I decided to run a solo session of my new OSR adventure game Heartseeker today, and opted for B2 Keep on the Borderlands as I've only ever really played this when the D&D Next playtest was happening.
I ran it by simply reading through the book as I went, ignoring any secret information and using a quick d6 oracle system to determine certain eventualities.
First off I rolled up four characters: Nark the goblin pathfinder, Hawkmoon the human warrior, Elderflower the halfling cleric and Silverward the dwarf wizard.
They all began at the Keep, starting their adventure at the Traveller's Inn. After buying supplies for their journey and gathering four rumours from tavern patrons, they paid for the good rooms and slept. At the crack of dawn they began what would be their doomed journey. Trust me - it went poorly for them.
They decided to go through the forest, which would take around 4 days to get through and then a couple more to get to the caves. The first day was great - serene, even. Travelling overland they could see the forest looming before them. But they were cocky - adventure awaited them!
The second day was a problem. As they marches through the undergrowth they were ambushed by 7 giant shrews out for the hunt. Silverward managed to get a fairly weak sleep spell out to put two unconscious and arcane bolted another, frying its skull. But the group were soon overwhelmed, with Hawkmoon falling before Silverward. Elderflower and Nark managed to escape, guilty they had to leave their companions behind. After several hours they returned to the scene and found their bodies stripped to the bone. Picking up their packs they took several items and rations, ultimately deciding to continue to the caves.
On the fourth day they crossed paths with a band of 13 halflings scouring the forest for bandits. They were hostile to the characters and despite Elderflower pleading with them the halfling leader was taking no chances, having them stripped of all their belongings and marched to their camp where they were taken prisoner.
For two nights they were tied up, not being fed. Elderflower grew weary and Nark knew he had to try escape. He lured over one of the guards while most of the others were out scouting. The goblin attacked with a headbutt and Elderflower attempted to barrel into the halfling, but to no avail. The halfling kicked Nark in the ribs and spat on him laughing.
One the third night three wolves entered the camp and began savaging the halflings. Three were slain but the others made short work of the wolves. However in the chaos the characters managed to escape, albeit pursued by several of their captors. They managed to lose the halflings and the pathfinder got them back on track, foraging for berries and feasting for the first time in days. At this point they could have gone back, but they were so far into the forest they decided to continue their journey with absolutely no equipment.
After emerging from the vast forest, Nark managing to sustain them with food the whole time they made their way across the plains and eventually sunk back into a forest, emerging into a rocky area with several caves. They made their way to a northerly cave, hoping to find some more food, but found themselves being ambushed by 8 kobolds. Nark went down fighting while Elderflower escaped into the undergrowth, panicked and wounded.
After a few hours she came to a river, which she knew ran back near the keep. There was no way she could survive out here so spent the next five days travelling, starving for a few days and managing to find some fruit one day. On the final day she staggered into the keep, worse for wear.
And that's where I left it. Elderflower is back in the keep and will need to find some other adventurers to go back.
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