Continuing on from yesterday’s solo actual play post, this completes the first foray in playing from a cold start with Imagine and the Mythic GME 2nd Edition. As before, this is a largely unedited upload of my play notes – make of it what you will. I hope someone enjoys it as much as I did.

The pair turn back towards the archway at the north end of the passageway and slowly Delbyth leads the way forward, his light blazing forth from the torch in his right hand…

Things are still in their favour but it’s getting creepy. The Chaos Factor is reduced to 2. I make a note of “Stone Giants” on the character list. Between sessions I have had some ideas about Giant Clans and decide to add “Barbaric Humans” to the character list too along with “Temple”. As for Threads, I feel like I’m overdue adding “Find Treasure” to the list for Benath because it seems he’s here for the loot.

Expected scene: a wider area of tombs, perhaps with upright sarcophagi. Let’s test this… 1 is an Altered Scene. I roll for the scene adjustment… 6 = add an object. I have an idea about that.

As Delbyth reaches the archway, the light shows him a chamber opening ahead. It’s perhaps 30 feet deep and 50 feet wide. There’s a colossal statue standing in the middle of the chamber, facing him, which appears to be about 20 feet tall and is a female form. She is robed in stone and her hands are upraised towards the ceiling which arches overhead perhaps 30 feet. There’s a design of starlit sky painting on the dome of the ceiling which makes it seem as though the woman is making an offering in prayer. At her feet lies a wolf, covering her as it lies with its head upraised and alert, looking towards the entrance the pair just walked through.

Benath exhales in awe as he follows Delbyth into the chamber and both stand, staring upwards at the woman in the statue, for perhaps a half-minute. Delbyth shakes himself back to awareness and looks around the chamber. There are arches to the left and right of the chamber, in the centre of the walls, and large stone doors in the centre of the wall behind the statue. These double doors are ornately carved with images of large warriors towering over what looks like a shield wall of humanoid warriors with spears.

“I’ve heard tales of the ancient giant clans,” says Delbyth, “but I didn’t realise they were literally gigantic men.”

Benath chuckles nervously and starts to walk clockwise around the statue, looking upward as he cycles around from the left side towards the back near the doors.

“Wonder who she was,” he wonders out loud.

“Or is,” says Delbyth.

While Benath inspects the statue, Delbyth decides to examine the options for further exploration. He walks to the left of the statue and shines his light into the archway.

Is there a passageway? Seems likely… 08 is a Yes. At this point, I decide to apply the basic dungeon exploration procedure from “So You Want To Be a Game Master” by Justin Alexander: tracking movement, turns, and rolling 1d8 per turn for a random encounter. If there’s an encounter, I’ll improvise. All distances will be generated rolling 2d6x10 feet.

Delbyth can see a passageway about as wide as the previous one going ahead perhaps 70 feet before coming to another arch. As Benath reaches the right side of the statue, Delbyth tracks back in front of the lady and shines the light through the other archway.

Is there a passageway? Seems likely… 02 is Exceptional Yes. I rule it’s a double length passageway. Rolling 2d6… 9 = 90×2 feet. Of course, Delbyth’s light only goes 85 feet. Is there anything special about the passageway? Seems likely… 56 is a No.

Delbyth can see the archway opens to a long passage too, far longer than the light penetrates. Unlike the first passageway, these two seem simple stone tunnelways without the tomb ledges and bodies. Curious, thinks Delbyth. Almost as if the builders wanted to impress visitors with the preserved corpses of the giant men.

Does Benath see anything unusual? This is Perception, doubled for his effort = 26% change… 64 is a critical failure. If there’s anything to see, he’ll miss it. While I am checking things, let’s roll for Random Encounter = 1 on 1d8… 7.

“Which way shall we go, Delbyth?”

Sensing that the best chance for treasure lies through the doors and that he is looking to explore the temple, Delbyth opts for straight ahead. Gesturing towards the stone double doors, Delbyth moves to stand in front of them. With a heave, he puts his shoulder to the centre and pushes hard.

Are the doors locked? Seems likely too… 75 is a No.

There’s an audible sigh as the air from the other side begins to escape and the stone doors move away from Delbyth with a smooth and quiet action. No scraping of stone on stone, a perfectly balanced and weighted pair of doors swings steadily open. Beyond is a chamber that is 70 feet wide but only 20 feet deep in front of them. It takes a second before Delbyth realises that perhaps it’s not a chamber but rather a wider passageway.

What’s in here? Is Delbyth right? Seems very likely given the shape… 07 is an Exceptional Yes. Anything special? 50/50… 09 is a Yes. Let’s roll some Descriptors… Naturally Military.

Opposite the double doors, in a line with 10 feet between them, stand three tall statues of warriors. They are, like the statue in the chamber behind, taller than a man, giant soldiers with metal helms, big round shields, and spears. The passageway is vaulted and twenty feet wide, running left to right across the adventurer’s pathway. Delbyth feels the chill ebb back into the space around them as he realises the Goddess’ invocation of warmth has ended. He decides to invoke it again, given he knows he is permitted six uses of the blessing before he must pray again for her permission. Pausing and closing his eyes, he spends 10 seconds re-invoking the spell.

My expectation is that the passageway continues in both direction but I feel it’s time to test that assumption. The scene is still very much in the character’s control, so we reduce the Chaos Factor to 1. I decide to add “Statues” to the character list. Let’s test the expectation… 3 is confirmatory. Rolling distances left and right… 70 and 50 feet. Does the shorter passage turn? Seems likely… 39 is No. Rolling for encounter… 8.

Looking left and right, Delbyth can see the passage marches off into the dark further left than to the right. On a whim, and in the hope that the shorter passage leads to somewhere interesting, he turns right and leads Benath deeper into the temple complex.

Is there a chamber? Seems Nearly Certain to me… 72 is a No. Encounter check… 7.

Coming to the archway, some 45 feet down from the statues, Delbyth is disappointed to find more passageway running off into the darkness ahead. They press on down stone halls that echo with their booted feet. It occurs to him that this is eerily still and quiet, like a tomb rather than a temple. At the next archway, Delbyth peers through…

More passageway? Seems likely… 55 is a No. Chamber then, 110×70 feet. Let’s get some descriptors… Generously Harsh. I am expecting the temple chamber and I am giving it an ice theme. Let’s test that assumption… 8 is confirmation.

The chamber is huge, running lengthwise more than 100 feet and Delbyth is grateful that they’ve entered through the side. His light shows the chamber runs about 40 feet towards his right and about 50 feet leftward. It’s maybe 70 feet wide. A giant stone altar – for it has to be an altar, given the position nearer the centre of the far wall but with amble space to move around it – stands covered in ice. Everywhere there is ice, the room emanating cold and his boots crunching on the frost beneath his feet. The Goddess’ warming blessing was welcome relief against the harsh, sharp cold of this chamber. This must be the source of the chill throughout the complex. The altar is huge though, perhaps 50 feet long and 20 feet deep. Titanic sacrifices must have been made here, Delbyth surmised. All temples offered sacrifice, that is the way of gods and men’s worship.

Benath stands behind his friend in awe. He’s glad of the warmth emanating from his friend’s magically lit torch. His eyes scan the chamber, looking for treasure.

Is there treasure? Seems certain there’d be something, even if just decorative… 40 is Yes. Random encounter… 4.

Giant carved pillars rise from each end of the temple, supporting a vaulted ceiling which rises towards the centre as a dome. Hanging from each of the pillars is a golden bulb-shaped object with small holes in the upper half of the bulb. Each is hung from golden chains, four on each of the bulbs, and faces inwards towards the main part of the temple.

“Censors,” says Delbyth, “for incense offerings. Two things are offered to the gods, Benath: incense and sacrifices. Judging from the altar, this was a place of great animal or even humanoid sacrifice. I doubt they’d offer up one of those giants but that altar is big enough.”

Benath walks to the nearest censor and unhooks it from its pillar. It feels heavy and he is able to lift the top part of the bulb to test Delbyth’s words. There is indeed the residue of charcoal and incense in the lower part.

“Let’s bag these,” Benath says as he pulls out a sack and lowers the first censor inside.

Delbyth walks towards the altar and looks around intently, searching for signs of other secrets or hidden lore.

Let’s test his Perception (15%x2)… 12 is a success. Is there anything to find? I want this to be a Yes, so I will go with that expectation but roll on the descriptors for inspiration… Suffering Harm. I am picturing giant-sized sacrificial knives. Lo, Imagine has rules for a Giant Dagger!

Looking up from a distance, Delbyth can see there are two large long items covered in ice and frost on the altar. Given the size of the stone, rising perhaps to waist height on one of those giants he saw in the tomb, he would have to climb perhaps 9 feet or so to reach the top. While Benath is busy collecting the golden censors, Delbyth decides to climb up.

Frosty ice-coated stone to climb, eh? This will be tricky. The Climb skill is something Delbyth has at a base 67%. I judge the altar stone to be rough hewn but wet, rising at about 75 degrees. This means -20% for the angle and -10% for wetness. It’s craggy though, so that gives +10%. So it’ll take 30 seconds and requires one roll… 61% is a fail. Agility save to avoid slipping (90%)… 95 is a fail. 1d4 feet x the 5 percent failed by = 1×5 feet.

Delbyth’s hands almost immediately feel the icy touch of the stone but the warm blessing protects him. The heat around him softens the ice as he comes close. Reaching up, Delbyth grabs the craggy edges of the stone altar and pushes himself up a few feet. His grip is loose, however, and after just two or three steps – pushing his bulk up the side of the near-vertical stone, he slips and slides back down to the ground. He sighs in disappointment.

“Hey, Benath,” he says, “I think there are some items on the altar up there but it’s too steep for me to climb. Why don’t you see if you can do better?”

Benath, now putting the last of the four golden censors in the bag, walks over and appraises the rocky stone altar. Feeling confident, he drops the sack at Delbyth’s feet and moves to climb up himself.

Benath has a base 70% chance, so it’s 50% or less… 19 is a critical success. That gives him a +20% to climb at this location next time. Useful for getting down, I suspect.

Hands and feet moving in careful sequence, Benath climbs the stone altar with ease. Delbyth smiles despite himself at his friend’s confidence with such physical tasks. This was why he liked to bring Benath along. Reaching the top, Benath disappears from view.

Standing at the top of the altar, Benath sees the long shapes lying just beneath the surface of the icy crust. There are two giant-sized daggers, perhaps 4 feet in length, lying next to one another on the far side of the stone. Each of the hilts shines with the reflected light of gems set into the pommel. These are blue gems, the colour of ice, and Benath wants to recover them. His feet crunch as he walks slowly across the surface of the stone altar. Beneath the frost he can see the darkly stained stone, brown and black with the anointed blood spilled here. He feels his gorge rise and the hairs on his neck rise with the thought of blood sacrifice made on such a mammoth scale. Brushing away the frost and moving his hands around the icy forms of the daggers to separate them from the stone, he goes to pick them up?

Are the daggers stuck? Seem likely… 39 is a No.

These giant daggers are heavy and more akin to a longsword in Benath’s hands, but they are potentially wieldable despite being almost twice as heavy as such a sword. He would need to train with them, perhaps for many hours, but they were a worthy find. Might even save him having to buy a sword, he mused, although he could imagine that Giant Daggers would fetch a pretty price at market. Benath shoves each blade beneath his belt and then returns to climb back down.

This seems an opportune moment to mark ticks and check for random encounters… 7. Benath must climb back down, so we reverse the task and give him his +20% bonus from the climb up… 56 is a success.

“I found two giant daggers up there,” Benath tells his friend, “Just lying there, on the altar atop all that brown staining from the blood sacrifices they must have made.”

Benath pats the pommels of the daggers, one with each hand, and smiles broadly. Delbyth smiles back and nods, thoughtful.

“Feels like we should head back,” he says, “I don’t want to push our luck. We can always return another day if you want to delve a bit deeper.”

Turning, Delbyth shines the light back towards the passageway they entered by. He could sense that the divine light and the warming invocation were both close to expiring. Moving at a faster pace, having picked up the sack with the gold objects inside, Delbyth strides back towards the giant statues. Without pause, he turns left through the stone doors.

“Help me pull them closed,” he says, and the pair each grab a door before stepping forward to let them close under their own momentum. There is an echoing thud as each door slides into place in the doorframe.

Turning again, Delbyth gestures to Belnath the direction down the long passageway past the tomb shelves. As he passes the giant lady, Delbyth bows his head with respect for this ancient and forgotten goddess. At least, he hopes she’s forgotten as the nagging sense that she might not be occurs to him.

Walking down the passageway back to the chamber with the huge wide spiral staircase, they half expect to see the way closed.

Is the stairway closed? Seems unlikely… 96 is an Exceptional No.

Cold wind howls and snow can be seen falling through the hole high above the staircase. As the pair begin their ascent, they get the feeling that the snow storm they felt just an hour or so before was arriving. Not wanting to overstay their welcome, Delbyth leads the way up the stairs and up onto the circular courtyard above. As soon as Belnath emerges, Delbyth runs to the switch and scoops out the accumulating snow before sliding the tile back towards the right. With a clunk and the groaning sounds of some forgotten mechanism deep within the earth, the spiral stairway begins to rise and collapses back into the form of a series of concentric circles on the surface of the courtyard.

“Let’s get back down the steps to the lee of this hillside and head back towards Tallow.”

At length, the adventurers return to the nearby village.

***

Let’s evaluate some Experience Points for our adventurers. In Imagine, you receive XP when you sleep but we’ll assume the pair get back to Tallow in one piece and rest up. The storm will rage for a couple of days while they take stock of their learning.

There’s no combat experience to give – unusually in my solo play, it seems to me. Only Rogue classes get experience from treasure found too, so nothing there even though the value of the censors will be useful. I’m going to award Delbyth for using his Light skill and Warm invocation as a minor benefit to the pair, 25 XP. I think Benath deserves 25 XP for finding the switch and investigating at the start too.

I’m going to generously given myself 100 XP per character for roleplaying, staying in role most of the time – even if the nature of solo play is to switch out of character to adjudicate, I am pleased with my description and the sense of immersion I had into character and world. That’s 125XP each towards their first Goal target of 500 XP.

Game on!