This is less of a review and more of a “How do you use
that?” I have run this Lamentations ofthe Flame Princess (LotFP) A Single, Small Cut by Michael Curtis somewhere between 20 –
30 times. As I have mentioned in other articles, I run a college tabletop club,
and used this adventure to introduce dozen of young people too OSR style
gaming, and RPGs in general. I usually run the scenario in a very particular
way, and it acts to funnel the characters to the story. I run this solely as a
horror one-shot, though one game’s outcome would have been an excellent start
to a campaign. I do think that this is a great scenario for the one shot, or a
Con Game. This encounter is quite deadly and could completely derail a
campaign, so beware on that front. The vast majority of my games running this
module end with the entire party dying, which is perfect for a horror one-shot.
The rest of the article assumes that you are familiar with the A Single,Small Cut adventure. If you are not, buy it for $2 because it is worth it.
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| Great art on the cover and throughout the book. |
The
first thing that I do is use a set of pre-generated characters
that I found on the internet for the background of the story. I am not sure how
I found these, and they are LotFP characters, from the Witch:The Road to Lindisfarne story game. I had played Witch in the past in its
regular format, and was surprised to see these characters morphed into LotFP
format. Having pre-generated characters is a huge plus in running one-shots
because it speeds up the game and allows people to jump right into the action.
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| Another great game, but very different from LotFP. |
For
setting, as with typical LotFP, I set the game right after the Second Crusade.
This crusade in general was a mess, and the people returning home most likely
did not feel good about the endeavor. This group of characters is on their way
back to Sir Hayden’s lands in the northern parts of England. Brother Armond is
Sir Hayden’s family personal confessor, Ham is a guide and general servant to the
group, Berrick is Sir Hayden’s young, idealistic squire, and finally “Sir” Thorne
is a mercenary who is being paid to get the group back to the north. While
traveling back to the north, one of the party members takes ill to the point
that they need to convalesce and can no longer travel. If you are short a
player, don’t allow someone to pick Sir Hayden, and make it him. If you have a
full set of players, I usually make it Baron Wharton. It then become his land
they are traveling towards, Brother Armond is his confessor, and Sir Hayden is
his loyal knight.
Lucky
for the group, Brother Armond was a novitiate from this area of Southern
England and knows of a town, with a church (St. Gothard’s) that is very close. Once
they get to the small town, everyone keeps the doors locked, and the streets
are empty. I usually explain this as thousands of crusaders are coming home,
and some are not so gentle with the townsfolk when they come through. They now
have a healthy fear of outsiders, but the church stands out in the middle of
the poor village. Brother Armond knows the parish priest, I usually call him
Father Andrews, who was a jolly rotund man with a large appetite. This ties
Brother Armond to the church, and when “Father Clement” says that the priest is
away, some suspicion can start brewing.
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| "Father Clement" as played by Steve Buscemi |
Speaking
of “Father Clement” I trying and play him as straight as possible, but have him
have a lack of language, so to speak. Instead of calling it an altar, he will
refer to it as a table or other faux pas. A smart player one time started
talking to the “Father” in Latin, and insulting him, the “Father” just nodded
and smiled, and gave himself away. I also always have “Father Clement” demand
that weapons are left in the Narthex, because “weapons do not belong in a house
of God”, or something of that sort. Most D&D parties are very wary of
disarming, so this is when I bring in the ill party member and have them start moaning,
even coughing up blood. This puts a slight ticking clock, and pressures them to
comply. Usually I end up with a few players that will disarm, and a few that
will “wait outside”, which is just as good. At some point someone conversing
with “Father Clement” will notice the titular Single, Small Cut and this is
generally about the time that I spring their trap. “Father Clement” shows his
true colors as Clement the Strangler, and the four bandits in the Choir Loft
start raining crossbow shots down on the party. At this point my games have
varied quite a bit depending on several factors. I often have half the party in
the Nave, unarmed and the other half outside of milling around the Narthex.
Most of the time, someone runs upstairs, and I have the two bandits that are
reloading attempt to stop them at the door. Many times people in the Nave look
for makeshift weapons and attempt to keep Clement at bay. All of this builds
towards the 4th and 6th rounds.
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| A close approximation from the movies. |
If the
party tries to directly engage this thing, odds are that is going to be the end
for the party. Their best plan is to use missile weapons. I do have a temporary
truce between all parties and the crossbowmen attack the beast. For the next
two rounds, they will help before running or if Clement is killed, they will run
immediately. I have yet to have a party not kill the beast, but often they are
beat up and most likely lost someone. I will often have the ill member of the
party, be it Sir Hayden or Baron Wharton, see the beast from their stretcher,
and rise up to do battle in one final glorious charge. He is usually ripped
into several pieces, but this lets the party know the threat is real. Once the
Corrector of Sins is dead, I have it fall into its component pieces.
At this
point they should run, but I have yet to have a party not want to go and
explore the crypts below. I am often running low on time so I hand wave the tactical
approach and narrate the journey down into the crypts. Once they reach the
ritual room, I add all sorts of flavor for a circumstance of “You should not
touch this!” I talk about how there are demonic images, the room smells of sulfur,
and there is a general bad vibe in the room. I contrast that with the size, beauty,
and worth of the “gem”. Eventually curiosity wins the day and someone grabs the
“gem” and the clapper goes off. It is often the end of the time slot so I
narrate how the bodies reform, this time even larger due to the other dead from
the fight, and the Corrector of Souls starts to come back down the stairs. Then
the screen fades to black. A good horror ending, if I do say so myself. I have
only one time had someone cautiously pick up the “gem” with a cloth, make the
saving throw, then stuff the cloth in the bell to prevent it from sounding. I
was shocked, but it was great. They realized in general what this was, and
decided they needed to take the bell to a major city so that church officials
come examine it. Once they got back upstairs they realized that the town
assumed they murdered everyone in the chapel, and began to burn the church
down, another ending I was happy with at the time.
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| Thanks Tony |
As I
said earlier, this is a great little module, and it has the perfect pacing for
a singular event. I could see this as a springboard to a bigger campaign, if
they live. As with the above paragraph they could try and get the bell to
someone in authority, and then begin a quest to find the other items that are
out there in the world. The actual background for this little module that sadly
most players never get to hear, is quality material. You could add these items
to any OSR game and they would fit right in. I think I have prattled on long
enough, so pick this up if you haven’t and give it a go the next time you are
in a lurch to run a quick game.
this was great!
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