Encouraged by having successfully run my first open table game using Cairn 2e in Ancient Robots and not long after posting Shadows in the Glistening Pine I was itching for more Cairn 2e. I had a trip back home coming soon and then I recalled that my sister’s boyfriend is getting started with TTRPGs. It was decided, I packed my books and the notes I had for this solo adventure. My mind started racing.

I already had a character ready to continue the adventure solo, but I thought it could be interesting to try out the world I have been shaping and playing in for a one-shot with other players. My sister’s boyfriend is mainly interested in solo TTRPGs and I am really interested in letting go a little bit more when I GM and not overthinking things. This was the perfect practice for it.

After some scheduling trouble (it always seems to be the case with TTRPGs, especially the older you get!) I managed to get my brother, my sister and her partner all together for their first TTRPG game at a physical table. I was excited but uncertain about how a mostly narrative game would play with a person that is very into competitive videogames and the rest of the group fairly new.

The extra challenge was that, among the players, only one person was enthusiastic about roleplaying games. The other two were curious but not fully invested. Overall, it was a very good game even though we ran out of time and could not finish. And it seemed to exceed expectations for the players, especially for the one who thought they wouldn’t like TTRPGs much. They interestingly did most of the talking during the session and this is what I love about having these kinds of games. People can pleasantly surprise you if you keep an open mind and don’t turn the hobby into something that is really difficult to access or requires a lot of prep/previous knowledge just to play.

In fact, my experience is that people starting with TTRPGs are fresher and pick up faster on narrative games than people used to min-maxing characters or focusing on mechanically heavy games.

So, how did the game go? What happened?

The adventure

Delphine (Mountebank), Hartjack (Aurifex) and Faunus (Foundling) travel with some guards from The Cities, led by Captain Bix. After the vanishing of Seed, people have been leaving town and the steady supply of wood coming from Barktown to the cities risks to come to a stop. The adventurers have been hired to figure out what happened with Barktown’s warden and report to the guard and magistrates.

During the trip to town, brawny and disciplined Delphine’s droning words make it to one of the guards, Evander, who complains about a sore back. A few bandages to straighten up his back, a few claps on the back and voila, he is healed. Is it a deceitful healing, or does it truly work? Well, for now Evander is happy, and apparently all her previous customers.

While Delphine profits from the trip, poor Faunus, a foundling raised by a druid, struggles with sleep. Pests rise from the edge of dreams, getting closer, buzzing louder deep within the forest, becoming worse every night as they approach Barktown.

Hartjack, the nineteen year-old “gold” maker alchemist, steals looks at his iron ingot and gold dust thinking of his next exploit and the potential money he will receive from the magistrates if they complete their task. Maybe he can make some extra cash along the way. His little whiny homunculus follows him everywhere and causes curious looks from the first day of travel until everybody filters out his high pitched voice.

Once they arrive at the town the group looks for accommodation, for which they have to barter for and use Delphine’s healer credentials and services to get free accommodation. The guards get free stay at the town’s inn, but our investigators are not that lucky, for they lack the flaming seal of The City.

They spend the afternoon questioning villagers and learning more about Seed and discover she was last seen in the farmlands close to the Glistening Pine. During the night more nightmares visit Faunus dreams and he shares that with his companions. The group marches to the farmlands after breakfast.

Some of the farms are already deserted, people have been leaving Barktown as disappearances have become a common theme, especially since the previous warden, Seed, went missing. They ask the remaining farmers for directions and information about the warden, and in one of the abandoned farms they find signs of taken cattle. All points to the Glistening Pine Forest.

The group follows their way into the woods, clouds covering the way ahead and rain starting to descend over the travellers. Faunus can feel that something is wrong with the trees as he listens to the distressed voices of the trees, drowned out by an ever louder buzzing.

They reach the Bone Orchard, following the steps of Seed, and curious as the warden was they examine the strange bony plants, dripping red-brownish bloodlike sap. Faunus gets closer to them and a spat lands on his arm. Hartjack pokes at them with a stick and another spit lands on him, they both feel uneasy as they try to clean the sap, and soon start to feel a bit off. Delphine remains on guard and the party decide to keep their distance and move fast leaving behind the Bone Orchard and entering a part of the forest where there are regular pines.

In the distance they see trees moving and Hartjack sends his tiny clone ahead to scout, while they wait. A few minutes later the ground vibrates and the trees shake and the homunculus runs pursued by a massive giant, moss all over him, slobber dripping, eyes red. Faunus and Delphine manage to get out of the way in time, but Hartjack is pushed to the side landing in a mushy patch of moss. The giant continues chasing the homunculus, giving the party has time to regroup and delve deeper into the forest.

Will the party find out what happened to Seed? Or will they become another number in the list of disappearances?

I guess we will never know, or who knows, if I continue this game solo I might roll some dice to find out what happened!