Episode 1: The Kidnapping

Cast:

Aubrey, Halfling Fighter

Lasbador, Human Wizard

Akajj Farstrider, Elven Druid of the Eastern Desert

Dash Seraphim, Human Bard

You stand at the end of a long hallway in an ancient building deep within the Undercity of New Axiom. You hear an anguished scream from the other side of the wooden door.  You need the man on the other side of that door alive.  You can still see the look on the Captain of the Guard’s face as he told you the importance of the task.  Time is running out.  What do you do?

This was my opening description to the first session of my group’s newly formed game of Dungeon World.  I tried to follow the book’s suggestion to start the game in the thick of things.  I came armed with only the most basic of frameworks of what the session was going to be about:  all the stuff we outlined in the world creation step about 30 minutes before we started playing and a kidnapping/rescue scenario.

What follows is going to be a highlight of the events of the session.  I plan on going through some of the awesome events that took place and discuss what was going through my head and some of the judgement calls I made.  I’m no stranger to running games but Dungeon World is a different beast.  You really have to think about the consequences of player actions and know exactly what is at stake each time the dice are rolled.  Because of this you will find plenty of threads in internet land about “understanding” Dungeon World enough to run the game.  I figure if I running through reports like this might help me find ways to improve my game as well as giving some insight for others.

So what did our Underwatch do?

Aubrey charged at the door and busted it down!

I liked it.  Iconic Fighter type stuff.  A quick Bend Bars / Lift Gates roll later the door was smashed off the hinges and the group charged into the room.

The Watch found themselves standing in front of five men.  Four of which were obvious members of the Bower Street Boys and the fifth was some poor chap tied to an old chair with the visible signs that spend most of his free time as of late being someone else’s punching bag.

The shocked thugs were speechless and most started to fidget nervously while the Watch filled the room.

I admit that I didn’t much know where to go at first.  I liked the idea of starting the game with the group busting in on a crime in progress.  I rolled with it and made the thugs scared and nervous and waiting for the Watch to make the first move.  I get the idea that my players expected these guys to charge at them and for combat to break out after busting down the door.  I thought maybe that’s what I should have done.  But it turned out better this way.  They got to do try out some “police procedure.”

The Watch declared who they were and their intentions to bring these men to justice.  The Undercity isn’t home to anything remotely close to the “suspect’s rights,” so the interrogation began right at the scene of crime.

It was learned that the poor chap in the chair was Dillard, a young member of the Stonemason Guild. The Stonemasons are responsible for the upkeep and construction of New Axiom.  They also have the reputation of having access to blue-prints, schematics and maps of most of the city old and new.  In other words, young Dillard is a fount of the kind of information that a band of thugs could have some real fun with.  Dillard was also the very man the Watch had been sent to find.

It was around this time the scrawniest of the Bower Street Boys became extremely agitated.  He was vigorously fiddling with an object behind his back, desperately hoping that the watch wouldn’t catch on.

They caught on.

All at once they demanded to see what Scrawny was up to.  But it was too late.  As he showed the wondrous items his hands concealed they heard the calls and screams of more thugs outside.

What were these items?  A pair of enchanted bottle caps that were glowing with a soft blue nimbus.  A rushed interrogation had the scrawny thug reveal that those were gifts from The Stoutman.  It was here that we established that The Stoutman was some kind of criminal Kingpin in the Undercity.  Some kind of back alley boogey-man that no one had ever seen.  The bottle caps?  When rubbed together they allowed communication between the gangs remotely.  Bad news for the Underwatch.

After it was clear these “suspects” were not going to come in quietly, our group quickly attacked them.  Aubrey cleaved one in twain, Dash pinned one to the wall with his rapier, Lasbador fired magic missiles and Akajj was fighting tooth and claw (and spear).  Just when the characters seems their most Bad Ass, I had the front door the building smashed down and a flood of Thugs started to poor down the hallway.  The magic bottle caps work.

Soon the party was running for their lives with a couple of hostages suspects in tow.  They started to smash their way through the dilapidated wall into the building next door. One of the suspects took his chance to try and escape and was run through by Dash. They proceeded into the building to find an old stone door.  Akajj took a position to hold off the stampede of gangers while the rest of the party examined the door.  It was sealed shut by ancient dwarven mechanisms.  Akajj quickly shifted into Bear form and starting to fight the thugs 2-3 at a time.  Aubrey did a Bend Bars / Lift Gates and got the old door open before returning to Akajj’s side.

Meanwhile, Dash and Lasbador were debating how safe it would be to descend the pitch-black staircase that was behind the door.  Lasbador quickly tried to cast his Light spell and got a Miss (6-).  The clean glow of the magical energy swirled around and was quickly siphoned down the staircase.  Oops.  Not one to waste a good scouting resource, Lasbador shoved the remaining suspect down the stairs.  The poor guy’s anguished screams and loud thud of impact as he met the bottom was all the scouting the young Wizard needed.  Dash and Lasbador nodded at each other and followed down the stairs, calling to Aubrey and Akajj to follow.

Once the pair could push the gangers back they charged after their companions and met them at the bottom of the steps.  The only light in the tunnel at the bottom was the swirling energy from Lasbador’s previous Light spell.  A large group of gangers were now at the top of the steps.  It was either take their chances with the darkened hallway or fight the mob coming down the steps after them.  They decided to run headlong into the darkness.

So you might be saying “Hey Guy, didn’t the Wizard miss with that Light spell?”  Why yes he did.  The move I choose to do was Turn their move back at them.  I described the desperate chase down the hall.  The countless enemies to their rear and nothing but the ghostly whisp in the darkness to lead their way.  Suddenly, the light picked up speed and was consumed by something at the end of the hall.  The soft glow turned an angry red as the magic from the rogue spell brought an ancient construct to life.  Standing around 10 feet tall and made of smooth rock segments connected by ancient dwarven mechanics the towering war golem stood up.  It’s eyes glowed with such intensity that it bathed the hallway in a dim red light.  It started to run toward our Underwatch.

It was right around this time that I really fell in love with Dungeon World as a game.  I hadn’t even really considering what might be beyond that door when I put it in their way.  The miss on the Light spell immediately gave me the idea that the magic was “drawn” to the old magi-tek that was in these ruins.  And what would it turn on?  Huge Dwarven War Golems that’s what!

The look on the players’ faces was priceless.

The group immediately turned and started running back toward the mob of gangers.  They figured it was the best of the two options.  The Wizard Spouted some Lore about what this thing was as they ran full tilt the way they came.  The result was 10+ so I spilled the beans.  “The intense RED glow of this golem’s eyes sends a shiver down your spine.  The only golems that were said to have eyes like that were the ones crafted by Garven MadAxe, a twisted rune-tek that was said to have found a way to power his creations with Hellfire.  As a result they have a special hatred for all living beings.  Oh, and they are said to be indestructible.”

 ’RUN!” Lasbador screamed in response.  On one end of the hall we had an ever increasing amount of Bower Street Boys flooding down the path and on the other we had a twisted dwarven warmachine bearing down on them like a locomotive.  The Underwatch needed to think fast.  Luckily someone was able to spot a hallway on the right side of the tunnel.  They ran right past it in the dark.  Thanks to the Hellfire glow emanating from the 2 tons of death behind them, it was somewhat easier to see this time around.

The group did a quickly timed turn and the Golem smashed into the oncoming Bower Street Boys.  Screams of agony mixed with the sounds of pistons and gears as the mechanical monster tore through the poor Boys.

The rest of the adventure was a short affair.  They hurried their way through the tunnels and were able to find the secret passage out.  It was at this point we learned about Lasbador’s “other gift.”  He’s a Human Wizard so he get’s a Cleric Spell to start.  He decided to take Guidance, but instead of always seeing his deity for the answers, he has a vision/hallucination that is appropriate to the task at hand.  He rolled well and saw the “ghost” of Garven Madaxe himself.  After a short conversation with the vision (giving the rest of the group the heebie jeebies) Lasbador found the way out.  Just in time too, the sounds of more of the Hellfire Golems waking up echoed through the chambers.

So the first mission of the Underwatch was a success.  They made it back with Dillard the Stonemason.  They made enemies of the street gangs below.  They unleashed a group of life-hating automatons.  Oops. That last part isn’t so good. But fear not!  The Underwatch always cleans up their mess.  I hope.

Plot Hooks

• Who is the Stoutman and how does he have access to create such wondrous items?
• What were the Bower Street Boys trying to beat out of the Stonemason, Dillard.
• How in the nine hells is the group going to explain / deal with the Hellfire golems they have unleashed?