El looks up from the fields of rye. His sweat-covered cloth shirt, his torn breeches, and his basic boots aren’t exactly the greatest clothes. But his hard work has earned him actual clothes. Half the people in Belrond have rags, most of them don’t own shoes. El had bought his off a traveling cobbler. His clothes are impressive in this town, not just the ones he’s wearing, but the fact he has three whole outfits. They are nothing compared to what he saw.

The first man walking on the far road heading out of town wears plate armor with padded gambeson underneath. The sun beating down on the fields reflects off him like a beacon. He holds a massive sword over his shoulder that has glowing runes running down it.

El knew from his father that an adventurer on the front line had the highest costing gear. He might be wearing near 30000 silver worth of gear. But those Runes were troubling. Most runes last either a minute, an hour, a day, or ten days. The tavern in town had a rune. The barkeep, Mr. Drigs says that the rune keeps the whole tavern warm. That his hearth is mostly just for looks nowadays. He spends one gold every ten days to have that rune active. Always says it was worth the money.

Behind him is a man in leather armor, with high-quality cloth underneath dyed green, and an elven bow on his back. His gear, if of good quality could cost up to 5000 silver. Which is considerably less than the tank of the party. Yet his training and expertise with that bow would be unmatched amongst any normal archer.

The woman in the rear wears a few fine pieces of steel strapped on her arms, legs, and chest. Underneath is leather padding and a holy symbol bounced on a necklace she wore. Gods were always a tricky subject. No god had risen to hold domain over this land, yet foreigners often brought their own religions. The steel the cleric wore might make her outfit somewhere between the cost of the two other soldiers. Although it didn't look like the local iron. It looked like the denser variants the dwarfs pulled out of the Wyrm Heart Volcano to the North.

They’re adventurers. Known by many locals as Rat-Catchers. Since they find the lairs of monsters, destroy the lairs, and send the surviving monsters scrounging through the wilderness. El’s father had been killed by an ogre passing through the woods near here. The ogre’s whole clan was killed by adventurers and the monster was desperate for food, water, and shelter. El’s father just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.

El turns back to the fields of rye and with new determination slashes with his sickle. The human is only eighteen and has been working as a field hand for an aging farmer for the last four years.

One of the other fieldhands, a halfling only two years older than El, starts to catch up to the younger human as he goes through his section of the field. The halfling has cloth wrapped around his feet, a dirty white shirt with a hole in the right armpit, and overalls on. He flicks his blonde hair out of his eyes as he looks over at El.

“You aren’t really saving up all your money to be like them, are you?”

“I am.” El continues to harvest the field of rye.

“Shame, poor Arkin is gonna lose his best field hand.”

“Top, mind your own business.” El glares back at the halfling.

“Of course Master El.” The halfling bows and smiles.

“They were the ones hired to kill the kobolds?” El looks back towards the road.

“Yeah, so what?” Top squints trying to look out that far.

“I can finish my field in two hours and catch up to them at their pace.” El grips his sickle and continues to work.

“Are you crazy?” The halfling smiles.

El continues to work at a good pace.

“Oh god. What. You’re serious?” Top screams. “You can’t!”

“Watch me!” El yells over his shoulder.

Earn Capital

Result = Silver Earned

20% chance random event

Profession: Farming

3(D20)+9(Skill)=12

46%=No event

El pockets his change from the old human farmer, Arkin, before running to the barn. He climbs up into the rafters to his perch that the farmer helped him build. He pays the farmer 30 silver a month for the place to sleep and for access to his food and water. Arkin considers the boy similar to his own children.

El grabs a cloak, his gloves, a leather padded jacket, and a small crossbow. He ties a box of bolts to his belt on one side, tucks his sickle on the other side, and then grabs cloth wrappings he used to wear like shoes. He ties the cloth around his arms.

“I can do this.” El breathes deeply before leaving the barn. The boy grabs a shovel by the door on his way out. He runs down the road leading out of town and looks out across the fields of rye that surround the town. More to harvest tomorrow. But today. Today is his first adventure.

El follows the road while keeping a lookout for the adventurers. He knows kobolds have been raiding the outlying areas. They’re a tad more harmful than rats at most. They are small-scaled beings whom El’s father always described as pitiful. This was El’s first opponent. Maybe he could manage it.

Notice Someone/Something

Hear the sound of battle

DC = 10

Perception

17(D20)+5(skill)=22

Passed by more than 10.

El snaps to attention as he hears a crack of thunder. The sky is clear, the sun is still beating down, but the sound came from around here. The young human looks to either side at the nearby hills. Only a few trees dot the rolling landscape. El spots a set of tracks heading off the road going to his right. He quickly follows them, smelling blood in the air, as he gets closer.

At the top of the hill, the young teen looks down at the opening to a hand-dug cavern in the next hill in front of him. Two kobolds lie dead outside it. El sees a flash of movement. He drops to the ground aiming his old and poorly made crossbow towards the cave entrance. He loads a bolt and pulls it back into place.

As soon as he sees scales he pulls the trigger.

Standard Action

Light Crossbow

DC= 15 (Flatfooted 14)

Attack Roll

13(D20)+1(Skill)=14

5 Damage

The bolt flies true and pierces through the scaly chest of the kobold. The creature's arms fall first, dropping a spear that it had in its grip. Its legs trip up underneath it and the body falls down into the grass with a heavy thunk.

El quickly reloads and aims once more. The bolt tip trains towards the cavern entrance as two more figures come running out.

Standard Action

Light Crossbow

DC= 15 (Flatfooted 14)

Attack Roll

2(D20)+1(Skill)=3

Miss

The bolt goes wide, and El quickly reloads. The two kobolds both look up at El, and charge up the hill towards him. Only fifteen feet away by the time the teen’s crossbow comes back up to fire again.

Standard Action

Light Crossbow

DC= 15 (Flatfooted 14)

Attack Roll

19(D20)+1(Skill)=20

6 Damage

The bolt looses, slamming through the skull of the nearest kobold. El drops the crossbow as he rises up to his feet and draws his sickle. The kobold charges him with a sharpened stick aimed at his midsection.

Reaction

No Armor

AC = 11

Armor Class

4(D20)+1(Skill) = 5

Miss

El dodges to the side pushing the spear away. He quickly brings his sickle up to slice down at the scaled runt.

Standard Action

Sickle

DC= 15 (Flatfooted 14)

Attack Roll

12(D20)+1(Skill)=13

Miss

The kobold rolls forward dodging the slash and quickly turns thrusting his spear up towards El’s side.

Reaction

No Armor

AC = 11

Armor Class

9(D20)+1(Skill) = 10

Miss

The spear grazes El’s side and stabs through the back of his jacket. El pulls at the spear with his free hand, yanking the kobold closer, before slamming his sickle down.

Standard Action

Sickle

DC= 15 (Flatfooted 14)

Attack Roll

20(D20)+1(Skill)=21

Critical Damage(3+1)x2=8

The sickle tears through the kobold's shoulder. El yanks forward and pushes the kobold past him. The scaled monster tumbles down the hill as his blood sprays across the grass. El wipes some sweat from his brow before shoving his sickle back into his belt. He walks over to his crossbow, picks it up, and reloads it.

“That might be enough for today.” El looks over at the setting sun, his hands shaking, and his muscles tense.

He snaps his attention to the cavern as he hears voices growing nearer. He changes position, moving to a different hillside, and lays on the ground out of eyesight. Keeping his crossbow trained forward.

The three adventurers emerge from the cave. The man in plate armor has a few scuffs on his equipment. The blood on him must be the kobolds. The elf has a few cuts and scrapes. The woman looks untouched. El’s eyes flick towards the cave mouth as a kobold creeps out and pulls his spear back to throw it.

Standard Action

Light Crossbow

DC= 15 (Flatfooted 14)

Attack Roll

15(D20)+1(Skill)=16

5 Damage

The bolt flies true and slams into the kobold. It lets out a gasp as it falls limp. Its spear clatters back into the cave. El immediately squirms away behind cover and begins to make his retreat.

The three adventurers turn back towards the kobold. The woman walks over and crouches by the body, the armored man sets his sword down and leans on it. The elven man takes a look at the body before his eyes go wide. He immediately flicks his vision in the direction the bolt came from.

Opposed Roll

Notice Someone vs Hide

DC = Opposed

Perception

15(D20)+7(Skill)= 22

Distracted - 5

Stealth

7(D20)+1(Skill)= 8

Distance + 5

“Someone is over there,” the elven man says, nodding to the hill El was just on.

“I’m tired. Not my fight,” the armored man belts.

“That someone just helped us out. I count four more sets of kobold ears here for the bounty,” the woman chimes in.

"If some farmer is out there hunting monsters we are either going to be put on clean-up duty, or worse we will be up against a rogue adventurer." The elf hisses.

"A Ratcatcher would be bad for business." The woman huffs. "We don't want a rogue system user."

"I'll figure out a way to clean up this issue." The knight grumbles. "Flushing out a wanna-be hero encroaching on our quests is nothing new."

El, now out of earshot, runs down the road. Heading back home, he runs as long as he can, taking short breaks off the side of the road where he feels safer. But he makes it back home with no conflict.

Gained EXP

400 EXP

400/3000 EXP

At home, El takes a bath in the farmhouse, enjoys dinner with Arkin and his family, and then heads back to the barn. His head buzzes with possibilities and worry. He always knew that he would have to fight as an adventurer. The real thing left his hands shaky and his gut twisted. Their blood was just as red as his.

This was what he wanted though. An adventure, but they called him a rogue system user. What's a system?