This is the 100th post here at Endless Bag of Dice and the first session log of our new Dragon Age: The Shield of Ferelden campaign. I don't know was it bad karma or something like that, but the session had some unexpected turns of events. Since this is the first session log of Dragon Age, I will include a Cast of Characters to the end of the post:
In the Frostback Mountains, there had been numerous reports of the Avvar tribes raiding more arrogantly the farms and outskirt villages near the The Shield. The early months had been the coldest in many years and have forced the village's hunting parties to scout food from a wider area. Village of Cantagan was not an exception, but they were lucky enough to have the help of our PC's
It was a cold winter morning. The sun was shining, but it didn't help at all. Clear skies meant cold nights so there was nothing to cheer about. In addition the group was hungry, since it they hadn't eaten for a long time. That was the reason they were there, at the hunting trails of village Cantagan, searching for food. Once they were ready to continue, Jorn Saavorwel, the group's leader, took control of the scene and soon they were heading north following the tracks of a reindeer. The tracks weren't fresh, but due the skills of Jorn, they were steadily gaining on the animal.
The weather was a poor friend at Frostbacks and it took its toll on Lintarn who didn't have enough warm clothes for the hunt. In the freezing cold they continued, until they saw strange marks depending from the trees; deer skulls, white feathers and sticks. They had arrived to the territory of the Avvar tribes. It didn't take long until they saw a small wisp of smoke in the distance. Lintarn snuck closer and was not prepared to the sight she saw.
There was blood everywhere in the snow. One of the barbarians lay dead with his face towards the ground. He was partially eaten, now covered in small red curtain of snow as the snowflakes were slowly falling from the sky. There was another body in the tent, mutilated badly and it was almost hard to tell was the gob of meat ever human or something else entirely.
The hunger makes people to do desperate things - even when there was fresh tracks of reindeer at sight - and Isik and Lintarn allowed themselves to eat the flesh of the poor bodies. Larridan was horrified, Jorn too stunned to say anything and Awallen disgusted by this act. The words of Larridan went to deaf ears as the hunger had already taken control of Isik and Larridan. It was almost that the act was considered normal according the steadiness and calmness of their deeds.
After that they resumed to tracking and soon Jorn found the animal. As the animal sprung to escape its attacker, a pack of big, dark brown figures rushed to the animal. They looked unnatural, like wolves, but not quite. They were bigger, meaner and way fiercer. As the creatures learned that Jorn was standing there in amazement, they attacked without hesitation. A fight followed. Two of the creatures attacked Isik, one ran straight to Jorn and the last of them attacked the dalish elf Awallen.
The fight was bloody and Larridan had to put extra effort to his healing spells to keep his companions standing. Few moments later, the creatures lay dead on the ground and Isik took one of their heads as a trophy to himself. Awallen settled for the teeth. What surprised the group was the nature of the creatures. The creatures were something that they had never seen. Could it be, that the blight - the sin, stemming from men itself - was returning to the world once again. The circling falcon above the group got the attention of the group. It was time to return to the village, and fast.
When the night came, Lintarn was complaining the weather once again. It was too cold and she was the only one who didn't have a tent. Awallen was kind enough to let her in. When Isik came to woke up Lintarn, since it was her time for stand watch, Awallen was not too happy to see Isik trying to take Lintarns place next to her. Awallen's fists made that clear. The next morning, events too a more dangerous turn. Lintarn and Isik demanded to eat parts of the deer flesh, but Larridan disagreed. The village was not long away and there was dozen of hungry mouths to be fed. Larridan suggested that the deer was to be taken to the village and they would all get their share of the meat. This however was not ok to Lintarn and he approached the carcass. Larridan gave a warning strike with his staff to stop Lintarn taking the meat. Isik reacted to Larridan and attacked him with fierce strike to the head. Stupified and suprised the attack, Lintarn cast a spell to defend himself. Isik, now enraged to witness spellcasting, drew his steel with the murderous intent. Jorn and Awallen tried their best to prevent the events from happening, but Larridan had to flee and there was nothing they could do. "You'd better run!" Isik yelled as the apostate ran. They took their meat, ate it and continued towards Cantagan.
Larridan however, had arrived first and there was not a warm welcome to Isik and Lintarn. Larridan had gone to the Chantry and explained what he had seen about the flesh eating: Act that is considered to be connected to blood magic and demon worship. As the villagers expressed that these two were no longer welcome to the village and they were to take the meat, Isik was enraged and accused Larridan of witchcraft and sorcery. Larridan however had a reputation of a healer and his actions proved him valuable, so the words of the Fereldan freeman were not taken heavily. Enraged by the course of events, Isik threathened to kill everyone who was even considering to take the meat and thus he took it to himself and Lintarn. They left while Jorn, Larridan and Awallen stayed at Cantagan. Jorn did what he could in favor of Isik and Lintarn to be able to return, but since there was no sign of remorse or efforts from themselves, the village elder Mavervo had his decision.
Not wanting to involve, Awallen went straight to the inn and started heavy drinking. She was soon joined by Larridan who was sorry for the whole thing. It was morning when they both found themselves passed out with formidable amount of empty bottles around them. As you can guess, the feeling was not the best. Mavervo, Jorn and few other respected figures in the village however had been involved in a council concerning the creatures Jorn and others encountered and dire news they had got from the village of Verrano. The Avvar had ransacked Verrano and it was a matter of time when it was time for Cantagan. It was decided that someone should head straight towards The Shield and ask for the help and tell them about the creatures. Jorn, of course, accepted the mission and soon Awallen and Larridan agreed.
Meanwhile Isik and Lintarn were suffering from the cold weather and problems with harassing wolves. The smell of blood was too much for other creatures as well. They were hungry, it seemed that the whole Frostbacks was starving. While Jorn, Awallen and Larridan were sleeping steadily at Cantagan, Isik's and Lintarn's good night sleep was interrupted by big black bear, hungry for the meat they had in their camp. When Isik saw what was happening, he instantly charged against the huge, formidable and dangerous animal. No one could blame that Isik did not have courage, but it was not enough. The bear destroyed the warrior, but the cost had been great. Lintarn was considered lucky since the animal was gravely wounded and she managed to finish the creature. So she stood there, stupefied and freezing. Not knowing what should she do now...
One day later the three of them found Lintarn wandering towards Cantagan. She explained what had happened after their ways had parted. Jorn explained where they were going and Lintarn joined their cause. They burned Isik at the slopes of Frostbacks and stood silent. "Back to the mud..." Larridan said as he thought the journey what was just beginning. "This is just the beginning".
I enjoyed the system. The stunt-system especially is to my liking, since it brings visuality and selection to combat maneuvers. The combat is handled quite quickly while there are some things that would require some clarification. Few quick house-rules fixed these issues. All in all, Dragon Age Role-playing game hits the spot!! I'm very anxious to continue this campaign.
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The Cast of Characters:
Jorn Saavorwel: A noble from Denerim. Jorn is on a journey to prove himself - and his father - his worth. Jorn's father is a notable bann in Denerim.
Awallen (Fenwyn): A cast out Dalish elf woman with bad temper. She is travelling to learn some self-discipline.
Larridan Alawei: Apostate elven healer learned with the arts of magic. Larridan wants to be acknowledged and wants to work real hard in order to achieve it. The fact he race is what it is, makes it difficult.
Isik: Isik was a thick-headed Fereldan freeman. He used to live in Denerim for years working as a small thug and scoundrel. A black bear ended his journey at Frostbacks.
Lintarn: Lintarn has lived a tough life in Denerim, suffering from racism and the fact of being a woman. After a mysterious incident, she was forced to fled the city and has been travelling ever since.
Mavervo: The head of the village Cantagan. Middle-aged man with already grey beard and big gut.
Days of Wonder's Small World (designed by Philippe Keyaerts) is a two to five players game based on the older game Vinci. In both games players take control of a civilization and spread across the landscape which varies from lakes to mountains. Small World is a fantasy themed game unlike its predecessor. Players take the roles of Giants, Trolls, Humans, Orcs to conquer regions and to survive until it is time when their civilization eventually passes. This means you'll be most likely using more than one race before the game ends. In short, like the game title says it, you'll fight for the control of a fantasy based terrain that is just too small for everyone.
You'll start the game with 5 victory coins and you have six race/power combos available to choose from. The races are in a column and the first race is always cheaper than the ones further in the column. Every time you choose a race, you pay one victory coin until you reach your chosen race. This way, the other races also become more interesting to others to take. When a race is chosen, one additional race enters the scene thus there are always six available. Once you have chosen your race, you'll get race tokens according to the numbers according the race/power combo you have chosen. After that, you'll enter the world.
You have four different maps in the box. The map size varies according the number of players you have. This way, the world stays small and the game still has appeal even with two players. The map is set up with some lost tribes tokens which are neutral race tokens in several predetermined regions. Normally when you conquer empty regions, it'll cost you two race tokens, but if you conquer what that is already occupied i.e. with lost tribe token, it costs additional race token. Thus the difficulty of conquering the regions increases according to tokens already on the board.
