Introduction
Charley's Quest is an improvised rpg campaign for a 6 year old boy using a modified version of the Brains & Brawn system.
Charley used his INSIST special power to convince me of the righteousness of using a D10 instead of a D6.
All NPC and monster stats from B&B basic are increased by 50% to accommodate this.
All NPC and monster stats from B&B basic are increased by 50% to accommodate this.
CHARLEY
BRAINS: 3
BRAWN: 4
sword
chestplate
backpack
3 coins (from a D10 roll)
Scene One: The Story Starts
The story starts in the Old Axe Inn, a small but popular drinking establishment famous for its clientele of adventurers and local villagers.
This means creating some Random Non-Player Characters from the Tavern Tables. So Charley rolled for:
Human Bandit, Elf Bandit, Goblin Peasant, Human Maid, Human Skeleton, Nobody.
UnCommon sense arranges these around the two tables of the Old Axe Inn, as follows:
Bandits on Table1, Goblin, Skeleton and Maid on Table 2. Nobody at the bar (aside from than Big Bob the Burly Barman). Grouping the clientele into three would be too much hassle and detract form the Keep It Simple focus required for a 6 year old level adventure. Backstory as to Why the girl is sitting with a goblin and a skeleton is yet to emerge.
"Want a beer?" Asks big Bob the burly barman.
Charley exchanges one Coin for a 'Mug of Beer' and makes a note of this on his character sheet.
Charley looks around the room.
At the far end of the room is a big log fire throwing a lot of warmth into the room. Above it hangs a stupidly huge longsword probably more heavy than you can easily lift. It looks quite old. Next to it on the left is a battered looking shield. To the right is a huge, ugly, fierce-looking dog, sleeping. You don't want to get into a fight with this beast.
Opposite the fire is the wooden bar behind which is a shelf of bottles and barrels stacked against the wall, and Big Bob the Burly Barman. The ceiling is supported by two rows of pillars, the bar is between these in the middle, and to the right between the bar and the door is a staircase which twists around as it goes up over the bar. Opposite the front door is a window.
Two wooden tables either side of the room between the bar and the fire, with stools in the middle and benches against the walls. This is where the people who visit the pub sit.
Currently there are two bandits, one of whom is human the other an elf, sitting at the door-side table and a cute looking girl, a goblin and a skeleton sitting at the other.
"I want to steal the sword." Charley says.
It is too heavy for you to lift, beside which Big Bob and the Scary Dog will probably stop you. Big Bob see's you looking at the sword and tells you the story.
"That sword killed a dragon."
"I want to kill a dragon!" Charley says.
"There's no dragons around here any more." Bob explains. "They are too afraid to come around here any more ever since that sword killed one of them."
Charley grins, amazed. Big Bob continues the story. "Oh yes, there used to be a lot more houses around here but the dragon burnt most of them down with its horrible fiery breath. So the remaining villagers put all their scraps of metal together and made that sword. Then the Wizard came along and enchanted the sword with his magic."
Happy having learned some some local history, Charley looks around the room again.
"I talk to the girl." says Charley. Obviously it is the obvious thing to do.
The girl explains that she needs help. She wants to visit the Wizard and get him to bring her brother back to life. Her brother is currently a Skeleton. The Goblin makes a laugh which might be described as laughter. We shall describe this noise as a 'snerk'. The goblin snerk's.
Charley exchanges one Coin for a 'Mug of Beer' and makes a note of this on his character sheet.
Charley looks around the room.
At the far end of the room is a big log fire throwing a lot of warmth into the room. Above it hangs a stupidly huge longsword probably more heavy than you can easily lift. It looks quite old. Next to it on the left is a battered looking shield. To the right is a huge, ugly, fierce-looking dog, sleeping. You don't want to get into a fight with this beast.
Opposite the fire is the wooden bar behind which is a shelf of bottles and barrels stacked against the wall, and Big Bob the Burly Barman. The ceiling is supported by two rows of pillars, the bar is between these in the middle, and to the right between the bar and the door is a staircase which twists around as it goes up over the bar. Opposite the front door is a window.
Two wooden tables either side of the room between the bar and the fire, with stools in the middle and benches against the walls. This is where the people who visit the pub sit.
Currently there are two bandits, one of whom is human the other an elf, sitting at the door-side table and a cute looking girl, a goblin and a skeleton sitting at the other.
"I want to steal the sword." Charley says.
It is too heavy for you to lift, beside which Big Bob and the Scary Dog will probably stop you. Big Bob see's you looking at the sword and tells you the story.
"That sword killed a dragon."
"I want to kill a dragon!" Charley says.
"There's no dragons around here any more." Bob explains. "They are too afraid to come around here any more ever since that sword killed one of them."
Charley grins, amazed. Big Bob continues the story. "Oh yes, there used to be a lot more houses around here but the dragon burnt most of them down with its horrible fiery breath. So the remaining villagers put all their scraps of metal together and made that sword. Then the Wizard came along and enchanted the sword with his magic."
Happy having learned some some local history, Charley looks around the room again.
"I talk to the girl." says Charley. Obviously it is the obvious thing to do.
The girl explains that she needs help. She wants to visit the Wizard and get him to bring her brother back to life. Her brother is currently a Skeleton. The Goblin makes a laugh which might be described as laughter. We shall describe this noise as a 'snerk'. The goblin snerk's.
Charley agrees to accompany the girl to see the wizard. He hasn't even drunk any beer yet. The girl is very happy and together they set off with the goblin.
The village has a cheap edge-of-town store which is still open. They go inside.
The store sells pretty much everything, for one coin per item. Most of it is cheap and nasty. Occasionally you can grab a bargain. You know the type of place.
"I want to steal something!" Charley says.
The store is a like a small warehouse full of shelves and tables covered in stuff. In the middle of the room is a large, eleven foot tall creature with curly horns, snaggle teeth and beady eyes. The Troll is the guard for the store. "Nobody steals nuffin'." Point taken. "I said Nuffin!" growls the Troll. The GM puts the Point back.
"Buy me a lipstick!" says the girl, nicely, to Charley. Charley buys her a lipstick and adjusts his character sheet. "Thank you!" She says. "Can you hold it for me?"
Charley also buys a Potion of Strength (the red one), declining the sparkling blue one (healing) and the white one.
"Is there an invisible potion?" he asks.
"There is, but we can't find it."
Charley also buys a lantern. He now has zero coins. He also realizes while adjusting his character sheet that he still has an undrunk mug of beer in his backpack. Technically it is now an empty beer mug in his soggy backpack which smells of stale beer.
The road leading out of the village to the crossroads via the bridge over the river goes between two hills. The one to the left is called Dragons Head Hill and is a famous local landmark. The hill to the right is called Dragons Butt Hill and is a slightly less famous local landmark. Legend has it that the hills are the body of the Dragon which was slain by the sword hanging in the bar above the fireplace. The road runs through the exact same place where its head was chopped off its body.
"The problem is." Explains the girl. "To hire the Wizard to cast a spell to bring my brother back to life is going to cost a lot of money."
"Ah, I have just spent the last of my money on your lipstick." Explains Charley.
"No that's okay. You see, before you arrived at the pub I overheard those two bandits talking. One of them said to the other something about the treasure chest full of money they have hidden in their den in a cave at the back of Dragons Butt Hill. Now I am pretty sure both those bandits are still drinking in the pub, so we should have enough time to sneak in there, grab the treasure chest and escape with it before the bandits come back."
Of course this sounds like a brilliant idea to a six year old boy and so they set off to the Bandits Den. Around the back of Dragons Butt Hill is a tree and behind the tree is a cave. Between the tree and the cave is a muddy area which has several sets of footprints in it. The most recent of these footprints are two sets leading out from the cave. This means the bandits have not yet arrived back at their den.
Charley, the girl and the goblin enter the cave. A tunnel slopes down for a while. Charley lights his lantern. At the bottom of the slope is a big puddle of mud, across which a log has been placed. The three of them all pass their Luck tests and make it over the log without falling into the mud. Then the path slopes upward for a longer time, deep inside Dragons Butt Hill.
At the top of the slope is a cave. It is a dark cave, large enough that the lantern cannot light up the whole of the room in one go - the back of the cave is in shadow. To one side (the left) are some raggedy clothes and furs, a sleeping area. In the center of the cave is a large chest.
The goblin cackles. Charley is excited. They have found the treasure. Inside the chest is a sack full of coins. It is large but the goblin is very strong and he ...
... the sound of voices coming up the tunnel.
There is a splosh, followed by cursing, followed by laughter.
The bandits are back!
"I climb in the chest!" says Charley bravely.
"I am not getting in there!" says the girl. She see's a large rock at the back of the cave and hides behind it. Charley and the goblin jump into the chest and shut the lid.
The bandits are arguing about gold, girls and pizza and several other things.
"Hey can you smell that?"
"No. What is it?"
"It smells like ... I'm not exactly sure but I think someone has been here."
"Oh never mind, you are just being paranoid. Where is that pizza?"
Then from inside the chest is the sound of a loud fart."
"Was that you?"
"You are always farting and blaming me!"
"You are always eating ore than your half of the pizza, give me that!"
Charley inside the chest has to make a Brawn roll to avoid being sick because a goblin has just farted in his face. He fails the roll. Luckily he remembers he is carrying an empty beer mug and so he is sick into that. The smell of sick makes the goblin start feeling sick."
"Sh! Did you hear that?"
"You're imagining things again. I'm going to bed."
The bandits are both tired and fall asleep. Charley can hear the sound of their snoring even from inside the chest. After a moment he cracks open the chest. There is a candle on top of the chest, which slides a little. He opens the chest some more. The candle falls off the chest and goes out. Thankfully it was stubbed onto the chest bandit style and had no metal candle holder to clatter on the floor and wake up the bandits.
Charley signals to the girl while the bandit collects the sack of money and the three of them sneak their way out of the bandits den, all three once again passing their luck tests as they cross the log over muddy pool.
Outside the bandits den they guess how much money is in the sack. The result of 3D10 roll (hundreds, tens and units) is 581. They guess there are around five hundred coins in the sack. They are rich. Hopefully this is enough money to pay the Wizard to bring the girls brother back to life.
I am not altogether sure what happened to the mug of puke. I assume Charley left it behind for the bandits in exchange for the sack of coins.
Across the bridge to the crossroads. Behind them the road leads back into the village. The main road runs left and right along the riverside. Directly opposite is the old, overgrown cobblestone path into the forest which leads eventually to the Wizards tower. It is dark in the forest, and scary. The girl presses herself into Charley for protection and asks him questions about whether he knows how to use his sword and will he protect her if anything nasty should happen. The goblin follows, carrying the sack of gold and making dirty noises.
Overhead the moon comes out. It is a cool night. Although it goes on for some time, there are no incidents in the Forest and eventually they arrive at the Wizards Tower. He is waiting for them.
"I have been waiting for you." He says. He is a mighty and powerful Wizard, of course he knows that he has visitors arriving. "I have been expecting you. Come in, come in."
The girl tries to explain to the Wizard why they have come to see him but he somehow already knows. "You can keep your money." He says when they offer him the sack of coins. "You will be needing it more than I will."
The Wizard says that they must be tired from their journey.He shows them to their room. On the steps winding around the outside of the Hall is a door. Logic tells Charley that the door should by rights lead outside on the first floor. The Wizard explains it is a Door of Many Chambers. He opens in and shows the goblin into the goblins room. He shuts it and opens it again. This time an entirely different room is behind it.
"This is your room." The Wizard says to Charley.
"I'm sleeping with the girl!" says Charley.
The Wizards eyes glint and he nods in agreement. The girl looks relieved and together we close the curtains on this scene.
Scene Two: The Coin Store
The village has a cheap edge-of-town store which is still open. They go inside.
The store sells pretty much everything, for one coin per item. Most of it is cheap and nasty. Occasionally you can grab a bargain. You know the type of place.
"I want to steal something!" Charley says.
The store is a like a small warehouse full of shelves and tables covered in stuff. In the middle of the room is a large, eleven foot tall creature with curly horns, snaggle teeth and beady eyes. The Troll is the guard for the store. "Nobody steals nuffin'." Point taken. "I said Nuffin!" growls the Troll. The GM puts the Point back.
"Buy me a lipstick!" says the girl, nicely, to Charley. Charley buys her a lipstick and adjusts his character sheet. "Thank you!" She says. "Can you hold it for me?"
Charley also buys a Potion of Strength (the red one), declining the sparkling blue one (healing) and the white one.
"Is there an invisible potion?" he asks.
"There is, but we can't find it."
Charley also buys a lantern. He now has zero coins. He also realizes while adjusting his character sheet that he still has an undrunk mug of beer in his backpack. Technically it is now an empty beer mug in his soggy backpack which smells of stale beer.
Scene 3: Dragon Butt Hill
The road leading out of the village to the crossroads via the bridge over the river goes between two hills. The one to the left is called Dragons Head Hill and is a famous local landmark. The hill to the right is called Dragons Butt Hill and is a slightly less famous local landmark. Legend has it that the hills are the body of the Dragon which was slain by the sword hanging in the bar above the fireplace. The road runs through the exact same place where its head was chopped off its body.
"The problem is." Explains the girl. "To hire the Wizard to cast a spell to bring my brother back to life is going to cost a lot of money."
"Ah, I have just spent the last of my money on your lipstick." Explains Charley.
"No that's okay. You see, before you arrived at the pub I overheard those two bandits talking. One of them said to the other something about the treasure chest full of money they have hidden in their den in a cave at the back of Dragons Butt Hill. Now I am pretty sure both those bandits are still drinking in the pub, so we should have enough time to sneak in there, grab the treasure chest and escape with it before the bandits come back."
Of course this sounds like a brilliant idea to a six year old boy and so they set off to the Bandits Den. Around the back of Dragons Butt Hill is a tree and behind the tree is a cave. Between the tree and the cave is a muddy area which has several sets of footprints in it. The most recent of these footprints are two sets leading out from the cave. This means the bandits have not yet arrived back at their den.
Charley, the girl and the goblin enter the cave. A tunnel slopes down for a while. Charley lights his lantern. At the bottom of the slope is a big puddle of mud, across which a log has been placed. The three of them all pass their Luck tests and make it over the log without falling into the mud. Then the path slopes upward for a longer time, deep inside Dragons Butt Hill.
At the top of the slope is a cave. It is a dark cave, large enough that the lantern cannot light up the whole of the room in one go - the back of the cave is in shadow. To one side (the left) are some raggedy clothes and furs, a sleeping area. In the center of the cave is a large chest.
The goblin cackles. Charley is excited. They have found the treasure. Inside the chest is a sack full of coins. It is large but the goblin is very strong and he ...
... the sound of voices coming up the tunnel.
There is a splosh, followed by cursing, followed by laughter.
The bandits are back!
"I climb in the chest!" says Charley bravely.
"I am not getting in there!" says the girl. She see's a large rock at the back of the cave and hides behind it. Charley and the goblin jump into the chest and shut the lid.
The bandits are arguing about gold, girls and pizza and several other things.
"Hey can you smell that?"
"No. What is it?"
"It smells like ... I'm not exactly sure but I think someone has been here."
"Oh never mind, you are just being paranoid. Where is that pizza?"
Then from inside the chest is the sound of a loud fart."
"Was that you?"
"You are always farting and blaming me!"
"You are always eating ore than your half of the pizza, give me that!"
Charley inside the chest has to make a Brawn roll to avoid being sick because a goblin has just farted in his face. He fails the roll. Luckily he remembers he is carrying an empty beer mug and so he is sick into that. The smell of sick makes the goblin start feeling sick."
"Sh! Did you hear that?"
"You're imagining things again. I'm going to bed."
The bandits are both tired and fall asleep. Charley can hear the sound of their snoring even from inside the chest. After a moment he cracks open the chest. There is a candle on top of the chest, which slides a little. He opens the chest some more. The candle falls off the chest and goes out. Thankfully it was stubbed onto the chest bandit style and had no metal candle holder to clatter on the floor and wake up the bandits.
Charley signals to the girl while the bandit collects the sack of money and the three of them sneak their way out of the bandits den, all three once again passing their luck tests as they cross the log over muddy pool.
Outside the bandits den they guess how much money is in the sack. The result of 3D10 roll (hundreds, tens and units) is 581. They guess there are around five hundred coins in the sack. They are rich. Hopefully this is enough money to pay the Wizard to bring the girls brother back to life.
I am not altogether sure what happened to the mug of puke. I assume Charley left it behind for the bandits in exchange for the sack of coins.
Scene 4: The Forest
Across the bridge to the crossroads. Behind them the road leads back into the village. The main road runs left and right along the riverside. Directly opposite is the old, overgrown cobblestone path into the forest which leads eventually to the Wizards tower. It is dark in the forest, and scary. The girl presses herself into Charley for protection and asks him questions about whether he knows how to use his sword and will he protect her if anything nasty should happen. The goblin follows, carrying the sack of gold and making dirty noises.
Overhead the moon comes out. It is a cool night. Although it goes on for some time, there are no incidents in the Forest and eventually they arrive at the Wizards Tower. He is waiting for them.
"I have been waiting for you." He says. He is a mighty and powerful Wizard, of course he knows that he has visitors arriving. "I have been expecting you. Come in, come in."
The girl tries to explain to the Wizard why they have come to see him but he somehow already knows. "You can keep your money." He says when they offer him the sack of coins. "You will be needing it more than I will."
The Wizard says that they must be tired from their journey.He shows them to their room. On the steps winding around the outside of the Hall is a door. Logic tells Charley that the door should by rights lead outside on the first floor. The Wizard explains it is a Door of Many Chambers. He opens in and shows the goblin into the goblins room. He shuts it and opens it again. This time an entirely different room is behind it.
"This is your room." The Wizard says to Charley.
"I'm sleeping with the girl!" says Charley.
The Wizards eyes glint and he nods in agreement. The girl looks relieved and together we close the curtains on this scene.
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