We were down our most combat-focused player, +Lucy Fricker, in this session. The expectation was that this would result in a less combat focused game, which only goes to show hilariously naive we can be at times. Read on for a tale of deception, slime monsters, and frozen fish in our World of the Lost/New LotFP Playtest Rules playtest.
Our last session had ended with the agreement to help a scholar from the palace; the group were to retrieve some sensitive documents from a local portuguese merchant, in exchange for information on the plateau.
After some blunders (one involving Audrey nearly being claimed as a slave), they found the merchants home. It's current staff level consisted of two guards and one elderly maid, with the rest of the house hold out. They managed to con their way inside by convincing the maid that they were distant family of the merchant, and that her master would be angry if she had turned them away.
Once inside (with Lexxi remaining outside, covering the rear exit), it all went wrong very quickly.
The group insisted on being allowed to clean up from the long travel, but the guard was reluctant to let large groups of people move around the house. He allowed Audrey the chance to use the sink in the servant's quarters, and guarded her, while the maid left to fetch some wine. During this brief moment, Sir Edmund slipped upstairs and sneaked past a guard to get to the third floor.
The maid returned and immediately called out for help when she realised that one of the guests had gone missing, her call turning to screams as the Reverend tried to restrain her. This prompted the guard from upstairs to come down, and the guard in the servant's quarter to drag a half naked Audrey back to the main hall.
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| A recreation of what happened. |
Lexxi burst in at this point, entering behind one of the guards and immediately slashing at his throat with a dagger, dealing a healthy amount of damage. The guard returned the blow, nearly killing her outright, but she managed to finish the job on him (gutting his throat in a brutal tear).
Across the room, Reverend Wright shoved the struggling lady into the other guard before firing off his pistol (missing, sadly). Audrey decided this was the moment she was going to try casting one of her spells, "Maze", for the first time and it went delightfully wrong. She succeeded in teleporting the guard to an alternate reality for a few rounds but also managed to cast Summon, bringing into reality a Slime monster that rose up out of the ground, killed the maid then reanimated her to attack the group.
During this commotion, Sir Edmund managed to find the documents he needed (by smashing up a desk) along with a bag of 700sp. He returned to the carnage downstairs to see Wright and Audrey run into a side room while Lexxi stood frozen to the spot in surprise. He yelled for her to run, so she ran towards him, causing him to indicate that she should run away.
Once outside and regrouped, they headed back to the inn and tended to Lexxi's wounds. They learnt from looking at the documents that it appeared their scholar friend owed a large amount of money to the merchant for services rendered at "The Virgin Desert Flower".
The next morning they questioned the scholar, after returning the documents, and learnt more of the plateau and the silver offering. Sir Edmund was baffled however that he didn't understand the notion of magic and much to the surprise of everyone involved he proceeded to demonstrate by freezing the water in the ornamental pond. This caused the scholar to immediately call out to the guards.
Thoughts on the Playtest Rules
Combat just doesn't flow right. This whole "halve or double the armour depending on the weapon used" just adds an unnecessary complication to the combat, with the group unanimously agreeing that it was better the way it was before with different damage die depending on the weapon. I am not a fan, though I appreciate the attempt to try and make the combat more realistic.
The chance for spells to go wrong is delightful however. The scaling of spells kind of works but I need to tinker it a bit more; theres a fine balance for example in scaling down a high level spell to level 1 while still keeping it chaotic enough to reflect the lunacy of Summon.
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