Walka

Wprowadzenie

Walka w Cairn jest szybka, zacięta i często śmiertelnie niebezpieczna. Ponadto zasady walki są wyjątkowe na kilka kluczowych sposobów:

• Inicjatywa stron konfliktu: Z wyjątkiem pierwszej rundy (w której gracze muszą zdać test ZRE, aby zapewnić sobie pierwszeństwo działania), zarówno gracze, jak i ich przeciwnicy wykonują swoje akcje na zmianę. Rezultaty poszczególnych akcji każdej ze stron następują jednocześnie.
• Ataki trafiają automatycznie: Walczący zazwyczaj zadają obrażenia swoim celom automatycznie, bez rzucania kośćmi w celu sprawdzenia, czy atak „trafia”. Gdy kilku atakujących celuje w tego samego wroga, w ataku wykorzystywany jest tylko najwyższy wynik rzutu kością.
• Ochrona przed trafieniem i blizny: Ochrona przed trafieniem działa jako miara umiejętności, wytrzymałości, odporności i szczęścia. Odnawia się również automatycznie, gdy postać jest bezpieczna i czuje się komfortowo. Jeśli obrażenia zmniejszą OCHR postaci dokładnie do zera, otrzyma on bliznę, co może mieć zarówno pozytywne, jak i negatywne konsekwencje.
• Obrażenia krytyczne: Obrażenia, które zmniejszają OCHR celu poniżej zera, są odejmowane od jego SIŁ o pozostałą wartość. Cel musi następnie natychmiast wykonać rzut obronny SIŁ, aby uniknąć otrzymania obrażeń krytycznych, używając swojego nowego wyniku SIŁ. W przypadku niepowodzenia, cel zostaje pokonany.

Przykład

Po wielu dniach brnięcia przez niekończące się błoto i mrok, drużyna w końcu odnalazła kurhan należący do Króla Kordelasa, osławionego bandyty z minionej epoki.

Strażnik: “Finally, you reach the point marked on your map, and in the early morning light, the barrow’s entrance becomes visible through the thick mist. But as the rolling fog begins to clear, you see a flash of colorful movement near the tomb’s entrance.”

Freya: “Nothing is ever easy, is it? That must be our dear friends from the Ursine Conclave, trying to steal our thunder!”

Lucius: “Come now, we don’t know that there is an immediate danger. Right?”

Wolfram: “It doesn’t matter; we must be prepared for whatever comes next. Keep your weapons down, and I’ll a shout. Perhaps we can avoid bloodshed yet.”

Strażnik: “You bark a traditional warning in the direction of the barrow. There is no immediate response, then only a snicker. They appear to be laughing at you! Moments later, three figures step out of the mist and directly into your line of view, each brandishing a weapon. The largest of the three grins as he wields a two-handed war ax, and the other two (a man and woman who are clearly siblings) carry identical swords. Everyone roll a DEX save to see if you can act before they do.”

Wolfram, Lucius, and Freya each save DEX to see whether they can take a turn in the first round. Wolfram and Freya succeed, but Lucius does not.

Lucius: “Well, shoot. I guess I fumbled my cane sword in all the excitement?”

Strażnik: “Indeed. Alright, Wolfram and Freya, each of you can move and take one action this turn. Assuming they survive, your three opponents will then have a chance to retaliate. Then it will be the PCs’ turn to act, including Lucius.”

Wolfram: “I don’t have my crossbow ready, so I’m going to go after the big one with my silver knife. If we can take him down, the others might flee.”

Freya: “Hey, that was my plan as well! Why don’t we both go after him?”

Wolfram and Freya each make individual attack rolls, but only the highest number counts as damage against the large man [8 HP, 15 STR, 7 DEX, 9 WIL, battleax (d10)]. Wolfram rolls a 4, and Freya a 5 and a 1 for each dagger respectively.

Strażnik: “You each rush the man with the war ax. He easily sidesteps Wolfram’s initial jab but nearly isn’t quick enough for Freya! He is nearly eviscerated as her twin daggers slice the air where he stood only a millisecond before. That was a close one!”

Freya: “Thanks. That isn’t much comfort though.”

It is now the opponents’ turn to attack or take an action. Although the description of these events is delivered consecutively, the results happen roughly at the same time. The Strażnik rolls an attack die for each enemy combatant, targeting each PC only once. The large man rolls a d10 but deals only 3 damage against Freya, while his associates each roll a d6, dealing 1 and a 6 damage against Wolfram and Lucius respectively. As the Strażnik narrates the results, each player records any lost HP or STR on their character sheet.

Strażnik: “Now your opponents will get a crack at it. The large man swings his ax at Freya, but it misses, leaving a wide gap between her and the ax edge. You don’t know if you’ll be so lucky next time, however. Next, the shorter man stabs at Wolfram, who is the closer of the three. Luckily, the man’s blade only glances off his armor. Now on to the man’s sister, who nearly takes Lucius’s head off with her blade. Somehow the blade doesn’t draw blood but instead knocks him back so hard he nearly keels over, and his vision is filled with bright lights and sparkling things.”

Lucius: “Ouch. I think that takes me to exactly 0 HP. I should check the Scars table, right?”

Strażnik: “Yes, and you’ll need to reference how much HP you lost in the attack. Now let’s see… You had 6 HP but no armor, and you took 6 damage in the attack. That means you should receive a Reorienting Head Wound!”

Lucius: “You sound a little too excited about this. OK, it says I need to roll 1d6… I got a 3, which indicates DEX. Now I need to roll 3d6, and if the total is greater than my current Dexterity score, I get to keep it, right? Alright… hey, a 14! That’s slightly higher than what I have already! Maybe getting knocked in the head isn’t all that bad?”

Strażnik: “Perhaps. One point fewer and you’d have been diseased, and one point greater and you’d lose your hearing for a while. Write down your new DEX score. You really are lucky, you know that? Anyway, it’s now time for the PCs to act again.”

Wolfram: “I shall riposte against the shorter man!”

Freya: “I’m going to take another swing at the big fella.”

Lucius: “I am going to try and stab that woman with my cane sword.”

Wolfram rolls a d6, dealing 2 damage to the shorter man, who has enough HP to absorb the attack. Freya rolls a d6 for each of her daggers, dealing a 1 and a 3. She keeps only the higher die, and the large man is able to absorb the damage, taking his HP down to 0 (but only PCs gain Scars). Lucius rolls a 6 against the woman [5 HP, 11 STR, 8 DEX, 14 WIL]. She loses 1 point of STR in the attack and so must then roll a Critical Damage save using her new STR score.

Strażnik: “Wolfram, you stab at the shorter man, but he deftly avoids your attack! Freya, your daggers slice at the large man with impressive speed and intensity, and it’s clear that you’ve put him on the defensive, as you can see the sweat begin pouring down the sides of his head. He is running out of steam! Lucius, your cane sword pierces the woman in the stomach! She makes a STR save to see if she can stay in the fight. She rolls a 13, a fail! She goes down!”

This is the first casualty of the fight, so the woman’s allies must make a WIL save to continue or flee. The Strażnik rolls using the leader’s WIL, and he fails!

Strażnik: “The short man sees his sister fall and screams a cry of anguish. He drops his sword and commands the larger man to drop his ax. ‘Please,’ he begs. ‘I don’t care about whatever is in that barrow. I beg of you: have mercy. Save my sister, if you have the means.’“

Wolfram: “My order takes mercy on all folk willing to forge a new path. If we save your sister with our skills and resources, will you vow to pledge yourself to a life of piety, poverty, and kindness?”

Strażnik: “The shorter man nods, then rushes to his sister. The larger man only smiles, then says, ‘I ain’t swearin’ nothin’. But I do what he says, so long as he pays. Just let me keep my ax.’“

The party bandage up the woman, stabilizing her. Had they not, she would have bled out within the hour. Now out of danger, the PCs take a quick swig of water and regain their lost HP. Lucius tries to impress Freya by showing off the new battle scar on his eyebrow, but it doesn’t work.

Wolfram: “Alright, that’s all sorted then. You lot make your way back to town, and we’ll convene later. For now, we’ve got business with this Cutlass King I’ve read so much about.”