Scene 4
Can Dart break the bandits
Dart is sat
in the lodges mess hall, with half a dozen wounded bandits and a Blood Monk tied
to the benches.
“I am going
to make this easy.” He says, “Help me find your mistress, or die a painful
death. Your choice.”
Lets not
dwell on this. A simple intimidate roll will do.
First he will
roll Physique (for 1+2=3, and a single free invoke on Menacing Machine), then he will overcome with provoke (for 0+1=1,
+2 for menacing machine = 3, succeeding).
It doesn’t
take much more than veiled threats to break the bandits. First one offers
something, then another caves in, and it is like opening the flood gates. Only
the Monk refuses to break, offering little more than insolent threats and stony
glares. It doesn’t matter. By playing the bandits against each other, Dart is
soon able to piece together the location of the Clerics hideout.
Scene 5
Can Dart Capture (or kill) Thurellna?
After a short
hike back through the wilderness, Dart manages to track down another hunting
lodge. This one little more than a small wooden shack surrounded by a dozen or
so tents and campfires, along with the sounds of men cooking and relaxing. If
his prisoners were correct, Thurelna should be in this camp somewhere –
probably in the shack.
He decides to
stalk the camp, slowly picking men off one at a time until Thurellna is spooked
into the open.
That sounds
like a challenge;
Stealth, to
remain hidden. Nothing is scarier than the unknown, so if he can remain a
hidden threat they will build him up in their imaginations to terrifying
proportions.
Shoot, to
pick off sentries with sniper shots.
Provoke, to
pick his targets and timings for maximum psychological impact.
Firstly he
rolls stealth for 2+3=5. He moves like a ghost striking from the shadows.
Secondly he
seeks positions from which he can patiently watch and wait creating an
advantage using Stealth again, (rolling 1+2=3) and sits patiently Watching for the perfect shot with a
free invoke.
Thirdly he
rolls Notice (as shoot because he is taking the time to aim and watching for the perfect shot, getting
1+3=4), lining up shot after shot with the perfect kill every time.
Lastly he
rolls Provoke (getting -4+1=-3, using the free tag on Watching for the perfect shot for a reroll and 1+1=2. Success at a
minor cost).
Dart stalks
the camp day and night, carefully lining up kill shots with his bow before
fading back into the forest and avoiding the patrols sent out to find him with
ease. At first the patrols split up to look for him, but after a few incidents
in which he picks off lone searchers they learn to stick in groups. The watch
is doubled, putting further strain on men missing sleep in order to stare out
into the darkness wondering now is the moment an arrow will launch from the
shadows to bury itself between their eyes. It makes little difference. Dart
patiently waits and selects every kill for maximum impact – a man using the
latrines, a man cut off mid sentence as he sits by the fire with his
companions, an officer as he berates the men on watch for their lack of
attention. Slowly the bandits stop going anywhere without a group to watch the
treeline. They stick more and more to cover, and their tents venturing into the
open only when absolutely necessary. And when they do, Dart is always there.
Watching. Waiting.
The camp is
like a pressure cooker, and Dart keeps steadily applying heat until finally something
gives. It is a close run thing whether that will be the bandits nerves or his
supply of arrows. Finally he launches
his last arrow, and is ready to give up when he notices something is odd. They
don’t make any moves to locate him at all, instead the camp is quieter if
anything then it normally is.
A few hours
later two groups of men break camp, striking out in different directions. Dart
considers blocking one or both of them, but with only his spear they would not
be fast or easy to bring down and besides they look like a distraction. They
are undoubtedly going for reinforcements, but Thurellna is still in camp with
only a handful of men left to protect her.
So, Combat it
is then. This is still not going to be an easy fight. He will start by setting
fire to some of the tents, perhaps trapping or killing some of the bandits as
well as sowing confusion and occupying others dealing with the blaze. He might
have to face a few bandits on his way through the camp, but not enough to
bother about.
Thurellna
Pragmatic Seeker of the Blood of Vol
Banditry enables my indulgences
Refuse me and die (and then serve me)
Great Faith, Resources
Good Fight, Contacts, Rapport
Fair Provoke, Athletics,
Physique, Lore
Average Empathy, Ride, Will, xxx, xxx
Physical:
Mental:
[Mild][Moderate]
Divine Channel; May use faith to create magical advantages
relating to the blood of Vol (Death, Necromancy, deathbound, evil, law,).
Hands of Healing; use faith to promote recovery of physical
consequences
Temple weapon; +1 attack and proficiency with daggers
2 x Blood
Monks
Blood Monk
Great (+4)
Physique
Good (+3)
Fight, Athletics
My body is my
weapon; w1, free boost superior position
[1][2][3][4]
/ [1][2][3][4]
The blood
monks will fight first, defending their mistress while she holds back creating
advantages to help them out. She will only get her own hands dirty once her
protectors have been dealt with.
Aspects in
play; Darkness, Smoke,
Dart can
attempt to create an advantage as he approaches stealthily (rolling stealth for
-2+3=1), however Thurellna has divined his attack and they are ready for him.
Round 1
This is not
going to go well as a stand up fight, so Dart ducks back into the smoke,
circling the monks warily (stealth again for 0+3=3, creating the advantage striking from the smoke and shadows with
1 free invoke, and a passive floor of 2 to attacks on him).
The Monks
surge forwards performing a flowing series of practiced sweeps intended to
catch their unseen opponent (first rolling overcome with fight for -1+3=2
against 1+3=4. Second rolling overcome with fight for -3+3=0 against 2+3=5,
allowing Dart a boost well positioned).
Smoke swirls about their fists and feet as they swing gracefully through one
strike after another. Dart avoids them easily however, and moves into position
behind one of the monks…
Round 2
Dart rushes
out of the smoke behind one of the monks (attacking for 1+2=3, +1 for weapons
of the hunter =4, +4 for well positioned
=6. Against -1+3=2, giving him 6-2=4 shifts and 4+w2=6 stress, taking the
monk out with style and gaining another free invoke on striking from the smoke and shadows) skewering him on the blade of
his spear and throwing his corpse aside before vanishing back into the mists.
Thurellna
sees that things are not going well and invokes the blood, reaching out to the
blood within her fallen minions corpse and willing it to raise unsteadily back
to its feet (rolling faith for 0+4=4, and creating the advantage shambling blood puppet with one free
invoke).
The surviving
monk spins towards the place where Dart disappeared after attacking his
companion (attacking for 3+3=6 against 0+3=3. Dart tags the one free invoke on striking from the smoke and shadows for
+2=5, giving the monk 6-5 = 1 shift and 1+w1-a0= 2 stress), lashing out with an
unpredictable pattern of wide swings that Dart barely manages to retreat from
without giving away his position.
Round 3
Dart circles
his smoke blinded opponent before launching into action once again (attacking
for 0+2=2, +1 for weapons of the hunter =3, +2 for the last free tag on striking from the smoke and shadows =5,
against 2+3=5. Failing to generate any shifts, but creating the boost appeared from nowhere). This time the
monk is better prepared and manages to twist aside from his initial thrust then
parry and dodge the follow up strikes, deflecting the path of the spear with
his forarms.
The monk
tries to work his way inside the point of Dart’s spear (attacking for 2+3=5,
against -1+2=1. Dart tags appeared from
nowhere for +2=3. The Monk tags shambling
blood puppet for +2=7. Dart spends his last fate point to tag forged in the fires of war for another
+2=5. Giving 7-5=2 shifts and 2+w1= 3 stress.) which Dart is fiercely jabbing
towards him while backing away to maintain his distance. For a few moments, the
element of surprise gives Dart the advantage, but then the monk he already
dropped climbs to its feet and swaggers unsteadily towards him, trying to grab
his weapon and dividing his focus. The remaining monk sees his chance and
manages to close past the spear just long enough to land a flurry of blows that
send Dart staggering backwards.
Thurellna
sways in a trance, pouring energy into her puppet and twitching sporadically as
she directs its movements (reating an advantage with faith for 0+4=4, to add
another free invoke to shambling blood
puppet).
Round 4
Dart realises
that standing his ground and trying to go toe to toe with the monk is a losing
proposition, so he throws a feinting Jab towards its face and hurls himself to
one side (creating an advantage with stealth for 0+3=3, and gaining a free
invoke on vanished in the smoke),
dropping into a roll that carries him deeper into the smoke and back out of the
monks reach.
The monk
returns to its ritualised yet unpredictable pattern of sweeping attacks
(attacking for 1+3=4,+2 for the free tag on shambling
blood puppet=6, against 1+2=3 +
the free invoke on vanished in the smoke
+2=5. Getting 6-5=1 shift and 1+w1=2 stress. Forcing Dart to mark the stress 4
box, as 2 and 3 are already marked) on what is now empty space as Dart vanishes
back into the smoke. He is unable to completely avoid the puppet however, and
it almost catches hold of him, alerting the monk to his position.
for -1+4=3
and a free tag on supernatural
empowerment), causing a faint shimmer as the smoke around him begins to
visibly freeze in the air.
Round 5
Seeing that
evasion is not working, Dart casts about him for anything that might turn the
tide of the battle (creating an advantage with notice for 2+3=5, and 2 free
invokes on Bandit weapons rack) and
through the smoke he spots a rack of weaponry nearby, obviously used as an
armoury for the bandits. Moving with mechanical precision, he starts guiding
the fight towards it.
With a clear
idea of where his foe is at last, the monk launches into a supernaturally
empowered flying kick (attacking for -2+3=1, +2 for supernatural empowerment =3, against Darts 4+2=6. Gaining -3 shifts
and giving Dart the boost Positioned
perfectly for defence with style), which Dart anticipates and casually
steps aside from at the last moment.
As the Monk
launches his flying kick, Thurellna guides her blood puppet to rush in as well
(creating an advantage with faith for 3+4=7, against 0+3=3, +6 for the positioned perfectly and the free tags
on Bandit Weapons Rack=9, giving -2
shifts), however as Dart steps aside from the flying Monk he also leads the
puppet straight into the weapons rack where it lands with a crash.
Round 6
Dart is still
just about managing to stay afloat, but he needs a breakthrough and Thurellna’s
magic is going to be difficult to deal with. As things stand he is simply going
to be ground down, so he changes tack and ignores the monk in favour of
charging straight for her (attacking for -2+2=0, +1 for weapons of the hunt =1
against Thurellna’s 1+2=3, getting 1-3=-2 shifts).
Dart is
clearly outclassed here and I have a few options;
1)
Keep
fighting until Dart takes a consequence and then resolve things through a
concession
2)
Bring in
some warforged reinforcements to lend a hand
Either way I
am inclined to bring in Warforged reinforcements, whether to rescue Dart or to
reinforce him as that will progress their role in the story. Bearing that in
mind, carrying on as we are is boring – we know Dart will eventually be ground
down and the warforged will arrive on the scene (in which case we might as well
just skip to the concession as we know it is coming) – alternatively lets just
bring them in and keep the question about whether or not they will manage to
slay Thurellna…
How about we
add
Boomer (Boss,
as he will be returning as such later in the game)
Warforged Bard
Great Rapport, Deceive
Good Provoke, Physique, Empathy
Fair Fight, xxx, xxx, xxx
Average notice, xxx, xxx, xxx, xxx
Bardic Music;
Use rapport
as provoke to attack, affect entire zone by taking -2
The
steadyheart-beat sound of a drum has been growing slowly throughout the fight
and now it fills the camp as Boomer steps into view (rolling Rapport to create
an advantage for -1+4=4, creating musically
inspired courage on Dart with 1 free invoke).
Thurella
calls her puppet to her defence (creating an advantage for -1+4=3 and creating
a free invoke on shambling blood puppet).
The monk
recovers and chases after Dart (attacking for -3+3=0, against -2+2=0, gaining
the boost right behind you)
Round 7
Dart spins to
face the monk, unleashing a rapid barrage of aggressive spear thrusts that he
hopes will help to maintain invokes on Held
at spears length).
Boomer
strikes a military beat, inspiring Dart to greater feats (create advantage with
rapport
For -2+4=2, granting a boost) as he is
inspired by the call to war.
Thurellna
calls her puppet to rush Dart (creating an advantage for -1+4=3 against 3+2=5)
but he holds it at bay with his spear.
The monk (attacks for 2+3=5 against -3+2=-1. Dart tags
a free invoke of held at spear point for
a reroll and -2+2=0, +4 for the other tag of held at spear point and the tag on musical inspiration as well as the boost).
Round 8
The essence
of the hunt is to stalk your prey. Watch them closely. Learn their habbits,
their behaviour patterns, and exploit them. Dart begins to play with the monk,
taunting him with the tip of his spear, probing his defences and looking for a
reaction (creating an advantage with notice for 0+3=3 against 2+3=5, for -2
shifts). He is unable to discern any kind of pattern however, the monk is
unpredictable, switching between aggressive attacks and elusive movements
seemingly at random.
Boomer
continues his cheerful dirge (rolling -1+4=3 for a free invoke on musical inspiration).
Thurellna’s
puppet applies pressure to Dart (rolling for -3+4=1) but he continues to hold
it at bay
The monk
(attacks for 0+3=3 against 3+2=5) continues to try and work his way around
Darts spear, but is continually pushed back.
Round 9
His entire
being thrumming with the power of Boomers music, Dart suddenly lunges forwards
on the offensive (attacking for -4+2=-2, tagging musical inspiration for a
reroll and -2+2=0, +1 for weapons of the hunter =1 against 0+3=3).
The dice are
really not doing anything to help today.
Just to cut
things short, I am going to call for a concession. At this point it could
probably go either way, so lets just result in both parties being forced to withdraw.
Is it because
Thurellnas men return with reinforcements? No, so something else puts a stop to
the combat.
The fire Dart
started begins to rage out of control, catching light to the wooden shack as
well as the clutter around the camp. A sudden blaze cuts Dart off from the monk
and forces them apart, allowing Thurellna and the monk to retreat into the
darkness.
Well call
this a draw. Both parties retreat to lick their wounds.
Scene 6.
“Sorry it
took us so long.” Boomer says “By the time I managed to gather some men
together you had already set out. In all honesty you were lucky we arrived when
we did. We didn’t expect you still to be fighting – you left what, a week ago?
We thought we just expected to find the aftermath. In all honesty we were a bit
concerned that you hadn’t returned yet, and we were having trouble following
your map. Luckily we met some of her men fleeing just south of here, ranting
about some wild spirit picking them off from the forest. It wasn’t hard to
persuade them to give us directions.”
“Too many of
them.” Dart says, “I had to do it carefully. The problem is I ran out of arrows
and had to finish it up close. Big mistake as it turns out.”
I’m going to
end the scenario there. Thurellna has escaped, and might show up again down the
line, and Dart has begun to trust the leuitenant of the Lord of Blades. Seems
to set us along nicely.
I will change
an aspect on Dart to Unexpected warforged
Allies to reflect his growing relationship with the Lord of Blades. He also
gains +1 contacts to represent them.
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