The Story Begins - The Song of Thalia

Last year, I started exploring the solo world of role-playing games. Amazingly, I came across some fantastic mechanisms that can be translated into the world of wargamer, but that's another blog. Eventually, the role-playing began to take up all my gaming time, so I placed my role-playing on hold. However, I have some great characters that I could try out in the more scenario-orientated games. Therefore, Thalia Songweaver moved from my D&D campaign to the dangerous world of Shadow Deep.

Rangers of the Shadow Deep.

Shadow Deep is a solo and cooperative tabletop miniatures game by Joseph A. McCullough, the creator of Frostgrave. The premise is that an evil shadow slowly expands across the Kingdom of Alladore. Rangers and their small band of followers are hired or volunteer to enter the forest to learn the cause of the evil and destroy its minions. Enter Talia and her hastily assembled companions.

Thalia Songweaver.

Thalia Songweaver is a striking young woman with an air of mystery. It is even rumoured that she has fey blood. She makes her living by singing in the inns and taverns of Tallis, the fortress capital of Alladore. During the day, she explores the old ruins while studying Alladore’s ancient forebears.

Thalia's slender figure moves with grace and silent agility, making her a master of stealth and subterfuge. Her attire is a blend of practicality and style. She dons a dark leather outfit that allows her to blend into the shadows effortlessly. The subtle embroidery and intricate patterns on her clothing hint at her fey heritage, a touch of elegance in her otherwise pragmatism.

The Companions 

At this stage in the adventure, I have yet to develop companions other than giving them names. The plan is to make them more three-dimensional as the story develops and if they survive their first encounters with the Shadow Deep. Here they are,

• Aurlia Hearthstone - Healer
• Ragnor Battleborn - Fighter
• Calistra Nyx - Fighter
• Emhyr var Emreis - Archer
• Galderas - Battle Mage

The Gang Minus 1 as Ragnor, who missed the photoshoot

The First Adventure

I followed the suggested chronological order, so my first games took place in a woodland village, searching for a lost ranger. The story then continued into the invested forest plagued by giant spiders. I will not give a blow-by-blow battle account, but I will give what I tried to achieve in these first encounters and some thoughts on the game.

• My main aim is to determine how this group worked as a team. In the village scenario, the heroes started by the village well in the centre of the clearing. The strategy was to use Emhyr, the archer, and Galderas, my battle mage, as a fire support base as Thalia and the two fighters hunted for the ranger and clues about what had happened to the deserted farmsteads. Aurelia, the last member of the team, would act as support, healing anyone who got into trouble.
• The hero of this first encounter was Calistra Nyx, who seemed to have a panache for destroying zombies with one strike. Calistra found the ranger's body, Aventine, and his magical sword. Ragnor, my other fighter, seemed to take on the personality of a bodyguard or protector, something that developed further in the second scenario.
• Galdreas, the battle mage, had a mixed couple of games. Perhaps his most noticeable characteristic is his clumsiness. In the forest, he spent most of the game fighting in a spider web and only escaped when everything was decided. His main contribution was as a fighter rather than a mage, raising the question of this slot.
• Emhyr, the team’s marksman, started off nondescript. He shot a few zombies and spiders. He did his bit, but nothing special.  
• Aurelia, the healer, was underused by myself. I treated her a bit like a glass vase, so I held her back. When she had to fight, she did hold her own, and her healing ability was used to restore Ragnor. Should she be on the team? The jury is still out.

What about Thalia herself?

I played her cautiously in the deserted village game, not realising the woman's power. Something I discovered only when she slew a few zombies and harpies. I had replaced the giant fly with harpies because I had some excellent figures in my collection. In the second game, in the forest, I went to the other extreme, and she strode off unsupported and ended up with a poisonous wound. Even your best characters are vulnerable when isolated. However, the two scenarios earned enough experience points to upgrade some of her attributes/skills.

Anyway, here are a few photos of the first chapter from the Song of Thalia

Some Thoughts

While Rangers of the Shadow Deep rules are relatively simple, they present some thoughtful strategic choices. At this early stage, I play the characters in pairs where I can give the best support from some muscle, the fighters in the team. The magic-orientated characters are more challenging to play because of the limited availability of spells, so judging the time to let them unleash their powers is difficult. In the first scenario, I never used any magic, just in case something worse was around the corner. 

Also, playing the game, the characters become more 3 dimensional. The standout character of these introductory games was Calistra Nyx, who had a fantastic skill at throwing great dice against zombies. However, strangely, she was less effective against spiders and harpies. There must be a story in this? Something I plan to develop as I think of giving her a backstory. The other characters did not jump off the 'page' so much, but all gained something that made them more discernible; Ragnor was solid and dependable, Galdreas, the mage, was clumsy and slightly comical, and Aurlia a shy and reserved person, but still waters run deep!

Even these brief introductory thoughts show one of the game's hidden gems: You become emotionally invested in how the characters come to life. I love narrative and depth in my gaming, and this is a massive plus to these rules.