I Played ICRPG, Part 4

This past Monday, I played ICRPG, and here’s what happened. For those of you who may not have heard of ICRPG, it’s a tabletop roleplaying game created by Runehammer! ICRPG is very rules-light and built to be hacked into what you like. It provides excellent scaffolding for three different worlds to play in, each with its unique classes, loot, enemies, maps, and more. The rules are so small you can learn them in something like ten minutes. There’s even a quick start for free! Anyway, back to the story…

Vordrun Oreheart and the Mysterious Benefactor

In the world of Alfheim, there are far too many threads of fate and quests to count here. One of the most important and overarching of these is the disappearance of King Henryk. Many in the Keep are investigating his disappearance, and the Mysterious Benefactor is one step in the investigation.

We found ourselves traveling through the Dead Lands. A swampy dangerous place where the muck and mud devour all. We lost a few pieces of equipment along the way. Finally, we reached a Gerblin mining and manufacturing encampment, run by a powerful Gerblin named Boss Grimsby.

We carefully entered the village, with Ash a gerblin mage leading the way. Soon, Ash had convinced one of the brutal taskmasters that we were here on behalf of Boss Grimsby to inspect the operation. He took us to the local boss, who ordered a gerblin thrown into a pit of acid for not working. We spoke with this gerblin and a mysterious woman, the benefactor. While we had the boss convinced we were part of Boss Grimsby’s crew, the woman was unconvinced.

She revealed herself to be one of the “Ardens” a secret and powerful family. Furthermore, she revealed, as many suspected, that the Ardens kidnapped the king. Uvash, a dwarf mage that we’ve met before, and Ash were able to trick her into revealing more. The Ardens were holding the king to sacrifice him at a fateful time.

Combat ensued, and the Arden woman leaped through a portal after setting the room full of explosives on fire. Vordrun attacked one of the murderous taskmasters, and cast quickness upon Ash. The others grabbed loot, extinguished flames, and Ash used the speed of the quickness spell to follow the Arden woman through her own portal. That was the last we saw of Ash.

The rest of us grabbed what we could, and Uvash rallied the gerblin workers to flee with us. Vordrun kicked one of the Taskmasters into the pool of acid, while the others held the line. Uvash gathered up the gerblins, and we stepped through a gateway of magic back to the Keep.

We had gained important information and lost a valued ally.