One Hit Die - Crushmas

Torvold (Andrew David Long) is haunted by a goblin he killed, just as Morley haunted Scrooge.  Before the goblin ghost can detail the 3 visitations that will purge the greed from Torvold, Gwen (Larissa Thompson) arrives.  The healer's presence destroys the ghost and the peril was no more.  Gwen offers Torvold a Christmas present: a face carved in wood.  He is indifferent.  Sasha (Julie Orton) arrives and tells how she used her carved face for kindling.  Neither Sasha nor Torvold got anything for Gwen.  It is then that Sasha describes the holiday of her people: Crushmas.  The goal is to travel into the woods and slay the white spirit of the forest and loot it.  Sasha, Torvold, and a reluctant Gwen trek into the snowy woods to find the spirit and kill it.  Azarus (Phil Burke) does not accompany them as he is combatting a gelatinous boob.  Through happenstance, the party encounters a snow troll, which Sasha gladly accepts as the spirit of the forest to be slain.  Comedy follows as the troll heals faster than they can injure it.

A 2-episode Christmas special, it is brief yet entertaining.  Recommended.

One Hit Die - Prologue

Gwen (Larissa Thompson) is a healer who is leading a party to recover the Orb of Maldova, an artifact that will allow them to defeat the Obsidian Sorcerer.  Her party consists of Sasha the Fighter (Julie Orton), Torvold the Rogue (Andrew David Long), and Azurus the Wizard (Phil Burke).  While trekking toward the Goblin Mines, Sasha slays something that looked evil.  That started an argument.  Torvold is angry that, yet again, Sasha has proven to be an experience hog.  Gwen is upset that she didn't get to talk to the creature; maybe it knew something about the Orb of Maldova.  Azurus is annoyed because he is suffering from a hangover.  No sooner have they resumed their trek than a goblin appears.

"Hello," the goblin says.

Sasha hacks the goblin, who does not die.  Torvold finishes it off with a stone from his sling.  "We share experience for that one!" he declares triumphantly.  Gwen is again upset that they didn't talk to the goblin.  Azurus is again annoyed when Torvold wants him to use magic to identify a clearly worthless dagger.

Titled Prologue, this 4-episode adventure introduces a mostly incompetent set of heroes on a failed mission.  They are not yet high enough level to tackle the quest and must return to the Rat Forest to slay rats and gain experience before they again venture back toward the Goblin Mines.  There were several times where the series clearly identified itself as a gaming session.  When Torvold ran the numbers on four standard goblins vs. his party and decided it would take the goblins 28 attacks to finish them while it would take 35 to take out the goblins.  Yes!  The complaints about experience point hogs and the constant reference to leveling up.  Good gamer fun.

Will the party return for further adventures or was this a pilot that didn't spawn a series?