1st Scroll - The Will of Nobles - 1st - 3rd Days

[ffilz]

Continued observation for Taisho to no avail:

[jemmus]

Ito and Omi slowed their pace and made their way through the rocks toward the sound of the breathing. Neither Kentaro or Taisho could catch a glimpse of the hiding men.

The brown squares south of the hut aren't really a path. They're stones squares with tracks in them. If walking instead of running, Omi and Ito can only move one stones square per turn. They move one square to the SW in Turn 4. (My PC with the map is down, I can't update the map for a while).

[jemmus]

(Revised text, still in Turn 4. I forgot that Level is added to a PoHT BCS. Kentaro's roll of 2 succeeds).

Ito and Omi slowed their pace and made their way through the rocks toward the sound of the breathing. The foliage Kentaro and Taisho are watching remain still. The big man's breathing can still be heard. Kentaro spot some crimson color through the foliage, and it's above ground level by around a yard. The wounded man's blood?

Kentaro can shoot at -2 BCS.
The brown squares south of the hut aren't really a path. They're stones squares with tracks in them. If walking instead of running, Omi and Ito can only move one stones square per turn. They move one square to the SW in Turn 4. (My PC with the map is down, I can't update the map for a while).

[Marullus]

BCS 12 +1 for arrow = 13. [1d20]=4 Damage [4d5+3]=17+3=20

[jemmus]

Kentaro's arrow drives through the leaves and the percussion sound of steel steel plate and body being knocked of its feet heard. But the heavy, wheezing breath continues.

[jemmus]

Turn 5

The foliage Kentaro and Taisho are watching stays still, and the big man's breathing can still be heard. From beyond the rocky field, there is the sound of four running feet, then the sound of a body thudding to the ground with an oof, then only two running feet. Closer by, a voice calls out, Satoshi! Shiro! He's on the house's rock! On the rock! It's the voice that commanded the men to stop talking and asked for the archer's location a few seconds ago. It's coming from a few yards east of the wounded man, but no can be seen there. The man must be in a concealed position in this scrubby, rocky mountainside.

Turn 5 actions please.

[Marullus]

Next round: Kentaro continues to wait for the right shot...

Making PoHT rolls every round seems harsh... They're not even moving one yard (because they'd lose the cover entirely if they did). I'd say that once you see something, you can continue seeing it unless they succeed on something that changes the situation, maybe? Considering it is a primary action to "observe situation" and would prevent doing anything else, I don't think the actions are meant to be stacked like that.
Perception of hidden things (if lost) [1d20]=1
Daikyu with armor-piercer (BCS 13) [1d20]=8 Damage [5d5+3]=14+3=17
I'm hoping that critical success can ride for a while... Having multiple successes seeing the guy behind the same 1 yard bush should be cumulatively lowering the cover it provides and giving a BCS bonus, perhaps?

Do they need to roll perception against Taisho and I for every shot, too?

[ffilz]

Taisho will continue trying to observe.



I'm really not sure what it makes sense for Taisho to continue doing... It doesn't seem like trying to observe from a good position is worth anything. Not sure what else Taisho can do though other than bumble around in the rocks.

[jmacatty]

Ito and Omi will draw Katanas and run at the spot where the bushes are thrashing about.

[jemmus]

Kentaro spots the big bearded man rising to his feet, and again looses a hard shot at him. Again the sound of steel on steel and crash to the ground is heard. Then gurgling and a rough cough. Then nothing. No more breathing was heard.

OK, once spotted through Perception of Hidden Things, a char stays spotted. As you said, the foliage squares are only a yard wide. (Which was a flub on my part, the foliage areas should have been bigger). Or we may decide on a different way to handle it (discussed in the Rules Discussion thread).

Yes, they've been rolling PoHT rolls to spot the PCs on the rock. (The NPC who finally spotted Kentaro rolled a 1).

We need to decide whether a PoHT roll is an Action. Before we started this combat I read the rules again, and from the examples to me it seemed that they don't consider it an action. It seems similar to Passive Perception in D&D 5E. Maybe the designers didn't want to alert players that a Hidden Thing exists by making them actively spend an action.

The situation in this combat is specific and different for Kentaro and Omi and Ito. Kentaro is elevated and can see into the second square behind an obscured square. So he's got the NPC kind of pinned to the first square behind. But for Omi and Ito at ground level, there's in infinite line of obscured squares behind a foliage square. Archery requires shooting at the right arc for the specific range. It would be very hard to do that if the target could have retreated any numbers of obscured yards away.

Less situation-specific discussion in the Rules Discussion thread. Bushido is hard....

[jemmus]

Turn 6
Kentaro and Taisho
The commanding voice shouts, Shiro! Get Kazuo's han-kyu! Others, charge the house! Quickly! Taisho and Kentaro see the first bandit emerge from the foliage, look at the them, and run toward the downed man's position. Two other men appear in the south, one wearing parts of ashigaru armor and with a yari leveled, the other in peasant's clothing and with a wakizashi upraised. The clothing is slashed and bloody, he appears to have recently been in combat. The two also charge across the rugged ground as quickly as they can.

Ito and Omi
The running bushi hear the commanding voice shout, Shiro! Get Kazuo's han-kyu!Charge the house! Quickly! Foliage blocks their view, but they hear the sound of a pair of feet running from the southwest, maybe 20 yards away. And more straw sandals hitting the earth from the south, a little farther away.

Kentaro has very partial cover. He's been spotted through PoHT and is standing on exposed on the rock. But the slope of the rock covers his legs to mid-shin. -1 to kyujutsu BCS. I assume Taisho is prone(?) -6 to kyujutsu BCS.
C - clothing
P - partial ashigaru armor
N - naginata
Y- yari
W- wakizashi
They all have wakizashi, in addition to any other weapons.

Turn 6 actions please.

[jemmus]

The post above has been significantly revised since a posted it a few minutes ago. (I did it kind of on the fly and forgot the action planned for one of the NPCs).

[ffilz]

Could you make sure all the text contrasts well? It's really hard to read Kentaro's label.

Taisho will continue trying to scan as much of the area as he can. Do you need another PoHT roll for him?

[jemmus]

Sorry, having a little tech trouble. Image revised. And updated to show bandits Taisho can see. Apparently my first try didn't save right.

From Turn 6 on, no PoTH needed if the PC saw the NPC go behind an obstruction and not leave that location. Shots at targets in total cover like that are at -4. Taisho can use Observe to look around in all directions. Let's say that in this case the bandits to the south are in Kentaro's "directly ahead" field of vision, so that he can see them without Observe.

[jmacatty]

Ito and Omi, run towards the sound to the south.

[Marullus]

Now that the bandits have broken into the open, Kentaro begins to draw and fire on each.

First shot is at 6CW.

Dai-kyu [1d20]=3 damage [5d5+3]=13+3=16

[jemmus]

The two heavily armored samurai run toward the sound of feet to the south, weaving through stones and around the trunk of a large tree. Two men appear, also running and weaving, appear from behind a stand of thick foliage they have skirted. One wears parts of ashigaru armor and has a yari leveled. The other is in slashed and bloodied peasant's clothing and grips a wakizashi. Both pairs of men are briefly surprised at the sudden sight of each other. Apparently running head-on at each other, they have rapidly closed the gap between them. The combatants are just a few yards apart.

Map updated. Ito and Omi spot the NPC before they've finished their runs. They can choose to stop a yard back if they want.

[jemmus]

The big ronin Kentaro, still standing atop the three-yard high rock, draws the dai-kyu's string to his cheek and releases a smooth kyujutsu shot. The bow rotates in his loose grip to string-forward and his string-drawing hand flies to near perfect position behind his right shoulder. The arrow drives through the middle of the man in bloody clothes' chest up to the fletches. He is flung backward and his body rebounds among the stones, settles in a contorted position the earth, and moves no more.

This happened a split second after Ito ended his running move. Omi can react to it (stop running) if he wants, but Ito can't.

[jemmus]

Turn 7
The surviving bandit to Kentaro and Toshizo's right raised the dead one's han-kyu and loosed an arrow at Kentaro. The shot was a bad one, both to the left and way low. The arrow struck the standing rock and it's shaft snapped with a loud wooden krak. 1Pnh (1st in this Phase, Pnh = Partial Ashigaru Armor, naginata, han-kyu. Trying to keep everybody informed of what they're facing.)

Seeing his companion pierced through and instantly killed by the bushi's arrow, the man with a yari before Ito and Omi turned and rushed back through the rocks for two or three paces' distance, as the crow flies. He turned to face the charging bushi, yari at the ready. 5Py

Very near him, from the place of the sound of the yelling orders, a man emerges from behind the foliage and dashes east through the half-buried stones. He holds a striped han-kyu and wears dai-sho. He wears most of a set of heavy ashigaru o-yoroi, but unlike most, its rust-hindering enamel coat isn't coal black, but deep blue. The takes position behind a lying rock and turns to face the travelers, swiftly glancing at charging Ito and Omi and the more distant archer Kentaro behind on the rock 3PHdh

Numbers mean the Phase the NPCs act, which in the heat of action the PCs have intuitively recognized by now. Capital letters are armor type, lower case are weapons carried. Sorry for the small font for some. Crossed out means dead, of course.

Bandits' Phase done, actions please. If Ito or Omi want to change the end of their last turn's actions, just let me know.

[Marullus]

Kentaro stands, unphased by the wooden arrow shattering at his feet, and returns fire at the foe who just fired on him. (1Pnh)

Dai-kyu BCS 12 +1 for arrow = 13. [1d20]=4 damage [5d5+3]=15+3=18