Content Warning
Language, Violence, Alcohol Use, Police Brutality, Discussion of Regicide
Retcon
I get caught up on small snags with these things. Maybe I see the prescribed path forward and even though I know the Oracles could still surprise me, I still feel bogged down by the weight of the narrative I have yet to even record. Maybe there’s a scene that is up next but sits just outside my comfort zone. I’ll do it, I tell myself every time I realize it’s been so many months or years since I played that one. With this one, I already noted it in the original part 1. I feel amateurish in matters of politics, clumsy like a child writing a school essay with only half the facts. I felt my original inciting prologue was *probably* fine, really. I don’t think anyone who came across it would feel it was offensive or anything. But it felt a little silly to me, so I just didn’t come back to it for…7 months. Listen, I said my pace was glacial.
The original part 1 is here, if you’re inclined to read it. Probably of most worth are the things we discovered about the setting/plot, which are noted in the end scene spoiler.
So here is a second take at part 1, a part 1a I suppose, in an attempt to start with something stronger. And also kind of aim the game in the right direction. Having them already out in the badlands was a weird choice. While I liked the character interactions, I’m willing to scrap them wholesale here. Plus side, the oracle prompt is still *technically* accurate.
Locke and Asher stood in the darkened shadow of an alleyway watching the tavern across the street. They had been for hours now. Locke pulled at the threadbare guard uniform he was wearing, pinching it between thumb and forefinger like a soiled rag he didn’t want to touch let alone be fully encased in. “Where’d you say you got these again?” he asked.
“Shh. Doesn’t matter,” Asher replied impatiently, her gaze locked on the street out front of the tavern. Locke grumbled but quieted down. A moment later the tavern door banged loudly open and one of the king’s guards was unceremoniously dumped on his rear into the street. Several very large, very angry looking drunks followed him through the door and surrounded him. Asher grinned fiercely as the incensed townsfolk began to lay into the guardsman. “There. That’s our ticket in.”
Locke moved in to see. He winced as the blows rained down. “Great Sky Above, Ash. You want to help a guard? And against that…mob?”
“Yep,” she smirked, “you have a better plan for getting into the captain’s good graces without having to clean toilets for the next thirty-six months?” Locke stared at her incredulously for a moment. “Better hurry up and decide, Locke. I’d say he’s got another 15 seconds of consciousness left.”
“Awww, fine!” Locke threw up his hands. “Let’s do it!”
Asher nodded and leapt out into the street. “Halt, citizens!” she yelled, chewing the scenery. Locke followed after yelling indiscriminately. The drunk mob looked up in confusion for a moment and then, if possible, each turned several more apoplectic shades of red. The combat was joined in earnest.
Fighting the Locals
I don’t necessarily want to run a full battle against the locals. The point of the fight is to get this guard on our side, make him think we’re friends. Sure, we’re just doing our own duty as “guards” but this recruiter is out here on his own so I think he’ll be grateful for the assist. Or, well, Asher does anyway. Let’s assign this as a four-clock versus six-clock contest. We get ours before they get theirs and we drive them off. They get theirs and we join the recruiter in slumberland.
Statwise, we’ll give them the standard array and put that d10 in Might (they’re laborers out for a drink after work…many drinks actually) and the d6 can go in Dex. We’ll leave that Defense at the Dex value, no bonus, for simplicity sake. No need to track other stats like HP. We only need to know now what unarmed attacks and improvised weapons look like, which is…on p130. Both DEX+MIG for Accuracy. Unarmed are auto-equipped, obviously, and improvised weapons break.
We’ll lead in. Asher is d6+d10 and Locke is d8+d6. Locals will roll a group check, let’s say there are five of them total.
Asher: 4+4=8 vs d6(4), hit, 1 clock.
Locke: 5+6=11 vs 5, hit, 2 clock.
Locals 1-4: 13, 14, 10, 11. All successful aids, +4 bonus.
Local Leader: 6+3+4=13, which beats either of us, 1 clock.
I think the locals realize their strength in numbers is overwhelming but they need to split up. Actually, let’s call that a 50/50 oracle roll. They’re drunk, they might not realize the tactical implications. A 97 indicates that they are extremely plastered and don’t realize it. I do think they move their boot stomping to the newcomers, I’ll check against Locke since Asher is basically unassailable to them.
Asher: 4+1=5 vs 4 hit, 3 clock.
Locke: 2+1=3 vs 6, no hit.
Locals 1-4: 7, 11, 8, 11, total +2 bonus.
Local Leader: 2+4+2=8 vs Locke’s d8+1 (7), hit, 2 clock.
Asher: 10+5=15 vs 6, hit, 4 clock, game over.
Okay, fine, maybe the system is only clever if you use the whole thing. Big surprise. I’ll use all their actual abilities in a proper combat soon.
Locke takes advantage of the surprise and slams full on into one of the lighter drunks, taking them both up against the wall. Asher wades in and begins laying about herself, connecting fist to jaw over and over. The last few blows land on the recruiter, stamping him into unconsciousness, as the drunks turn to deal with the newcomers. Asher grabs the largest man around the neck and spins him face first into the brick facade of the tavern. Something cracks and the man goes limp. Locke picks up the trashcan nearby and chucks it at the lean man, who steps over it and lays a mean one into Locke’s nose. As Locke reels, Asher steps in, kicks the knee out from under one man, and bashes the heads of two others together. As one, the group decides this big sober guard has gotten the better of them and they retreat, dragging their unconscious friends with them.
Asher dusts her hands and happily proclaims, “well, that’s that.” Her smile fades when she notices the recruiter is not paying any attention to her victory, by way of being out like a light.
“Mmmph,” Locke notes, holding his bloody nose, “really well done.” The sarcasm isn’t lost on Asher and she rolls her eyes.
“Come on, then,” she says, leaning down to heft the recruiter under one arm, “let’s take this poor fool someplace to wake up.” Locke nods and takes another arm and together they all amble off toward the nearest guardhouse.
Next: Issue Two
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