Bryan decided to go old school RPG: no minis, no playmats, just dice, pencils, paper and out imagination. Thus, no pics because, seriously, how interesting are pictures of guys talking around a table with dice, pencils and paper?
The story went like this: Two adventurers were in a tavern -- Vaden the Ranger (played by Paul) and Varbio the Barbarian who looks exactly like this guy:
Bob, the innkeeper/bartender, hires them to collect five gold pieces from Drago (who supposedly has chihuahuas the size of dobermans) and promises to pay them two gold pieces. So off our adventurers went.
When they reached Drago's house, Vaden sneaked off to look at the perimeter, as well as the chihuahuas who turned out to be not as big as dobermans, but as big as small ponies. So Varbio took the direct approach: He called for Drago and asked for the money. Drago protested that it was Bob who still owed him six gold pieces for his work at Bob's sweat shop (they make sweat there, for some bizarre reason).
So our heroes went back to Bob's tavern and told him that he owed Drago six gold pieces for a job. Bob argued that he already paid Drago the six gold pieces. After much heated discussion, Bob remembered that he gave the gold to Drago's wife, Ania. So our heroes trooped back to Drago.
Upon hearing the news that his wife has the money, Drago angrily said that Ania had left him several days prior, and now hires the two heroes to look for Ania in exchange for two gold pieces and gave them one as a down payment. So off our heroes went in search of Ania who, according to Drago, was a seamstress who worked at a seamstress' shop in town.
At the seamstress' shop, the heroes ask the proprietress about Ania. The proprietress said that Ania has not been to work for days, and heard that she ran off with another man, a really bad boy named Tuco. Varbio asked if this Tuco was some kind of lizard and the proprietress said that Tuco is lizard-like in some ways. And then she giggled. And so our heroes went off to return to Drago for information, but not before being sold half a tunic (for half a gold piece) to cover Varbio's chiseled torso.
Upon hearing the news that his wife ran off with Tuco, Drago commented that Tuco is a very nice guy who keeps buying him drinks and then disappears when he gets drunk. So the heroes went to the place where someone may know where to find Tuco, the one place where Drago and Tuco could have had drinks -- Bob's tavern.
Now your heads may be spinning from all that back and forth movement. So did ours when we played this. But don't worry, the following are the last two acts:
Back at the tavern, Bob shushed the two heroes, telling them to never mention Tuco's name. And then asked for one gold piece when the heroes asked where Tuco is hiding. Learning that Tuco's hideout is in the outskirts of town, our heroes go off.
At the gate of Tuco's hideout, the heroes see two guards. Varbio went to sneak up on one guard while Vaden nocks an arrow to shoot at the other one.
Of course, only one thing could happen when a big barbarian tries to do a sneak attack.
Vaden shoots at his target and downs him. He then moved closer and interrogates him about where to find Tuco. The guard slashes at Vaden, breaking his bow. Vaden draws his sword and cuts down the guard. Vaden continues his interrogation and the guard tells Vaden to take the door on the right, right after telling him that he doesn't know which is left and which is right. Meanwhile, Varbio matched steel to steel with the other guard and downs him.
The duo then goes up to the house. Seeing the door closed and locked (not ajar, and thus cannot be shattered), Varbio kicks open the door. They enter into a foyer and before them were two doors. Following the fallen guard's information, they go through the right door. Vaden bumps into something inside the room.
Actually, Vaden bumps into someone.
The room lights up to reveal barracks, with four archers and four swordsmen. Vaden, being the first one in, fought the swordsmen and takes an arrow. Seeing themselves outnumbered, the two fell back into the foyer. Vaden falls, seriously wounded. Varbio, seeing no way to win this battle, surrenders.
The two heroes were tied up and left at the corner of the foyer. Tuco came out of the other room and asked what all the commotion was about. Varbio answered that they were just there to collect the six gold pieces that Ania took from her husband. Tuco called for Ania and asked her about it. Ania said, "Oh yeah! I forgot about that!" and promptly handed the money to Tuco. Tuco then gave the money to Vabio, commenting on his and Vaden's skills and offering them a job. Varbio thanked Tuco for the compliment and helped Vaden to his feet. Then the two then went off.
Our heroes went to Drago and gave him the six gold pieces who happily gave them their pay. He also gave them the five gold pieces he owed Bob. The two heroes then went to Bob and gave him the five gold pieces that Drago owed him. Bob then paid them the promised two gold pieces, but seeing Vaden badly wounded, endorsed him to a healer for two gold pieces.
And thus, the adventure ended.
Things I learned:
1. Munchkin play is not the only way to play an RPG. Even in an RPG, not every conflict can be solved by fighting. Of course, this really depends on who the DM is.
2. Surrender is an option. And it does not always end in death. It might even lead to a good resolution. Had we gone down fighting, we really would have gone down fighting, only to learn that we could have gotten the owed gold if we asked nicely.
It wasn't the epic game I wanted, but it was a good game all around. And looking back on it, I am grateful for that off-the-bat game that Bryan ran.
But I still want an epic game. And that will come in time. :-)
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