[X] Dagger-axe
[X]"I agree with Fred. Let's go back and report what we saw."
The dagger-axe is a polearm with no thrusting point (according to Wikipedia, the blade is perpendicular to the shaft so you have to swing it), so I'm not really sure what this weapon would be classified as mechanically. I also may have been playing Oriental Empires way too much.
"Let's go catch some bandits.", you said. While Fred's wariness had a decent backing, the enemies were some plain old bandits. You've handled fighting against rebellious punks before, and you passed all the mock battles you've gone to so far - surely, fending off these bandits will just be a breeze.
"Alright!", August cheered.
"We'll follow your lead, Calvin.", Ruth said. Fred nodded silently.
And so, you stepped forward and began your march, heading towards the area where you last saw the bandits. Of course, you weren't able to catch them that easily, but with the aid of your new allies, you managed to find out clues that helped your group follow the footsteps of the fleeing bandits - heading deeper and deeper into the grove. By remaining alert while giving chase, your persistence eventually bore fruit.
You have managed to locate what appears to be the bandits' hideout. From the looks of it, the place isn't abandoned - several tents are still standing, various unopened crates and barrels were left lying around, as well as several cups containing some warm liquor. The bandits must have been staying hidden here for a while, and plans to keep it that way. They must be trying to mislead the other troops from Camp Acris as the four of you scoped out the settlement.
In the middle of your inspection, August called out to the rest of you. Apparently, he has found some papers bearing the Grawenian crest. He began to read out loud the contents of one of the papers, to convey the message to the rest of the group - revealing that this group of bandits have been working as informants for a Grawenian advance troop that will be arriving a few weeks from now. They have been raiding various locations to figure out the weaknesses of certain key structures, strongholds. From what you can tell, this seems like a big deal, and that you were lucky enough to get a hold of such information.
The only thing left is getting such information back to the people who have the power to do something about it. While it was not a problem that you were deep in the groves, you still remembered your way back and it shouldn't take you long to return to Camp Acris. However, the moment that your group decided to bring back the information, a hindrance has appeared upon your path - several bandits, who appeared more akin to soldiers rather than the regular bandits, have caught you shuffling around in their settlement.
"Looks like we got some rats prying about.", one of the bandits said, chuckling as he drew out his weapon. "You kids seem decent but..."
The rest of the bandit brought out their weapons as well, and began to step forward, slowly approaching your group - who were taking steps back as precaution for the coming conflict.
"...pesky pests shouldn't be left alive."
As your group continued to move back, you eventually was forced to halt. The ground was running out and it would only take a few more steps before all of you fall down from the ledge.
"They don't seem to be that coordinated. We can handle them. ", August whispered to you, with a tight grip on his sword. "Just give me the go sign and I'll start it."
"There's too many of them. And they look used to fighting.", Fred commented. "We should flee. The fall from the ledge doesn't look to deep, we could get away with a few bruises."
"This might sound weird.", Ruth said. "But maybe we can negotiate with them? We've got the info in our minds, and they probably just want the papers."
"That's not gonna happen.", August and Fred spoke in unison.
Step.
August looked at you, waiting for a signal.
Step.
"Calvin.", Fred said.
Step.
"We won't know until we try, guys.", Ruth whispered.
Step.
The sound of soil and rock falling off was faintly heard from behind. This is your fault, you got swayed by August's eagerness and confidence, and now the four of you have been placed in an unwanted predicament. But unlike the tragedy at Larton, you still can do something about this. You just need to figure out exactly what it is that you should do, though you don't have much time to do so.
Step.
You've decided.
[] Give August the signal. Fight off the bandits! It's time to show them the might of the Empire.
[] Follow Fred's advice. Tell everyone to jump and hope Fred's assumptions don't cost you.
[] Go with Ruth's idea. If you play it right, you might just be able to get out of this with just an exchange of words.
Man if this guys are scouts or intelligence officers we are in deep now. Also if Fred is correct this guys are already veterans or at least experienced and we just finished training. How many are them.
[X] Give August the signal. Fight off the bandits! It's time to show them the might of the Empire.
...If Fred's right, wouldn't the bandits be able to jump too? I'm not sure that changes things besides maybe everyone starting the battle with a small hit to HP. The whole situation does seem really weird though with the timing of their arrival. It screams trap but I'm not sure that lines up with leaving the orders lying around. Unless they're fake but I think I'm getting too paranoid at that point.
Following Fred's advice you decided that the best way out of this situation was to flee. With the safer way blocked by the bandits, you had to opt for a riskier path. You told you team to jump off the ledge and you ran and hopped, letting your body be under the mercy of gravity. Fred quickly followed, but the other two took some delay, especially August who had a rather confused look on his face.
"Fred better be right about this, or else.", you thought to yourself as you fell.
After a few seconds, you found yourself being flung around like a rag doll as you collided with some branches and leaves that softened your eventual landing. Once you were on the ground, you immediately stood up. There were some slight bruises and grazes on your body, but nothing that wouldn't heal up after a good day's rest.
It seems that Fred's assessment of the fall was right, but that also meant the bandits could jump down to try and catch up to you. With that in mind, you searched for your allies - which didn't take long, despite having landing on different spots. After you have all been gathered you told them about what you were thinking - causing an argument to spark between August, who wanted to fight, and Fred, who wanted to flee.
"Enough!", you intervened. "You can blame this on me, but for now, we need to find a way out, or at the very least a place where we can hide."
The two fell silent as they looked at the surroundings, unable to find a suitable place. Ruth, however, spotted something in the distant horizon as you were all moving.
"What about that?", she pointed to a structure from afar.
Fred stepped up, trying to get a better look of what Ruth saw. "That looks like an old fort."
"That's the only place we can probably hide.", Ruth added. "I don't see any other good spots."
The sounds of leaves rustling and rocks falling echoed from a distance behind the four of you. August took a quick glance of the ledge where you all jumped off, and reported that the bandits were indeed jumping down to chase you.
"We have no other choice, then.", you said. "Let's go before they can catch up."
This is a battle map - it depicts the locations of the characters (both ally and enemy), as well as the terrain of the battlefield (whether there are bodies of water, forests, and other forms of terrains, as well as structures). Akin to the games, battles will have different goals for victory - some requiring the defeat of a specific enemy, reaching a certain location, lasting a certain number of terms, etc. Of course, it is not needed to be said that if Calvin is defeated, it will result in a game over.
Forest terrains (e.g. Tile F1) are the tiles with trees. When a unit is attacked in a forest tile, the attacker gets penalized with a -1 to hit.
River terrains (e.g. Tile B2) are obviously the ones with blue waters going through them. They have the same effect as a forrest tile.
Hill terrains (e.g. Tile C4) are the tiles with green mounds. When a unit is attacked in a hill tile, the attacker gets penalized with a -1 to hit and a 5% damage reduction. Traversing through hill tiles would require an extra movement point, which in this case, would mean that it'd take a turn to go through a hill tile.
Mountain terrains (e.g. Tile C9) are the tiles with green mounds. They have the same penalties as a hill tile, but they require two more movement points to traverse through - which means that it would take two turns to go through a mountain tile.
Regular terrain are tiles with no effect, usually being depicted as the floor to a house, various plains and roads.
Structure terrain (e.g G11) are tiles where a structure is located. They have varying effects based on the type of the structure. In this case, the fort penalizes an attacker targeting a unit in its tile with a -1 to hit and -10% damage reduction, along with granting the unit in its tile with a 1% HP regeneration (rounded up) at the start of the unit's turn.
To move you simply need to post in the following format.
[x] Unit name
- [x] Move: [Tile X] to [Tile X]
example
[X] Leo
- [X] Move: [A1] to [A2]
Since Calvin has [Charisma I], you can command allied units that are within two tiles of Calvin. Commanding them is similar to how you would command Calvin. However, once they are no longer within two tiles of Calvin at the start of the turn, they will act out as they intend to - akin to NPCs.
Objective: Calvin must reach the fort.
Let's start with the basics. Act out your movement for the first turn. VOTE BY PLAN.
...Mechanically, all it would take to 'win' would be for Calvin to reach the fort.
So why wouldn't I split it so the other three would use the fallen tree as a chokepoint distraction while Calvin gets to safety? I still win the map don't I?
I guess what I am getting at is, would there be narrative effects for just leaving the other three even if they don't die in game? Is this going to be more like Thracia776 where units that don't escape are captured? or the later games, where the only thing necessary is to achieve the objective.
...Mechanically, all it would take to 'win' would be for Calvin to reach the fort.
So why wouldn't I split it so the other three would use the fallen tree as a chokepoint distraction while Calvin gets to safety? I still win the map don't I?
I guess what I am getting at is, would there be narrative effects for just leaving the other three even if they don't die in game? Is this going to be more like Thracia776 where units that don't escape are captured? or the later games, where the only thing necessary is to achieve the objective.
For now, it'll be the latter - as long as Calvin gets to the fort, everything is all good. Of course, if any of the other three die, that's going to hold true narrative-wise.
Think of this map as some sort of a tutorial. A way to test the mechanics, one could say.
[X] Beginning March
-[X] Fred
--[X] Move: [D1] to [D4]
-[X] Ruth
--[X] Move: [D2] to [D5]
-[X] August
--[X] Move: [E1] to [E4]
-[X] Calvin
--[X] Move: [E2] to [E5]
Getting moving towards the fort, and setting up a formation should we be attacked from the west. And keeps everyone in range should we need to issue orders next turn.
Forests have no movement penalties, but the base movement for a unit without any attribute is three - that is, three in any cardinal and two in non-cardinal directions.
Article:
Movement - All characters have a base movement value of three (3), which allows them to move three (3) tiles on any of the cardinal directions, or two (2) tiles on non-cardinal movements. Some skills, items, weapon/spell effects and attributes may increase or decrease a character's movement value. A character can move once per turn.
I'm paranoid about reinforcements other than our immediate pursuers but they could literally come from any direction given our lack of intel so it's not worth stressing over. I was tempted to try and use the chokepoint at G4 as our path by going SE Turn 1 but that Hill at F4 kind of ruins it because it would disrupt the formation. so I think the simple strategy of just having everyone go east at max movement is the best call here.
Given our apparent lead on our pursuers given we're the only ones even present on the map at the moment I'm going to assume they spawn in at G1 and can similarly rush east to force a skirmish just before the Fort so we get a tutorial battle on Turn 2 or 3. Otherwise, unless they have movement bonuses we'd just out run them for a (too easy) win.
