Before going any further, Trackquack the Guide requests a gold crown in payment, because Pariwan Keetslander got one the last time they were all in town, and Trackquack rightly pointed out that Pariwan does nothing but get knocked out every time they wind up in a fight. Anasdiazi, in his delirium, approved this, and Trackquack pocketed his newfound riches. He then went studying with Oasasya, learning the skills of Organization, while the willowy woman learned nothing. Puddles, shaking his head at this drama, went fishing; he found a pretty decent spot; it was a nice day, the fish seem to be eager. It wasn't a bad day at all. He had a chance to catch three fish. He caught three fish for a total strength of 5, worth 1 gold crown. Oasasaya then went out bargain hunting, which turned up a Quick weapon available for 5 gold crowns, and a Luck potion for 8 gold crowns. She passed on the weapon, but bought the potion. Pariwan spent time rallying villagers to their cause; four fresh faces were willing to accompany them and protect the village.
They had not gotten very far into their day when they met a Scholar travelling on the road; she was a real jerk and treated them with disdain. Later, they approached a small family farmstead and spied some Lunar soldiers looting the family's goods. Pariwan, drawing on his knowledge from his previous life, recognized them as Auxilia rather than front-line troops, and decided that the Raft would do well to drive them off.
 |
| Our Heroes and some fresh faces |
The skirmish opened with the three archers shooting at the two Lunar Auxilia behind the grain silo. Only Puddles found his mark, causing a Wound on one of the soldiers. The Lunar archer returned fire, but to no effect. The Lieutenant and his two bodyguards charged towards Pariwan and the villagers, who in turn closed the distance between them.
 |
| The end of Turn1 |
The opening volley by the archers in Turn two killed all three Lunars charging towards them. Nice shooting! The Lunar archer retaliated, but missed her shot. The Lieutenant and his bodyguards had no such issues, killing three villagers and Wounding Pariwan Keetslander. The Wound, however, was not fatal to him at the end of the turn. The Lunar Auxilia were unaffected by poor Morale.
 |
| The end of Turn 2, death is in the air |
At the outset of Turn 3, Puddles missed the Lunar archer, who returned the shot and felled Trackquack the Guide. Pariwan Keetslander and the villager continued sparring with the Lieutenant and his bodyguards, with Pariwan taking another Wound. Oasasya then killed the Lunar archer. However, at the end of the turn, Pariwan did not yet succumb to his Wounds. The Lunar Auxilia were unaffected by poor Morale.
 |
| Turn 3 leads to archers dieing on both sides. |
As Turn 4 began, Puddles moved between the farmhouse and the storage silo to take a shot at one of the bodyguards. His aim was true and the Lunar soldier dropped in his tracks. Oasasya took a shot at the other, but missed. Pariwan Keetslander sparred with the remaining bodyguard, neither of them finding a gap in the other's defenses. The villager, however, took down the Lieutenant with a lucky blow. Pariwan remained steady in the face of his Wounds. The Lunar Auxilia were unaffected by poor Morale.
 |
| Turn 4 becomes four on one |
Turn 5 began with both Puddles and Oasasya shooting at the bodyguard, and both missing. Furthermore, Pariwan Keetslander and the villager were wholly unable to injure or kill him. This guy must have been some great warrior in his previous life! Pariwan still did not succumb to his Wounds.
 |
| Pariwan vs. the Bodyguard in mortal combat! |
 |
| Really? Nothing changed on Turn 5? |
And then, in Turn 6, the tables suddenly turned on the Raft. Both Puddles and Oasasya missed some easy shots at the bodyguard. Parwian Keetslander fell before his might. And so too did the remaining villager as he tried to avenge the phoenic warrior's death. And now the nigh-invincible bodyguard turned his attention to the archers...
 |
| Turn 6 became a disaster! Will the archers survive? |
But there was to be no worry, as the opening move of Turn 7 resulted in the bodyguard falling to Oasasya's bow. All that was left was to check on their friends and search the dead soldiers for loot.
 |
| Turn 7: Oasasya did a thing! |
Trackquack the Guide looked like he might be seriously injured, but some medicinal herbs helped revive him. Pariwan Keetslander, having received two Wounds before going down, turned out to have just been knocked out. His Partial armor was going to need some repairs, though. Three of the villagers were outright dead. The villager that killed the Lieutenant, however, proved to just be knocked out. He would be joining the Raft as a Follower moving forward. Both Oasasya and Pariwan leveled up; Pariwan gained +2 Speed and Oasasya learned the Farming skill. The Raft recovered two basic weapons, a quality weapon, and a Fine suit of Partial armor, perfect to replace Pariwan's damaged one. And with that, they headed back to Oraskat to check in on their recovering friends.
One of my most consistent criticisms of the games I have played is that Pariwan Keetslander always goes down on his first contact with the enemy. This time around, he was the major melee player in the whole game! Another thing that we have not seen much of is Wounds; in this game, two of the bad guys were Wounded, but both were killed before there was a chance to test for death by Wounds. Pariwan carried two Wounds for quite a while, and never succumbed to them. Also, this particular game was not a foregone conclusion; by the end of the second turn, three of the villagers weredown, and with them, a lot of the staying power for the Raft had evaporated. There were also a long string of bad die rolls which looked like it might torpedo any chance of success they might have. In the end, though, they pulled through and removed the Border Tensions Threat entirely from Oraskat.
Five Leagues From The Borderlands and the supplements are available here.
No comments:
Post a Comment