The hinterlands of Arrene, a province that existed primarily on maps as a way to label the uncivilized space between the river Stere and the jagged mountains in the furthest west, could summed up with two words: Devout and Misbegotten. Back in the day, the Arrene was a land of poor soil and cold rocks. Populated by goat farmers who didn't like being too close to the heart of the empire, or by visionaries who dreamed of turning the soil richer with hard work and rocks less cold with the power of positive thinking.
The Church of Return, advocating shunning of ancient technology and materials in favor of attempting to being back the Angels through supplication and purging of sin (in many forms), settled in western Arrene for two reasons. It put the river Stere between them and the king, it gave them an entire region full of converts who readily cursed ancient artifacts and those who sought them- if only because it gave them something to blame for their chronic hardship. The church provided succor in the form of holy knights and aid, turning small goat farming towns into larger and more successful goat farming towns, albeit with the additions of a few cash crops selected as tithe to support the church. For the most part, this was a happy arrangement. The Church had its cloister and Cathedral far enough away from imperial authority to operate nearly freely, and the King had the Church largely cordoned off into a section of the kingdom whose most valuable export was goat cheese.
Then some fool farmer ruined everything by running over a chunk of metal with a plow. Unknowing of what it was, the farmer tried giving it to the smith to work, but the smith could only make the smallest changes to the thing even with the hottest flame and the heaviest hammer. The farmer then thought himself quite clever by selling the useless chunk of metal to a traveling trader who made the rounds through the villages off Arrene. The trader, however, was no fool. He recognized ancient-wrought steel when he saw it, and left the village the next day to book transit back across the Stere. He sold the bar for more coin that he'd made in a decade of trading sewing needles and books for dried goatmeat and hard cheese. Which is when the trouble started.
Despite the trader's most earnest attempts to keep his motherlode secret, word got out that there were artifacts beneath the soil of the Arrene. The story grew with each telling, creating clockwork beasts that the farmers had dug up and harnessed for labor and weaving tales of entire riverbeds lined with ancient metals after the river Stere had carved through the side of a vault in the western mountains. The resulting land rush pleased absolutely no one in power. The Church of Return suddenly had to deal with the money and ideas of thousands of unbelievers streaming into their territory for the express purpose of going against the core of Church doctrine and digging up ancient artifacts. The King suddenly had the deal with the revelation that the outlying hinterland that the Church had been sequestered in was actually a vitally important strategic and economic reserve.
Worse, the actions of pioneer miners and mercenary companies in the western mountains kicked the hornet's nest of savage species. Formerly, they'd mostly kept to themselves, warring among their own tribes, raiding farms for goats occasionally, maybe pillaging a village once in a decade before being driven back by the Church's holy knights. Now, with coin flowing below, poorly defended bootstrap mining settlements springing up left and right, incidents are frequent and vicious.
Both the Church and the King are in agreement that there need to be additional defenses built along the border of the mountains to protect villages and support mining camps. However, they are in marked disagreement about who is paying for it and who should be manning the forts. Which is where you come in. Both sides have taken to placing bounties on strategic positions at the western edge where the Arrene fades into mountains, bounties to either destroy or capture various old structures in order to make the area a little safer.
There's one particular 'old structure' that catches your eye.
It was a manor house, built originally by some wealthy isolationist before the church moved in. It was built nearly to the specifications of a fort, and the original designers clearly expected that they would have to repulse the curiosity of the savage races more than once. After its original owner died, apparently of natural causes, it changes hands numerous times, once nearly becoming the center of a small village before its owner was accused of consorting with Demons by the Church and consequently burned at the stake. After that, superstition caused than manor to be shunned and left empty. It has been decades, and she's likely in a state of some disrepair, but the bounty offered to either capture the old manor, or secure it to friendly hands, is lucrative. More than that, having the manor house would put you at the edge of all fronts- able to communicate with the miners, the villagers, the Church, and the Empire- and take coin from all of them.
Manor Reclamation Expedition
Pre-encounter Turn 1Currently, you're en route to said Manor of as yet undetermined repair and tenuous ownership. More accurately, you're currently inside of a thicket, briefly regrouping to get a good look at the orc raiding party that did a surprisingly good job of almost ambushing you. You've been traveling by hoof, along the old road that cuts through and around the scrub forest that quilts this area. Your campsites have been off the road and partially hidden simply for the sake of caution, but, despite that, a mixed party of orcs and goblins nearly made you- and not by random chance.
Though whoever was on watch was able to provide sufficient warning to get everyone out of camp, the orcs made an immediately beeline for the camp itself. They slashed tents and stabbed bedrolls before their leader barked what you can only assume was an order to fan out and search the area. Worst of all, they weren't following you. They came from the west, the direction of the manor house.
For the moment, that isn't your concern. Your concern is dealing with them. The raiding party is ten strong all told, four orcs and six goblins. The orcs are primarily poking through your camp while the goblins break into two groups of three and beat the bushes looking for you. The road you're on runs east-west, and you originally camped off the south side of the road. Currently, you're all on the north side of the road. The scrub forest provides limited cover, but the instant you do something particularly vigorous they're going to hear and see you.
What do you do, before hell breaks loose and battle is joined?
Name: Miles Kristofferson
HP: 200/200
Hope: 0/15
Desperation: 0/1
Essence: 0
Class: Assassin
+Attributes+Potency: 1/1 [1]
Precision: 5/5 [1+1]
Vigor: 1/1 [1]
Will: 1/1 [1]
Agility: 5/5 [3+2]
+Equipment+Hand 1:Seakeeper’s Katana
L:2 | H:3 | DR: 20% | Dam: 55+24
Moveset: Straight Sword | 1 Hand
POT: - | PRE: D | WIL: - | VIG: - | AGI: 3/C
Hand 2:-
Armor:Spy’s Rags
DR: 10% | Light Armor
POT: - | PRE: 1 | WIL: - | VIG: - | AGI: 2
Charm 1:Sleepy Kitten "fluffy"
POT: - | PRE: - | WIL: 1 | VIG: 1 | AGI: -
Charm 2:Deathball
U: 2/2
POT: 1 | PRE: 1 | WIL: - | VIG: - | AGI: -
Inventory:Skirmisher’s Bow
L:1 | H: 3 | DR: 0% | Dam: 30 | Ra: 4
Moveset: Sniper Shot | 1 hand
POT: D | PRE: - | WIL: - | VIG: - | AGI: 2/C
Guardian Hourglass
POT: - | PRE: - | WIL: 1 | VIG: - | AGI: -
+Modifiers and Abilities+Modifiers:[Assassin] You automatically gain a minor resurgence to your least full attribute when you kill an enemy using a parry.
[Firstborn of Steel] Whiffed parries count as standard blocks.
[Sleepy Kitten] Least Regeneration: If you take no action during a round, you regain 5hp.
Abilities:[Seakeeper’s Katana] Rushing Wave: 2 Agility | 1 Frame Cost | 10 Cooldown | Teleport to any tile within radius 3. Deal light attack damage to any intervening unit.
[Spy’s Rags] Stalk: 2 Agi | 1 Frame Cost | 35 Cooldown | For three rounds, or until you attack or enter a tile adjacent to any enemy, enemies will not react to you in any way.
[Deathball] Throw Deathball: No Cost | 0 Frame Cost, 5 cooldown | Make a linear attack with 10 damage, with length 2. If the ball is hit at the endpoint by a melee attack, it adds the damage of that attack to its own and is propelled X+2 spaces, where x is the spaces it moved before the hit. This process may be repeated until the ball reaches 1000 damage, at which point it disintegrates.
[Skirmisher’s Bow] Rolling Shot: 1 Agi | 2 Frames | 10 Cooldown | You can make a dodge roll and make a light ranged attack on either frame of the roll, but not both. This does not exhaust your standard dodge roll.[Guardian Hourglass] Time-Stitch: 1 Will | 1 Frame Cost, 20 cooldown | Prevent up to 100 damage that occurred on any one frame last round. Surge: For two additional will, you can affect another frame, or prevent 100 more damage.
Name: Dunnel Forge
HP: 200/200
Hope: 0/15
Desperation: 0/1
Essence: 0
Class: Warder
+Attributes+Potency: 2/2 [1+1]
Precision:2/2 [1+1]
Vigor:2/2 [1+1]
Will: 5/5 [2+3]
Agility: 2/2 [1+1]
+Equipment+Hand 1: Steel Broadsword
L:2 | H:4 | DR: 35% | Dam: 65+0
Moveset: Straight Sword | 1 hand
POT: 1/D | PRE: - | WIL: 2/C | VIG: - | AGI: -
Hand 2: Sloped Buckler
L: 1 | DR: 35% | Dam: 10+0
Moveset: Small Shield | 1 hand
POT: - | PRE: 1/D | WIL: - | VIG: - | AGI: -
Armor:Monster Hunter's Garb
DR: 20% | Medium Armor
POT: - | PRE: - | WIL: 3 | VIG: 1 | AGI: 1
Charm 1: Throwing Crosses
U: 5/-
POT: - | PRE: 1 | WIL: - | VIG: - | AGI: 1
Charm 2: Witch Ashes
U: 1/1
POT: 1 | PRE: - | WIL: - | VIG: 1 | AGI: -
Inventory: Slayer's Greatspear
L:3 | H: 4 | DR: 20% | Dam: 85
Moveset: Spear | 2 hands
POT: - | PRE: 2/C | WIL: - | VIG: - | AGI: 1/D
+Modifiers and Abilities+Modifiers Firstborn of the Wyrdtree: +20% Innate DR
Warder: Second frame of Dodge roll is a block.
[Sloped Buckler] Sliding Parry: Can parry in second frame of Dodge roll, 25% damage penalty
[Monster Hunter's Garb] Hunter’s Stand: For every 10% higher the HP of the toughest monster in an encounter is compared to your own current HP, this armor gains 1% DR. This ability caps at a 40% increase, but can’t bring your total DR higher than 80%.
Abilities:[Steel Broadsword] Faith in Steel: 1 Will | 0 Frame Cost | 15 Cooldown | Set this weapon’s DR to 75% for the round.
[Throwing Crosses] Throw Cross: 1 Pre | 1 Frame Cost, 2 cooldown | Make a linear attack with 50 damage, with length 4, then specify a second direction. Next frame the cross will make a linear attack three spaces in that direction. If you occupy one of the spaces threatened by the second attack, you regain a charge of this ability.
[Witch's Ashes] Witchwarp: 2 Vig | 1 Frame Cost, 10 cooldown | One debuff on you, or an ally in radius 2, is converted into a buff of a similar, but inverted, nature.
[Slayer's Greatspear]Wild Hunt: 2 Pre 1 Agi | 0 Frame Cost | 100 Cooldown | Give any enemy the Mark of the Hunted. The cooldown of this ability is set to 15 when the marked target is killed. If the marked target is killed by you, the cooldown is set to 0.
Surge: For every additional 2 precision spent, an additional target can be marked. ALL marked targets must to be killed to reset the cooldown.
Name: Gwynfor Lloyd
HP: 200/200
Hope: 0/15
Desperation: 0/1
Essence: 0
Starting Class: Conduit
+Attributes+Potency: 9/9 [2+2+2+1+1]
Precision: 3/3 [1+1]
Vigor: 1/1 [1]
Will: 0
Agility: 0
+Equipment+Hand 1: Bearded Axe
L:2 | H:4 | DR: 20% | Dam: 65+28
Moveset: One-Handed Axe | 1 hand
POT: 2/C(B) | PRE: 1/E(D) | WIL: - | VIG: - | AGI: -
Hand 2: Ebon Peltast
L:2 | DR: 45% | Dam: 20+12
Moveset: Medium Shield | 1 hand
POT: 2/D(C) | PRE: - | WIL: - | VIG: - | AGI: -
Armor: Lost Squire’s Armor
Lost Squire’s Armor: DR: 15% | Light Armor
POT: 2 | PRE: - | WIL: - | VIG: 1 | AGI: -
Charm 1: Thunderbreak Hymnal
U: 2/2
POT: 1 | PRE: - | WIL: - | VIG: - | AGI: -
Charm 2: Deathball
U: 2/2
POT: 1 | PRE: 1 | WIL: - | VIG: - | AGI: -
Inventory: Battered Sun pin
U: 1/-
POT: 1 | PRE: - | WIL: - | VIG: - | AGI: -
+Modifiers and Abilities+Modifiers: Firstborn of Flame: Damage scaling is always one rank higher if it had at least E scaling.
Conduit: All frame costs are reduced by one, to a minimum of 1.
Abilities:[Bearded Axe] Long-Handle Grip: 1 Precision, 1 Potency | 0 Frame Cost | 10 Cooldown | For the current round, change the Bearded Axe’s moveset from One-Handed Axe to Battleaxe.
[Lost Squire's Armor]Moment of Valor: 2 Pot, 1 Vig | 1 Frame Cost | 25 Cooldown | Reduce the frame costs for all attacks this turn by 3, down to 1.
[Thunderbreak Hymnal] Stormhymn: 3 Pot | 5 Frame Cost, 15 cooldown | Choose a space within radius 6. This round, two lightning bolts per frame will strike either the central tile (20% chance) or any tile in radius one (10% chance per tile). Each lighting bolt deals 100 damage.
[Ebon Peltast] Shadow Javelin: 2 Pot | 0 Frame cost | 20 Cooldown | Whenever you make an attack or a block this round, you can also target any tile in radius 4 to receive 50 damage. This damage receives bonuses from the scaling of the shield/weapon that triggered it.
[Deathball] Throw Deathball: No Cost | 0 Frame Cost, 5 cooldown | Make a linear attack with 10 damage, with length 2. If the ball is hit at the endpoint by a melee
[Battered Sun Pin] Fiery Resurgence: No cost | 0 Frame Cost, - cooldown | Regain all lost potency, and all attacks on this turn will set enemies on fire for 3 frames. If you use this ability when average % exhausted of HP, hope, and all attributes is at or above 50%, the Battered Sun Pin regains a charge at the end of the encounter.
Name: Götz von Berlichingen
HP: 200/200
Hope: 0/15
Desperation: 0/1
Essence: 0
Class: Conduit
+Attributes+Potency: 3/3 [1+1+1]
Precision: 3/3 [1+2]
Vigor: 4/4 [3+1]
Will: 0
Agility: 3/3 [2]
+Equipment+Hand 1: Angel's Greatblade
L:4 | H:7 | DR: 30% | Dam: 145+24
Moveset: Ultra-Greatsword | 2 hands
POT: 1/D(C) | PRE: 1/D(C) | WIL: - | VIG: - | AGI: 2/D(C)
Hand 2: Angel's Greatblade (Two Handed)
Armor: Visionary's chain
DR: 25% | Medium Armor
POT: 1 | PRE: - | WIL: - | VIG: 3 | AGI: -
Charm 1: Illuminator's powder
POT: - | PRE: 2 | WIL: - | VIG: - | AGI: -
Charm 2: Glass flute
POT: 1 | PRE: - | WIL: - | VIG: 1 | AGI: -
Inventory: Battered Sun pin
U: 1/-
POT: 1 | PRE: - | WIL: - | VIG: - | AGI: -
+Modifiers and Abilities+Modifiers:Firstborn of Flame: Damage scaling is always one rank higher if it had at least E scaling.
Conduit: All frame costs are reduced by one, to a minimum of 1.
Abilities:[Angel's Greatblade] Glorious Charge: 1 Precision, 1 Potency, 1 Agility | 1 Frame Cost | 15 Cooldown | Move up to three spaces towards your nearest enemy. If you also make a light attack on this turn, the frame cost of your heavy attack is reduced by 2 next round.
[Visionary's Chain] Exhort: 1 Pot 1 Vig | 2 Frame Cost | 5 Cooldown | 3 allies in radius 1, OR 2 allies in radius 2, OR 1 ally at radius 3 receive a Frenzied buff. This frenzied buff has a duration of 10 frames, which resets to 10 when stacked.
[Illuminator's Powder] Targeting Fire: 1 Pre | 1 Frame Cost, 2 cooldown | Choose an enemy in radius 3. They gain the ‘targeted’ debuff for five frames
[Glass Flute] Piercing Tune: 1 Pot, 1 Vig | 1 Frame Cost, 15 cooldown | Enemies within radius 2 gain the Vulnerable debuff for 10 frames.
Shatter: If you choose to shatter the glass flute, it becomes unavailable until the next encounter, but it doubles the duration, effect, and range.
[Battered Sun Pin] Fiery Resurgence: No cost | 0 Frame Cost, - cooldown | Regain all lost potency, and all attacks on this turn will set enemies on fire for 3 frames. If you use this ability when average % exhausted of HP, hope, and all attributes is at or above 50%, the Battered Sun Pin regains a charge at the end of the encounter.
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Topic: Mirror/Mirror | Fantasy Small Group Tactics [4/4] (Read 4948 times)