A solo RPG adventure using So1um v0.4, by Matt Jackson.
Name: Tommy "Blue-eye" Shifter
Body: 3
Mind: 4
Soul: 2
HP: [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ]
Clichés:
* I can drink more shots of rum that you can,
* Anything in hand can become a deadly weapon,
* Whenever the wind comes from, my ship will be sailing.
Goal: find the treasure from the map.
Tommy has a treasure map in his hand, but no ship to sail with. He's sitting in a tavern (named The Singing Badger), drinking rum and thinking about a way to reach the treasure Island...
Do I know any pirate in this Tavern?
Yes, And... (a unique feature or situation)... This pirate named Wyatt "Soft Blade" Goff has a boat, The Silver Caterpillar, ready to go.
Wyatt => B:4 / M:2 / S:3 / HP [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] -- Clichés: I give the orders, and you execute them / Soft, but fine blade, hack'n'slash is my favorite activity.
Tommy is ready to bet with Wyatt. He tells him he has an interesting map, and he'd like to eventually challenge Wyatt. If Tommy wins, he'll be captain of the The Silver Caterpillar, if he loses, Wyatt will have the map for himself.
Will Wyatt accept the challenge?
No, And... Wyatt is grabbing his blade, and is trying to steal the map from Tommy!
Tommy is throwing his glass of wine to Wyatt's head to get some time, and is trying to reach the first thing that can be considered as a weapon.
Randomly rolled Difficulty: 1! So Tommy could "borrow" the sword of a random pirate nearby. Let's duel!
Wyatt attacks (Body + "Hack'n'slash cliché"): 5 3 6 2 2
Tommy defence (Body + "Deadly weapon in hand"): 3 6 3 5
It's a tie!
Tommy attacks (Body+1): 3 2 4 1
Wyatt defence (Body+1): 2 2 5 5 5
Tommy can't hit!
Wyatt attacks (Body+1): 3 4 2 3 5
Tommy defence (Body+1): 4 2 2 6
Wyatt can't hit!
Tommy attacks (Body+1): 4 1 6 1
Wyatt defence (Body+1): 1 4 3 1 3
Tommy has hit Wyatt in the arm!
Wyatt => B:4 / M:2 / S:3 / HP [x] [ ] [ ] [ ]
Wyatt attacks (Body+1): 2 4 2 4 4
Tommy defence (Body+1): 6 2 6 3
One more save by Tommy!
Tommy attacks (Body+1): 5 5 6 6
Wyatt defence (Body+1): 5 4 2 1 3
A second slash, now Wyatt is bleeding from his chest!
Wyatt => B:4 / M:2 / S:3 / HP [x] [x] [ ] [ ]
Since Wyatt has been hit twice, will he surrender or ask for grace?
Yes, But... he still doesn't want to give away his ship. He's trying to bargain: he'll still be captain of The Silver Caterpillar, but he'll follow Tommy instructions ; and he'll share 50/50.
Tommy accepts, since his goal is to find the treasure. And maybe he may find an occasion to rip his new ally off.
I decide to roll for Body and HP for The Silver Caterpillar, in case it has to attack and being attacked.
The Silver Caterpillar => B:2 / HP [ ] [ ]
The treasure island is a few weeks (3d6 -> 12 weeks) away from the port.
Is the Silver Caterpillar able to do the trip without trouble?
No + there's an obstacle. The weather is bad, so the ship has suffered a few damages.
The Silver Caterpillar => B:2 / HP [x] [ ]
Finding the right way is a Mind challenge, Difficulty is Tricky (5):
Tommy rolls (Mind + "expert sailor" cliché): 1 4 1 4 1
The ship crew is a bit upset. It's been almost 3 months now, and still no land at sight. Tommy is reluctant to share his map, but he has to give the map to Wyatt and he may try to help doing calculations.
Wyatt is now rolling a Mind Tricky (5) challenge: 6 1
Land at sight! Land!
Following the map instructions, Tomy, Wyatt and 4 other pirates are on the island.
Random pirate => B:1 / M:1 / S:1 / HP: [ ] [ ] -- Lust for gold
Finding the treasure location is a Mind challenge. Difficulty is Average (4):
Tommy rolls: 5 2 5 6
It's a success!
They're arriving at a big rock that looks like a whale mouth. The cave looks dark and gloomy.
Is the entrance trapped?
Yes, but... + NPC, Neutral... So that might mean that one of the pirates of The Silver Caterpillar has triggered the trap, and is soon being beheaded by it.
Are the other pirates reluctant to enter the cave?
No. The lust for gold was too strong. They just think that there might be a chance that their share will be a bit bigger if things go on like this.
Entering the cave, they follow the stairs that go deeply down, their way hardly lit by torches. There goes a bridge, that looks fragile, if not almost ready to break.
It's a Soul (willpower) check for the pirates, roll 1 dice + 1 (lust for gold cliché). The challenge is Easy (3).
Pirate #1: 3 5
Pirate #2: 4 6
Pirate #3: 3 2
They'll all follow, thanks to their will (and maybe their fear of being killed by Wyatt if they betray him).
Does the party cross the bridge without a problem?
Yes, But... + a unique feature or situation the bridge has shown signs of fragility, next time they will try to cross it, the challenge will be Average (4).
Now the treasure room is at hand.
Is there any trap?
Yes, And... it has been triggered by the Pirate #1... Saving roll: I'll go for a Body contest. Tommy and Wyatt will roll normally, while the poor Pirates will roll with disadvantage. The challenge is Tricky (5):
Tommy: 3 6 4 => Safe!
Wyatt: 3 3 3 5 => Safe!
Pirate #1: 2 3 => Dead
Pirate #2: 1 5 => Dead
Pirate #3: 6 6 => Safe!
Two Pirates are crushed by a large stone that fell from the ceiling. Tommy, Wyatt and the last Pirate had just the time to jump aside and save their lives.
The treasure is theirs, now! Fortune and Glory!
All the three of them are now just grabbing everything they can to return to the ship. They'll have to cross the bridge, which is an Average (4) Body challenge.
Tommy: 3 2
Wyatt: 1 1 2
The Last Pirate: 4
The Last Pirate has managed to cross the bridge, but the old bridge starts to crack and suddenly breaks ; Tommy and Wyatt are carrying too much gold, so they fall down. They need an Average (4) Body contest to determine if they can catch something and prevent their fall:
Tommy: 5 6 2
Wyatt: 5 1 2 1 Phewww
Our heroes are safe, now. But the bridge is broken, so if they want to come back to collect the rest of the treasure, they'll need to rebuild it.
The ship members are a bit disappointed, the gold they're bringing back is not as big as expected, and they've lost two of their mates. But they're carefully listening to their captain, that starts to organize the operations. He's yelling at the carpenter to explain that he needs the bridge to be rebuilt and asks what's needed (tools, planks, etc).
The rest of the story will be told another time... Tommy has found his dear treasure and he certainly will be very happy with the 50% share.
Post-scriptum
I started this adventure months ago, so that's the reason why it's using So1um v0.4 instead of the latest (0.6). I was stuck at the first bridge episode... I stopped the game and... forgot about it.
I had a weird moment tonight: I thought about "Save rolls". The sudden trap was this kind of situation. It was not an obvious skill test, and at the same time I didn't want Wyatt and Tommy to be at the same risk level that the "mook pirates".
My guess is that they could be ritual Yes/No questions, without any advantage (and, in some situations, you may apply a disadvantage). I've picked a Body challenge. Still not sure about this.
I admit that the end is a bit clunky, but I didn't think it was worth adding the Mind challenge to design the new bridge, the Body contests to rebuild it, etc. The situation is clearly less risky, all traps are now behind the heroes, they can safely come back to the port, drink rum and sing pirate songs...