Modi Play Testing

I decided at last to create Modi (who I wrote about four years ago, but never actually drew or came up with game stats for), and she's pretty awesome. I figured that she's about as powerful as a hero could reasonably hope to be (Titanic Tier, Might D16), so she would be a good one to try both weapon damage as a modifier and the dice stabalization rules with.

It went really well. The only concern is that you have two modifiers to add (she had +5 from might, since I was rolling D10+5 instead of D16 when dealing damage), and then I had the +4 from her hammer. However, since the damage was always +9, I could easily track it... and since I had her fighting a foe with invulnerability 6 (Rhonda Rekkit), damage was always D10+3. She would almost always hit (only failed on a 1, because Rhonda has Evade 4 and Modi's getting +4 to hit). 

As it was, it took two rounds for her to defeat Rhonda, and she is one tier higher, so it wasn't unexpected. Rhonda did manage to knock her down about 15 hits, so it wasn't completely one-sided. However, I really like both sets of rules, and I think they are keepers.

I especially like that the weapon gets 'bigger' as you get higher level, which is a bit better than it was before. Cap's shield is going to be a +4 weapon, just because he's a very high tier, and D8+4 is definitely better than D10 for damage.

  

Army Ants Playtest #... 4? 5? Not sure anymore.

Let’s try a different sort of play test with the variations I’ve made to the rules, and see how they hold up. I’m going to make two ants who are sitting in a foxhole with sandbags, defending a pathway up to a key location during a battle.

What battle? What location? Why?

IT DOESN’T MATTER. It’s IMPORTANT, okay? Jeez. 

Anyway, my two ants will be a Heavy Weapons gunner dude and his best friend, a covert ops specialist with some medical training. That should be fun. I’m going to make them only level 2, and they are holding the pathway from three waves of attacks in a minute. The first wave will arrive in round 1. The second wave in round 4. The third wave in round 8. Good stuff.

Wave 1 will have 5 ticks. One of them has a stun grenade. They are all on foot.

Wave 2 will have 7 ticks. One of them has a gas grenade and another has a fragmentation grenade. They are all on foot.

Wave 3 will have 3 ticks in a jeep with a machine gun mounted on top. The jeep gives them all Cover +1. The jeep carries a bomb, so needs to be disabled before it makes it beyond the sandbag too far. I’ll figure out what that means exactly when I get there.

In rolling them up, I love the way that rank works… while the law of averages will favor smarter characters with leadership over time, a good roll (or bad one) can change a lot… as is the case here. There is no WAY that the heavy weapons ant should be higher rank than the covert ops ant, but that’s the military for you… Blitz rolled a 6 followed by a 5 on his first roll, so came out of Boot Camp with the Lance Corporal insignia. Poor Specs barely got confirmed for Private First Class (one success total in two tries), even after all the paperwork he’s done for the Major! Life just isn’t fair… 

Blitz, Raucous Ant Heavy Weapons 2 (A3 Lance Corporal; Grit 12; Clout 30) 

Body 3 | Mind 1 | Reflex 2

Heavy Weapons 1; Toughness 1

AM-60 (damage 4); 3 grenades; 3 aid kits

Specs, Studious Ant Covert Operative 2 (A2 Private First Class; Grit 6; Clout 25)

Body 1 | Mind 3 | Reflex 2

Medic 1; Small Arms 1

AM-16 (damage 3); 4 aid kits; walkie-talkie

The sandbagged foxhole provides +1 to Reflex for cover, and also increases the DT of grenades by +1, since it has netting over it to cause grenades to bounce away.

For each wave, they must make a Mind check (DT 2) to see the enemies at 13 cm. Otherwise, they become aware of them at the 10-cm mark. The foliage is pretty thick on the road.

Round 1

They both fail the first check, and are surprised when a group of 5 ticks appears on the road, coming around the bend. The ticks go first. Two are going to stand back and open fire, while three run forward. One of the forward ticks carries the grenade. The boys are shooting at the runners. The first shooter gets… 6 successes. On 2D. He rolled double sixes, followed by another six and a 3. He’s firing at Blitz. 3 of these go to damage, so he deals a total of 5 hits, leaving Blitz at 7. Ouch! With his second shot, he gets 2 successes, which ping off of Blitz’s machine gun. The second fires at Specs, but his one success lodges in the sandbags. His second shot misses entirely.

On his turn, Blitz fires at the first of the running ticks. He gets 3 successes, so 2 carry over to damage; he deals 6 damage, which is enough to drop the first one. He gets 2 successes on the second, which deals a total of 5 damage. That one is still up with 1 Grit remaining. Specs tries to use his AM-16 to finish the injured one, and gets 2 successes, which deals 4 damage and finishes it. He uses his other action to patch Blitz’s wound, and rolls only 1 success - which is barely enough. He restores 3 Grit to Blitz, who is now at 10. There is a 4 in 6 chance that one of the runners was carrying the grenade; he was. The grenade now lies on the ground near the feet of the one runner who still survived. He ran 6 cm, so is now 4 cm away from the foxhole. His BODY 2 allows him to throw it that far, so that’s going to be his play.

Round 2

The ticks in the rear are taking a strategic advance; they can move 1 cm and attack in an action; they would have done that last round as well… so they have moved 2 cm and will move 2 more as they are firing. They are both focusing on Blitz. The first attacks and gets 3 successes and 1 success. The three hits for standard damage (2), and Blitz is at 8 Grit. The second gets 2 successes with each attack, but needs 3 to hit them behind the sandbags. They are now 6 cm from the sandbags. The one 4 cm from the sandbags uses 1 action to pick up the grenade, and another to throw it; he needs 2 successes to land it in the foxhole, and gets 0. The grenade hits the net, bouncing away and exploding next to the sandbags, which absorb the full brunt of the attack. 

Blitz opens upon the closest one, getting 2 successes (so dealing damage 5), and then 3 successes (so damage 6). He kills the nearest tick, and two remain. Specs tries to shoot one of those, getting 2 and 2 successes, for a total of 8 damage, killing him.

Round 3

The tick doesn’t have many options, so he drops to one knee and takes aim at Blitz’s head, firing one shot at +1 He misses with only 1 success, as his bullet sinks into the sandback a tenth of a millimeter below Blitz’s head (I’d say this is a game of inches, but it’s not THAT big - that sounds like a marketing idea). Blitz returns fire, getting 5 successes, and dropping the tick like so much wet laundry. Or so many potatoes. Or like a tick you just filled with machine-gun ammunition. Mostly that last one.

Specs wants to try and apply some medical help to Blitz, who is at 8 Grit out of his starting 12. Two kits will get him back to full, and (they don’t know this), but they have less than half a round. Specs can try to apply one aid kit; he rolls 4 successes, so easily swaps out the bandage for a new one and gets Blitz back up to 11. Ticks appear on the path. Only Blitz gets to try and notice, since Specs is busy. He gets a 6 followed by a 2, so that’s enough. He taps Specs on the shoulder, nods towards the path, and gets back to his position. Specs gets his AM-16 ready.

Side note: This is very cinematic. I’m really appreciating how the action flows here. Part of it is just how I’ve structured this encounter, but the mechanics are allowing me to do this fluidly. 

Round 5

They let the ticks get to 10 cm and open fire, winning initiative automatically.  Blitz gets 4 successes on the first attack, dealing 7 damage and killing one. He misses the second one entirely. Specs hits one for 4, and again for 4 more, dropping it. Five ticks remain. 

They do the whole strategic advance thing. One of the dead ticks had the gas grenade, but the one still up has the fragmentation grenade. Four of them provide cover fire as the grenadier runs up to throw his grenade. They do a lot of missing. One gets 3 successes against Blitz, which deals 2 damage, leaving him at 9. They hit the sandbags a lot. Funny thought: I just realized that a sandbag might have only 10 to 20 grains of sand in each one. Heh. The grenadier will throw next round… if he’s still alive.

Round 6

Blitz is going to try and prevent that. He does. He has 4 successes for 7 damage, cutting the grenadier down; it is possible he’s already pulled the pin (he has), and now I decide if it bounces to harm one of the others; it is very unlikely, but 1 in 6 shot. Nope. It rolls off the road and explodes. Blitz tries to kill a second, rolling 0 successes. Ugh. Specs fires at another one, hitting with 2 successes and dealing 5 damage, leaving it at 1. He fires again and finishes it off with 2 more successes. Three of them remain.

These all focus on Blitz, trying to take out that machine gun as they continue their strategic advance. They need 3 successes to hit; they get (2 attacks each, so six total attacks): 3, 0, 2, 2, 1, and 1 successes. Only the 3 gets to Blitz, tagging his shoulder and dealing 2 damage, leaving him at 7. He’s still above 50% of his starting Grit, so no penalty.

Round 7

They all hear something coming up the path. It will appear next round… but it’s going fast.

Blitz opens up on one of the three remaining ticks, getting 3 successes, which is just enough to kill it. He gets 2 successes on another, which deals 5 damage and leaves it with 1 Grit remaining. Specs uses an aid kit quickly to patch Blitz up a little bit and restores 3 Grit. Blitz is back to 10. Specs now takes a shot with his final action, barely hitting, but doing enough to finish it off. One tick remains… for the moment.

Round 8

That tick stands and lines up to take a shot, as a jeep filled with more ticks runs him over as it barrels through. 

The boys have one round to do something. I’m giving the jeep initiative; the driver keeps driving, while the machine gunner opens fire, and the passenger lobs a grenade towards the foxhole. The gunner gets 2 successes, which sticks a lot of lead in the sandbags. The grenade thrower misses entirely, his grenade going off the netting and into the brush on the far side. The driver drives.

Blitz tries to throw a grenade into the jeep; this is going to be tough, so I’ll say DT 3 because of how fast the jeep is moving, and the relatively small target area (far less than a cm square to line up). He gets 3 successes! (5 and a 6 on the dice). Dang. I’m going to go with his stun grenade, because that has the best odds of doing something good. 

The machine gunner gets 0 successes; it is possible that he falls off the jeep. Nope. He’s in a harness, so he slumps against the gun post.

The passenger gets three successes. Impressive. He’s stunned for 1 round…

The driver gets 2 successes, so is out for 12 seconds… that is definitely long enough for the jeep to crash. It does, and each has to roll Body to soak 6 impact damage from the crash. The gunner soaks 3, the passenger soaks 1, and the driver rolls a botch and is impaled and dies. The boys open fire on the jeep until it explodes… it is possible that they are in the blast radius of the bomb that was on the jeep when it goes off. They are. Specs can try a Mind roll DT 2 to see the bomb casing and realize what it is just before it goes off…  he gets 5 successes! Finally! Being smart helps. He grabs Blitz and pushes him down in the foxhole just as the jeep erupts in a huge blast that shreds several of their sandbags.

Debrief

Wow. I made a few changes to Grit, soaking, and damage, and it sped things up SO much. I really, really liked the tempo of that fight.

I like grenades. I like that you have to get close to use them, but when you do they can be pretty effective.

Changing the dynamics from attacking to defending changed the combat a lot, and made for more interesting strategic choices on the parts of the ants. That was nifty. 

Big picture: changing the scope of the setting from only Ants vs. Wasps to ‘whole area is in chaos and everyone is fighting everyone all the time’ gives a lot more story opportunities. If it’s not the wasps, it’s a group of mad tick terrorists trying to lay waste to the Ant army in the name of anarchy. Good stuff. 

Aid kits are applied really, really fast. While it is logical that you’d have to use a full round to apply an aid kit, mechanically you aren’t going to give up two actions to apply an aid kit, so they would never get used. Because they can be applied in one action, it makes sense to give up an attack to get back the health, especially on the part of supporting characters. I like that the game sort of encourages a player to take the ‘cleric’ role; you can still be a good fighter and effective in combat (Specs is not bad), but you also serve a vital role as support and healing. Specs restored a total of 9 Grit during the fight, which is right around the full Grit of a typical ant at this level. That’s a significant contribution. Because of his healing, Blitz never dropped below 50% and never took a penalty to attacks. This is strategic stuff that the game sort of naturally supports that makes for genuine tactical decisions; you want to heal your allies while they are still above 50% so they never take penalties, or if they are taking penalties, you want to get them back above 50% asap. I like it.

For what it's worth, I also like these two characters. They lived, so that's good. Maybe a two-ant team would be the best way to run a solo game, so I have more options and versatility, but not an entire group to juggle on my own. Hmmmm....

The Rogue and the Medusa

We’ve got two more classes to play test, but I’m thinking I might start a solo campaign with a paladin using the solitaire framework exclusively to build the campaign. I’m actually looking forward to that… so let’s play test the new and improved rogue and see how it goes. Let’s put him against a difficult adversay - a Medusa.

Neshin Ruh, Fabled Human Rogue (Renown 3)

Attack 3 | Defend 3 | Focus 4 | Resolve 4

Relics: Gauntlets of Haste (permanent haste)

Dagger of Repudiation (Attack +1, Defense +1)

Cloak of the Phantoms (Invisibility 3x per day)

Potions: Healing (x2)

As a rogue, Neshin may leverage a variety of skills including moving with stealth, picking locks, and climbing walls. He always wins initiative; he starts every round with a Focus check (DT 13); if successful; he receives advantage on either Attack or Defend for that entire round (player choice).

Medusa Handmaiden

(Fabled 3) Attack 10 | Defend 12 | Focus 11 | Resolve 7

Bow Attack; Poison; Petrify (see below)

The medusa attacks at range with a bow or in melee with her snake hair or dagger; if she hits, attempt a Defend check 10 or suffer +1 poison damage. Every round, check Focus (CR 11) on your action, before you attack. If failed, you suffer 1 damage as you edge closer to looking at the Medusa. When you reach Resolve 0, you make eye contact and are turned to stone. Use the solitaire framework to determine if you are ever freed; at least 1D6 years will pass (if ever) before another hero slays this Medusa, and your statue may have been broken by then.

Having heard that the Medusa was in possession of a powerful artifact, Neshin uses his cloak to sneak into her lair. However, as he finds the relic, and ancient jewel, he realizes this is a trap; the Medusa is behind him, ready to strike. Let’s see if he’s surprised; he attempts a Focus check against the Medusa’s Focus 11. He rolls 14, and is not surprised; he expected she might be lingering about.

Okay. First, Neshin checks Focus, getting 12. Poop. He does not get to take advantage to anything, but attacks twice. Well, he would, but the Medusa is like 30’ away, so he has to run instead and close the distance. He also has to check Focus to keep from looking in her direction as he runs; he gets 12, so he’s solid. Haste allows him to travel to medium range and still attack, so he still takes his two attacks. He rolls 12 and 10 against her Defend of 12, so he hits once. I’m going to have him hold back on his 3 points from Renown. She attacks with her bow and he rolls 7, so he gets hit for 1 point. He must check Defend against CR 10, and he rolls 7. Drat. He is hit by an arrow, and the poison gets into his bloodstream. He is now at Resolve 2 and she is at Resolve 6.  

Round 2. Neshin checks Focus, getting 15. That is more like it! Get to test out my rules for potions!. Neshin would drink a potion of healing this round. I am toying with the idea of just allowing you to drink one potion a round in addition to everything else with no penalty, but it makes more sense that you have to drink a potion before you act, and your following action is at disadvantage (since you took part of your fighty time to do drinky time). Okay, he’s going to drink a potion of healing (getting him back to Resolve 4), and then use his advantage on attack to cancel the disadvantage he’s about to suffer from drinking the potion. Whew. That said, he attacks twice with his trusty dagger, rolling 9 and … a natural 2. UGH. He suffers disadvantage on his next check (which will be to defend against her snake hair and dagger). However, he still has that advantage in place from his Focus check, and any advantage cancels any number of disadvantages! Nice. He still gets to take a standard Defend check against her attack, and gets 13 against her Attack 10. Whew. He’s up to Resolve 4, and she’s still at Resolve 6.

Round 3. Neshin can finally go full battle mode (I hope). He checks Focus and gets 11, so no advantage to claim (sad face emoji). He also has to check Focus to make sure he doesn’t look at her, and gets 11, so he’s good. He attacks twice, getting 13 and 12… he actually rolled really well! He hits twice, and she is down to Resolve 4. She attacks with her hair and dagger, but he rolls 10 to Defend, narrowly evading her.

Round 4. He checks Focus twice, getting 14 on the first roll (on double 6s)... since he would get advantage on his next attack, I’m going to have him put the advantage on Defend this round, so he attacks once with advantage and defends with advantage. Against her gaze, he rolls double 6’s again! Hm. He should also get advantage on that other attack; so he has advantage on everything this round; he attacks twice, getting 11 and 10. Her Defend of 12 is really tough to get past. That might be overpowered… He Defends against her bite/dagger combo, and gets 13, so he’s fine and dandy.

Round 5. He checks Focus twice, getting 12 (no advantage) and 10 (barely avoids eye contact this time). He attacks twice, getting 6 and 7. Ugh. Ugh ugh ugh ugh ugh. He Defends with a 10, so he is okay.

Round 6. Two Focus checks, 11 (no bonus) and 12 (no petrification). He uses his points from being Fabled (that’s +3 y’all) to increase his check to 14 so he gets to take advantage on his two attacks; he attacks twice, getting 14 and 11. He hits once, dealing 1 point. He defends with a 10, so he’s okay again. She is at Resolve 3.

Round 7. More Focus checking time. He gets 13 (yes!) and 11 (yes again!). He will take the advantage on attacks, getting 12 and 14. He hits twice, dealing 2 points. He rolls 10 on his Defense (he keeps barely evading her attacks). She is at Resolve 1.

Round 8. Two Focus checks, and I get 13 (so advantage on attacks) and 10 (again) to prevent gazing at her directly. Neshin attacks twice, getting 9 and 13, so he hits once. This is enough to finish her, putting her at Resolve 0. He feints one direction, and as she leans forward, he deftly slashes her throat. Silver blood pours out as she collapses to the floor of her great hall. Neshin turns towards the ruby that will fetch a fine price at market. 

Analysis:

Okay, that was the longest combat I’ve run, and also the most number intensive. Both the hero and the monster had a number of different triggered abilities, so every round required multiple checks and moving numbers around. It was a little too much (but I am tired today, so that isn’t helping - I forgot he had the haste gloves and had him drink a haste potion in round one… then after I had finished round two, I realized he had the gloves and never would have drank that potion, so I had to re-test rounds 1 and 2… don’t play test when sleepy, kids). All that said, this is the most trigger-happy class against the most trigger-happy monster I have so far, so this is the limit of how far the game might go in terms of tracking lots of fiddly bits. It’s still not BAD, but it was a bit much for me. What should be a strategic choice (where to put that advantage bonus) wasn’t because of the foe; her Defend being two points higher than her Attack, and the fact that he had two attacks per round but only had to Defend once, meant that it was obvious where that advantage should go. I would expect that in a combat where things are going south, or where there are multiple foes attacking at once, you’d be more inclined to beef up Defend for a round or two as you get your bearings and bought time. 

Her attack of 10 and his Defend of +3 means that a natural roll of 7 (the most likely outcome) will defend; so he has pretty good odds of defending without advantage. Conversely, her Defend of 12 against his attack of +3 means that he needs a 9 on the die to hit; that two point difference is HUGE. I think I am going to bump her Defend down to 11 in the rules. It’s still formidable, but not quite as overwhelming as it is now.

That said, I like the rogue's ability, and it's a bit different, but it's not the class I'd want to play as my main. Then again, I've never really gravitated to rogues/assassins/thieves anyway, so that's nothing new.

Finally, the Medusa's gaze works well enough. I don't love it; I think that maybe if you botch your Focus check, then you are turned to stone immediately; again, it's an instant kill that I'm trying to avoid with this game, but she is a flippin' medusa after all. I'll mull that one over a bit, but as is the ability works.

One More Play Test: The Stoutling and the Ogre

I’m curious about a hobbit type against a big ogre… so let’s do that!

Roderick the Notable Stoutfellow Guardian (Renown 1)

Attack +4 | Defense +4 | Focus +0 | Resolve 4

Relic: The Dagger of Amu Sing (+1 to Attack and Defense)

On a Defense of 13+ in combat, Roderick receives a free immediate attack.

Ogre Brute

(Dire 2) Attack 11 | Defend 8 | Focus 7 | Resolve 10

On a Defense result of 6 or less (or a natural 2), an Ogre’s club deals 2 damage. It has no ranged attack.

This 10’ giant-kin can take a beating! 

Okay… I have put my little fellow up against an ogre that is one level higher, so he SHOULD lose this fight… but I really like his ability, and I think it might be the game-changer. Let’s see!

Roderick happens upon the lair of a hungry ogre as he wanders an ancient ruin. His offer to make the Ogre dinner is rejected, and the Ogre decides that Roderick himself would make a nice dinner. It’s initiative!

Roderick rolls 7 against the Ogre’s 7! Hah. Take that you big brute! Okay.. Roderick tries to poke it with his dagger, getting 11. He hits for 1 damage, and the Ogre is at Resolve 9. The Ogre attacks, but Roderick gets 14, triggering his ability; on his free attack, he gets 11, dealing 1 more point of damage, leaving the Ogre at Resolve 8. The Ogre is angry that this little creature keeps poking him.

Round 2. Roderick attacks again, getting 11, so he hits for 1. The Ogre attacks, and Roderick rolls 12, so he dodges (barely) but does not get a free attack. The Ogre is at Resolve 7, and several stones have been broken by his mighty swings, but the little Stoutfellow is unaffected.

Round 3. Roderick attacks, getting a natural 2. Ugh. He has disadvantage on his next check, so this cancels out his advantage on his Defense, which doth much sucketh. On his defense, he rolls 7, which really really really stinks. But not as bad as a 6… Roderick suffers 1 damage, and is at Resolve 3.

Round 4 - More pokey poke. He attacks and gets 10. That hits for 1 damage. He attempts to dodge the Ogre’s strike, and rolls 13, which triggers his ability; he hits with a 10, dealing another point of damage. The Ogre is at Resolve 5.

Round 5. Roderick will stab the Ogre… because that’s what he does. He rolls 9 and deals 1 wound. The Ogre attacks, and Roderick rolls 8. He gets smacked with the side of the club, and is at Resolve 2. The Ogre is at Resolve 4.

Round 6. Roderick stabs again, getting 11, so he hits. To Defend, he rolls 15, triggering his ability; he attacks again and gets 15, so he deals another point of damage; Roderick and the Ogre are both at Resolve 2.

Round 7. Roderick pokes away, getting 11, so he deals 1 wound. To defend, he rolls 11 as well, so does not trigger his ability. He still has his 1 point of renown, but that would not be enough to bump this up, so he accepts that he has dealt 1 wound, and the Ogre is at Resolve 1.

Round 8. Roderick really stabs good this time, or at least tries, but gets an 8. That is enough to drop the Ogre to Resolve 0; the Ogre collapses from a thousand papercuts, falling backward into a pile of brush.

Analysis:

This went rather as expected; the little, quick guy who is good at dodging was able to dodge a lot. That he can turn defense into attack is a pretty nifty ability; he does not win fights quickly (as you can see), but he’s a very efficient character. I think that a guardian is the ‘safe’ character to play; you are going to have high survivability. It’s not particularly glamorous, but it’s a solid character build. Most importantly from my point of view, the play experience has been quite different between the four characters I’ve tested so far. Each has a different fundamental vibe. This felt like a little hobbit ducking between the knees of an Ogre and poking at his calves as he runs by.

By the way, I keep play testing in large part because it's fun to stat up characters. Character creation takes about three minutes, but you have a few decisions with point allocation, and that's it. However, I like that I keep getting different builds, and part of the fun is interpreting how the stats 'look' in a living character. What does that Defense +4 mean for THIS guy?

Also by the way, players characters are often going to have potions or scrolls at hand that will make significant changes to play, so I expect that player characters are going to be a bit more powerful than the samples have been; if Roderick popped a potion of heroism (granting advantage on all combat checks) or decided to quaff a potion of healing (restoring 2 wounds) - or went with a potion that gave the haste that I've been testing a lot - this fight would have been over much sooner.

Teothas the Archer vs. Some Hobgoblins

Let’s try a different play test just to see how it goes… I may as well stat up this elf, since he seems pretty cool.

Teothas, Heroic Frost Elf Archer (Renown 2)

Attack +4 | Defend +3 | Focus +2 | Resolve 3

Relics: 

Gauntlets of Quickness (permanent haste)

Bow of the Scout Captain (+1 Attack and +1 Focus)

As an archer, Teothas may attempt an immediate second attack on an attack result of 13+.

Hobgoblin Mercenary

(Rabble 0) Attack 8 | Defend 8 | Focus 8 | Resolve 3

If you roll 4 or less on your attack roll, the hobgoblin gets a free sneak attack against you. Attempt an immediate Defend against attack 8 or you suffer 1 damage. They attack with an axe (in melee) or a longbow (to medium range).

These larger, meaner goblins often lead groups of goblins into combat.

Teothas has some trouble afoot; a patrol of hobgoblins is moving through his lands, and he decides to engage them; there are five of them. This should be a tough battle, but he does bear the gauntlets of quickness and the bow of the scout captain… we’ll see… I think he would easily cut through lots of goblins (since they have Resolve 1), but the hobgoblins are going to be much tougher… he won’t be one-shotting these.

Initiative. Teothas rolls 10, so he gets initiative. He attacks twice, getting 10 and 13, so he triggers a bonus attack, getting 14. He fires three arrows into the lead hobgoblin, killing him. Four remain. The four hobgoblins engage. Two are in melee range with axes, and two are attacking with bows. He has to Defend against four attacks at 8. He rolls 7, 9, 9, and 12. He gets hit once, and is down to Resolve 2. I didn’t put any extra points there (he started with 3 as an elf), so he’s extra special squishy. 

Round 2. Teothas attacks twice, getting 12 and 11. Drat. He hits twice, but doesn’t trigger his ability with either attack. He tries to evade four hobgoblin attacks, and gets 11, 9, 6 (ugh) and 8 (whew). He suffers another hit, and would be down to Resolve 1. He’s going to use his 2 points here from Renown 2 to bump that 6 to an 8, so he evades all four. Four hobgoblins remain, and one is at Resolve 1.

Round 3. Teo attacks twice, getting a natural 12 on the first die (sweeeet) and 13 on the second. He deals 3 damage, and triggers his ability twice. For the second set of attacks, he rolls 14 and 13. He sadly cannot trigger that ability again with the free attacks (or he’d just be peppering with arrows all day), but as is he has dealt 5 wounds in one round; he finishes the hobgoblin he had injured, kills another, and wounds a third; there are now only two hobgoblins remaining, and one has Resolve 2. The two hobgoblins attack, but Teothas rolls 11 and 8 (hah!), dodging both attacks. 

Round 4. Teothas rolls 11 and 13, so he triggers his ability once; he gets 11 with that attack. He deals 3 wounds, so he kills the fresh hobgoblin; only a wounded archer remains, and they are shooting at each other from (rolls dice) 40’ apart. The hobgoblin fires and arrow, and Teo rolls 12, dodging quite easily.

Round 5. Teothas attacks twice, getting 13 and 15, so he triggers his ability twice; for the second attack, he rolls 11 and 13. He hits four times, for 4 points of damage. He decides to use these attacks to disarm the hobgoblin and pin him to a tree… as Teothas steps over the dead bodies of his friends (who are riddled with arrows), he starts to ask who keeps sending them into elfin lands… and why…

Analysis

Buh dang. I instinctively felt like this was a good challenge (two characters of one renown are equal to one character of the next renown up, so four hobgoblins would have been an ‘even’ fight; five was a little tough on paper). It turned out to be. Again, my hero was down to Resolve 1 at the end of the fight. For some context, I would expect he’d have similar results against about 8-10 burrow goblins. He’d be trying to evade attacks of 7, meaning that he’d need a 4 or better on the dice to evade; he’d have about a 90% chance of evading each attack, and he’d be killing at least two per round (often 3 or 4) because they have Resolve 1... so he’d do well.

This FELT like Legolas vs. a bunch of Orcs. He’s firing mad numbers of arrows, and I keep hoping his ability will trigger; that round where he rolled a natural 12 and triggered his ability was pretty sweet; he basically puts an arrow through the head of one hobgoblin, and then peppers two more. That’s totally Legolas.  

The three heroes I’ve played so far all ‘feel’ different. They provide a different play experience and mechanically have interesting things happening.

Barbarian vs. Sorcerer Play Test

Gordak the Barbarian has finally hunted down the False Philosopher King, who has been building an army by claiming he is one of the Philosopher Kings of old returned from the beyond. This is not going to help Gordak's trust issues with sorcerers...

Gordak the Barbarian (Human Legendary Savage 4)

Attack +6 | Defense +3 | Focus +1 | Resolve 9

As a savage, Gordak can elect to add 1 point of damage to any attack; there is a 3 in 6 chance he also sustains 1 wound.

Wields the following artifacts:

The Axe of Carnage (deals 2 base damage)

The Cloak of Vigilance (+1 to both Defense and Focus)

The Gauntlets of Uk Anok (+1 to Attack and Resolve)

The Girdle of the Stone Giant Jarl (+1 to Attack and Defense)

False Philosopher King (Human Legendary Foe 4)

Attack 10 | Defense 13 | Focus 13 | Resolve 10 

In the first round, he will cast Haste

Each round thereafter, he attacks with a necrotic dart with his first action, and one of these spells with his second (Roll 1D6). He has four uses of special spells before he uses the necrotic dart exclusively throughout the combat.

1-4 Necrotic Bolt (Deals 2 damage; 3 on a Defense check of 7 or less)

5-6 Stun (lose 1 round on a failed Defense check CR 13)

Gordak has infiltrated the False King’s inner circle; he reveals himself during a ritual, throwing off his cloak. The King’s minions flee, recognizing Gordak’s Axe and cowering at his name. The False Philosopher King laughs, welcoming this opportunity to let the world know that his power is unparalleled. Gordak rolls 8 for initiative (ouch) and loses. In round 1, the False King activates haste while Gordak charges across the chamber. 

Round 2. FPK (I’ll use that as his abbreviation for now) uses his necrotic dart and necrotic bolt. Against these Gordy rolls 14 and 12, respectively; he suffers 2 wounds from the bolt, and is down to Resolve 7. Gordak swings his mighty axe, getting 15 and dealing 2 damage. He will add a point to get to 3, leaving the FPK at Resolve 7. Gord rolls a 3, and sustains 1 point himself, down to Resolve 6.

Round 3. FPK uses necrotic dart and bolt again. Gordy rolls 10 and 13. He only gets hit by the dart for 1 point, leaving him at Resolve 5. He swings his axe again, getting 17 and dealing 2 wounds. He again adds a wound, leaving the FPK at Resolve 4. Gord again suffers 1 wound, leaving him at Resolve 4. 

Round 4. FPK uses stun this time, so goes stun first, then dart; against the stun, Gord rolls 11, so he uses his +4 from being a legend (that status pays off) to shrug off the stun. Against the dart, he rolls 8. He suffers 1 wound, and is at Resolve 3. He swings his axe, getting 17 again (he’s rolling well), and deals 2 damage, leaving the FPK at Resolve 2. He is going to hold back on the Savage gift, since that has a 50/50 chance of leaving him woefully unprepared for the next round…

Round 5. FPK is out of special spells (that might be the difference here), and uses 2 necrotic darts. If he could stun, he would win… as is? Gordy rolls two Defenses, getting 11 and 12; he gets hit twice, and is down to Resolve 1. Glad he didn’t use that ability… he’d be defeated right now if he rolled poorly. Gord gets to attack, rolling 12 and 14. FPK has a defense of 12, so he only hits once! Dang… he deals 2 wounds, leaving the FPK at Resolve 1. Okay… if he waits until the end of next round, there’s a good chance that he has suffered the final wound and is defeated; if he goes for it now with his special ability, there is a 50/50 chance they both fall. He goes for it, adding 1 point and lopping the head off of the False Philosopher King. He rolls and gets a 6! He falls to his knees, exhausted, with Resolve 1 remaining, and the warm blood of the fallen False Philosopher King pools at his knees.

Analysis

Again, this was a good fight that went down to the wire. The numbers still scale nicely; it feels like the dice matter, and a few points in either direction make the difference. 

Building an NPC is different from a hero… for example, the False Philosopher King’s Focus would be +6 as a hero, which is the equivalent of 12… however, he would also have advantage, so bumping it to 13 seemed to be a reasonable compromise on that. I feel like a few points were wasted on attack, since he would never invest those points as a hero, but I also need to distribute points somewhere, and 13 seems pretty good. Resolve of 10 is huge, and I cannot justify going any higher than that with him.

Resolute Play Testing: The Powerful Mage

Let's see how this game holds up with higher-level characters. Let's go right to an archage and an archfiend. Lots of arches here.

Pandarus the Might (Legendary Human Wizard; Renown 4)

Attack 0 | Defense 5 | Focus 6 | Resolve 7

Relics: 

the Staff of the Archmage (+1 Defense and +1 Focus; +1 spell per turn)

The Ring of the Troll King (regenerate 1 every other round)

Robes of Aliazar (+1 Defense and +1 Focus)

Spells: Dart of Arcane; all listed spells (he’s an archmage!)

The Fiend of the Pits of Entropy (Renown 4)

Attack 13 | Defense 12 | Focus 12 | Resolve 13

Whip (2x per round) deals 2 damage; on a foe’s Defense of 7 or less (or a natural 2), deals 3 damage

As a free action, projects an aura of flame every third round, dealing 1 flame damage to all in medium range who fail a Defense check against its Focus.

Okay, let’s see how these guys do. As Pandarus watches the prisoners he has just freed try to escape from their crossing of the Bridge over the Pits of Entropy, the Arch Fiend rises, challenging the wizard to battle. “I know of you old man… and I look forward to adding your staff to my collection of trophies.” The wizard replies,“The only trophy will be your desiccated corpse!”

Initiative. Round 1. Pandarus rolls only 11, so he fails to win initiative; The Fiend goes first, and Pandarus attempts to dodge two slashes: he rolls 12 and 17, narrowly being hit once. He suffers 2 damage, and is down to 5 Resolve. Pandarus uses his action to cast a haste spell, giving him two actions per round.

Round 2. The fiend continues to use his whip, and Pandarus rolls 10 and 14, getting hit once. He is going to go ahead and use his 4 points from his Renown right here, since he’s already feeling the damage; this neutralizes the attack that had hit. Pandarus gets to attack twice; he casts an arcane dart and an arcane bolt. He hits with the dart (16) and only gets 10 with the bolt, which is not enough to hit; and he already used his 4 points of renown. Drat. He deals 1 damage with the dart, leaving the demon at Resolve 12. Pandarus’ ring allows him to recover 1 point of damage, putting him to Resolve 6.

Round 3. Bad news: The fiend’s aura goes off, but Pandarus rolls 12 to resist it. He barely ducks in time as the circle of unholy flame washes over him. The demon slashes with his whip twice, and Pandarus rolls 12 and 8 for defense. Yikes!; he suffers 4 points and is down to Resolve 2. This might be over soon.  He attempts to stun the fiend, and gets 14 against the Defense of 12. Yes. The demon is stunned for one round. Pandarus casts three arcane darts (including this round and round 4), rolling 12, 14, and 16 against the stunned CR of 6. He hits three times, but unfortunately only does 1 point with each dart. The demon is down to Resolve 9. At the end of round 4, Pandarus’ ring restores another point, moving him up to Resolve 3. This is all good, but Pandarus only has two advanced spells left this turn, and then he’s going to have to go with his basic spell the rest of the fight.

It is Round 5. Pandarus rolls 10 and 15 against the attack of 13, getting hit once with the whip and suffering 2 hits. He is down to 1! Pandarus tries another arcane bolt, rolling 14, and scoring 3 points of damage! He also hits with his arcane dart, getting a natural 12, but only a 3 on the following die; he deals 2 damage, which is great. He’s just dealt 5 points, leaving the demon at Resolve 4. 

It is Round 6. The demon’s aura of flame goes off and Pandarus rolls only 13 to Defend (whew), so he stays at Resolve 1. He also has to try to evade two whip slashes, and gets 13 and 16, dodging both strikes! He rolled really well… Pandarus only has 1 advanced spell left; I kind of want to save it in case he needs to vanish the heck out of here, but he does have his haste still active… and he’s getting a point back at the end of the round… eh. He’s feeling pretty good. He will use both his arcane bolt and his arcane dart again, which will mean he is out of advanced spells entirely. On the bolt, he rolls 16! He deals 3 wounds; with the dart, he hits with 14, so that’s enough for another wound; the fiend is at Resolve 0! 

I use the solitaire framework to decide what the Fiend does… I really don’t know what his most likely option here is… he could fight to the death (but he’s thousands of years old, so the idea of going out with a bang is unlikely)... he could surrender, granting some favor to the wizard; he could try to flee. I feel like the most likely option is surrender and bargaining… The solitaire framework says no. Option two is fleeing; natural 1. That is totally his thing. He turns tail and flees, cursing the wizard as he goes. 

Satisfied that the mighty demon has been resigned to his pit, Pandarus turns to follow the prisoners he has just freed into the daylight beyond.

Analysis… 

Wow this was close. Pandarus barely hung on there for a little bit. He has one extra slot for a relic that he doesn’t have, and I figure maybe he’d have a defender’s blade which would have given him advantage on his defense rolls. That would have made a big difference. As is, this was a solid combat between some of the game’s heavy hitters.

Haste made all the difference. Without that, he’s casting one spell per round, and has no chance. 

I didn’t have a LOT of strategic options, but I had some. I kind of wish that Pandarus had one spell left at the end, because he could have levitated that demon up and forced him to bargain with him or be destroyed; that would have been neat. 

Just for poops and giggles, let’s try Panarus against a weaker foe; an ogre:

Ogre Brute

(Dire Foe 2) Attack 11 | Defend 8 | Focus 7 | Resolve 10

On a Defense result of 6 or less (or a natural 2), the ogre’s club deals 2 damage.

Pandarus the Mighty (Legendary Human Wizard; Renown 4)

Attack 0 | Defense 5 | Focus 6 | Resolve 7

Relics: 

the Staff of the Archmage (+1 Defense and +1 Focus; +1 spell per turn)

The Ring of the Troll King (regenerate 1 every other round)

Robes of Aliazar (+1 Defense and +1 Focus)

Spells: Dart of Arcane; all listed spells (he’s an archmage!)

Pandarus wanders into a lair to find an ogre eating some of the sheep he’s been stealing. Pandarus warns him that his thievery cannot be tolerated by good and fair folk! It’s initiative.

Pandarus rolls a natural 12 on his initiative check, but a 1 on the following roll. Hmm. He should get some benefit for this… on to the solitaire framework. Does he get to take a free action? Nope (6). Does he have advantage on all rolls against the ogre for 1 full round? Yes he does (3). Okay. Pandarus will use his action to cast an arcane bolt. He rolls 16, dealing 3 wounds and leaving the ogre at 7. The ogre uses his action to run across the expanse (since they started at medium range).

Round 2. Pandarus has learned the value of haste. He casts it. The ogre attacks, but Pandarus never got the benefit of that advantage, so I let him keep it for this action (that makes sense); he rolls Defense and gets 11, which BARELY avoids the club attack. Pandarus would regenerate 1 point, but he’s still at full.

Round 3. Pandarus attacks twice, using a bolt and a dart of arcane energy; he gets 15 with the bolt (3 damage) and 16 with the dart (1 damage), for a total of 4; the ogre is down to 3. The ogre swings, but Pandarus rolls exactly an 11 again, which frustrates the ogre to no end. He’s barely missed twice.

Round 4. Pandarus stuns the ogre, getting 17 (so that ogre is really stunned), and then uses an arcane dart, getting a natural 12 for 2 damage, leaving the ogre at 1. The ogre drools. Pandarus would again regenerate a point, but nah. He’s good.

Round 5. Pandarus will just use 2 arcane darts (no need to use other spells now), and gets 17 and 13; he hits twice, and the ogre is at Resolve -1. He collapses in a pool of self-pity, weeping and begging for mercy. Pandarus tells him that he may live, but he must pick up his belongings and head east two days’ journey into the mountains; he can feed on wild mountain lions there, and leave the good folk of the village alone. He must also give up 10 coins for each of the six sheep he has already slaughtered, to compensate the good farmers who have lost livestock. The ogre agrees to these terms.

Analysis:

That was easy. It should have been easy. There was still a chance that Pandarus gets hit (he narrowly avoided getting hit twice), but he still would have defeated the ogre with minimal effort. I like it.

Resolute Play Testing Session 1

I have a story arc in mind; a small village has fallen under the shadow of a new necromancer who has come into the area. There will be three deeds (adventures) that need to be accomplished, with the big bad fight coming at the end of the third. So far, so good. I like threes. The first adventure will send my new hero into a tomb to fight some critters.

I read a post a few weeks ago by Matt Jackson over on his blog where he spoke about evocative locations and mapless play, which he had read about elsewhere. I kinda like that, so I’m going to give it a shot. I can picture an old sarcophagus in the graveyard at the far edges of the church’s lands - a place where it touches the nearby dark woods, and where nature has slowly pushed its way in. The graveyard itself is overgrown and gone to weed, and the tombs are all at least a century old.

The acolyte was doing his weekly spreading of holy water on the graves and noticed that one of the tombs was open. As he got closer, he saw a goblin move about in the darkness, and then an arrow flew towards him, missing. He fled, reporting this to the Abbot, who has sent word to the local keep of Brambly’s Crossing. There, my hero-to-be Ardent has been wallowing in self pity, looking for an opportunity to prove himself after his failures in the Gladiator Pits of Uth Katan. More on that later (once I figure out what that means).

The three encounters will be in the tomb… he will have three critter-level encounters, because he is brand new and I don’t want to kill him. I have stats for rats, spiders, and goblins done, and that seems to be workable. I could put in a puzzle of some kind… that would be good. Maybe a trap?

Okay. The goblins are in there, and maybe they’ve put a simple trap on the door (a stone is wedged to fall on anyone who opens the door, dealing 1 damage - enough to kill a regular joe, but not an emerging hero like Ardent!). It’s not a very good trap, so challenge 8 (need a better, shorter way to say that. Challenge Rating / CR 8? Going with that for now). Ardent needs to make a successful Focus check CR 8 to notice the wedged stone prepared to harm him. I roll 10, so he finds it easily and can safely open the door.

The first encounter is a room full of spider webs. It was a ceremonial chamber for religious rites, but now it is occupied by 4 tomb spiders. Two start in close range (right above the door), but two are at medium range (in other corners of the chamber; they need to use 1 round to get close enough to bite).

Ardent botches his Focus check, so these two spiders get to take a free attack before initiative. Ugh. He has to Defend against two attacks of 6.  He rolls 6 and 11, so succeeds. It is initiative. Ardent gets 7 against their Focus of 7, so I get the win on the tie (the rating for a monster sets the target for success). He attacks one of the spiders, getting 12, so he hits. He almost got to hit a second, but I’m happy he killed one. The other attacks, but Ardent defends with 7 against the attack of 6.

Round 2, and three spiders are now in melee combat. Ardent attacks, getting 14! He kills two of them. The final spider attacks, but Ardent evades with a 7. 

Round 3: Ardent attacks and hits with a 12, killing the spider.

He examines their webs, and needs to succeed on a CR 8 Focus check to find their treasure. He rolls 6, so he fails to find the small clutch of gemstones they have hidden in a web. Ah well. Better luck next time.

Already I can see that advantage on your primary ability is great. Twice I turned a mediocre result into a great one by having that third die.

On to the rats. Ardent descends stairs into a ceremonial hallway (lots of ceremonial stuff down here) that is flooded to knee deep, and is filled with rats. Okay. Not filled. There is one rat. Hmph. Sometimes the dice just give you one critter. Happens. The rat chirps and swims towards him, hungry and desperate since the dozens (no - HUNDREDS) of other rats that were with him have all been eaten by the four spiders that were at the top of the stairs. He’s mad. He’s actually the toughest rat EVER, with 2 resolve. This little critter is mad as heck and he’s not going to take it anymore. Ardent wins initiative, rolling a 7 against the Focus of 7. He rolls 11+3=14 to hit, so deals 2 points and slays that poor little thing. Sir Ratenberger, last Rat of the Rats of Bron Vindu, deserved a better end.

On to the goblins. There will be 1D6+1 of these, just because this is the big encounter for the adventure. I already know that the last goblin will surrender at 0 resolve rather than dying, and will pledge his service to the temple for life, and will give up info on the necromancer, if he is allowed to live. I mean, your character is going to want information on the necromancer (mine does), so that seems to be a no-brainer.

Alternatively, the goblins carry orders from the necromancer. They are to gather as many skulls as they can from two tombs, and then return to him. The goblin who lives (conveniently) does not know where the necromancer resides (the leader of their group did, but he was one of the first to die - how deus ex machina of him), so traveling to the next tomb and setting a trap is going to be the only option :)

Anyhow, on to bloodshed.

The goblins are busy working (digging up skulls and gathering them in sacks) so they can be snuck upon. I like that the game presumes anyone can sneak; however, if you have a few points in Focus and you’ve tagged it, you are much (much) better at sneaking - but everyone has a chance. Even Ardent. So, he tries to sneak in close enough to jump a goblin before initiative begins. He rolls snake eyes, so he does not sneak. And, I rolled another 1, so he drops a sword. Without it, I no longer have advantage on attacks, and can no longer get the +1 damage boost. Darn darn darn darn darn. I can spend one round picking up my sword, which I think I will do.

Ardent barely wins initiative (6 against their Focus of 6), so he spends his time picking up his sword. There are only three goblins here, but two are in close range. The other is on the other side of the chamber, but he has a short bow he can attack with, so all three are engaging. Hrmph. He gets a natural 12 against this attack, and rolls a 3 on the special bonus super die, so he deftly evades an arrow, but cannot step aside as it hits another goblin. Drat. 

By the way, I can already see that playing a defensive-oriented character would be a lot of fun. You are always stepping out of the way of enemy attacks, and once in a while you get one foe to shoot another, or you manage to trick the ogre into hitting something that causes his own club to rebound and hit him in the head. Sounds fun. I'm thinking that is totally the hobbit go-to ability; you just run around getting monsters to hurt themselves and each other.

Back to combat. Ardent has two goblin blades to evade, and he gets 6 and another natural 2. He rolls 2 on the following die, so he BARELY keeps from suffering even another point of damage; the goblins have attack 7, so Ardent suffers 2 wounds here, down to Resolve 3. Grr grr grumble grumble. Stupid goblins.

Round Two. Ardent has recovered his dropped sword and a little of his self-respect, so he gets to attack. Natural 12. This is followed up with a 4, so it’s just a really solid hit, but he’s able to use his special ability to deal 2 wounds, meaning he kills the two goblins in melee, and prepares to charge at the bow-wielding goblin on the other side of the chamber. He rolls a 6 to evade an arrow, but this catches him in the shoulder, leaving his Resolve at 2. Rut row.

Round Three. Ardent runs at the goblin and this takes the full round. The goblin fires again, and Ardent rolls 4+2 = 6. Seriously? The dude must be wearing armor of missile attraction or some bull like that. He suffers another wound, leaving him at Resolve 1. 

Round Four. Ardent attacks and gets 11+3=14, so he’s able to pretty easily defeat the goblin (if you count losing 4 out of 5 Resolve as ‘easy’). The goblin begs for mercy, and promises to serve the mighty Ardent in any capacity he deems fit. I don’t see Ardent as wanting a skeevy little goblin following him around, so he turns the goblin over to the temple, once he spills what little he knows about the necromancer (which is that there is a necromancer who sent them to gather skulls from two tombs, and this one was the first - but that’s it). From the goblins, he collects 7 coins.

For this, the church offers Ardent 20 coins for his valor. While the money would be nice, Ardent wants the reputation (since that equals renown - this game’s version of levels - and relative power). 

The adventure would be worth 2 hero points, but Ardent gets +1 for refusing the donation and asking them to spread the word that the Shadowed Vale is now protected by Ardent the Red. They promise to tell their friends. He now has 3 hero points towards the 10 he needs to improve his renown to 1 (Victor). He also offers to give the 7 coins he recovered as an additional donation, suggesting that an elixir of healing would sure be useful on his further adventures; this will be a renown check (+0) but at CR 8 because he did just bribe donate to them. I roll and get 5. They thank him for the donation, but sadly have nothing that could help a great hero like Ardent. But, he has their undying gratitude, and isn’t that better than some dumb elixir? Isn’t it? (spoiler alert - it is not).

To my list of Deeds, I add the following:

• Aid the Acolytes of Andover Abbey

I like assonance as much as I like alliteration… because it’s basically just alliteration with vowels.

   

Ardent the Red, Common (Renown 0) Human Gladiator (Hero Points 3 of 10)

Attack 3 | Defense 2 | Focus 0 | Resolve 5

Deals 2 damage on attack roll of 13+ (can distribute among multiple foes).

Wealth: 7 coins

Deeds: Aid the Acolytes of Andover Abbey