The Isle of Dread

[nemarsde]

It took me a long time to find the game system for our next 7-dice adventure. Biter wanted more D&D but like the version we played when we were kids, set in Mystara. I still had our original D&D BECMI box sets and Gazetteers but I'd already trained them on 5e... there's no switching to THAC0 after that!

What I needed was an OSR/5e hybrid or in common parlance, an O5R. After previewing Shadowdark, Basic Fantasy Role-Playing Game, Five Torches Deep and Into the Unknown in that order, I picked out Five Torches Deep.

Five Torches Deep isn't a complete game in my opinion; it's a framework. Players need to be familiar with D&D 5e to understand quite a few of its terms and implied mechanics, and the DM must be experienced. They'll be converting monsters for a start and a campaign will likely need plenty of house rules.

I was fine with that. More important for me was the core classes of 5e were preserved and the game be presented in a slim, easily accessible rule book with artwork similar to 5e's style.

After a few sessions I sensed that Rollergirl and Splat wanted to learn more about the game and wanted to encourage them to try GMing. I realised I couldn't teach Five Torches Deep without teaching 5e first and I needed a truly integrated game.

Daggerheart appealed to me because it uses board game design like token enconomy. Usually players are only interested in the narrative resolution of another player's turn. The mechanical resolution is only understood by the other player and GM, which is a pity because it takes far longer to resolve than the narrative. Daggerheart fixes that by allows players to see to how another player's faring by glancing at their Hope and Armour tokens, for example.

So, eventually I converted to Daggerheart and on we continued.

[nemarsde]

We created characters using Five Torches Deep (5TD) but the shonky system for rolling ability scores resulted in (Str, Dex, Con, Int, Wis, Cha):

Human warrior. 11, 9, 11, 3, 8, 8
Human thief. 12, 13, 6, 11, 11, 9
Elf mage. 9, 13, 8, 13, 11, 11
Human zealot. 12, 10, 14, 11, 16, 8

Not conducive to survival. Although our characters never survived more than a few adventures when we played in the Eighties, I wanted Biter's family to experience characters with story arcs. So I took the ability scores from the introductory solo adventure in 1983's Basic D&D and made them into a standard array. Then I used the 5TD ability scores as an order in which to assign highest to lowest.

Tiberious, played by Biter. Human warrior, past unknown. 17, 14, 16, 8, 11, 9
Matt Long-scar, played by Catbro. Human thief from Minrothad. 16, 17, 8, 14, 11, 9
Ynes La Calavera, played by Rollergirl. Elf mage from Glantri. 9, 16, 8, 17, 11, 14
Svala the Wild, played by Splat. Human zealot from Kerendas. 14, 9, 16, 11, 17, 8

I was happier with that. We created generic back stories for the characters then I tweaked them so they'd all start in the same region, the Kingdom of Ierendi.

We'll start with a beginners adventure that covers the different aspects of play, then transition to the classic X1: The Isle of Dread. One of the greatest of all time, no doubt about it.

[nemarsde]

Argenta. The Silver Princess and ruler of an enchanted realm, located in the mountains either north-west of Glantri or in eastern Karameikos. Magic has isolated it in a pocket dimension to protect the rest of Mystara from the evil of Arik of the Hundred Eyes.ᶠ
Arik of the Hundred Eyes. An incredibly powerful evil being from the Far Realm, trapped in the Valley of Silver Princess.ᶠ
"Ball-sack". Wizard and proprietor of the Magic Emporium in Ierendi City. No-one can remember his actual name.ᵃ
Boogie. So named by the first-mate of The Tortuga, bought in the markets of Ierendi City and brought aboard as a pet. Later molted into an adult rust monster and started eating the ship's iron fittings. Cornered in the bilge and slain by the party, but did it lay any eggs?
Captain Red-Eye of The Thorgrim. Viking hiding out on Alcove Island, known for his hot temper. Got into a bar fight with the party after refusing to pay the pre-agreed price for the fire starter gems sold by Verta. Beaten, he has sworn vengeance and pursued the party ever since.ᵃ
Captain Silverleg of The Tortuga. Darokinian pirate who witnessed the bar fight against the Vikings and impressed by the party's fighting prowess recruited them for a voyage to the Isle of Dread.ᵃ
Crimson Caruthra, aka "Nkela". Elderly but still vigorous leader of the mutineers. One of the crew that Barbarosa hired from Crossbones Island fifty years ago.ᵇ
Choco. Svala's brown bear cub. Trouble magnet.
Coarke. Famous, world-renowned elven wizard who operates a private resort on Fletcher Island and can make anyone's dreams come true. 100 gp entry by flying carpet!ᵃ
Dak. Friendly tour guide and treasure hunter based in the village of Kurutiba on Alcove Island.ᵃ
Dalisay. Daughter of the chief of Tanaroa, who ran away from home and was taken hostage by the mutineers.
Dunbar Stormkinder. The mysterious sky-gnome who found Tiberious lying unconscious in a shipwreck on the side of a mountain.ᶜ
Koom. A friendly storm giant who guards the southern edge of the Sunlit Sea. When the party were caught in a maelstrom, he aided the party in return for their promise to help him prevent a war between Kron and the Minrothad Guilds.ᵈ
Morn. Barbarian from the Hinterlands of Thyatis, recruited by the party for the voyage south. Became the band's leader after Thoch's death. Wanted to hunt the hippogriffs but was dissuaded by Tiberius.
Skylla. Once a good witch who tried to control the Eye of Arik and protect the valley of the Silver Princess. Its dark power aged her and turned her to evil.ᵉ
Thoch. Barbarian from the Hinterlands of Thyatis, recruited by the party for the voyage south along with a band of his countrymen. Died foaming at the mouth and leaping into the mouth of a hydra.
Timothy. Makai fisherman and childhood friend of Matt's, real name Tanemahuta. Joined the party for the voyage south.
Verta Longbraid. A shifty trader doing deals with pirates on Alcove Island.ᵃ
Warduke. Infamous marauder and dragon-rider who stole the Eye of Arik from the valley of the Silver Princess then disappeared.ᵉ

ᵃGAZ4: The Kingdom of Ierendi
ᵇX1: The Isle of Dread
ᶜPC2: Top Ballista
ᵈX7: The War Rafts of Kron
ᵉAC1: The Shady Dragon Inn
ᶠB3: Palace of the Silver Princess

[nemarsde]

Here I record all the resources generously awarded and cruelly stolen by the GM in each session.

Session 1
Based on Joel Tannas's The Wealthy Merchant, an intro adventure at Dungeon Masters Guild. The PCs meet in Kurutiba on Alcove Island and agree to escort a merchant to an old mud fort in the hills where they anger some Vikings and befriend some pirates.

• 20 gp/PC -- from "sale" of fire starter gems

Session 2
Based on John McCullogh's The Pool of Unmaking. Taken to Pirate Cove by their new friends, the PCs infiltrate the ruined lair of a legendary pirate captain and find a treasure map.

• 5* Art objects, 25 gp each -- from pirate's lair
• Scroll of Toll of the Dead -- from pirate's lair
• Scroll of Magic Missile -- from pirate's lair
• 2* Healing potions -- awarded by Captain Silverleg
• Ring of Protection +1 -- murky history, Matt might've stolen it [Catbro's Christmas voucher]

Session 3
Down-time. The PCs sail to Ierendi City where they buy their own ship and hire a crew for a voyage south across the Sea of Dread.

• Spell focus -- Ynes's staff etched with Wyvern sigil and Illusion sigil at Ball-sack's Magic Emporium
• Chainmail +1 -- a gift from Ball-sack's Magic Emporium [Splat's Christmas voucher]

Session 4
Chased by an angry Viking longship, the PCs discover their sister ship is coming apart at the seams, its iron fittings being eaten by a rust muster unwittingly brought aboard as a pet.

Session 5
[Level-up] Caught in a maelstrom, the PCs lose sight of their sister ship and are aided by a friendly storm giant in return for their promise of help in the future. Crossing the Sea of Dredd, the ship is beset by becalment, maddening fog, infestation and dead water, before being attacked in the night by undead commanded by vampiric devilfish, the Ixitxachitl.

Session 6
Arriving off the coast of the Isle of Dread, the PCs first move is to sail straight into one of the most deadly monsters in the adventure: an aquatic hydra!

Session 7
Hungry and short of food, the PCs suffer sleepless nights. When hippogriffs circle the ship, Ynes uses her magic to persuade one of them to drop-off a fresh goat from a nearby island. But the smoke from the feast attracts a giant roc and the ship is carried into the air!

Session 8
The PCs spy a coastal settlement and hove to shore to make repairs. They meet castaways from Barbarosa's final voyage fifty years ago, but it turns out these sailors from Crossbones Island might not have given up their piratical ways.

Session 9
The daring plan to rescue a native islander from the castaways is in motion, but more captives are found in a secret cave and it's not long before the alarm bell is sounded.

• 7* Cut gemstones, value unknown -- from trapped chest in castaway's lair
• Shield scroll -- from trapped chest in castaway's lair
• Magic sword+1 -- from trapped chest in castaway's lair

Session 10
Conversion to Daggerheart. The quick start adventure, The Sablewood Messengers is reskinned for B3: Palace of the Silver Princess, acting as a flashback for Ynes. The PCs must deliver My Lady's Heart, a magical gemstone, from the palace of the Silver Princess to the witch at the village of Velders. As night approaches, their coach is halted deep in the Abandoned Wood by a pride of displacer beasts.

Session 11
Flashback Part 2. Ambushed by bloodthirsty plant blights, the PCs fight their way clear and finally reach Velders by night. After tracking down the witch, they learn that My Lady's Heart is actually the Eye of Arik, an evil artefact that must be invoked by a ritual to command the undead to return to their graves.

Session 12
Flashback Part 3. The ritual commences in the depths of the night, high atop the cliffs. Arik's undead minions are drawn to the Eye and the PCs must defend the witch with their lives.

[nemarsde]

According to the 1983 module, before the player characters tackle the Isle of Dread they must make "harrowing ocean journey". After obtaining the logbook of Captain Barbarosa on Alcove Island our party joined forces with Captain Silverleg of The Tortuga and headed for Ierendi City.

There the party invested in their own small ship that they named Seaspray, recruiting a crew of native Makai sailors and tough Hinterlander warriors. The plan was for Seaspray and The Tortuga to sail south together so if one ship got into trouble, the other could come to its aid. But a third ship was in pursuit, the ferocious Vikings of Captain Red-eye in The Thorgrim, seeking to avenge the insult on Alcove Island.

cog.jpg

Seaspray is a similar design to this Medieval cog. It has a seahorse carved on the bowsprit though. Cogs can ride out rough seas and sail over shoals with their flat bottoms. This also allows them to land on the beach.

caravel.jpg

The Tortuga is similar in design to this Medieval caravel. The deep draft and two-masted lanteen rig makes these well-suited to long voyages on the high seas, but they need a larger crew. They'll need to moor up and use a rowing boat to reach dry land.

longship.jpg

The Thorgrim is a longship, famously used by the Vikings. They have a shallow draft and are very light. The big difference is they're powered more by oars than by sail and like dwarves are very dangerous over short distances.