-Ghadir "The Silencer" Al-Taysir, Mistress of the Southerly Slums Thief Guild in Nein
In the previous post I set the stage for a combat between Jones, our Level 1 Fighter and two thugs with a bounty on their heads (two Level 1 Soldier-type "Monsters"). In this post I will demonstrate through a step-wise example the various stages of combat. I am actually rolling the dice and pulling the stones for this write-up, too!
Jones has been following through on several leads on the location of Cutter and his partner, Bopper, through the two main slums of Nein. She hears that they have been holed up in a local brothel, enjoying the spoils of their recent burglaries. Jones enters the brothel where they are rumored to be staying and presents her contract to the Manager. The Manager nervously directs Jones to the 3rd floor, instructing her that they are located in suite number three.
Jones, not wanting to spoil the element of suprise, kicks in the door. Behind the door she finds her two targets, patiently sitting on chairs at the other end of the room -- fully prepared for her with weapons in hand! "We've been waiting for you, Jones. You didn't think it'd be so easy to get the jump on us, eh?"
Being that neither side has the element of surprise, the surprise check is skipped and we go straight to rolling initiative. Normally, Soldier-type Monsters roll for initiative as a Squad, but since Jones' targets are of two different kinds of "Monsters," they are each a Squad of one so they will roll individual initiative.
Jones roll a 1 on a 1d6 for initiative. She adds her Agility score of 3 for a final initiative roll of 4. Cutter rolls a 3 on 1d6 for initiative. He adds his Agility score of 2 for a final initiative roll of 5. Bopper rolls a 6 on 1d6 for initiative. He adds his Agility score of 1 for a final initiative roll of 7.
Bopper has First Action. The Initiative Pools are then tallied. Jones, being alone, has an Initiative Pool of 3 due to her Agility of 3. Bopper and Cutter combine their Agility scores for their Initiative Pool, for a total of 3.
Bopper has several choices available to him. He can charge into Jones and make a Basic Attack or use one of his uses of Big Hit. He can simply move into position and combine that with starting a Guard, which will allow him to make a Basic Attack once Jones moves into melee range. Bopper could even use his action to move out of the combat area entirely, but will then have to wait until his very next action to complete the escape.
Bopper heads into the middle of the room, brandishing his Great Club and starts to Guard his position. Jones has little room to maneuver around Bopper, and will not be able to engage Cutter directly by charging in since Bopper in the way. In addition, since Bopper is Guarding, he will get an immediate Basic Attack against Jones once she does so-engage. Since this completes Bopper's action, he designates Jones for the Next Action.
Jones considers her options. She can take the fight to Bopper inside the room or choose to Guard her position as well. Being the aggressive type, she decide to charge in and Spend an Action Point to use her Deeper Cut ability from her Weapon Proficiency, Sword.
Jones move into melee range with Bopper and is now Engaged with him. Since Bopper was Guarding his position, he gets a Basic Attack against Jones before she can execute her own attack.
Bopper rolls a 1d20 for an 11 and adds his Attack bonus from his Great Club for a total roll of 14. This is enough to hit Jones' Armor Class of 9. Jones grunts in anticipation of the hit as it is out of range for a Block with her Iron Buckler. If the total roll was 13, she could have Blocked the attack since Blocking (as well as Parrying and Dodging) adds 4 to one's effective Armor Class and Special Resistance.
Since Bopper is a Soldier-type he does not roll damage and Jones receives 13 damage from the attack. This reduces Jones Hit Points to 18, down from 31. In addition, since Jones had 0 Wounds (being freshly prepared for this encounter), her Wounds are now 13.
Jones trades blows with Bopper and rolls her own attack with her Arming Sword, rolling a 14 for a total of 18 due to her +4 Attack with her Sword. This is a clean hit against Bopper's Armor Class of 9, which is also clear out of range for Bopper to Dodge or Parry with his Mace.
Jones rolls damage: a 6! An excellent move, Jones adds her bonus Damage for a total of 9. Since Jones rolled a natural-14 on her attack, this causes Bleeding on Bopper equal to her Agility (3) that requires a Normal Save to shrug off. Bopper has been reduced to 3 Hit Points, down from 12. Jones grins as the deep cut she has given Bopper will cause him to lose 3 Hit Points on his next action before he can make a Save -- killing him.
As this ends Jones action she can only designate Cutter for the Next Action, since both herself and Bopper are Tapped this Round. In addition, since Jones spent one of her Action Points to utilize her sword's Power Attack, this Action Point goes into her Long Reserve (which can only be regained after Resting for the night) leaving her with the following: Action Points 3, Reserve 0 / 1.
Cutter, seeing an opportunity for Flanking, charges into melee with Jones so that he can utilize his Dirty Backstab ability. Now that Cutter is Engaged with Jones, she is being Flanked due to there being more enemies Engaged in melee with her than allies (2 vs. 1). He rolls a 7 on his 1d20, adding a 3 with his dual razors for a 10. This hits Jones' Armor Class of 9. This attack is a close enough call for Jones to Block with her Iron Buckler, which she does -- adjusting her effective Armor Class by 4 for the attack (at 13), causing Cutter's attack to Miss.
Since Jones attempted to Block, she now has to make a Stun Save to see if the attempt has thrown her off balance. Using her Iron Buckler, a Light Shield, to Block is an Easy Stun Save. She has approximately 25% chance to be Stunned -- which will cause her to lose her next action and also prevent her from Blocking, Dodging and Parrying until she can regain her balance during her next action. She draws two Chance Stones, a Black and a White one. Since she drew at least one White Stone, she manages to Block the attack while maintaining her balance!
Cutter is dual-wielding, but since his attack Missed due to Jones' Block, he is ineligible for an extra Basic Attack. Even if his attack connected, he would still not have been able to get an extra attack since he rolled a 7 on his d20 -- the extra attack only occurs on natural-even rolls that Hit. Cutter's Dirty Backstab can only be used once, so he has spent his sole use of this ability.
Since this ends Cutter's action and he had the last action in this combat, all combatants reset to Up. Cutter cannot designate himself for Next Action, but can designate either Jones or his colleague, Bopper. Realizing that Bopper will go down on his next action, he designates Jones for Next Action, hoping to capitalize on the tactical advantage Bopper is giving him for the time being.
Jones, knowing that Bopper is as good as dead, chooses to focus on Cutter. Jones chooses to use her Sword's Advanced Attack since she has maintained her Poise -- if she had Missed with her previous attack she would have lost Poise. She rolls a 9, adding a 4, for an attack roll of 13. This is good enough to hit Cutter's Armor Class of 10. Cutter chooses to Parry with his pair of daggers, raising his effective Armor Class by 4 to 14. This causes Jones' attack to Miss.
Cutter has an Easy Stun Save for Parrying with his daggers since he is dual-wielding. He draws two Chance Stones and they are both Black! He is now Stunned, taken off-balance from the Parry.
This ends Jones action. She has spent one of her remaining 3 Action Points on an Advanced Attack, which moved this point into her Short Reserve -- she will get this point back on any future action she takes that costs no Action Points, or at the end of this combat encounter. Her scores are now: Action Points 2 Reserve 1 / 1.
Jones then designates Bopper for Next Action. Cutter, still reeling from having Parried Jones attack against him, cannot Interrupt this order of action since he is currently Stunned. He watches in horror as Bopper goes down from the 3 Hit Points of Damage (taking him from 3 to 0 Hit Points) he takes from the Bleeding he is suffering. Bopper designates Cutter for Next Action since Cutter is the only combatant who has not been Tapped.
Cutter, being Stunned, can not take an action, but loses the Stun status -- and will be able to Parry between this and his next action if he needs to. Cutter, being the last to act this Round, is only able to designate Jones for Next Action since Bopper has gone down.
Jones considers her next action. She cannot use her Advanced Attack because she no longer has Poise due to Missing in her previous attack. She doesn't want to use her Power Attack either, since she already has 1 of her 4 Action Points in Long Reserve. She decides to use a Basic Attack against Cutter.
She rolls a 4, added with her Attack bonus for a total of 8. This not enough to Hit Cutter's Armor Class of 10. Jones can only designate Cutter for Next Action since he is the only other combatant. In addition, since Jones did not spend any Action Points she moves one of her Short Reserve points back into her Action Points for the following scores: Action Points 3 Reserve 0 / 1.
Cutter takes a look at his fallen companion and decides to make a break for it -- prudence is the better part of valor after all! He runs for the open window, but since he is currently Engaged with Jones this escape Provokes a Basic Attack from her. She rolls 3, for a 7 total Attack roll -- this Misses! Jones is free to escape -- if he had been Hit, Jones could have prevented his movement out of the melee in addition to the Damage.
Cutter leaps out of the window onto the street. This is a 20' drop from the floor he is on and 2d6 Damage is rolled for the impact: 7 points of Damage. Cutter can roll with this impact to reduce the damage in half and prevent Stunning. Since he is wearing Light Armor, this is a Normal Save, about 50%. Cutter draws one Chance Stone -- Black! Cutter takes 7 points of Damage, reducing his Hit Points to 3. He is now also Stunned from the fall Since this combat is now one-on-one, Cutter can only designate Jones for the Next Action.
Jones, realizing that Cutter will get away if she heads down to the front door, decides to leap after Cutter since he still close by, having been Stunned by the fall from the window. Jones leaps from the window and combines the fall with a Basic Attack for a Jumping Attack -- if she Hits Cutter she will share half of her falling damage with him as bonus Damage, but if she Misses she will take 100% of the falling Damage and be Stunned without a Stun Save.
Jones rolls a 6, for a total Attack roll of 10. This is enough to Hit Cutter's Armor Class of 10. And since Cutter is Stunned, he cannot Dodge or Parry this attack. She rolls a 5 for her Arming Sword, for a total Damage of 8 with her weapon. 2d6 is rolled for falling Damage: 6 points. Half of this is added to her attack for a total of 11 Damage. Jones, herself, takes 3 Damage from the fall onto Cutter.
11 Damage is more than the 3 Hit Points Cutter has remaining, so he goes down from Jones' attack. Jones takes 3 Damage from the fall, which reduces her Hit Points to 15. Since 3 Damage is less than her Current Wounds of 13, her Wounds remain at 13 -- Wounds are only increased by a single Damage event that is greater than the current score.
1 comment:
Just a note on the above: I forgot to subtracted Jones' Damage Reduction from the damage she was receiving. Instead of going back and editing the whole thing I would just like to note that DR should have been subtracted from the Damage she received across the whole encounter.
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