When three monstrous creatures materialize from the shadows, the group is forced to defend themselves.
Content warning: As a general content warning, this episode contains small creature deaths, some gore, and animal corpse descriptions. If this content may be triggering for you, we request you please skip 7:11 to 7:17, 30:39 to 30:44, 38:20 to 38:27, and 48:53 to 49:37.
It doesn’t take long for the group to learn the source of that throaty growl. Three large, canine monstrosities emerge from the shadows, their fur patchy and their sinew exposed. Their flesh oozes puss and ichor.
The group is forced into combat with these foes and for a while, the fight seems to go in favor of the protagonists; however, when the Sciuren get involved they make themselves easy targets...
Follow Dax @GM_Dax, Kappa @TheKappaChris, and Wren @ThornyDryad
Transcript by CJ Kallevig
Upbeat piano intro ends [00:28]
Quirky piano music fades in [00:29]
Kappa (as Rou): Okay, so we’ve been traveling in these tunnels for quite some time now. Almost though we were going to get lost, but lo and behold, we’ve come across the cutest, and I mean the cutest, of guides. The meeting was a bit rocky, they threatened Arthas with a sword. Arguably, that sword was the size of a toothpick. We met the Sciuren people, these squirrel-like warrior beings and met their Queen and in order to gain good favor, we gave her gifts. No one tell anyone, but the Sciuren Queen likes imported goods. They really enjoyed the set of clothes from Baukora that I had. So we are on our way towards Kidohlva. Now with a very cute, very stout guide. However, there’s a bit of a growl that has me worried.
Dax: Eight and Rou, the sound of a low throaty growl has reached your ears. There is a pause before it happens again, this time louder and closer. Arthas, it’s loud enough that you now hear it. The Sciuren slowly draw their swords, a few of them notch arrows in their bows, facing the direction of that growl. You see at the edges of the lantern light, a paw step into the circle. Slowly stepping out of the shadows, you see these hulking beasts that resemble large, dark-furred wolves.
However, you notice that patches of fur are missing and in their place you see bone and exposed muscle. The edges dripping with a green puss. Their eyes are glowing red, and saliva drips from toothy maws. There are three of them. I would like everyone to give me a, I believe, Cool Check will be most appropriate in this case, as you try to remain calm with these hulking, snarling beasts coming at you.
Music shifts to a tense tune [02:18]
Dice rolling [02:57]
Kappa: Four Success, one Advantage.
Neil: One Success, and two Advantages.
Wren: I have rolled three Advantages.
Dax: Well, don’t feel bad Eight. The Sciuren didn’t roll very well either. Alright. Yikes. Nobody is rolling very good.
Kappa: I thought I rolled pretty well.
Dax: So this is how this is going to work. There’s going to be two PC slots, one NPC, two PC, two NPC. So as a quick reminder, and Gensesys initiative is very fluid, so just because you occupy the first PC slot at the top of the round in one round, the next round you don’t have to take that first slot. You can swap it with other people, so feel free to talk amongst yourselves and decide how you want this to happen. The dogs have walked into the circle of lantern light, they are growling, they are snarling. There’s a PC slot. Who wants to go first and what do you do?
Neil: I could charge them.
Kappa: Yeah.
Wren: No that’s fine.
Dax: Alright. So I will say that they are a short range band away. I did realize, I never specified last turn where the Sciuren decided to make camp. So you can imagine that you’re in another large tunnel. This time, you actually started to make camp kind of in an alcove of that tunnel. Almost as if it was an area that was designed for people to rest, merchants that would be traveling down these tunnels. So, you’ve got quite a bit of space. So if you’re going to charge, that would be your Maneuver to get up into Engaged range with these creatures.
Neil: And then I’m going to start hitting them.
Dax: Carry on.
Neil: Just, club raised, ready to try and kill it.
Dax: So go ahead and make your attack roll.
Dice rolling [04:53]
Neil: I got three Success and an Advantage.
Dax: So one Success means you hit. Alright, so that’s four damage, plus your brawn plus the two for the two additional successes. So that’s eight, nine, ten damage. The creatures have a soak of four so you’re going to do six. Did you get any Advantages off of that, I apologize.
Neil: Just one.
Dax: What would you like to use that Advantage for? You can recover Strain, you could add a Boost to the next check by yourself or an ally.
Neil: I’ll recover one Strain off it, because I feel like I’m going to need it.
Dax: Okay. You do so. I then need you to give me a hard Discipline check. So that’s three purple.
Dice rolling [05:37]
Neil: One Success and two Threat.
Dax: Alrighty. You get up close to these creatures, and you lift up your club and you make your swing. You end up smacking into one broadside, you shift this creature away from you. However, turning and seeing the glowing red eyes from these other two, almost gives you pause. And then you are able to shake off your head and carry on. You’ve got two Threat, I’m going to say that because of those two Threat, one of those dogs is able to make a Maneuver to shift around you and basically get behind you. Alright. Next PC Slot, who would like to go?
Wren: Rou, if you would like to go, I will allow you. Because of your intuition.
Kappa: Sure, I want to accost the one that has now sandwiched Arthas between them and another one. So I’m going to move however much I need to get behind and take my staff and whack it in the back of the head using, I have a Talent! It’s called Precision. When making a Brawl or Ranged check, you may use Cunning instead of Brawn and Agility.
Dax: Okay. So go ahead and make your check. So it will be your Melee Heavy, but instead use your replaced stat.
Kappa: Mhmm.
Dax: Instead of Brawn.
Kappa: And, these are all just straight rolls, or no?
Dax: So this will be two Purple.
Dice rolling [07:01]
Kappa: Four Successes and one Threat.
Dax: You moved into position, so that was your Maneuver. You attacked with your action. I’ll say for the Threat, you’re going to suffer a Strain because these things are really gross and honestly, you pull back your staff after smacking this creature and it’s kind of got like puss and a little bit of fur attached to it and it’s just, it’s disgusting.
Kappa (as Rou): Oh eww! Ugh!
Dax: You said four Successes?
Kappa: Four Successes, yes.
Dax: Alright, so four Successes. That’ll be three points of damage on the dog that moved up behind Arthas. Perfect. Alright, and I need you to also make the hard Discipline check, please. So, three Purple.
Kappa: Three Purple! And Discipline is, oh! Oh. That’s good. [dice rolling sound] That’s a wash.
Dax: You are able to attack this creature and then you catch one of them looking at you dead in the eyes. It gives you pause for just a second and then you’re able to shake this weird feeling off of yourself.
Wren: Dax, I apologize. I had three Advantage on my roll, can I use three of those to perform a Maneuver and position myself between the wolves and the Sciuren guides?
Dax: Sure! I’ll allow that.
Wren: Thank you. As they had emerged from the shadows, knowing that our guides were worried about things in the dark, I whirl across the ground and interpose my bulky mechanical frame between them. I’ll look back at them and say,
Wren (as Eight): Do not fear my friends. I will protect you from these assailants. Just stay behind my frame and I will make sure no harm befalls you.
Dax: Alright. So that means it’s an NPC’s turn. So that wolf that you came up behind, Rou, is going to actually remove its sights from Arthas and realize you’re a much smaller, much easier target to attack. This creature is going to lunge at you.
Kappa: I’d like to Dodge. That allows me to suffer a Strain, upgrade the difficulty of combat checks against me.
Dax: Oh, okay! So how many Strain and how many times do you want to upgrade? You can do it up to twice.
Kappa: Two Strain.
Dax: Alright, so suffer two Strain and I’ll upgrade this twice.
Wren: You have two ranks in Dodge, too? Yes! We’re Dodge buddies.
Kappa: [laughs] Oh heck yeah!
Music shifts to a frantic string [09:29]
Dax: Very nice, very nice. So, this wolf slowly turns and you watch as it’s forequarters like shrink down just a little bit and it lunges at you. [dice rolling sound] Oh god, okay. So…
Kappa: Love that, yeah. I love hearing that.
Dax: I got four Success, an Advantage, and a Despair. So, one of the Successes will cancel out the failure portion of the Despair, but a bad thing still will happen. So, let me just quickly check and see what we can spend those Despair on real quick.
Kappa: I was thinking very much incapacitate or limit movement.
Dax: Yeah, we can do that if you want. Okay! So what we’re going to do, so like I said. The failure portion gets canceled out. So it is left with three Successes, an Advantage, and then the bad effect of the Despair. So, if you want to incapacitate it, or basically kind of like hurt it in a way without actually attacking it, like have something bad happen. We can mechanically say that the next wolf that attacks has to upgrade its check and narratively, that’s because when it went to attack you, it didn’t get a full on grip like it wanted to. And it ended up lunging and plunging into one of its fellow wolves. How does that sound? Okay, alright. So this creature gets ready to attack, and it does so, and when it does, it leaps at you. You are able to, is this a sidestep, do you, like, leap? Tell me what this dodge looks like.
Kappa: Yes, it’s more, I mean, it’s a dodge. So it’s going to be, if it’s going for center mass, Rou is going to turn his body in a way that he avoids most of, and redirects the momentum around. Around him instead of into him.
Dax: Perfect.
Kappa: That’s my martial arts training coming in.
Dax: And what is your Soak?
Kappa: One. I have one Soak.
Dax: You have one Soak, so take five wounds please.
Kappa: Five wounds.
Dax: As this thing clips your arm and releases just as it goes past your body and plunges into its fellow wolf. They both tumble on the floor a little bit.
Kappa: Oooh, okay.
Dax: Alright. That is now a, we have two PC’s slots that are available. So, who wants to go? Eight, do you want to go? Or do you want the Sciuren to go?
Wren: I told them to stay behind me, but that obviously doesn’t mean they have to listen to me. So, if you want them to skitter around me, like honestly, I’m typically okay with going last in most combat situations because I feel like I’m ponderous like a train.
Dax: Okay. So you want to let them go? Seeing that these two wolves kind of plow into each other, you suddenly hear,
Dax (as the Sciuren): [high-pitched voice] ATTACK!!!
Dax: And all this skittering as the six Sciuren split. Three go to the left, three go to the right, they, the few that are drawing bows are letting their arrows fly and the two that had drawn their swords are now charging actually, towards the pile of wolves that are on the floor, thinking that ‘hey, there’s two of them on the ground!’. Like, this will be easier for us to attack. So they’ll make a Maneuver to get up into Engaged range with them, and let’s see how well this goes. Cause nothing can go wrong with little squirrel people attacking large, hulking wolves, right? So you watch as these arrows fly, but unfortunately all you hear are like, the sound of toothpicks hitting stone. Tink, tink, tink. As they just miss. And unfortunately the other Sciuren are unable to make contact with their swords before the wolves are able to stand up. Alright, Eight.
Wren: Well, everyone has gone and the tiny guides that we are reliant upon have taken it upon themselves to throw themselves into the heat of battle. I will use a Maneuver to draw my meat tenderizer, I will use an incidental action to perform my Improved Scathing Tirade. I will target the wolf creature that has harmed Rou with this action. I’ll suffer two Strain for an additional Maneuver to start walking so that I can close the gap between us.
Dax: Okay.
Wren: And as I’m going, with the hammer in hand, I just speak out to these creatures. I say,
Wren (as Eight): Vile creatures that have assaulted us from the darkness, we were well aware of your presence in the sense that we could smell you coming from a mile away. Or at least, I would have smelled you if that were possible. I must say, your feral behavior is quite unbecoming. Especially considering the location in which you live.
Wren: Scathing Tirade is a Coercion check against the target, average difficulty. So I roll off my Willpower and my Coercion, which is the same as my attack characteristic which is great. So I’ve got two green, a yellow, and two purple. [dice rolling sound] Okay! I have a Threat, but I have a Success and a Triumph left over. So, the targeted creature will suffer one Strain for each Success, and then for each Advantage they have, they will suffer an additional Strain. So, I’ll basically just say, I’d like the Triumph to trigger another Strain damage.
Dax: So they’re not going to take Strain, but they will convert that into Wounds. So how much is that total?
Wren: Two.
Dax: Alright.
Wren: And I figured if they’re minions they wouldn’t, but damage is damage. And then as I’m saying this to them, I walk forward to the one that attacked Rou, and I will just make a hammer strike at it as well.
Dax: Yeah, do it.
Wren: It’s the same difficulty. Is it prone or anything? Do I get any setbacks or do I get any?
Dax: Go ahead and give yourself a Boost, because it is kind of entangled with that other wolf still.
Wren: Okay. Additionally, because of my Improved Scathing Tirade, that wolf will add a Setback die to all skill checks they make for a number of rounds equal to my ranks in Coercion, which is one. So for one round, it adds a Setback die. Because it feels real bad about itself.
Dax: Which is funny considering you basically insulted it by telling it it smells bad, in the roundabout Eight way.
Wren: And after this is said and done, a single Success and an Advantage. I’m going to use that to recover the Strain that I lost. And my hammer, my meat tenderizer, does Brawl plus three plus one, so that’s going to be seven damage. Okay, and that’s my really long-winded turn. After striking with the meat tenderizer and feeling that kind of sickening crunch as the, the pointed end bashes the living meat, tenderizes it a little bit. It’ll be perfect for cooking later. I look on with a forlorn look, because I’m not enjoying striking another creature, but you are assaulting my friends. And obviously I must defend both myself and my companions. I apologize for any duress I am causing you.
Dax: Eight, give me a hard Discipline check, please. As you catch the red glowing eyes of this wolf you just attacked. Its skull now exposed.
Dice rolling [18:01]
Wren: I have two Failures but an Advantage.
Dax: Okay. What would you like to have that Advantage for? What, do you want to recover more Strain?
Wren: I’ll just recover my Strain back up to full.
Dax: Alright.
Wren: Do I have the Fear?
Dax: [chuckles] You have the Fear. You catch the eyes of this dog and at first you felt very cocky, but something in the, in the eyes of this dog, that unnatural glowing red sends a shiver down your core. You are now disorientated until the end of the Encounter. So you’re going to add a Setback to all of your checks.
Wren: Gotcha. I’m just going to chalk it up to feeling really guilty about striking these innocent creatures.
Dax: These innocent creatures that are clearly not of the land of the living?
Wren: Hey, hey, hey. Don’t judge.
Dax: I’m not, I just.. [laughs]. So the wolf that has not gone yet, is going to spend a maneuver to stand up and get out of that puppy pile. Rou’s back is towards it, easy target.
[Kappa sighs]
Dax: So it is going to lunge at Rou. This one has to do an upgrade once though, because of Rou’s actions in the prior turn. [dice rolling sound] Rou, you hear this bark and this snarl from behind you and suddenly, you see a creature lunge over your shoulder. It lands on the ground ahead of you and makes a swift turn to face you, as it just misses, you hear the distinct snap of teeth next to your ear.
Kappa: Oh my.
Dax: The wolf that is facing Arthas is going to do the same thing, it is going to lunge at Arthas. It’s going to do the thing where it squats its four legs just a little bit in order to hopefully get a good lunge at the Giant-kin. And that is a complete wash. Narratively, it goes to lunge and then realizes how big you are, and it kind of falters and changes its mind. We are back at the top of the round, so there are two free PC slots ready to take. Who would like to go?
Kappa: I can go.
Dax: Alrightie.
Kappa: For my incidental, I’m just going to call out to both Arthas and Eight.
Kappa (as Rou): Is Eight always this polite during combat?
Kappa: And then lunge in with the staff. There are two of them in front of me now, right?
Dax: So there’s the one directly in front of you. There’s one directly in front of Arthas, and then there’s the one behind you that had originally attacked you and you dodged. So you are in between two.
Kappa: Okay. Fun. I’m going to go for the one that I already hit once and do the same thing, Precision, and try my best to destroy, not destroy, but hit it. I think it’s, hitting its head is doing well so I’m going to do that.
Dax: Sure, alright. So you’re going to swing around to the one behind you and attack that one then?
Kappa: Yes. Using the entire rotation to build enough momentum and power.
Dax: Okay.
Dice rolling [21:24]
Kappa: This is going to be two Advantages and two Failures. Love it. I love it so much.
Dax: Alright. So what would you like to use those Advantages for? You can either recover Strain or you can perform an immediate free maneuver. Or even add a Setback to the next skill check by your opponent.
Kappa: Yeah, I think instead of hitting it, it catches the staff in its jaw but that is allowing me to kind of prevent it from easily attacking and lunging. And that will be like the Setback, I guess.
Dax: Sure. Alright, let me make a note of that. So that is going to have two Setbacks next turn. Nice. Alright, so, PC slot. Who wants to go?
Neil: I start battering the one that has Setbacks that is…
Dax: You have the one in front of you, you have the one behind you, and then it’s Rou, and then it’s that one that has the two Setbacks.
Neil: Got it, okay.
Dax: You do have a Boost on your, on your attack though, this round. So.
Neil: May I punch the one in front of me?
Dax: Sure! Are you punching or are you attacking with your sword club?
Neil: Attacking with my sword.
Dax: Okay.
Neil: And do I get any negatives as I have someone behind me, like engaging?
Dax: No, there’s not really flanking rules in Genesys.
Neil: Gotcha. Okay, three Successes and two Advantages.
Dax: Alright, so that’ll be eight damage before Soak. What do you want your two Advantages to be used for? Do you want a free maneuver? Do you want to recover Strain? Do you want to add a Setback to this particular wolf?
Neil: Can I throw a Boost to a party member?
Dax: You could use one of those Advantages you generated to give a Boost to your, one of your allies, yeah.
Neil: I’ll throw a boost at Eight, to try and offset being disorientated.
Dax: Sounds good. Okay, yeah, we’ll do that. And then do you want to like, recover Strain with that remaining Advantage?
Neil: I think I will.
Dax: Okay.
Neil: And then I will be back at full Strain.
Dax: Awesome! Alright, so that’ll be an NPC slot. So, the creature that you just attacked, Arthas, there is so much saliva now, there is pus oozing out, where you’ve been hitting this creature, fur has been falling off. It’s just, it’s extremely gross. One thing you will notice is that it does not bleed. Everywhere you have hit, there is no blood. This creature turns and makes this really deep, throaty growl again and it takes another lunge at you.
This creature has decided you are too large to lunge the way it would normally. It’s going to not go for your head, it’s actually going to go for your feet. It is going to cause nine damage before your Soak. With the Triumph that it generated, it is going to upgrade your difficulty next time. So the next time you go to make a check, you’re going to turn one of your purples into a red.
Neil: Gotcha.
Dax: And we’ll say that it caught, it caught your ankle bad enough where it’s making it a little hard to maybe stand and get a good, a good brace during your attacks. PC slot, who wants to go?
Wren: I will. [rubs hands together] I will! Because I want to protect those Sciurens. So, first thing, incidental. I’m going to use Scathing Tirade again, because stop me. As we all kind of get into this frackus, I turn to the creature that struck Arthas, that nibbled on his toes and ankles. And I say,
Wren (as Eight): Pestilent creature, you must realize you’re outnumbered. You will be defeated. There’s no point in fighting, you simply should surrender to your inevitable fate.
Wren: And I will roll my Coercion check against this creature and yes, I have my Setback. [dice rolling sound] Which rolled blank. Oooh, good! Oh hey! I have a Triumph and a Threat, so Triumph is a Success, so it takes a Strain which turns into a Wound. Stupid question, I have zero clue if this would work. But could I have this inflict a Critical Injury on it?
Dax: With the Triumph? I mean, I honestly don’t see why something vital wouldn’t be a Critical Injury. So if that’s what you…
Wren: I’m just, I’m just trying to justify how me using words can cause a Critical Injury? But I suppose it could be something like for some reason it stops and regards me, and then Arthas has a moment to like, kick it off? Causing it to take a Critical Injury from the sudden jolt?
Dax: If Arthas has no problem with that, I don’t mind narratively having that work.
Neil: Works for me.
Dax: Alright. So then give me a d100 roll for the Critical Injury table please.
Dice rolling [26:27]
Wren: That’s a straight 20.
Dax: Okay. So with a 20, it is not going to be able to take a free Maneuver. So it is stuck where it is. So if Arthas is going to kick it off and cause this Critical Injury, we’ll say that he kicks it so hard, because Arthas is quite large and can generate quite a bit of force, that it smacks into the opposite wall and is essentially prone and will, it will essentially skip its turn.
Wren: It’s dazed, sort of.
Dax: Yeah. Dazed is the word I want.
Wren: Cool. I would like to use my official Maneuver to focus my strike and I’m going to hit a wolf creature that’s in front of me with my hammer. If possible, the one that I’ve already struck.
Dax: The one that Rou spun around to hit?
Wren: Yeah.
Dax: Okay.
Wren: I’m basically telling these creatures off and smacking them at the same time. [rolls dice] I have four Success, a Triumph, and a Threat. For these Threats I’m taking, I’m basically thinking just Strain from you know, combat in the dark and tight quarters, with a pus dripping foe. So, a little…
Dax: It’s gross.
Wren: It’s hard. It’s hard. But we’re managing. That’s going to be…
Dax: And you made that with your Setback, right?
Wren: Yes.
Dax: Okay. Yikes. [laughs]
Wren: Yeah… That’s going to be three plus three plus four. Ten? And then the Triumph, I’m going to go ahead and use it to do Concussive. So I’m going to do Concussive on it. So it’ll be staggered for a turn. So that’s going to be ten damage before Soak, as I just wing this meat tenderizer across the side of its jowl.
Wren (as Eight): I was created to protect and serve.
Kappa (as Rou): You’re serving a can of whoop-ass, Eight.
Wren (as Eight): I’m unfamiliar with this food stuff, can of whoop-ass?
Kappa (as Rou): I’ll explain it later when we’re not being accosted! [grunts]
Wren (as Eight): That is good. I would like to learn more about foods from your native region.
Kappa (as Rou): It’s not food.
Wren: Puzzled look crosses my face.
Dax: So you attack this creature. You’ve basically, essentially, in a way, given it a concussion. And it is, yeah, you’ve knocked it senseless. Okay. So this poor creature, and I say poor only because it’s got two Setbacks that now it won’t use because it can’t make an action, yeah. You’ve gone, the Sciuren again try to assist in combat. [dice rolling sound] Couple of the Sciuren are able to loose some arrows that do strike the wolves, but the wolves don’t really seem bothered by their tiny little pinpricks. Alright. So that means the two NPC Slots. So the one wolf is concussed and therefore cannot actually activate, can’t take any actions.
It is going to, I’ll just say use its Maneuver to shift a little closer toward the Sciuren, but it won’t be able to act. Otherwise, the second wolf-like creature decides yeah, you know what? That tall person has been beating on my friend, that not so tall person has been beating on my other friend. So, what’s an easy target? What’s an easy target? The wolf is going to use its Maneuver to shift around you, Rou, and get in range of the Sciuren. It is actually going to attack the Sciuren.
This one does not have anything going on right now. Since nobody’s been bothering it. [dice rolls] The large wolf creature that has been essentially untouched this entire encounter, lunges into a pile of Sciuren and grabs one of Neru’s companions in its toothy maw, gives a really vigorous shake, and tosses it to the side. And you hear the smallest little whimper as it smacks into the ground and it lays still. We are back at the top of the round with a PC slot.
Kappa: I don’t like that at all. So I’m going to break free of the one that I’m currently Engaged with, Maneuver back towards the one that just dove into the pile of Sciuren. Can I jump on it?
Dax: Okay, so you want to Maneuver around the one you had hit.
Kappa: Mhmm.
Dax: To the one that attacked the Sciuren, is what you’re saying?
Kappa: Yeah.
Dax: Yeah, if you wanna, if you wanna do that, that’s fine. We, yeah.
Kappa: Okay. What am I, what am I rolling?
Dax: Okay. So, are you like using your fists when you jump on this thing? Are you -
Kappa: I’m going to try and do the thing where I take my staff and put it in its mouth and hold on, so that it can’t do the same thing that it just did to anyone else. I’m trying to protect our noble companions.
Dax: Okay. I don’t think that that would be a problem. So I think, why don’t you give me a Brawl check? Cause it’s not really like you’re attacking with the weapon, you are using your bodily force to kind of keep this thing distracted. Just give me a Brawl check.
Kappa: Brawl check.
Dax: Still two purple.
Kappa: Still two purps, okay. [dice rolling sound] Two Successes, two Advantages.
Dax: Alright. Now you weren’t trying to cause damage, you were trying to move it away? I think?
Kappa: Yes.
Dax: Or were you? Okay. So I will say that for those two Successes, we’ll say that you are able to successfully move it back, away from the Sciuren. What would you like to use your Advantages for?
Kappa: I would like to use my advantage to heal a Strain and Desperate Recovery allows me to restore two additional Strain for each one if I’m over half my Strain threshold.
Dax: Sure. Yeah.
Kappa: Bringing me up to full!
Dax: Heck yeah! And you said you had two Advantages, you spent one to do, recover your Strain. Do you want to use the other one to assign a Boost or are you using all your Strain, all your Advantages to recover Strain?
Kappa: Uh, no. I don’t, I don’t need to use all my Advantages. I will Boost, let see…
Wren: One Advantage is the next PC that acts gets a Boost.
Dax: The only reason I didn’t correct Arthas with the last one is because there was really only one PC left to go, so it had to be you.
Kappa: Okay yeah, the next PC will get a Boost then.
Dax: Alright, then the next PC to go gets to have a Boost.
Neil: That would be me, correct?
Dax: If you would like?
Neil: I’m going to hopefully murder this funny little wolf dude. With my club.
Dax: Alright, so now were you going after the one that you kicked off into the next wall?
Neil: Uh, yes. Trying to press the advantage so I don’t, well, lose it.
Dax: Okay. So you’ll have to spend a maneuver to get up close to it. And go ahead and give me your attack.
Dice rolling [33:33]
Neil: My attack says two Successes, three Advantage, and a Triumph.
Dax: Okay. So I will say without the effects of the Triumph, you are going to murder this, this wolf. So knowing that, what would you like to use your Triumph for? You can add a Boost to the next ally that performs, you can add a Setback to the next opponent that’s going to act, or you can gain a plus one defense for the next turn.
Neil: I will give Eight the bonus.
Dax: Okay! So Eight, you’re going to get a Boost. Alright, so Arthas describe what it looks like as you walk up to this creature that has, is essentially prone. How do you finish it off?
Neil: I just sort of bring my club down and try and crumple it. I’m not trying to do it in any fancy or ostentatious way, just like professional courtesy, I guess? And then I’ll just sort of turn and get ready for the next one.
Dax: Kind of like a mercy killing in a way?
Neil: Yeah.
Dax: So there is a wolf that has attacked the Sciuren and is mouth to mouth with Rou. So I am going to say that this creature is going to go next, and it is going to try its best to get loose of the staff. I’m going to say that it’s going to bite its way through. Because you know, why not? It’s got a mouth, why not? So I’m going to have it make an attack roll for that. [dice rolling sound] It is going to actually, Rou, bite right through your staff.
Kappa (as Rou): Oh no, I made this myself!
Dax: And it is going to shake its head very vigorously to try and get the splinters out of its mouth. Then it is going to give you another glare. If you could give me another hard Discipline check please?
Dice rolling [35:24]
Kappa: [laughs] Oh man. Six Successes, one Threat.
Dax: You have that same weird feeling again, but you’re able to shake it off no problem.
Kappa (as Rou): I don’t like that at all.
Dax: [laughs] Do you wanna suffer a Strain with that Threat? Is that okay?
Kappa: Yeah, that’s fine.
Dax: Okay. Alright. NPC just went, so now we have two PCs. Eight, do you want to go before the Sciuren or do you want them to go first?
Wren: I would prefer to go first, if possible? I am going to use my incidental to Scathing Tirade the foe that Rou is on top of and has attacked the Sciuren. And I will just say,
Wren (as Eight): Excuse me! Striking a foe that is much smaller than you is both cowardly and absolutely deplorable. I would wish nothing but a swift sense of justice to come to you.
Wren: And I will make my check real quick. Average Coercion. [dice rolling sound] I have two Success but a Threat. So, it’s going to suffer two Strain and I will suffer whatever you want to assign to me for the Threat.
Dax: Go ahead and take a Strain.
Wren: I’m very worried about this poor Sciuren that has gone limp.
Music shifts back to tense tune [36:45]
Dax: Yeah, I feel that fits.
Wren: My Maneuver is going to be to run to that particular Sciuren’s side. Also note, that creature also has a Setback because of my improved tirade. And, I would like to use my action to pull out my medical kit in preparation for using it next turn on this critter.
Dax: Okay. Alright. The rest of the Sciuren, watching their companion get tossed, now charge at this wolf that you have just “insulted” and they make their attack and it is, you just hear this high pitched,
Dax (as Sciuren): Charge!!!
Dice rolling [37:38]
Dax: Alright. They are now lunging on this thing, they are, two of them are stabbing at its paws, the others are loosing arrows again. It doesn’t really seem too bothered by the arrows, but apparently it does have a problem with the swords. It keeps, like dogs do when you touch their paws, lifting up its feet trying to dodge the attacks. We have one more NPC left to go. This one sees that its companion is currently being attacked and it is going to go after the Sciuren. It is going to apply two Setbacks. [dice rolling sound] Alright, oy. Oy, oy, oy.
Alright, it also is going to lunge in, grab another Sciuren, do a violent shake and toss it to the side. That one also goes limp. We are back at the top of the round. PC slot. You have one wolf that is currently being mobbed by Sciuren and another that is in the fray. They’re both very close to each other. And I know Rou, you were close to this wolf that is being attacked by the Sciuren. That was the one that bit your staff, so.
Kappa: Yeah, I’d like to avenge my staff [chuckles].
Dax: Alright, so you’re going to make a Brawl check.
Kappa: Yeah, I’m going to do that. I’m going to try and do my best to just knock it out. I have to use my fists. [dice rolls] Okay, that’s four Success, two Threat.
Dax: Alright. So for your Threat, do you want to just take a Strain?
Kappa: Sure. Would it also make sense if I took a Wound instead?
Dax: So, Wounds don’t transfer against Strain the way they do for minions and rivals. They’ve got different rules because they don’t have a Strain threshold, so everything is always going to go to wounds with them, even if it’s Strain damage.
Kappa: Okay. The only reason why I bring it up is because I’m getting weirdly close to its teeth.
Dax: You’re getting low.
Kappa: No, no, no, no. I’m not getting low, I’m getting weirdly close to its teeth by trying to knock it out. A hand is getting really close to its mouth when I’m trying to hit its face.
Dax: Fair. Yes. If you want, I’ll say that you, maybe you just narrowly miss the teeth and you end up like punching it in the side of the face. That adrenaline rush of “ho-boy that was close” is what would cause mechanically the Strain. And you narrowly avoid getting a Wound. Alright, still looking pretty good though. I mean, as good as this creature can. So, next PC slot.
Wren: Arthas, I hope you don’t mind. I would love to check these poor little critters to see if they’re still among the living.
Neil: Oh go for it.
Wren: So, I don’t know what Action, Maneuver, however you would like me to check this, but I’m going to basically, I’ve got the medical kit out. But I want to see if I can even use it. So, I’m basically going to check.
Dax: Give, yeah give me a Medicine check. I will say, go ahead and just make it Medium difficulty. Or no, make it Easy difficulty, because you’re just checking vital signs and things like that. You’re not actually trying to heal just yet. So give me a Medicine check, give it to me at Easy.
Wren: What type of.. Maneuver, Action, what is this?
Dax: I will say, considering you’re just checking, in this case we’ll allow it to be a Maneuver since there is no specification. So you can use your Maneuver. You’re just checking pulse and things like that.
Dice rolling [41:14]
Wren: I have three Advantage.
Dax: This Sciuren is gone.
Wren: Okay.
Dax: So you have an Action and you have an Incidental.
Wren: I am going to use my Incidental to look at the creature that I know did this and accost it, as Rou puts it so nicely. I say,
Wren (as Eight): You have snuffed out the life of a creature that has done absolutely nothing to you. And for what? I have no idea. You are a horrible creature. And I wish for nothing more than to see you destroyed.
Dice rolling [41:50]
Wren: Poop. I have a Threat, so I have no Success on this. So I just feel bad about everything I’m doing right now. This creature’s death is weighing hard on my mind, so what I’m going to do is use my Action to activate my Mind Shape ability on this creature. My Heroic Ability. I can have it adopt an emotional state of my choosing, so long as the Heroic ability remains active. So, as I kind of turn and stand and look at this creature, my eyes go from, we’re in combat, so it’s kind of wavering between that violet and red color. It goes to that starry, translucent blue color, which I described in previous scenes with this ability. I just want it to become passive and wait for it to be mercy killed, essentially. This affects one creature within Medium range of me.
Dax: Okay. So you’re targeting that one wolf that started the attacks and has been attacking the Sciuren. Remind me, is there anything that it, it just happens, right?
Wren: Mhmm.
Dax: Like it’s not like it has to do a check to fight it off?
Wren: No. Not unless you want there to be. And then I will say when I activate this ability, and I didn’t bring this up last time I used it because there was no enemies, when I activate this ability and every round it’s active, enemies within Short range of me suffer two Strain.
Dax: Okay. I will say given the nature of these creatures, that I will not use any discretion to make them do a check to fight this. I will say that as you feel the magic take hold of this brain and start to control the emotions, it actually causes a little nausea for you. Not enough to mechanically cause Strain or Setbacks or anything like that, but it is a very slight nauseous feeling. Okay.
Wren: And they all within short range take two Strain.
Dax: The wolf creature that was not the direct recipient of that Mind Shape ability sees, has stopped attacking the Sciuren. It starts to tilt its head to the side, as if it has, picture as if you were to take the head of a doll and you were to tilt it at an odd angle. Like an unnatural twist of the spine. And it turns and looks at you, Eight. It charges at you, but when it does, the movements are unnatural. As if it is more mechanical than organic beast.
Uses its maneuver to get up close to you, and with its final action, is going to lunge at you. It goes to lunge at you but the magic coming into that close range with you and getting in touch with that magic that you’ve put out there, it lunges and then just drops. Right in front of you. And is still. The magic taking what last “living” vestiges it had. We have two PC slots, so that would be Arthas or the Sciuren. So I imagine Arthas, you’d like to go?
Neil: Yep, I’ll use my Maneuver to run up and try to glass this last wolf.
Wren: And I’ll just yell out,
Wren (as Eight): Strike them! Quickly! Finish these vile creatures!
Dax: And it is going to just stand there, it almost has this very blank look on its face. So go ahead and make your attack.
Wren: Is there any change to the difficulty you’d like to impose for being non-responsive.
Dax: Um, no. We’ll still keep the two purple. If you want, you can go ahead and add a Boost, because it’s not like it’s going to have a chance to dodge or anything like that.
Dice rolling [46:01]
Neil: Two Successes and one Triumph.
Dax: So you have a Triumph. So I’ll say, because mathematically all the Successes and everything else that generates with the Triumph that it, you are able to make the final blow on this last wolf. What really cool thing, aside from killing this wolf, do you want to have happen as part of that Triumph?
Neil: I guess I’ll just hit it hard enough that I can just send this thing down the tunnel, like the corpse. If there’s anything else waiting on the other end, that’s what they’ll be getting.
Dax: I’ll say you sideswipe it then and it goes flying down the way that you came, and away from where it first emerged. The four remaining Sciuren, Neru and his three contingents, begin cheering. They’re raising their weapons in the air. After a short cheer, they walk over to you, Eight. They inspect the little body.
Music shifts to melancholy strings [47:04]
Wren: My eyes are shifting to that deep blue color, and my face is twisted downward in a sorrowful visage.
Dax (as Neru): Do not be sad Eight. Is the other one..? Go check.
Wren: And I will comply. I will walk over slowly and check for vital signs on the other Sciuren as well.
Dax: I will say, since we are out of combat, I’m not going to make you make a check for this one. You have unfortunately a similar result, this one is gone. Two of the Sciuren did accompany you. They begin to pose the corpse, in both cases. Neru and one Sciuren, and then the other two. Each of them are taking turns placing weapons on their fallen companions chest and they’re folding their little hands over the weapons. Making sure eyes are closed.
And then they start going around and searching for loose rubble. They basically create a little, like an above ground burial. Once the bodies are fully covered, they bow their heads and you hear them chittering in whatever language they speak. This goes on for a little while. What do the three of you do while the Sciuren are paying their final respects?
Neil: I’m just sort of poking around one of these wolf bodies. I’m a little concerned about them.
Dax: What kind of poking are you doing?
Neil: Not straight up like kid with a stick and I found some roadkill, but a little bit. Because I’m not trying, I’m not trying to put my body anywhere closer to it then it has to be right now, because I’m half convinced it’s going to jump back up and come after me again.
Dax: Alright. I will say anytime you go to nudge the corpse, it does make a sickening squish sound.
Wren: Like it’s been dead for a long time?
Dax: Yep.
Kappa: As Arthas is poking it and checking it, I’m taking the other one and moving it far enough away from our camp, so that it’s not, we can’t like detect it, smell or anything. And then come back and just silently observe the, this custom that they’re enacting. To bury their dead.
Wren: Initially, I would observe what the Sciurens are doing. Upon recognizing that they are collecting debris and rubble upon which to form a rudimentary burial, I will assist them in collecting rocks and stone and dirt. Essentially handing it down or placing it as directed to help expedite the burial.
Dax: After the chittering and their ritual is finished, Neru looks at the three of you and says,
Dax (as Neru): As I said, do not grieve for my companions. They died a warrior’s death. They will receive places of high honor when they get where they’re going. Now, do you believe me when I said do not mention the… the d-word? This is why I said don’t talk about them. Because then they show up.
Wren: I quirk my brows and tilt my head a little bit.
Wren (as Eight): Your people believe in arriving at a destination? And nothing more?
Dax (as Neru): Ehhh, I don’t believe it’s what you might call an afterlife. We’ve heard the merchants talk about living beyond what this mortal realm…offers? It’s not the same, it’s more like going up to an entryway of a hut and then after that, there is nothing. Once you pass through the door, it’s hard to explain. At least in…
Dax: And the Sciuren gestures from their mouth to yours.
Dax (as Neru): In your tongue.
Wren: I fold my hands and give a slight inclination of my head towards the Sciuren.
Wren (as Eight): I hope that your companions arrive swiftly at their spiritual destination, and know that for any part I may have played in causing their demise, in through the merest utterance that summoned these creatures, I will not forget their sacrifice.
Dax: Neru and the other Sciuren nod their head.
Dax (as Neru): Do not feel guilt. It was their time. And they went bravely. That’s all any of us can ask. Now, we need to get camp finished up. Let’s go.
Dax: And they start moving back towards the alcove. And I will say that if there is nothing else that you wanted to accomplish, that that is where we will end this session.
Music fades out [52:49]
Dax: Thanks for listening! We hope you’ll join us next time but in the interim, follow us on Twitter @RoadsUncharted.
The “Roads Uncharted” podcast is GMed and produced by Dax, who you can find on Twitter @GM_Dax. We use the Genesys RPG system published by Fantasy Flight Games, and music licensed by Epidemic Sound.
Arthas, Champion of Offam, is played by Neil.
Eight is played by Wren, who also composed the music for our opening theme. Follow them on Twitter @ThornyDryad.
Rou is played by Kappa, and you can follow him on Twitter @TheKappaChris.