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on·-
€aIb€n
•
Robin Hood is a
new
development in the
wo
rl
d
of
roleplaying games: so mething
more than a supplement - a new game
for which you won t have to learn a book
full
o
rules.
The book.
published
by
ICE, is an attempt to bridge the gap
between new games
with
new rules.
and campaign or adventure supplements
wh.ich are whoUy systemless and need a
good deal of work before they are usable.
You
won t
need
Robin Hood
10
use
this adventure. Part
of
the idea behind the
book is that it should be a generic
(ie universally useful) work of reference
for garners interested
in
the
early
mediaeval period and in the concept
of
a roleplaying game involving a band
of
outlaws. Although reslricied in the
number
of
roleplaying games
it
can
aCluaUy
mention,
Robin Hood is
co
nceived to be used
with
games
ranging from Kbrhammer antasy
Roleplay and Middle tanh
Roleplaying
to
Advanced Dungeons .
rag
ons
and
anlasy H
uo
SOme Conventions
Robin Hood uses terms and conventions
with which
you
may not be f,mliliar.
Included
in
the book are various st.andard
characters and encounters which may be
lifted
out and used directly in a game.
These include various types
of
soldier and
commoners, along with merchants.
priests. nobles and
th
e like. Robin Hood
IS set in a version
of Cll-
3 England. so
there is no provision
for
magic-using
characters. However, the book has an
op tional mystical element, based on the
premise
that
any unusual eve
nt
might
have two interpretations: it might be the
w o r ~ of
magic be it deviluy, the Holy
Spin t or white magic) or
il
may have a
Simple and rational explanation , There
is
a very blurred line dividing the natural
and
the
super-natural which only you can
clearly perceive.
The historic
al
setting is supposed to
be exactly that. You and
the
players have
knowledge of
the
period concerned to
help build a realistic atmosphere.
Historical persons such as King Stephen
and King Richard move through the land
and there is a continuous cataJog
ue
of
events outs
id
e
the
characters influence:
wars wilh Frn.nce and Scotland, Crusades.
national and inter-national politics,
cha
nges
in
the Church and the people in
power. even changes in laws and social
life,
Two
campaign ideas
are
detailed in
Robin Hood: one set in the Forest of
Dean CU40-ll55 and the more traditional
one
of
Sherwood Forest in the li
me of
King Richard and King John.
U89-12I6.
It is to the latter that you are now invited.
to pit your wits against Sir Guy
of
Gisburne ..
• •
••
.
I ,-
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On
Ealden Byrgen:
Plot Outline
The characters in this adventure are
assumed
to be
a known group of outlaws,
acting outSide the law, either for their own
cnds
or
to help others whom the law cannot
protect. As such they are a Ihom in the side
of
the local authority.
Hopefully
this
adventure
will
illustrate how you can easily
adapt
an idea to your own game. Here the
authorities are represented
rj
Robert,
Sheriff of Noningham and his henchman
Sir Guy of Gisbume. In your own game you
may use suitable equivalents for them and
any other charncters (or
places)
mentioned .
The
adventure is set al any time between
1I89-1216 nd takes place
in
the south/ce
ntral
stretches of Sht:rwood Forest. some miles
northeast
of
the town
of
Nottingham. The
dense wood is home to the charncters, and
it
provides them with sanctuary and base
from
which
to
operate. And yet there
are
areas
within the Forest where even they dare not
go
- one
such being
the
Ealden Byrgen
.
low rolling hills topped with mysterious
slOnes lmd b rrow mounds, by turns misty
and eerie
or r i ~ n
wilh howling winds.
Sir Guy has been fruSlmlOO in the paSI
on numerous octasions when he altempred
to capture
or
deal with the outlaws, They
always have managed to evade him or upset
his plans whilst
ca
rrying
OU
outrageous
crimes againsl the rich
nd
powerful. Now
he as a new plan
10
lrap them in an ambush
on the Ealden Byrgen, with a false rumour
of buried treasure hidden from all but the
'Lord
of the Fbrest' - a title designed 10
both flalter and uick the leader
of
the
chlll1lCter's band. However, thete are chances
for the characters
to
avoid the cenain deadly
fate thaI Gisburne ha s prepared for them.
Ultimately the characters stand
to
profit
from the adventure. This is because
Gisburne's plan
h s
a
fatal
, is subconscious,
flaw. His bait for the ambush, the treasure
on Ealden Byrgen, acrually
exists,
whereas
he thinks it is something only in his own
imagination. His lure, the wy o g ~ l s l a n ~
is
a half-remembered
fragment of an
old
AnglO -Saxon poem adapl«l immediately
after the Norman conquest, when
the
English looked IOrward to a time when they
wo uld be freed from the yoke of the new
lords. Some ancien combination
of
the
spirilS
of
the repressed people nd their
Forest has worked a power and truth into
the legend
.
a power that might lake
~ p r e s s i o n through the
characten
and their
actions. On the other hand, the evenlS
related below might just be coincidence
..
The Man n The Stag
The adventure
starts in
daytime. The time
of
year is unimportant although an autumn
sening might
be
most appropriate.
The
char
acters are in the southern or
CCnlral
area
of
Sherwood Fores\. They might simply be OU
hunting,
or
on
some
mission.
Sherwood Forest, like other Royal
ForeslS
of
the time, is subject to special
laws
in
order to preserve the trees and
wildlife
as
good hunting
land for
the King
and a privileged few he grants the right to
hunt there. The Forest Laws are enforced by
the Verderers, a haled band
of
men under
the overall command
of
a Warden -
currently the Sheriff, although the duties are
generally carried oul by
Sit
Guy
of
Gisburne. For day-to-day purposes, the
Verderers
repon
to Foresters-in-Fee at four
places in Shef\\OOd,
the
centres
of
its
four
Leets or
divisions. There are also Foresters
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in
Sherwood, but th
ey
are concerned more
with tending
the
game than enforcing laws
and troubling
the
people. which
is
what Ihe
Verderers enjoy. Their cruelty is renowned .
Suddenly, out of a leafy brake, a group
of
Verderers on a path meet the ~ ~ h a r a c t e r s
(or those who are visible). These are fo ur of
the SherifFs men. together with two peasant
woodcutters. The Vertierers are oot
immediately recognisable, for they do not
wear a uniform, but
by
their airs
and
beari
ng
are obviously Normans or puffed-up
Englishmen lording (Iller their less domine
eri ng brethren. Each Verderer carries an
oakleaf badge as a sign of tbcir authority.
They wear leathern jerkins beneath thick
homespun cloaks and leggins. Each also
carries a pick-like weapon hanging from a
belt, a sure sign
of
a man with a position in
society. Two of the men have light cross
bows,
the other two had spears. These have
been put
to
anothc.r use ~ they ate
supporting a stag slung by its hoofs. carried
by the tWO woodcutters. lne peasants are
dressed very roughly and have no weapons.
n ~ n e
looking carefuJly at
th
e stag
(make an easy Perceptio IObse n-e check)
will see thai
it
is only a stag's skin. A man's
bloody head protrudes from the neck of
the
beast and the rest of him is bundled up
inside the hide. It appears that the Verderers
have caprured some poor man driven to
poaching
to
feed his family, and the
characters will hopefully au.ack the Verderers
10 rescue him. If they don't lhe
\hderers
may well chaUenge the party and/or
recognise one of them as a wanted outlaw
wolfshead and give chase. Statistics for Ihe
Verderers are given in Robi Hood and at
the end of this adventure.
They
are moder-,u
ely competent but overconfident and will
III
rust
rely on their authority
to
try and make
the characlers cower.
[f
any are killed
or
seriously injured, the o
th
ers are like
to
flee.
The peasants will flee during any
fight,
having been pressed into service by the
Verderers against their will. They play no
further part in the adventure.
The
fight
with the Verderer.; should tak.e
place in a small woodland glade. There is
plenty of room for the particiapants, and
also the chance 10 sneak through the trees
and
undergrCllWth 10
surprise. the opponents.
A clever party should
be
able 10 see
the
Verqerers off without suffering any loss.
Roben FitzOoth
HlWing despatched
th
e Verderers. the
characters will be left in
he
glade with the
body wrapped in the skin of the stag. The
on eaU)en
synGen
hide has been roughly stitched together
Wtth
thongs. and is very fresh. 11 can be easily
cut open with a knife
or
other blad
e.
The
man inside is obviously in a bad way
,
covered
in
the hlood
of
the
stag and beaten
and cut about.
He is
apparently eKhauste(\
and unable 10 say much until he has had
some rest and, hopefully. a refreshing wash.
The ChaJ1lclers do not have to tmvel too fur
to
find a decc.nt stream
or
~ l
pool
suitable for this. Once cleaned up a bi t, the
man can
be
seen
to
have fair hair and a
handsome, if somewhat pinched, face.
When
he
is able to speak, he gives his
name as Roben FitzOolh. His name comes
from his Nonnan paternal grandf3ther. but
he
was brought up in an English village with
nothing orner than his name to su pport him.
He spent a linle while as a soldier. more
time wandering
as
a peddlar and singer on
the contioent, then worked hand-to-mouth in
England. Recently
he
came to a large village
near Sherwood and staned courting
0
pretty
young girl. Her futher got drunk and
at18cked a guardsman one Dight and was
imprisoned , leaving h
er
mother and the girl
herself with no means of suppon. Rumours
spread by a vicious guardsman led to the
family being shunned
by
the rest of the
village. Soon they had no
food
and wen:
starving, only just able \0 live on what lillie
Robert could bring home. In .he eod
he
decided
to
go into Sherwood and try poaCh
ing. After one successful raid. someone in
the village rcported his aClivilies
to
the
Verderers who
U<tpped
him the second limt :
he
went into the Forest. After they captured
him, he heard them say thai the girl
and her
mother had been taken by the Sh
eriffs
men
and hung for eating poached venison, and
no-one in the village rnised a
hand
to help
them.
Hopefully, the characters will take an
interest in
th
e poor man's story and ask him
back to their camp. He. will resist any idea
thai they should go
10
the village.
e.ven
to
take revenge. saying that he has no reason 10
relurn. and its people are in a bad enough
situation without trouble from other outlaws.
Whilst they travel or wait to prepare a meal.
Robert will sing a few snatches of song
aboul grieving lovers
and
the like. Hopefully
this will encourage the characters
10
ask him
10
sing them a proper song later that
evening, He
will
make every attempt to sing
for th
em
the 1..0.)" of /ngdsrane:
On 61klm
f yr;g£'n Slond
a
Ionlie
srane,
FUll eallt cwites heah.
Hit I[}rJ.es fn SUrr ofa tr((JW( King s thegn
Putrid f h e ~ lI\1"aeone he did a 9I
"{aM mqy fo1lk tn t i{yrigcd golden horri
5i:n't
an
maJm
onlie:
Hc
\I"ho would be
Forest
thegn and
hl11ford
nd
who
wry
meahtft< btt
Robert can explain this lay
\
anyone who
is
interested: it is an old ballad about a stand
ing stone (the /olllie stalle) on lhe Old
Barrows
(Eafdm Byrge,,)
of Sherwood. In
the barrow beneath The slOne is the rmllrt
of a bold and strong supporter (the treol...,
Iheg,,) of one of the old English Kings from
the lime before
the
Normans came. The lay
tells that the treasure
may
be
claimed by one
man only,
he
who would
be
the
thegn and
Mt.lford
(thane
and
lord) of The Forest..
The
man who claims the bu
ri
ed golden hoard
must also be very mighty•..
Roben also says that he heard the
lay
from an old local man who claimed that he
knew where the Ingelstane was. This old
man described the stone as a tapering dark
column about 12 high (eahl cubites eight
cubits; I cubit The stone can be
seell if olle follows a tribulllry of the stream
which flows down from the hills through
Sudwelle to the Trent. The tributary is
marked out
by
a great clump
of
overhanging
willows at
its
confluence with the stream,
and
by
numerous large reddish-grey boulders
in its bed.
Robert
is of
course a rogue, charlatan
and mischief-nlak.er. Trapped while trying to
steal from the
wi
ly Shefiff.
he
exchanged a
dismal prison sentence
for an
opportun
it
y
to
work and spy for hi s captor. He is an
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limall, pale crtatures: the figure(s} are snll
or
move quickly; they bob into sighl from
behind rocks and
c o p s e ~
After the third
such occurencc, those afflicted must make II
Fear
check or refuse [ go on. A long rest,
such IlS for a
meal, will
calm lhem down
suffiden
lly to
proceed
but \'cry shortly they
will stan seeing the figuru aglllD and must
maa:
another, harder.
Pta
check.
The land
here,
being broken. pau:hed
with
mal1lh
y
SWlIthes
and impenerrably
tangled thickets makes for very slow
progress. The day wears on and the light
becomes
very poor and
the way
even harder
to see. You may require the characters 10 ~ s t
vanous slulls such as their
lcnowledge
of
rough terrain.
pathfinding
and so on.
If they
fail they may
get
losl or trapped. or may
give up i f they fail an go RolflWil potWf
check.
They may
also have some dIfficult
~ m e m
rolblRiJk
checks \0
mm.
If
you wish you cou ld Mve the group
encounter a ~ t a r v i n g , SOlitary wolf or sick
wild cal. springing
OUI
from behind cover at
the smal lest or leasl
pml«led
character.
Note also thai a number of mildly POIsonoUS
plants grow
in
tlus area, so If any characler
lries galhenng anYlhing for a meal there
cou ld be problems
The Ingelstane
By mis tune the wind has risen to a gale
agai nst which lhe chanclers
h3\
'e to banle in
addition to
all me
ir olher problems.
However. they are unlikely to wish to spend
the nighl on the Old Barrows, and will in all
likelihood press
on
. It is
OK
for you 10
casoolly remind them of the
many
rales -
all
of
lhem gory - of whal happens to
an
yo
ne on the EaJden Byrgen at night .
Then,
as
the characters
round
a twist
in
the valley.
see
Ihe narrow tooth-like
stone prolruc:hng trom a mound alop the no:l
hill
If
any
characler
asks
10 make a
h ~ p l i o n I O b u n e chttk. there is a small
chance that
they spot
a couple
of
figures
dodging out of sight. These
may be
put
down
10
the
same
source as the shapes seen
earlier, but
they
are a good deal more solid .
The
hill of the ~ J s u l n e is unremark·
able. but its far
side IS ('()'V(red
in scrubby
trees. They are darkly shadowed
in
the
fading lighl.
Rain
beglDs
10
fall
cold drops as me hill is . p r o ' i T ' ,
mound on which the stone
about thirty
feet
broad
and
hIgh, aod Obviously raised l + ' ~ h ' Q i ~
or
man .
Wiry
grass
covers
which stands out
from
the ' ' ' , . ' ' ' ' , c _
bracken,
The
stone itself is over
lwelve
feel tall .
slightly flattened. and broader al the base
than at lhe lOp. "
bears
no inscriPlion
or
other markings. Its base IS firmly embedded
in the mound ,
but
if Ihe plant growth there
is removed
and
some of the earth scraped
liMY, it can be seen that the stone is
supported by a ring
of
Stones wilhin the
mound , the lOps of which can be discerned.
Unfonuna
lel
y. the
c h a r a c : ~ r s will not
ha\'e
the chance 10 invesligate any further at this
POInt . If
they
heeded the warning,
they
may
have
prepared themselves, bul they
are
suddenly faced with a column of men
coming up
the
west side of the hill from the
gloomy
woods. At
the ir
head is
the mounted
figure of Sir
Guy
of Gisburne.
The precautions (if
any
taken by the
group dK:tate
when the
soldiers
are spotted.
At
about
lhi
s time. the sun breaks OUI from
beneath the sullen, grey bands of cloud 10
guardsmen per chancier and
have
the rest
r u ~ lIJ'Ound 10 surround them .
The Stone FaUs
In
the midst
of
the lighting there is a terrific
clap of thu nder almost directly overhead.
All
those fighting pau se momentarily. then a
strong gust of wind rushes pasl . AI
thi
s
point it is necessary thai someone is fighting
at
the
tOp
of
the
hill
by
the
SlOne,
fo
r tnere
is a ternble grinding sound that trembles
through the eBrth. If anyone looks up at the
IngelsUlIle. they will see il gradually til l 10
one
side and then, gathering momentum,
fall. As ;t rushes
10
mtt I the earth. il IJ1jps
a
guardsman who is crushed
10
death.
Lightning
forks
down 5e'o'eraJ limes as the
men-at-arms \cok on
I
. The characters
take Ihis opportunity to launch an attack:
stunned guards. After the Ingelstane
<
.....
fall s, il is only
a
matter of lime
before the men-al-anus begin to
flee
. Gisbume
rides
around
( ~ ~ I ~ ~ ~ l ' : , ~ : . 10 rally his
::.
are afraid of lhe
have
bren
awaken-
' ~ ; ; ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ : ~ ~ h i ' S g r . u ~ , ~
k i al\Cl Tides
:h;';;,,;';;:,'{;',quickly outdistancing the
lInponant to have an
opponent who returns again
and
again to
cross swords with
the
charllCters.
After the Slone faUs, the stonn begins to
die down. By the time all the men-at·anns
hll\"e fled, there
is
no more lightning
and the
wind and rain
has
lessened. However,
darlmess is rapidly approachinf and if the
characters are to do any more
LDvestigating
they should do
so
immed iately.
If
they
wish
to seek: cover, mere is sheller to be foul\Cl
amongSI the u-ees where Gishume laid his
ambush,
lIS
well
as
wood for
a
fire if they
should desire ;t_
Anyone mounting the barrow mound
after the fighl should make a P e r r ~ p t j o n
Obscrw check ,
TIle
last rnys of the sun
shine througtu he dwindling rain fonning a
rainbow arcning from the EaJden Byrgen
to
me edge
of
the Forest proper. A successfu l
check will bring the viewer's attention a
great oak lree al the
fOOl of
the rainbow.
The
tJ-ee
has been sheared
off
by a bolt of
lightning and its huge wound reflec15
whiteJy. the wei. fresh wood pointing like an
IIJTtJW down into the earth.
I f the chamcters look
at
the base of the
Ingelstane, they will
find
only the six stones
sel deep into the earth. They cannol be
~ . ; ~ ~ ~ : : ,
or moved without
II
major digging
:: 1nere is no ~ s u r e to be found
~ ~ ; ~ ; : ' : n : ~ ~ ~ r i ; ' Y . , sirx:e Gisbume
shed a thick red
light
across the S(ene before
it
sets.
lJ
glints off
the
soldiers' polished
steel helms and casts bloody shadows before
them. There are more than I enty men·llt
arms,
well
anned and armoured, cloaked
against
the
cold rain
and
eager 10 ha\'C at the
outlaws, Gisbume shouts e o ~ e m e n t to
his men and mocks the player characters.
The
men·al·arms engage the characters
as
soon liS
they
ca
n and will DOC worry
about casualties initially. If the characters
look in
disalTll)'.
Oisbume
may
c
ha
se
alkr
one or
1M
himself.
He
is
nm
afraid 10 cross
swords with them . being a skilled fighler
and
the
veteran of many
tourna-ments.
The
lop
of the
hill IS )Iawly eocircled
and
the
player characler;; forced to
remaI
towards
the barrow
and
lhe Ingelstane. Allow two
Truestone
If me cnamcters did
not
see
th
e blasted tree
the night befure, they should be gi
ven
me
chance 10 spot it if they uavel back IC) .I/IIrds
the eaves of Sher.vood in the morning.
Otherwise they
will have missed
it
entirely.
The tree is DOC difficult 10
find.
ADeOl
a
quarter
of its
branches
have
been struck
down and the. Sash, where the
wood
split
and
fell
away, IS about four
feet
wide and Ie.n
feet high.
mllk,ing
il
easily noticeable.
The
blast has also caused the tree
10 be
wrenched somewhat from the eanh, as the
characters dl lCover when they arrive. On
one side
a
number of roots have been
dragged inlO the air. Beneath is a curious
pale stone,
with
the glitter of quartz
scauered in it,
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