4AD After Action Report

After several walks on a beautiful day I decided to play the solo dungeon game Four Against Darkness with some modifications from the Stronghold website here and here.

The adventure didn't start well as my party of Borz (with a Z) the warrior, Croix the Cleric, Filch the Rogue and Winks the Dwarf were immediately met by 3 Trolls, that were dispatched at the expense of Borz (with a Z) losing 1 life point.  Next 7 goblins were encountered and defeated yielding a scroll of lightning.  In the next room, Borz (with a Z) discovered a "clue". Heading North and to the East, the party next fought 7 zombies with Filch losing a life point. An Ogre fled the party after a fight and Borz leveled up. Another "clue" was found in a corridor. Next the party found a piece of jewelry (90 GP). Venturing onward, the party defeated 4 Orcs before meeting a nasty Minotaur, that fled the battle. Croix successfully level up. The party backtracked and manage to avoid any wandering monsters. 5 snakes were defeated.
   Then the party encountered an Ooze. Filch proved his value by lockpicking a level 5 door lock. Six orcs were defeated. Backtracking, the party next encountered 2 Orcs that were quickly dispatched. Another Ooze was found as a Wandering Monster and vanquished. Borz found his third clue (Someone will pay Big money for that) and leveled. The next room contained a Meditation Chamber and Filch healed up. Back to the entry room went without incident.
    The party headed north and discovered a Storage room that yielded 2 bandages. The party continued North and fought  3 Kobolds that were easily defeated.  "Discretion being the better part of valor", the party decided to return to the Inn. The South east corner of the dungeon will be explored later.  

    What a fun couple of hours revisiting a time 45 years ago when Role Playing games were a big part of my professional life and I was working on solo approaches to RPGs. Take a look at the DM's Guide appendices that include solo AD&D.  
    Andrea Sfiligoi has done an excellent job with his design and the gaming community at Board Game Geek and  the Stronghold website have also added some exciting and free game aids. There is also a 4AD group on Facebook where you can get your questions answered by Andrea, himself.