Ep. 6 - Search for the Isle of Black Palms: Al-Rathak Solo Actual Play

The sixth episode of the actual play write-up of my game set in an upcoming Arabian-nights themed setting book called Al-Rathak: Tales of the Crescent Kingdoms

The Kal-Arath system by Castle Grief can be found here.

You can find Al-Rathak in both Print and PDF here.

Format Notes:

The fiction of the adventure will be written in regular text, but any game mechanics will be in grey code blocks or italicized. O> Refers to the game oracle being used.
Kal-Arath uses a 2d6+Attribute vs 8+ resolution system.
Example: 2d6 + 2 Agility = (7+2) = 9, Success!

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"I am Khalid Al-Fayez, a proud sailor of Al-Rathak! My humble yet reliable ship, The Grey Starling, and its loyal crew have sailed the coasts near Anipsed for years. But now, we yearn for adventure—to seek out distant shores, unearth lost treasures, and claim eternal glory as explorers. Rumors whisper of a lost island hidden in the Sea of Whispering Winds, a place where a great treasure lies beneath the canopy of black-leafed palm trees."

Daily Procedure:
1.EXPLORATION
2.WEATHER
3.GETTING LOST (1-2 on d6 = lost)
4.FORAGE (Forest or River +1)
5.ROLL FOR POINT OF INTEREST (POI)
6.ROLL FOR ENCOUNTER
7.CAMP, SPEND RESOURCES, RECOVER
8.END OF DAY/SESSION

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In his last adventure, Khalid and his new ally Amir manage to defeat the giant spiders and clear out most of the castle, but a sinister threat still lurks in the last chamber…

Day 47: Partly Sunny (Continued)

• Khalid and Amir discuss whether or not to risk exploring that last ghoul-guarded room. Even if its gilded interior hinted that there was treasure to be found, it would be dangerous to attack them without taking the time to recover from their battles with the spiders first.

• (Encounter! > Pirate Captain + (5) Crew, Reaction> Friendly, Oracle> Break Curse) As they make their way back to the main chamber from the back of the castle, they suddenly spot a group of pirates standing there! They notice Khalid and Amir at the same time, but curiously, they call out in a friendly tone. “Ho there! I am Captain Leila Al-Mansur, who might you people be?” A scarred woman steps to the front of the group, holding a torch overhead.

• “We are merely adventurers looking for ancient relics, but there seems to be nothing of any worth left in this place. We were the ones who killed all of these spiders.” Khalid points to the burnt giant spider corpses dotting the room.

• “We avoided the castle for that same reason; it was infested with those beasts, and we thought it was cursed! My men and I use this island as…a stopping point for our ship to resupply,” she says slyly.

• “We did not mean to intrude on your island, our humblest apologies of course.” Thinking quickly, Khalid says, “There is another chamber filled with spiders left in the castle. Once we’ve cleared those out, we promise to leave both the castle and island this very night.” (PRE check > Success!)

• Laila seems to be very happy to hear this. Clearing out this massive castle at no risk to her and her men? An easy choice. She agrees and leaves them alone, leading her men back out into the jungle.

• Once the pirates are gone, Khalid and Amir talk again. The pirates might still attack them, their ship or who knows what else. They couldn’t afford to wait another night. They make their way near the gilded chamber. They see the forms of the armoured ghouls inside, standing guard around a now decayed but once golden bed at the center of the room. They make a quick plan, Khalid would defend the narrow doorway with his spear while Amir threw Blazing Palm fireballs into the room from behind him. Khalid quickly downs a Haste Potion in preparation, feeling its burning tingle spread to his extremities.

• They nod at each other, then charge the room! Khalid runs to the narrow doorway and blocks it with his form, leveling his spear. The undead swarm towards them instantly, silent aside from the scrape and clatter of their rotted bones.

• Khalid spears one, but his strike glances off its rusted armor. The undead hack away at him with bronze axes, but their feeble attacks can’t get past his new chainmail armor (0 dmg).

• They watch in horror as a powerful-looking undead warrior clad in ancient armor rises from the bed. The figure towers over the other ghouls and raises a blade carved with runes towards them.

• “Target that one!” yells Khalid, and Amir sends a torrent of flame flying over his head and right into the Ancient Warlord (2 dmg). A ghoul manages to scratch him (1dmg), but as he spins around, another of the wretches manages to cut him deep with its axe (5 dmg!)

• Khalid stabs the attacker through the head, wrenching it off. The pile of flesh and bone collapses, but another moves to take its place. Amir fires another Blazing Palm at the Warlord, burning black marks on his armor.

• Kahlid deftly dodges the clumsy attacks of the undead and hits another one straight through, killing it again (5 dmg). The Warlord raises its arms and commands its thralls forward, but only two can attack through the narrow doorway at a time. Amir tries to cast another Blazing Palm, but the spell fails! Amir tries to throw his knife at the Warlord but barely gets a glancing blow (1dmg).

• Khalid’s armor keeps him alive as he kills another corpse. The Warlord roars in rage and leaps forward into the fray. The Warlord pushes aside his own ghoul and swings his glowing runeblade high! (Crit Fail) By some miracle, the strike hits the lintel of the door and sticks itself into the soft, rotten wood harmlessly.

• Khalid seizes this chance and thrusts his spear right into the Warlord’s chest (8 crit dmg!) The Warlord staggers back, leaking a foul-smelling black ooze from its gaping wound. His thralls rush forward, but can do nothing against Khalid’s careful spear skills. As long as they can hold onto this chokepoint, they have a chance!

• The Warlord wrenches its Runeblade from the doorway and swings it at Khalid as one of his thralls swings their axe at him. Khalid ducks below their weapons and stabs the closest ghoul, destroying yet another foe in a single blow!

• Khalid manages to keep them at bay for a few moments more, then leaps forward and stabs the Warlord again (5 dmg). The Warlord looks nearly defeated!

• His hope withers instantly as a Ghoul manages to get past his guard and strike him a glancing blow (1 dmg). Before he can recover, the Warlord leaps and slashes him hard (9 crit dmg!). Khalid reels back, bleeding from the devastating wound on his leg (Permanent Stat Reduction > -1 Agility).

• (Khalid has 1 HP left, Caution vs Reckless > 13 Reckless!) Khalid claws at the last remnants of his strength and reels toward the Warlord. Letting out a scream, he stabs his blade true and sends its point directly through the Warlord’s skull. The undead horror lets out a rattling sigh and collapses to the floor. Amir rushes to Khalid’s defense and tries to fight the last ghoul left. The undead’s bronze axe catches him in the arm (3dmg), but he returns the favor and stabs it through with his sword (5dmg), ending the battle. They stood in victorious silence for a while, thinking about how close they had just been to joining their enemies in undeath.

• Khalid draws the healing potion from his pack and drinks it greedily, feeling the pain wracking his body dissipate somewhat (+5 HP). Khalid leans down and lifts the Runeblade from where it fell at the Warlord’s feet. They carefully search the chamber, finding an old chest holding 100 tarnished silver coins. Amir lifts a strange box from the floor, examining it closely. The small ornate chest contained neatly arranged pouches of some strange-smelling powders. There were five different varieties with 6 full doses of each. Amir smiles, “My friend, we have found something truly valuable here, many of these alchemical ingredients have not been found in decades, maybe centuries! The Silver Merchants Guild will be more than happy with this discovery, more than finding the Isles themselves, perhaps.”

• They agree that Amir should keep the box of powders as Khalid straps the softly glowing Runeblade to his belt. He bends down and severs the dead Warlord’s head to bring with him as a trophy. Wearily, they make their way back out to the entrance of the accused castle and step into the jungle…

• Defeating the Warlord and clearing the Dungeon = 3XP

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End of Session Notes: The fight was far more intense than I had hoped! Khalid was a single bad roll away from death, and the injury to his leg has permanently reduced his AGI stat, so future battles may not swing in my favor…

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I’ll post more of these as Khalid explores and (playtests) the Al-Rathak setting book created by Charles F Bryant, II & me, SilverNightingale! You can find Al-Rathak in both Print and PDF here.

You can find more of my work here: https://silvernightingale.itch.io/

Character Sheet LV 4
Name: Khalid Al-Fayez
XP: 3/5
Stats-----
STR(ength) +1
AGI(lity) +0
TOU(ghness) +0
INT(elligence +1
PRE(scence) +1

HP: (6/15)

Skills:
Sailor - Advantage to survival related rolls when at Sea
Stealth - Adv to stealh checks

Weapon: Runeblade (1d6 + Special: 2/6 chance to instantly kill enemy on a crit)

Equipment:
Torch
Waterskin
Flint&Steel
Hammer and Stakes
Spear (d6)
Masterwork Chainmail (3 Armor)

Silver: 102

Notes:
Has a small dhow ship called the Grey Starling, crewed by two hired crew (Samir & Rafi) 

Personality Matrix*
Reckless/Cautious 12
Cruel/Empathetic 7
Paranoid/Rational 10
Deceptice/Honest 8
Indulgent/Frugal 9
Curious/Indifferent 14
Greedy/Generous 14

*The personality matrix works by rolling a d20 vs the personality score to see how this character will react to different situations. From Just One Torch solo toolkit.