A single player scenario for a 0/1st level human peasant who wishes to become an adventurer. Specifically, a Ranger.
The PC is an orphan who works for the local woodcutter, where the work is hard and the hours are long. Working in the woods and forests is great, it’s the carrying of bundles of wood and charcoal to the farmers and villagers that is the pain.
Your home is a small cottage in a small clearing in the wood about a mile away from the Hamlet. It’s a simple affair with three rooms. The middle room or the hall is where the cooking and living takes place. Off one side is the workshop, and off the other is the bedroom which you share with the woodcutter each on your own wooden bed.
You are carrying a sack of charcoal to the Inn in the expectation of returning with ale and bread for you and the woodcutter. The job is tiresome and dirty because the innkeeper needs lots of charcoal for brewing and the trip means you get covered by the stuff, but the many trips you have done has built up your strength, endurance and willingness to keep going over the years. Today however is out of the ordinary because the whole village is a flutter with the unannounced visit of the Squire. The Reeve is especially anxious because she will have to answer for the mistakes if there is anything amiss.
You nod to Old Ned (the local vagrant and an old adventurer) on the way to the Inn and give him a rabbit as payment for the sword lessons he has been giving you before dropping the charcoal off at the inn.
Something is wrong because you hear a horse whiney wildly and stamp its feet before it breaks away from whatever or whoever spooked it and gallops past you towards the common with the woods in the distance.
The Squire is not happy at all about his horse running away and is letting the innkeeper know his feelings in no uncertain terms. While you are smiling at this a stern faced Reeve comes up to you and tells you to go fetch the Squire’s horse and bring it back. It doesn’t look like she is going to take no for an answer, and as you look up you see the horse disappear into the woods.
The Woods
The horse is a light war horse with only a bridle on, and it has entered the woods from the main path from the common. The same path that leads to your home.
A successful tracking roll will show that the horse followed the path to your house.
If the PC enters into the woods off the trials/paths or clearings at any point they will have a 50% chance of encountering a family of Warthogs (once only). There is a father and a mother with her 4 piglets. The mother and piglets will scatter and the father will charge the PC.
Warthog: AC 7; MV 12”; HD 3; hp 9; THAC0 16; #AT 2; D 2-8/2-8; SZ M; Int Anim; AL N; XP 62
The meat from the Warthog can be sold for 5cp per hp (4sp 5cp) to the innkeeper.
The Clearing
As you enter the clearing where your home is you can see that there is a dead goblin in the middle of the clearing and another by the door of your house.
The Goblin in the middle of the clearing is wearing animal skins, and has its head caved in. Lying beside the body is a bone knife.
The second dead goblin is just outside the front of the house with one of your arrows perturbing from its chest. It’s wearing hide armour that is badly cured and obviously made for a larger creature. It still has a small wooded shield in its left hand, and a spear in its right. Around its neck is a purse with 12sp of an unknown minting.
A successful tracking roll will show that about half a dozen Goblins made their way into the clearing from the north and made for the cottage. The Horse made its way into the clearing from the south and encountered the Goblins in the middle of the clearing where a fight took place. A human made its way from the cottage to the west, and was followed by two goblins, while two goblins followed the horse to the north. Someone heading to the west was wounded.
The Cottage
The Hall has been ransacked, as has the bedroom and the workshop. In the workshop all the tools and materials have been scattered across the floor. The corner where the woodsman kept his money in a small coffer buried in a hole is dug up with dirt all around it. The woodsman’s bow and quiver are missing.
The hand axe is still in the wood block at the back of the cottage where you left it after cutting the wood this morning.
The West Trail
The trail of the human and the two goblins goes someway down the path to the west. A successful tracking roll will show that the human, and the wounded blood tail, doubles back on its tracks and goes off the path to the north, while the two goblins continue on to the west.
Off the path to the north is the dead body of the woodcutter with a spear wound in his side. He’s leaning up against the trunk of an oak, with a bow on his lap and an arrow nocked on the bowstring. He is wearing a backpack in which is a small iron coffer that holds 5gp, 25sp, 35cp and three small sapphires in a purse worth 25gp each. On his belt is a quiver with 18 arrows in it.
Coming back along the western path having realised that they have lost the human that they were following are two goblins:
Goblins: AC 7, MV 6”; HD 1-1; hp 4,4; THAC0 20; #AT 1; D 1-6 (Spear); SZ S; Int Low to Avg; AL LE; XP 14,14
The Goblins are wearing hide armour but no helmets and are carrying spears and bone knifes. One has an ivory figurine of Maglubiyet worth 2gp on a leather thong around his neck, and an intricate carving of a female goblin on the hilt of its bone knife worth 4gp, and the other is wearing a bronze torc printed with wolves worth 3gp and a matching bronze armband worth 2gp.
The North Trail
The trail to the north leads to a clearing where the horse is being cornered by two goblins. It seems like the horse has managed to outrun the Goblins for a time, but that they have now corralled it into the north end of the clearing and are now closing in.
Light Warhorse: AC 7; MV 24”; HD 2; hp 12 (down from 14); THAC0 16; #AT 2; D 1-4/1-4; SZ L; Int Anim; AL N; XP 48
The Warhorse has a slight spear wound to its shoulder but this doesn’t seem to be effecting it in any way.
Goblins: AC 8, MV 6”; HD 1-1; hp 4,3; THAC0 20; #AT 1; D 1-6 (Spear or Short sword); SZ S; Int Low to Avg; AL LE; XP 14,13
The Goblins are in animal furs, but no helmets, and are carrying spears and short swords. The first has a good quality leather belt and short sword scabbard that are imprinted with the impression of a wolf, while the other has a good quality leather belt and small belt pouch imprinted with vines. In the small belt pouch are 5cp of an unknown minting.
The Goblins are concentrating on what they are doing, with their backs to the path to the south, as opposed to anything else that may be happening in the clearing and their intention is to capture or kill the horse.
If a space is made that the horse can escape through by one of the Goblins being killed, then it will bolt attempting to escape the clearing.
From the clearing there are paths heading east and west.
The West Path
The west path at a small cliff face with a cave entrance. Any noise will bring out a black bear that will attack the horse and/or the PC. Within the Bear’s cave are two Goblin Skeletons in the pile of waist; one of which has a rusting short sword next to it, while the other has a silver ring on one of its fingers worth 15sp.
Black Bear: AC 7; MV 12”; HD 3+3; hp 12; THAC0 16; #AT 3; D 1-3/1-3/1-6; SA Hug (2-8); SZ M; Int Semi; AL N; XP 133
The East Path
The east path ends in a picturesque glade leading to the river bank. A successful tracking roll will identify that about half a dozen goblins cross the river to this side very recently.
After
If the PC is able to settle the horse and return it to the Squire he will be annoyed at first as the horse is wounded, but will be thankful once the story of what happened is relayed. The Squire will reward the PC with the only thing he has of worth on him at present that isn’t of sentimental value, his plain longsword and scabbard.
The Reeve will also be grateful but can only offer rations or iron rations in reward.
If the Horse is dead the Squire will be distraught, but will understand it was due to the Goblin attack, especially as he will check the scene himself.
Goblins have had a a party and are a sleep. The guard on duty is sleep so player surprises him on 4 in 6 (additionally he has a low dex so if he surprises him he gains one extra surprise segment). When and if the goblin acts he will wake up one of the goblins on his first action and yell for the rest to awake. The four sleeping goblins wake in 4 segments from the sound of battle , giving the PC 4 surprise segments against them, unless they are awakened by another goblin. If they awake to see their members dead, they need to make morale checks.
If your going rail road them into a outnumbered battle parley (via ale) and circumstance should give the player some options. If the player runs, in surprise he avoids the encounter. If he fails to surprise, he only has one goblin to face, so he can run, parley or fight at this point with reasonable chance. If he loses initiative and surprise, the goblin wakes one of his fellows how is still prone, so the player can attack a prone goblin, run or fight the standing goblin. As is it is to deadly for one character.
