The Lands of the River - A Bronze Souls Quest

[MissBegot]

[x] Use wards to try and hold them back, and reposition so they both have to come at us from the same direction to prevent being flanked.​

[x] Cast Star's Call on the one near the door.​

{Wards: Success}​

{Incantation: Partial, +1XP}​

With your shield hand, you draw a small amulet of Shud from the folds of your robes and brandish it, making the sign of peace as you back away; the Brazen Lion coils to pounce but baulks at the gesture, landing short. You spit an incantation, scorching its snout with starlight for the attempt, though the mote bursts upon the copper fur.

Behind you, Semat invokes her right of passage as a priest of the temple in a low, fierce voice, and jabs at the other lion with her spear. Her would-be assailant backs off cautiously, yielding its side of the bridge to her. Covering each other, you pace back past the elaborate reliefs along the bridge, one lion retreating before, one stalking after, bright sunlight gleaming off their metallic bodies.

Resolve
╞══════════════════╡20/20
Focus
╞══════════════════╡18/20
Semat, Inundation Priest
╞════════╡╞════════╡​

Brazen Lions of Satat-Mehet
╞════════╡╞════════╡​

The rearmost lion's tactical retreat has preserved their flanking position, but you have pushed back to the end of the bridge nearest the entrance.
[ ] Write in an Action & Reaction.
The lions remain Close on either side, the courtyard opens out at Short range, with the colonnade and the entrance to the hypostyle hall at Medium.

 

[MissBegot]

Some much-needed reference material! As with the character sheet, I'll update this as necessary with any changes as we go. Big thanks to @open_sketch for helping write this while my hand pain is bad.

Rolls
Rolls are d100; if you roll equal to or under the relevant Attribute, it's a Partial Success; if you also roll equal to or under your relevant Skill, it's a Full Success.
Actions like attacks and spells frequently have different values separated by slashes; these indicate effects or costs on a Failure/Partial/Success.

Combat
Combat takes place in turns. Each turn, you get:

• An Action
• A Reaction
• A Move

In some rare circumstances, you may be given a chance to trade one of these options for another.

Both you and your enemies work the same way within this structure. Enemies will have a health pool, a fixed selection of attacks, and potentially vulnerabilities, damage resistances, strengths, and unique special rules. You must discover this information by fighting them, but once you learn it, you can rely on that information going forward.

Actions
You can take one of the following Actions each combat turn:

• Attack with Weapon: Uses a weapon to deal damage. Each weapon has unique rules and tags, and they can be found in your character sheet. Rolls determined by type.
  • Hewing weapons: Roll Might/Hewing Weapons.
  • Thrusting weapons: Roll Finesse/Thrusting Weapons.
  • Missile weapons: Roll Finesse/Missile Weapons.
• Cast Spell: Make the effects of a spell happen! Each spell has unique rules that can be found on your character sheet; they nearly always have a Focus cost; due to your nature as one of the Dead, you can cast from Resolve if you run out of Focus. Rolls determined by spell type:
  • Incantations: Arcane magic. Roll Wit/Incantation.
  • Invocations: Divine magic. Roll Wisdom/Invocation.
  • Martial: Fighting techniques with spell-like effects. Roll will vary depending on the technique.
• Drink from the Flask of Life: As an Action you can drink from the flask to restore 12 Resolve and/or Focus. Resolve is automatically refilled first.
• Deep Drink: By using both your Action & Reaction, you can drink from the flask twice in a single turn. This will leave you open to attack!
• Sprint: Take another Move.
• Full Defence: Concentrate on defending, gaining +30 to your Reaction.

Misses on spells that have no Focus cost on a Miss represent being interrupted, so if you are not being attacked when you miss such an attack, you gain the effects of a partial.

Here's a link to your character sheet, which has all your cool weapons and spells in detail.

Reactions
You can take one of the following defensive Reactions each combat turn:

• Block (Requires a shield): Roll Might/Endurance to defend against attacks. Block is more likely to negate damage on partials, and is best against ranged attacks, but heavy blows may stagger you.
• Parry (Requires a melee weapon): Roll Might/Endurance to defend and potentially riposte. Is generally less effective on partials, and may even take damage on success, but damages the enemy back.
• Dodge: Roll Finesse/Athletics to evade attacks. Dodge is more likely to open you up to glancing damage, but less likely to suffer stagger.
• Ward: Roll Wisdom/Wards to deflect magical attacks or attacks from elementals.

When defending against multiple attackers, each additional attacker gives -10 to your Defence roll. You can only be hit by a maximum of one attack at a time no matter how you roll, but it will generally be the attack most likely to bypass your defences (or a boss attack, if they have minions).

Move Rules
Fights take place in range bands. From nearest to farthest…

• Close: Within arm's reach. Melee range.
• Short: Other side of the room. Throwing range for normies with rocks.
• Medium: Down the road. Throwing range for champions with javelins.
• Long: Across the field. Shooting range for bows and slings.
• Extreme: More than that.

Each time you make a Move, you can change which range band you are in.

Conditions & Modifiers
You can have a variety of effects and modifiers inflicted onto you, or sometimes your foes. If you're under the effect of a modifier, you'll be reminded what those effects are, but here are some standard effects that you may be under:

• Stagger: A variable penalty applied to your Action and Reaction rolls next turn. Your Poise modifier reduces the amount of Stagger you suffer from most attacks (throw attacks are a notable exception).
  • Enemies can also be Staggered; Staggered enemies do not contribute to the multiple attacker penalty, and if all your immediate foes are Staggered, you add their Stagger as a bonus to your rolls.
• Bleed & Poison: May be applied by enemy attacks. At the start of each Round, roll Might/Endurance for each; on a hit, remove 2 stacks, on partial remove 1. Take Desiccation/Poison damage for each stack remaining, bypassing armour. Both work the same way, but stack separately.

Terrain may give modifiers as well; each will be explained when you end up facing them.

 

[MissBegot]

[x] Charge the closest lion with Semat and try to shove it off the bridge, by force or magical warding or both.​

[x] Rely on your warding to protect you and help you push the elemental back.​

"Break past and circle to repel; we can drive it into the canal!"

Semat nods and rushes forward off the bridge, past its guardian, who lashes out with gleaming claws and rakes her side; Semat staggers, circling warily, her hand clutched to the wound.

Spoiler: New Martial Technique: Shield Bash/Repulse

• With a blow from your shield, or with amulets and words of rebuke, you drive the foe back.
• Might/Endurance (Requires Shield) OR Wisdom/Wards (vs. Elementals Only)
• Cost: 0/1/1
• Range: Close
• Effect: With a thrust of a shield or amulet, you force your enemy back, dealing 0/1/2 Blunt damage, 0/10/15 Stagger, and on a Full Success you may knock your target back to Short range, unless their Poise reduces the Stagger below 10.
• Special: Agile (+10 to defence rolls when you attack with this technique)

{Wards (Repulse): Partial, +1 XP}​

{Wards: Partial, +1 XP}​

You dart after her, shouting words to rebuke spirits; you feel an impact on your back, claws briefly scrabbling at the thick layers of your armour, barely scratching you before the ward drives your assailant to release you and drop behind. Semat's attacker stumbles backward, rolling and pawing at the air, but sprawls just short of falling in the water.

You arrive at Semat's side; blood is soaking through the fold of tunic she holds pressed to the wound.

Resolve
╞══════════════════╡18/20 (-1, -1)
Focus
╞══════════════════╡17/20 (-1)
Semat, Inundation Priest
╞════════╡🩸2╞════════╡​

Brazen Lions of Satat-Mehet
╞════════╡╞════════╡(Staggered -10)​

Your gambit has not quite come off, but at least you are no longer flanked.​

[ ] Repeat the attempt while the lion is off-balance, Warding and Repulsing again.​

[ ] Take advantage of having both foes to your fore to sweep them both with a Moonlight Blade as you Ward them off.​

[ ] Now you are off the bridge, you could call upon your own elemental allies once more; cast Windhunters' Call, and Ward. (Note that Stormhounds would not be able to follow you across the canal toward the inner Sanctuary, however.)​

[ ] Write in Action + Reaction + Move (if any), and any advice you want to give Semat.​

You are now in the open courtyard. One lion is staggered on the edge of the canal, the other approaches the end of the bridge; both are Close.​

The Staggered 2nd lion cannot contribute to a multiple attacker penalty, and anyone not being attacked by the 1st lion will gain +10 to attack & defend against the 2nd this turn.​

Character Sheet & Combat Reference​

Spoiler: Comments

New Technique Learnt! This is technically a Martial spell, even the Repulse variant, as anyone can wear apotropaic amulets and use wards, but only the learned are likely to make them effective.

I'm adding some numbers for damage taken and focus spent; higher Akh will reveal more feedback like this, but your own numbers aren't intended to be hidden info. You'll note that the Brazen Lion's partial Pounce result dealt multiple hits to you, but as your armour mitigated each of them separately, you got off fairly lightly.

Semat has taken a full hit from the other Brazen Lion's Claw attack, and suffered 2 Bleed stacks. She will start taking mitigation rolls and damage for these next turn.