Black Hack Session 1 in Ravensburg

Cast of Characters

Andros Grey (+Tim Shorts), Level 1 Cleric
Athena of the Forest (+Ken H), Level 1 Warrior
Beryl Wayfarer (Athena's NPC Henchman), Level 1 Conjurer
Boris Bonesnapper (Andros' NPC Henchman), Level 1 Warrior

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I've been itching to run a Wednesday night game in Ravensburg using The Black Hack rules. Our first session suffered delays due to illness (last week) and computer difficulties (last night). But we eventually got the computer stuff sorted out and got in about half a session or so.

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We began with a cliché start in The Shady Dragon tavern where the PCs encountered Big Willie, the Bartender, Andrea Nadsnip, a severely burned and battered warrior telling the tale of her recent encounter with a dragon, and Finneas Flogg, a wealthy businessman crying into his beer.

The PCs learned that during Andrea's fight with the dragon, she was betrayed by her two henchmen, One-Eyed Jimmy and Ugly Sue. In mid fight, the traitors disengaged, snatched two dragon eggs and ran off in different directions. Andrea ultimately beat the dragon but not before being seriously wounded. Too battered to hunt the henchmen down herself, she's offered a bounty on each of them and on each stolen egg.

The PCs also talk to Finneas Flogg, a well-dressed, bejeweled merchant, whose three daughters were kidnapped while they were visiting their mother's grave in Last Repose cemetery. He's willing to pay handsomely for their safe recovery, and will even guide the PCs to the exact spot his daughters disappeared.

The PCs follow Finneas into the graveyard to a mausoleum with no name and a door that's ajar. Out step three female ghouls, who turn out to be Finneas' "daughters" and who attack the party as Finneas' appearance (and odor) changes to reveal that he too is a ghoul. Andros attempts to banish them and succeeds with the weaker "daughters" who run screaming into the night. But he fails with Finneas himself.

In the subsequent melee, the henchman Boris Bonesnapper is severely wounded (but not paralyzed), and Andros the cleric suffers a critical hit from Finneas' claw that takes him out of action in one blow and leaves him disfigured (charisma reduced to 4).

Fortunately, Athena is a keen shot, and in the end, Finneas goes down looking like a pin cushion.

The party pick up Finneas' coin purse and jewelry (a tidy sum!) and take a quick rest to recuperate before investigating the shimmering glow now emanating from the open door of the mausoleum.

Inside, they find a dragon egg and the half-eaten body of Ugly Sue, one of Andrea Nadsnip's treacherous henchmen. In a niche in the back wall is a swirling mass of grey-black smoke. From behind it come wretched, pained and pleading voices: "Help! You must release us! Don't leave us here!"

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And there the session ended as we hit our usual closing time. We're on a break next week, but we pick up the week after that. The PCs succeeded in leveling up and so they will start our next session at level 2.