The Soloist
Hero
This is the second edition of Wandering Souls by Cody Barr. A small indie game that uses a regular deck of cards and d6s to generate events, locations, beings you meet and quests.
[Quest #1] Belrym, the elf hunter, [Quest: 3 spades] must find a rare metal for a blacksmith who wants to reforge a broken ancient weapon. Equipped with his bow (1d6), a cloak (+1 Wits) and three rations the Wanderer sets forth. He must find 6 Tracks (clues) to complete the quest.
(The text in italics are my narrative additions to the events and locations generated by the game. Tokens, dice and miniatures on the cards for illustration purposes only. They are not required.)
Sequence A
Event (4 spades): A gray fog will soon surround Belrym. He uses his Wits (success) and finds an escape route around it.
Location (5 diamonds): Beyond the fog, Belrym enters a Rocky Grove. He must use his Wits to find a way out of this maze-like environment. Success once again. Because the location is without a Being or an Item, I roll on the location table and discover 2 Tracks (clues)! The game doesn’t tell me what they are. I have no idea either. Maybe I will be able to fill in the blanks later.
Sequence B
Event (10 hearts): an hour later, choking fumes, erupt from the ground. Once again, Belrym uses his Wits to escape harm (2 damage). He tumbles to the left and escapes unharmed.
Location (Q clubs): This wasteland is inhospitable. Because the location is without a Being or an Item, I roll on the location table and discover another 2 Tracks (clues), for a total of 4 Tracks.
Gaining Tracks on the roll is lucky but it’s also a bane because I’m not gaining Items to help me further down the road. Also, Belrym is not meeting Beings, which could be Evil or Good.
Sequence C
Event (J spades): Belrym is facing a steep climb, on a mountainside. He slips and loses 2 Hit Points.
Location (7 hearts): As he climbs the hunter reaches a plateau with a forest clearing. This time the location roll tells me there is a Being. Roll 1d6: It is Evil. I draw 7 spades. A Great Orc surprises him and deals 3 damage. Belrym has no armour to block damage. He has only 1 Hit Point Left. You do not die at 0 HP, instead, you gain 1 random wound. Belrym decides to flee. He manages to outwit the orc, avoiding damage and climbs higher.
Sequence D
Event (K spades): Belrym cannot believe his luck! He stumbles upon a group of elves chanting and dining around awelcoming campfire (Being Good = An elven minstrel, gain 1d6 Spirit, roll +6).
Time to rest. The Wanderer eats one of his rations (1d6+1hp). Belrym is fully healed. He seeks help from the group. An elf Soldier agrees to become a companion. (Belrym gains: Charge, +1 Combat during the first round of each combat encounter).
Location (7 hearts): Belrym and Ashaln resume the quest, the next morning. They find a Storied Battlefield. Now I know what the 4 clues were. Before departing, Belrym was told to seek the ancient battlefield. The clues were oral tradition indications that he was on the right track. The location contains no Being or Thing. I roll and find another 2 Tracks. Belrym now has the 6 Tracks he needs to complete the Quest. Searching the battlefield the Wanderer finds the tumulus of Tolondriel, the elf queen. These are desperate times. The council allowed Berlin to enter the tomb and retrieve the shield of the legendary queen. It is the only known item to contain the precious metal the elven blacksmith needs to reforge Erandelornien, the demon killer sword.
Epilogue & Growth
Verdict: Overall, this is an enjoyable and quick system. The first quest took me under 40 minutes to complete and I didn’t know the rules. The system feels mechanical and it is wildly random BUT if you inject narrative elements you can sow an engaging story. Combat is harsh. I was very lucky this time. I printed the tables for ease of use. The PDF is only 50 pages and it was easy to find the info I needed.
I’ll keep playing this game. Also, I'll use the random tables to generate events and locations for my next sessions of Dragonbane and Fantasy AGE.
Recommendation: For the price, it's well worth it if you are looking for a quick system that takes minimal space the play. You do not need to keep the cards of the previous sequence on the table. I did that to explain the flow of the game.
[Quest #1] Belrym, the elf hunter, [Quest: 3 spades] must find a rare metal for a blacksmith who wants to reforge a broken ancient weapon. Equipped with his bow (1d6), a cloak (+1 Wits) and three rations the Wanderer sets forth. He must find 6 Tracks (clues) to complete the quest.
(The text in italics are my narrative additions to the events and locations generated by the game. Tokens, dice and miniatures on the cards for illustration purposes only. They are not required.)
Sequence A
Event (4 spades): A gray fog will soon surround Belrym. He uses his Wits (success) and finds an escape route around it.
Location (5 diamonds): Beyond the fog, Belrym enters a Rocky Grove. He must use his Wits to find a way out of this maze-like environment. Success once again. Because the location is without a Being or an Item, I roll on the location table and discover 2 Tracks (clues)! The game doesn’t tell me what they are. I have no idea either. Maybe I will be able to fill in the blanks later.
Sequence B
Event (10 hearts): an hour later, choking fumes, erupt from the ground. Once again, Belrym uses his Wits to escape harm (2 damage). He tumbles to the left and escapes unharmed.
Location (Q clubs): This wasteland is inhospitable. Because the location is without a Being or an Item, I roll on the location table and discover another 2 Tracks (clues), for a total of 4 Tracks.
Gaining Tracks on the roll is lucky but it’s also a bane because I’m not gaining Items to help me further down the road. Also, Belrym is not meeting Beings, which could be Evil or Good.
Sequence C
Event (J spades): Belrym is facing a steep climb, on a mountainside. He slips and loses 2 Hit Points.
Location (7 hearts): As he climbs the hunter reaches a plateau with a forest clearing. This time the location roll tells me there is a Being. Roll 1d6: It is Evil. I draw 7 spades. A Great Orc surprises him and deals 3 damage. Belrym has no armour to block damage. He has only 1 Hit Point Left. You do not die at 0 HP, instead, you gain 1 random wound. Belrym decides to flee. He manages to outwit the orc, avoiding damage and climbs higher.
Sequence D
Event (K spades): Belrym cannot believe his luck! He stumbles upon a group of elves chanting and dining around awelcoming campfire (Being Good = An elven minstrel, gain 1d6 Spirit, roll +6).
Time to rest. The Wanderer eats one of his rations (1d6+1hp). Belrym is fully healed. He seeks help from the group. An elf Soldier agrees to become a companion. (Belrym gains: Charge, +1 Combat during the first round of each combat encounter).
Location (7 hearts): Belrym and Ashaln resume the quest, the next morning. They find a Storied Battlefield. Now I know what the 4 clues were. Before departing, Belrym was told to seek the ancient battlefield. The clues were oral tradition indications that he was on the right track. The location contains no Being or Thing. I roll and find another 2 Tracks. Belrym now has the 6 Tracks he needs to complete the Quest. Searching the battlefield the Wanderer finds the tumulus of Tolondriel, the elf queen. These are desperate times. The council allowed Berlin to enter the tomb and retrieve the shield of the legendary queen. It is the only known item to contain the precious metal the elven blacksmith needs to reforge Erandelornien, the demon killer sword.
Epilogue & Growth
- Roll: lose 1 Shadow, sadly Belrym didn’t gain shadow points.
- Reputation roll: The Wanderer gains 3 reputation points.
Verdict: Overall, this is an enjoyable and quick system. The first quest took me under 40 minutes to complete and I didn’t know the rules. The system feels mechanical and it is wildly random BUT if you inject narrative elements you can sow an engaging story. Combat is harsh. I was very lucky this time. I printed the tables for ease of use. The PDF is only 50 pages and it was easy to find the info I needed.
I’ll keep playing this game. Also, I'll use the random tables to generate events and locations for my next sessions of Dragonbane and Fantasy AGE.
Recommendation: For the price, it's well worth it if you are looking for a quick system that takes minimal space the play. You do not need to keep the cards of the previous sequence on the table. I did that to explain the flow of the game.
