Thread by @1d10_5

I’m going to tweet a playthrough of Park Pale (or part of it - let's see how long it takes!). Park Pale is one of the additional adventures you can get bundled with Solitary Defilement. Here’s the basic plot! So... let's get going! #solorpgplaythough #morkborg #solorpg #solottrpg

Park Pale uses the basic Dungeon Crawl mechanic from Solitary Defilement & adds four unique waypoints ('specials') + three tables of Common Encounters, Rare Encounters, and NPCs.
Obligatory KS link for anyone curious: kickstarter.com/projects/1d10p…

It also includes an alternative room type table, describing different areas you might find yourself in while wandering a country garden (follies, avenues etc), as well as a table of ‘chaotic coruscations’ which certain encounters use.

If you want to know more about the format of these adventures, you can check out ShadowClink here and give one a go yourself: you’ll need the Mork Borg rules, Solitary Defilement supplement and a handful of downloadable MBC materials: 1d105.itch.io/shadowclink

Here’s the character that Scvmbirther chucked out earlier, and the result of a d4 roll to find my motivation for journeying to Park Pale. I decided to go for the bonus armour: herbalist’s gathering rags – fortified against thorns and brambles!

The adventure begins on the woods at the edge of Park Pale... three paths weave through the trees (- forgive my quick and terrible rendering!)
The Dungeon DR is 10. Time to make the first Dungeon Crawling Move...

Dungeon Crawl (DR10): 6, 5 - Fail.
ARE YOU KIDDING ME? Something happens before I’ve even left the first area?!
I’m clutching at straws here – literally nothing has happened that could spark an ‘aha!’ moment. So - simple Yes-or-No Oracle time? (YES!)

* Common encounter? No
* Rare encounter? No
* NPC? Yes.
I roll 3: Lord Burr
Reaction roll: 6+6: 12 - Helpful (- almost unheard of, LOL)

Lord Burr is slinking deceitfully between the trees, trying to find a way in to Park Pale. Borda almost knocks him off his feet. Burr is taken by surprise and turns on his slimy charm – suggesting an alliance (- while subtly fingering the hilt of his Snake-Skin Gift).

Having resolved the failed Dungeon Crawling move (- surprisingly well, I may say -), it's time to find out what lies up the path by rolling up another generic area: seems to be an orchard with *another* NPC... :O

Burda & Burr continue into an extravagant orchard. Rows of trees bearing black apples stretch over a dark acre. Three further paths are visible. Beneath one tree is the sorrowful, hunched and armoured form of the (once) mighty demon Prince Urax… he is weeping.

Borda stoops down to comfort the broken demon:
DR12 Presence vs 2d20: 12, 7: Weak Hit.
Uriax would let the group pass without harm… but I think I’ll burn one of Borda's omens to re-roll the 7.

The re-roll comes up 20, making a Strong Hit! After hearing that we seek to kill Sir Gilbert, Uriax perks up and decides to join our merrie band! Two companions and no horrible deaths yet? This is almost unheard of…

The trio wander down one of the orchard paths...
Dungeon Crawl (DR10): 14, 11 – Strong Hit (Special 1: Park Pale Gates)
They emerge at the gates to Park Pale. Problem is the walls are 30’ high, topped with heads on spikes, and the only way through is a huge, locked metal gate...

The entry in the adventure leaflet has some suggestions on how you might pass (climb, dig, smash your way through...)
Borda decides to go with forcing the lock - with their meat cleaver! - while Burr and Uriax try and pull it with all their strength.

Result is that Borda has to make a DR14 Strength test (the task is DR16 by default, but -2 for the two companions).
Borda rolls 10... then burns another omen… 4. Damn. A meat cleaver just isn't effective against the massive black iron monstrosities. *shrug*

The problem is that each time you fail to pass the gate, d4 desiccated spyrittes emerge from the shrivelled, impaled heads above the gate. Here’s one now…

Alerted by the cracking sound as the sprite pushes through the dry, withered mouth of one of the heads, the party gets the initiative. Borda easily smacks it away with a femur. Like desiccated spyritte cricket.

The second attempt to force the gates is far more successful (17). Uriax alone nearly tears them off their hinges with his burning gauntlets. The group congratulate one another, before steeling themselves and crossing the threshold into Park Pale.

Dungeon Crawl (DR10): 3+1, 8+1 – Fail.
Damn, just as they set one foot beyond the gate, FOUR of the heads split open, releasing their desiccated spyrrites! The party is already alert to the creaking, cracking warning noises, and retains their initiative!

This is where I realise I should probably have put a CW. Mea culpa :( I'll add a comment to the first tweet once this session is wrapped (- I'll go til 10:30 and resume sometime next week if anyone is keen)

Everyone flails around on the first turn, Uriax fumbles his defence – smouldering sparks fall from his armour as it decreases a tier following a fluky spyritte bytte. Burr manages to stab one with the Snake-Skin Gift.

The group takes a few bites, but their armour is a blessing, absorbing most of the damage. Uriax crushes one spyritte in his burning gauntlets, while Burr runs the remaining two through with his dagger. Borda looks sheepish – having failed to land a single hit.

Onward! Beyond the gates is a tree-lined avenue – with something uncanny about it… perhaps the black, withered branches make the avenue look like it is flanked by rows of upturned spiders? It seems to branch into two further avenues… but *something* blocks the path!

Yes/No Oracle time!
* Is the blockage to do with trees? No
* To do with hunting? Yes
Ok – let's say it’s a shooting bunker/grouse butt, with no visible entrance from this side.
* Is it inhabited? Yes
* By a gamekeeper? Yes
Uh oh.

Damn – the gamekeeper saw us first! He targets Burr with his shotgun.
BAM!

Burr’s defense = 19: The shot sprays by into the trees! Phew. Desperate times, desperate measures: Borda tosses their bomb.
DR12 Presence: 13. The bomb explodes, causing 6 damage, two absorbed by the gamekeeper’s tweeds!!! Pretty underwhelming!
* Is the bunker destroyed? No :(

Instead of attacking, Burr is going to try and scramble over the bunker.
Agility DR12: 17. Good work, wretched lord!
Uriax follows suit: 14. Go Uriax!
Meanwhile, the gamekeeper fires off a shot at Borda…

Borda is hit (rolls 4). Takes 3 damage (plus one absorbed by their gathering rags).
Borda is climbs the bunker (DR12: 15), just in time to see Burr scoring a critical hit: the Snake-Skin Gift pierces through the tweeds, straight into the gamekeeper’s black heart (- 8 damage!!)

As the slightly deafened and wounded group settles down to take a rest, Borda makes sure the gamekeeper's shotgun is safely residing in their rags…
The Resting Move scores a Weak Hit (15,4): +3 hp for Borda, +1 Burr, +2 Uriax, +1 Omen, -3 rations.

It’s hard to sleep with the charred, twisted visage of the gamekeeper staring… Borda wakes before dawn and searches around in the roots of the weird black trees: scavenges some rich mushrooms to concoct 3x Elixir Vitalis. The noxious bark of the trees yields 1x Black Poison.

Dungeon Crawl (DR10): 20+1, 16+1: Strong Hit!!
The Eel Tower looms out of the gloom. A 50’ tall stone-brick monstrosity surrounding a pool that once housed the manorial eel farm. A rough staircase curls around the inner walls...

Climbing to the top will provide the perfect vantage point for sighting the location of Misery Lodge…
Unfortunately no one expects a massive Shadow Eel to lunge out of the waters. Never expect the Shadow Eel!

It probably shrieks while lunging, too.

Borda and co are 15’ up the staircase, when the clammy, jet-black monster lunges out of the dark waters toward Uriax: misaligned fangs like a mouthful of daggers. Uriax manages to lean to one side, retaining his balance on the steps.

Borda and Burr flail at the eel, trying not to slip into the gloomy waters below. Uriax attempts to crush one of its eyes with his flaming gauntlets: all but one one of the 5 damage inflicted is absorbed! :O Lesson: Shadow Eel eyes are tough.

The eel wraps around Burr, attempting to squeeze the life out of him. As Borda’s cleaver glances off its flesh, Burr manages to stab it with the Snake-Skin Gift – rolling a 1 for damage! Instant death for the eel!

Damn useful, the Snake-Skin Gift… Borda scales the stairs and looks out across Park Pale from the top of Eel Tower. They see the cruel folly known as the Dark Temple, and beyond – enveloped in an eerie glow – Misery Lodge itself.

Meanwhile, Burr and Uriax manage to carve the eel up into two days of rations. Before the group leave Eel Tower, Borda allows Burr have a sip of elixir vitalis. He may be from the slimiest of noble stock, but he has proven some worth so far… (+3 HP to Burr)

Dungeon Crawl (DR10): 12+2, 11+2: Strong Hit.
Borda’s sense of direction serves them well. The Dark Temple looms into view – a vast folly made of obsidian. Crooked ornamental turrets reach toward the sky. As the group approaches, lightning streaks down from the clouds.

Dense arm-thick brambles suggest no easy way around – the only way is forward, via the tunnel that leads through the Dark Temple. As the group get nearer, the raging storm becomes more violent – bolts of lightning blasting the ground between them and the folly entrance.

Everyone has to make two Agility checks to evade the lightning:
* Borda rolls a 1 – burns an omen – re-rolls 14,and then 18. Smooth and nimble.
* Uriax gets through, surviving one direct strike - which makes his armour look spectacular in the darkness.

* Burr thinks he has a good idea how it’s done… his confidence rewarded by being reduced to ashes in a flash of light. ZAP!
(What a waste of elixir vitalis...)

The smell of vapourised noble lingering in the air, Borda and Uriax are somewhat shaken as they stand before the dark entrance to the folly…
This stage of the adventure takes the form of a d4 micro-crawl – I roll 2. Hopefully surviving two rooms won’t be too taxing, eh?

The Solitary Defilement Room Descriptor Oracle throws a ‘rotten chamber’ with an ‘unstable environment’ my way. The tunnel is collapsing: blocks have fallen from the vaulted ceiling, and flagstones on the ground are missing, dropping away into a black, whispering abyss below.

They decide to move cautiously across the decaying floor.
DR12 Presence vs 2d20: 13, 3: Weak Hit.
They make good progress across the hazard, but the voices begin to swell and an evil mist rises up through the holes in the floor. An atmosphere of creeping dread is palpable.

The pair panic in the stifling atmosphere. A pair of Agility tests are going to be used to try and scamper across what remains of the chamber.
Borda gets a Strong Hit… Uriax fails! :O

As Borda reaches the other side, they hear Uriax yell, turning just in time to see the demon, illuminated by his burning gauntlets, dropping into the swirling fog of the infinite abyss below.

Borda is now completely alone in the dark. They can feel the oppressive weight of the Dark Temple bearing down on them, as they turn and continue into the murk that lies ahead...

Seems like a pretty good point to conclude! Will Borda make it through the Dark Temple and as far as Misery Lodge? What necromantic experiments await them there? Maybe we'll find out next week, schedule allowing!

CW: Decapitation, occult themes, violence, hunting, guns, electrocution.

This adventure was partly inspired by 'An Excellent Booke of the Arte of Magicke', by two real-life execrable nobles (one of whom was a particularly violent and brutish tool of English imperialism). The pair had many bizarre visions and spent their time abusing demons [...]

and trying to ingratiate themselves to saints and the spirits of deceased occultists. I notice that @IglooTree has copies - and their stock totally dovetails nicely between my interests in RPGs and the occult. Amazing to discover their shop! iglootree.com/an-excellent-b…

An Eel Tower is actually a real thing - but I think there's only one example, at Ripley Castle. No giant shadow eels were there when I went, though.
Much of the rest of this adventure was inspired by trespassing on rich people's estates.

For transparency's sake; I wrote this book (well, transcribed the manuscript, did philological research, wrote commentary etc).

@threadreaderapp unroll