Sortie 1: The Cave of the Bree-Yarks

[Q.Q Elf]

Just a note, but we should also know what their disposition overall is, and how it's divided--the Chief gets to decide now additional damage is divided up once we take out the person who's getting hit, but it's at least a bit valuable to know up front.

Fair enough. The rules are clear enough... AFTER you read them a few times. They say not to tell the players the monster disposition before a Conflict on page 130, but it doesn't say when that ends. From the Conflict rules, it looks like the intent is to give you a disposition as we place stones or coins on a table, but we don't have actual tables here...

Their total disposition is 8.
3 stones on the King of all Caves.
1 per helper (5).

[Keehnelf]

Oh, that's quite nice. It means we're guaranteed to knock them down 3 helper dice with that attack, and that's only if the chief takes hits on himself. Good strike, Marodin!

[Simon]

Bravo! Am pressed for time, but Ahmad will have his defense roll ready to go tomorrow.

[Keehnelf]

Sorry I misremembered his successes. Down 4 help dice if the chief stays clean, 3 dice if the chief is just nicked, 2 dice if he's hit hard, same if he goes down with the active goblin. So minimum 2 dice lost, and Marodin is out too since we got hit for 2. Thankfully we may be in better shape on the recovery side.

[sulldawga]

Leather Armor test [1d6] = 6

Reduce the Attack from the Goblins by 1s. Still in the game!

Damn. Forgot this wasn't a Fight. Oh well.

[Q.Q Elf]

Chief Zlatkul is visibly embarrassed by the exchange. Two of his bodyguards sit down in confusion.

The throng of Goblins around the room stamp their feet, reacting to the exchange of words.

So it's Independent test in Attack versus Attack. -4 stones. 2 stones from the Chief, 2 bodyguards out.

Volley 3 for Goblins: Defend.

The next Goblin strides forward.

"Goblins! Do you trust ugly Dwarf? Manlings of the Fort are friends of Dwarfs! Dwarfs! Who friend of hairy hole-digger Dwarfs?! Not King of all Caves!

"King of all Caves protect you from Hurters, Troll, Manlings, and Orc. Hobgoblins come to serve great King Zlatkul. Goblins safe because of Zlatkul, and smart Goblins stay loyal to Goblin King of all Caves!"


okay... Down to the Chief plus 3 Goblins. That gives me 6 dice.
Using my nifty new roller...
6, 5, 4, 1, 5, 2
4 successes.

[GreyWolfVT]

aint like this hole digging dwarf has done anything to em lol

[Simon]

Ahmad, sensing that he has the floor for the moment, quickly moves to reiterate and solidify the points already made by Erinas and Marodin.

So rolling 1/2 Will rounded up, and I'll take a check against myself with Touched by the Gods. Ahmad's response is haughty and overly bold, his obvious disdain for the goblin's pidgin philosophy shining through. The Nine Eye'd Lord laughs at these foolish children. [1d6] = 2, [1d6] = 2

But his approach is ineffective. His insulting manner, overlaid on the points already made has clearly not strengthened the groups positon.

Doh!

[sulldawga]

Looks like Marodin is out. Can Horris jump in for the next round's actions? Also, I make Erinas/Keehnelf the new Conflict Captain.

[Simon]

Pretty sure that was defend v. defend, so we wouldn't have lost any disposition. Also I'm pretty sure that we rotate in a new player each round regardless. Or do I have that wrong?

[GreyWolfVT]

not sure what Horris would do other than just attack.

[sulldawga]

I was out after the Attack right beforehand. And we could have recovered DPs from your Defend that would have brought me back in.

I noticed that I screwed up the rules. I was supposed to allot DPs to everyone, not just the three folks acting in Round 1. So perhaps we retroactively say that, instead of Ahmad having two DPs and Horrin zero, they each have one?

I also wasn't clear on the Turn Taking rules but now I see you're right. Not only does Horrin get to act in the next round, he has to act first, as per the rules p. 69.

"A character who has not acted this round must act in the next round before anyone else who has already taken an action."

[sulldawga]

not sure what Horris would do other than just attack.

Don't forget, this isn't a real battle. It's a contest of words. So Horrin can Feint, Defend, or Maneuver with the best of 'em. There is no real advantage to one over the other, since you don't have Orator or Manipulator.

[Keehnelf]

Once I hear from Q.Q. that he has his actions set for round two, I'll get the conversation started about scripting for our side. I have some ideas, but it sucks that we've lost our best combatant.

[GreyWolfVT]

I'm no wordsmith so not sure again what i can do.

[Keehnelf]

We'll see! Maybe we can set you on the road to learning a useful social skill, if nothing else

[Simon]

Sorry to have been so out of the loop with Marodin's untimely conversational demise! I'm onboard now though. I suppose we can still get him back in the fight with some well rolled defends.

[Q.Q Elf]

GM voice: Okay... Defend versus Defend is Independent.
My Goblin had 4 successes... which is, coincidentally, the number of stones that I lost that round.
A win for the Goblins! Back up to 5 helpers!

The Goblins look visibly relieved after the last exchange of words. Chief Zlatkul sits smugly upon his throne, swirling the deep red wine in the Dwarf skull goblet as he smirks at the party. "Manlings! Are you ready to serve the King of all Caves? We will listen if you wanting to surrender to us now!"

GM Voice: Okays! Ready for Round 2? I've got my 3 actions ready to go...

• Bodyguard 3 (Gobloz Stinknose): ??????
• Bodyguard 4 (Ganbalg Dogcatcher): ??????
• Bodyguard 5 (Gerzin the Dim): ??????

.

[Keehnelf]

OK guys, here are my thoughts about scripting this round:

The dwarf has to go first, so let's focus on a Maneuver with him. We're not expecting much from him, and if nothing else it will mitigate the effects of any opposing rolls since a Defend wouldn't do the goblins any good right now.

Then, let's have me hop in with a Defend to hopefully bring sulldawga's character back into the game and finish with a Feint by Ahmad. I'm basing this on the assumption that the goblins will be running a defend last thing in order to regroup from any losses they might take--so if we don't inflict any while recovering Marodin along the way, we can then hit them right at the end while they have no chance to regroup and go into Round three with our fortunes reversed.

Thoughts?

[sulldawga]

Sounds like as good a plan as any.