Sunday, May 13, 2012

Searchers of the Unknown, Game 2

I believe this may be my second favorite fantasy game system, right after Swords & Wizardry. It's simple.  Easy to run.  And very amenable to gonzo gaming.  I have really enjoyed the two sessions I've run it.  This time, I had two folks who played before and a new guy.  Four others were scheduled to join in, but they all bailed for various reasons: job, health, in-laws, etc.

SPOILER ALERT: If you've not played and want to play Tomb of the Iron God, read no further.  To tell the story, I must let certain secrets out.  Once they're out, they cannot be hidden again.

So, using the new character sheets I picked up, we quickly realized that they needed to be tweaked a bit for us all to understand them at a glance.  I figure something got lost in translation, because if I read the original post correctly, the creator of this system is French.  Anyway, a little tweaking on wording, a little tweaking to switch the descending AC to ascending AC (for the new guy).  And we were back in the Tomb of the Iron God.  The group had spent the night and healed up.  Heading out they further explored the first level.  Their first encounter was with a group of large rats.  A tough battle ensued and one of the players made a roll to capture a rat.  The rat then became a test subject for any potion-like fluid found.  The first potion found was a potion of levitation.  And, voila!, a rat "balloon" was created.  Then they discovered that the little potions of embalming fluid they had found are flammable and can be used as small explosives.  Their first big challenge was with the iron High Priest.  They managed to blow him up while taking minor damage, including soaking the rat in embalming fluid and throwing it at the priest.  They managed to capture a goblin after they had blown up most of the rest of the tribe.  The new guy was playing a savage barbarian like fighter.  At the insistence of one of the other players, he took the mantle of new Chief Goblin.  The goblin said "okay", especially after they fed him and gave him some armor.  He helped them find a secret room and take out another goblin tribe.  (I used to hate running the NPC in a party, but I now enjoy playing them as little jerks to push or pull the party around.)  The group found a magical room in which the savage entered into communion with the Iron God and received a magical iron spear.  The group is charged with cleaning undead out of the catacombs, and they seem to be enjoying this a lot.  So, far, they've cleared out about 1/4 of the catacombs.  They've fought skeletons, zombies, and ghouls.  The next game won't be for quite a bit, though.  This group doesn't meet up again until mid June.

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