I had picked Fantasy AGE because we knew we wanted to do a Fantasy RPG but also because I think it is a really good system.
Not as complicated as D&D or Pathfinder, it is still a settingless fantasy RPG. There are fewer classes but as characters advance they can choose more specialised paths giving them more options. The Stunt System in the game is also really good and lets players pull off some really cool moves during the story.
I decided to use Freeport becasue I didn't want to start creating a full setting by myself as I'm not sure how long the game will go on for and that is a lot of work for something that might not last for more than a few games. As it is only a city it does mean that if the game carries on past a few games I can start creating a world outside the city for the players to explore. Plus who doesn't like pirates.
The Characters
Leando Silver - Level 1 Elf Rogue with a Long Bow and Light Leather Armour - Leando was a high class elf that had escaped an arranged marriage and was heading to Freeport hoping to train as an assassin to one day return home and kill his would-be Father-in-Law.
Nienna Roughtide - Level 1 Halfling Warrior with Battle Axe, Crossbow and Light Leather Armour - Nienna was an ex-sailor (who wasn't a very good sailor, probably because she was always drunk) and was seeking vengeance for the death of her family at the hands of a rich merchant...and she is really sensitive about her height.
Petre Cobbles - Level 1 Gnome Mage with a Quarterstaff, Novice of Lightning and Healing Arcana - An ex-scribe, Petre had left his villiage to become a master of magic so he could one day return and help protect his home.
The party met on the road and had arrived in Freeport together. They met during a bar fight, started by Petre and Nienna and broken up by Leando (something to do with short jokes). Since then they had travelled together until they ended up in the famous city of Freeport.
The Game
The Singing Lamp
The party arrived in Freeport during early evening. With their funds low after weeks on the road they headed to Old Town hoping to find somewhere cheap to eat and rest for the night. They knew they would have to look for work in the morning but had enough silver on them for a hot meal and bed for the night.
They found a tavern called The Singing Lamp, as bars go it was a rough one, but they couldn't afford to be fussy. Heading inside it is busy and most of the patrons don't look like the sort of people you'd want to annoy, some turn to look at the strangers as they enter but soon return to talking quietly in their small groups or drinking alone. Finding a table in the corner by the cellar door the party sit down. Two men are working behind the bar, an older man clearly the owner and another younger man. Leando is the first to head to the bar to order some food and drinks. As he stands there the older barman continues to ignore him, carrying on cleaning glasses, Leando asks if he can get some drinks and the man stops what he is doing and pours them for him (not in the glasses he has been cleaning). When asked about food the barman replies "we have a stew on today, it's that or nothing" agreeing Leando orders 3 bowls of stew which the barman leaves to go and fetch.
Before returning to the table Leando asks about where in the city they might find work and where is a good place to stay for the night. "Anyone can find work at the docks, if you can do it someone will pay you for it". He also recommended an inn called The Oriental Falcons including directions on how to get here through the dark alleys of Old Town.
Leando returned to the table and the 3 ate their food. Before leaving Petre decided to try talking to the younger barman to get some info on Freeport as a city. Unlike the older barman he doesn't ignore Petre as he stands at the bar, but when Petre explains they are travellers and want to know about the city he simply replies "It's Freeport, everyone knows Freeport" before turning to the next customer and serving him. Deciding it is time to head to the inn the party leave and head out into the night.
The Alleys of Old Town
The party find themselves walking through the alleys of Old Town following the barman's directions. While walking they feel a tug at their clothing and see someone run off down and alley to the side, realising their purses have been stolen. As they chase the thief through the dark alleys they suddenly find themselves turning a corner just in time to see a small hatch to a beer cellar close. Petre realises based on the route they have run that they are on the back corner of The Singing Lamp, they exited through the front but the chase has taken them full circle to the rear of the building.
They quickly follow the thief into the cellar and find themselves in a room but the thief is nowhere to be seen. There is a door to the stairs that is locked from the other side, a few huge kegs of ale and a cupboard are all that is there. Searching the room Nienna notices light coming from a gap where the back panel of the cupboard meets the side and after a few moments pull on a hanging coat rail in there and the back panel swings open revealing that the bricks in the wall behind the cupboard have been removed and it leads through into Freeport's sewers.
After checking that they can open the hidden door from the other side the party head into the sewers after the thief.
Freeport Sewers
As the group head down the narrow walkway either side of the river of sewage, their way lit only by a few torches spread along the walls they can hear the thieves footsteps so know which direction to go. Running behind him they reach a fork in the way, they can still hear his footsteps so know which direction to head but they are getting further away even though the party were running as fast as they could. They decide to slow down and track the thief, confronting him wherever he stops.
They continue down the walkway at a much slower pace with Leando leading the way. The elf fails to spot a trip wire spread over the path and sets it off. An acid grenade vial explodes but the rogue is able to dodge out the way just in time and avoid injury. The explosion caused a swarm of rats to emerge from gaps in the walls, frightened by the explosion they begin to attack the party. With their axe and bow Leando and Nienna are making slow progress, there are so many rats it is hard to miss them but they aren't killing them fast enough to make a dent in the number of the swarm. Coming into his own Petre starts firing lightning from his hands which he uses to electrify dozens of rats at once. As the rats continue to attack his friends Petre fires a shock and the last of the rats explode. The party carry on in pursuit of the thief.
After some walking they reach at T-junction in the sewers. To the left the path is pitch black with no more torches lighting the way, to the right the torches continue to light the way. The group decide to head down the dark path, which is fine for Leando and Petre who can both see in the dark, less fine for Nienna who can't. They decided not to light a torch through fear of giving themselves away to the thief they are following instead putting Nienna between the elf and gnome and guiding her through the sewers. This worked fine until they reached a gap in the walkway were the sewage flowed through an iron grate. Over the gap was a wooden plank, wide enough that it would be no problem for the two that could see where they were putting their feet but in the pitch black one false step would have Nienna being dragged way by a river of human (and orc, elf, dwarf etc..) waste. Still afraid to light a torch of their own they tided a rope around Nienna's waist and with her holding on to the back of Petre and Leando guiding her from behind they lead her across the wooden bridge.
Safely across Petre heard voices ahead in the dark. Him and Leando could see a small doorway leading off the path they were walking down on the left. Trying to creep closer the voices suddenly stopped and a goblin came round the corner out of the room, seeing them it threw its spear at them. Petre and Leando began to fight back as another Goblin came out of the room. Nienna was desperately trying to light a torch so that she could see to join in the fight.
With the torch lit, Leando and Petre and firing their bow and arcane bolts from behind Nienna who is standing her ground in the middle of the walk way, axe ready, as the first goblin charges her. She hits it once in the shoulder when the second charges her as well. She manages to knock the first back into the river of sewage and it is dragged away by the current and she continues fighting one on one with the other goblin.
Leaping over the river to the opposite walkway Leando can see into the room the goblins came out of and sees two more still in the room. Seeing him one of the goblins hides and the other throws a spear towards him, missing. Leando fires back with his bow as Nienna cuts down the Goblin she is fighting and charges at the one that has just emerged from the room. Slamming her axe into the Goblin's arm he cries out with pain just as one of Leando's arrows finds it's mark entering one side of his head and coming out the other.
Petre then runs into the room, spell ready and shouts at the last goblin to surrender. The goblin falls back in fear and drops his sword. Laying on the floor even the gnome is standing over him. The others arrive to back up Petre as he demands to know which way the thief they are chasing went. In fear the goblin tells him that no-one comes this way, they hide down here because it is safe for them away from people that will hunt and kill them. Petre asks him what is further along this tunnel and is told than nothing is down there, it is a dead end which is why it is quiet enough for the goblins to hide down here. Begging for his life the party leave, collecting a short sword each for Leando and Nienna from the two slain goblins and return the way they came back to the lit tunnel that the thief must have taken.
As they carry on down the dark tunnel they start to see signs of the walkway being frequently used. The stones of the floor are more worn and they start to see discarded items like empty purses and the remains of food on the floor. Looking down they can see the tunnel comes to an end with a door in the back wall. In front of it is a watch post made up of some crates stacked to waist height (for a human anyway) and a chair and stool behind them. Sitting down are two men, one armed with a long sword, the other a bow. The party haven't been spotted yet and as the torches in the tunnel are spread well apart they manage to sneak down in the shadows until they are almost at the makeshift barricade just outside the torchlight coming from above the door behind the two guards.
They can hear the men talking now. One is complaining to the other that their new hideout smells so bad he has gone off his food and that they aren't making enough money in Old Town. Realising these must be their thieves Nienna jumps out screaming and vaults over the barricade with her axe drawn attacking the man with the sword sitting on the stool. Quickly Leando and Petre and backing her up firing out of the of the shadows. With Nienna's axe followed up by an arrow from Leando the first guard dies before he even had a chance to stand. A bolt from Petre hits the 2nd who gets up and makes to run for the door to raise the alarm but Nienna has moved round to block his path and plants her axe in the man's skull causing him to slum back down into his chair.
Listening at the door Petre hears voices on the other side. Two men are talking close to the door and another conversation is going on further away. They have come too far now to give up so Nienna kicks open the door and charges into the thieves den.
The Thieves Den
The room behind the door is a large open well lit room, who knows what it was originally built for but with no sewage running through it the thieves have turned it to their own purpose. On the far side a raised wooden walkway has been put up with steps leading up to it on the left hand side. A few tables and crates are scatter round the the ground floor and to the right by the bare stone walls a couple of training dummies have been set up, both showing large amounts of wear from being hit with swords, arrows and axes.
There are four men in the room, all human. Two closest have long swords drawn already by the training dummies, clearly in the middle of some sword practise. Two more are leaning on the ledge of the wooden walkway above talking to each other.
Nienna charges into the room and goes straight for the closest man to her burying her axe in his shoulder from behind. Petre stands in the doorway firing arcane bolts at the same man hitting him in the back while Leando, just behind him, shoots an arrow up at the men on the walkway missing. Petre and Nienna carry on attacking the man closest to the door as the two men on the walkway draw weapons, one a bow the other a dagger and long sword. The man with the bow starts firing down at Petre while the man with the dagger and sword starts running for the stairs.
The man Nienna and Petre attacked is wounded but still able to fight and swings at Nienna catching her with his sword. His training partner turns around and swings his sword wildly, straight over Nienna's head. Enraged that he assume she'd be taller Nienna leaves the injured man and swings her axe into the knee of the other man almost taking his leg clean off. Leando steps round the door and in quick succession puts an arrow through the eye of both men.
The man on the walkway has made it to the stairs and is heading towards them. The archer has managed to hit Petre with two arrows and the unarmoured mage retreats to the doorway and casts a healing spell on himself. Leando moves forward to protect his companion and the two archers start trading arrows with each other. Nienna runs towards the stairway and about 1/4 of the way up prepares to meet the thief coming down. Petre, his more serious wounds magically healed runs to help her.
On the stairs the swordsman charges Nienna and as he closes on her she recognises him, he was the younger barman that Petre spoke to in The Singing Lamp. With her axe raise she blocks his swing as he crashes into her on the stairs, together her and Petre attack back. With a swing of her axe Nienna cuts deep into the barman's side. He swings again with his long sword and leaves a deep cut across Nienna's torso, he is then struck with an arcane bolt and while he is stunned Nienna swings her axe again at the same spot on his side this time cleaving him in two, his top half falling from his legs and away down the stairs.
As Petre and Nienna continue up the stairs towards the archer Petre recognises him as well, he was the man next to him at the bar while he was talking to the young barman that he turned to serve when their conversation ended. Now standing on the walkway he has two of Leando's arrows sticking out of him but is still firing down at the elf. Before the gnome and halfling can reach the top of the stairs another arrow hits the thief and he stands for a moment before dropping to his knees and falling to his face. Leando below removes an arrow from his own leg.
When they search the body of the archer they find their purses and a note which reads in a messy, uneducated hand "In the booth by the cellar. Travellers. I sent them to The Oriental Falcons. Wait until they are away from the tavern". The group realise they were set up by the owner of The Singing Lamp and that the men that had followed them out and robbed them had known what direction they would be going from the bar. Searching the rest of the den they find some more gold, enough to get a much better room for the night than they would have previously been able to afford. Nienna picked up her attackers dagger and tucked it into her belt. Petre also found a box that look like it should hold something valuable, but instead seemed to only hold a perfectly round metal sphere, the metal wasn't even polished. Not knowing what it was he put it into his pocket anyway, it must be worth something to put into a box like that right?
On the walkway they found an exit to the street above. As they climbed the ladder they talked about what to do about the tavern owner who had set them up, Petre was in favour of paying him a visit and blackmailing him for his part in the thieves gang while Nienna wanted to go back and burn the whole tavern down, preferably with him still inside.
As they came out onto the street the first rays of sunlight were starting to show and they realised how long they had been down in the sewers. As fatigue finally hit them they decided to leave the tavern owner to be dealt with another day. Looking around they had clearly travelled a long way underground, the buildings here were cleaner and better kept than those in Old Town and across the road was an inn...and meal...a bed.
Leando Silver - Level 1 Elf Rogue with a Long Bow and Light Leather Armour - Leando was a high class elf that had escaped an arranged marriage and was heading to Freeport hoping to train as an assassin to one day return home and kill his would-be Father-in-Law.
Petre Cobbles - Level 1 Gnome Mage with a Quarterstaff, Novice of Lightning and Healing Arcana - An ex-scribe, Petre had left his villiage to become a master of magic so he could one day return and help protect his home.
The party met on the road and had arrived in Freeport together. They met during a bar fight, started by Petre and Nienna and broken up by Leando (something to do with short jokes). Since then they had travelled together until they ended up in the famous city of Freeport.
The Game
The party arrived in Freeport during early evening. With their funds low after weeks on the road they headed to Old Town hoping to find somewhere cheap to eat and rest for the night. They knew they would have to look for work in the morning but had enough silver on them for a hot meal and bed for the night.
Before returning to the table Leando asks about where in the city they might find work and where is a good place to stay for the night. "Anyone can find work at the docks, if you can do it someone will pay you for it". He also recommended an inn called The Oriental Falcons including directions on how to get here through the dark alleys of Old Town.
Leando returned to the table and the 3 ate their food. Before leaving Petre decided to try talking to the younger barman to get some info on Freeport as a city. Unlike the older barman he doesn't ignore Petre as he stands at the bar, but when Petre explains they are travellers and want to know about the city he simply replies "It's Freeport, everyone knows Freeport" before turning to the next customer and serving him. Deciding it is time to head to the inn the party leave and head out into the night.
The Alleys of Old Town
They quickly follow the thief into the cellar and find themselves in a room but the thief is nowhere to be seen. There is a door to the stairs that is locked from the other side, a few huge kegs of ale and a cupboard are all that is there. Searching the room Nienna notices light coming from a gap where the back panel of the cupboard meets the side and after a few moments pull on a hanging coat rail in there and the back panel swings open revealing that the bricks in the wall behind the cupboard have been removed and it leads through into Freeport's sewers.
After checking that they can open the hidden door from the other side the party head into the sewers after the thief.
Freeport Sewers
As the group head down the narrow walkway either side of the river of sewage, their way lit only by a few torches spread along the walls they can hear the thieves footsteps so know which direction to go. Running behind him they reach a fork in the way, they can still hear his footsteps so know which direction to head but they are getting further away even though the party were running as fast as they could. They decide to slow down and track the thief, confronting him wherever he stops.They continue down the walkway at a much slower pace with Leando leading the way. The elf fails to spot a trip wire spread over the path and sets it off. An acid grenade vial explodes but the rogue is able to dodge out the way just in time and avoid injury. The explosion caused a swarm of rats to emerge from gaps in the walls, frightened by the explosion they begin to attack the party. With their axe and bow Leando and Nienna are making slow progress, there are so many rats it is hard to miss them but they aren't killing them fast enough to make a dent in the number of the swarm. Coming into his own Petre starts firing lightning from his hands which he uses to electrify dozens of rats at once. As the rats continue to attack his friends Petre fires a shock and the last of the rats explode. The party carry on in pursuit of the thief.
After some walking they reach at T-junction in the sewers. To the left the path is pitch black with no more torches lighting the way, to the right the torches continue to light the way. The group decide to head down the dark path, which is fine for Leando and Petre who can both see in the dark, less fine for Nienna who can't. They decided not to light a torch through fear of giving themselves away to the thief they are following instead putting Nienna between the elf and gnome and guiding her through the sewers. This worked fine until they reached a gap in the walkway were the sewage flowed through an iron grate. Over the gap was a wooden plank, wide enough that it would be no problem for the two that could see where they were putting their feet but in the pitch black one false step would have Nienna being dragged way by a river of human (and orc, elf, dwarf etc..) waste. Still afraid to light a torch of their own they tided a rope around Nienna's waist and with her holding on to the back of Petre and Leando guiding her from behind they lead her across the wooden bridge.
Safely across Petre heard voices ahead in the dark. Him and Leando could see a small doorway leading off the path they were walking down on the left. Trying to creep closer the voices suddenly stopped and a goblin came round the corner out of the room, seeing them it threw its spear at them. Petre and Leando began to fight back as another Goblin came out of the room. Nienna was desperately trying to light a torch so that she could see to join in the fight.
Leaping over the river to the opposite walkway Leando can see into the room the goblins came out of and sees two more still in the room. Seeing him one of the goblins hides and the other throws a spear towards him, missing. Leando fires back with his bow as Nienna cuts down the Goblin she is fighting and charges at the one that has just emerged from the room. Slamming her axe into the Goblin's arm he cries out with pain just as one of Leando's arrows finds it's mark entering one side of his head and coming out the other.
Petre then runs into the room, spell ready and shouts at the last goblin to surrender. The goblin falls back in fear and drops his sword. Laying on the floor even the gnome is standing over him. The others arrive to back up Petre as he demands to know which way the thief they are chasing went. In fear the goblin tells him that no-one comes this way, they hide down here because it is safe for them away from people that will hunt and kill them. Petre asks him what is further along this tunnel and is told than nothing is down there, it is a dead end which is why it is quiet enough for the goblins to hide down here. Begging for his life the party leave, collecting a short sword each for Leando and Nienna from the two slain goblins and return the way they came back to the lit tunnel that the thief must have taken.
As they carry on down the dark tunnel they start to see signs of the walkway being frequently used. The stones of the floor are more worn and they start to see discarded items like empty purses and the remains of food on the floor. Looking down they can see the tunnel comes to an end with a door in the back wall. In front of it is a watch post made up of some crates stacked to waist height (for a human anyway) and a chair and stool behind them. Sitting down are two men, one armed with a long sword, the other a bow. The party haven't been spotted yet and as the torches in the tunnel are spread well apart they manage to sneak down in the shadows until they are almost at the makeshift barricade just outside the torchlight coming from above the door behind the two guards.
They can hear the men talking now. One is complaining to the other that their new hideout smells so bad he has gone off his food and that they aren't making enough money in Old Town. Realising these must be their thieves Nienna jumps out screaming and vaults over the barricade with her axe drawn attacking the man with the sword sitting on the stool. Quickly Leando and Petre and backing her up firing out of the of the shadows. With Nienna's axe followed up by an arrow from Leando the first guard dies before he even had a chance to stand. A bolt from Petre hits the 2nd who gets up and makes to run for the door to raise the alarm but Nienna has moved round to block his path and plants her axe in the man's skull causing him to slum back down into his chair.
Listening at the door Petre hears voices on the other side. Two men are talking close to the door and another conversation is going on further away. They have come too far now to give up so Nienna kicks open the door and charges into the thieves den.
The Thieves Den
The room behind the door is a large open well lit room, who knows what it was originally built for but with no sewage running through it the thieves have turned it to their own purpose. On the far side a raised wooden walkway has been put up with steps leading up to it on the left hand side. A few tables and crates are scatter round the the ground floor and to the right by the bare stone walls a couple of training dummies have been set up, both showing large amounts of wear from being hit with swords, arrows and axes.
There are four men in the room, all human. Two closest have long swords drawn already by the training dummies, clearly in the middle of some sword practise. Two more are leaning on the ledge of the wooden walkway above talking to each other.
Nienna charges into the room and goes straight for the closest man to her burying her axe in his shoulder from behind. Petre stands in the doorway firing arcane bolts at the same man hitting him in the back while Leando, just behind him, shoots an arrow up at the men on the walkway missing. Petre and Nienna carry on attacking the man closest to the door as the two men on the walkway draw weapons, one a bow the other a dagger and long sword. The man with the bow starts firing down at Petre while the man with the dagger and sword starts running for the stairs.
The man Nienna and Petre attacked is wounded but still able to fight and swings at Nienna catching her with his sword. His training partner turns around and swings his sword wildly, straight over Nienna's head. Enraged that he assume she'd be taller Nienna leaves the injured man and swings her axe into the knee of the other man almost taking his leg clean off. Leando steps round the door and in quick succession puts an arrow through the eye of both men.
The man on the walkway has made it to the stairs and is heading towards them. The archer has managed to hit Petre with two arrows and the unarmoured mage retreats to the doorway and casts a healing spell on himself. Leando moves forward to protect his companion and the two archers start trading arrows with each other. Nienna runs towards the stairway and about 1/4 of the way up prepares to meet the thief coming down. Petre, his more serious wounds magically healed runs to help her.
On the stairs the swordsman charges Nienna and as he closes on her she recognises him, he was the younger barman that Petre spoke to in The Singing Lamp. With her axe raise she blocks his swing as he crashes into her on the stairs, together her and Petre attack back. With a swing of her axe Nienna cuts deep into the barman's side. He swings again with his long sword and leaves a deep cut across Nienna's torso, he is then struck with an arcane bolt and while he is stunned Nienna swings her axe again at the same spot on his side this time cleaving him in two, his top half falling from his legs and away down the stairs.
As Petre and Nienna continue up the stairs towards the archer Petre recognises him as well, he was the man next to him at the bar while he was talking to the young barman that he turned to serve when their conversation ended. Now standing on the walkway he has two of Leando's arrows sticking out of him but is still firing down at the elf. Before the gnome and halfling can reach the top of the stairs another arrow hits the thief and he stands for a moment before dropping to his knees and falling to his face. Leando below removes an arrow from his own leg.
When they search the body of the archer they find their purses and a note which reads in a messy, uneducated hand "In the booth by the cellar. Travellers. I sent them to The Oriental Falcons. Wait until they are away from the tavern". The group realise they were set up by the owner of The Singing Lamp and that the men that had followed them out and robbed them had known what direction they would be going from the bar. Searching the rest of the den they find some more gold, enough to get a much better room for the night than they would have previously been able to afford. Nienna picked up her attackers dagger and tucked it into her belt. Petre also found a box that look like it should hold something valuable, but instead seemed to only hold a perfectly round metal sphere, the metal wasn't even polished. Not knowing what it was he put it into his pocket anyway, it must be worth something to put into a box like that right?
On the walkway they found an exit to the street above. As they climbed the ladder they talked about what to do about the tavern owner who had set them up, Petre was in favour of paying him a visit and blackmailing him for his part in the thieves gang while Nienna wanted to go back and burn the whole tavern down, preferably with him still inside.
As they came out onto the street the first rays of sunlight were starting to show and they realised how long they had been down in the sewers. As fatigue finally hit them they decided to leave the tavern owner to be dealt with another day. Looking around they had clearly travelled a long way underground, the buildings here were cleaner and better kept than those in Old Town and across the road was an inn...and meal...a bed.
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