I decided to give a solo outing a go.
I decided to give a solo outing a go. Inspired by Joseph, I decided to write up our heroine's encounter with the wolf...
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Our story begins in the Deep Wilds. Flint was a member of the Broken Glen community on the outskirts, but did something unspeakable and was banished. Around the same time, strange inhuman raiders began to attack the village. Many secretly believe the two events are related, and even Flint wrestles with doubt. Flint needs to track down the source of raiders, in the hopes of restoring her reputation and regaining her true name.
She dreamt of the hamlet before they came. On her shoulders was a pole, where three rabbits hung. She dodged the boy and he ran past her, and stepped aside to let her pursuers by. There were seven children now, and Broken Glen seemed like a name from the past. A name from the past.
She awoke with a start. There is a wolf at the edge of her camp, eyeing her. She can make out the shape of it in the light of the big moon.
Here, we Enter the Fray. Challenge dice of 2 and 5, roll of 4 plus Heart of 2 yields a strong hit. Flint has initiative and +2 momentum. _
Slowly and quietly, she notches an arrow. Still in her bedroll, she points the arrow at the wolf and sends it flying.
Flint strikes. Challenge dice say 1 and 4. Her action die of 3, plus Edge of 3 — her 6 beats both for a strong hit. She maintains initiative. She gets to mark three progress too — two for being a Dangerous foe and and extra due to her strong hit.
She hears it yelp in the dark, sees its shape twist by the trunk of the tree. She rolls into a kneel and has another arrow notched. The wolf steps toward her and growls.
_Flint strikes again. Not so lucky this time. Got a 6 on the action die, so 9 with her Edge. However, the challenge dice are 4 and 10, so this is a weak hit. The two progress she gets finishes the first of 10 boxes and puts a mark in the second, but the wolf gets initiative.
Another arrow flies true and hits the wolf. It snarls and leaps at her. To Flint’s dismay, her shots do not sink into its hide, so the wolf is merely angered by her bow!
The wolf closed the gap, so Flint is using her knife now. The move is Clash, since she doesn’t have the initiative. The roll is 5, plus her Iron of 2. That 7 result lies between the Challenge dice roll of 5 and 8, so it’s a weak hit.
Flint steps aside as the wolf leaps, avoiding its charge. The wolf did not put all of its bulk into the charge, though. While she drops the bow and pulls her knife, it regains its feet and bites down hard on her forearm. She yelps and slashes at it, drawing blood.
A weak hit means that she gets to mark progress (1 1/2 boxes full), but still does not have the initiative. Worse, she has to Pay the Price, in this case, losing 2 Health. She had 5, so now has +3. It’s the wolf’s move.
The wolf twists its head and tries to wrestle Flint to the ground.
This is another Clash role. The Challenge dice say 5 and 5 — more on that in a moment. However, her role is a 6, so the result is a 8 after adding her Iron. A strong hit, and she regains the initiative. The Progress track gets two more marks, and now has two boxes full and one slash in the third. She’s also take a +1 to her momentum, thank you very much.
Flint steps around, so she can get to the wolf’s throat. She uses the fact that wolf has a tight grip on her forearm and takes a stab in the dark. The wolf instantly lets go and scurries back, whimpering.
She strikes. Ooh, the Challenge dice are double 1’s. Her action die of 3 is enough to best those by itself — a strong hit. Since she gets three marks, she is done with her third box on the progress meter!
She sees rage in the wolf’s eye. It bounds forward and tries to bite her again, but it slips off her bloody forearm.
I decided that the Challenge dice match of 5’s earlier gave the wolf some pause and gave her some protection against being bit. Let’s consult the Combat Action Oracle table for the 1’s. A roll of 77 says ‘Create an opportunity’ — for Flint, since it was a strong hit on her part. I’m going to hold this in reserve, when a fictional opportunity presents itself.
Flint presses her advantage.
Flint rolls a 6 on the action die, for 8 total. The Challenge dice are 1 and 6, so yet another strong hit! That puts 3 of 4 marks into the fourth progress box. Let’s try to get at least that 4th box full before trying to end the fight.
She pins the wolf to the ground with her knee and she stabs it again. A look a fear begins to cross the wolf’s eyes.
She strikes again. Challenge dice say 3 and 4, and she rolls a 5 on the action die. That strong hit will finish off the 4th progress box and get another two marks into the 5th. She tries to finish the fight. Oh, sad day! She rolls an 8 and 9 on the Challenge dice, which is a miss! She needs to Pay the Price and loses initiative.
She slips on the bloody wolf’s coat and her knee slides off its chest. It claws at her and pushes her away. As she feels the scratch on her cheek, the wolf rolls to its feet. It starts to bound away.
Wolf pelts are valuable, and it’s leaving a trail of blood — a result of the opportunity created by the 1’s match earlier.
She grabs her bow and begins to track it....
Our story begins in the Deep Wilds. Flint was a member of the Broken Glen community on the outskirts, but did something unspeakable and was banished. Around the same time, strange inhuman raiders began to attack the village. Many secretly believe the two events are related, and even Flint wrestles with doubt. Flint needs to track down the source of raiders, in the hopes of restoring her reputation and regaining her true name.
She dreamt of the hamlet before they came. On her shoulders was a pole, where three rabbits hung. She dodged the boy and he ran past her, and stepped aside to let her pursuers by. There were seven children now, and Broken Glen seemed like a name from the past. A name from the past.
She awoke with a start. There is a wolf at the edge of her camp, eyeing her. She can make out the shape of it in the light of the big moon.
Here, we Enter the Fray. Challenge dice of 2 and 5, roll of 4 plus Heart of 2 yields a strong hit. Flint has initiative and +2 momentum. _
Slowly and quietly, she notches an arrow. Still in her bedroll, she points the arrow at the wolf and sends it flying.
Flint strikes. Challenge dice say 1 and 4. Her action die of 3, plus Edge of 3 — her 6 beats both for a strong hit. She maintains initiative. She gets to mark three progress too — two for being a Dangerous foe and and extra due to her strong hit.
She hears it yelp in the dark, sees its shape twist by the trunk of the tree. She rolls into a kneel and has another arrow notched. The wolf steps toward her and growls.
_Flint strikes again. Not so lucky this time. Got a 6 on the action die, so 9 with her Edge. However, the challenge dice are 4 and 10, so this is a weak hit. The two progress she gets finishes the first of 10 boxes and puts a mark in the second, but the wolf gets initiative.
Another arrow flies true and hits the wolf. It snarls and leaps at her. To Flint’s dismay, her shots do not sink into its hide, so the wolf is merely angered by her bow!
The wolf closed the gap, so Flint is using her knife now. The move is Clash, since she doesn’t have the initiative. The roll is 5, plus her Iron of 2. That 7 result lies between the Challenge dice roll of 5 and 8, so it’s a weak hit.
Flint steps aside as the wolf leaps, avoiding its charge. The wolf did not put all of its bulk into the charge, though. While she drops the bow and pulls her knife, it regains its feet and bites down hard on her forearm. She yelps and slashes at it, drawing blood.
A weak hit means that she gets to mark progress (1 1/2 boxes full), but still does not have the initiative. Worse, she has to Pay the Price, in this case, losing 2 Health. She had 5, so now has +3. It’s the wolf’s move.
The wolf twists its head and tries to wrestle Flint to the ground.
This is another Clash role. The Challenge dice say 5 and 5 — more on that in a moment. However, her role is a 6, so the result is a 8 after adding her Iron. A strong hit, and she regains the initiative. The Progress track gets two more marks, and now has two boxes full and one slash in the third. She’s also take a +1 to her momentum, thank you very much.
Flint steps around, so she can get to the wolf’s throat. She uses the fact that wolf has a tight grip on her forearm and takes a stab in the dark. The wolf instantly lets go and scurries back, whimpering.
She strikes. Ooh, the Challenge dice are double 1’s. Her action die of 3 is enough to best those by itself — a strong hit. Since she gets three marks, she is done with her third box on the progress meter!
She sees rage in the wolf’s eye. It bounds forward and tries to bite her again, but it slips off her bloody forearm.
I decided that the Challenge dice match of 5’s earlier gave the wolf some pause and gave her some protection against being bit. Let’s consult the Combat Action Oracle table for the 1’s. A roll of 77 says ‘Create an opportunity’ — for Flint, since it was a strong hit on her part. I’m going to hold this in reserve, when a fictional opportunity presents itself.
Flint presses her advantage.
Flint rolls a 6 on the action die, for 8 total. The Challenge dice are 1 and 6, so yet another strong hit! That puts 3 of 4 marks into the fourth progress box. Let’s try to get at least that 4th box full before trying to end the fight.
She pins the wolf to the ground with her knee and she stabs it again. A look a fear begins to cross the wolf’s eyes.
She strikes again. Challenge dice say 3 and 4, and she rolls a 5 on the action die. That strong hit will finish off the 4th progress box and get another two marks into the 5th. She tries to finish the fight. Oh, sad day! She rolls an 8 and 9 on the Challenge dice, which is a miss! She needs to Pay the Price and loses initiative.
She slips on the bloody wolf’s coat and her knee slides off its chest. It claws at her and pushes her away. As she feels the scratch on her cheek, the wolf rolls to its feet. It starts to bound away.
Wolf pelts are valuable, and it’s leaving a trail of blood — a result of the opportunity created by the 1’s match earlier.
She grabs her bow and begins to track it....
Hi, Chuck Durfee! Thanks for the post. Very cool writing.
ReplyDeleteA clarification, however, that probably would have made your scene much different. When you inflict harm, you mark progress for each point of harm per the rank of your foe.
Troublesome: 3 progress per harm
Dangerous: 2 progress per harm
Formidable: 1 progress per harm
Extreme: 2 ticks per harm
Epic: 1 tick per harm
In this case, for a single troublesome wolf, you'd mark 3 progress boxes (not ticks) for every point of harm you inflict. See pages 17-19. Sounds like I can do a better job making this clearer in various places through the book.
In other words, that single wolf probably would have been dead or scurrying away with your first arrow hit. Assuming you inflicted 3 harm on that strike, that's 9 progress, and you could move to End the Fight with a fair bit of confidence.
Shawn Tomkin you're right, that would have made a ton of difference!
ReplyDeleteLooking forward to reading this!
ReplyDeleteGreat write up! I like the backstory, and I'm curious to see where that goes.
ReplyDeleteShawn Tomkin this should be under Play Reports.
ReplyDelete