Let’s Play Over War! Part 3: Siege at Wintermarsh
The adventure in Ancient Peaks continues! We’ve dealt with the tax collectors in Hammerfels, and we’re moving on. It’s still Day 1 - Morning.
I’m moving toward Oak Creek. I get +2 Movement from the Road hexes and end up in the forest adjacent to the settlement. A random enemy activates: Unit 5. They march south along the road.
That’s the 6th activation for this cycle (4 last session, 2 now), triggering a time change. The map transitions to Night.
Note: I’ll only mention enemy movement when something relevant happens.
Day 1 - Night
I move into Oak Creek, getting a new Divination Card!
Ace of Swords: Enemy Unit suffers a Front Row 3 Physical Damage attack.
Who lives here? 2d6 = 9, Hiddenfolk
How do they feel about your presence? 2d6 = 5, Just another unknown army passing by.
So this is a settlement mainly inhabited by Hiddenfolk, the original inhabitants of Ballark. They are treated from “haughty disdain in the capital to press-ganging and murders in the outlying provinces,” and usually distance themselves from humans to live in idyllic small outposts and illegal colonies.
Let’s say this is a village in the woods that has seen its fair share of bands passing by, and our Unit is just another one. Samael being from Under Heaven makes little difference to them.
Instead of rolling on the Main Conflict table, let’s use the Oracle.
What is Oak Creek’s problem?
Oracle: Neglect + Dispute
Alright, Neglect makes me think of something related to the forest. It’s their home away from the world, a safe haven they strive to protect. But apparently it’s been neglected.
In what way?
Oracle: Deception
Hmm, so Deception here could mean they are neglecting the defenses around the perimeter used to conceal Oak Creek from outsiders. My arrival only makes it clear that they should do something about it. It doesn’t cause panic because of the “just another army” roll, but it reminds them of the issue.
The Dispute is a disagreement on how to deal with it. Part of the people want to keep hiding, while others would rather fight than run forever.
Does the majority want to hide (likely)?
Oracle: Yes
Samael understands that. Not everyone has to take up arms and go to war. Some people just want peace. The Unit helps them restore the magical wards surrounding the settlement.
I’ll roll on the random Target Number table:
2d6 = 7, TN 12
Arcane Wisdom check, TN 12
3d6+2 = 12, success!
Those wards are finicky, but we did it. Oak Creek is once again hidden for outsiders. I’ll rule that enemy Units can’t step on its hex.
+1 Repute to Samael’s Unit
As for the reward, I decided to create a unique item. The villagers give me the Sigil of Oak Creek, which allows me to ignore the Forest hex movement penalty once per day.
Why not make something fun, right?
Does any villager want to join my Unit?
Oracle: Yes!2d6 character point cost = 5, 2 points
A Tallfolk walks forward and says they’re tired of waiting as Ballark burns. “I’d rather fight the Night than hide from it.” Samael welcomes them to the Unit.
We’ve unlocked the Tallfolk!
And with that we leave Oak Creek a little better than we found it. Hopefully.
We travel east toward Castle Wintermarsh. Enemy Units move around until we get a cycle change. Morning comes, and a new Unit 5 spawns near Highbridge.
Day 2 - Morning
There’s a Skill called Subterfuge. I’ll use it to try entering the castle unseen. If I fail, the enemy will attack me first.
Subterfuge: Sabotaging supplies or buildings. Infiltrating camps and territories. Evading notice. Sowing discord.
2d6 random TN = 6, TN 12
3d6 Subterfuge check = 8, fail!
Long shot. I try to sneak behind a pass toward the castle, but a scout sees me and alerts the enemy. There’s no way around it: we’re moving toward the siege!
Alright, so this is a Boss Unit! Normal enemies have 1-2 fewer Draft Points than our Unit. The suggestions for Bosses are 1-2 more. I’m going with +2, for a total of 7 DPs.
This is the Unit:
All characters were rolled randomly. The Pack Leader has the trait Beast Unison. Luckily for them (and unfortunate for me), there are 2 other Beasts in the Unit, so they deal +1 damage (already added to their sheet). That was a cool synergy, just like I have in my Unit with Samael’s Unison.
The only thing I added manually was the Reckless trait for the Leader, which stops them from retreating. That’s to make Bosses more challenging. On a tie or defeat, enemies are Disbanded. With this trait, they only Disband when all characters die.
Combat
Battle 1
Let’s start this. They attacked me, so Slot A goes first. Fortunately there are no Humans on my Unit, so no bonus damage for the Bounty Hunter. 1 Physical damage to my entire Front Row, so Slots 1 (Samael), 2 (Velon), and 3 (Annabel) take 1 each.
Samael is next. We’re fighting on a Hill hex, and that terrain increases damage from Furthest by 1.
Samael deals 4 damage to Slot D (Reptileman), knocking out the creature. Samael attacks again (Flurry trait), knocking out the Gremlin on Slot E. Great turn for our Commander.
Slot B (Pack Leader) attacks. They deal 2 damage to Nearest, which is Slot 2. Velon gets knocked out! That ends the Divine Bond trait for my Unit. Samael and Maiswer now deal -1 damage each.
Annabel heals everyone for 1 HP, topping herself and Samael up. The Sea Cucumber attacks Nearest (Annabel) for 1 damage. Maiswer deals 1 Magic damage to Nearest, the Sea Cucumber, knocking it out! That’s great, it removes the bonus damage from the Pack Leader, since there aren’t enough characters for Unison.
Chupacabra’s turn (Slot F). It has a 50% chance of acting “as if it were a foe,” meaning it can attack its allies. I don’t know how the targeting works, though. Anyway, I’ll roll a d6; on a 1-3, the Chupacabra attacks its team.
D6 = 5
It attacks Nearest for 2 Physical. That’s Slot 3, Annabel. She’s hanging on with 1 HP! The Chupacabra takes 2 damage from the Backlash trait, but its Shell trait ignores the first instance of damage. I’m ruling that the damage from Backlash is included in that, so the beast carries on unharmed.
Ok, first battle over. 3 Victory Points for me vs. 1 for them (characters knocked out). That means I don’t retreat, so a new combat begins immediately.
Battle 2
Bounty Hunter deals 1 damage to the front row. Annabel is knocked out!
This is bad. Samael loses their damage bonus, but retaliates. The original target is Slot D (empty), then Slot E (empty), then Slot F, hitting the Chupacabra. Its Shell absorbs the damage, though. Samael hits it again for 1 damage.
Pack Leader attacks Nearest for 1. Targeting moves from 2, to 3, and then wraps around the row back to Samael.
And now I’m gonna use a Divination Card to get out of this mess. I could have used them at the beginning, but I wanted to show a longer combat. I use the Ace of Swords
Ace of Swords: Enemy Unit suffers a Front Row 3 Physical Damage attack
That powerhouse of a card knocks out the Bounty Hunter and the Pack Leader. Awesome!
Maiswer attacks for 1 Magic damage. His targeting is Nearest, so Slot C first, then A, then B. All empty, so the attack moves to the back row. D, E, and finally F, leaving the Chupacabra with 1 HP.
D6 = 3
The Chupacabra attacks its own team, but there’s no one left. Since it doesn’t hit anyone, I’m ruling there’s no Backlash damage.
Battle 2 ends, and I have more Victory Points again. New combat.
Battle 3
The Chupacabra goes first.
D6 = 1
Another fumble! It roars and thrashes madly around. Meanwhile, Samael hits its Shell, then finally knocks it out!
Combat is over and the day is ours!
This was tense. I thought I was gonna have to cut the playthrough short because of my dumb call to not use the card at the start. It worked out, so I can say it was all part of the plan.
Editing note: rewrite previous paragraph.
Everything went according to plan and I masterfully defeated the first Boss of the scenario!
Ahem.
With the siege over, the people of Castle Wintermarsh celebrate and welcome our battered Unit as we step inside across shattered stone and dried blood. Fires are lit and quarters are given to the honored defenders. The food they rationed for a long war is now shared with enthusiasm.
Wintermarsh is free!
Divination Card:
Four of Cups: Instantly Reorganize your Unit.
d66 Random Provision = 16, Chalice: Restore one character from Knocked Out to 1 HP.
+1 Repute
This session ends here, with our first scenario goal completed. I wanted something simpler for Castle Wintermarsh. I simply rolled for the rewards instead of doing extensive roleplaying.
As always, remember that the amount of roleplaying is up to you. You can move quickly through the scenario or expand every hex/settlement/movement into a narrative arc.
Thanks for reading! See you in Part 4.
Over War: Monarch Edition is available on DTRPG.