The Adventures of Glendal Lorg, Scarlet Hero (1.2)

The Story So Far....

Glendal Lorg the Visionary, lately of the Phantom Cabal, has invaded the heretofore peaceful ruin of the Fort of the Unholy Mound, bringing death in his wake.  He has successfully infiltrated and navigated the first room of the complex, striking down the ruffian Looters.  Details can be found here.

Having gathered his wits and his riches, Glendal surveyed his surroundings.  Where to go next?  That answer was immediately evident by the simple fact that there was only one exit from the cistern, an arched doorway leading to the northeast.

Turn 3, Room 2

For simplicity's sake, I'll briefly repeat the sequence of events as stated in the first episode.

Wandering monsters only after every third turn.

Upon entering a new room, roll to see if the Goal is present.  A d20 roll of 20 is required.  I roll d20 = another 15 = No.

Next, in order, determine:  room type, then room contents (Encounter?; Treasure?; Hazard?; Feature?).

First, direction = d10 = 3 = North East from current room.

Room type d20 = 12 = Mess hall.

Encounter d10 = 4 = No.

Treasure d10 = 10 = Yes.

Hazard d10 = 8 = No.

Feature d10 = 3 = No.

Glendal edged carefully through the sagging archway, sword at the ready, eyes sweeping the shadows ahead.  He let out a pent-up breath upon seeing that the room was empty of occupants.

Judging by the furnishings, moldering as they were, this had once been the fort's Mess Hall.  Tables and benches filled the medium-sized space.  Many of the tables were still intact, due mostly to their stout construction.  Some fallen shelves lined the wall or spilled onto the floor, mixing together broken plates and other pottery.  A fireplace for cooking was set into one wall; nothing but ashes filled its maw.

The room was nothing but dust, debris and emptiness...except for the pile of treasure sitting unguarded on one of the tables, neatly sorted.

Glendal approached as cautiously as his greed would allow.  It seemed evident to him that the Looters, either from the previous room or others as yet unseen, had already pilfered this room of it's secrets, and stacked it with great care for later taking.  Glendal decided he would take advantage of their consideration and go ahead and take it all.

Eyeing it with a skilled appraisal, Glendal estimated that there were...

Treasure Found roll 3d6 = 1 + 2 + 4 = 7 = "No encounter treasure, but M2 worth of room contents."

The M2 is a "Substantial Cash Amount" of 2d4 x 100gp = 4 + 3 = 700 gp!

...700 gold pieces stacked in neat towers!  Apparently dinner was never free for the soldiers of the fort, but the Cook wasn't able to get away from the doom that overcame the installation, with his money.  And the Looters had dug it out from wherever the scoundrel had hidden it.

However, Glendal was faced with a conundrum:  700 gold pieces weighed far too much for him to carry, especially with the ruin only partially explored, combined with what he had found previously.

I orignally decided to go with the time-honored value of 10 gp = 1 pound, as it's detailed in the Basic Fantasy Role-Playing Game.  Pretty standard, I felt.  I like easy math.  But then I saw where Scarlet Heroes has it's own conversion value of 50 coins = 1 pound.  I liked that a little more, especially as it lets me stay fully in Scarlet Heroes as much as possible (ignoring the parts that I previously said I would ignore).  However, it's still too much weight to lug around.  Which is a good problem to have!

Returning quickly to the previous room, Glendal carefully divested one of the dead men of the use of his knapsack.  And then, back facing the gleaming happy pile, he swept as much as would fit (all of it, by chance) into the bag, tied it closed, and stowed it under a particularly extra-broken table, completely out of sight.  Assuming he survived (and Glendal's ego would admit no chance of failure yet) he could always return for it later on his triumphant way back to town.  He kept the other treasure with him, though.  You never knew when a toe ring might come in handy.

Turn 3 ended.  Time for the first Wandering Monster check, a straight-up 1 in 6 chance.  d6 = 3 = No.

After the noisy clinking of the coins, Glendal stopped to listen.  All was quiet.  He moved toward the only other exit out of the Mess Hall, a doorway leading southeast.

Turn 4, Room 3:

Direction roll d10 = 5 = South East.

Room Type d20 = 20 = Vault.

Encounter d10 = 9 = Yes.

Treasure d10 = 10 + 3 for an encounter = Yes.

Hazard d10 = 5 = No.

Feature d10 = 4 = No.

Goal d20 = 1 = No Boss.

Glendal slid through the shadows like he was a part of them, making no more noise than the breeze through the trees.  Peering around the corner he spied out the next room.  Six hearty thugs were millling around a glistening pile of loot, their silhouettes blurring and mixing together as they reached and counted.

Glendal thought he could make out two leader-types among them, giving orders for the distribution of the wealth.  Six was a lot to handle, but his blood was up after the first battle, and the glorious treasure so easily found just now.  Glendal decided surprise might be to his advantage; running away certainly never entered his mind!

Encounter Found roll 3d6 = 4 + 6 + 6 = 16 = "2d4 hit dice of Minions plus 2xT hit dice worth of Elites, Mages or Boss enemies."  The Goal roll decided there was no Boss here.

2d4 Minions = 1 + 3 = 4 hit dice = 4 Novice Adventurers.

2xT = 2 hit dice worth of Elites or Mages.  I arbitrarily opted for a 60/40 split for which might appear.  d% = 40% = 2 hit dice of Elites = 2 Skilled Freebooters.

I rolled for Glendal's steathiness in sneaking up on the enemies.  I opted for a DC 11, an average difficulty:  the Looters were busy, Glendal is very quiet.  2d8 = 2 + 7 + (3 for being an Adventuring Thief) + (2 DEX bonus) = 14.  Success!

Stepping quickly and forcefully out of the doorway, yet still a cautious distance away from the Looters, Glendal called out in a commanding voice, "Hand over the treasure and no one gets hurt!"

The Looters froze for a moment, and then it all began...

I was a little unclear at this point as I was playing, since I was still learning my way around the game, as to which exact reaction table I should use.  I mentioned this last episode too.  The Dungeon section specifically directs you to the Reaction table on page 117 (see below), but I found this to be a bit vague for my tastes.  I think it would work well with sort of a "named" NPC, but not with semi-random dungeon dwellers.  Then again, a player with more imagination than me, or less of a desire for tables to roll on, might use it pefectly well!

First I rolled for a Reaction Roll from page 55 in the Beastiary chapter.  I rolled 2d8 = 3 + 6 + (1 for CHA modifier) + (no social traits applied) = 10 = "Most probable outcome comes to pass."

I didn't really know how to apply that.  So to determine the Looters general attitude, I used the Encounter Twists:  Their Attitude Toward the Hero Is... table on page 79.

I just used the same roll = 10 = "The usual, but they might parlay if that seems plausible."

Hmm.  O.K., but how to decide if parlaying seems plausible?  This is where and why I like rolling on tables, to determine some of these things for me, so that it's not just Me Making Stuff Up.

I then used the Reactions table on page 117 to give the Looters a suitable attitude.  I arbitrarily labelled them as "Unfriendly NPCs," rolled 2d6 = 1 + 2 = 3 = "Anger/Scorn."

Alright, now we're getting somewhere.  "The most probably outcome comes to pass, but they might parlay if that seems plausible, and they regard me/Glendal with anger and scorn."

I decided this was the perfect place to use the Oracle table on page 115.  With their attitude established, I asked the Oracle, "Do they comply with Glendal's demand to give up the loot?"  Based on their attitude, I deemed this as "Unlikely."  I rolled d20 = 2 = No.

With muttered snarls and oaths, the two Skilled Freebooters (i.e., the leaders) stepped back from the pile of treasure.  There was the metallic shing as swords cleared scabbards, and six angry, wary ruffians converged on the lone Elf.

Momentarily nonplussed by the fact that the thugs had not run away from his obvious awesomeness, Glendal missed with all his attacks.  Yep, missed six guys standing there in front of him.

In return, the Novice Adventurer third from the left, clad in a soiled red tunic, swung at Glendal with enthusiasm...but also missed.

The Novice second from the left also swung, less carefully, and missed as well.

The first Freebooter, using the Novice's body as cover, swept under Glendal's defenses, drawing blood nearly to the point of his incapacitation!

The second leader, not as graceful, missed his swing.

The last two Novices, on the far left and far right, also missed, having misjudged their weapons' reach.

The Minions have the same stats as before:

HD 1

AC7

Attack +1

Damage 1d6

Morale 7

The Elites are:

HD 1

AC 5

Attack +1

Damage 1d10

Morale 10

I rolled d8 + DEX modifier (0) for their initiative, although it didn't matter too much truly.  Glendal goes first each round.

The one Elite who hit, hit for maximum damage of 4 points!  Ouch!  I saw that this could quickly become too much for Glendal, but I wasn't ready to run away yet.

Sucking in his breath at the pain, Glendal focused his next attacks on the more dangerous leaders, especially the one who hurt him.  Showing his true superiority, Glendal, with an almost careless backhand slash, killed both Freebooters, the sword slinging blood from the neck of one into the eyes of the Novices!  This caused the Novices to flinch back, making the Elf miss his main attack.

Lucky for me, the Fray Die hit with a 6 which equals 2 hit dice of damage, with also equals two 1-hit dice opponents, which in this case happened to equal the two Elites.  Whew!  With their 1d10 potential damage now gone I felt a lot better about this fight.  I also determined that a Morale check was in order for the Minions.

Seeing both of their leaders cut down, nearly effortlessly, was too much for the fresh-off-the-street scum Novices.  Maybe they weren't really meant to be Adventurers after all!  All four stared briefly at the still-twitching corpses, and then, with one motion, turned and ran further into the fortress.

Morale check:  2d6 vs 7 = 2 + 6 = 8 = Fail!  All Minions flee.  I supposed I could have checked each one individually, but it seemed narratively better to just make one check; especially since they ran away!

Glendal let them go.

Wiping his sword clean on one of the dead men, the Elf turned to survey his hard-earned gains.  Once again, the Looters had done a lot of the work for him:  they had dug the scattered bits of treasure from out of its hiding places, and left it neatly arrayed for him to take possession of.  How nice.

His ever-more-practiced eye surveyed the piles.  Surely there was...

Treasure roll 3d6 = 3 + 6 + 6 = 15 = "One tenth of the C-type trove appropriate to the place."  This is the same as last episode.  So a C4 "Minor Ruin's Wealth" ended up being (see last episode for the details of what to roll):

...70 gold pieces; 1 piece of cheap jewelry, a malachite earring (probably the matching piece for the malachite toe ring; there were some weird dudes guarding the Fort of the Unholy Mound) (90 gp).  1 piece of costly jewelry, a bracelet with bits of amber (300 gp).  And hooray, 1 piece of precious jewelry, a deep yellowish-green peridot set in a belly chain(?) (4000 gp!).  Glendal guessed the garrison must have had a few harem girls gracing the premises.  Also 1 lesser magic item, a scroll of some sort (It happens to be a 4th Level Magic-User scroll of "Tireless Horse of Long Travel").  But no greater magic items.  Glendal had spent enough time around mages to know that this is something that will be valuable to the right person, but useless to him right now, seeing as how he cannot read or cast magic.

The wounded Elf quickly slid the gold into another of the Looters' packs, along with the scroll, and hid it carefully out of sight.  The jewelry, however, he kept with him.  He knew a certain Elven dancing girl on whom the belly chain would look particularly fetching, and with whom he could certainly get (4000 gp!) worth of entertainment.

After bandaging his sword cut, Glendal felt better.  This took a few minutes to complete, and then he was ready to continue on.

I realized at this point that I had made a mistake in the numbering of the turns so far completed.  In the One-DM-and-One-Player part of the rules, it simply says that a hero can take a few minutes after a battle to bandage wounds; they regain up to 2 hit points.  This was what was in my mind.  However, in the Dungeon Exploration part, it says first aid after a battle or trap usually takes a full turn to complete (10 minutes).  So I renumbered it on my hand-written records.  It doesn't really change anything here though, so you can relax.

Turn 5:

Glendal healed 2 hit points, putting him at 4 currently, of 6 possible.

Before leaving, Glendal gave the Vault one last check.  Surely there must be more treasure than this in the veritable Vault of the fortress!  But alas, there was no more.  It had apparently been long ago removed, much longer ago than just these dead Looters.

I asked the Oracle:  This is the Vault.  Is this all the treasure?  I assigned it an "Unknown" 50/50 value.  d20 = 10 = "No, but..."  The related d6 = 6 = "Sublimely bad or good timing by a sudden event."  To help make sense of that, I rolled on the Oracular Adjectives table:  2d20 = 9 x 5 = "History."  It would appear that the bulk of the treasure was removed in the distant past.

Checking the security of his backpack and his weapons, Glendal prepared to move into the next room.

To be continued, in the next exciting(?) installment of The Adventures of Glendal Lorg, Scarlet Hero!

The Adventures of Glendal Lorg, Solo Hero (1.1)

Glendal Lorg the Visionary, from the Phantom Cabal, was tired of serving in said Phantom Cabal, and decided to strike out on his own.

The Phantom Cabal acts as the Thief's Guild in my version of the Lost Lands of Barakus, or Citystate of the Invincible Overlord, or Greyhawk, or the Forgotten Realms, or wherever.  Depending on whom you ask.  And what day of the week it is.

The rules governing Glendal's conduct and adventures will be from Scarlet Heroes by Sine Nomine Publishing; HOWEVER, I will be removing all elements of the default (Chinese/Japanese/island) setting, as I have no interest in Oriental gaming/culture/deporting basic fantasy to an alternative (apologies in advance), and simply wish to stick with my comfort zone.  Spells and monsters will be converted as necessary on-the-fly, using whatever I happen to have on-hand at the moment:  Holmes D&D, Menzter D&D, AD&D 1e, Labyrinth Lord, Swords & Wizardry, or my current go-to favorite Basic Fantasy Role-Playing.  All other aspects will be used as closely as written in Scarlet Heroes, i.e., treasure, monster encounter frequency, and especially the adventure generators for solo Urban, Wilderness and Dungeons.

I should add here, up front, that I like my solo role-playing to be a little less Mythic story-question driven, and a little more random-table-dice-roll controlled.  That's just me.  That's how I roll (the dice).  I love Rory's Story Cubes.  I won't be using them with Scarlet Heroes.  I love Mythic.  I won't be using it with Scarlet Heroes, other than the modified/adapted table that is provided in Scarlet Heroes.  I love The 9 Qs.  I won't be using them in Scarlet Heroes.  If it's not in Scarlet Heroes, or on a table somewhere else, I won't be using it.  Tables are how I keep myself in suspense.

*** Naturally, this is the first rule I will break when it suits me. ***

Glendal was named using the Random Name Generator from Wampus Country:
http://wampuscountry.blogspot.com/2012/01/i-miss-gleep-wurp-random-fantasy-names.html

Glendal's vital statistics:

Elf Thief, Level 1, XP 0.

STR 16

DEX 16

CON 16

INT 11

WIS 14

CHA 14
...all of which were rolled legitimately on real d6s.  That it took more than one set of rolls to get these results is irrelevant.  Irrelevant, I say!

Max HP 6, Current HP 6

Armor Class 5 (using descending AC, per the Scarlet Heroes rules)

Attack Bonus +1

Fray Die 1d6

Traits & Abilities:

• Elven Senses +1
• Former Fighter in past life +1
• Adventuring Thief (Stealth, lockpicking, pick-pocketing, climbing, disarming small traps) +3
• Keen Danger Sense +1
• Streetwise Information Gatherer +2
• Has the Thief's Ambush ability +4 to hit, x3 damage.

Goal:

• To explore the world and get rich (yet with a heart of gold).

Gear:

• Leather Armor
• Backpack
• 1hw Sword
• Small Weapon/Dagger
• Bow, Quiver of 20 Arrows
• Camp Gear
• Common Clothes
• Rations for 5 days
• Waterskin (1 gallon)
• Torches (10), burn for 1 hour each

Glendal decided to set out on his own, to earn the renown that surely is his due.  But at the same time he wanted to start small enough so as to not embarrass himself should he (inconceivably) fail.  This meant exploring a nearby deserted(?) ruin that had been nagging at him to pilfer for months.

So on Tuesday morning, Glendal filled his waterskin, sharpened his sword, packed his backpack and set out for...

I rolled on the "Dungeon Types and Sizes" chart on page 126 of Scarlet Heroes:  d10=5, d12=12

...a "shattered outpost," a type of fortress.  Naturally, as every child in Glendal's home town knew, the old Fort of the Unholy Mound...

---Thanks to Wampus Country name generator again---

...was practically overgrown with jungle plants and falling down around your ears, but yet rumor persisted that unclaimed treasure from the defeated garrison was to be found there.

And what more reason does a cunning fellow like Glendal need to risk life and limb, than the faintest rumor of long-forgotten treasure?

Never mind the logic that if the garrison was defeated and the fortress sacked, then there wouldn't be any long-forgotten treasure.  These rumors were persistent, I say!

Glendal knew from long exposure to the rumors of the street regarding the Fort of the Unholy Mound (henceforth known as FUM) that it was a two-story structure, consisting of a dozen rooms or chambers.

This came from rolling a further d12 on the "Size" column, scoring a 6:  "Two parts of 3d6  locations," which then became 1 + 5 + 6 = 12 locations.

What's more, *I* knew, even if Glendal didn't, that the ruin was inhabited (although "inhabited" might be too strong a word), since on the "Common Dungeon Inhabitants" table, I rolled d20 = 17.  The Basic Type of inhabitant would be "Looters"; the Minion type would be called "Novice Adventurers"; the Elite type would be "Skilled Freebooters"; the Boss type would be "Expedition Leader"; and any Mages encountered would be "Traditional Mage"; and lastly, Civilians would be called "Porter/Servants."  I'm not really sure Looters qualify as inhabitants; however, they are obviously there before Glendal, and are in the building, so technically they qualify as inhabiting, just not in the traditional sense.

Apparently, other no-good-niks had the same idea as our illustrious hero; namely, that the taking of free loot is a good way to earn a living.

Glendal also knew, from his street rumor-mongers, that the ruins of FUM were not too terribly dangerous.

In other words, I rolled 2d6 on the "Dungeon Threat Adjustment" table, scoring 2 + 6 = 8:  "The danger is roughly as anticipated.  The Threat level is equal to the PC's level," i.e., 1.

And so, having established all that could be established prior to setting out, Glendal Lorg the Visionary set out, trekking through the overgrown paths, eyes alert for danger at every turn.

He arrived unmolested at the front door of the fallen Fortress of the Unholy Mound.

It was a decrepit-looking wooden and stone-built fort of ancient design.  While obviously of human origin, it pre-existed the current nearby city.  Being a long-lived Elf, Glendal felt he should know something of this place, but didn't think of it in time before heading inside.  Only the moment of Now mattered!  (He'd been living among Humans for a long time.)

Cautiously entering the first room through a gap in a collapsed wall, Glendal found himself in what must have been the Cistern, where it once provided water to its beleaguered residents.  Now, however, it was cracked and dry, the water having long ago escaped through the fractures in its sides and bottom.

Glendal, despite his relative inexperience, felt intuitively that he would encounter no random, perhaps-best-described-as-Wandering, Monsters for at least 30 minutes.

I decided to follow the recommended and rather traditional practice of only rolling for wandering monsters after every third turn.

There are several rolls made upon entering each room in Dungeon exploration.  I will elaborate on this first set, and from now on will abbreviate as much as possible.  They will be presented in the same order when possible.

First, I roll to see if the Goal (the villain or macguffin) is present.  A roll of 20 means yes, and it is +1 to the roll each room after the halfway point.  I don't know what the Goal might be for this delve, but I roll anyway.  Goal d20 = 15.  No Goal.

Next, in order, determine:  room type then room contents (Encounter?; Treasure?; Hazard?; Feature?).  All rolls are by 1d10 each.

Finally, after everything has been ascertained and dealt with, roll for the direction and type of the next room.

Turn 1, Room 1

Room type d20 = 5 = Cistern.

Encounter d10 = 8 = Yes.

Treasure d10 + 3 (for an encounter) = 13 = Yes.

Hazard d10 = 4 = No.

Feature d10 = 2 = No.

Glendal entered the gloom of the unlit cistern.  Hazy green light filtered in through the rents in the ceiling and walls from the jungle outside.  His hopes of a quick and easy carouse through the complex, scooping up piles of coins and jewels, were quickly dashed as he spied...others!  Hugging the shadows against the wall, Glendal scoped out his opponents.  Would he have to kill them or would they share?, he wondered.

Encounter Found, 3d6 = 2 + 5 + 6 = 13.  "1d6 + T hit dice worth of Minions and Elites, with a 50% chance of T hit dice worth of guard beasts or allies," where T = the Threat level = 1.  So d6 = 2 + 1 = 3 hit dice worth.  I decided that two Novice Adventurers would be led by one Skilled Freebooter.  A 50/50 d6 roll yielded no allies.

I ran into a little problem here, because there are no specified stats for "Novice Adventurers" or "Skilled Freebooters," or for the Basic Type of "Looters" either for that matter.  This is odd because there are other creatures available on the list of possible Dungeon Inhabitants which are statted out.  Also, there are stats for Human Bandits, Commoners, Nobles and Soldiers.  And there is a chart for "Statistics for Unique or Unstatted Foes," which certainly seemed like the answer, except the stats for Vermin, Minion, Elite, Beast, Boss, and Mage didn't really seem to correlate to the stats for Human Bandits, Commoners, Nobles or Soldiers.  They were almost the same, but not the same.

I went back and forth for a while, before deciding to use the "Unstatted Foes" table for all Looter-types.  It seems perfectly clear to me in retrospect, but at the time it caused me needless delay and confusion.  I really felt that a "name" adversary should have stats.  This is not the same as needing to substitute a monster from another D&D edition, at least not to me.

At any rate, all Minions aka Novice Adventurers have the following stats:

Hit Dice 1

AC 7

Attack +1

Damage 1d6

Move 30'

Morale 8

All Elites aka Skilled Freebooters have the following stats:

Hit Dice T (1)

AC 5

Attack +T (+1)

Damage 1d10

Move 30'

Morale 10

Glendal couldn't quite make out what sort of treasure the ruffians were pawing through, but it looked like a little something-something.  In fact, it looked like...

...3d6 = 4 + 5 + 6 = 15 = 1/10th of a C-type treasure trove appropriate to the place.  Which C-type trove?  I guessed it would be C4 "Minor Ruin's Wealth."  More on that later.

Glendal stepped out of the shadows, announcing his presence by simply appearing.  The Looters stopped their sorting and counting, freezing in place as this almost-apparition materialized out of the darkness.  His sword was in its scabbard; shadows hid his face.  One hand rested on the pommel of his sword.

The two Novice Adventurers -- two street hooligans hardly older than Glendal looked (for he was an Elf and of great age compared to Humans) -- exchanged nervous glances, then both looked to their more experienced leader, the Skilled Freebooter.  Here was a man who knew the ways of thieves, and he saw in his opponent's eyes that which reflected his own:  It's not yours, it's mine!

With a growled curse, the Skilled Freebooter drew his sword, motioning for his two subordinates to do likewise.  Warily they circled the Elf interloper, who had also now armed himself.  After a few tense moments of sizing each other up, the Looters attacked!

I used the Reactions Table from "Actors, Relationships, and Reactions" on page 117, but it didn't feel quite right for the situation.  I wasn't sure which column to use or how to modify it, as this table is really meant for interpersonal reactions between PCs and NPCs as opposed to combat reactions.  Nonetheless, I used the "NPC Stranger" column, rolled 2d6 = 2 + 3 = 5 "Flat Refusal" (which certainly seemed to work), and asked the General Oracle, "Do they attack?"  I deemed this "Likely" (partly as it seemed likely, but also because I wanted to run through a combat encounter to make sure I understood the mechanics of it).  I rolled d20 = 14 = Yes.

Glendal spotted the tell-tale gleam in the Freebooter's eye seconds before they launched their assault, and was able to act first.  The changing light that filtered through the jungle canopy and into the cistern gave a weird otherworldly glow to the proceedings.

This was Glendal's first real fight and a strange blood-red haze seemed to obscure his vision.  He sprang at the leader, missing with his quick backhand, but hitting solidly with his main strike, killing the Elite Skilled Freebooter with a single stroke.  If he had been a trifle more careful, he realized later, he probably could have carried through with his swing and killed one of the other fighters.  He would need to control his temper better in the future, so as not to make that mistake again.  Next time, it might kill him!

It was also my first real fight and I falteringly felt my way through the combat system.  It's familiar enough to anyone who's ever played old-school D&D, yet there are a couple of differences that will trip you up if you're not careful.  My first mistake was in how I allocated attacks and damage:  the real way is much more free-flowing than what I used.  I targeted and applied all regular damage and the fray die to the same target, which in this case didn't matter as the fray die came up a 1.  But any damage can be spread around targets, as long as the attack roll would have hit them.  So of the 2HD worth of damage I did with my main attack, only 1 was needed to kill the Elite; I could have applied the 2nd to one of the Minions.  Lesson learned.

The heroes of Scarlet Heroes always act first in Initiative order.  Now it was the Minions' turn to act.  I decided a Morale Check was in order.

The two Novices turned to look at the bloody ruin that had been their leader.  One formed the thought:  "More loot for me!" and continued his attack, the other decided that it wasn't that much loot after all, and turned and ran.

Minion #1 rolled 2d6 = 11 and ran.  Minion 2 rolled 2d6 = 7 and stayed to fight.  I gave Minion #1 a 50/50 chance of running inside or outside (since we were at the entrance to the dungeon), and rolled for him to run outside.

"Life on the streets is better than dying in here!" he shouted over his shoulder as he disappeared into the foliage.

The other Novice pressed his attack while Glendal was distracted.  The distraction worked!  His sword slipped past the Elf's defenses and scratched the skin.

Minion #2 rolled his attack really well:  d20 = 17 + 1 + AC5 = 23.  The d6 damage came up 2 which equals 1 hp damage.

Glendal returned his full attention to his attacker...and missed!  Darn that blood rage bad temper thing!  Calming himself, he backhanded the Novice ruffian, causing him to trip over a root and impale himself on Glendal's sword.  The last of the three Looters was dead.

My main attack roll ended with a total of 19, which is not enough to hit even a Novice Adventurer.  Luckily, my fray d6 scored a 5 which correlates to 1HD damage, which was just enough to kill Minion #2.

There is an option in the Dungeon Exploration rules to have Dungeons with Alarms.  I opted not to have this happen this go-around, as I wanted to see how far Glendal could go without that added threat.  Plus, it didn't really seem to fit a nearly-deserted ruin.

Kicking the bodies aside, Glendal eyed the loot.  After pawing through their pockets, he began separating the coins they had been counting into piles of his own.  Neither of the ruffians had anything worthwhile on their person, and luckily for Glendal they had already found what meager treasure there was to be found in this room.

90 gp.  1 cheap jewelry.  1 costly jewelry.  No precious jewelry.  1 lesser magic item.  No greater magic item.

Specifically, a malachite toe ring ("A toe ring?  Really?") worth 50 gp, and a rose quartz amulet worth 100 gp.  Also a potion that with a careful tongue-touch Glendal identified as the street-drug "Rapture."  Just what the ecstasy-inducing potion was doing in a former military fortress was beyond the Elf's ken.

Otherwise, not bad for a first room's work.

The C4 Minor Ruin's Wealth list consisted of:  1d6+4 x 100 gp, 1d6+4 Cheap Jewelry, 1d4 Costly Jewelry, 25% for 1 Precious Jewelry, 1d3 Lesser and 25% for 1 Greater Magic Item.

Everything was 1/10th of that.  My rolls resulted in the "awards" just listed.  I figured I would round up, i.e., I rolled d6 + 4 = 3 + 4 = 7 pieces of cheap jewelry; except I get 1/10th of 7, which would be 7/10ths of a piece of jewelry.  That's not gonna happen.  So if it's applicable, I round up.  Ergo, there is 1 piece of cheap jewelry.  If it ends up being 3/10ths of a piece of jewelry, I'll round down as well to zero.  I play fair.

I rolled d10 x 10gp = 50 gp cheap jewelry.  Then a d12 identified it as 8 = malachite, then another d12 = 12 as a toe ring.

Next, d6 x 100gp = 100 gp costly jewelry.  d12 = 12 = rose quartz; d12 = 1 = amulet.

Finally, the lesser magic item via d10 = 6 = became a potion.  A d% = 83 = "Rapture:  A costly extract compounded from the essences of numerous recreational drugs and sorcerous concoctions, a potion of rapture may be consumed by a user or splashed on a victim.  If the subject submits to the drug, they spend the next hour in a helpless, oblivious state of ecstasy.  If they fight the effects, the drug lasts only 2d4 rounds - but each round the subject must make a saving throw aginst difficulty 14 to perform any action."

That's a very interesting potion, and I am unlikely to find anything remotely similar in any of the Old School books.  Also, it's off-the-wall enough that I decided to keep it as-is. 

Glendal then took a few minutes to examine and tend to his small wound.  Between counting out the loot and the five minutes needed to catch his breath, he felt like he was back at full strength.

Turn 2

A "Short Rest," to steal a phrase from another incarnation of D&D, allows the hero to bind his wounds and regain some lost hit points, dependent on the situation for how many he recovers.  I was able to heal all of Glendal's lost hit points, all 1 of them this time.

Ready to move on, Glendal dumped the treasure into his pack and stealthily moved toward the only exit from the room:  an opening leading to the North East.

To be continued in The Adventures of Glendal Lorg the Visionary, from the Phantom Cabal:  Room 2!

The beginning is a very delicate time....

Coming soon.