of snow dust reaching the ground through the sparse forest in which the village is located. they spend that morning purchasing or ordering some equipment, regrouping and recovering. they split the funds as fairly as possible (none of them is really greedy, and they are into this adventuring party for their friends and for the long game). {{monster,frame Julienne Elf (Level 2) Live :: 6/6 Wealth :: 21 Spells Lightning Bolt. :: Sleep. :: Items light armour. :: leather armour reinforced with metal links. hand weapon. :: a sabre, with a filigree on its hilt, mimicking a band of silk. bow. :: a very functional bow. holy water vial.* :: bandages. :: }} Julienne gets a new sabre, trying to somehow link it to her missing rapier, particularly to the silk ribbon se lost in the previous adventure. {{monster,frame Remoura Farduk Barbarian (Level 1) Live :: 8/8 Wealth :: 16 Items light armour. :: reinforced leather vest, pants and boots. hand weapon. :: two hand greataxe, sharp and with jagged sides. rope.* :: bandages. :: }} for the barbarian it is pretty easy, she needs something equally devastating against foes, that is the only thing that matters at this point. she doesn’t want anything magic, more armour… nah, none of that. \page {{monster,frame Cordelia Cleric (Level 2) Live :: 6/6 Wealth :: 25 Items light armour. :: leather armour. shield. :: a metal shield with an engraved sigil. hand weapon. :: a mace with inlaid silver near the shaft. bandages. :: }} Cordelia just needed a replacement for her hammer, and she manages to find a mace of a similar fashion. she also sends a letter to her order to see if a new silver hammer can be prepared for her in the meantime, but that would probably take some time. {{monster,frame Porchimwitz Wizard (Level 2) Live :: 4/4 Wealth :: 20 Spells Lightning Bolt. :: Sleep. :: Fireball. :: 2 Items light hand weapon. :: a walking staff, with a heavy top. sling. :: simple sling. spell book. :: contains coded annotations for the known spells. writing tools. :: lantern. :: bandages. :: }} for Porchimwitz,. the main thing is to get a new sling (that was useful when he switched to one inside the dungeon) and to think about the repertoire of spells that would be useful for their new journey. with all of that, they split the rest of the money more or less in equal parts. they still have their single lantern, full health, more experience, finer skills and sturdier bodies, and get ready to go. well, almost. remembering the array of undead monsters, they also get a vial full of holy water, after convincing the clerics of the village. and a rope, just in case. it took a couple of days in total, but they leave the village (a very well provided village, they realised) venturing through the forest, up a hilly path. once again, they follow the direction pointed at by rumours heard in taverns and shops, of a party of four adventurers looking for glory and treasure, and not coming back. it might be them this time!" \page a door on the mountain side it has been some hours since they started coming up the mountain slope, first across uneven terrain, but with soft soil and grass, later on rockier. they approach a narrowing of the mountains, not exactly a pass (perhaps just the beginning of a crevice leading to a ravine, or to a cave system), when they notice something strange on the side. they were looking for a place to rest, as the sun was already coming down, and the light of the lantern projected some interesting shapes on the rock to the left of the crack. it looks too uniform, to0 straight, too artificial. they approach it and… “yes, that’s a door. should we try it?” sure enough, after they push, the door opens into a large room with three doors at on the far side. perhaps a meeting point, an abandoned mining operation, a refuge. they enter, ready for whatever it is to come. Cordelia and Remoura get in front, Julienne readies her bow, and Porchimwitz takes out his sling. he will keep his spells for when it is needed. they take the leftmost door. after being welcomed by some vampire bats that are quickly dealt with, they enter a big room where there is apparently nothing, other than a bunch of doors. perhaps they didn’t search properly. following the door south, a small alcove has the statue of a humanoid with a lion-like head. Remoura touches it and it becomes to live, roaring. in a couple of seconds it crumbles to pieces, after missing the barbarian and sustaining a good amount of damage. they find 110gp, which Remoura will carry. [I just realised that I was misremembering the barbarian level, still level 1. and that I handled room #3 as if it were a corridor. let’s pay more attention from now on.] that was a tiny fight and not enough to gain any experience, merely a warm-up. they go back to the main room from which they reached the alcove, still empty. moving West… a dragon! yes, a small dragon, but a dragon nonetheless. the wizard stows away the sling and points to the dragon, tracing signs in the air. a lightning bolt strikes next to it, without any damage caused. Julienne lets an arrow fly, hitting its side. “how do you DaAAARE!!! Roarrgh!”, comes from the mound of scales and flesh, which starts to unfurl. the barbarian hits the scales with her greataxe, which bounces of them. Cordelia just misses altogether. a curtain of fire comes out of the dragon’s gaping mouth. only the elf manages to avoid it. it burns, it confuses them, but they are still alive. keeping her distance, Julienne releases another successful arorw, and drops the bow, ready top unsheathe her sabre next [the RAW say this second attack couldn’t be a bow one, but it makes narrative sense to me]. Remoura now strikes true, slashing a big wound where the arrows dented the scales and the leathery skin. the dragon was definitely not expecting all this opposition at this time, and recoils, trying to flee. this time the cleric hits the dragon with her mace, while Porchimwitz tries to load his sling. the dragon escapes, leaving its treasure behind. “we won! huzzah!”, says Remoura happy with her performance, a new reservoir of courage and purpose found. [she levels up to L2] inspecting the lair, they find: a diamond worth 35gp a ring that the wizard identifies as a Ring of Teleportation (otherwise they would have though it was a simple golden ring, worth 7gp). they all agree Porchimwitz should get this one, being the weakest in terms of health. a potion of healing. Julienne takes this one. “wow, this is very different from the last dungeon. do you think they could be here somewhere?” “perhaps not here, there was all this treasure left, … unless they followed a different path.” “I think we should continue a bit, after bandaging, of course.”, says the wizard. they rest for a bit, keeping their eyes peeled and their ears open just in case the dragon comes back. Remoura performs some push-ups to stay warm, her teeth grinning with a smile. \page outro :: {{wide}} {{wide}} {{wide References: game: Four Against Darkness / on BoardGameGeek }}