"The Baskervile's Hound"
A Flintloque Scenario by Matthew Hartley
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Far from the gaslit streets of Londinium on the blasted heath of Dark Morr, the recent disappearance and brutal murder of a fair Orcish lass has led to an investigation by those renowned detectives Sherloque Homes and Dr Watsorc into the ancient Ostarian family, the Baskervile's.
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On the blasted heath of Dark Morr stands the lonely but imposing residence of the Baskervile clan, an ancient family of Ostarian extraction, long settled in Albion. Hefty bribes have kept the family free from the unwelcome attentions of the authorities during the Mordredian Wars, however, the recent disappearance and brutal murder of a fair Orcish lass has led to an investigation by those renowned detectives Sherloque Homes and Dr Watsorc.
Their snooping has uncovered the Baskerviles dark secret – Spotte, a young scion of the family only recently out of puppyhood, whose monthly bouts of lunacy have him strip off and run naked with the wolves by moonlight. Suspecting Spotte is guilty of the murder, Holmes, Watsorc and three local Flayers have tracked him down to his lair on the moor. Little do they know that the real perpetrator, the legendary Beast of Dark Morr, has also smelt out Spotte and his pack and is after a tasty treat!
Set Up
The Dark Morr moor is scrubland, but Spotte’s lair is a cave in a rocky outcrop (in the centre of the table), otherwise there is no terrain of note. It is night and an oppressive fog shrouds the landscape. Visibility is reduced to 12cm, so no one may fire at a target beyond that range. The Beast and the Dire Wolves ignore the visabilty reductions for their tests, as they are use to the conditions on the Morr and have excellent night vision.
Holmes, Watsorc and the Flayers enter the table from one edge, the Beast from the opposite edge, and Spotte and his pack start in the cave.
Holmes, Watsorc and the Flayers
Holmes & Watsorc
Sherloque Holmes [Veteran Regular Orc]
Sword, Standard Pistol
Holmes is a master swordsman and has an additional +2 bonus with the weapon. He does not need to make morale checks as is totally self-confident. At the start of the game there is 15% chance that he is on laudanum which gives him a one left column shift to all shooting rolls and a +1 bonus in melee.
Dr. John Watsorc [Experienced Regular Orc]
Standard Pistol
The Flayers
Flayer Hodd [Average Orc]
Standard Pistol, Rifle, Club (Small Improvised Weapon)
Flayer Odd [Raw Orc]
Standard Pistol, Rifle, Club (Small Improvised Weapon)
Flayer Sodd [Raw Orc]
Standard Pistol, Rifle, Club (Small Improvised Weapon)
Their objective is to kill the Beast and capture Spotte, leading him off the table.
Spotte and his Dire Wolves
Spotte has a pack of 6 Dire Wolves.
Spotte [Average Dog]
Standard pistol, Sword.
Spotte’s lunacy makes him a fearsome opponent in close combat. He gains an additional +2 modifier on all close combat rolls.
Whilst Spotte is free and alive, the wolves may be controlled by his player for all their movements and attacks. However if Spotte is killed or captured, the wolves each react as per the reaction table below. For the full rules on using the reaction tables see my "Wilde Thinges" article here on Orcs in the Webbe.
| Dire Wolf | |
|
Steady
|
2
|
|
Wounds
|
3
|
|
Prowl
|
6cm
|
|
Run
|
22cm
|
|
Charge
|
32cm
|
|
Melee Modifier
|
+3
|
| Roll | In Melee | Wounded Last Turn | Shot at This Turn | Firing / Fire Within Run Speed Distance | Enemy Within Run Speed Distance | Enemy Beyond Charge Speed Distance |
| 1 | F | R | R | F | R | R |
| 2 | R | R | H | R | H | H |
| 3 | A | P | P | H | P | P |
| 4 | A | A | A | P | A | A |
| 5 | A | A | A | A | A | A |
| 6 | A | C | C | A | C | C |
A = Attack. Move at run speed towards nearest opponent and engage in melee.
C = Charge. Move at charge speed towards nearest opponent and engage in melee.
H = Halt. Make no movement, defend itself if in melee.
F = Flee. Move at half Charge speed away from opponents. If this is impossible then treat this result as an attack (A) result.
R = Retreat. Move at 75% run speed away from nearest opponents. If this is impossible then treat the result as an attack (A) result.
P = Prowl. Move in a randomly determined direction (roll d12 and use a clock face) at Prowl speed, fight if in melee.
Spotte’s objective is to kill the Beast (which threatens his pack) and escape off the table without being captured by the Flayers and Holmes.
The Beast of Dark Morr
The Beast is a Jabberwocky, who uses the standard Jabberwocky statistics and reaction table from my "Wilde Thinges" article here on Orcs in the Webbe.
The Beast is not controlled by either player and simply uses the reaction table to determine his actions.
The Beast is rather tough and both players will probably need to co-operate to kill it. The key is how long they work together before betraying each other in best Valonian fashion.
Acknowledgements
I have used the statistics and name spellings for Holmes and Watsorc from Phil Sherlock’s article, "Sherloque Holmes and the Case of the Dastardly Doktorov". Watsorc is however without his trusty Elephant Gun as with it the Beast doesn’t stand a chance!
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Webmaster's Notes
Originally published on Orcs in the Webbe on the 10th December 2008 as part the 2008 Advent Calendar.
It was absent for several years due to a prior regeneration of the website not transferring everything over correctly, the wrong has now been righted and it returned on the 16th November 2014 as part of Orcs in the Webbe's ongoing Flintloque Archive Project.
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