Mörk Borg - Shadow Clink - session 1
Getting the equipment back
Game: Mörk Borg and Shadow Clink solo adventure
Supplements used: Solitary Defilement and Feretory
You can find an index with all Mörk Borg related posts here.
If you’re just interested in reading my review of Mörk Bork you can find it here.
Session 0 was the character creation for this adventure.
Before we start, I want to mention that this is not a cozy lovely game; it can be aggressive and deal with mutilations and other unpleasant themes.
The setting for this solo adventure is the dungeon beneath the Shadow King’s Palace. Shadow Clink intro says we were minding our own business when a bunch of guards took us to the dungeons. They chained us to a pillar and left us to rot in the Hall of Sorrows (the only part of the map that we know). The guards stripped us of our equipment and left us naked, bound to the cold stone.
Therefore, even though we made a character with all the normal equipment, we start butt-naked, with nothing but our fists and will to live. Our first roll is to find how we get out of the chains, and from there on, we continue the story using Solitary Defilement rules and tables.
I was captured and taken to the dungeon beneath the Shadow King’s Palace. Guess the accusation: heresy of course.
But the guards couldn’t be happy with just throwing me into a cell No, what would be the fun of that? Instead, the sadist brutes striped me of everything, and left me naked and hungry, bound to a cold stone to slowly rot. Well, they don’t know me. Life may be miserable, but I’ll be damn if I just accept this fate.
Starting point table to find how we get free:
d4=2 => I get free but break a rib
As soon as I’m alone, I wiggle and pull. The ropes feel slightly loose, I think I may actually be able to squeeze myself out of these. I hold my breath, tense up, and do my best to slide out. Damn, they are not loose enough to make it easy, I have to force it! It hurts, but I keep insisting. Fuck!
I did it! I’m out! Unfortunately, it took more than expected, and I couldn’t get free without hurting myself.
Broken rib: -1 HP; -1 agility
New stats: Hp 5; Agility 0Dungeon crawl
d: DR10 vs 15, 4 = weak hit = generic room
Dungeon room descriptors table:
d20=8 => Deceptive;
d12=11 => Doorway/Entrance;
d4=4 => 3 exits
d12=12 => looks empty
It hurts like hell, but I can’t stay here for long. I allow myself just a second to catch my breath, and then I move on to the exit on my left. I peek slowly and confirm the room is empty before I step in. This looks like some kind of entrance hall to other parts of the dungeon. There’s a door in front of me and two others to the right of where I came from.
The room looks empty, which is good considering that there are no guards here, but also sucks because there’s nothing I can use as a weapon.
Maybe they are keeping my stuff in one of the other rooms.
I approach the door on my right, put my ear on it and try to find out if there’s anyone on the other side.
? Do I hear anything? (yes/no oracle dice)
-> No, and...
I don’t hear any noise from inside, and as I stand against the door I realize it is open.
I push the door slowly, avoiding making any noise, just in case.
Dungeon crawl
d: DR10 vs 15,12 = strong hit
=> special room - The Lockup (no exits) - a guard slumbers by a fireplace
I can’t deny my shrunken heart skipped a beat when I saw a guard inside. Fortunately, he seems to be fast asleep, and the jug of beer next to him seems to confirm my suspicions that he won’t awake easily. Hanging from his belt there are a bunch of keys. I suppose one of them should fit the the lock of the cage on the other side of the room, the cage that holds all my gear and supplies inside.
My best chance is to take advantage of his slumber, and quietly remove the keys from his belt.
Lift the keys: 2xDR12 agility tests
Test 1: DR 12 vs 8 = miss - use omen to reroll - d:20 crit (omens left: 1)
Test 2: DR12 vs 15 - success
I guess the combination of the beer with the warmth of the fireplace really knocked this guy out, because he doesn’t even flinch when I tug the keys.
Confident that the difficult task was overcome, I, step by step, moved to the cage and slowly opened its door. I put on all my equipment, always keeping an eye on the guard.
A thought crosses my mind: should I just pierce the guard with my sword while he’s sleeping? Better not. He’s a big guy, much stronger than me, and even if I manage to kill him, he may still have enough time to sound the alarm. I have another idea.
Backtracking:
d6=4 = no encounterDoes any key fit the door of the room? (yes/no oracle dice)
-> No, but...Try to lock the door shut by breaking something in the lock
d: DR14 vs strength = DR14 vs 15 = success
I step out of the room and slowly close the door behind me. I don’t want the guard to come after me later, so I try all the keys in the lock. None of them seems to fit properly, yet one of the keys seems to partially move the lock. That’s better than nothing. I force it and put all my weight on it until I finally break it in the lock. That should hold for a while.
This was just the beginning of the game, and I was quite lucky I didn’t have to fight anyone yet, even though I had to spend an omen. Facing an enemy without any equipment was my death the first time that I tried this.
Anyway, the Solitary Defilement makes the dungeon crawl really easy, and by this time, I had already grasped how that works. It also helps to follow a pre-made scenario to start with. Shadow Clink has the special rooms, enemies and NPC encounters already defined, and in some cases, it even gives suggestions of what you can try to do in a room.
All that makes it quite a good intro to playing Mörk Borg solo. We start with an easy-to-follow dungeon crawl to understand the mechanics, and that gives us the base for a future open-ended kind of adventure.
Great I want to see more