STALKER7

Planning to run an all-day narrative wargame before Summer is out, a NIGHTWATCH BLOOD AND BONE one-shot for a bunch of new players.

In the midst of a brutal conflict, their war band is ordered to secure an arcane portal. Trouble is, this ‘magic gateway to the shadow roads‘ is behind enemy lines in a recently razed city, crawling all manner of necromantic ill-intent.

Risky? Of course. Suicidal? Probably.

But if successful, their mission might just end the war. (so no pressure, eh?)

Here’s my plan so far.

A war band of seven models. (Bronze Age Miniatures, currently on the painting desk) Sigurd, the caster, will be controlled by the group. She is the only one who can activate the gate, so she MUST survive.

Character stats on a 3″ x 5″ index cards. One for each. Each player will also receive a separate Quick Reference card.

Full table set up. (4′ x 6′)

One Objective at the far end of the table. The objective will require multiple actions to accomplish. At this point, I’m thinking the party must activate four small ‘nodes’ to power the gate. Or perhaps gather four component or spells that do the same.

12 POI. Marked by a fantasy coin token, each one has Vital Supplies and possible Narrative Twists. However, searching POI activates location-appropriate Hostiles. (ghouls in a graveyard, for example) They don’t need to clear them all – or any, for that matter – if they choose. The loot/resupply will certainly help though.

Turn limit of ten turns. A reasonable amount of time for a large table, allowing for tasks, searches, combat, and failed action dice rolls. Turns and objectives keep everyone moving and task oriented.

An Event Deck. Call it “Tides of War”, perhaps. Good and bad interventions, one card for each game turn. Draw a card at the start of each turn, the Conditions/Events go into immediate effect. For example: Earthquake that throws every character prone. Solid Ground that gives them an extra Free Move.

Alternate Good and Bad. Each type of event will be shuffled into its own pile, and then the Event Deck will be compiled. It won’t be a “stacked deck”, specifically, but semi-random, good events followed by bad ones.

Spawning Portals. Still active but only one per turn instead of the usual two*. I figure POI adversaries plus larger forces of random, scenario-specific hostiles should pose enough of a threat.

By scenario-specific, I mean an enemy patrol, a large creature, or a mob of zombified peasants. Something consistent with the story. Another spur to keep the pressure on.

* Of course, if the party opts to bypass all the POI and head straight for the objective, the spawning portals will ramp up accordingly. (Any respectable GM would do the same.)

Pizza and Drinks because people show up when there’s food.

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I’ll have it written out by the end of this month, so sometime in August is the goal. If I have the table, cards, and minis set up and ready to go, I figure I can run the adventure in three hours. Four max, allowing for breaks. That’s a solid afternoon. Or really full evening if that’s that’s the only way to coordinate schedules.

Speaking of which… I’m curious to know if those of you that game with a regular group have an established day/evening for your sessions? The second Saturday of every month, come hell or high water, for example. Or do you have to juggle everyone’s shifting schedules and lock down a mutually-doable date each time?

Here at the CCWC, we are fairly consistent until Summer. Then work/overtime, visiting relatives, guests, family vacations and events throw it out of gear. We hammer out table time, but the schedule is much more fickle until school starts back up.

I’m slopping more color on Sigurd’s warband this evening, so I’ll get photos when they’re decent. And you can be certain there will be a lengthy AAR when it’s done.

If there’s sufficient interest, I’ll turn my notes and prep into an official supplement and release it on Wargame Vault. I wager the concept can be easily transferred out of Fantasy Norse-land to a setting of your choice.

That’s it for now. Good Hunting.

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As always, you can find Stalker7 Games and Stories available at

Wargame Vault and Amazon.