On Walking the Dogs and Oh, Oh, Oh, It's Magic (You Know)

Any time I spend outdoors is always helpful towards whatever project I am working on. To whit, I just took my dogs for a 20-minute walk, and returned having re-thought the spell system from the ground up.

At present, a standard spell casting attempt is a D12 +level check (DT 10). If you roll 9 or lower (altogether), you fail. If you roll very low (1 for rank 1-3 spells, 2 for rank 4-6 spells) you lose 1 mana point. However, as I pointed out last entry, I've created a special rule for buffs and healing spells that they only fail on a natural 1.

However, what if I made that failure check the standard check for all spells? Right now, the odds of spell failure are pretty high - as a level 3 caster (what I would consider having moved to the 'heroic' tier of the game), you fail on a spell 50% of the time. Now, odds are very good that by then you have some means of receiving +1 edge to the roll (increasing your odds considerably), and also that you are getting some bonus to checks (probably from a tag)... so that 50% in actual play is probably closer to 30%. 

If we go with a system where you 'attempt to cast', this would be successful as long as you roll above the spell rank... so my level 3 caster has a 92% chance of casting a rank 1 spell (as all casters do), an 83% chance of casting a rank 2 spell, and 75% chance of casting a rank 3 spell. These odds are the same for a level 4, 5, or 6 caster, and are the same whether you have mind 3, 4, 5 or 6.

So a level 3 caster with mind 3 has a 75% chance to cast dispel magic... but so does a level 6 caster with mind 6. Meh. I mean, it's okay...

I like fair, but I love simple. So, here's a go at a simple system for this:

- Your mind sets the highest rank for spells you can cast. 

- A spell is miscast (fails and costs 1 mana) if you roll half the spell rank or lower. So costs by rank are as follows: Rank 1 or 2 spells (roll of 1; 92% chance of success), Rank 3-4 spells (roll of 1-2; 83% chance of success), Rank 5-6 spells (roll of 1-3; 75% chance of success.). All casters have the same odds.

- A miscast spell cannot be attempted again for 1 minute.

- You can only cast cantrips if you run out of mana.

The reality is that many spells allow a resist anyway... so this is, in effect, using the old school D+D chance of spell failure system. Your level and mind are the things that grant you access to higher level spells, so the fact that they don't also mitigate spell failure is offset a little bit. Since casters will be going through more mana, maybe their mana is set at level + mind. Now, a smarter, higher-level caster has the same odds of failure, but has more chances to cast other spells to make up for it. Mana recovery would have to be pretty slow then... I think this just might work. Time to do some editing... and some play testing (which is great, because I'm about to take on another caster).

By the way, the odds with +1 edge (casting a signature spell with the tag or casting a spell while using a wand) reduce the odds of failure to 0.7% with rank 1-2 spells, 2.7% with rank 3-4 spells, and 6.25% with rank 5-6 spells. Most high-level casters are going to have these options, so they are going to be successful the vast majority of the time.

Hmmm. Now, I'm back to thinking of going with rolling the spell level or lower results in a failure and 1 mana. A level 5 or 6 caster casting a level 5 or 6 spell is very likely to have +1 edge to the casting check. 

Tale of the Twins Session Five: The Troglodyte Caves

Note: I’ve decided to start each of these posts with a summary, in case you don’t want to read the play-by-play I post below. So, here it is… The twins are moving through the Dens of Discord. The twins arrive at the troglodyte caves. They meet with the females, and parlay. They agree to help the females by slaying the troglodyte lord who treats them poorly. They make their way to his cave, evading babbler mushrooms, and defeat him. When Tor dives into the pool to recover an axe, he is attacked by a constrictor. After a tough fight, the twins win. They return to the female trogs, earn a small reward, and learn about the hidden door to the temple. They set off for the temple… Also, I use this actual play experience to revise several spells; rank 1 spells that buff/heal the character or their allies are not contested; instead of a standard level check, these require a simple check - they only fail on a natural 1 (costing 1 mana). Otherwise, they succeed. Healing and minor buffs should be more reliable.

The twins attempt to sneak up towards the cave entrance to the troglodyte cave. Toro is successful, but Tali just barely fails. They arrive to find three troglodyte females in a defensive position standing over their nest. One of them says ‘come no further, or we will attack!’.

The twins lower their weapons. Tali speaks for them. She fails her mind check (4), but it’s not a botch. I guess Toro can step in and see if he can help… also a 4. The twins explain that they are looking for the temple, and they want to stop the human named Corgan. 

Hmf. The lead female trog definitely doesn’t trust these outsiders. It’s possible that she uses them to try and kill the male trog… Natural 1. Oh yeah. She says that she will help these two if they kill the male troglodyte. They agree to do so. She points out where he lives. She also points out the babblers, and tells the twins to rub some of her oil on their armor to trick the mushrooms into not going off. They do, setting off.

They arrive and find a cavern with a waterfall feeding a stream in the middle of the room, and a vast array of colorful mushrooms. They don’t have lore, but they’ve spent a lot of time hanging out with their uncle who does. I’ll say on a natural 12 mind check one of them recognizes the babblers. Natural 12 for Tali! Wow. Okay then. She warns her brother about them, pointing out their distinctive coloring and pattern. They absolutely would avoid the mushrooms as much as possible, and would not eat them. Because of the troglodyte oil, the babblers do not go off.

They can try to sneak again, and neither is successful. They enter the room to find the troglodyte male dancing around the room with his spear in a hallucinogenic frenzy, and it’s initiative. The twins win.

Round 1

• Both attempt glimmering weapon. Both fail. 

• Tali fires an arrow and hits for 6-2=4. The trog is at 18.

• Toro runs the 30’ and attacks at -1 edge. He misses with both his sword and shield.

• The trog attacks Toro. It misses, despite its +1 edge for 2-handed.

Round 2

• Both twins are successful with glimmering weapon.

• Tali hits with an arrow for 12, dealing 8-2=6, leaving the trog at 12.

• Toro hits with his sword for 8-2=6, leaving the trog at 6. He misses with his shield.

• The trog misses again. He must be really high.

Round 3

• Tali hits with an arrow for 7-2=5, so the Trog has only 1 hit remaining.

• Tor misses with both sword and shield. D’oh.

• The trog sees an opening and takes it, spearing Tor for 7-3=4. Tor botched with his shield bash, so I’m going to say he cannot use it now to block the spear. He is at 11 hits.

Round 4

• In her last round with glimmering weapon, Tali hits for 6-2=4, which is enough to drop the trog. 

• After a few tries, Tor is able to heal himself. I decide to re-write healing word to break the rule of all other leveled spells - no check is required, but you can only use it your level times per minute. This puts a limit on it, but makes it more reliable. Reading through Toro’s abilities, I realize I’ve been missing out on bonuses he could be taking or granting to his sister. I’ll try to be better at taking advantage of those (bless specifically).

They explore the room, finding the lord’s treasure as well as seeing the axe at the bottom of the pool. The constrictor down there rolls a 12 on its sneak check, so it is perfectly positioned to attack anyone going after the axe.

His treasure is 310 cp, 48 sp, 2 gp, 16 enchanted arrows (deal +1 damage), and a potion of levitation. Tali takes all of the magic items (since Tor got all the good stuff last time - and he can’t use the arrows anyway).

Tor would go in after the axe. He had heard a rumor (wayyyy back in session 1) that the axe of the fallen dwarf king is here in the blue water… this looks like that rumor come true. Neither twin thinks to cast detect magic (I gave them each a mind check), so he goes in after it. He takes off his armor and puts down his shield and sword. He will just take the trog’s spear with him, and cast vestments before diving in. Tali stands ready with her bow.

Round 1

• He dives in, and as soon as he is near the axe, the constrictor rises from the silt and attacks (at +1 edge). It hits for 4-2=2. Tor is at 13 hits. Fortunately, it fails to constrict (needing an 11 on the die; it got a 10).

• Tor tries to attack it with his spear, but rolls a natural 1. I’m going to give the constrictor another +1 edge on its next attack.

• Tali casts glimmering weapon. She fires an arrow at the constrictor, missing it.

Round 2

• The constrictor hits again with a 10. Tor is at 11 hits. 

• Tor hits with his spear with a natural 12. He deals 9-2=7, leaving the snake at 13 hits.

• Tali hits for 6-2=4, leaving the snake at 9 hits.

Round 3

• The snake hits with an 11, dealing 5-2=3 (Tor is at 10 hits) and successfully wrapping itself around Tor. Tor gets a might check to push the snake off. He fails. He takes another 2 points of constriction damage (at 8), and is at -1 edge.

• Tor tries to stab the snake with his spear, and manages to do so! (rolled a 9 and a 12, so gets to keep the 9). He deals 7-2=5, leaving the snake at 4.

• Tali better not botch… she attacks and hits for 6-2=4. This is enough to kill it. Whew. I was literally starting to think about what to do if Tor dies in this encounter…

Tor comes up for air, then goes back down to get the axe. Once on shore, they examine it and realize that it’s nice, but it’s not a magical special super axe of any kind. It’s a decent axe with a few gems in the hilt. He casts healing word on himself two times, and is back at full.

After putting his armor back on and organizing themselves (and using some of the trog’s oil to coat their armor again for the mushrooms), they return to the female trogs, reporting what they have done (and bringing the body of the male trog). The females are elated. They give each of the twins one gem from their nest (worth 8 gp), and they reveal the location of the secret door that leads into the hidden temple. The twins thank them, setting off for the final part of this adventure…

They have earned 10 xp each from monsters, +5 each from getting the location of the temple and resolving one of the rumors they had heard at the tavern. To keep things simple, I’m converting all of their findings into straight up gp. They each earn 13 gp and 15 xp.

Tale of the Twins: Session Four - New Game Mechanics to Try Out

I did some more fiddling with the math and the mechanics, tested the team against a revised rot creeper, played with the numbers some more, and ultimately ended up with a compromise. I decided that armor (and a new ability: magic resistance) reduce damage directly (a passive ability that always kicks in with no dice roll required), whereas I’ll still roll checks for traits to resist magic and beast abilities. The big slowdown was with armor checks… now, armor applies automatically. Because of that, I had to revise hits and damage across the board. This is a pretty significant change, but I’m hopeful that it will speed up play. I keep the target of 10 for everything, because that’s just so intuitive. The big change from the character side is that you add your might to melee damage and your reflex to ranged damage, which offsets the automatic soaks from armor against every attack. If you are not a caster (with access to the vestments spell), you’re probably going to want at least might 2 so you can wear some decent armor. 

I make a few executive decisions. The heroes search the goblin caves entirely, the kobold caves entirely, and the bugbear’s caves. The wolf that was up there ran away. Teothas ‘donates’ all of his money and xp to the twins. When they arrive in Buckler’s Keep, a messenger from the High Marshal has arrived, demanding that Teothas return at once with an update on the Sevenfold Rod. He encourages his niece and nephew to continue searching for it while he returns to his lord to give a report. His hope is that the twins can find and hide it while he makes a plan. He is concerned that if the Sevenfold Rod is recovered, giving it to the High Marshal might not be the best idea…

They have earned:

99 xp (so exactly 50 each - halfway to next level!)

44 gold and 89 copper in wealth

Chainmail 3

A Small Enchanted Shield 1

4 Potions of Healing

2 Weapons (4)

I change their names again (the h’s were starting to bother me) to Taliana and Torothryn (so Tali and Toro for short. Those are a little bit better). Teo has the last name Moonharper, so I give that to them as well.

Because he rolls a natural 12 on his mind check to negotiate, Toro is able to make a lateral trade for one of the weapons 4 for a longsword 4. He trades in his blade 3 (getting 3 gp for it), his leather armor (also 3 gp) and small shield (3 gp as well). He dons the chainmail and takes the enchanted shield. Tali turns in her short bow (5 gp) and gets a hunter’s bow 3 (25 gp). They have 33 gp remaining, and are in very good shape. Each takes 15 gp, giving tips to the barkeep and the vendor who has sold them goods.

Taliana Moonharper - Headstrong Elfin Arcane Archer 1 (XP 50); 15 gp

Armor 0 (2); Hits 12; Move 60’; Bow (+2*/6) or Dirk (+1/1)

Traits: Might 0; Mind 3; Reflex 3

Tags: Archer; Mystic (Common, Wild); Sharpshooter

Gear: Hunter’s Bow 3; Ring of Health (5); 2 Potions of Healing (6 hits)

Spells: Glimmering Weapon (1 mana)

Torothrin Moonharper - Astute Elfin Lightbearer 1 (XP 50); 15 gp

Armor 3; Hits 15; Move 60’; Blade (+2/7) + Shield (+2/5) 

Traits: Might 3; Mind 3; Reflex 0 

Tags: Mystic (Common, Light); Two Weapons; Warrior 

Gear: Chainmail Armor 3; Enchanted Small Shield 1*; 

Longsword 4; Ring of Health (5); 2 Potions of Healing (6 hits)

Spells: Glimmering Weapon (1 mana)

They are ready to set off back towards the Dens of Discord! There are only two of them, but a) they each have +5 health, which amounts to another character between them in terms of total hits they can sustain and b) they are well geared now (a few potions and a magic shield to boot), so they are more viable than they were before these upgrades. I think they will be okay…

I don’t roll any random encounters, but I want one anyway, so I roll and get 3 boars… so, as they near the Dens, three boars step out onto the road, take notice of them, and prepare to charge. The boars are 50’ away. They automatically win initiative, since it will take the boars the full round to charge, and they will attack at the end of next round.

• Tali casts glimmering weapon and fails. She attacks and hits with a 10, dealing 6 damage. It suffers 5 hits and is down to 6. In the second round she tries glimmering weapon again, and succeeds. She attacks that same boar again, hitting for 6. It is down to 1 remaining.

• Toro casts glimmering weapon and fails. He has no ranged attack, so he waits for the next round, casting glimmering weapon again succeeding (it will last 4 rounds from rolling an 11). He attacks the injured boar and hits with a 12 with his sword, killing it. He attempts to shield bash a second one, but fails.

• Each of them is attacked by a boar. The one on Tali misses, but the one on Toro hits. He attempts to use his shield to block the attack. He fails to do so, despite the +1 edge (rolled 3 and 1). He suffers 6 hits, less his armor of 3 leaves him at 12 hits. 

• Tali is trying to step back 10’ to fire again (as Toro tries to get between them to take on both boars). She hits for 6 damage, dealing 5 and leaving it at 6. 

• Toro hits the injured one with his sword, dealing 7 and just barely killing it. He tries to shield bash the last one, and just barely misses.

• It attacks him, missing.

• Tali hits with an 11, leaving it at 5 hits. Toro misses with sword and shield.

• The boar misses.

• Tali hits, finishing it off.

Toro is able to heal himself (eventually) and they set off towards the final caves…

Design Time: Scaled Difficulty Targets

As written, the draft rules for Hack'D & Slash'D 2E use a default target 10 for all checks. Any time you try to do anything, whether it's cast a spell, attack a monster, pick a lock, or sneak up on a guard, you attempt your D12 check with a target of 10. It's easy to remember. It's very simple.

However, it's frustrating as a level 1 character to have a high degree of failure against giant termites and kobolds. It's also frustrating to attempt to cast what should be relatively easy spells, only to have them fail repeatedly. You should be able to cast low-level spells with a greater degree of certitude.

What if I set up a scaled DT system that starts at 7, and adds the level? This means that hitting a kobold is DT 7, hitting a goblin is DT 8, and hitting the bugbear in the final encounter they had last session would be DT 10? This makes level 3 the 'default' DT for most things. This also means casting a healing word spell or a glimmering weapon is DT 8 instead of DT 10... this increases the odds of success with these spells almost 17%. That's significant.

The other thing I'm thinking of is increasing damage across the board... and then using armor to soak automatically (reducing damage by the armor rating) instead of requiring an armor check. I end up doing a LOT of rolling, because every action requires both the action and then a resistant check. For example, might could set the base damage for weapons, adding the damage rating of the weapon. Reflex could do the same for missile weapons. A shield then allows one might check per round (DT based on the attack that hit?) to deflect the attack. Shields could then be rated from +1 to +3, adding to that might check. You then get to add this rating to the damage with a shield if used as a weapon.

I might scale up hits a little bit too, then. You'd have 7 +might hits per level (instead of 5+), to keep things consistent, and to offset the changes to weapon damage and armor. You'd also need to have default resistant ratings (RR?) for might, mind, and reflex. I think going with 5 + level + trait rating would work. This becomes the target for spells and effects against those particular traits. For example, an arcane burst formerly was DT 10, dealt mind x2 damage, and allowed a reflex check for half damage. Now, it is DT 9 (7+ level 2 spell), deals mind x3 damage; each target whose reflex RR exceeds your attack result suffers half damage. RRs would be listed in parenthesis next to the given trait.

In the same way, a poison effect would require the creature to check its level vs. your might RR. If it equals or beats the RR, you suffer the effect of the poison. 

I think I'm going to test this out and see how it goes.

These would be my revised character stat blocks using this new system:

The Team (Revised)

Teothas - Curious Elfin Minstrel 2 (XP 100) Armor 0 (2); Hits 21; Move 60’; Blade (+2/4)  Traits: Might 1 (8); Mind 3 (10); Reflex 2 (9)  Tags: Charisma; Mystic (Common, Arcane) Lore; Sorcery  Gear: Wand of Arcane; Ring of Health (5); Blade (3); Recorder Spells: (3 mana) Sleep; Glimmering Weapon

Thaliana - Headstrong Elfin Arcane Archer 1 (XP 0) Armor 0 (2); Hits 12; Move 60’; Bow (+2/5) or Dirk (1) Traits: Might 0 (6); Mind 3 (9); Reflex 3 (9) Tags: Archer; Mystic (Common, Wild); Sharpshooter Gear: Short bow 2; Ring of Health (5) Spells: Glimmering Weapon (1 mana)

Thorithrin - Elfin Lightbearer 1 (XP 0) Armor 1; Hits 15; Move 60’; Blade (+2/6) + Shield (+2/4)  Traits: Might 3 (9); Mind 3 (9); Reflex 0 (6)  Tags: Mystic (Common, Light); Two Weapons; Warrior  Gear: Leather Armor 1; Small Shield 1; Blade 3; Ring of Health (5) Spells: Glimmering Weapon (1 mana)

   

Tale of the Twins: Session Three (Against the Goblins)

Warning: This is a VERY long post. I'm going to start with a bit of a summary and notes on it... I keep making tweaks to the 2E game rules every time I play. There is really no substitute for actual play to fine-tune the rules and mechanics. I keep making small changes, but each one makes the game a little better. I think I'm at the point where I want to go a half-dozen sessions without making any changes before I actually release this, so it's going to be a while. However, you can still look at the most current draft of the game at any time. During this session, I added nightsight to character options for non-humans (the game didn't have that at all before), and I changed the sharpshooter tag from +1 to missile damage to +1 edge to missile attacks. Thali was missing too much, even for a level 1 character. Their damage output is very low, but they have their starter gear still - they have not even capped out their potential at level 1; a trip back to town to gear up before attempting the troglodyte cave and the temple are probably in order...

***

Session 3

The team changes plans. They would have to deal with the entirety of the trog caves anyway to get to the hidden temple, and the goblins a) could always sneak up behind them, and b) continue to provide a threat to the people of Buckler’s Keep and the surrounding area. Taking out the goblins it is…

The three attempt to cross the bridge. Tali makes a natural 12 on her mind check, and realizes that the bridge does not look safe (in the least). She fires an arrow at the bridge, and this is enough to get a termite from underneath to come up and investigate. Soon others join, scurrying around the bridge. 

I’ll give the team automatic initiative and a bonus free attack before the termites can get to them up on the slope overlooking the bridge (maybe 30’ away). 

Round 1 (+ bonus action)

• Teothas casts two arcane darts, killing one termite (the other evades it).

• Tali botches with glimmering weapon, using her mana point and failing. Drat. Normal arrows it is. She attacks twice, missing both times.

• Thori casts two arcane darts, killing both termites.

• The 4 termites that remain start biting. Two are on Tali. All termites miss.

Round 2

• Teo’s arcane dart fails when the termite rolls a natural 12.

• Tali kills one with a natural 12. 

• Thori kills one with an arcane dart that it fails to evade.

• One bites Teo with a natural 12. He fails his armor check and suffers 3 hits, down to 14. The other bites Thori with a natural 12. He makes his armor check, suffering 2 hits (and is down to 11).

 

Round 3

All three heroes are successful with their attacks, and the remaining termites die.

Tali (again) makes her mind check, and comes up with a way to use a rope to bear weight so that they can safely cross the bridge. They do so. I rule that it is possible that the two guards at area 2 (only about 70’ away, although generally resting further up the cave towards the wall) notice this commotion down by the bridge. 2. They do.

They have about 3 rounds to react. They would have summoned the 5 goblins from area 4. It is unlikely they were smart enough to also alert their ‘king’. 3. Yep. He is alerted as well. This means that 6 goblins are now at the entrance, and an extra goblin is with the king (so the king and 3 goblins will arrive after combat round 3.

As my heroes gather on the western bank of the stream, the goblins launch their attack. 6 goblins are here, so they will work in pairs to launch arrows at my heroes… they get a free action at +1 edge and win initiative. Ugh.

Round 1

• The goblins rain down arrows. They hit all three, dealing 4 hits to Teo and Tali, and 6 hits to Thori. All three fail their armor checks. Teo is at 10, Tali is at 6, and Thori is at 5. Ouch.

• Teo attempts a sleep spell. He fails. Dang.

• Tali fires an arrow. She misses. 

• Thori attempts to heal himself. He rolls a natural 1, and burns his only mana point. Oh poop. This round could not have gone much worse for our heroes.

Round 2

• More arrows. They miss Teo, hit Tali for 4 points (she fails her armor check and is at 2), and miss Thori.

• Teo crosses his fingers that his sleep spell works this time… it does not.

• Tali misses. Ugh.

• Thori uses his action to run up (trying to draw their fire from his sister) while casting an arcane dart (which, since he doesn’t have to roll, he suffers no penalty for moving while casting). The goblin fails its check, and this kills it. One down!

Round 3

• All four goblins aim at Thori. They collectively botch! They are so surprised that he started running at them and screaming that they struggle to decide what to do, and end up dropping their bows and pulling out their blades.

• Finally! Teo puts them to sleep with a natural 12. All four fail their resist check to the sleep, and drop to the ground.

• The ‘king’, running up the chamber with his guards, sees four of his guards fall to the ground as an elfin warrior runs in, screaming. He checks morale and fails with a 1. He yells for his guards to retreat, and they scamper back to area 5, locking and barring the door. 

My team kills the sleeping goblins and retreats to the kobold cave, resting there for a few hours until they can recover. After an hour, Thori recovers his mana point, and is able to (eventually) heal all three of them to full.

They return to find the goblin caves very still. The remaining 6 goblins, along with the king, have hunkered down in area 5, behind a locked and barred door. 

Teo tries to sneak up the hall to see what is going on. He barely succeeds. Peeking around the corner at 2, he can see a guard standing outside the closed door (4), watching down the hallway. It doesn’t see him peek around the corner at it. He casts an arcane arrow at it, getting a natural 12 and killing it. The sound of the goblin grunting and falling, and of the arcane arrow zipping up the hall, is enough to put the king and his five remaining guards on alert.

I’m thinking that they sneak up the hall (pressed against the west wall). They could pop into area 4 (the common room) and set up there, or they could crawl under the peephole in the door at 5, continuing all the way down the hall to area 6 where they can set up an ambush. They have nightsight, so vision is not an issue for them. I let the dice decide, and end up with option one. They go to area 5 and hide around the southeast corner, preparing. 

After a few minutes, the king sends another scout to look and see what happened. He eventually comes around the corner, and the heroes surprise him. It botches its resist against Teo’s arcane dart, and dies.

When the scout doesn’t return, the king decides to take his remaining goblins (now 4) with him to see if they can take care of these foes (who were clearly sent by the kobolds). The king dismisses stealth, calling out that he can pay these mercenaries handsomely, and will offer them twice whatever the kobolds are paying them. Tali botches her glimmering weapon (sigh) and loses her only mana point, but Teo is able to cast glimmering weapon, which he decides to put on her bow. Both cast vestments on themselves. Teo casts vestments on himself and then attempts sleep with his surprise action… and then it will be the goblins’ turn…

Round 1

• Teo casts sleep. He succeeds! Two of the goblins fall asleep, leaving the king and two guards.
• They run into the room and attack.
• The king attacks Teo, hitting with his pole arm for 4 hits. Teo makes his armor check (because of vestments), and is at 15 hits.
• Two goblins attack Thori, but they miss.

I suddenly decide to change Taliana to Thaliana, so that her name is closer to her brother. So changed.

Round 2

• Teo swings at the king with his blade, missing.

• Thali takes a shot at the goblin king, missing despite the +1 edge from glimmering weapon.

• Thori swings his blade at the goblin king and hits, dealing 3. The king soaks part of this, and suffers only 2 hits (now at 10).

• The king misses Teo.

• The two goblins miss Thori.

Round 3

• Teo misses the king. Drat.

• Thali gets a natural 12 against the king. He makes his armor check, so she deals 3 hits, leaving him at 7.

• Thori botches his attack.

• The king hits Teo for 4 damage. He suffers all of it, and is now at 11.

• The two goblins change their target to Teo (since that is who the king is on), and hit for 4 hits. He makes the armor check with a natural 12, and his vestments repel the arrows.

Round 4

• I didn’t really worry about the whole ‘bree yark’ thing (partly because I forgot about it, not that the bugbear would have responded anyway), but they goblins yelled bree yark over and over when they were attacked first, and now they’ve been yelling it over and over again for 4 rounds. I decided it was unlikely that the bugbear came to check things out, but he actually does! He will arrive at the end of this round.

• Teo hits the king for 3 damage. After a successful soak, the king suffers 2 and is down to 5.

• Thali fires an arrow and misses.

• Teo casts an arcane arrow, but misses.

• The bugbear arrives, demanding to know what’s going on. The king begs for aid, offering all of his money and his very crown. The bugbear accepts.

Round 5

• It’s on like Donkey Kong. Teo decides to unleash his power, casting an elemental burst of lightning up the chamber. He can get both the king and the bugbear in the line, but not the two goblins. He succeeds! He deals 6 hits to both the king and the bugbear. The king fails his reflex check, but the bugbear makes his. The king dies, and the bugbear is at 24.

• Thali casts faerie glow and succeeds, giving everyone +1 to hit the bugbear. She attacks and hits with a 12, dealing 4 damage. The bugbear fails its armor check, and is down to 20 hits.

• Thori swings at the bugbear, missing.

• The two goblins fail their morale check (their leader and all their friends are dead, and the bugbear is likely to kill them if it wins), so they run away.

• The bugbear swings at Teo, hitting for 6. Teo fails his armor check and is at 5 hits remaining.

Round 6

• Teo casts arcane arrow, hitting with a 12 for 8 damage. The bugbear botches his evade, so it is at 12 hits remaining.

• Thali fires an arrow, and barely misses. Grrr.

• Thori casts healing word on Teo and botches. Come on! He loses his only mana point. He attacks with his blade, but misses.

• The bugbear attacks Teo, hitting for 6. Teo makes his armor check, and is at 2 hits.

Round 7

• Teo casts an arcane arrow, dealing 6 hits. Another botched evade, and the bugbear is at 6 hits remaining.

• Tali hits for 2. The bugbear soaks 1, and is at 5.

• Thori attacks and hits with an 11 for 4 damage. I keep forgetting about his shield! I give him 2 shield attacks to make up for it. He hits with both, one with a natural 12. The bugbear makes its armor check against the blade (suffering 2), makes the first check with a 12 against the standard shield hit (neutralizing it), but botches against the second shield, suffering the full 3 points. This is enough to drop the bugbear!

The Team

Teothas - Curious Elfin Minstrel 2 (XP 100) Armor 0 (2); Hits 17; Move 60’; Blade (+2/3)  Traits: Might 1; Mind 3; Reflex 2  Tags: Charisma; Mystic (Common, Arcane) Lore; Sorcery  Gear: Wand of Arcane; Ring of Health (5); Blade (3); Recorder Spells: (3 mana) Sleep; Glimmering Weapon

Thaliana - Headstrong Elfin Arcane Archer 1 (XP 0) Armor 0 (2); Hits 10; Move 60’; Bow (+2/2) or Dirk (1) Traits: Might 0; Mind 3; Reflex 3 Tags: Archer; Mystic (Common, Wild); Sharpshooter Gear: Short bow 2; Ring of Health (5) Spells: Glimmering Weapon (1 mana)

Thorithrin - Elfin Lightbearer 1 (XP 0) Armor 1*; Hits 13; Move 60’; Blade (+2/3) + Shield (+2/1)  Traits: Might 3; Mind 3; Reflex 0  Tags: Mystic (Common, Light); Two Weapons; Warrior  Gear: Leather Armor 1; Shield; Blade 3; Ring of Health (5) Spells: Glimmering Weapon (1 mana)