Roses & Wyght - Chapter 5

(Read the previous chapter here.)

Game System: Adventurers! (affiliate link)
Tools: rpgsolo.com solo engine; playeveryrole.com solo engine; UNE; npcgenerator.com; other random generators

Setup

For the stake-out I made several rolls to determine observations, encounters and other events. Only significant results are listed. All other info is included as part of the narrative.

[Scene 1]

Bhart, Harper, and Leira spend the next couple of days hanging out in the area near the Platinum Steed Stables, staking out the place for any Huntsmen who might come by. The first day passes without incident. While they wait, the trio checks with nearby businesses to see if there is any short-term work they can pick up in order to replenish their dwindling coin purses. Unfortunately, no one is hiring. Before leaving for the day, Leira checks on the horses, primarily to have an opportunity to check with Rod who tells her no Huntsmen have been by.

The next day is much of the same. The trio can still not find any work, but Leira does attempt to lift a few coins from a fruit vendor’s purse. The vendor, however, rarely takes his eyes off the bag and Leira has to quickly adjust and pick up an apple to examine when she is almost caught.

Do any Huntsmen visit the stable?
(50/50 | 5[d10]) No, but… (they do visit the nearby shops)

Who is it? 1)Shylock 2)Gaither 3)Both 4-6)One of the other strangers 7-10)Generic Huntsman
9 = 9[d10] Generic Huntsman

Is he alone?
(50/50 | 4[d10]) No

What type of business are they visiting? Gem Cutter

Who notices the men? 1)Bhart 2)Harper 3)Leira?
Roll: 1 Bhart

Around mid-afternoon, Bhart notices two men enter a gem cutter’s shop several buildings down from the stables. One is an older man with tan skin and blond hair tied up in a single long braid. His companion is a younger albino, identifiable by the pale skin, short white hair and red eyes. [RG] Curious, and with nothing better to do, Bhart heads down the street and positions himself near the open door of the shop.

Bhart makes a perception check.
Roll: 9[2d6] + 3MND = 12>7 Success! Sees knife.

As he glances in he sees both men approach the gem cutter. The albino hands his dagger over to the shop owner and Bhart sees that the dagger has the same ribbed handle and bear head ornament as the dagger Leira pilfer from the stranger. The only difference is that this dagger has a black onyx crystal in the pommel instead of an emerald. He continues to watch as the cutter removes the onyx and sorts through an assortment of red rubies, looking for one that would fit.

Checking UNE for conversation, assuming the older man is leading: Demeanor is prejudiced. Bearing is belief. Focus is relics.
The prejudiced Huntsman talks about his belief regarding the cities leadership (human relics).

Bhart does his best to listen in on the conversation.

“Now that you’re moving up, Hadrain, it’s time you took on some important jobs,” the braided man explains to the albino.

“I’m ready, Terryn.”

“You know what happens when people rule for too long? They get stale. They stick to the old ways and don’t change. I’m ready for a change. How ‘bout you?”

“Change sounds good, especially if it means some ‘change’ for us,” Hadrain agrees, jiggling the coin pouch hanging from his belt. Both men laugh, not seeming to care that the gem cutter can hear everything they say.

“I wish I was working this week,” the albino continues.

“Nah, you’re not ready,” Terryn tells him. “This job’s too important. But you’ll get your chance.”

Keeping an eye on the door of the shop, Bhart hurries back in the direction of the stable to find the others. He lets them know that he’s found a couple of Huntsmen. They wait until they see the pair leave the shop. Bhart notices the dagger handle sticking out of the sheath on the younger man’s belt now displays a red gem. The trio follows the Huntsmen as they head toward the heart of the city.

Do the Huntsmen realize they are being followed?
(Likely (trained assassins being followed my mostly novice trackers) | 10[d10]) Yes, and… (“and” was really unnecessary, since I was already planning an “and” type outcome if the answer was “yes”.)

After several blocks, the two Huntsmen turn down a narrow alleyway between two houses. The party reaches the opening to the alley and peer around the corner. It is empty, apart from some shrubs and couple of stacked barrels. The Huntsmen must have already made it to the other end of the alley and turned the corner. Bhart and Harper rush in first with Leira slightly behind. 

They pause briefly before passing the barrels, checking for an ambush. Seeing the way clear they press forward, only to have the two cut-throats jump from behind shrubs and attack.

Since this is the first combat encounter in this adventure, I will detail all the rolls to show the game mechanics. For later encounters, I will rely mainly on the narrative to describe what the dice rolls indicate, revealing specific rolls only if they are particularly interesting.

Since the enemy has attempted to surprise the party each member must make a MND-2 roll. Leira can apply her Perception skill.
Bhart=6[2d6] + 3MND - 2 = 7=7 Success!
Harper=8[2d6] + 3MND -2 = 9>7 Success!
Leira=([3d6, pick best 2] 1,3,6) 9 + 5MND - 2 = 12>Success!

Luckily, the group is still on guard for any surprise and quickly adjusts to the sudden attack.

Terryn: STR:1 AGI:2 MND:0 ATK:2 sword or dagger Def:2 END: 6
Hadrain: STR:1 AGI:1 MND:0 ATK:2 sword/1 dagger Def:1 END: 5

Initiative is based on AGI.  Ties are broken on opposing agility roles.
Harper (2AGI)
Leira (1AGI+1Perception = 2)
Terryn (2AGI) Harper won the tiebreaker 13-12-8
Hadrain (1AGI)
Bhart (0AGI)

[round 1]

Harper uses his sword and attacks Terryn for 9. Terryn defends for 9. No hit.
Leira uses sword and attacks Hadrain for 8. Hadrain defends for 8. No hit.
Terryn uses sword and attacks Harper for 5. Harper defends for 6. No hit.
Hadrain uses sword attacks Leira instead of Bhart for 7. Leira defends for 4. Hit for 2 END (1 for
    hit + 1 for every 2 points higher he rolled.)
Bhart uses sword and attacks Hadrain for 8. Hadrain defends for 8. No hit.

Harper spots Terryn as he lunges from the right. He swings with his sword, but Terryn, obviously ready for a fight, parries Harper’s attack. However, by doing so the assassin is unable to make his own attack.

Leira wastes no time jumping in to attack. Positioned behind her brother, she naturally attacks Hadrain who comes from the left. Hadrain’s initial plan is to attack Bhart, but, seeing the girl’s quick reaction, he turns and raises his sword to fend off the new threat. Leira, armed only with a dagger, is at a disadvantage and Hadrain’s sword is able to slash past the knife and strike Leira for 2 END (dropping her to 2 END). Bhart swings at Hadrain, but Hadrain’s sudden change in direction allows him to avoid Bhart’s blade.

[round 2]

Harper attacks Terryn: 10 vs 2 (+2 Def) (critical fail, Harper get free attack but Def lessens damage) Hits for 4 END (1+3 for difference) (Terryn is wearing light armor which has an AR value of 5/6. This means he rolls 1d6. If he get a 5, he blocks an additional point; 6, two additional points.) AR Roll = 1. Total damage 4 END.
Harper’s extra attack: 7 vs. 10. Miss
Leira attacks Hadrain: 7 vs. 2 (+1 Def) (Critical fail, Leira gets an extra attack.) AR roll for Light armor=3  Total Damage= 1+2 for difference = 3 END
Leira’s extra attack: 9 vs. 9 No hit.
Terryn attacks Harper: 8 vs. 6 AR roll = 2  Total damage 1+1 for difference = 2 END
Hadrain attacks Leira: 8 vs. 12  No Hit.
Bhart attacks Hadrain: 11 vs. 9  AR roll=4  Total damage= 1+1 for difference = 2 END

While Terryn is a skilled assassin, Harper’s sword skills are easily his match, as he maneuvers his blade under Terryn’s and takes a deep cut out of his thigh (dropping him to 2 END). Seeing his opponent falter, Harper goes in for another strike. This is a mistake, however, as Terryn is able to dodge the blow while bringing his own blade up to slice Harper’s arm for 2 END (dropping him to 4 END).

Meanwhile, Leira doesn’t let her wounds hinder her as she quickly lunges at Hadrain, who isn’t expecting her to attack so quickly. She moves in close and buries the dagger in the Huntsman’s side for 3 END (dropping him to 2 END). She stabs again, but Hadrain turns away allowing the blade to glance off his leather armor. However, in avoiding a second attack from Leira he turns into Bhart’s blade, which cuts him for the final 2 END, dropping him to 0.

[round 3]

With one assassin down and Terryn’s END really low, he makes a morale check. Using a homebrew table, I’ve determined he needs 50 or less on a d100. He rolls 98. He flees.

Wounded and outnumbered, the braided assassin feels his best option is to retreat and fight another day. He turns and sprints down the alley. Harper starts after him, but Leira is quick and throws her dagger, hoping to fell the fleeing villain.

He gets [1d12] 4 yards before Leira throws, meaning throw is within range with no penalty.  Leira’s dagger throw: 10 vs. 12

The dagger doesn’t hit true, however, and is deflected by the scale armor. Harper continues the chase. 

Each participant makes four individual AGI checks. Whoever passes more checks wins the chase. Harper passes 4. Terryn passes 3.

As Terryn exists the alley and tries to turn, Harper catches up and grabs him by the shoulder. The fugitive turns and puts up his weapon to block any blow. However, Harper was already driving his sword and runs Terryn through the gut for the final 2 END points.  (Harper vs Terryn: 8 vs. 6) Harper grapples the body before it falls and pulls it back into the alley, looking around to see if anyone noticed. 

Did anyone notice?
(50/50 | 7[d10]) Yes +Event: Passion / Messages

Is Hadrain dead?
(50/50 | 8[d10]) Yes

Is Terryn dead?
(50/50 | 7[d10]) Yes

Harper quickly searches Terryn and finds 4 gold coins, besides the sword and a Huntsman dagger with a ruby gem in the pommel. He takes the gold but leaves the weapons. He walks back to Bhart and Leira who are busy searching the other body. They come up with 3 gold coins, a vial of black ink and some type of wand. Leira examines the length of magnolia wood and sees an inscription on it.

“Tagolann?” Immediately, Leira feels a warmth rush through her body and is healed for 1 END. (It is a wand that heals 1d4 END per use. It now has 4 uses left.) She sticks the wand in her waistband.

“He’s dead,” Harper informs the others, gesturing back to the body he left behind. “What about him?”

“The same,” Bhart replies. “Now what? Do we know any more than we did before?”

“Not really,” Harper agrees.

“Maybe the gem cutter knows something?” Bhart suggests. “He was changing out the stone in the dagger as though this was a common thing. He even had the rubies ready.”

“Perhaps,” Harper says. “But if he’s working with the Huntmen he probably won’t tell us anything. Even worse, he might inform them we are looking for them.”

“Hey, does anyone have any idea what to do with these bodies?” Leira chimes in. When the boys say nothing, she continues. “I’m sure going around and killing people is frowned upon. When they are discovered the King’s Guard will be looking for their killers. No one knows we were attacked first.”

Harper thinks for a moment. “Let’s leave the daggers. That identifies them as Huntsmen. Hopefully, the Guard are aware they are assassins and might either look the other way or at least not look too hard for whoever is responsible. Hopefully, we weren’t seen and nobody will be able to trace it back to us.”

“Uh, excuse me?”

The companions turn to face the end of the alley where Terryn’s lifeless body lies. Standing next to the corpse is a short man in commoner’s clothes holding a lute. He has short red hair and thin goat patch under his lower lip. The party’s hopes of a clean getaway immediately seems impossible.

“Sorry to intrude. I was practicing back there when I saw your little fight with Terryn.” He nods his head back to the end of the alley. “Are you heroes or something?”

“Heroes?” Harper asks. “Why would we be heroes?”

“Terryn doesn’t exactly have the best reputation around Duskcall. I just assumed if there was a battle it was because you were stopping him from committing some crime or something.”

Harper casts a glance at Bhart and Leira, a glimmer of hope in their eyes. When he turns back he sees the intruder has come closer and only a couple of paces separate them.

“I’m sorry, what is your name?” Harper asks.

“Tristan.”

“Well, Tristan. Let’s just say they jumped us in this alley.”

Tristan’s eyes light up and his face takes on an excited expression. “Really! That’s great! Oh, sorry. I don’t mean it’s great you were attacked. No. No. You see, I’m a bard. Or at least I’m hoping to be a bard, and I’m always looking for exciting new stories to tell. Maybe there’s something here I can weave into song?”

“There might be,” Harper suggests. “Since you seem to be familiar with that dead guy over there, I guess you’ve heard of the Huntsmen?”

Tristan nods his head. “Everyone knows of them, though most act otherwise.”

“Good. You tell us what you know about the Huntsmen and perhaps, before we leave town, you will have an epic tale to add to your list of songs.”

[End of Chapter 5]


Wrap up:

Bhart keeps the vial of ink. Leira holds on to the wand of healing. She also takes one of the swords, as she needs a better weapon and they look rather plain and not easily identifiable as belonging to a specific person.

HER should reset next scene, but based on winning the battle I’ll let each PC move forward with +1 HER. Each character gets 1 EXP for this chapter.


Thoughts of Chapter 5

Finally ran a battle and I do like the mechanics. As a note, if you are planning on using the Adventurers! rule-set in a fantasy setting, I would recommend purchasing the “Dungeon” (affiliate link) supplement, as well. It was very helpful in handling the surprise roll and the chase between Harper and Terryn.  Another helpful supplement was “Dark Camelot” (affiliate link) as I used its Bandit stats as a starting point in determining the Huntsmen’s stats.

The event roll when I checked to see if anyone noticed the battle was a nice surprise. Passion/Messages almost immediately brought to mind the thought of a bard. I used npcgenerator.com to come up with a name and physical description, but I like UNE for motivation. How uncanny was it that two of the motivations were perfect for a bard: convey public, compel stories. The third motivation was progress laziness, which helped provide the reason for him seeing what was going on. Since he’s lazy, he waits for stories to come to him instead of going out and seeking adventure himself.

(Read the next chapter here.)