SoloDark Pt. 7: The Group Gets a Name

Thanks for reading my solo Shadowdark game running The Shadowed Keep on the Borderlands. I aim to tell a story and pull the curtain back on how to run a solo TTRPG. I use footnotes for smaller rolls, mechanics, and comments, and italic blocks for larger stuff.

You can find the first post here, and the prior post here, and if you want to see more in the way of notes, you can find my public Notion Notebook here.

Previously

The group had gotten exceptionally lucky, not only surviving the assault by the remaining bandits but also capturing the two individuals wanted by the Dulwich authorities. After a night's rest at the Shadowed Keep, the group, along with the rescued merchant Reithic, escorted both Bareli and Firean back to Dulwich Keep for their reward.

Back to Broke

Gul’shruk sighed heavily as he heard the tell-tale click of lockpicks at work in the door behind him. With the kind of day the group had had, this barely came as a surprise. He stood up, having been half asleep with his back against the door, turned to face it, and wrenched it open. Two rough-looking men crouched outside and stared up at him in surprise, caught in the middle of picking the lock to the group's shitty quarters. Gol’shruk held Queenslayer¹ in one hand and leaned down to the two men, whispering his promise to them. He was quiet enough that it wouldn’t wake his companions but his tone was unquestionably violent.

You’re both gonna keep your mouth shut and listen, because if you wake up that woman over there, what I might do to you will pale in comparison to what she will do to you.
Now you’re both gonna leave quietly, and you’re gonna tell your friends that if someone else disturbs our sleep, I swear on Saint Terragnis that I’m cutting an arm off before I bother to ask questions. Then I’m gonna throw them through that window and let the dogs clean up the mess. Got it? - Gol’Shruk

Gol’shruck didn’t wait for either man to respond. He simply shut the door and slumped down, back against the door, hoping to get a few hours of undisturbed rest. As he waited for sleep to come, his mind wandered over the events of the last two days and how they had gone from a night of celebration to flat broke in less than 48 hours.

2 Days Ago: A Wild Night at The Dancing Bear

After turning in their captives, the group was exhausted but finally flush with gold. It seemed like their luck had finally taken a turn and they were excited to spend time relaxing at the Dancing Bear. It was early afternoon when they arrived so there weren’t that many patrons but as the evening wore on the tavern came to life. The Dancing Bear had a reputation for wild nights, and those seeking to let off steam often ended up here. For the group, it was shaping up to be an excellent evening. The food was exceptional, the drinks flowed liberally, and the musicians were outstanding.

Quibel was being kept company by a halfling priest named Aldric Gram who worked at the Lawgivers Hall in town. The two had initially started talking as there weren’t that many halflings in the Inn but they quickly realized their shared love of nature and retreated to a table to discuss the odd plants that had started growing in the Saltmarsh.

Meanwhile, Gul’Shruk and Shiori had befriended Diam Azcral², a male dwarf, mostly by buying him ale. He told them he was an experienced fighter and a recent arrival to Dulwich. He had come here to fight goblins and whatever foul beasts lurked in the lands surrounding the town. While Shiori slowly found the conversation growing boring as Daim had a habit of turning every topic into proof of dwarven superiority, Gol’shruk was having a grand time trading stories with the dwarf. By the time they left the Dancing Bear that night, Diam was set on joining their excursion to the Shadowed Keep.

And then, just when things seemed to be going well the inevitable happened. There was a loud shout from across the room, and a hush fell over the tavern. Gol’shruk and Shiori looked up to see an excessively drunk human man jabbing his finger into Strika’s chest, and they knew it wasn't going to end well. They would learn later that the man had bumped into Quibel and then made an exceptionally offensive comment about both her race and gender, and Strika had overheard it. Not one to let someone insult his friend, he stood up and demanded that the man make an apology. Not only did the man refuse to apologize, but he unleashed a string of drunken profanity at Strika and Quibel while jabbing Strika in the chest.

Sir! You’ll take back what you said to my friend here or your night will become significantly less enjoyable.

I…aint takin nothin back. Your little midget c*** s*** friend here bumped into me and spilled my drink. Now you think you’re a big *****, f*****, ****-ing man and want to stand up to me. You think I’m scared of you?

No. I don’t. But you should be, and shortly you will be. - Strika and some random drunk guy

Things quickly went from bad to worse. Strika punched the man hard in the gut, doubling him over, and launched a blast of magic into the chest of one of his friends nearby. The room immediately descended into pure chaos and without a second thought, Gol’shruk and Shiori lept to the defense of their friends. By the time the dust settled, and the unconscious bodies had been removed, the entire group had been fined five gold for starting the fight and banned from the Dancing Bear for five weeks³.

As the group trudged across town to the Three Bells, another nearby inn, they were understandably frustrated at Strika for initiating the massive tavern brawl but found they couldn't be too hard on the mage given that he had started the fight to defend his friend. It was well past midnight when the group entered the Three Bells and dropped down significantly more coin than they wanted to secure rooms for the night.

1 Day Ago: Market Day

The next day found the group at the Dulwich Marketplace bright and early to resupply and get some better gear before heading back to the Shadowed Keep. They weren’t in a rush but they didn’t want anyone to beat them to the loot in the Bandit Queen’s tower, and being banned from the Dancing Bear had lit a fire under them. They planned to gather all the equipment they needed this afternoon, spend the night at the Three Bells, and then head out in the morning. Despite their urgency, the market was a lively, bustling place and it was hard not to get distracted by all the sights, sounds, and food. 

The group's outlook slowly improved and they slowed their pace as the delights of the Dulwich Market set in. Despite last night's events they still had plenty of coin and wanted to enjoy their time off before heading back to risk their necks. They were in no hurry so it took a few hours but the group was able to purchase everything they needed. Gul’shruk was especially excited about finding a suit of proper chainmail, his preferred armor⁴.

As the day grew late the group turned to discussing lodging for the night when the color drained from Shiori’s face. She patted her cloak desperately before looking at the rest of the group and apologetically informing them that she had been robbed. She had no idea when it happened but someone had cut her purse strings and taken the entire bag. The only money they had left was the 1 gold and 6 silver pieces in Quibel’s pocket. They were officially broke, Shiori looked emotionally devastated, and they certainly couldn’t afford to stay at the Three Bells again tonight. They only had two options. The poorhouse, where Strika had already alienated the proprietor Chancellor Ehtaro, or the Golden Skull, a dingy inn known for its less-than-savory clientele. The group glumly gathered their purchases and headed to the Dancing Bear to let Diam know they would be leaving in the morning. With their plans set, they made their way to the Golden Skull to spend the last of their coin, get a serviceable meal, and finally get some sleep.

Shiori darling, it’s not your fault. We’ve all had our own bad luck in the last few weeks. I missed all the signs that the keep was inhabited and we got thrown in prison. Gol’shruk ran off to catch that half-orc woman and you almost got stabbed to death, and we’re not even going to talk about Strika. The halfling sage smiled mischievously. Life is gonna make you drink poison tea every now and then, but don’t worry you’ve got plenty of friends to help you recover. - Quibel

Today: The Luckless

Gol’shruk stretched and slowly stood, working out the aches in his back that came from sleeping against a door. His companions were already rousing and he knew they would all be eager to get moving. With no money left, it was either the Shadowed Keep or the poorhouse, and he wasn’t sure Strika would even be welcomed there.

As the sun rose over the horizon, the group, which now included Diam, made their way back towards the keep. Along the way they finally settled on a group name; The Luckless.

---

The group has leveled up, resupplied, and picked up some new equipment but their flat broke and spirits are low. They’ve picked up an ally, Diam the dwarf fighter, and are making their way back to the Shadowed Keep in the hope that more treasure awaits them.

Behind the Scenes

I wanted to put most of the GM/behind-the-scenes stuff in its own section because there was a lot of it this time. I almost didn’t include it but part of the point of this blog is to show the behind-the-scenes parts and help with the “how-to” pieces. So if you want to read about the rolls, just keep reading, but if you’re not interested you can give me a like and be done with this chapter.

The characters were very focused on getting their prisoners back to Dulwich for the reward, but I didn’t imaging Bareli and Firean were going to make it easy on them. I rolled several encounter check on the way back to the city, and then in the city and got nothing major.  They turned their prisoners over but didn’t get any kind of bonus as I rolled poorly on the initial reaction table and then low on Shiori’s CHA check to get a bonus. 175 gold it is.

With a health amount of gold they spend 100 of it on carousing to get some XP as they desperately need to reach level 2. I’m following the ShadowDark rules for this, below I’ll list what each of them got, the result, and what they get for hitting level 2.

Carousing Results

Gul’Shruk (Rolled a 9) - Gain 5 XP and an NPC ally
Shiori (9) - Gain 5 XP and an NPC ally
Quibel (4) - Lose 10% of total wealth1, gain 3XP and a priest ally2
Strika (5) - Fined 10% of total wealth, banned from the Dancing Bear for starting a full-tavern brawl, and gained 3 XP

Since the group was at the Dancing Bear Inn for all this, I rolled on the location table for people the group might encounter there and used that as the NPC ally. For the Priest ally I just jotted down a name and brief details for now Just because Quibel made a friend doesn’t mean they’re willing to risk life and limb for the group.

Level Up Results

Gol’Shruk: +7 HP for a total of 12 HP⁵
Shiori: +2 HP for a total of 4 HP, gained the Willowman spell
Quibel: +6 HP for a total of 9 HP, gained the Potion spell
Strika: +4 HP for a total of 8 HP, gained the Detect Magic spell

The Market

Since they were in the area shopping I rolled on the Dulwich Marketplace tables and got several results that resulted in the party catching the eye of a talented pickpocket

Folk out and about - Saku Koira (CN middle-aged male human thief 2) stalks the market looking for easy marks. Saku is a master pickpocket. He views the market as his private domain and keeps an eye out for other pickpockets—he sometimes even intervenes so the other thief is spotted and arrested.

What’s Going On? - Patrolling Watch: Four watchmen make their way through the market. Perceptive characters notice several swarthy thugs watching the patrol.

Opportunities & Complications - Gang Children Playing: A group of children are playing loudly nearby to act as a distraction for a robbery. The children also act as a screen to slow down meddling adventurers, the town guard, and so on.

Oracle (w/ Adv): Is Saku a member of one of the major gangs? No
Is he a member of any gang? Twist … Agree/Balance - Delive/Nature. Looking at Agree/Balance I think he is a freelance pickpocket for whomever hires him. The book has this to say about the thieves guilds in Dulwich “Most such gangs number no more than a dozen individuals, and most of their members are not particularly skilled.” But it says that Saku is a master pickpocket. So different guilds will pay him to do specific jobs for them and in return, none of them bother him during his activities in the market

Saku has been watching the characters shop and they were tossing around a good chunk of coin so he would 100% attempt to rob them. He would get an advantage on the check per the Theif class ability and we’ll say he has +3 Dex, he rolled a 22…master pickpocket indeed! While normally this might be tricky because I’m tracking their coinage all together I think with a roll of 22 Saku gets most of it. I rolled a d6 for both gold and silver to see how much they manage to keep; 1 gold, 6 silver…well crap, that is exactly the cost of a single day of average living at The Golden Skull.

The group is well and truly over it today. The last 24 hours took them from celebration to flat-broke. Because of this they just want to eat, sleep, and be on their way back to the Shadowed Keep so I’m going to give them a 3:6 chance of making a roll on the location tables for The Golden Skull. A few rolls were made here but nothing that would have distracted the group. They did hear rumors of a fighting pit beneath the Inn but honestly, they just don’t care right now.

Oracle (w/ d.Adv): Does someone try to rob the characters tonight? Yes, but the group scares them off easily. (I rolled a 19 and 20...unreal)

1. I mean what else could he call the axe that felled the Bandit Queen in a single stroke?

2. Dwarf, Male, Fighter [Racial Superiority, Loyal, Inflexible]
AC 14/16, HP, 9, ATK +7, C, 1d6+2 or +4, N, 1d6+2
S +4, D +1, C -2, I +0, W -2, Ch +1

3. Rolled a d6

4. This brings his AC up to 16 / 18 with a shield. With his new HP from level 2 he’s turning out to be a great tank.

5. This is really solid, especially for having a -1 CON. That only impacts the very first HP roll but still.