Sunday, April 21, 2013

Campaign Live Blog

How It Works

Continue watching this post to see the live blog. All live blog entries will be time-stamped when they occur. This same page will continue to be updated with more information as the evening progresses. If the page does not seem to be updating for you, trying hitting your refresh button. This post will be edited to add new information with each entry.


[6:59 PM]
Setting the Scene. Tonight's adventure will begin in the town of Lyre. Lyre is a border town of the Human kingdom of Baradon. It was settled originally as a forward post to watch for invasions from the Elvish forest kingdom Sylva, and from the Flamma mountains. Since then, the town has become a prosperous place to trade goods, services, and information. The city lies outside of Baradon's closely patrolled walls and only contains a small contingent of Baradon's Red Band army who mostly act as peacekeepers. This far from the heart of Baradon, the Human's segregationist beliefs are not nearly as prevalent. Members of non human races are allowed to enter the city to trade and work but are forced to live their in secret. This is a practice the guards are aware of, but do little to stop. As long as they can keep non-humans outside of Baradon's main walls, they are doing their job.

[7:02 PM]
Everyone is getting settled at the table, finding their places to sit, and we are about to discuss the rules and let the players get familiar with the world.

[7:43 PM]
Ravena has hired Dalmero to help her avenge her father who was backstabbed during a business deal. The trail has lead them to the chief banker of Lyre.

[7:45]
While stopping for a drink in the tavern of Lyre, Ravena and Damero run across Grogg, a former member of the Lyre Guard who has left the service to drown in booze and women. As someone who looks like they need word, Ravena employs him to help them assault the fortified bank.

[7:46]
It turns out that Ravena and Malvica are old friends. The two had met at a wand store and became fast friends. It was Malvica who introduced Ravena to Damero the Black Band Assassin. The four of them, along with Malvica's ancient gnome servant, Knuckuck, have decided to assault the bank.

[7:53]
The group has decided to wait until night to scope out the bank and find where the banker is hiding. By this point in the night, Grogg is incredibly drunk.

[8:04]
Grogg attempted to enter the bank and invest his money but lacked the intelligence to make smart decisions so he took the time to inspect the bank instead. Knuckuck was then kicked out of the bank. Customers complained that he smelled like garbage. Ravena came to his defense and got him out safely.

[8:13]
Knuckuck happens to be have a few points in Smithing. He uses the skill to determine the makeup of the keyhole on the rear door to the bank. On a roll of D12+ 2 he rolls a 9. His total determine skill is 11. He then spends Malvica's currency to purchase the materials needed to then Smith a key for the lock. Knuckuck has a Specialization crafting. He rolls an 8 on her D12 and has a +8 to the roll. With a total of 16 for his roll, Knuckuck was able to craft a skeleton key.

[8:19]
The group enters through the back door after the skeleton key unlocks it.
The group makes perception checks. Knuckuck scores a 13, Grogg rolls a perfect 12 for a total of 15, Damero rolls 10, Malvica with a 12, and Ravena with a 7. The group sees that they are in the employee entrance for the bank. There is a keycode in front of them.

[8:28]
The group decides to search the employees belongings to see if anyone had written down a keycode inside their locker. What they find is a list of numbers that could be possible combinations. Damero steals an employee uniform while he's there. Grogg finds some burnt out powder and uses it to make out fingerprints on the device. Using his Engineering roll of 9, Grogg figures out the combination, 8259.

[8:45]
The party decides to split up. Damero and Ravena wander through the bank offices and hear the sounds of Guards making their patrols. Looking around the corner, they see two guards walking away. Damero uses his Stealth skill to sneak up on them. Damero's skill test result is 16. The guards make a passive perception check to see if they here Damero's approach. On a result of 12, they do not hear him. Damero decides to use the Assassination skill maneuver. His normal attack is a D12 + 2. However, his Garrote gives him a +8 to his Assassinate skill. This gives him a total of 11 on his Assassination check. The guard has a defense of 10, so that is a hit. This gives Damero 1 overstrike damage for exceeding his target's defense. The Garrote deals 2(Crushing) damage. Combined with the 1 overstrike, this attack deals 3 total crushing damage. The guard does not get to soak this attack with his armor, so he takes 3 damage to his HP.

At the same time, Ravena fires an arrow at the other guard. Her roll is an 8, plus she has 6 Agility to make her total attack roll 14. However, the enemy is surprised so she gets a +2 bonus. This brings her total up to 16 which hits the guards Defense of 10. She gains 6 overstrike damage! This adds to the bows 3(Piercing) damage to give her a total of 9 damage. His armor, which is 3(P), is able to absorb 3 of the damage. This guard has taken 6 total damage now!


[8:52]
Combat has begun! The guards get to go first in their action. They each have 5 AP to spend. The first guard uses 1 AP to safely disengage from Damero's attack. If he hadn't done that, Damero would get to attack him again as he tried to escape. Once safely disengaged, the guard uses 1 more AP to draw his short sword. Then, he uses 2 AP to engage and attack with the Light Weapon. His roll on the D12 is 4, plus his 3 for Brawn, for a total of  7 on the attack. This is not enough to hit Damero's 14 physical defense. The second uses 2 AP to move. He uses 1 AP to draw his sword. He then engages Damero. Damero is now overwhelmed! He is trying to fend off two attackers at once! This gives the second guard +2 to his attack. His attack total becomes 13, but is still not enough to hit! Damero uses 1 AP to switch to his Rapier and makes an attack! However, his roll of 3 is not enough to hit either guard.

[8:55]
Ravena deicdes to use 2 AP to reload her bow and then 2 AP to make a second shot. Since she is ranged, she can not engage the enemy. She rolled a 4 on her D12 and has a +6 Agility to make her attack roll 10. This is enough to hit the enemies defense but not deal bonus damage. She deals the standard 3(P) damage. Unfortunately, the guard can absorb that with his 3P damage and he takes no damage. The arrow bounces off of his armor.

[8:59]
The guards go after Damero again. The first guard rolls a 9. With his +3 Brawn and his +2 bonus for Overwhelming Damero, he has a total of 14. This JUST hits Damero's defense! It is a hit but gives no bonus damage. The guard just does the base 2(Slashing) damage. Damero has 1(S) armor so he is able to absorb 1 of the damage! He takes 1 total damage.

The second guard follows up by rolling a 2 on his attack roll. Not even close.

[9:05]
Damero uses 1 AP to move into this Deceptive Gambit stance which gives him a +1 to all attack rolls. He is still engaged to the target he was fighting earlier. He rolls a 10, and has 3 brawn, for a total of 13. His Deceptive Gambit makes it a 14 overall. That hits the guards 10 defense and grants 4 overstrike damage. The Rapier's base damage is 4(Piercing). With the overstrike, he gains 8 damage total. The guard has 3(Piercing) armor and is able to absorb some of the attack. He still takes 5 damage!

Ravena again uses 2 AP to reload and 2 AP to shoot. She rolls a 10 on her attack (attacking the enemy who is currently not engaged by Damero). With a +6 due to her Agility she has a total of 16, granting her 6 overstrike damage! Again, the short bow deals 4(P) base damage for a total of 10 (Piercing) damage this attack! The guards armor is only able to soak 3 of that, so he still takes 7 damage! Added with the first hit, he has now taken 13 damage. This is enough to kill the guard! He goes down with an arrow right in his gut.


[9:11]
Hearing the guard's screams, the rest of the group rounds the corner and decides to join the fray. Grogg rolls an initiative of 12 and becomes first to act. He has already drawn both his long swords and is ready to fight. There is space in between him and the standing guard and so he decides to use 3 Action Points to perform the Combat Maneuver Charge. He rolls a 2 on his attack. Since he is dual wielding, he gets +9 to his attack.  With charge, he gets an extra +2 to the attack roll. Also since Grogg and Damero are both engaging the same target, he is now Overwhelmed, which grants an additional +2! This is the importance of positioning and using Engagement to your advatnage. With a 2 on his roll, Grogg ends up with total attack roll of 15! This beats his defense of 10 and grants 5 bonus damage. The base damage of the sword is 3(Slashing). With the overstrike, he is now dealing 8 total slashing damage. The guard has 4(Slashing) defense and so takes 4 damage total. This kills the second guard!

[9:21]
The group steals keys off of the guards and uses them to enter the second floor, which is set up as apartments for bank employees. They all use their stealth skill to see how quietly they can move through the complex. Grogg sets the bar with a Stealth Test of 3.

[9:30]
One of the doors opens, because a resident heard the commotion outside. As he opened the door, Damaro decided to make a Hide skill test, which he succeeded, and hid behind Grogg. Knuckuck attempted an Influence Skill test against the resident, but a result of 11 was not enough to convince them. Damaro pops out of hiding in an attempt to Trick the resident about their story. But with a total result 8, he does not convince him. Frustrated with their failure, Grogg attempts to knockout the resident. Grogg rolls a 6, adds +9 due to his Brawn, and added +7 from his Force skill. This totals up to a 21 on the knockout test. The civilian only has a defense of 6, so the difference turns out to be 15! This is more than 1/2 the resident's HP, so he is knocked out. Since Grogg has a Brawn of 9, so he is knocked out for a total of 9 hours!

[9:34]
They work their way further into the complex and find a door leading up to the third floor, marked private. The door is locked and none of the guard's keys can open this private residence. So Grogg decides to force it open. Grogg rolls a 10 on his attack against the door. He adds in both his Brawn and his Force Skill to the attempt to bust down the door. His total result is 26. The door has a stationary defense of 5, so this is definitely a hit, which a total of 21 crushing damage being dealt to the door. Following the rules of breaking through objects, the door takes 10 total damage, which is enough to break it open.

[9:43]
The room they enter into is a reception room for a large penthouse suit. There are no candles or lanterns lit and the room is dark. Beyond that room, there is a light source. Damaro has Sharp Vision which allows him to see well in low light situations. Malvicia lights a candle and uses it to light up the room. They are in an incredibly ornate parlor, complete with a piano, cushy couch, and a wetbar.

[9:48]
They see a light against the back wall and follow it. Set into the wall is a heavy wooden door candle lit by two sconces. Damaro decides to approach the door, knock, and then hide. He rolls a 12 on his hide test, and has a +9 to his hide skill (due to his night cloak and black mask). With a total of 21, he blends into the shadows of the dark room. However, there is no response to the door knock. They find the door unlocked and decide to enter the room.

[9:55]
Inside they find an ornate bedroom. The walls are lined by big closets, wardrobes, and a powder station. There is a large, four posted bed with a dark figure lying in it. Damaro decides to sneak up to the bed. He rolls a 3 on his sneak test and gets an end result of 9. As he approaches the bed, the enchantment on the chandelier activates and the candles light up. The doors to the closets open and guards step out. The Banker chastises them. He had known about their intrusion since they opened the very first door. No one had checked for any magical traps! 6 guards and the banker await them.

[9:57]
Malvica starts the fight by firing her longbow. She rolls a 10 and has a +6 to her attack for a total of 16 attack! This will grant her 6 overstrike damage. The bow normally does 4(P) damage but it is now increased to 10(P) damage! The guard has 3(P) armor and is able to absorb 3 of it. He takes 7 damage!

[10:01]
The next to act is the captain of this contingent of guards. He is immediately recognizable by his higher quality armor and the military decorations that adorn his outfit. He uses 1 AP to un holster his Pistol and take a shot at Damaro, who is the closest to the Banker. The captain rolls a 1 which, with his 5 Brains, becomes a total of 6. Not enough to hit Damaro's defense.

[10:09]
Grogg is up next in order. He only has 1 longsword in his hand as he sheathed one earlier to break down the door. He decides to use 2 AP to throw his sword at the nearest unwounded enemy! His attack roll was a 2! Since he is throwing the weapon he adds in his Agility for a total of 8! The sword hits the wall next to the enemy. Since Grogg has the trait Quick on the Draw he can draw his Battle Axe for free. He is going to use his remaining 3 AP to Charge the enemy he just missed. He scored a 10 on his roll, then adds in the +2 for charge, and the +9 for a total of 21! This hits the enemies 10 defense and grants 11 overstrike damage. Since the battle axe's base damage is 4 (S), he is now doing 15 slashing damage. The guard has 4(S) armor and so only takes 11 damage. However, 11 damage is enough to kill him. Our first 1 hit kill of the night!

[10:12]
The next guard to move is the wounded guard. He avoids disengaging anyone and instead spends 2 AP and moves to the very back of the room. Once there he uses 1 AP to pull out his Shortbow and another 2 AP to make an attack against Malvica. With a roll of 1, there is no way he can hit!

[10:15]
Knuckuck enters the room using 1 AP with his Pistol already drawn. He decides to use 2 AP to shoot at the Banker who is still lying in bed. His attack roll is 11 and he has a Brains of 10, for a total of 21 attack. This is enough to hit the Banker, who has not had time to escape yet. The Pistol normally does 3 Damage, but with 11 overstrike damage he's at a total of 14! The Banker has no Ballistic armor and so suffers 14 damage directly to his HP, enough to kill him. We will call this one a clean head shot. He uses his remaining 2 AP to reload.

[10:21]
Angry at Grogg for killing their fellow guardsman, the next guard uses 1 AP to draw his Longsword and uses 3 AP to charge at Grogg. With the +4 Brawn and +2 bonus for Charging combined with a roll of 10, the guard has an attack result of 16. That is enough to hit Grogg's 14 defense and grant 2 Overstrike damage. This deals 5(Piercing) Damage. Grogg has a total of 4(P) armor and so only takes 1 net damage. The next guard follow suite and decides to charge as well. This guard is able to get an additional +2 once he Overwhelms guards. The next guard rolls an 11. This gives him a total result of 19 attack. This grants 5 overstrike damage for a total of 9(P). Grogg's armor shurgs off some of it but he takes 5 damage!

[10:28]
Damaro is next but he has a tough choice. Does he try to distract the guards off of Grogg or does he attempt to Disarm the Captain and make him drop his pistol. He uses 1 AP to get into his Deceptive Gambit stance, and then uses 3 AP to charge at once of the guards harassing Grogg. His die roll is 6 and he adds +3 for his Brawn, +1 for his stance, and +2 for charge. His total for the attack is 12, which gives him a hit with 2 Overstrike damage! His Rapier now does 6 Piercing damage, of which the guard can soak 3. This guard takes 3 damage.

Ravena pulls out her bow and makes an attack with a roll of 10 (+6 for her Agility). This is a total of 16 which hits with 6 over strike damage. Her weapon deals 3(P) base damage for a total of 9 damage. After deflecting off 3 of it, the guard takes 6 damage.

[10:32]
Back to the top of the order, Malvica starts us off with another bow shot. She uses 2 AP to reload the bow and another 2 AP to fire. She rolls a 10 which gives her a total of 16 attack. The 6 over strike adds to the bow's base 4 to make a total of 10(P) damage. The guard is able to soak 3 of it. He takes 7 more damage. Added to the 6 that he just took from Ravena's arrow, the guard has taken 13 damage. The two arrows bring him down, one to each kidney.

[10:37]
The Captain is going to use 2 AP to reload and another 2 AP to fire. Damaro is still in the middle of the room so he makes a natural target. He rolls a 5, and with his 5 Brains he has a 10 total. This is another miss. This gives Grogg a chance to act. Grogg uses 1 AP to enter his Accelerated Form stance and gets +1 to all attacks. Grogg turns to Engage the target that Damaro is already engaging and Overwhelms him. He rolls a 4. With his +9 attack, his +1 from the stance, and the +2 bonus from overwhelming, he still swings with a result of 14. This is a hit and offers 4 over strike damage to the Battle Axe. The Axe now deals 8 Slashing damage, of which the guard absorbs 4. This Axe strike deals 4 damage to the guard! The guard drops from this slashing attack. He uses his last 1 AP to pick up the sword he had thrown earlier.

[10:39]
Knuckuck had already reloaded at the end of his last turn, so he is ready to fire the pistol once again. He aims for the only other guard that is already wounded and rolls with an 11. He gains a +10 from his Brains for a total of 21 damage! This brings the Pistols damage up to 14. The guard has no Ballistic armor and so this bullet passes cleanly through his throat.

[10:43]
Damaro is too close to the standing opponent to charge him. He uses 2 AP to move within Rapier's range of the Guard Captain. He then Engages and attempts to Disarm the Captain. Damaro has a result of 6 and the Captain has a result of 10. The Captain evades the disarm.

[10:46]
Ravena uses 2 more AP to reload her bow and 2 AP to fire again. With a total result of 15 that is a hit. The weapon deals 8(P) damage with its Overstrike. The guard can absorb 3 of it but still takes 5 damage! The guard decides to fire back with 2 of his own AP. His total result becomes 11. Ravena's physical defense is 11 so that is a hit, but with no bonus damage. The attack deals 4(P) damage. Ravena can deflect 1 of it with her wooden shield, but still takes 3 damage.

[10:48]
Malvica decides to try and finish the guard that Ravena just stuck with an arrow. Her total result becomes 12, which is a hit. Her bow's base of 4 becomes 6(P) damage. The guard can deflect 3 of it, and so he takes 3 total damage. Another one-two punch!

[10:51]
The Captain of the Guards, angry at Damaro for his attempted Disarm, uses 2 AP to reload, 1 AP to use his Aim ability which grants +1 to his attack, and then uses 2 AP to fire at Damaro. He has the Point Blank Shot trait so he suffers no penalty for the attack. He rolls a 12 which is a critical hit. This means Damaro can not absorb any of the damage with his armor. Adding it all together gets him a 20 attack result! Damaro's defense is 14 and so the Captain gains 6 overstrike damage! This means Damaro is taking 10 total damage. This brings Damaro down to 1 HP! A very close call!

[10:55]
Angry and wounded, Grogg decides to bring the fight to the guard captain. He uses 2 AP to move into attack range and then Engages and uses 2 more AP to swing. He rolls a perfect 12, a critical hit. This represents a perfectly aimed hit and so the Captain can not reduce the damage with any armor. The Captain is over whelmed so he grants Advantage to Grogg. This brings Groggs attack result to 24! The Captain is a little tougher than the normal guards and has a Defense of 13, which Grogg hits. Not only does he hit, he gains 11 bonus damage from that perfect hit! The Axe does 4(S) damage on its own, which is now increased to 15 damage!! This perfectly timed critical hit is enough to bring down the Captain in one shot!

[11:01]
Eager to escape before more guards arrive to detain them, Damaro opens the window and uses his Acrobatics to Parkour his way down the building. The party was able to net 1500 currency (50% of which went to Damaro to pay for his services, and 30% went to Grogg as his price) and 2500 experience. This was enough to bring the party up to Level 2!

Everyone had a good time on their adventure and took to the game system very quickly. For our next session, I will be able to scale up the difficulty and include tougher and harder to hit enemies!










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