Resolute: The Splintered Realm

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I've been working on the newest edition of my game Resolute, and wanted to spread the word about it to more than the six people following my blog... so I thought I'd swing by EN world and post here! Thanks for reading... and now, on to Judah Marakev and Resolute...

Oh, and you can read more about the game at http://splinteredrealm.blogspot.com

 

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Judah has been my signature character for a long time; he’s a primary character (although not the protagonist) of a novel I’ve been working on for years, and his story serves as a central thread for everything that holds my visions of Del Anon together. Here are a few things about him:

¨ He was a knight in the service of the Cavarian Empire. He was a knight of competent if unremarkable service.
¨ He served among the Gryphon Riders of the North Company. These riders were integral in several border skirmishes among challenging northern mountain ranges, and their company formed a central part of the force that ultimately invaded Valhalla.
¨ In the months leading up to the Great Reckoning, he sided with Heldack the Mighty in the sage’s disavowal of Cavarian actions, and was among a small number of knights who forfeited their title rather than engage in this quest. While most knights disappeared into relative anonymity (and many hide among the common people of Del Anon, having severed all ties to Cavaria and their role in its rise to power), Judah makes no particular secret of his former membership in the order.
¨ He made a tremendous sacrifice to protect the realm in the days after the Reckoning; Heldack took great pains to ensure the survival of mankind after the Reckoning, and made Judah a key player in this effort. (If I say any more than this, I’ll ruin the novel for you when it eventually comes out!)

I’ve wanted to play test using this character, but then I didn’t want to necessarily play test with him and develop ‘story’ for him that went against the story I already have in place.

However, I was thinking that he’s got a ‘lost years’ section of his life- after his time as a knight (and the service he performs for Heldack) and before he appears in the novel I’m writing. I allude to the earlier years in flashback, but I don’t spend any time developing what he was doing in the interim. That becomes a great hook for me – of course, the only drawback is that I know that he cannot die in my play testing, since that might screw up his future. Ah well. I have to accept the fact that my play test character can’t die, and I’ll need to find creative ways out of corners I back myself into should he meet his unfortunate demise by random die roll.

A few guidelines:
¨ He’s going to start at 30 CPs. This makes him a very capable solo starting character; he can take on threats that would normally be aimed at a fellowship of four ‘level 1’ heroes and have a decent chance of success. Since he was a knight, this is pretty low for the stats he would have had. However, knowing his story, I can justify that the things he has experienced (in service to Heldack) have left him considerably weakened. He’s lost a number of the abilities he had previously. At his prime, Judah was probably in the neighborhood of 70 CPs, and by the time we meet him in the novel I’m working on, he’s almost back to that form, in the neighborhood of 60 CPs. Maybe at some point I’ll stat him up in all of his incarnations, but for right now, we’ll go with Judah at the very start of his ‘lost years’ stage.
¨ As a ‘starting hero’, he gets only 1 weapon and protection set at his ability ratings; he has nothing special. He still starts with D6 gold. That seems a bit slight for a higher-level hero, and I’ll re-consider this for the core rules as I go. For right now, I like it; every new hero has impetus to go out and start adventuring. If you’re sitting on a big pile of gold, you really don’t have much incentive to put your life at risk if you haven’t already been doing it.
¨ Judah’s purpose is to protect the downtrodden. He’s got some time to kill - the plot of the novel isn’t ready for him yet, and he knows it; he’s in a new world post Reckoning that’s in shambles; he feels great responsibility to do what he can to help the little people who were most affected by his failures as a knight. It’s all good.

Judah Marakev, Chosen Human Fighter (30 CPs); soak +4 phys/+1 magic; sword (att +4/dmg +8)
Arms +4 (armor +4/melee +5/missile +3); Aspect +1; Evade +2; Intuition +3 (Nature); Might +4; Resolve +3; Weapon Specialist (swords) +3
Reinforced studded armor +4; quality bastard sword +5; cloak of warding +1

 

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Judah’s Journals

The old man had been watching over me for several months since my return. He’d managed to nurse my strength back some. It had been a long winter nestled in that cabin, but he kept assuring me that it was okay to rest. I had needed it. We were camped but two leagues from where I needed to go, so I rested comfortably knowing my destination was near at hand.

Then the spiders came.

He returned late in the evening with his usual catch of several rabbits and an unusual addition – a length of remarkably strong spider’s web. They were nearby, several of them, and had been encroaching closer upon the cabin. The man scratched the stubble upon his chin and gestured towards his bow, “what say? We go after em?”

I thought for a moment. Though I was not the strength of older days, that which I was I was. “No. They have come for me. I will deal with them.”

I thought for another moment. Maybe two. “And then I will go. If they’ve trailed me here, I must head east and away from the girl. I will return later in the year, after I’m sure they no longer have my trail.”

He chuckled at me, “then your purpose will be to have no purpose? Your quest will be to have no quest? I thought you were a knight.”

“Sir?”

“You have no title, but you still have a knight in you. Many people need helping. I’d think you could do something about that.” He was already clearing the table and rinsing my bowl in the wash basin. His offhanded tone masked a flame beneath. He’d been thinking this for some time. I had been waiting for my strength to fully return. Perhaps he felt I had strength enough. I had for some time.

I rose. “Thank you for your many kindnesses. I will take my leave, sir. I will be forever grateful.”

He turned back to me and his smile showed something resembling pride. “I’ve simply done a kindness. I hope you’ll do likewise for others.”

I set out into the coming evening. I could have waited until morning, but we’d said our goodbyes. East was my goal.

But first, the spiders would have to be destroyed.

In Play

There’s really no way for Judah to know exactly how many spiders there are… it would be a stretch (no matter how I slice it) for him to be able to deduce the exact number. He just knows that when he finds the web, he’s killed them all; he’s tracking them backwards to their lair. We’re going to play the hunting and slaying of the spiders (there will be 3) as a single scene- so his resolve has to last him over the three spider encounters.

He’ll have to make three tracking (intuition due to nature application) rolls to find the spiders. The first will be DR 6 to find, the second DR 8, and the last one (in its web, hidden deep in the woods) DR 10. He could potentially burn his resolve just finding the spiders, so he’ll have to bank some as he goes.

Spider One

Judah makes his tracking attempt (DR 6) and rolls 5+3=8.

Journal
I was able to pick up the trail of the first spider quickly. They had clearly been closing in on the cabin over several nights, and the signs of their passage were many. Within the hour, I’d found where the first was lurking, hidden in the brush within half a mile of the cabin.

In Play
Judah will attempt to use stealth (which he doesn’t have) to sneak up on the spider. He gets to roll 2D unmodified, and the spider rolls intuition to resist. Lucky for Judah, the spider has no intuition! He rolls 5 and the spider rolls 8. So much for stealth! The referee rolls 1D for distance, and gets 5. At 50’ away, Judah knows that the spider knows that they both know that they’re both there. How was that for clarity?

It’s sequence time.

Judah rolls 1+3=4 and the spider rolls 5+0=5. The spider wins, and gets to go first.

Round 1
The spider acts first, moving 5 units towards Judah and attacking. Normally, it would be limited to 3 units, but its speed +3 allows it to travel up to 6 units. Since it moved its speed +2 units, it takes -2 to its attack action; the spider rolls to hit with its bite and gets 6+3-2=7; Judah rolls to evade and gets 6+2=8. Judah narrowly evades the spider’s mandibles. He brings his sword down upon the arachnid, rolling 12+4=16 (his best possible result without spending resolve). To evade, the spider rolls 5+3=8. Judah hits by +8; for damage, he rolls 11+8+8=27 wounds! This is about the best he could possibly hope for; in fact, with a very bad roll to soak, Judah has just one-shotted a 25 CP creature. The spider rolls and gets 6+0=6; the spider suffers 21 wounds, and is down to 4 wounds remaining. If Judah hits again, he’ll likely finish the creature.

Round 2
If the spider had resolve, it would start spending it like mad! As it is, it has to hope it gets really lucky. It bites again, rolling 9+3=12 to hit, and Judah rolls 7+2=9 to evade; the spider hits by +3. For damage, it rolls 2 (ick!)+3+3=8, and Judah rolls 7+4=11 to soak. Judah takes no damage. He wants to laugh at the spider’s futile attempts to harm him, but he decides to swing his sword instead! He rolls 9+4=13 to hit, and the spider rolls 6+3=9 to evade. Judah hits by +4. For damage, he rolls 10+8+4=22 wounds, and the spider soaks only 8… it suffers 14 wounds, bringing it to -10 and reducing it to a smear on the forest floor.

Since the spider was one level lower than Judah, he earns 2 XP for this challenge.

 

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Spider Two

Judah’s Journal

The first spider posed little threat, and I dispatched with it quickly. I felt my previous strength returning quickly, and I grew more confident by the minute that I’d be prepared for the larger challenges ahead…

In Play
This one is harder to track, as Judah is winding his way deeper into the woods. This requires a DR 8 tracking roll; Judah rolls and gets 12+3=15. He easily picks up its trail, and the referee will give him +1 to his intuition roll to notice the spider hiding. He gets into its webby abode, and it attempts to surprise him from above… for this encounter, I’m going to use static 7 for the spider for all things, and only Judah will roll. We’ll check out the difference in that dice option. Its stealth makes the spider DR 9 to notice before it attacks. Judah rolls 5+3+1=9, and he just barely notices the spider as it pounces. It’s time for sequence. The spider goes on 7, and Judah rolls 11+3=14; Judah goes first.

Round 1
Judah swings his sword, getting 6+4=10 to hit; the spider is DR 10 to strike, so Judah just barely hits the spider that landed next to him; for damage, he rolls 9+8=17 wounds, and the spider soaks 8; it suffers 9 wounds, and is now down to 16 wounds. The spider retaliates with a bite attack 10. Judah rolls to evade, getting 8+2=10. The spider hits by +0. Its bite deals 10 wounds, and Judah rolls to soak, getting 11+4=15; the spider fails to bite through his armor.

Round 2
Judah swings again, getting 7+4=11; the spider evades at 10, so Judah hits by +1. For damage, he rolls 7+8+1=16 wounds, and the spider soaks 8; the spider suffers 8 wounds, leaving it at 8 wounds and badly hurt. The spider attacks at 10, and Judah rolls to evade, getting 5+2=7; the spider hits by +3. The bite deals 10+3=13 wounds, and Judah rolls 11+4=15 to soak! Again, Judah totally absorbs the full impact of the bite.

Round 3
Judah strikes again (continuing to save his resolve for later), getting 3+4=7 to hit vs. the spider’s evade DR 10. He misses. The spider’s bite is rated at 10, and Judah rolls 8+2=10 to evade; the spider hits by +0. Judah rolls to soak its damage of 10, and gets 7+4=11. Again, he soaks the full damage.

Round 4
Judah wants to finish this thing; he rolls 8+4=12 vs. the DR 10 evade, and hits by +2. For damage, he rolls 5+8+2=15 wounds, and the spider soaks 8; he deals 7 wounds, and the spider still has 1 wound remaining! Judah still has all 3 resolve points banked, so he decides he can afford to spend 1 here (we’ll see if he’s right!), and adds his intuition +3 to damage, twisting the blade towards the creature’s heart. He kills it.

Judah earns 2 XP more for this challenge, leaving him at 4 XP.

Analysis:
The spider couldn’t land a hit on Judah. Judah’s comparatively high armor rating (+4), meant that he would have to roll a 5 or lower on the die for an attack at +0 margin of success to penetrate his armor. Conceivably, a pair of poor rolls (4 and 4) would have meant that the spider hit by +4 and dealt a total of 6 wounds; this is unlikely, but possible. Even if Judah rolled a pair of 2’s (very unlikely), the spider would only deal 10 wounds; and, Judah’s high might is going to allow him to soak the full poison on each pulse, on average. Judah is a tough fighter-type against a weaker foe; it’s not surprising that he pwns it like the newb it is.

 

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Spider Three


I want to up the ante for the final spider. I’m going to give some upgrades. It’s going to have evade +4 (2 CPs), counter attacks as an application (see below) @ 2 CPs, and 1 resolve point. This makes it the equal of Judah, and should pose a more viable threat. Judah has 2 resolve remaining going into this fight.

Judah has to make a DR 10 tracking roll to find the spider’s lair. He rolls 4+3=7, failing the roll. He will have to spend 1 of his 2 resolve points now, adding his might +4 to track; he pushes large fallen limbs out of the way, following the spider through exceptionally tricky overgrowth and into a lair that would normally be inaccessible to a human-sized creature. His new result of 11 is enough to succeed, and he arrives in the web-covered lair of the spider.
We’re going to add a complication to this encounter; every turn that Judah makes, he has to make a DR 10 might roll to keep from getting caught up in webbing. He subtracts the margin of error from the action he takes if he fails the roll.

The spider attempts to use stealth to strike, and rolls 10+2=12 to surprise Judah; Judah rolls 3+3=6 to notice the spider; from its stealth margin of success, the spider gets to take +6 to its action roll, and leaps on him, biting at 5+3+6=14 to hit, and Judah rolls 10+2=12 to evade; his quick reflexes keep the spider from completely driving its mandibles into him, but it lands a solid hit at +2. For damage, it rolls 2 (oh come on!) +3+2=7 wounds; Judah rolls 10+4=14 to soak; the spider fails to harm him. It’s sequence.

Judah rolls 8+3=11 and the spider rolls 8+0=8; Judah goes first.

Round 1
Judah has to roll might (DR 10) to keep from getting bound up in all the webbing; he rolls 11+4=15, and has no trouble shaking himself loose and swinging his sword. He rolls to hit, getting 4+4=8. The spider rolls to evade, getting 3+4=7. I’d have it spend its resolve point, but it’s still early in the battle, and there’s no guarantee that avoiding this strike will guarantee it a solid hit on the back end. Judah hits by +1. For damage, he rolls 5+8+1=14 wounds, and the spider rolls 5+1=6 to soak; it suffers 8 wounds, and is down from 30 wounds to 22. It strikes back, rolling 8+3=11 to hit, and Judah rolls 9+2=11 to evade. The spider hits by +0, but unless Judah rolls poorly to soak, it’s not likely to do much to him; the spider rolls for damage, getting 5+3=8 wounds, but Judah rolls 4+4=8 to soak. It deals 0 wounds, but does manage to inflict its poison upon him, forcing him to roll to might to soak 10 wounds each round for the next 3. For this round, Judah rolls 8+4=12, and soaks the full damage from the poison.

Round 2
Judah rolls might to keep from getting stuck in webbing; he rolls 6+4=10, and barely keeps from getting tangled up in webs. Judah attempts to hit again, rolling 8+4=12 to hit, and the spider rolls 6+4=10 to evade; Judah hits by +2. For damage, Judah rolls 6+8+2=16 wounds, and the spider rolls 9+1=10 to soak; it suffers 6 wounds, and is now down to 16 wounds remaining; on its turn, it bites, rolling 8+3=11, and Judah rolls 6+2=8 to evade; the spider hits by +3. It rolls for damage, getting 10+3+2=15 wounds, and Judah rolls 8+4=12 to soak; it deals 3 wounds to him. He actually suffers damage, and is now down to 27 wounds. He rolls might to soak the poison damage, and gets 9+4=13; he doesn’t take any damage from poison.

Round 3
Judah rolls might again to keep from getting stuck in webs, rolling 8+4=12 and keeps from getting bogged down. He swings his sword, getting 7+4=11 to hit, and the spider rolls 8+4=12 to evade. Its counter attacks give it +1 to its following attack roll; it bites back, getting 7+3+1=11 to hit, and Judah rolls 5+2=7 to evade; the spider hits by +4. For damage, it rolls 8+3+4=15 wounds, and Judah rolls 8+4=12 to soak; he suffers 3 more wounds, and is now down to 24 wounds; it rolls to soak the poison again, and gets 8+4=12. He suffers no poison damage. The poison has run its course, but if the spider bites again, he’ll have to roll 3 more times to resist.

Round 4
Judah has to roll to keep from getting stuck in webs, and rolls 4+4=8; he fails by -2, and takes a -2 penalty to his action this round. He rolls to hit, getting 7+4-2=9 to hit, and the spider rolls to evade, getting 9+4=13… the spider sees its big opportunity here, taking +4 to its attack roll because of its counter attacks. It rolls to hit, getting 7+3+4=14 to hit, and Judah rolls 5+2=7 to evade; it hits by +7. For damage, it rolls 10+3+7=20 wounds, and Judah rolls 4+4=8 to soak. It deals a whopping 12 wounds to him, leaving Judah at 12 wounds! He has to roll to soak the poison, getting 3+4=7, and suffering 3 more wounds from the toxins… he’s down to 9 wounds. Ack! If this was a boxing match, the referee just awarded the round to the spider!

Round 5
Judah needs the luck to turn back his way this round! He rolls might to extricate himself from the webbing, and gets 9+4=13. He succeeds! Have at you, dastardly spider! He rolls 5+4=9 to hit, and the spider rolls 6+4=10 to evade. D’oh. He keeps playing right into the spider’s hands. Stupid, stupid stupid! The spider gets to attack at +1 from counter attacks, rolling 7+3+1=11 vs. Judah’s evade roll of 6+2=8. It hits by +3, rolling 5+3+3=11 wounds, and Judah’s armor soaks 4+4=8 wounds; he suffers 3 more wounds, and is down to 6 wounds. He has to soak the poison again, and rolls 10+4=14. At least he shrugs off the poison this round.

Round 6
Judah hasn’t dealt damage to the spider since round 2, and he’s starting to doubt that he can! He has to first fight through the webs, but only rolls 2+4=6. He’s really struggling, having staggered back into a large wall of webs after the last hit he took. He is hesitant to spend his last resolve point, but a poor attack followed by the spider’s counter attacks will leave him in bad shape; he spends the resolve point, using his arms ability to cut through the webs quickly and free himself before swinging at the spider. He rolls to attack, getting 3+4=7 to hit; the spider rolls 6+4=10 to evade; gah! The spider will get to take +3 to its attack; it rolls 11+3+3=17 to hit. Judah is done. I’m going to have to definitely find a creative way to save his bacon here, since he’s got very little statistical chance now of winning… Judah rolls to evade, getting 10+2=12. The spider hits by +5. For damage, the spider rolls 4+3+5=12 wounds, and Judah rolls to soak, getting 4+4=8… he suffers 4 more wounds, now down to 2 wounds… he has to roll to soak the poison, and gets 7+4=11. He shakes it off… for now.

Round 7
Judah rolls to keep out of the webbing, getting 2+4=6. He will take a -4 penalty to his attack, and he can’t do anything about it. He rolls to hit, getting 7+4=4=7 to hit, and the spider rolls 8+4=12 to evade. It gets to take +5 to its next attack. It rolls to bite, getting 8+3+5=16 to hit against the staggering Judah, and he rolls 8+2=10 to evade. The spider hits by +6. For damage, it rolls 5+3+6=14 wounds, and Judah rolls to soak, getting 7+4=11… he suffers 3 wounds, and is now down to -1. He rolls to soak the poison, getting 7+4=11… he succeeds. Since he’s a hero, he can continue on at negative wounds, but not for too long… and without resolve, a single bad roll will be the end of him.

Round 8
Judah is running out of time. He tries to get free of the webbing, and rolls 6+4=10; he’s finally free! He lunges at the spider, rolling 10+4=14 to hit; the spider rolls 6+4=10 to evade. Judah hits by +4! For damage, he rolls 10+8+4=22 wounds, and the spider rolls 7+1=8 to soak; he deals 16 wounds, and uses the last of his strength to drive his sword downwards through the top of the creature. It is now at 0 wounds… and the referee has a decision to make. Is this spider a boss? If so, it gets to keep fighting at negative wounds, as Judah does… it is the lord of the spiders here, and it’s pretty special. It definitely SHOULD be a boss, but making it a boss means that it’s not dead yet… as is, it still has that resolve point it hasn’t used… dang. Well, it is a boss, and it has a resolve point. The fight goes on. The spider rolls to bite, getting 6+3=9 to hit, and Judah rolls 10+2=12 to evade. He dodges the squirming spider’s mandibles. He has to soak the poison again, rolling 9+4=13. He soaks the full poison.

Round 9
Judah has to keep free of webs again, and rolls 9+4=13 to do so. He rolls to hit again, getting 4+4=8 to hit, and the spider rolls 6+4=10 to evade. It gets to add the -2 difference to its attack, and rolls 8+3+2=13 to hit; Judah rolls 3+2=5 to evade. Oh, drat. The spider gets to add +8 to damage, and rolls 7+3+8=18 wounds, and Judah’s armor soaks 6+4=10 wounds; he suffers 8 wounds, and is at -9! This is about as close to death as you can get… he rolls to soak the poison, getting 7+4=11. He shakes it off, but may not survive his next turn…

Round 10
This fight won’t end (but I don’t really mind, since it’s been pretty dramatic). First, Judah has to roll might to survive at negative wounds; he rolls 8+4=12, and is still up. He rolls to get out of the webs, and rolls 5+4=9. He’ll take a -1 penalty to his attack. He rolls to hit, getting 6+4-1=9 to hit, and the spider rolls 9+2=11 to evade. Oh, come on man! It gets to attack, rolling 6+3+2=11 to hit; Judah rolls to evade, getting 3+2=5… sigh. It hits by +6; for damage, it rolls 5+3+6=14 wounds, and Judah rolls (crossing his fingers) to soak, getting 5+4=9. He suffers 5 wounds, and is now at -14. He has to soak the poison, and gets 4+4=8. He suffers 2 more wounds, dropping to -16.

Round 11
He has to first roll to stay vertical. It’s a DR 16 roll, meaning that he has to roll a natural 12 or he falls; he rolls 6+4=10 and fails. He falls. The encounter is over, and Judah has been defeated.

Analysis
- Okay, Resolute as a system is really starting to shine for me now. When you spice up an encounter with a complication and a foe with a minor unique ability (like counter attacks), you change the whole dynamic of how the game plays. I LOVE this. I’ve had three encounters with spiders, but was able to make minor changes between encounters to make them all feel different. The numbers are very easy to keep track of.
- Counter attacks is a rocking awesome application, and it synergizes so nicely with other concepts in the game. Now, you can build a hero who’s not a tremendous attacker, but that hero can still land some pretty substantial attacks. Mechanically, Spiderman has a problem- he’s pretty strong, but not strong enough to land strikes as often as the Thing. However, spidey has very high evade; and now he has counter attacks. In a straight up slugfest, Spidey is at a disadvantage. However, when he can start using the errors his foes make against them, taking advantage of the small openings they leave on missed attacks, he becomes a very precise and capable melee fighter. In retrospect, I think that it may be a bit out of balance; it’s not hard to fix by making this an ability instead of an application. This means that the spider would have had counter attacks +2, adding the foe’s margin of failure on the attack to its next attack (capped at +2 from its rating). It wouldn’t get to take the full margin each time; your rating caps your possible bonus. This is more in line with how the ability should work, is more balanced, and makes characters with high evade and a solid counter attacks rating exceptionally deadly even when they don’t have much in the way of precision or might. I could see you having a viable build at 60 CPs with precision +4, evade +7 and counter attacks +4… you often get to attack at +8, even though you’ve only spent 12 CPs instead of 20 CPs to get this ability, because it builds off of your evade. This is a great ability when the situation arises that allows you to use it.

 

[mtdesing]

Back from the Dead

Well, my hero is ‘dead’, so that definitely puts a cramp in my style. However, as I said when I started, I need to find creative ways to keep him alive. Here’s the creative (read: bogus) reason that Judah lives: the spiders were not sent to kill him; they were sent to capture him. Their venom is a special long-term paralytic. He awakens some time later to find himself chained somewhere dark, cold and particularly unpleasant. Something is with him in the dark. It speaks.

“Judah Marakev… my, how interesting this is. And here we all thought you were dead. Well, I can correct that quickly enough. Just tell me where the girl is, and I’ll end your suffering at once. I promise.”

Judah has to sustain torture. We’ll do this as escalating might rolls. I didn’t write torture rules (they seem a little grim for a game of high adventure), but I could see situations like this arising, and I think that the core rules provide enough guidance to work this out. We’ll run this as one scene wherein Judah has to make consecutive might resist rolls, starting at DR 10 and increasing +1 each turn to DR 14. If Judah fails one of these rolls, he is in too much pain, and has to say something; he can lie, but will have to make an unmodified 2D roll vs. the target’s intuition; and her intuition is +5, so this will be difficult. If he fails 2 might rolls, he tells the truth of where the girl is.

Yeah, I know I’m being vague. It’s all in the novel, and it’s not likely to be that important for what we’ll do here. We’ll see…

Oh, and by the way, Judah doesn’t know this, but help is on the way. The DR of the cavalry coming is 13. He rolls unmodified 2D every round, taking a cumulative +1 to the roll. Basically, we’re going to see if he can hold out until help comes.

Anyway, she begins turning the thumb screws (in this case, quite literally).

• First roll (DR 10) 8+4=12. He makes it, and spits in her face, telling her she’ll have to do better than that! (oh, he’s such a tough guy right now. Wait a few rounds and we’ll see). I roll for help, and get 5+0=5. Crickets.
• Second roll (DR 11) 3+4=7. Ouch. Now that one hurt. He will spend a resolve point, focusing on swordplay and running a mock combat in his head (adding his melee +5 to the roll, bumping it up to 12). He grimaces under the pain, but will not give up the location of the girl. Rolling for help to arrive, I get 7+1=8. Not yet.
• Third roll (DR 12) 8+4=12. Oooooh the pain! He makes it though, coughing up some blood. Help, I need somebody- and I get 7+2=9. This is not the DR 13, so we continue.
• Fourth roll (DR 13) 3+4=7. Even a resolve point will not help him here, so he goes with the lying route. “Okay, I’ll tell you… the girl is being held in the Monastery of the Silver Dragon – in the Vale of Eternal Winters” He rolls 10+0=10, and this is actually a pretty convincing lie. The torturer rolls 9+5=14, and suspects the lie. Judah spends a resolve point, adding his intuition to the roll, faking a reaction of self-loathing after this revelation that seems more genuine than the first lie – this is probably helped by the fact that Judah just realized dozens of peaceful monks are going to be slaughtered as his foes follow up this lead. She laughs, and sets down the branding iron she was about to use… “okay, friends… you can have him.” From the shadows, several humanoid creatures step forward. Blue light flickers around the female who’s been torturing him, and she disappears (teleporting out of the chamber). If Judah didn’t need help before, he sure does now… 4+3=7. Not yet… and even his final resolve point won’t help him.
• Round Five. The humanoids move in: 10 N’Orks (a level 8 group- so waaay beyond his abilities- especially chained to a wall!). We’ll say that they get to take turns, 5 at a time, coming up and laying the smack down on him. Basically, they are now going to beat him to death. Yeah, this scene is not going well at all. They won’t start hitting until next round, so we’ll see if friends arrive. They’ll alternate rounds, giving him even more time to live through a bruising… 6+4=10. Still no help. Judah could use the resolve point here, but he’ll bank it in case he needs it to stay alive later. I’m a little gun shy from spending the final resolve point before and not getting much for it.
• Round Six. The first five lay the beat down. They roll 12+4+5 (for 5 en masse) = 21 to hit; Judah is DR 7 since he’s a helpless target; they hit by +14; for damage, they roll 7+4+14=25 wounds, less his armor soak of 8+4=12; Judah suffers 13 wounds, leaving him at 17 wounds. He’s really crossing his fingers that help comes (and so am I! I don’t think I can find a way to resurrect him this time). Lucky for all of us, the roll is 11+5=16! The air behind the N’Orks shimmers with a teleport spell, and three figures step through- Judah’s help has finally arrived, and none too soon.

Here are the stats for the N’Orks…

N’Ork (15 CPs); physical soak +3; spiked club +3 (attack +4/damage +4)
Arms +3; Evade +2; Intuition +2; Might +4; Weapon Specialist +1 (clubs)

 

[mtdesing]

Help!

The Three of the Crossing arrive, teleporting into the chamber. It’s definitely sequence. They start three units away from Judah and the 10 N’Orks. I’m going to use static 7 for all N’Orks, but I’ll roll for any Ubern’Orkers or N’Ork Ubermongers who show up…


Three of the Crossing

Beldwyn the Druid, Chosen Human Disciple (30 CPs); walking staff +1 (att +0/dmg +1)
Arms +1; Aura of Evade +2; Aura of Healing +3; Intuition +6 (15 CPs) (nature; restoration; shape change); Resolve +3 (2 CPs; +1 racial shift)
Leather armor +1
Rejected by his human relatives, Beldwyn has sought solace among the wild and friends among wild beasts.

Beldwyn, Bear Form (30 CPs); soak +3 all; claw (att +6; dmg +4)
Claw +4; Evade +1; Intuition +4; Invulnerable +3; Might +6; Speed +1

Cartaan Pauldo, Chosen Human Stalker (30 CPs); soak phys +3/magic +0; longbow +7 (att +4/dmg +7) or long sword +5 (att +4/dmg +5)
Arms +5 (missile +7/melee +5/armor +3); Evade +2; Intuition +3 (nature); Precision +4; Resolve +2 (1 CP; +1 racial shift); Stealth +4
Finding kinship with the moon elves of Grandwood, Cartaan splits his time between two worlds.

Ivan Drekov, Chosen Human Magician (30 CPs); soak physical +1/magic +4; wand of flame +4 (att +5/dmg +4/rng 5)
Arcane Bolt (flame) +5 (Chandar’s Reflective Armor; Invoke Flame Elemental); Arms +1; Aspect +4; Evade +2; Intuition +3; Lore +3; Resolve +1 (racial)
Traveling robes +1; wand of flame +4; cloak of warding +4; Chandar’s Tome of Flame
Though an apprentice of the fire sorcerers, Ivan searches for the secrets to power held by the sorcerer orders.

• Beldwyn rolls 8+6=14
• Cartaan rolls 4+3=7
• Ivan rolls 7+3=10
• Judah cannot do anything (he’s bound), but he rolls sequence to see when he will act if/when he’s freed. He rolls 8+3=11
• The N’Orks go on 7+2=9

The order will be Beldwyn, Judah, Ivan, N’Orks, Cartaan. The referee rules that it is impossible to get a free turn (since the teleport spell was pretty dramatic), but that Cartaan can quickly slip into the shadows (carrying stealth with him) as the combat starts…

Round 1
• Beldwyn activates his aura of evade (as a free turn) and also casts his restoration spell on Judah. He rolls 9+6=15 wounds restored; Judah is now at full health again.
• Judah calls out his hello- he’s met these three before, and he is very grateful for their arrival now. He can try to break free of his chains, although this is DR 18 to do. He rolls might and gets 7+4=11… this is beyond even a resolve point right now, so he fails.
• Since these are mooks, (15 CPs is exactly half of the hero totals of 30 CPs each), the heroes can attack several at once; Ivan throws a bolt of flame, rolling 11+5=16 vs. the N’Ork evade of 9. He hits by +7; for damage, he rolls 7+4+7=18 wounds; the N’Ork soaks 7 of this, meaning that 5 N’Orks each suffer 11 wounds and are down to 4.
• The N’Orks descend upon the heroes. It’s happening pretty quickly, so the referee allows Cartaan to try and activate his stealth as they move, to see if they will be able to target him with melee strikes, or if he can duck into the shadows as they approach; he rolls 7+4=11 vs. their intuition of +0 (so static 7), so he succeeds by +4. He’ll use this as his stealth roll for the round. The N’Orks break into two groups; 5 attack Beldwyn, and 5 attack Ivan. They have to travel 3 units, so take a -3 penalty to their en masse attacks. The first group (vs. Bel) takes 7+4+5-3=13 to hit; Bel rolls 4+2=6 to evade; they hit by +5, so damage is 7+4+5=16 wounds; Beldwyn’s armor soaks 7+1=8 wounds; he suffers 8 wounds and is down to 22. The group on Ivan attacks at 7+4+5-3=13; Ivan rolls 11+2+2=15 to evade, and manages to sidestep their multiple club swings.
• Cartaan gets to use his stealth result of +4, adding this to the attack roll. He gets to attack several targets at once (loosing a hail of arrows). He can only attack 4 at once, and picks fresh ones that are on Beldwyn; he rolls 9+4+4=17 to hit vs. their static evade of 9. He hits by +8; for damage, he rolls 4+7+8=19 wounds; each soaks 7+3=10 wounds; he deals 9 wounds to 4 injured N’Orks, and drops them all. There is a 1 in 6 chance for each N’Ork that it arises as an Ubern’Orker next round; the referee rolls 5, 4, 6, 2; all of these N’Orks are dead.

Round Two
• Beldwyn changes into bear form. This causes his aura of evade to drop.
• Ivan throws another jet of flames at uninjured N’Orks, rolling 8+5=13; they have static evades of 9, so he hits by +4. For damage, he rolls 6+4+4=14 wounds; each soaks 7 wounds, suffering 7 and ending up at 8 wounds. 5 N’Orks are now at 8 wounds, and 1 is at 4 wounds.
• Judah again tries to break free, rolling 8+4=12. No chance.
• The N’Orks turn on the bear, since it seems the most dangerous right now- having a 5’ tall human turn into a 12’ bear will get your attention; they attack en masse, at 7+4+6=17 to hit; Beldwyn (in bear form) rolls 12+1=13 to evade; they hit by +4. The N’Orks deal 7+4+4=15 wounds, but Bel soaks 8+3=11, suffering 4 wounds and bringing him to 18.
• Cartaan rolls stealth, getting 6+4=10 vs. their static resist of 7. He gets to add +3 to his attack, rolling a paltry 5+4+3=12 to hit vs. the static evade of 9. He deals =3 wounds, so for damage rolls a much better 10+7+3=20 wounds; they soak 10, but the 10 wounds is sufficient to drop the 4 N’Orks he was attacking. The referee rolls for these 4 to see if they arise as Ubern’Orks, and rolls 1, 4, 1, 6. Two of them do! The heroes are going to have much more to deal with next round…

Ubern’Orker (25 CPs); physical soak +4; spiked club +4 (attack +5/damage +6)
Arms +4; Evade +3; Intuition +3; Might +5; Weapon Specialist +2 (clubs)
Fighting +6; Might +4; Stamina +3 (Armor); Focus +2; Intuition +2; Leadership +2
Wields spiked morning star +5 (dealing +9 damage); wears reinforced hide armor +4

Round Three
• Two injured N’Orks remain, but two Ubern’Orkers have just joined the fun… the Ubers roll 11+3=14, and get to go first. One will attack Beldwyn, and one will attack Ivan. The two N’Orks remain on Beldwyn.
• Bel attacks the closest Uber, rolling 8+6=14 to hit; the Uber rolls 5+3=8 to evade, so Bel hits by +6. For damage, he rolls 6+4+6=16 wounds, but the Uber rolls 11+4=15 to soak, so he deals only 1 wound. It’s down to 24.
• The first Uber attacks Bel, rolling 11+5=16 to hit; Bel rolls 7+1=8 to evade; this is a +8 margin of success for the Uber. For damage, it rolls 7+6+8=21, and Bel rolls 6+3=9 to soak; he suffers 12 wounds, and is down to 6. That’s not good…
• The second Uber attacks Ivan, rolling 11+5=16 to hit; Ivan rolls 11+2=13 to evade, so the Uber hits by +3. For damage, it rolls 10+6+3=19 wounds, and Ivan soaks 5+1=6 wounds; he suffers 13 wounds, and is down to 17.
• Ivan hits the Uber that’s on him with flame, rolling 5+5=10 to hit; the Uber rolls 7+3=10 to evade; he hits by +0. For damage, Ivan rolls a lame 3+4=7 wounds, and the Uber soaks the full shot, rolling 11+0=11.
• Judah tries again, rolling 11+4=15; this only 3 short of his DR of 18, so he spends his final resolve point to add his intuition +3 to the roll, breaking the weakest link in the chains and slipping loose.
• Cartaan sees his team getting beat up pretty bad here; he rolls his stealth, getting 8+4=12, and the Uber he picks (the one on Bel) rolls 7+3=10 to see him; Cartaan takes +2 to his attack. He fires his bow, rolling 8+4+2=14 to hit, and the Uber rolls 6+3=9 to evade; he hits by +5. For damage, he rolls 9+7+5=21 wounds; the Uber soaks 2+4=6 wounds, meaning that it suffers 15 wounds and is down to 10.
• The two remaining N’Orks see Ivan as a threat, and attempt to kill him; they attack en masse, at 7+4+2=13 to hit; Ivan rolls 9+2=11 to evade; therefore, damage is 7+4+2=13 wounds. Ivan rolls to soak and gets 6+1=7; he suffers 6 wounds and is down to 11.

Round Four
• Bel gets a turn; he’s tempted to change back to human form and turn on his healing aura, but he really needs to get this Uber killed. He attacks, rolling 9+6=15 to hit; the Uber rolls 8+3=11 to evade; he hits by +4. For damage, Bel rolls 8+4+4=16 wounds, and the Uber soaks 5+4=9 wounds; it suffers 7 wounds, and is down to 3. He could spend a resolve point here, and does; he adds his might to damage, dealing +6 more wounds, and dropping it; Bel also can change shape back as a free turn, and activate his healing aura as a free turn, so he does both here; now back in his human form, he recovers 3 wounds (back up to 9 wounds) and also heals Ivan (back up to 14 wounds). That was a pretty productive turn! We’ll roll for the dead Uber at the end of the round to see if it arises as the Ubermonger… I rather hope it doesn’t!
• The second Uber attacks Ivan, rolling 5+5=10 to hit; Ivan rolls 7+2=9 to evade; for damage, the Uber rolls 7+6+1=14 wounds, and Ivan rolls 6+1=7 to soak; he suffers 7 wounds, and is down to 7 wounds.
• Ivan throws flame at the Uber, rolling 7+5=12 to hit, and the Uber rolls 7+3=10 to evade; he adds +2 to damage, rolling a total of 4+4+2=10 wounds, and the Uber rolls 10+0=10 to soak, and again shakes off the full effects of his flame.
• Judah will skip his armor, grabbing only his sword and attacking. He has to travel 2 units to get in melee range of the Uber, and does so, attacking at 5+4-2=7 to hit, and the Uber rolls 3+3=6 to evade; despite his poor attack, he catches the Uber unawares and gets a +1 margin of success. For damage, he rolls 10+8+1=19 wounds, and the Uber soaks 7+4=11 wounds; Judah deals 8 wounds, dropping the Uber to 17 wounds.
• The two N’Orks continue to gang up on Ivan, attacking at 7+4+2=13 and he rolls 4+2=6 to evade. He rolls to soak the damage of 7+4+7=18 wounds, and gets 7+1=8 wounds… so he suffers 10 wounds, and is down to -3 wounds. On his next turn (if he’s at negatives), he will have to roll to stay conscious.
• Cartaan uses his stealth, rolling 7+4=11 vs. the Uber’s intuition of 8+3=11; he doesn’t get a bonus this round, so attacks at 9+4=13 to hit vs. the Uber’s evade of 5+3=8; he hits by +5. For damage, he rolls 7+7+5=19 wounds, less the soak of 3+4=7 means that Cartaan deals 12 wounds, dropping the Uber to 5… Cartaan spends one of his resolve points to take another attack, rolling 12+4=16 to hit vs. the Uber’s evade of 7+3=10; he rolls damage at +6, rolling 9+7+6=22 wounds; its soak of 3+4=7 means that it suffers 15 wounds, and he drops it like a bad habit.
• I roll to see if the Ubern’Orkers arise as the N’Ork Ubermonger… each has a 1 in 6 chance. I roll 4, 1… so one of them jumps back up. Ohhhhhhhhh snap.

 

[mtdesing]

N’Ork Ubermonger (50 CPs)
physical soak +5; spiked club +5 (attack +7; +12 after activating rage/damage +9)
Arms +5; Evade +4; Intuition +3; Might +7; Rage +5; Weapon Specialist +4 (clubs)

Round Five. I roll for the monger’s sequence and get 8+3=11. It goes after Bel.
• Bel continues to let his healing aura pulse, so he recovers 3 wounds (now at 12 wounds) and Ivan is up to 0 wounds, so he won’t have to roll to stay up. He will take a swing with his walking staff at the monger, and rolls 11+0=11; the monger rolls to evade and gets 5+4=9. Bel hits by +2! For damage, he rolls 7+1+2=10 wounds; the monger rolls 6+5=11 wounds, and the staff strike fails to harm it.
• The monger activates its rage, and gets to attack at +12! It takes a swing at Bel first, rolling 5+12=17 to hit; Bel rolls 9+0=9 to evade; for damage, the monger rolls 5+9+9=23 wounds, and Bel soaks 5+1=6 wounds; he suffers 17 wounds, and is down to -5. On his next turn, he will have to make a roll to stay up.
• Judah gets to attack, and rolls 4+4=8 to hit, and the monger rolls 10+4=14 to evade. Judah misses.
• Ivan gets to act. Neither of his spontaneous spells will be very helpful here, so he takes a shot with his basic attack spell; he rolls a natural 2, and automatically fails. Grrrr.
• The two N’Orks get to attack again, taking their shots at Ivan. He rolls to evade their attack of 13 and rolls 4+2=6 to evade; they hit by +7. He rolls to soak the damage of 18 and gets 8+1=9; he suffers 9 wounds, and is down to -9! He cannot get a break…
• Cartaan tries to use his stealth against the monger, rolling 4+4=8, and the monger rolls 5+3=8; he gets to keep his stealth up, but gets no bonus from it. He attacks, rolling 8+4=12. The monger rolls to evade, getting 8+3=11. He hits by +1, and for damage rolls 7+7+1=15 wounds; the monger rolls 5+5=10 to soak, and suffers 5 wounds; it still has 45 wounds, and is barely bothered by the heroes so far…

Round Six
• Bel has to roll to stay conscious… he rolls 11+0=11 (DR 5 from -5 wounds), and succeeds. He gets to recover 3 wounds (now at -2) and Ivan recovers 3 wounds as well, now up to only -6… hey, that’s better than it was!
• The monger takes a swipe at Judah (basically so that I have an excuse to allow Bel to live another round) and rolls 6+11 (rage has dropped -1)=17 to hit, and Judah rolls 8+2=10 to evade; the monger hits by +7; for damage, it rolls 9+9+7=25 wounds, and Judah (wearing no armor, you’ll remember) soaks 7+0=7 wounds; he suffers 18 wounds, and is down to 12.
• Ivan has to roll well here… he first has to roll to stay up, and gets 5+0=5 on the DR 6 roll, so he fails. He spends his 1 resolve point to add his flame to the roll, allowing him to stay up. Now he throws a jet of flame at the monger, rolling 10+5=15 to hit, and the monger rolls 7+4=11 to evade; Ivan hits by +4. For damage, he rolls 8+4+4=16 wounds, and the monger soaks 3+0=3 wounds. That got him! He deals 13 wounds, dropping the monger to 32 wounds. Finally some progress.
• Judah swings his sword, getting 7+4=11 to hit vs. the uber’s evade of 3+4=7. Judah hits by +4, and for damage rolls 8+8+4=20 wounds, and the uber rolls 11+5=16 to soak, so suffers 4 wounds and is down to 28 wounds.
• The N’Orks follow their boss’ lead, and swing at Judah. He rolls to evade their attack of 13, and gets 3+2=5 (obviously not watching the N’Orks). He has to roll (unarmored) to soak 7+4+8=19 wounds, and rolls 10. He suffers 9 wounds, and is down to 3.
• Cartaan uses stealth again, rolling 9+4=13, and this time decides to target the N’Orks to take them out, so against their intuition static 7+2=9 gets to take +4 to his attack. He rolls 10+4+4=18 to hit vs. 7+2=9 evade; he deals +9 damage, and rolls 10+7+9=26 wounds; they soak 10 of this, but still suffer 16 wounds and are both dropped convincingly. They roll to see if they will pop up next round as Ubern’Norders, and get 2, 2. They’re both done. Whew. Now, they only have to defeat the Ubermonger…

Round Seven
• Bel continues to use his aura of healing… he’s up to 1 wound, Ivan is up to -3, and Judah is up to 6 wounds… so he’s in danger again. He swings his staff, getting a natural 2 and missing.
• The ubermonger lays the smack down on Judah (again), rolling 4+10=14 to hit; Judah rolls 5+2=7 to evade, so the monger hits by +7. For damage, it rolls 4+9+7=20 wounds, and Judah rolls 8 to soak, meaning that he suffers 12 wounds and is down to -6.
• Judah has to roll to stay up, DR 6. He rolls and gets 6+4=10; it’s going to take more than that to knock him down again! He attacks the monger, rolling 5+4=9. The monger rolls to evade, getting 9+4=13. Sigh.
• Ivan throws a bolt of flame, rolling 8+5=13, and the uber rolls 3+4=7 to evade. Ivan gets to add +6 to damage, and rolls 7+4+6=17 wounds; the ubermonger rolls 4+0=4 to soak, and suffers another 13 wounds. The ubermonger is down to 19 wounds, and is looking beatable for the first time…
• Cartaan uses stealth, rolling 9+4=13, and the monger rolls intuition getting 3+3=6; Cartaan takes +7 to his attack! He fires, rolling 8+4+7=19 to hit, and the ubermonger rolls 6+4=10 to evade. Cartaan hits by +9. For damage, he rolls 9+7+9=25 wounds, and the ubermonger rolls 4+5=9 to soak; he deals 16 wounds, and the monger has 3 wounds remaining. However, he has a resolve point still in his bank, and he spends it here, adding his precision +4 to the damage roll, and bringing the Ubermonger to -1 wounds, and bringing victory to his team!

The group of four heroes is level 7, while the total of foes they faced was level 11 after all of the re-born N’Orks… so they each earn 7 XP. This brings Judah to 11 XP total, and in a position to purchase another CP if he so desired. He’ll bank it for now, however.

Analysis
I’m not loving shapechange and the implications for disciples; in bear form, Bel lost his aura, which is one of the main things he does. He can be a melee combat fighter (and a good one) in bear form, or he can be pure support (in human form), but he can’t be an effective combatant and support with his current build. I’m hesitant to allow you to keep abilities between forms, since this defeats the whole idea of a point-build system; you get ‘freebie’ abilities because you’re still the same guy underneath. No. If you become a big bear and you don’t bother buying lore in bear form, when you become a big bear, you don’t have access to the lore +8 you have in your normal form.

 

[mtdesing]

I ended up shelving Judah for a while there, but I felt like getting back into a solo character for a bit... I figured that I'd just continue this thread instead of starting a new one...

I felt like making up a narglyn adventurer and taking him out to play test some of the material I’m creating for Chronicles of the Splintered Realm Volume 2: Timbervale.

As a narglyn adventurer, Nemo the Skald travels in search of fame, fortune and glory. He’s an explorer at heart. As an adventurer, he cannot invest more than 1/4 of his total CPs in any one ability; so at level 1 (10 CPs), he cannot have more than 2 CPs in any one thing, although he can pick up any ability (including abilities normally linked to another archetype exclusively). He gets a +1 racial shift to precision, so I’ll put 2 CPs there; I want him to ultimately be a fighter/thief/magic user sort of guy, so I’ll start by pumping a few points into intuition (since I can link several applications to that down the road, and it will help him stay alive); to that end, he’ll take some evade, and I need him to take some arms for basic survivability. Finally, I’ll pick up some resolve so he has some flexibility. Here’s what I end up with:

Nemo, Narglyn Adventurer (10 CPs) Soaks +2 physical (from ring mail +2)
Arms +2; Evade +2; Intuition +2; Precision +3 (2 CPs/ +1 racial shift); Resolve +2
War Club +2 (attack +3/damage +2)
5 gold coins

 

[mtdesing]

Against the Boars: Act I

In the northern parts of the forest of Timbervale live the Boar Weren, also called the boaren. They are a tribal, savage race, engaging in barbaric practices. They sometimes ally themselves with the Wereboars, but the lycanthropes view these as lesser creatures.

For his first mission, Nemo is hired by Umark of Fort Morovar to gather some information from the nearby boaren. Nemo will wander the nearby woodlands in search of a Boaren Savager who carries a message. He’s to watch a trail several miles west of the keep, attacking boaren that travel the road to hopefully waylay a savager named Vendo and recover a message from him.

There is a 1 in 6 chance that each boaren who passes is Vendo. It will require a DR 12 intuition roll to correctly distinguish Vendo from another passing brute. A failed roll means that Nemo has to assume it could be Vendo, and attack…

From his hidden spot, Nemo can get +2 to stealth attempts to make a surprise attack.

For the first boaren, he rolls 2; it’s a normal boaren brute.
- Nemo rolls to see if he can identify this boaren; he rolls 12+2=14 and knows it’s not Vendo, but it looks a lot like him!
- He rolls to see if he gets surprise, and rolls 6+2=8, and the brute rolls 12+1=13; no way he’s being surprised!
- The brute wins sequence (10+0=10 beats Nemo’s 8+1=9). It rolls to attack, and gets 5+3=8; Nemo rolls 6+2=8 to evade, and the boaren hits by +0. For damage, it rolls 6+1=7 wounds, and Nemo soaks 3+2=5 wounds; he suffers 2 wounds and is down to 8.
- Nemo attacks with his club, rolling 4+3=7 vs. the brute’s 8+1=9. Nemo spends a resolve point to double his precision, and now has a result of 10, hitting by +1. For damage, he rolls 3+2+1=6 wounds, but the boaren rolls 6+1=7 to soak.
- The brute attacks again, rolling 7+3=10, and Nemo rolls only 2+2=4 to evade; this is a hit by +6! For damage, the brute rolls 7+1+6=14 wounds, and Nemo rolls 11+2=13 to soak; he suffers 1 wound, and is down to 7.
- Nemo swings again, getting 5+3=8, and the brute rolls 9+1=10 to evade; he spends his last resolve point, and increases his attack roll to 11, hitting by +1. For damage, he rolls 6+3+1=10 wounds, but the brute rolls 11+1=12 to soak. Ack!
- The brute rolls again to hit, getting 9+3=12, and Nemo rolls 8+2=10 to evade; for damage, the brute rolls 9+1+2=12 wounds, and Nemo soaks 7+2=9, leaving him at 4 wounds and in need of some help!
- Nemo finally gets a break, attacking at 8+3=11, and the brute rolls 5+1=6 to evade; Nemo rolls 11+2+5=18 wounds to the head, and the brute rolls 5+1=6 to soak; Nemo cracks his skull at last, dropping the brute in one well-placed shot.
- This was an at-level encounter, so Nemo gets 3 XP. I roll for treasure but don’t get any successes; this brute carries only 2D silver; I roll and get 8 silver. Nemo puts this in his satchel, drags the brute’s body off the road, and gets back into his hiding spot…

An hour later (after Nemo is fully healed), another boaren travels up the road; a result of 6, so this is a normal brute again. Nemo rolls 8+2=10, and cannot tell what kind this is… he rolls stealth, and gets 6+2=8, but the boaren gets only 2+1=3 to notice; Nemo leaps upon him, getting to add +5 to his attack; he rolls, and gets 10+3+5=18 to hit, and the boaren rolls 7+1=8 to evade; Nemo hits by +10; for damage, he rolls 8+2+10=20 wounds, and the boaren rolls 8+1=9 to soak; now that Nemo knows how these things fight, he’s better-equipped to take the battle to them (or so it seems…). I roll for treasure again, getting a success for magical treasure! This thing is carrying a minor potion of healing +1. Additionally, it has 9 silver coins. Nemo pockets these, taking his 3XP, increasing his purse to 17 silver won, and pocketing that potion for when he needs it in a pinch.

Soon, another boaren travels the path, heading in the opposite direction. A roll of 3 shows that it’s another normal boaren brute. Nemo rolls to see if he can tell it’s normal, but he rolls 7+2=9, and is not sure… he prepares to leap from the shadows again, rolling 11+2=13 vs. the boaren’s 7+1=8; he gets to add +5 to his attack. Springing from above swinging his club, Nemo rolls 12+3+5=20 to hit vs. the boaren’s 4+1=5 evade; he hits by +15! For damage, he rolls 8+2+15=25 wounds, and the boaren soaks 9+1=10; he bludgeons this one to death in a single great clubbing. He quickly searches it for treasure (finding a gemstone worth 9 gold!) in addition to another 8 silver coins. He now has 9 XP, a 9 gold gem, 25 silver, and 3 dead boaren stacked in a ditch nearby.

He hides again, and I roll 1! The savager happens by… Nemo rolls 6+2=8, and cannot tell if this is another brute or the savager named Vendo. He rolls stealth, getting 7+2=9, but Vendo rolls 9+2=11… it sees the bloody marks along the path, and senses the potential ambush. It’s sequence.
- Nemo rolls 7+1=8, and so does Vendo. Nemo will go first due to higher intuition.
- Nemo attacks, rolling 6+3=9 to hit, and Vendo rolls 5+2=7 to evade; Nemo hits by +2; for damage, he rolls 4+2+2=8 wounds, and Vendo soaks 5+2=7; he deals 1 wound, bringing Vendo to 12 wounds.
- Vendo strikes back with his spiked club, rolling 3+4=7, but Nemo rolls 6+2=8 to evade; he narrowly dodges the spiked club.
- Nemo swings again, rolling 7+3=10, and Vendo rolls 4+1=5 to evade; Nemo hits by +5, and for damage rolls 11+2+5=18 wounds! Vendo soaks 8+2=10 of these, suffering 8 wounds, and bringing him to 4.
- Vendo strikes, getting 12+4=16 to hit vs. Nemo’s evade of 10+2=12. Nemo cannot get out of the way even with a resolve point, so he accepts this; Vendo deals 3+2+4=9 wounds, but Nemo soaks 8+2=10, and his armor absorbs the full blow.
- Nemo swings again (sensing victory at hand!) and gets 8+3=11 to hit vs. Vendo’s evade of 5+2=7; for damage Nemo rolls only 3+2+4=9 wounds, and Vendo soaks 6+2=8; Nemo deals 1 wound, taking Vendo to 3 wounds, but he spends a resolve point to add his precision to the damage, finding a weak spot in Vendo’s mail shirt; Vendo is at 0 wounds, but since he is a boss, he gets to roll to stay up! He’ll automatically make this roll, but he’s reeling now.
- Vendo retaliates, rolling 8+4=12, and Nemo evades with 7+2=9; for damage, Vendo rolls 5+2+3=10 wounds, and Nemo soaks 4+2=6 wounds; he suffers 4 wounds, and is down to 6.
- Nemo rolls 10+3=13 to hit, and Vendo rolls 6+2=8 to evade; for damage, Nemo rolls 7+2+5=14 wounds, and Vendo soaks 8+2=10, leaving him at -4 wounds. Nemo will hold onto his final resolve point in case he needs it… Vendo stays up, rolling 4+4=8 vs. the DR 4 roll to stay vertical.
- Vendo swings with 10+3=13, and Nemo rolls 9+2=11 to evade; he uses his final resolve point to add his precision to evade for this roll, increasing his evade result to 14 and dodging the blow.
- Nemo strikes again, rolling 5+3=8 vs. Vendo’s evade of 11+1=12; no chance!
- Vendo swings, rolling 7+3=10 and Nemo rolls 8+2=10 to evade; so close! For damage, Vendo rolls 11+2=13 wounds, and Nemo rolls 9+2=11 to soak; he suffers 2 wounds, and is down to 4 wounds; he’s feeling the pain!
- Nemo swings, rolling 6+3=9, but Vendo rolls 12+1=13 to evade; Nemo misses by a mile.
- Vendo rolls 5+4=9 to hit with his spiked club, and Nemo rolls 4+2=6 to evade; for damage, Vendo rolls 7+2+3=12 wounds, and Nemo rolls 3+2=5 to soak! Ack! He’s at -3 wounds, and has to roll might to stay alive; he rolls 5, and barely stays conscious, as the spiked club has nearly knocked him into next week (and forced me to make a new hero!)
- On his turn, Nemo drinks his potion, recovering 7+1=8 wounds; he’s now up to 5 wounds. He takes a minor penalty to his attack roll as well, rolling 11+3-3=11 to hit vs. Vendo’s evade of 5+1=6. He hits by +5! For damage, he rolls 11+2+5=18 wounds, and Vendo rolls 6+2=8 to soak; he deals 10 wounds, bringing Vendo to -14 wounds; he needs to roll a natural 10 or better on the dice to keep fighting; he rolls 8+4=12 vs. the DR 14 roll, and he falls to the ground, bloody and defeated.

- Nemo rolls for treasure on Vendo, and recovers money; he recovers a necklace worth 10 gold. He also gathers 8 more silver coins.
- Vendo is worth 5 XP, bringing Nemo’s XP total to 14.
- Nemo also recovers a message written in the boaren language. He takes this back to Umark of Fort Morovar.
- Nemo is told to deliver this message to the regent of the fort. He does so, and is rewarded with the wayfarer’s jewel. This grants +2 to intuition. He also receives 6 XP, bringing his total to 20 XP. He spends this to get 2 CPs; with these, he takes a shout of stunning, linked to his intuition.
- He redeems the silver, gemstone and necklace for gold coins.

Boaren Brute (8 CPs) Soak +1 physical
Arms +1; Evade +1; Intuition +1; Might +3; Speed +1
Club (attack +3/damage +1)

Boaren Savager (13 CPs) Soak +2 physical
Arms +2; Evade +1; Intuition +2; Might +4; Speed +2
Spiked Club (attack +4/damage +2)

Nemo, Narglyn Adventurer (12 CPs) Soaks +2 physical (from ring mail +2)
Arms +2; Evade +2; Intuition +3 [2 CPs/ +2 from gem] (shout of stunning); Precision +3 [2 CPs/+1 racial shift]; Resolve +2
War Club +2 (attack +3/damage +2)
27 gold coins; 3 silver coins; wayfarer’s jewel (intuition +2)