Conan Combat Example
Participants
Three player characters:
Edric - Grizzled Veteran
Adelstan - Young Knight
Amala - Blade for Hire
NPCs:
2 Elite Pict Warriors
2 mobs of 3 Pict Warriors
Environment
A large hill, with a signal fire on the hilltop (the fire grants the player characters 2 dice of Morale Soak); the north face is rough and difficult to climb (Hindrance, Average D1 Athletics test), while the south face is a clear and easy slope. Around it, a river bank to the north, a dirt road to the west, and woodland to the south and east (the woodland provides 4 dice of Cover Soak). There are currently six points of Doom in the pool, and the player characters have two Fortune each.
The Picts are approaching the player characters on the hilltop in two groups, each consisting of one Elite Pict Warrior and a mob of Pict Warriors. One group have just forded the river and are sneaking in from the river bank. The others are skulking through the woodland to the south. The Picts to the south begin their ambush, seeking to distract the player characters from their kin by the river. The Elite Pict Warrior attempts a Stealth test in a Struggle against the player characters’ Observation, with the mob of warriors assisting. Edric takes the lead here, with Adelstan and Amala providing assistance.
The Elite Pict rolls his Stealth test, with a single d20 assisting from the mob behind him; 9 and 12 from the Elite, 8 from the mob’s assistance, for 3 successes. As this is a normal Struggle, all tests are Simple D0, so that’s three Momentum. The player characters roll in response – 2d20 for Edric, 1d20 each from the others. 5 and 16 for Edric, and 4 each from the other two; four successes, so four Momentum.
The player characters spot the incoming Picts, and set to their grim work. They have one Momentum left over, which gets saved into the group’s pool – their keen eyes have given them a slight edge.
First Round
Edric goes to shoot the Elite Pict he can see, and the Pict chooses to try and dodge the hastily-loosed arrow, spending a point from Doom to do this. The Pict is still at the bottom of the hill, at Long range, so the test is Average D1. Edric spends the Momentum in the group’s pool for an extra d20, and makes his attack: 2, 3, and 19, for three successes, which means two Momentum. The Elite Pict rolls to dodge, spending another Doom to add a bonus die of his own, but to no avail – 14, 14, and 17, all his dice fail to generate successes. Edric’s attack hits home, with two Momentum left to spend. Edric rolls 2, 2, 3, 4, and 6 for damage, scoring 5 damage and ignoring one point of Soak. The Elite Pict’s one point of Armour is ignored, and the Pict loses 5 Vigour, and suffers a Wound. There’s not much more that Edric can do with his Momentum right now, so he saves it.
The pools are now 2 Momentum, 4 Doom. The Elite Pict in the southern group has 9 Vigour remaining and is Wounded.
Amala steps up next, and shoots into the mob behind the now-wounded Elite Pict. Same range as Edric’s shot, and the mob doesn’t attempt a defence reaction. She’s not buying any extra dice, and rolls a 3 and a 16, scoring the one necessary success, but no Momentum of her own. She rolls 1, 1, 4 and 5 for damage, for a total of three damage – not enough to drop one of the Picts. She grabs the two points of Momentum in the pool, and adds them to her damage roll; five damage is enough to inflict a Wound on the Picts, which fells one of the mob.
The pools are now 0 Momentum, 4 Doom.
Adelstan, somewhat vainglorious and rash, strides down the hill, and calls out a challenge to the Picts. Now on the south face of the hill, he attempts a Threaten attack at the Elite Pict. He’s at medium range, increasing the difficulty to Challenging D2. The Pict, defiant even while bleeding, chooses to resist, spending one Doom. Adelstan would buy some extra dice with Momentum, but Amala used it all, but he’s reckless and proud, and pays two Doom to get the dice instead, rolling 4d20. He rolls 2, 5, and two 18s, scoring two successes, with no Momentum.
The Elite Pict buys an extra d20, and rolls to resist: 6, 8, and 19. Only one success, but only one needed (he’s still rolling at Average D1, because the range penalty only applies to the attacker), so he’s got no Momentum either. The Pict has Fortitude 1, which covers his Discipline skill, so he wins the tie, and Adelstan’s threat was ineffectual.
The pools are still 0 Momentum, 4 Doom.
The Picts go next. The Picts to the north move in swiftly and quietly, unheeded by the distracted player characters – the Elite Pict, and his mob of followers all rush up the north face using their Standard Actions, but the rough terrain slows them – they’re still short of the hilltop.
The remaining two Picts in the mob dash at Adelstan, hacking with their hatchets. Adelstan’s blade and shield give him a decent defence, so he chooses to Parry with his Large Shield, ignoring the usual cost because of the Parrying quality on his weapons. Both sides are using Reach 2 weapons, so Guard isn’t a factor here. The Picts roll 9 and 11 – two successes, which becomes one Momentum. Adelstan rolls a 1 and a 7, for three successes, which becomes two Momentum, meaning he wins. He has one Momentum remaining after the Struggle, which he saves for the group.
The wounded Elite Pict strides in, jabbing with his Spear. Adelstan goes to defend with his Shield again, paying one Doom (one less than normal for his second Parry), which the Elite Pict uses for an extra d20 immediately – relying on outnumbering to overwhelm the young knight and compensate for his injury. The Elite Pict rolls 7, 8, and 12, for three successes, or one Momentum (because the test is Challenging D2 thanks to his Wound), while Adelstan buys an extra die with Momentum and rolls 1, 4 and 7, scoring three Momentum. He triumphantly knocks the Pict’s spear aside, and counter-attacks with his sword with the two remaining Momentum.
It’s a difficult attack; the Pict has Guard and a longer weapon, increasing the difficulty to Challenging D2, and it’s a Swift Action from Adelstan’s Momentum, increasing it further to Daunting D3. It’s the Elite Pict’s own turn, so he can’t attempt a Defence – he must’ve exposed himself when attacking. With undue enthusiasm, he buys two extra d20s by paying Doom, rolling 6, 7, 8, and 18: three successes, enough to hit. Adelstan rolls 2, 4, 5, 5, 5, 6, and 6 with his damage dice, inflicting seven damage, reduced to six by the Elite Pict’s meagre Armour, and the Elite Pict is slain.
End of the round, one Elite Pict and one Pict dead, 0 Momentum, 6 Doom.
Round 2
The Elite Pict on the north face pays one Doom to interrupt, and attempts to crest the hill, rolling a 7 and an 11 for two successes on his Average D1 Athletics test. He crests the hill successfully, and puts the Momentum into Doom. Striding into the fray, he charges Amala, thrusting his spear at her. Amala’s sword and dagger both have Parrying, so she goes to Parry for free, and she’s got shorter weapons, so no change to the difficulty. The Elite Pict spends a point of Doom for an extra d20, and rolls 6, 18, and 18: successful, but no Momentum. Amala spends one of her Fortune points and rolls, 1 (automatically from the Fortune point), 11, and 17, for three successes – two Momentum. She spends one to Withdraw, backing out of the fight with a quick step, and saves the other one.
1 Momentum, 6 Doom.
The rest of the Picts on the north face follow their leader, spending another Doom to interrupt, and attempt to crest the hill as well. They roll 1, 7, and 20, successfully crest the hill, putting two Momentum into Doom, but the 20 means a complication: they’re momentarily disorganised, increasing the difficulty of their next test by one. They attack Edric nevertheless, relying on strength of numbers over prowess. Their hatchets and all of Edric’s weapons are Reach 2, so Guard doesn’t change anything here. Edric parries for free thanks to his sword and shield, and his Deflect talent. The Picts roll 8, 11, and 17 – two successes is enough, but they get no Momentum. Edric rolls 7 and 7, scoring two successes, one of which becomes Momentum so he turns aside their attacks, and banks the other Momentum.
2 Momentum, 8 Doom.
Adelstan, busy in melee with two Picts, attacks, wanting to make quick work of them. He spends a Fortune point and rolls, 1 (from the Fortune point), 9, and 15, for three successes. The Picts, as an unruly mob, don’t defend meaningfully, and Adelstan hits with two Momentum. His damage roll is 2, 2, 2, 2, 4, 5 and 6, for a brutal ten damage. The first five inflict a Wound, slaying one of the Picts, leaving five more damage, which slays the second Pict. With a triumphant shout he declares his victory, and moves the Momentum to the group pool.
4 Momentum, 8 Doom.
Edric hammers into the mob, spending a Fortune point and buying two dice with Momentum. He rolls 1 (Fortune point), 2, 5, 10, and 16, scoring six successes, and thus five Momentum. His damage roll is 2, 3, 3, and 6, but he re-rolls one of the 3s with No Mercy, getting another 2 instead; this comes to a total of 5 damage, enough to slay one of the Picts. Using the kill as a distraction, he shoves through the fray (one Momentum to Withdraw), and takes a Swift Action to attack the Elite Pict with his shield (2 more Momentum spent). This is a more difficult attack (Daunting D3, due to enemy’s Reach with Guard and the Swift Action), but he’s still got two Momentum from his previous attack, so he uses those for extra dice. The Pict tries to dodge this, spending a point of Doom to make the attempt. Edric gets 2, 5, 7, and 13 – five successes in all, and two Momentum. The Pict, confident of dodging this hasty attack, buys only one extra d20 from Doom, and rolls 2, 12, and 17… only two successes, with only one Momentum, losing the Struggle. Edric has one Momentum left over, and rolls his damage, for a 5 and a 6. Only two damage, but they both trigger the Knockdown quality on the shield, causing the Pict to stumble backwards.
Edric deposits his last Momentum into the group pool.
3 Momentum, 6 Doom.
Amala darts back in towards the now-vulnerable Elite Pict, her dagger bared. She pauses for a moment, sizing up the downed foe with the Exploit action, emptying the Momentum pool to bolster her chances, rolling 5, 6, 6, 18, and 19 – three successes, and thus two Momentum. She buys extra damage dice with those Momentum, which come with two extra damage dice as it’s an Exploit action, and uses her last Fortune point for an extra Standard Action. With this, she attacks: the Pict has no Guard, and clutches a spear and hatchet in his hands. Choosing to use the Hatchet to defend himself, the Pict has a Reach of 2, and chooses to try and dodge this, paying a point of Doom, and three more for bonus dice. As Amala’s dagger has Reach 1, she gets an extra d20 for this attack, bringing her total to 5d20. She rolls 2, 3, 7, 7, and 12, scoring five successes, for four Momentum, increasing to five Momentum because the Pict is prone. The Elite Pict rolls 4, 5, 9, 17, and 17, for three successes, or two Momentum. The Elite Pict loses the Struggle, and Amala has three Momentum remaining.
Her damage roll is 1, 3, 4, 6, and 6, and she re-rolls the 3, rolling a 2 instead. A total of 5, but the Unforgiving quality takes effect, increasing that to a 7. The Piercing 2 she gets from Exploit takes effect too, ignoring the Pict’s armour entirely. The Pict – already one Vigor short due to Edric’s shield bash, is now on 6 Vigour, but more importantly, he’s suffered a Wound. Amala then deposits three Momentum into the group pool.
The other group of Picts now dead, it’s the end of the round, and one Momentum is lost. Two Picts remaining, one Elite Pict wounded, the other dead.
2 Momentum, 2 Doom. Edric and Adelstan have one Fortune point left each.
Round 3
Desperate, the Elite Pict spends a point of Doom to interrupt, uses his minor action to Stand, and lashes out at Amala with his hatchet. Already wounded, he’s facing a Challenging D2 test to attack, and Amala chooses to spend a point of Momentum making that more difficult still, as she slips into a defensive stance. She considers a parry as well, but as she hasn’t yet acted, it would be her second in a row, and add to Doom, so she decides otherwise. The Pict chooses to roll an extra dice, spending the last point from Doom, rolling 4, 5 and 19, for only two successes… not enough to succeed. He lashes out wildly with his hatchet, to no avail. He drops his spear, as it can’t help him at this point.
Edric presses the Elite Pict, attacking with his sword. With no Doom remaining, the Pict is cornered and unable to defend effectively, so Edric just goes with the normal dice for his attack, rolling a 3 and a 16. Two successes, turning into a hit and one Momentum. He rolls damage: 1, 1, 2, and 6, for five damage. He spends that point of Momentum on Penetration, ignoring the Pict’s armour, and the five damage is enough to inflict a second, fatal, Wound on the Pict.
Adelstan strides up the hill, and lays into the other Picts, spending the group’s two Momentum on extra dice. Rolling 2, 3, 11, and 19, he scores three successes, for two Momentum of his own. Rolling damage, he rolls 2, 2, 2, 4, 5, and 6, for a total of 8 damage, which is enough to slay one of the Picts, but not both of them. He spends his Momentum on two extra points of damage, bringing his total to 10, which slays both Picts. The battle is concluded, the Picts slaughtered.
