The Long Way Round Sample

Structural sample, not content. This exists so the module template, the metadata fields and the listing layout can be seen working. The scenario itself is a placeholder built from the worked example already in Jeff's RPG dev notes.md — it is not authored content and should be deleted or replaced.

For: 3–5 players, one session, no experience needed. Dice: the Narrator hands out d4, d6, d12.

The premise

The party is escorting a merchant's cart through country that would rather they didn't. A tree has come down across the road. That's it. That's the adventure — everything after this is what the players decide to do about it.

Why it works as a first session

There is no correct answer, and every Skill has a way in:

Approach	Skill	The Narrator's difficulty
Shift the tree by main force	Physical	d12 — high difficulty, alone
Field-modify the cart for the sand alongside the road	Mental	d8 — challenging
Talk the whole party into hauling together	Spiritual, then Physical	d6 once six people pull

That last row is the lesson, and it teaches itself: the hardest roll became the easiest one because someone thought to ask for help. New players work this out in about four minutes and never forget it.

Running it

1. Describe the road, the cart, the merchant's nerves. Ask what they do.
2. Say yes to anything reasonable. Call for a roll only when failure would be interesting.
3. On a tie, give both sides something — the tree shifts and the axle cracks.
4. When they're through, ask what the merchant was really carrying.

If you need more