Hey everyone,
Tldr; I’m building an adventure for 15 peasants and here are my notes on transferring the idea to ICRPG and the adventure I’m writing.
I’m currently building a lvl 0 Funnel for D&D 5th edition for my local campaign, building on the rules that Dungeon Crawl Classics has laid out. That means all the characters are peasants of lvl 0 and most have no weapons, no abilities, and weak stats.
I was looking at the new forum and then I started to wonder how it would work in ICRPG, as I’m using a lot of Runehammer’s ideas, tips and tricks in my encounter design. How would peasants look like in ICRPG and how would you run a funnel with them? I came up with the following solution for generating characters.:
Generate 4 characters (per player) when playing with 4 players, 3 characters (per player) when with 5 players
Roll 2d10 for abilities/effort (note: MAGIC effort is missing as I don’t expect peasants to have it):
- STR
- DEX
- CON
- INT
- WIS
- CHA
- ARMOR
- BASIC
- WEAPON
- ULTIMATE
Roll 1d6 for Bioform (Note: the Bioform bonus replaces the bonus in the book for this adventure, but motivates for helping each other):
- Human (INT target becomes EASY when helping in a HARD situation)
- Hill folk (STR target becomes EASY when helping in a HARD situation)
- Elf (DEX target becomes EASY when helping in a HARD situation)
- Dwarf (CON target becomes EASY when helping in a HARD situation)
- Small folk (WIS target becomes EASY when helping in a HARD situation)
- Player’s choice
Roll or choose (or come up with) an occupation:
- Farmer (6x rations)
- Watchman (Short sword)
- Sailor (20 ft of rope)
- Baker (Sack of flour)
- Mayor (Historical book, Pouch of 5 coin)
- Innkeeper (Jug of wine, 4x rations)
- Merchant (Pouch of 10 coin)
- Apprentice Mage (Spellbook with INT spell: Mender)
- Hunter (Bow with 10 arrows)
- Criminal (Pouch of 3 gold, crowbar)
Every Character has 5 HP. There are no Death Saving Throws.
That is it for character generation. I will now go over the encounters I’m writing for my adventure funnel. Ideas for encounter 2 and 4 are taken from Runehammer’s video about Damage, distortion and Duration, I believe.
It starts out with the town being attacked by cultists, like some towns in the region that have been attacked lately. The villagers wait for help and shadows walk out of the forest. As the villagers are huddled together near a large bonfire in the village center, arrows start to fly and the villagers flee up on the mountain path to the old watchtower.
Encounter I: The ruined tower
An old, ruined tower stands between you and the path to escape.
Timer: 1d4 before the cultists give chase.
Target: 10
Watchtower door is locked: 1 HEART of STR effort, WPN damage if handling a crowbar.
On the ground floor is a statue of King Henryk that reads: “Underneath my watch, all shall be secure.” There is a secret hatch underneath the statue, 1 HEART of STR to move. (It leads to the end of Enc 3)
On the ground floor are some crates with rope and 1d4 pairs of gloves.
On the first floor is a door with a small bridge to the Biting Winds (enc 2).
Stairs are missing to the armory on second floor. Hard DEX to climb. There are 1d4 weapons left and 1d4 armor.
Encounter II: The Biting Winds
The ridge is cold and winds blow you right off the mountain, if you are not careful where to stand.
Timer: every 2 turns the winds blow across the ridge, every 1d4 turns make a CON check against frostbite, target will increase every time by 1
There are some boulders to take cover on this ridge, and some hooks where only one person can hold on to. There is also a satchel of climbing gear (rope, ice pick).
When the winds blow, everyone not in cover needs to make a HARD STR check. Hooks make the attempt normal.
Every 1d4 turns, everyone without gloves makes a CON check. When failed, you can’t hold on to hooks. 3 failures is death. Dwarfs can use their turn to make the CON check for everyone around them EASY.
Encounter III: The Goblin Watch
Goblins are eating a roasted animal at a bonfire on an island in a frozen lake.
Timer: 1d4 before the Goblins notice you approaching.
The lake is frozen and slippery. When you move across, you have to make a DEX check. Roll effort afterwards. After one HEART of effort, you are used to the ice. Track this on character sheets.
The bonfire can warm you up and treat frostbite.
Goblins: 1 heart HP, 1d6 damage, +0 to rolls.
There is a hatch at the end of this encounter to exit from if you took the secret pathway under the watchtower.
Encounter IV: The Crumbling Bridge
A rocky arc leads you to the other side of a chasm.
Timer: As soon as the first person steps unto the arc, there are 6 turns left before all is collapsing.
Run, run, run!
Winter bats fly out to hinder your movement. They do 1d4 damage per attack and fly away as soon as they are being hit.
Encounter V: The Hide-out, the cave, the end
You seek shelter in a cave, surely the cultists must have retreated. You find an old torch, when you light it, you see the skeletal face of a mage trapped in a tomb of ice. An arcane sigil guards the frost.
Timer: 1d4 before the cultist leader comes in. He rushes towards the arcane runes to feed it blood and break the spell. As soon as that happens, the skeleton lich is freed and walks out of the tomb, trapping the villagers forever in ice, or until brave adventurers will free them.
This encounter is about keeping the Cultist leader from breaking the sigil. If you can hold him for 1 heart of STR effort after he appears, or kill him, you will be free to go. After 1d6 turns he succumbs to the cold and is helpless for a while.
If he breaks the arcane sigil with blood, darkness will be spread across the countryside.
That’s what I have, my adventure for 15 ICRPG peasants. I didn’t include pictures, but I hope you can imagine some sort of encounter maps with this. I hope you like it, or leave a comment how I can improve it. Thanks for reading!
