Tomb Raiding ~ A Frostgrave Solo Game

I got Frostgrave 2nd Ed and  I've been thinking about playing some solo games. I was under the impression that the 2nd ed book contained solo rules, but I was mistaken. Not to worry though because I have the Perilous Dark supplement which has solo stuff in it. So I read it. It sort of helped but didn't have solid "solo rules," just a bunch of ideas which, whilst good advice, are not what I was hoping for.

So I decided on some ideas and played a game to sort it out. I wasn't happy with the suggested turn sequence so I came up with my own: Wizard Phase ~ Monster Phase 1 ~ Apprentice Phase ~ Monster Phase 2 ~ Soldier Phase. Monster Phase 1 will be special/scenario specific monsters.  Monster Phase 2 will be Random (wandering) Monsters rolled for at the end of every turn or when a treasure is discovered. 

This turn sequence seemed to work okay so I made up a scenario based on The Mausoleum scenario in the book. My mausoleum model has a removable roof so I put an alter in it. I made a simple chart to see what happened when the alter was examined ~ Possible treasure & monsters...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Like any other practitioner of the magical arts, Zanzabax the Thaumaturge has heard the tales of Frostgrave ~ those arcane ruined remains of the magical city of Falstead. With his apprentice Marzbar in tow Zanzabax traveled to Wolfpass Gorge, one of the nearby settlements that have grown around the outskirts of the fabled city. 

In Wolfpass the mages gathered a band of adventurers and ruffians with the promise of long lost riches and set forth to seek magical power and infamy.

Zanzabax stands at the center with the barbarian warrior Thrak, the archer Jasper, and a thug named Mungo. This group will be the one that will enter the crypt itself. Big Vern and Bazza, a pair of rough thugs, will scout to the right and search of any other treasure that might be found. 

Marzbar leads a smaller group to the left in search of random loot. With him are the halfling tracker Nob Undersack and a pair of professional thieves: Rosco & Lazli.

Yonder stands the door to the crypt. An animated skeleton stands guard.

Zanzabax leads the way. He utters a magic word and makes a cryptic sigh and a faint blue nimbus glows around him like a protective shield (Shield spell). Jasper climbs onto a high point and looses a heavy arrow that shatters the skull of the skeleton guard.

As the rest of the warband move ahead all seems quiet. Thrak attracts the attention of an undead guard. He pays it little heed until its spear slips past his guard and wounds him sorely. Unexpectedly the big fool finds himself on the defensive until Zanzabax moves in holding high his staff and commanding the undead which then crumbles to a pile of bones (a successful Destroy Undead spell). "Take care,' he says. 'Even the dead can kill you in this unholy place."

Another of the skeleton guards attacks Lazli who rushed forward lured by the presence of nearby treasure. Marzbar, hoping to emulate his master fails in his attempt to cast the Destroy Undead spell and looks physically shaken. Lucky for Lazli, Rosco is close by and manages to turn the skeleton into another pile of harmless bones.

Zanzabax, Thrag and Mungo make their way to the door of the crypt. The mage and the barbarian will enter whilst Mungo and Jasper guard the rear. Before they enter and expecting the worst, the mage casts a spell that makes the barbarian's axe glow with a dangerous magical edge (Enchant Weapon spell).

Before he can get an arrow nocked, a wolf leaps from the snow and attacks Jasper the archer. He is wounded but manages to keep the beast at bey. However it's still a threat and won't be easily seen off. 

To the left Big Vern and Bazza find what they're looking for. Vern finds a skeleton guard and Bazza spies some hidden treasure. Big Vern swings and the skeleton thrusts its spear. Vern's axe bites into a leg bone and the whole pile of bones fall to the ground. A bit of extra pounding and stomping and the undead guard is just a pile of dry old bones.

But, no sooner does Big Vern pound one skeleton into the dust than another steps around the corner.

Free to once more move ahead Lazli finds some loot and makes her way back to the rendezvous where the pack animals await. (First treasure token off the board.)

Zanzabax and Thrak enter the crypt and see an alter standing at its center. The mage examines it and discovers some interesting items under a rotting shoud and a thick coating of dust. Just then the pair hear the creaking and clanking of old bones and rusted armour...

Outside the crypt Jasper is getting the worst of his encounter with the wild wolf so Mungo goes to his aid and splits the beast's head with a swing of his axe.

Watching the progress of the pair of thieves, Marzbar doesn't notice the half frozen reanimated corpse that attacks him from behind. The zombie takes the apprentice mage by surprise and bites him inflicting a terrible wound. (It's only the -1 to damage bonus from his staff that saves Marzbar at this stage.) 

In the crypt, Thrak makes short work of one of the Armoured Skeletons. The second creature attacks the mage who manages to fend off the undead warrior and push it back. Without hesitation Zanzabax put forth his power to detroyed the undead warrior with a mystical word. 

(The skeleton attacked in the 1st Monster Phase. Zanzabax won the combat but not by enough to inflict any damage but he did push it back. Then they waited in limbo until the Wizard Phase at the start of the new turn where he did the Destroy Undead spell again and killed the skelly.)

While all this excitement was happening, Nob Undersack the tracker, skirted all the trouble and made his way to the top of a crumbling ruin where he spied something shiny and interesting. Little did he realize that he had attracted the attention of a bony follower.

Likewise, Rosco the thief failed to notice a pair of wolves that came skulking through the ruins. The wolves came at the thief one at a time (due to the individual figure activation sequence) and he managed to quickly dispatch both beasts before a cry for help came from behind...

Seeing Marzbar grimly trying to fend off the attack of a half frozen corpse, the thief ran to his aid. He couldn't manage to kill the undead thing but he did manage to push it back (he won the fight but inflicted no damage).

This was enough for Jasper to move into position, take aim, and fell the foul creature with a well placed arrow that pierced a vacant eye socket.

On the other side of the crypt, Bazza recovered a treasure and found a very convenient exit. He quickly made for the rendezvous but failed to notice that his pal Big Vern had been knocked to the ground by a vicious blow from a skeleton warrior and lay there unmoving.

Meanwhile, outside the crypt, Mungo discovered that he had a rat problem.

But Mungo's situation wasn't quite as perilous as the one that Undersack now found himself. Moving as far as he could, the halfling tracker found himself cornered by a rattling, undead fiend.

Keeping the giant rat at bey, Mungo keeps the way clear for the mage and barbarian as they exit the crypt loaded with treasure. 

Seeing the plight of Undersack and filled with confidence after taking down the rogue zombie, Jasper takes aim at the skeleton threatening the halfling. Hitting the thing in the neck it's head toppled to the ground followed by the rest of its ancient bones.

Unfortunately, the archer failed to notice another skeleton round the corner and quickly move to the attack.

With the giant rat dispatched, the treasure party make their way to the rendezvous. So spake Zanzabax the mage to Mungo the thug; "Look sharp ruffian. A lupine creature approaches. Guard our backs whilst we make haste to our appointed meeting place."

Elsewhere, archer Jasper, already wounded, is worsted by the blade of the undead. 

Mungo the thug stands his ground and earns his pay as he slays a slavering wolf. The pelt will make a good cloak.

As the rest leave the area, Nob Undersack trundles down a ramp and into combat with one of the dreaded skeleton guards. Having avoided fighting throughout the day, the halfling now has no choice and must defend himself. He uses his stature to his advantage and ducks under a swinging blow and strikes back knocking the leg bones from his opponent and slaying the creature.

With that, the tracker takes his treasure and follows Rosco (also laden with treasure) back to the waiting pack animals and relative safety.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Conclusion: 

It sort of worked but I think a well planned campaign is really needed for solo efforts. Compared to the dedicated solo game, Rangers of Shadow Deep, Frostgrave doesn't work as well in the solo game arena. The warband is really only there to fight and carry off treasure. Other than that they serve no other purpose. In RoSD the other characters are really secondary characters that have skills and individual traits that help to solve various scenario problems along the way.

Also the player v's player aspect is really what makes Frostgrave what it is - especially the spell v's spell competition that can take place. In a solo game that just isn't going to happen.

So, whilst I enjoyed the couple of little games I've had, I think I'm tempted to forget about solo Frostgrave and delve back into Rangers of Shadow Deep. Should I start a new ranger or continue where I left off earlier in the year? Should I continue with solo Frostgrave? I don't know yet.