Play Report: Trollcoming, Session 1

This game was played over Discord, using my The Dark Eye variant of Diegetic World, my unholy ultralight FKR/PbtA mashup. All instances of invoking mechanics are [within brackets]. Excuse the wordiness, I don’t have the time nor talent to make it shorter.

Cast

The three players were new to TTRPGs. For this first session, we didn’t do a good protocol, so this is from my (bad) memory. My thanks throughout go to these three players, who made this whole thing a lot of fun for me.

First we did character creation. Everyone rolled on a big table, giving them a class and a subclass (item set). Then everyone picked names, giving us:

Loelia, A Wood Elf Musician

Nassin, An adventurer and desert ranger from the south

Nastya, An adventurer and former blacksmith from the far north

Then we did team building/character background. For example, I asked: Nastya, how do you know Loelia? Loelia, you’re an elf – why are you on the road instead of with the other elves? Once we had two or so facts about everyone, we proceeded to the first scene. I usually start out each new group with a variation on this one – in medias res and with some action – so they see what it’s like. This time, it went down roughly like this.

Ogre In Medias Res

The three travellers, travelling alongside a river, come across a stable boy leading his horse to drink at the river. But there is a suspicious stench in Loelia’s elven nose … Suddenly a gigantic man beast emerges from the river, like a baby the height of a tree, fat and mad. The horse panics and runs towards our adventurers; its rider bangs against a low hanging tree, falling limp.

Loelia acts first, jumping for the horse’s reigns, trying to save the unconscious boy’s life. She makes the jump easily [I ask her for a check – full success], so now she’s in the saddle of the panicking horse … “What do you do?” She whispers in the mare’s ear, trying to calm it down. [I ask for another check – partial success.] It takes her a while, but eventually the poor animal does listen, its breath and step slowing down – but it has carried her two riders quite a distance away from …

The fight between the remaining two adventurers and the creature! Nassin takes cover behind a felled tree and shoots an arrow at the beast. It hits it straight in the belly fat – the beast doesn’t even seem to notice. [No roll required – the creature is the size of an elephant, near impossible to miss, and either way impenetrable to arrows. The player, who had played some D&D before, seemed a bit confused why he didn’t get to roll damage.] Nassin … takes another arrow! No effect either. Meanwhile Nastya sprints forwards, to attack the beast with her short sword. It swings at her with a tree trunk it uses for a club – “What do you do?” – She ducks under the strike, herself striking for the beast’s legs … [Another check – a partial.] The club misses her, and her own attack finds its mark, cutting the beast’s hamstrings. But in anger and confusion, it turns and kicks – sending Nastya flying through the air a good bit into the river. She swims for her life … The beast again goes for Nassin behind the trunk.

At this moment, Loelia arrives, and starts playing her flute to effect an elven spell. Roots and branches of the trees flanking the river here start to grow, to reach out for the creature’s legs … It howls and swings its club with massive reach – and there’s Nastya again, wet from the river, thrusting at its lower legs again, and Nassin shoots another arrow, this time aiming for – and [Check; full success] hitting – an eye. A mighty root, wriggling under Loelia’s spell, finally forces the creature to its knees. Still it is biting for, spitting at the adventurers. Nastya ends the cannibal’s life with a slice of her dagger.

Wine and a cliffhanger

And I cut the scene. After a bathroom break, we return to our heroes celebrating their victory at Auweiler Keep. Exhilarated about the rescue of his favourite horse – cough, I mean, the stable boy and the horse – Count Gregor has ordered to bring the good wine and roast a pig. I ask: who’s drinking beer, eating too much and dancing with the servants? And who’s quiet in a corner with a glass of wine? Nastya, who’s enjoying the spoils, is given many a bear hug and good beer by the Count, him telling her of his many battles back when he was slim enough to fit into his armor, before they made him settle down and manage this keep. Meanwhile, Loelia is approached by Gregor’s younger brother Michelor, the studied advisor, and given some background on the keep – given to Michelor, an accomplished leader of men, after its previous owner fell in battle, quite successful as it oversees an important trading route.

And suddenly, the door is thrown open, a guardsman, out of breath, warns of an unexpected visitor – who arrives this very moment, bringing with it a scent of wet dog and fir trees, a massive humanoid figure even larger than the killed ogre, taller, but slimmer, darker, hairier, covered in furs. And it speaks. In a slow, growling voice, it proclaims: “The short-lived, bare feeted, fast talking ones must, as the contract says, return to the Queen under the Hill her living quarters, no later than until the next full moon.” Turns. Disappears into the night. As the first drunken and confused followers stumble outside into the yard, there is nothing left than the smell of fir.

We do some feedback and decide on the next session.

Discussion

This was a good session, as I recall. Everyone grokked the game quickly. They narrated good stunts, good plans, played into their roles and gave the adventurers some life. And I was really pushing them throughout the ogre fight; it was a tight sequence of, “he does this, aiming to do that! What do you do?” – Their response – resolution – and now they either had another threat to face, or an opportunity to exploit – “He’s distracted, his backside turned towards you! But he seems intent on crushing your friend’s skull. What do you do?”.

Again, a lot of details here are probably wrong due to the passage of time since then [I may have missed a check or two too], but this was about where we left.

The next session is here.