Lord Duels and How They Work
Xantalos
Turtle-Speed Writing
Welcome, one and all, to the exciting world of Lord Duels! This is Warhammer, faction heroes clashing is kind of an important aspect of the setting, and while I've definitely showcased this to greater and lesser degrees before (just off the top of my head, see Queek v Grimgor v Skrag v Zhatan, Valten v ...Beastlord Guy, Ragefang v Myrmidia, Snikch v Myrmidia, Veskit v Myrmidia), I've never actually handed control of the battles themselves to you the players before. This was primarily for two reasons - I wasn't sure how to really run such battles in a way that'd be fair, and I was concerned that I might delay the pace of the game with such events.
Yeah, it sounds funny to me too.
Anyhow, both those worries have been dissipated over the last ... probably year or so I've been considering doing this, and this initial Thanquol duel will serve as a bit of proof of concept. So let's get down into how these things work.
In this situation, you've been cornered by threenazgul ripoffs evil non-copyrighted dark undead wizards, and a bunch of information to go with that. Most of it is fairly comprehensible, but I'll review them regardless:
Opponents describes your foe or foes. If you have any specific questions about them, ask away. Equipment is what you have on hand so that it isn't necessary to click back to the character/hero sheet to get an idea of what you can do. Again, if you've any specific questions, I'm happy to answer. Terrain describes the general shape of your battlefield. Right now it's fairly general since you're in a spot where not much is around you, but if you're in a place with more obstacles and such around it'll give you info. Ask for specifics if you need them.
The length of one of these boss fights is roughly ... three posts at most, longer or shorter depending on the situation. Whether you choose to fight, flee, or try to bargain or somesuch, try to note that - the details of whatever plan you come up with shouldn't stretch on past the next few minutes or so, but neither should they be so narrow as to try to determine individual moves or anything. Spells and the like are fine, but don't be saying something like 'punch him, then kick him, then eat him, then...' etc. If you've ever read @Tricia's Anderson Quest, plans along those lines are what I'm looking for as far as combat goes. Shameless plug because that's where I got the idea for this from.
Hmm. Perhaps an example plan would be a good idea. Suppose in this hypothetical instance we center around Drazhoath fighting a Khornate chaos lord named ... Kris atop the roof of a castle Drazhoath is defending. A plan by the players might look something like this:
While this will vary from fight to fight, I'd like plans to not extend much longer than three or four points, or at least so they don't try to cover every possible contingency - rather, give a suggested course of action and I'll handle what happens if it goes off the rails. The above plan would probably work out as Drazhoath throwing up an ash cloud to blind Kris, getting in behind him and getting one or two hits at his knees before Kris gets pissed at such dishonorable combat and whacks him across the roof. Seeing as beating a Khornate in melee isn't working out for him, Drazhoath instead baits Kris into charging again and then sidesteps and fus ro dahs him off the roof with Hell Hammer. This ends the duel, though it doesn't kill Kris, who lands on his face in the castle courtyard and builds a small pyramid of stormvermin corpses before succumbing to the mook wave.
Oh, you'll probably want to give Thanquol's character sheet a looksee - I revised it to be easier to read and have less numbers. Again, if you've any questions about specifics, please ask - if you've followed this quest for any length of time you know I'm in no hurry about this.
Yeah, it sounds funny to me too.
Anyhow, both those worries have been dissipated over the last ... probably year or so I've been considering doing this, and this initial Thanquol duel will serve as a bit of proof of concept. So let's get down into how these things work.
In this situation, you've been cornered by three
Opponents describes your foe or foes. If you have any specific questions about them, ask away. Equipment is what you have on hand so that it isn't necessary to click back to the character/hero sheet to get an idea of what you can do. Again, if you've any specific questions, I'm happy to answer. Terrain describes the general shape of your battlefield. Right now it's fairly general since you're in a spot where not much is around you, but if you're in a place with more obstacles and such around it'll give you info. Ask for specifics if you need them.
The length of one of these boss fights is roughly ... three posts at most, longer or shorter depending on the situation. Whether you choose to fight, flee, or try to bargain or somesuch, try to note that - the details of whatever plan you come up with shouldn't stretch on past the next few minutes or so, but neither should they be so narrow as to try to determine individual moves or anything. Spells and the like are fine, but don't be saying something like 'punch him, then kick him, then eat him, then...' etc. If you've ever read @Tricia's Anderson Quest, plans along those lines are what I'm looking for as far as combat goes. Shameless plug because that's where I got the idea for this from.
Hmm. Perhaps an example plan would be a good idea. Suppose in this hypothetical instance we center around Drazhoath fighting a Khornate chaos lord named ... Kris atop the roof of a castle Drazhoath is defending. A plan by the players might look something like this:
While this will vary from fight to fight, I'd like plans to not extend much longer than three or four points, or at least so they don't try to cover every possible contingency - rather, give a suggested course of action and I'll handle what happens if it goes off the rails. The above plan would probably work out as Drazhoath throwing up an ash cloud to blind Kris, getting in behind him and getting one or two hits at his knees before Kris gets pissed at such dishonorable combat and whacks him across the roof. Seeing as beating a Khornate in melee isn't working out for him, Drazhoath instead baits Kris into charging again and then sidesteps and fus ro dahs him off the roof with Hell Hammer. This ends the duel, though it doesn't kill Kris, who lands on his face in the castle courtyard and builds a small pyramid of stormvermin corpses before succumbing to the mook wave.
Oh, you'll probably want to give Thanquol's character sheet a looksee - I revised it to be easier to read and have less numbers. Again, if you've any questions about specifics, please ask - if you've followed this quest for any length of time you know I'm in no hurry about this.
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