Session 2

10th Day of Morrow in the Year of Priest’s Defiance (Free Year 1)

Morning (con’t)

For this session, I started using the Mythic Game Master Emulator (Second Edition) to answer some Fate questions about the general course of the narrative.

I was learning the Forbidden Lands combat rules as I went, which I’m sure I got wrong in one or more places. I also fudged the rules to avoid completely overpowering Erenil and company on my first foray into combat. The enemies are grouped, but they aren’t all taking individual actions, and they aren’t stacking fistfuls of Help dice onto their roll. I felt it was punishing enough that it would take 12 damage to fell the entire band.

Combat Setup

Are Erenil and Cedran outnumbered? Likely: 43 = Yes

Are the silt runners worn down from the recent obsidian shard storm ? 50/50: 45 = Yes

5 silt runners’ weapons: 5d100: 63, 56, 60, 99, 60 = Sling & Wooden Club, Blowgun & Bone Dagger x3, Bone Dagger

1 silt runner leader’s weapons: 1d100: 73 = Sling & Wooden Club

The silt runners especially hate elves, so they are keen to kill Erenil and eat her. Luckily for her, the runners have not managed to gain the element of surprise. The combatants start at Short Range from each other.

Initiative Order:

Erenil: 2
Cedran & Azhar: 3
Silt Runners: 10

Round 1

Erenil is first and already had her bow drawn because she used it to threaten Cedran. She Aims (cancelling out the –1 penalty from range) and Shoots at the closest enemy to her, which I’ll determine randomly. For her target, I roll 1d6: 5 = the one charging in with just a bone dagger.

Because all the enemies share an initiative and the leader is the one who would take the Dodge reaction to save its life—and because it feels more fitting for the narrative—I’m ruling that her target does not try to Dodge.

Shoot: Roll Agility 4 + Marksmanship 2 + 2 Weapon Bonus (Longbow), 8d6: 3, 4, 3, 6, 6, 1, 5, 4 = Hit (weapon damage of 1) + 1 extra success for a total of 2 damage.

Her target immediately takes 2 Strength damage as her arrow finds its mark. Its Strength is reduced to 0, becoming Broken, and it takes a Critical Hit (Critical Injuries – Stab Wounds: d66: 13 = Pierced ear).

The pain of an obsidian arrow through the “ear” means it’s out of the fight, but it’s not a lethal wound. I decide that Erenil did shoot it through the head, but miraculously, it went through the creature’s snout without hitting any brain matter, as these creatures don’t have much in the way of ears.

Azhar moves toward the downed silt runner to feed. Does he go in for the kill, or does he toy with his prey? It’s Likely he’d just toy with his prey and savor their terror. The oracle says No—he realizes the danger they’re in and tries to rip out the silt runner’s throat.

I give Azhar the Cold Blooded talent because it fits with the bestiary entry for zhackals, so he doesn’t suffer the negative effects of killing sentient beings in cold blood. That said, he does still need to roll Empathy and fail. Normally a wolf has no Empathy, but Azhar has basic levels of psychic sensitivity, so I’m going to rule that he has 1 in that attribute.

Coup de Grace: Roll Empathy 1, 1d6: 4 = Failure. Silt runner goes crunch between Azhar’s powerful fangs.

Cedran drew a pair of throwing daggers after hearing there were enemies nearby. He isn’t close enough to attack, so he’s going to try to distract the group of silt runners with the Taunt action. Time to see if any of them understand Common (35% chance). I rolled 6d100 and got only one result below 35, so at least one of them is potentially affected.

Roll Empathy 4 + Performance 1, 5d6: 1, 3, 1, 4, 1 = Failure... It’s not worth pushing in this case. So few of the silt runners are unable to understand him in the first place, and the temptation of getting to feast on elf flesh is so high, that the band of silt runners completely ignores Cedran.

He spends his fast action to Run from Short to Near range.

That’s it for our heroes. The silt runners are up. They’re still at short range, which is close enough to attack with their slings and blowguns. I have them roll together, per the solo rules. They Aim and Shoot (canceling out the range penalty).

Shoot: Agility 4 + Marksmanship 1 + 1 Weapon Bonus (Sling/Blowgun), 5d6: 3, 2, 1, 3, 4, 6 = 1 hit, 1 damage.

Armor: Roll 3 (Studded Leather Armor) + 1 (Studded Leather Cap), 4d6: 5, 1, 5, 4 = Failure, with no option to Push. Erenil takes 1 Strength Damage, and the Armor Rating is degraded by 1 (from 3 to 2). Ouch.

Was it one of the poison blowdarts that hit her? There were 3 blowdarts and 2 slings, so that sounds Likely. Oracle says Yes.

These are primitive creatures, so we’re dealing with a low-potency poison of 3, 3d6: 4, 2, 2 = No hits. Erenil doesn’t need to roll to resist because the poison roll generated no successes. It’s possible that she’s developed a level of resistance to this poison or related toxins, given her background with the Desert Rose tribe.

Back to the top of initiative.

Round 2

Erenil knows from experience that the tide of battle can turn rapidly and uses her fast action to Run to find cover. She finds a rocky boulder, which I’m going to treat like a tree trunk for a cover value of 5. She has to Ready her bow again and nock an arrow before she can line up another shot.

Erenil doesn’t have enough ranks in the Path of the Beast talent to command him in combat, so Azhar acts instinctually. On the Animal Actions table, I roll 83:Scary, 17:Cautious.

Azhar isn’t going to rush in to a group of 5 silt runners, but he will try to intimidate them. He starts howling and baring his fangs to provide a distraction, lending a Help die to Erenil on her next attack. He reserves his Fast action to Dodge if attacked.

First, Cedran has to Ready his daggers again. Seeing Erenil hurt, he’s going to try and take the Shoot action to draw their attention in a more surefire fashion.

The silt runners decide not to Dodge, as they are still on the offensive.

Shoot: Agility 4 + 1 Weapon Bonus (Throwing Dagger), 5d6: 1, 4, 4, 5, 5 = Failure. Aaand we’re going to PUSH… 4d6: 3, 6, 1, 6 = 2 successes. Nice! 2 damage, but also one bane on his skill dice, which means he takes a damage to Agility (from 4 to 3), straining his muscles from the desperation of throw.

For his target, I roll 1d5: 5 = the leader.

If you’re going to exert yourself in the process, at least take out the leader, I guess! Another one Broken, and this time the remaining silt runners must succeed on a morale roll to continue the fight.

Do the silt runners flee? They were already worn down from the obsidian shard storm, and their leader just got punked, so this is Very Likely. Oracle says Exceptiopnal No. I guess that elf flesh is too tempting to pass up!

Cedran does look like the easier target now, so the silt runners focus their efforts on him. They Ready their slings and blowguns to reload, and then Shoot. They’re at Near range to him now, and he can’t Dodge.

Shoot: Agility 4 + Marksmanship 1 + 1 Weapon Bonus (Sling/Blowgun), 6d6: 3, 2, 2, 6, 1, 5 = 1 hit for 1 damage.

Cedran wears no armor, so his he takes the damage to Strength and his attribute drops from 3 to 2.

Was it one of the poison blowdarts that hit him? There were 3 blowdarts and 1 sling left, so that sounds Very Likely. Oracle says Exceptional No. I’m going to interpret that to mean that there’s no poison darts left in terms of available ammunition. Fortune might actually be in Erenil and Cedran’s favor.

Round 3

Erenil looses the arrow and try to even the odds. She’s still at Short range from her enemies, so she Aims and Shoots. The creatures choose not to Dodge because they are beset with bloodlust, overcome with their hatred for elves, and would rather exert their energy attacking.

Shoot: Roll Agility 4 + Marksmanship 2 + 2 Weapon Bonus (Longbow) + 1 Help die, 9d6: 3, 3, 4, 3, 5, 2, 3, 3, 5 = Nothing. We need to Push. Roll everything again and pray that we don’t suffer calamity. 8d6: 6, 5, 4, 4, 2, 2, 5, 3, 3 = 1 hit. Miraculously, she rolled no banes, dealing 1 damage.

For her target, I roll 1d4: 4 = one of the ones with a Blowgun & Bone Dagger.

Azhar is going to… Animal Actions: 69:Mysterious | 82:Return. He sneakily makes his way toward Erenil’s position behind the boulder. He’ll Run and make a Stealth roll.

Stealth: Agility 4, 4d6: 5, 6, 5, 6 = 2 successes. He manages to hide behind some fallen rocks, possibly using his psychic abilities to shield himself from sight.

Cedran will Ready his second dagger and try to Shoot the damaged Silt Runner.

Shoot: Agility 4 + 1 Weapon Bonus (Throwing Dagger), 5d6: 5, 2, 2, 4, 1 = Failure. Pushing yet again: 4d6: 4, 6, 4, 4 = 1 hit. 1 damage to the injured silt runner. It’s now Broken.

The silt runners need to make another morale roll, this time with the odds increasingly against them. It’s now Nearly Certain that they’ll flee. Oracle says Yes. Having lost half their raiding party, they realize the cost of taking down the elf is more than they’re willing to pay. They retreat northward.

To The Victors Go the Spoils

Erenil, Azhar, and Cedran wait for the dust to clear before finally taking stock of their situation and looting the bodies for the two slings, two bone daggers, and one blowgun. Each of the downed silt runners had 1d6 ceramic on them: 13 total.

We’ll also draw a card on the extra loot table per the solo rules: King = 1 unit of food. Perhaps the leader carried some dried fruit and meat. Erenil increases her food die from d8 to d10.

They might be worse for wear, but at least the crew is now better supplied to brave the desert.

Read the prose version of this session in Chapter 2 of the Chronicle of the Crimson Sun: