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Raizenbrayne becomes somewhat overly excited at stumbling upon the orcs, and follows eagerly behind Agrom, waving his arms about wildly and making shooing and boogie noises at the orcs.

Raize's best options are to Defend or Maneuver; my gut instinct is to go with Maneuver, which would ideally go before an Attack, and might even disarm one of the opponents if I roll particularly well. I'm all for trying to get rid of them as soon as possible, and in that case an aggressive Attack-Maneuver-Attack could do the trick, but now that we've had a few of these conflicts I've found that I'm always a little paranoid of the GM putting a Feint in the middle.

Simon wrote:I'm okay with that. I was thinking of doing a maneuver, as I get the bonus with the Sling. But I do have the sword now, so I suppose I could switch things up. I do like the Attk-Attk-Maneuver.

Let's not forget that, unless things go exceptionally well for us or them, we'll have another round for you to switch to the sling.

Keehnelf, we'll go with:

Agrom - Attack
Harlan - Attack
Raiz - Maneuver

Ok, the orcs' first action is also attack! A fierce melds ensues. Will you describe Agrom's actions? I'll post Hork Norfork's action in a bit (running behind this morning).

Agrom will drop the torch, draw his sword, and charge the closest orc. He's looking to bash it with his shield and slap its head with the flat of his blade.

We'll resolve this exchange as-is, but I'll roll now to see if the torch goes out when it is dropped (always a possibility). On a 1-2, the torch goes out and everyone is in dim lighting starting with the next exchange.

Torch Extinguishing Roll [1d6] = 4

Safe! We need to designate who is covered by the torch's full light apart from Agrom--it will remain that way for the entirety of the conflict.

Hork and his buddies charge forward as they catch sight of the party, hoping to hack them mostly to death and then take whatever remains and do whatever it is that orcs do with their captives...

They are using their swords as prods, trying to herd the party and keep them from escaping through the threat of injury (+1D Maneuver when using the Sword this fight).

Attack! [6d6s4] = 3

The orcs get 3 successes, which is reduced by 1 for Agrom's armor and doesn't quite knock him out of the fight.

Agrom Armor Check [1d6] = 2

The magical armor takes its first bit of damage--Hork's sword catches at one of the buckles under the arm and knocks it loose, but due to its reinforced construction it holds together.

In turn, the flat of Agrom's blade lands squarely against Hork's head, knocking him sprawling backward into the dust and rubble. In his sprawling fall, he throws Bork Vrondork off-balance as well.

HP Remaining:
Bork Vrondork: 1/2
Hork Norfork: 0/2
Zagruul the Incinerator: 2/2

Agrom: 1/3
Harlan: 2/2
Raizenbrayne: 2/2

Second exchange is:

Harlan Attack w/Sling vs. Bork Vrondork Maneuver

Bork gets: 4D, +1D for help from Zagruul the Incinerator, +1D for using his Sword as his tool.

Bork tries to get around the party on one side while Zagruul circles from the other, attempting to drive the party back up on to the narrow steps and restrict their movement and available options.

Bork Vrondork Maneuver [6d6s4] = 3

Not a bad start!

Raizenbrayne stops short when the orcs attack, watching Agrom trade some rather impressive blows. He slinks back, parallel to the orc on his side to keep the party's flank refused, and makes sure to duck beneath the deadly trajectory of Harlan's sling. 'Go have 'em, Harlan! All yours!'

Harlan quickly catches onto the Ork's flanking maneuver and, hoping to snuff out their tactical pivot before the party is pincered, swiftly takes aim, letting fly a smooth, fist sized stone.

Fighter 3D + 1D Help from Agrom = 4D

[1d6] = 5, [1d6] = 1, [1d6] = 6, [1d6] = 5

OK, that makes a tied match, no damage to the Orcs but they don't gain a benefit from their maneuver.

Third exchange is their Feint vs. the party's Maneuver, which both test independently.

Bork seems to overstep himself, coming up on to the stairs to get behind the party, and when their attention is drawn over to him, Zagruul the Incinerator lashes out suddenly with an attack against Raizenbrayne.

4D for Nature, +1D help from Bork
Zagruul's Feint [5d6s4] = 4

His blow is devastating, throwing Raizenbrayne to the ground and barreling through to set his sights on the rest of the party, his slavering orc-jaws glistening with anticipated culinary delight.

This means Raizenbrayne will be dropped to 0 HP and Agrom needs to allocate the remaining 2 points of disposition damage, either removing Harlan as well or knocking himself out and reducing Harlan by one point. Scary!

Raizenbrayne spots the orcs moving off to either side and tries to move with the one on his side, keeping him to his front. He holds the warhammer rather ungracefully, unable to wield it to any effect. Moving across the stairs he spies an spot where the flagstones have sunk a foot or so, causing the stones on the step above them to slip down and block access onto the stairs from that side. Raizenbrayne quickly takes up a position above the drooping stones there, hoping to block the orc's advance and provide some leverage for himself—he puts on his most convincing combat posture and swings the hammer about threateningly, hoping to stop the orc's advance long enough for one of the real fighters to drive him off.

roll an extra die for Agrom's help--he's not Afraid so he can still do something there.

Yeah, you get to decide what to disarm. The only relevant things they have are their weapons of Sword and Shield, and no traits that impact play.

I'd agree with Sully. This isn't going to last long either way and a 3D swing for the next action could be crucial.