Basic Fantasy RPG - a playtest

So. The other week I was on holiday. For some reason I got myself all excited over the 3rd edition Basic Fantasy RPG. A few texts later (as I was away) my friend had ordered it to be delivered to my house a day after my return.

Now often these things happen, you get them and they gather dust or look good on a shelf. However I was so enthused when I read it I managed to pass that enthusiasm on to friends. One who ordered all the books based purely on my enthusiasm.

A week on and we had session 1 booked in.

The plan.
Create characters.
Go into a cavern.
Kill some monsters.

Nice and simple to get a feel for the rules.

The big night arrived. I had got so excited I bought a set of dice for each player to use as well as 30 pencils....no time wasting on a broken tip...grab another!

Player generation went really smoothly. I used the book as reference and before the first hour was out all three characters were rolled and kitted up.

We have:
A human mage
A dwarf cleric
A elf thief

I had the players roll two sets of stat numbers and pick the ones they wanted to keep. Then assign them as they wanted.

So character creation was as easy and painless as the book felt like it would be. We didn't worry about encumbrance as they couldn't afford much!

The party started in a tavern where an old man was retelling his story of being attacked by a monster. After buying him a drink he offers them a map for a cut of the profits. The dwarf held him to 3 percent...better than nothing the man thinks and they shook on it.

Map in hand they set off the next morning on a three day hike to the cave entrance.

Remembering they had no food when they settled in for the first night they went hunting. As luck would have it they found a solitary boar. After slaying it they gutted it and sent back to feast.

During the night an ogre wandered close to camp but after rolling he was feeling friendly he just sniffed the air obviously smelling the guts off in the distance and wandered off.

The final day a hungry pack of wolves tracked the party. A wolf padded out to block the road. Realising there had been multiple howls the wizard thought to look behind them and spotted the other 3 sneaking up behind them. There was a brief scuffle that involved distracting 1 wolf with what was left of their boar jerky (I rolled he was chowing down on that for 5 rounds). They killed 2 wolves and seriously wounded the third. At this point the wounded wolf and the one who had fed on boar fled.

The party continued on to find the entrance to the caves. They entered and just as their map suggested a few feet inside was a 10ft ledge down with a rickety wooden ladder. The thief hopped on feet either side and slid down. The mage went next with a. Dex check and also nimbly climbed down. The dwarf was the final party member to confront....the ladder....

After a spectacular dex roll he panicked pushed the cliff and ended up balancing on the ladder as stilts. A second check saw him slowly begin to overbalance back. The mage decided to pitch in with a strength check. Unfortunately all he managed was to shove the bottom of the ladder causing the dwarf to fall ontop of him. 1 damage to the dwarf and 2 to the mage.

The party made camp and rested up after the traumatic start!

After a good night's rest they set off with lanterns lit. Having the map they could see all the hidey holes and an int check from the wizard had him spot what he thought was movement in a hidden part of the cave wall ahead. Pre warned the party leapt in front of the spot surprising the kobold hiding there.
They spent their free turn wagging their respective weapons in the air and looking impressive. The fight that then ensued was not pretty for the kobold.

Proceeding on and another int check from the wizard and be realises the cavern ahead has a ledge that could be a good ambush point....and kobolds love a good ambush. The wizard then decided to throw....yes throw....a candle onto the ledge...as it flies through the air it goes out, however I gave it a 5 in 20 chance..and rolled a 5...there was a grunt as the candle hit something...someone...

The dwarf being a stoic sort charges into the room to the far end where he can then run up the slope ontop of the ledge.

...ok I think the kobolds (that's what they were) are surprised, but they are ready to throw rocks at people so I'll give them a modified chance to hit the dwarf as he runs in front of them....natural 20...ok that's 1 point of damage from a rock to the head!

The dwarf charges on and summarily smashes a kobold with his mace so hard he separated the torso from the legs. His friend is a little unnerved and is summarily dispatched by the dwarf the next round.

The party re group and using the map head for a tunnel with a door. The thief has a shot at picking then locked but Ignis a type he hasn't seen before and isn't successful. The dwarf takes a run up and smashes it open only to be facing...kobolds (no one listened at the door)...

That was where session 1 ended...

We liked it so much session 2 is next week.

So we probably played a little fast and loose with the rules but on the whole we played it as they are written. The game flows well and as an RPG is great fun. I can't wait to see how the characters progress!

If you haven't tried it the rules can be downloaded in pdf for free. Grab it and have a look. If you like it the softback book cost me something like £4.22. That has rules spells monsters 4 races and 4 classes. There are more available free on the website.

Right. Next time I'm hoping will be more carnival of dreams updates!