Hubbub at Hobglen

I picked up these wooden homes at Target for $3 yesterday, and I think they’ll look great as stylized terrain for my ECW figures for sure; but it happened to lead me to an interesting read about medieval chimneys as I thought about whether or not I could use them with my medieval figures. There were a lot of insights about wood smoke and health, along with the general discussion of the history of heating in medieval European homes.

Behold the village of Hobglen, quietly attended by the village folk on a fine Wednesday afternoon, when across the bridge come a-strolling a handful of fearsome figures. It is none other than Gareth of Garsburg and Harold of Halisbury, who, having settled their previous qualm, decided to work together seeking fortune and glory in this harsh realm. They are accompanied by Gareth’s longbow-wielding henchman and the party’s pack mule.

The adventurers. Will they seek to attack this village as well? Or have they mended their former ways?

At the bridge, a pair of watchful villagers brandish their tools and holler “Oy! Who goes there?”

Gareth speaks up, “Friendly travelers, hoping to pass through in peace and perhaps barter for some supplies for our journey!” His reaction roll succeeds, and the self-appointed village gatekeepers let them alone. The villagers gather in town to discuss the newcomers.

For reaction rolls, I used the classic table from the early editions of DnD, and for villager movement (as there was no threat of combat) I used a method I heard about on a podcast talking about Frostgrave and Rangers of Shadow Deep: roll a D20, whatever way the triangle “points” is the direction the villagers move. For the sake of game keeping, I rolled then moved the “appropriate” villager; I didn’t want anyone running into walls or towards the edge of the map for no reason.

The timer is rolled, 2 turns until something happens (I know what but I can’t say yet)!

Gareth rides ahead of the rest of the party to chat with some villagers.

“You wouldn’t happen to be willing to part with some food, would you? Or perhaps you’ve got some putty I can fix my lance with?”

2 turns later, the peasants near the edge of town hear something amongst the felled trees…and out pop a pair of goblin shooters!

The goblins got a free round of shooting, to no effect. Then the peasants rolled their morale to see if they’d fight or flee (per Chainmail) and battle began! The two accosted peasants charge the goblins, buying time for the others to come fight of the invasion.

The next turn, the die is cast once more, and even more goblins emerge from the outskirts!

The melee ensues, and blood, both red and green, waters the earth. Harold takes out a goblin with his spear, muttering something about “…better be at least a hot meal for this…”

Suddenly, the apparent leader of the goblins emerges, a redcap brandishing a rusted bardiche, to challenge Harold!

However, the humans beat back the goblins, and their leader slinks away in flight with his remaining lackey, perhaps we’ll see him again?

This game I tested out Chainmail’s man-to-man combat rules, with the addition of the previously mentioned peasant movement, reaction roll table, and “hit points” for my heroes (that’s what the d6’s are for). I also gave my heroes a +1 to their rolls, as level 1 fighters, essentially merging Chainmail with  Erik Johannsen’s “Original Edition Campaign” (I’ll link it below, my wife got it as a gift for me and I think it’s great). It was pretty fun, and next game I’m planning on using straight OEC, to just roll a d20 for once!

Original Edition Campaign

Here’s the link to Amazon, which is the only place to buy the book, I believe. Please note, I don’t make any money from Amazon or whatever, I just want to share some quality DnD resources that I think capture the fun of the original game while being simple and cohesive. Not as simple as the Black Hack (another favorite), but super easy to read and roll.