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

[jemmus]

If Taisho sidesteps one yard to the right, he will be outside of the o-bakemono's front facing quadrant. So it would be a side attack. No facing change required, because the creature would still be in Taisho's front quadrant. But it would still be at the far edge of Extra Long range.

I had to diagram all of this out on graph paper. It gives me an excuse to invest in some 25mm figurines. I'm watching some official Bushido ones on ebay. But your PCs may end up being represented by plastic vikings, trolls and ogres from a Buy Now lot

[ffilz]

Taisho side steps, and stumbles a bit an is unable to connect with the bo

[spanningtree]

Ito continues his attack on the red devil with another pair of swipes.

Primary

To hit: [1d20]=5
Damage: [1d6]=4+3=7

Secondary

To hit: [1d20]=17
Doh!

[jemmus]

Ito and Taisho
The red ogre's long club again caromed off of the bushi's armor and struck the moist forest earthy with a thud. Its upper body was left exposed. The young ronin's slash across its abdomen left his wrists extended to the left of his body. Using a kata form he'd practiced a thousand times in the dojo, he flicked his wrists over and executed an arcing downward stroke onto the bake's tall shoulder. The katana’s razor edge bites into the surprisingly hard skin and sinews of the unworldly kami-beast thing.

The gakusho sidestepped to the right to again flank the o-bakemono. A bo strike at this long distance was difficult, and it missed.

Katsumi, Kentaro and Omi
The shinobi and two bushi continue moving up the trail, each at his own fastest pace.

The PCs on the trail don't encounter anything. To keep things moving, I assumed they'll do what they'd planned.

[jemmus]

Turn 4

The o-bakemono, copious purple-black blood running from its belly and shoulder wounds, backs away from the bushi's blade. It takes a long step back, still facing the two humans to its front right and left. Its swings its long thick club at the bushi, but the warrior leans and evades the blow.

The o-bakemono stepped 1 yard directly back. Range for Ito is 2 yards (Long) and for Taisho 5 yards. Taisho is no longer Engaged status. The club (treated as a tetsubo) is a Long weapon. 5 yards is more than a yard than its Weapon Range. The backward move brought Taisho to within its front facing. Ito is also within its front facing.

[Marullus]

Unless something unexpected happens:
Omi will arrive on Turn 12
Kentaro will arrive on Turn 10
Katsumi will arrive on Turn 6.

Omi is currently at Long Range (46-90 yards, -4 BCS). He'll reach Short range on Turn 5. Point Blank (+2 BCS) is 16-20 yards. Omi will reach it on Turn 9.

Pulling this forward.

[ffilz]

Hmm, didn't expect things to last this long... Maybe I should have done the blessing... On the other hand I did get in two good bops...

I think the Bushi has this bakemono well in hand, perhaps Taisho should make sure the other one isn't going to suddenly become a problem for us.

[jemmus]

Correction-- We've started Turn 4. (My post above initially said Turn 3).

[spanningtree]

OCC: Does Ito need to close distance to continue attacking?
OCC: Yeah, go nab the one that ran off.... not sure what it's up to.

[jemmus]

Ito can stay in place and attack at Long range (-1 BCS). Or move forward one yard to close to Medium range (+0 BCS). Ito is in Engaged status, so movement of one yard (and only one yard) is allowed.

[spanningtree]

Ito moves forward prior to attacking again.

[ffilz]

Taisho will start looking for the other bakemono.

[jemmus]

I used my not very advanced MS Paint skills to map out where people are.
Taisho - 5 yds from the o-bake. Move options:
Walk - BMA (3 yds)
Run - BMA x 2
Cautious Walk w/ ST for Hidden Things - BMA x 1/2 (1 yd)
When you get beside the trail, BMA will be reduced to 80% because of rougher ground.

Ito - 1 yd from the o-bake, after moving. Please roll your two attacks, -0 to BCS.

Katsumi - You would arrive at the campfire area on Turn 6. But I didn't take into account that the PCs had concealed themselves further down the mountain. Your position on at the end of the turn is marked. If you want to instead have veered toward the sound of combat (Ito and the o-bakemono), you can do that. Katsumi doesn't know about the bakemono-sho and its path into the woods.

[jmacatty]

Will we observe Katsumi moving after the other monster? Obviously we would not know what he was doing.

[jemmus]

Katsumi will arrive in the area this turn. He can't do an Action until next turn. Ito and Taisho were so engaged in quick 6 second turns with movement, striking or being struck that they didn't also become aware of the figure moving up the trail. (GM 15 and 20 d20 rolls, respectively-- no need to calculate BCS and modifiers, etc. ) The situation is as before for Ito and Taisho.

Katsumi - Has a decision about whether to leave the trail and head toward the sound and a brief glimpse of battle, or stay on the trail and arrive at the position on the trail marked.
No other Action this turn (Turn 4).

Taisho - Still has Movement or Attack options.

Ito - Moved a yd to Medium range, ideal for katana. The o-bakemono is facing a quarter turn to its left, having flailed at and missed Ito.

[spanningtree]

Ito does an excellent job missing the red creature twice.

To hit: [1d20]=18

To hit: [1d20]=18

[Enoch]

Katsumi will leave the trail and head directly toward the battle as soon as he spots it. If he can, he'll try to approach from behind or to the side of one of them, but he won't delay his arrival to do so.

[jemmus]

Revised arrival times for the PCs.

Kentaro arrives at the battle on Turn 9, may be able to Close to Engage.

Omi arrives at the battle on Turn 11. Will reach Point Blank range on this turn (Turn 4). Can use dai-kyu on Turn 5.

Katsumi has arrived this turn (Turn 4). He has 3 yards of movement remaining. He can run directly at the red ogre. If it doesn't change facing next turn, he can Close to Engage for a Side attack next turn. Or he can use his 3 yards to work towards passing the o-bake for a Rear attack later. (Please the explanation about movement and attacks I just posted in the Rules Discussion thread).

[jemmus]

Taisho sees Katsumi coming off of the trail at a full run, angling toward Ito and the obakemono.

Katsumi sees Taisho moving in his direction toward the trail, as if he's on a mission.

[jemmus]

To finish Turn 4, we need:
Taisho's information about how he's moving toward where the bakemono-sho.
Walk - BMA (3 yds)
Run - BMA x 2
Cautious Walk w/ ST for Hidden Things - BMA x 1/2 (1 yd)
When you get beside the trail, BMA will be reduced to 80% because of rougher ground.

Also, any reaction to seeing Katsumi bursting off of the trail and heading toward the fight.

Katsumi - Reaction to seeing Kentaro leaving the fight area (if any)