This was my first attempt at playing a solo DnD campaign using primarily the Mythic Game Master Emulator
Scene 1 – Travel to Othe to visit the temple of Bahamut.
Chaos Factor: 5 | Scene set up: Altered scene
How is the scene altered? 48 “Block” + 38 “A path”
Why is the path blocked? 88 “Control” + 45 “Illness”
(Yes, you read that right, in the middle of a global pandemic, whilst doing an activity to take my mind off the global pandemic, Mythic generated … a pandemic)
After making the decision to leave her home in order to discover why she has a mysterious connection to the god Bahamut, Silgeh makes her way from her familys home on the Othemoor towards the city of Othe to visit the temple of Bahumut there.
Silgeh follows the path she knows well from her home, through the Othemoor, and north to the gates of Othe. It takes her the best part of the day and she stops to rest for the evening at a familiar camping spot just before the slope up to the road into the city. The camp is empty of people, and nobody stops by to say hello or share her campfire, and whilst this is not unusual, she does take note of the relative stillness around her as she falls to sleep.
In the morning she packs up her things, extinguishes her campfire, and makes her way up the slope to the road, knowing the main gates to the city are only a few miles further.
As she approaches, however, she sees a long line of wagons, and people sitting by the roadway and can feel a general sense of chaos and tension in the air. This is something she has not seen before. She walks to the head of the line, so that she is standing before the gates and can see – for the first time she can ever recall – the gates to Othe are locked.
She turns to see some wagons pulling out of the line to turn around, and a Zhelezo guard walking the line shouthing “By order of the Marquis Laau-afu of Othe, there is no admittance to the city! Turn back!”
Silgeh asks someone close to her what is happening, and the elderly lady with a basket of goods on her back replies: “Something about an illness, my dear. They say it’s dangerous to go in, and dangerous for someone to come out. No doubt the apothecaries and alchemists are working on it, but that doesnt make it any less of a pain in the butt!”
At this news, Silgeh pulls away from the crowd somewhat and sits by the road to think. She decides instead to travel to the next city that she knows has a temple to Bahamut – Feolinn, to the south-east – but she knows that this will be quite the undertaking, as the journey could take 6 days or more.
Fate check: Is there anyone near the gates to Othe who can help her get to Feolinn? yes.
Who is it? Time to create an NPC!
This NPC is: A miserly, prejudiced, wagoneer named Hamid. His prejudice is against is against half-orcs and orcs. Oh … perfect!
(My NPC creation sources are: Universal NPC Emulator + Solo Adventurers Toolbox + Game Masters Apprentice cards)
Silgeh walks up and down the line of caravans and wagons stuck outside of Othe and watching as some folks turn their wagons around to leave. Seeing this, she approaches one near her and asks the man driving where he plans on heading now.
The man turns and looks at her and scowls at the sight of her. “If you must know, *ahem* lady, I’m taking this delivery back to Feolinn:”
Silgeh asks if he has space so that she can ride with him “I will pay of course.”
Persuasion check: (dirty) 20.
He looks her up and down, still scowling “Well, I suppose with a big ‘thing’ like you on board, there wont be many who’ll think to attack us.” He grunts and spits on the ground beside the cart. “1 gold piece and you also act as a guard! If there is any trouble, YOU deal with it. Plus… you keep to yourself and feed yourself. I’m not here to hand out charity to every creature on the Menagerie Coast.”
Silgeh, glares at him for a minute, feeling offended by his words but choosing to keep that to herself. She nods in agreement at this deal, and climbs aboard the cart beside him.
Phew, what a start! As this is the first time ever using the Mythic system, I am actually quite impressed by it’s ability to throw something completely unexpected at me right off the bat. I went into this first scene, thinking it was going to be a straight forward walk to the city and speak to someome at a temple, but my very first dice roll – the scene set up roll – knocked that expectation on it’s head.
Now, due to the uncertainty of this start – the almost complete 180 she had to do in reguards to her orginal plan and the antagonistic ways of this wagoneer, Hamid – I felt the chaos factor moving into the next scene should be increased 1.
Scene 2 – Journey to Feolinn, day 1
Chaos factor: 5 | Scene set up: Interrupted scene.
How is the scene interrupted? 34 “Lie” + 46 “Food”
Encounters or discoveries: none
When they stop to eat, around midday, Hamid realises he has lost something from his rations pack, and instead of owning up to his own mistake, he lies and accuses Silgeh of stealing his food.
Can she tell that he is lying? Insight check: 14
Successful? yes.
Silgeh can see that he is lying, and becomes slightly aggravated. She lowers her voice, to an even deeper gravely tone, and pulls herself up to her full height and looms over him. “I do not steal.” She says, matter of factly.
Intimidation check: 21
Successful? Exceptional Yes!
Hamid shrinks away from her a little – fear in his eyes – and mumbles “Of course, of course. Must have dropped it somewhere…”
In this moment, Silgeh realises that if she is going to have to travel with him for the best part of a week, she must somehow soften up his attitude towards her.
She takes a deep breath and reaches into her pack, taking ouut one of the rations packs her mother prepared for her. She hands it to Hamid “Here… made by my mother, with love. So you do not go hungry.”
Because of Silgeh gaining control over this situation, I reduced the chaos factor by 1 here.
As the character is travelling, and as she is now spending a lot of time with an NPC, I added in some extra rolls for each day to determine if there were any encounters or discoveries made along the way and made sure to include at least one conversation per day with Hamid, which I generated using ‘BOLD: the book of legends and deeds‘, and a basic Fate check to see if there are any disturbances overnight while they rested.
The first daily conversation roll went like this …
Daily npc conversation: “assure” + “understanding” + “a dislike”
Hamid accepts her ration and they eat together.
Throughout the meal he makes it very clear why he doesn’t like ‘her kind’, detailing some interactions he had with some half-orcs in his travels. He tells her that all half-orcs are the same and they can’t control that nasty Orc part of them.
Silgeh is offended by this but doesn’t want to prove him right, so she keeps quiet, except for saying that she wouldn’t know as she has not met many half orcs herself, and was raised by a quiet Dragonborn couple.
As Hamid was really starting to show his prejudiced ways, I wondered at this point if he was also prejudiced against other races with monsterous or non-human backgrounds, so it was time to check with the DM, Mythic.
Does Hamid have anything against Dragonborn? Exceptional NO!
Well, that’s a turn-up! The ‘exceptional’ part of this roll made me think that not only does he not have anything against Dragonborn, he actively LOVES dragonborn and has nothing but good things to say about them!
Hamid actually perks up when hearing this, saying it was good she was away from half-orcs and instead with some good honest hard working sturdy and trustworthy Dragonborn. His best friend is Dragonborn and she listens as he tells her of all the good his friend has done, and the travels they have had together.
Overnight disturbances: No
Scene 3 – Journey to Feolinn, day 2
Chaos factor: 4 | Scene set-up: Progresses as normal
Encounters or discoveries: None
Daily NPC Conversation: “ponder” + “weakening” + “wealth”
The day’s travel is calm and without issue.
In the evening when they make camp Silgeh asks Hamid what he knows about the outbreak of illness in Othe.
Hamid shares that rumours are circulating amongst traders and couriers that it is the Myriad crime syndicate who are behind it. The gang is trying to weaken the Marquis of Othe’s hold on the city so that they can muscle in on the wealth in the herbalism and alchemy trade in the city.
This definately prompts me to put the illness and these rumors onto my story threads list. I am intrigued to find out now if these rumours are true and this illness that has locked down Othe is being engineered by the crime syndicate, The Myriad.
Overnight disturbances: no
Scene 4 – Journey to Feolinn, day 3
Chaos factor: 4 | Scene set-up: Progresses as normal
Daily NPC conversation: “impart” + “obsessing” + “a core belief”
What is Hamids core belief? 45 “Celebrate” + 17 “Spirit”
I interpreted this to mean that Hamid proudly follows a particular god, and (using the table from this post) rolled to find that it was Erathis, the Lawbearer, goddess of civilization and laws, which kind of made sense to me. As a man who makes a living shipping goods around, Hamid would be reliant on laws to keep him safe and his business running.
Encounters or discoveries: Encounter!
When? Hour check = 8th hour – right at the end of the days travel (rolled a d8 to indicate the hour of travel the encounter happens).
What? Flying Snake (Monster Manual p.322 – generated from an online encounter generator).
During the days travel, Hamid begins to open up a little more to Silgeh, probably mostly because of boredom on the journey.
She sits and listens to him describe, in almost obsessive reverence, his faith and love for the goddess of law and civilization, Erathis.
He believes that if it weren’t for Erathis, civilization would dissolve into chaos and madness, and he is thankful for her guiding hand in the hearts of the rulers of the lands.
Silgeh does not share with him the connection she feels to Bahamut, as she is still so unsure of what it really is, and knowing that he struggles with prejudice, is unsure how he might react to someone who does not follow the same god as him.
As Hamid and Silgeh prepare to sleep for the evening, Hamid moves into the shadows away from the campfire to relieve himself. Moments later he suddenly yells out in fear. Silgeh jumps up and runs to him.
In the low light she sees him lying on the ground with a flying snake hovering over him, hissing.
Initiative: Snake attacks first.
Does Hamid help in the fight? Exceptional NO! ….. THANKS HAMID!
Hamid is terrified and scrambles backwards away from the creature. As he does the snake flies at Silgeh and strikes! She is bitten badly, for 1 piercing damage + 6 poison damage, reducing her hit points instantly to 0.
As she begins to fall however, her half-orcish ‘Relentless Endurance’ kicks in and in a burst of energy, she is brought back to 1 hit point.
She reacts quickly and in a flash of blue energy casts ‘witch bolt’ at the Snake.
Attack roll against AC 14 = 17
Damage = 8 lightning.
The snake is instantly engulfed in a ball of burning lightning energy and burns up in blue sizzling sparks.
I noticed in the monster manual that this type of creature is often used to carry messages, usually on scrolls within their coiled up bodies, and got curious so asked if the snake was carrying anything? Yes.
Was it a scroll? Yes.
As it burns, Silgeh sees a scroll amongst its coils also burn up to ash, and takes note of the fact that this creature was probably being used to send messages to and from some unknown parties along this road.
Breathing deeply, and in pain, Silgeh places a hand on her own chest and casts Cure Wounds on herself, healing herself to her max level 1 HP of 7.
She reaches down and pulls Hamid to his feet and the two of them go back to the campfire to take turns keeping watch through the night.
This was Silgehs first real fight and she should have died!
I actually had forgotten about the Half-orcs ‘relentless endurance’ until, whilst I was sitting looking very bummed out about my character dying so fast, my husband walked past and asked what happened. I explained that Silgeh had been killed instantly by a stupid flying snake, and he looks over my shoulder and says “Oh, but she’s a Half-Orc!” and it took me a moment to remember what he was referring to. As soon as I did though, I picked up the dice and said “Oh, that snek is ded!”
Chaos factor increases by 1.
Overnight disturbances? No.
Scene 5 – Journey to Feolinn, day 4
Chaos factor: 5 | Scene set-up: Progresses as normal
Daily NPC conversation: “proclaim” + “improving” + “friends or family”
Encounters or discoveries: None
Hamid’s mood towards Silgeh seems to have softened after the events of the night before. He apologises for the things he said about Half-orcs and that he is glad that she is travelling with him.
This softening of his prejudice towards her leads to the two of them having friendly conversations about their lives and goals.
Hamid is impressed by her morals and desire for order and goodness and by the end of a lovely, calm day of travelling around the outskirts of the Plumgroves, Silgeh can feel she has made a friend in Hamid.
Overnight disturbances fate check: no
Chaos factor reduces by 1
Scene 6 – Journey to Feolinn, day 5
Chaos factor: 4 | Scene set-up: Progresses as normal
Daily NPC conversation: “commend” + “enjoying” + “your nature”
Encounters or discoveries: None
Again the day is calm and peaceful, with no surprises or dramas. Hamid is thoroughly enjoying the company of Silgeh now and in turn, Silgeh is enjoying his stories of his travels along the Menagerie Coast.
Hamid takes a moment later in the day to commend Silgehs parents for raising a fine young citizen, and repays her the ration pack she gave him early in the journey.
Overnight disturbances fate check: no
Scene 7 – Journey to Feolinn, day 6
Chaos factor: 4 | Scene set-up: Interrupted scene.
How is the scene interrupted? 88 “Control” + 36 “Bureaucracy”
Daily NPC conversation: “muse” + “repairing” + “home or hearth”
Encounters or discoveries: no
The final day’s travel is again peaceful, with the two of them discussing the good and bad of society along the Menagerie Coast. Hamid talks about how things could be made better, through policies of leaders etc. Silgeh doesn’t really listen, instead enjoys the view as Hamid waxes lyrical about their homeland.
They arrive at the gates of Feolinn and see a small line of other wagons and groups waiting to enter. Hamid becomes instantly grumpy and says that it is most likely some corrupt Feolinn Zhelezo asking for bribes to allow people in. He cranes to see which guards are at the head of the line and sighed, saying he has had run-ins with these particular guards before.
Chaos factor +1
Scene 8 – Gain entry into Feolinn
Chaos factor: 5 | Scene set up: progresses as normal.
Silgeh glances around to make sure no one is looking, and casts “Disguise self” on herself, so that she looks like one of the high-class human socialites she had seen being escorted through the markets of Othe when she was younger.
Hamid is slightly in shock at this sudden transformation, but she reassures him and asks him to tell the guards that he had been tasked with escorting her to an important meeting with the Marquis of Feolinn.
When their wagon reaches the guards Hamid gives the two Zhelezo the story that Silgeh concocted.
The guards look her over, and she glares at them “Why are these men keeping me from my meeting with the Marquis??!” She asks haughtily.
Deception check: 19
Successful? Yes – but I think they have suspicions but dont want to risk angering this nobel woman or the Marquis.
The guards eye her for a moment, and look over at Hamid, but eventually apologise and wave them into the city quickly without further bother.
Chaos factor reduces by 1
—
So that was my first – and definitely not my last – foray into Solo DnD.
From my initial singular story thread of ‘Visit the Temple of Bahamut in Othe’ my character added a thread about following up on the rumours about the connection of the Myriad with the outbreak of illness, PLUS she travelled 6 days away from her home to a city she has never visited before.
This original session made me see the beauty of the Mythic GME, and I loved the way it could throw curve balls, or calmness at the game randomly, and yet still feel somehow like there is a purpose and meaning to the world and the story.
Since this original session, Silgehs story has taken her on paths that I would never have expected – all guided by Mythic and the dice, and as I have played I have refined the way I play and built out my toolbox for a better flow and to optimise my enjoyment of the process.
Hopefully in the future, and especially if there is interest in it, I will share more of Silgehs story here, and the processes I used to play it out.
