Helvetican Messiah: A Space: 1889 Soldier's Companion Session Summary

You can read the setup for the following engagement in this post.

Major Carnap, valued for his expertise in linguistics as for his military mind, was the officer tasked with travelling with Zug 13 (of Carnap's own 7th Kompanie) to find the lizard shaman attempting to foment rebellion in the northern tribes, formerly in allegiance to Sauvignon-Blanc.

They approached the first village from the south, along a "road" (not much more than a wide cart path, here and there "paved" with flat stones) constructed in an attempt to increase trade with the tribes by the Sauvignon-Blanc government, .

The police force entered the village and encountered much apathy, but no hostility nor sign of the shaman.

Choosing to avoid, for now, a point between the dense jungle to his North East and the village just beyond, Carnap led his men down the westward fork of the road. Unfortunately, this was another prime ambush location and in fact, it turned out to be just that.

A fierce battle ensued, but the well trained Riesling force repelled the attackers.

Carnap noted Feldwebel Hankel's fine accounting of himself in bringing down several of the lizard folk handily. Their numbers reduced, the attackers faded back into the dark shadows of the thick and twisted jungle.

The village to the North West proved to be unfruitful as the first. Rather than return by the road to proceed to the North East village, Carnap led his men across the brush and marsh. As they approached the third and final village, and the likely hiding place of the shaman, the platoon formed line.

This was to be of little help as the ambushing force which had earlier fled, had not done so in fear, but in an effort to regain surprise.

Again the battle was hard fought, and this time, Carnap's patrol was forced to fall back in disorder.

 However, his skill as a commander allowed him to rally his troops, advance and reform into a firing line before the lizards knew what hit them, literally. The lizard folk were shot to pieces before the few survivors disappeared again.

To the surprise of all concerned, the third village was not the hiding place of the shaman. Somewhat confounded, the march back to the fort was ordered. 

As the platoon passed the previously avoided jungle, lizard bowman unleashed a concerted attack.

Whether through the rush and excitement of battle or inability, their arrows were of no consequence and soon Carnap's men pushed the ambushers back.

The shaman present, they continued to press on after the tribesmen. Although the platoon suffered some loss (12.5% of the platoon), they routed the lizard shaman and his surviving warriors.

Because they failed to kill or capture the shaman, this counts as but a minor victory for Riesling. It remains to be told whether or not the shaman can rebuild his force and whether or not his message of revolt will spread among the northern tribes.

In the meantime, Colonel Heidegger (promoted after the final battle against Sauvignon-Blanc and the loss of Colonel Dietrech), back in his HQ at Gutenberg (see map), has received word from Major Kant, of 6th Kompanie, now stationed at the fort at Port Guillaume Le Roy, that some ranchers and farmers in the fertile grounds West of the city have been organizing resistance to Riesling's control of the island.

On top of this, the southern tribes, loyal to Riesling, have been clamoring for control of additional land to the north, at the expense of the northern tribes already there.

Heidegger has his hands full.

***
For those wanting mechanics to appear in the narrative, I will post a follow up on what worked and what didn't. - JY

Weekend Plans : May Change Without Notice

With the weekend fast approaching (but not fast enough  I thought I'd take a minute to lay out my plans.

Earlier in the week, I was set on playing the Martian Messiah scenario tonight, but I really want something more like huts for the buildings in my lizard villages. Some searching of the internet last night gave me a few ideas and so I may spend some time making a few, and play Saturday night.

Plus, I've been on a bit of a painting kick lately. 

I don't know why it took so long to see the virtues of having multiple painting projects going on simultaneously, but I finally gave it a try. I now have GNW 1/72 Sweden, WWII 15mm U.S. Airborne, WWII 1/32 Soviet infantry, and Fantasy 28mm kobolds and goblins all in various stages. 

It really helps break up the monotony of painting identical uniforms, figure after figure.

There will be reading and writing and possibly some watching of movies as well, depending on the time I have.

In the meantime, I look forward to the mail arriving today because I'm getting these:

(It's for, ahem, research for my feudal Japan game)

Preparations for the Return to Helvetica Continue

I played another quick scenario with Soldier's Companion the other night to learn the mechanics and, as hoped, missile armed irregulars can, in fact, make life difficult for imperial troops.

Bolstered by this "discovery", I feel ready to play out the scenario, Martian Messiah, from the rule book, with a few changes to fit my imaginary world and the island of Helvetica.

The setup: A lizard folk shaman has been sowing seeds of rebellion among the northern lizard folk tribes, formerly under Sauvignon -Blanc's rule. Rather than send a punitive expedition to rout out the instigator, the commander of Riesling forces on the island of Helvetica deemed it best to send a small force, a single platoon, led by an officer, with the intent to capture or kill the shaman with as little fanfare as possible. There is the ever growing concern that his message might make its way to the southern tribes and plunge the island into chaos. The clouds of war loom large over the continent, so little support would be forthcoming in the event.

Forces:
Riesling - 1 platoon + 1 officer, 9 figures total., V1 (Veteran, Fieldcraft 1)
Lizard folk - 1 warband (19 figures) split into two 9-figure sub groups +the shaman. (Experienced, Fieldcraft 3)

Of course, since this is the next chapter in a campaign (documented here, scroll down to Battle for Helvetica), I can' simply rush to the table to play.

After all, there are names to look up for the officers and ncos, a map to review, a map to re-do in Hexographer just because, considerations of how/if this will be a one-off or if it will be a prelude to a Featherstone style colonial campaign, etc.

I don't need to do all of this before the lead hits the table, but some of it might impact the "AI" for the lizard folk. So, at the rate I'm going, I hope to be ready to play by the weekend.

Space 1889: Soldier's Companion First Impressions

Actually, 1st impressions may not be wholly accurate.

 I acquired Soldier's Companion (in dead tree) a few years ago, around the same time I acquired some French Foreign Legion and Lizard Men in 15mm. I really wanted the book more for source material / campaign background ideas than for gaming and so, while i read them, it was never with the intent of actually playing the rules, either wargame or as RPG.

But, as part of the Save a Dead Tree project, I decided to spend some time with them and actually use them. 

Last night, I had a chance to break out a half-warband of lizard warriors and a squad of Prussian infantry (aka my imagi-nation of Riesling) to try out the basics of the rules.

[As an aside, it was great seeing these figures again. It has been quite some time since I brought them out last and it was a bit like going home. Victorian Sci-Fi / Darkest Africa type games were some of the first I really invested time in. For a long time, the lizard folk were my largest force]

Wow. It sucks to be irregular infantry armed only with melee weapons.

Initiative is 1d6 for each side, highest score of result + modifiers goes first. As it turns out, regular vs. irregular get a +1 bonus right off the bat. 

Only the winner of initiative does any moving - the loser can defensive fire or participate in any melee it's dragged into, but can't instigate any of its own.

In my first quick setup, the lizard folk were in the open, possibly a charge distance away - they never moved and were shot to pieces. Even with the long range penalty, they dropped like flies. Morale didn't even allow them to flee.

Speaking of morale, it's not entirely clear to me whether or not casualties count on successive morale checks or only in the turn in which they occur. As written, it sounds to me like the latter, which led to the unusual situation of 2 lizard warriors passing morale checks when a comrade was dropped.

For the second setup, I took Mr. Chadwick's advice on playing irregular's from his Designer Notes chapter, and had the lizard folk ambush the Riesling soldiers. By starting hidden, they could automatically steal the initiative.

If I am reading the rules correctly, defensive fire occurs before melee and so charging troops can be shot up at any point along their charge path. The result is that the lizard folk were stopped halfway to their objective, having failed their morale check.

Although it looked like it'd be a repeat of the first test there on out, luck was on the lizard warriors' side and they won the initiative several times - but troops that are "checked" (failed their morale) can't act in the remainder of the turn in which they are checked, or in the entire turn after, so much of those wins were negated.

I think it was in my Intro. to Philosophy class that we talked about two runners, who having run halfway to the finish line, run half of the remaining distance to reach it, and then half of that again, and so on, but never reach the end (because you can split numbers in half infinitely) - obviously physical objects can travel distances, so something is up. 

Anyway, that's how the lizard warriors advanced, never quite making it close enough to contact the European troops. And in the end, they were slaughtered.

I want to try some bow armed irregulars next, because at least they can attack from a distance.

My goal is to play the Martian Messiah scenario from the rule book, reskinned for Helvetica and then go from there for perhaps a mini-campaign.

A Look at My Project List

by jordan clarke

Other than reading a short story by J.S. Le Fanu (The Drunkard's Dream), last night was the first night in awhile where I didn't have any idea what i'd do with the free time afforded to me.

What would help, I thought, is a list of my ongoing projects and the next action (I read Getting Things Done once. The system wasn't for me, but the ideas and vocabulary stuck with me) for each.

So, I grabbed a fresh notebook and jotted down the following in no particular order (some non-hobby projects are listed since they have to be considered too):

• Japantasy RPG - read a Japanese ghost story
• The Ever Expanding Dungeon - 9Q session
• Flames of War - clip U.S. airborne figures from sprues
• Solo RPG Guide - write 500 words
• Zine issue #2 - finish write up of dungeon
• Malifuax - assemble figures
• Pacific Theater WWII - make shell craters
• Eastern Front WWII - finish painting 5 Russians previously started
• European Theater WWII - make 6 more trees
• Great Northern War - paint pants on 1 12 figure unit of Swedes
• Save a Dead Tree - finish reading Dragon #82
• Learn to Draw - draw for 20 minutes
• Certify as MCSA SQL Server 2012 - review topics covered on database test for MTA
• Return to Helvetica w/ Space 1889: Soldier's Companion - read wargame rules from The Soldier's Companion
• Sell Gaming Stuff - take pictures of items
• New Year, New (Social) Game - write Pa Ku's player to find out what they are doing during the next 6 months of game time
• Dungeon crawl for others - schedule next session with my test group

It was then a matter  of picking something based on the time available.

I ended up reading some Japanese ghost stories I found online, the relevant rules from The Soldier's Companion and I finished Dragon #82 (the section on spell research has a d100 list of book names that I will definitely want to use at some point).

Of course, that means new next actions for those projects:

• Japantasy RPG - read a Japanese ghost story (I intend to read most of those in book mentioned)
• Return to Helvetica w/ Space 1889: Soldier's Companion  - walk through a simple scenario to learn rules
• Save a Dead Tree - Read Dragon #86

As my many previous posts on my goals/plans should have taught you, it's unlikely I'll stick to this for long, but for now, I'm going to run with it.

DragonCon 2013: Gaming Pics!

While going through my phone the other day, I realized I hadn't posted the pictures I took as mementos of each game I played at DragonCon. 

So here they are without pomp or fanfare.

The all-important badge

Old School D&D:

My character sheet w/lifelike illustration

Taking "safety in numbers" a bit too far.

Notice that my character is right next to the dragon. I was blinded earlier and proceeded to use the 10' pole to guide me around. Eventually poking a sleeping white dragon.

Malifaux:

My crew of goblins

Things were going better than they looked.

Killing the golem was a bit of an error. It explodes on death, doing some serious damage.

Fate:

Gormon the Goblin Pirate and Failed Mutineer.

A photo-realistic portrait of Gormon.

Dungeon Crawl Classics:

This photo does not do justice to the awesomeness that this session was.

Caverns of the Iron Raven Convent : A MythicGME and Five Room Dungeon Example

For the second attempt combining MythicGME with the Five Room Dungeon, I used the Searchers of the Unknown Rules.

Characters

Dario, Veteran of the Pits of Night P(AC 5, Mv 6, HD 1, Hp 4, #att 1,D 1d8 sword)

Lucio, the Vengeful Blacksmith (Ac 3, Mv 3, hd 1, hp 8 5, #att 1,D 1d10 battle axe)

Antonio, the Executioner of the Windswept Caves (Ac 6, Mv 9, hd 1, hp 5, #att 1, d 1d8 sword, 1d6 bow)

Paolo, the Tailor (Ac 9, Mv 12, hd 1/2, hp 3, #att 1, d 1d6 torch)

This example played out more like I imagined when I first fell upon the idea.

****
Scene 1 - the guardian, chaos 5

Set up: Following legends of a great treasure somewhere in the caves underneath the ruins of the Iron Raven Convent, the party wends their way up into the mountains, up the steep solitary road to reach the former holy site. After kicking around the rubble the party found a trap door into the cave system. Lighting a torch, they descended the narrow stairs into cool, damp caves. After 50' the party reached a landing and found themselves in a 30’ diameter circular cavern [roll event meaning and subject for contents Vengeance Misfortune] standing before a 10’ tall crystal statue of the Raven God himself (living statue).

Roll to see if scene stays as is: 3, altered scene

Altered scene: The statue is not a living statue, but there are no clear exists from the cavern.

To the party’s dismay, no passages extended from the cavern.

“There must be a secret door here somewhere, check the walls of the cavern!” ordered Lucio, the group’s de facto leader.

[Rolled level + 4 for each party member. Dario scores a success to find one, IF one is there. Is there a secret door in the wall of the cavern? 50/50 23, yes. ]

“Over here!” called Dario. He had found the seam around what was clearly a secret door.

[Is the mechanism for the door in the wall? 50/50, 03, exceptional yes. ]

Checking carefully, Dario noticed an odd shaped stone protruding just a bit more than it should have from the cavern wall. He pressed and pulled on it and, sure enough, the door slid back.

Scene 2 - Role playing or puzzle, Chaos 5

Set up: After advancing carefully down a twisting tunnel, the party emerged into a grand cavern. Rays of sunlight slipped through a grate high above their heads and danced on the surface of shallow pools - most likely rainwater that entered by the same means. [Gratify Mundane]. Another statue of the raven god, this time in obsidian with large dark red gems inset for its eyes, stood tall along the south wall. As the party moved into the cavern, it crowed“What gifts do you travelers seek?”

Does this setup keep?  9, yes.

Lucio piped up, “We seek the treasures of the Iron Raven Convent!”

[Use subject + meaning for dialog: excitement anger]

“Caw! Seek and you have found! But first you must make the proper offering!”

“And what is the proper offering?”

[Using MythicGME subject action: Attach goal]

“Caw! Write your goal upon parchment or ribbon and burn it in the brazier at my feet, offering a prayer to the Lord Raven!”

As only Paolo could write, the party had him scribe their goal of the treasure onto a scrap of parchment, and burned it per the statue’s instructions.

[Does the statue fulfill their wish? Very Unlikely 53. No]

The statue began to vibrate, which turned into full blown shake, rocking on its dais. Steam poured out from a vent upon which the dais sat, temporarily blinding the party. When it finished, a small wooden egg lay on the floor.

Lucio picked it up cautiously and opened it, inside on a strip of paper were the words

TRIUMPH ENVIRONMENT PROPOSE AMBUSH (generated with two rules on subject + action tables)

“Lousy circus trick” muttered Lucio.

Dario, however, thought there might be more to it.

Scene 3 - Red Herring Chaos = 5

[How to play this? Obviously, If I know it is a red herring, then it's not really a red herring. I decide to play out whatever scene results and THEN check to see if it's a red herring or not]

Setup : Ahead the passage forked, from the left a cool damp breeze blew, flickering their torches, to the right nothing but silence and darkness.

Play as is? 8 yes.

“My guess” said Antonio, is that the left will take us out of the caves. The wind is blowing in from outside.”

“Then we go right?” asked Lucio.

The party agreed.

Scene 4 - Red Herring or Big Battle, Chaos = 5

Setup: They couldn't be sure, but it felt more than once that the tunnel had sloped downwards several times. Indeed, the silence had grown more profound as they proceeded. 

After nearly an hour, and several discussions about turning back, the party found themselves before the mouth of a large cavern. Inside they crept, carefully, their eyes scanning everything within torchlight, hoping there was nothing beyond. The ground was soft red sand that gave slightly with each step. Littered about their feet they saw bits of bone here and there.

Finally, they came to a mountain of skulls piled some 20’ high. Within each skull opals, rubies, garnets, pearls and more filled the otherwise empty eye sockets. Suddenly, the pile rumbled, skulls sliding and tumbling to the sand below and climbing from within, a giant skeleton-like abomination with 6 arms with 2 swords and a spear, and the head of large bull. From no visible means, the beast let out an unholy cry, an obvious challenge to the party.

does this setup hold? 3, altered. is the skull pile an illusion?Exceptional yes.

Altered Setup: They couldn't be sure but it felt more than once that the tunnel had sloped downwards several times. Indeed, the silence had grown more profound as they proceeded.

After nearly an hour, and several discussions about turning back, the party found themselves before the mouth of a large cavern. Inside they crept, carefully, their eyes scanning everything within torchlight, hoping there was nothing beyond. The ground was soft red sand that gave slightly with each step. Littered about their feet they saw bits of bone here and there.

Finally, they came to a mountain of skulls piled some 20’ high. Within each skull opals, rubies, garnets, pearls and more filled the otherwise empty eye sockets. Suddenly, a blood curdling and unholy cry echoed throughout the cavern. To the party’s surprise, charging straight towards them, as if it materialized in front of the skull pile,came a giant skeleton-like abomination with 6 arms with 2 swords and a spear, and the head of large bull.

Check initiative

bone golem attack 1 : 9

bone golem attack 2: 10

bone golem attack 3: 7

Dario: 7

Antonio: 10

Lucio: 5  

Paolo: 13

Paolo took off running - bringing the torch with him Antonio chased after him.

The Golem attacked (1-2 Dario, 3-4 Antonio, 5-6 Lucio) Antonio as he turns to run - 19 Antonio ac is 6 + 8 for golem level, miss

The golem atttacked again - 1-3 dario 4-6 Lucio , Dario. 5+8 =13, roll 15, miss

Dario turned to run, but the golem got in its attack - 1-3 dario 4-6 lucio , lucio. 3+8 = 11, roll 17, miss

Lucio also takes off running too (he only moves 10’ since he's in plate)

Antonio and Paolo made it to the cavern’s exit, Dario is 10’ behind them and Lucio, 10’ behind him, is closest to golem.

Initiative:

Golem1 : 7

Golem2 : 10

Golem 3 : 7

Dario : 10

Antonio: 12

Lucio: 10

Paolo : 15

Paolo made it out of the cavern into the tunnel. The light of his torch now only barely lit the last 20’ of the cavern.  Antonio follows close behind

Lucio/Dario/Golem - 1-3 = Lucio 4-6 = Dario, 4. 5 + 8 = 13, roll = 15, miss. 

Dario just made it out of the cavern, but Lucio still had 10’ to go. and he has to run

passed the golem, which had passed him to attack Dario.

Golem attacks: 3+8 = 11, 15, miss. 1 hit!  spear 1d6, 3 HP damage

Initiative:

Golem 1 3

Golem 2 7

Golem 3 3

Dario 11

Lucio 9

Antonio 16

Paolo 12

Antonio ran to stop Paolo from running further. Dario almost caught them and Lucio made it into the tunnel.

Is the tunnel tall enough for the golem? Unlikely.  33. Yes. Random event, 83, ambiguous event, Adjourn A representative

The golem crashed after the party, but at the tunnel, clearly tall enough to allow it to enter, it stopped, pointed its spear at the party and unleashed a boot-quaking roar, before turning back into the cavern.

[due to the illusion, i decide that this was indeed the red herring, the other tunnel is the one we should have taken]

Scene 5: Big Battle Chaos = 6

Setup: Having returned to the fork in the tunnel, the party ventured towards the source of the breeze. The tunnel plunged them downward and then up and up until finally the found themselves approaching another cavern. 

In the opposite wall, a cave mouth revealed a bright sunlit sky. 12 sarcophagi adorned with the sign of the Iron Crow lay arranged in clock positions around a magic circle inscribed on the ground. The party quickly noted that two of the sarcophagi were open; two ghouls crept from the shadows.

setup stick? 4. No. Interupt. NPC action. Punish the Intellectual

Interrupted scene: Having returned to the fork in the tunnel, the party ventured towards the source of the breeze. The tunnel plunged them downward and then up - In their haste, they failed to detect a pressure plate which triggered a trap door beneath (1-dario 2 - lucio 3 antiono 4 - paolo, 5-6 reroll, 1) Dario; he fell to the bottom of a 10’deep pit. Fortunately, he suffered only minor injury (1HP)

Scene 6 - BIg Battle, Chaos = 7

[I decided to try the same setup again. is it in the spirit of the rules? i’m not sure. I decided I would take out the ghouls and I would try again. The possiblity still exists that the scene will be altered or interrupted, and in fact, it’s a greater chance, since the Chaos Factor increased.]

Setup: Having returned to the fork in the tunnel, the party ventures towards the source of the breeze. The tunnel plunges them downward and then up and up until finally the find themselves approaching another cavern. In the opposite wall, a cave mouth reveals sunlight and sky outside. 12 sarcophagi adorned with the sign of the Iron Raven arranged in clock positions around a magic circle inscribed on the ground. The party found that two of the sarcophagi were open.

Does it stick? 8. Yes!

The party moved carefully to the first open sarcophagus.

[Is anything inside? 50/50 02 exceptional yes.  is it a monster? 50/50 61 yes. I used the a d3 to determine how many hd the monster will have and get 3. I then rolled on the appropriate level table in the Labyrinth Lord rule book ]

As the party peered inside, they were met with the site of a skeleton, buried in what what appears to be wet stone.

[does the grey ooze strike? 1-3 yes, 4-6 no 1]

Without warning, a snake like mass of the stuff strikes out at the party.

Who is closest? 1-2 Dario 3-4 Lucio 5-6 Antonio 7-8 Paolo. 1 Dario.

The grey ooze smashed into Dario (for 15 points of damage.) The force crushed his rib cage and pierced his heart, he died instantly.

Initiative! grey ooze = 10
Lucio = 4
antonio = 11
paolo = 18

Paolo opted to fall back away from the strange creature while Antonio smashes at it with his sword. (1+1= 2 which is well less than the ac of 8). He hits (for 8 points) of damage but the abomination still lives.

it attacks = 1-3 Lucio 4-6 antonio 5, Antonio. Antonio has an ac of 6, the ooze needs 6 + 3 (its level), and gets a 10! miss!

Lucio brought down the power of his battle axe (2+1 is under the 8 needed but does 1 little point of damage); it barely noticed. 

Initiative: ooze = 11
antonio = 16
Lucio = 10

Antonio attacks again. (1+1! hits! again for 8!) The thing ceased movement and begins to immediately dry out and crackle into dust.

The party checked on Dario and realized he was done in. They built a funeral pyre for him, but first they couldn't help checking the other open box.

Is there anything inside? 50/50 20. yes.
is it a monster? 50/50. 90 no.

Inside the other chest, [is it treasure? 01 exceptional yes. is the treasure’s guardian nearby? 50/50 no] and the party finds a bounty inside: 700 sp, 30 gp, 1 gem, 3 pieces of jewlery . They estimate the gem is worth 10 gp, 1 jewlery is 600 gp, 1 jewlery at 800 gp, 1 is 400 gp. A nice haul albeit at the loss of their friend.

Greed set in and they couldn't let the others go unchecked.

Do they find anything else?50/50 78, no.

While Lucio and Antonio explored the mouth of the cave, Paolo began gathering materials for a funeral pyre, although not before helping himself to Dario’s sword.

Scene 7 Twist/Conclusion Chaos = 7

set up: As the flames burn their friend’s body, Lucio and Antonio peer out into the sunlight to find themselves high above a lush green valley surrounded on all sides mountains, with no obvious passage through. The glint of sunlight off a large gold dome atop a brilliant white structure captures their attention. They turn and tell Paolo to hurry with the ropes and spikes.

stay as is? 8. yes!

Infiltrate the Orc Outpost : A MythicGME + Five Room Dungeon Example

So, here's my first attempt at using MythicGME for a dungeon crawl-like experience. Microlite20 provided the character generation, combat, and other game related rules.

I've pretty much just copied my notes, with minor editing, to make it clearer and easier to follow.

****
Scene 1 - Guardian. Chaos = 5

Setup: Orcs have been raiding a small village on the fringe of civilization. The townsfolk are terrified and unable to stop them. They seek out the help of the nearest garrison of the kingdom. Artemis Prime, a scout for the garrison, has been sent to ascertain the orc force strengths. Artemis has tracked the orcs to their lair, an abandoned mining complex in the hills about 3 miles from the village. He sees two rather brutish orcs standing guard at the mine’s entrance.

Modify setup? Roll 1d10. Result: 4. Interupt. PC Negative. Take Enemies. No ideas, roll again. Spy Peace.

Interrupted scene: Orcs have been raiding a small village on the fringe of civilization. The townsfolk are terrified and unable to stop them. They seek out the help of the nearest garrison of the kingdom. Artemis Prime, a scout for the garrison, has been sent to ascertain the orc force strengths. While tracking the orcs to their lair, Artemis hears the tell tale snap of twigs of someone following him.

Is it an orc? 50/50. 24. Yes.

A javelin whistles through the air (roll for Orc to hit, 4 + 3 , miss) but it sails past Artemis.

Artemis quickly scans the forest for his attacker (DC10 - because i don't understand how to assign these yet, Knowledge = +2 + Mind +1, roll 4 +3 = 7, nope.) but is unable to see him.

The orc charges out of his hiding place, spiked club in hand.

Initiative: Orc 16, Artemis 6

The orc closes quickly and swings for Artemis (18+4 = 22 hit. For 9 points of damage! )The rogue staggers, he swings his sword, but blood seeping into his eye makes it difficult to see. (Roll 10, + STR bonus +1 = 11, Orc has AC 13)

Initiative: Orc 11 Artemis 18

Artemis swings again and this time his blade strikes home (13 + 1 = 14. He does 6 HP of damage, the Orc has 3 HP and is struck dead). Artemis quickly examines the body for anything that will help his cause.

Does the orc have anything on him that reveals a way into the orc hideout? Unlikely. 51. No.

Artemis drags the body into an old hollowed out tree trunk to hide it from any of his orc cronies who might be about, and resumes tracking the orcs.

Does it lead to the old mine? 50/50. Yes. 33, random event  PC Negative, Ambush Illness (i rolled 3x to get something that i could interpret)

Artemis follows the trail through the woods and sees that he is approaching an old mine that had been abandoned some time ago.  Unfortunately for him, the wound from the orc’s weapon had become rapidly infected, a sudden fever causes his knees to buckle. (I decide this will be filth fever but faster acting, -2 to dex and -3 to str. it will last 1d3 days. Fortunately, i roll one day).

Unable to continue, Artemis hauls himself up into a tree and lashes himself to the trunk in case he might fall, bathes his wounds, drinks and eats and then passes out

NPCs = village townsfolk, garrison, orcs

Threads = determine orc force strength

Scene 2 -  The Mine Entrance = Chaos 6

Setup: After a rough night and morning, Artemis resumes his task and gets within site of the mine entrance.  Two brutish orcs stand guard. 

(roll 1d10, 10, stands as written)

Artemis needs to take out the orcs before they can raise the alarm and he decides to draw them out - he builds a small fire and quickly disappears into the brush, hoping the orcs will take the bait.

Does one of the orcs investigate the smoke? Likely. 47. Yes.

One of the orcs makes his way into the woods towards the smoke, as he passes by Artemis, Artemis leaps out to plant his sword in the brutes back (subterfuge DC 20, rolled a 12) Unfortunately, as he rose up, a dead branch snapped beneath his foot, alerting the orc to his presence (what goes around comes around!)

Initiative: artemis 14 orc 4

Artemis swings ( 17 + 1 = 18, hits for 4 hp damage) and his sword makes contact, but the orc is still standing .

does the orc shout out for his compatriot? Likely. 3. Extreme yes.

The injured orc bellows something that Artemis does not understand, but judging by the ruckus from the direction of the mine, it isn't good.

The orc swings (3+4 and misses) but is off the mark.

Initiative: artemis 17 orc 1

Artemis has no time for this and swings again( 18 + hits,  for 6 HP) , the sword pierces something vital and the orc is dropped

Has the fire gotten out of control? 50/50 39, yes.

To Aretmis’s surprise the small fire began to spread. The other orc guard was fast approaching and it sounded like he had friends not far behind.

Artemis scrambled for cover - intent to let the orcs pass him by.

DC20  17 , fail.

A javelin whirs through the air, striking him in the shoulder ( 3 hp damage) as he did so . 

"This was a fools errand!" he thought. Had he been setup? 

His heart pounded in his ears as he ran.

initiative: Areimeis : 21 orc 14

is there a creek or river nearby? 50/50 10 yes.

He sprints towards the creek, hoping to lose the orcs there -

Outrun the Orc? contest. Physical + Dex. Artemis = 20 + 4, orc 3+3 = 6.
Artemis is easily able to out distance the orc who will have to resort to tracking in order to find him.

Is Artemis able to get to the creek? 50/50, 37, yes.

After reaching the creek , his movement covered by the sound of the rushing water, he wades in and quickly makes his way downstream towards the village .

NPCs = village townsfolk, garrison, orcs

Threads = determine orc force strength, raging fire in forest, was this a setup?