AP report from last night’s Island of the Damned (Session 3)
-This was a DnD basic game that we ran as a one shot, with my friend as DM. I liked it so much that I offered to DM the rest of the game using DW.
This was the first campaign that I made a front for, and it worked out awesome! We introduced a female elf commander who was in the shipwreck of this dark island. We had already established that the thief (my character, now NPC) had stolen a sword from the wreckage…and now the owner wants it back! We beat off the zombies that roamed the beach, but we never discovered why the dead were rising in the first place. During the battle, the elf and Richard (the thief) got into a battle over the sword, but the thief was able to sprint away carrying the elven blade. Having 17 Dex is awesome! The chase ended at the site of a ruined temple (that was already on the map), and the robber was disarmed. The paladin managed to hold him back with a solid grapple (thankfully, this isn’t DnD 3.5…so we just resolved it using STR and, in my case, DEX). Richard slipped out and threw a tiny demonic statue from the temple towards the elven fighter. His poor throw (Even 4+2 only gets me a 6) causes it to fly off target and crack on the ground. Afterwards, a secret staircase opens up to a underground temple. The temple room cuts off into a curved cliff that opens out into a pool of lava. In the middle of the lava pool rests a demonic statue. While we battled the demonic cultists, the Paladin’s god (who is played by the former DM), descends to assist us. The elf is not impressed, but Richard freaks out since he was mostly an atheist until the paladin converted him.
We examine the statue and discover (through some of the best Spout Lore I have heard yet…this all came from my players) that this was a Demonic God who was known for such hatred that it even destroyed its own mother and enslaved an entire tribe of elves. The God of Stone and Strength (who was with us, named Stongarr) pointed out that without any followers, the dark god would not be able to grow in power. Richard grows nervous, knowing that if the God is released it will spell doom for his family back home. So now our party searches the island for more cultists, but what they end up finding is an abandoned dark castle full of the elves that survived. These elves, however, are corrupted by spite and anger…they are dark elves! (the castle idea was their brilliant suggestion for next session).
I really enjoy playing dungeon world since I can just plan a framework (my Front included the Zombies, Cultists, and a looming dark force) and my players can expand on it wildly.