Chapter 0: Setting Up
It's time to start a new solo campaign. Glory and death awaits. Before we begin, I want to let you know how this story will be written so you know what you're in for. The narration will be relatively light, and there will be many gameplay comments in between. Every roll will be shown as well. I'm doing it this way for a few reasons:
-I can focus on being a player/GM first and a writer second.
-I believe the most interesting thing about solo play is how rolls and player decision making affect the story.
-Showing the entire process should be very educational for people trying to learn solo play.
-It will help to prove that I'm not fudging rolls.
I'll also do my best to call out any mistakes I make.
Here are some optional/house rules that I'll be using:
-I'm using a slightly modified version of the basic encumbrance rules (Leather no longer has a movement penalty, and chain is now faster than plate)
-I will not be using the retainer system as it was not designed for solo play. In practice, this means that all party members will get equal shares and XP. The hiring rules are good though, so I'll keep those.
-Crossbow reloading is optional in the book, so I've decided not to use it. Bows are already superior, no need to make crossbows completely useless.
-Armor restrictions are removed for non-arcane classes. Of course, metal armor and shields will penalize stealth.
-Clerics may use edged weapons, and slings are available to magic-users and illusionists (they can already throw daggers RAW, so this doesn't affect them much).
-Nat 20s do double damage.
-I reserve the right to add or remove more house rules as needed.
For the oracle, I'm mostly using One Page Solo Engine. I'll also be using the Action/Subject table from Mythic GM Emulator, the tables from Maze Rats, and Universal NPC Emulator.
The first order of business is to roll our first character. There will be no plot armor, so I have no idea how long our starting character will last. I will be using Old School Essentials Advanced Fantasy for this campaign. Race and class will be seperate. I'd like to play some kind of tough front-line fighter, but I'll take whatever I get. I'll begin with the ability score rolls.
Ability scores: STR 8 INT 13 WIS 10 DEX 8 CON 6 CHA 7
Ouch. -1 to three different stats, including CON, the most important stat for a level 1 character. Maybe a big HD class can salvage that. Time to roll race, class, gender and alignment.
More character stuff: Neutral Male Half-Orc Thief
A half-orc gets +1 to STR and CON, which helps a little. The STR penalty is now gone, but sadly the CON penalty remains. The worst part is the -2 CHA, which means few retainers. I'll have to rely heavily on thief skills and good tactics to avoid dying. Infravision will also be important. Time to roll hit points. Anything less than a max roll will be really bad.
HD roll: 2 HP
Getting hit is almost certain death now. I don't expect this character to make it very far. But there are a few things I can do that will help. Using point-buy rules, I can lower the half-orc's INT to 9 and push his DEX to 10, removing the penalty to AC and ranged attacks. It's not enough to get a Prime Requisite bonus, but it's better than nothing. I'm also going to use the optional secondary skills rule to give our half-orc a few more options.
Secondary skill: Farmer
What a terrible roll. The only use I can think of for that is if I need some extra money as a farmhand. Not what I want to do at all. Maybe I'll get some ideas later. Speaking of money, it's time to roll for starting gold and buy equipment.
Starting gold: 60G
That's not very much, but I can get the essentials. After some deliberation, this is what I chose to buy:
Leather armor
Backpack
50' rope
6 torches
Tinder box
Waterskin
2 bags of caltrops
Sling
Spear
10ft pole
12 iron spikes
Hammer
Crowbar
7 standard rations
2G remaining
Let's go over some of these purchases. A spear is the safest melee option for our thief, as it lets him attack from a back rank. Eventually he'll graduate to a polearm, but not today. I'm not using detailed encumbrance (A sword weighing twice as much as a mace in OSE is simply ridiculous), so the weight of a polearm is no issue. The spikes and caltrops will be critical for terrain control, and the rope has more uses than I can count. Sadly I couldn't afford a grappling hook to go with it.
Lastly, a name and personality for our dude. I'm calling him Urukubarr. Props to you if you know where that's from.
Personality and appearance: A logical rogue. Somewhat inept. Solid and brawny in appearance.
Funny how half of those results just told us what we already knew. Here's the final character sheet:
Urukubarr
Level 1 Neutral Half-Orc Thief
0 XP
2/2 HP
AC 7
THAC0 19
2 G
STR 9 INT 13 WIS 10 DEX 8 CON 7 CHA 5
D 13 W 14 P 13 B 16 S 15
Languages: Common, Alignment, Orcish
+4 to hit and double damage on unaware targets
Climb surfaces: 87
Find or remove treasure traps: 10
Hear noise: 1-2
Hide in shadows: 10
Move silently: 20
Open locks: 15
Pick pockets: 20
Inventory:
Leather armor
Backpack
50' rope
6 torches
Tinder box
Waterskin
2 bags of caltrops
Sling
Spear
10ft pole
12 iron spikes
Hammer
Crowbar
7 standard rations
See you in Chapter 1.