[Let's Play] Blood Sword I - The Battlepits of Krarth

[SGamerz]

You make your way along the black corridor. Eventually you come to a door in the left wall. If you go in, turn to 211. If you go on, turn to 249.

Open the door or not?

[angelfromanotherpin]

Explore!

edit: I'm willing to open the door, but if the Trickster wants to do it (re: traps) I'll defer.

[Darth Rabbitt]

I'm in favor of going in, but I'd rather the Warrior or Trickster open the door.

[SGamerz]

The Warrior is now in No.1 position in the Battle Order, so he'll be the one performing any unspecified character options by default. Not that it matters who opens the door in this case:

The door swings open. You come face to face with two of the Barbarians. One of them is about to lift a fire-blackened skull as you enter. They whirl, hefting their axes for battle.



Barbarians
Fighting Prowess: 8 Psychic Ability: 5
Armour Rating: 1 Damage per blow: 1 Die+2
Awareness: 7
Endurance: first 12 second 12

The other two Barbarians soon hear the noise of combat and come to aid their comrades. These two will enter the room behind you after eight Rounds (so keep track of Rounds as they pass):

Endurance: third 10 fourth 8

If you flee out of the room and along the black tunnel, turn to 249. If you beat them, turn to 87.

Note: There's actually a note below the picture in the book that says "FLEE ONLY AFTER KILLING ALL FOUR BARBARIANS", which doesn't make sense, because we wouldn't need to flee if all opponents are dead. I think the flee option isn't available initially because the other 2 barbarians will be running up the corridor and blocking our escape route if we run out of the room. Since there is a section we can turn to if we chose to flee, my interpretation is that we can only flee after the second pair of Barbarians enter the room and we fight our way past them to reach the exit.

Everyone please post your strategies/actions before I begin the fight!

[Shiritai]

Reed will cycle between casting White Fire and preparing White Fire.

[SGamerz]

Reed will cycle between casting White Fire and preparing White Fire.

White Fire targets 1 opponent at a time. Who will you be striking at first?

[Starmaker]

Reed will cycle between casting White Fire and preparing White Fire.

White Fire targets 1 opponent at a time. Who will you be striking at first?

I'm not Reed, but the best option is presumably some tradeoff thingy between focusing fire on one guy and not wasting additional potential damage points, depending on their current Endurance when WF goes off.

I'm attacking B2, so as not to waste precious turns and leave casters in the open.

[SGamerz]

Reed will cycle between casting White Fire and preparing White Fire.

White Fire targets 1 opponent at a time. Who will you be striking at first?

I'm not Reed, but the best option is presumably some tradeoff thingy between focusing fire on one guy and not wasting additional potential damage points, depending on their current Endurance when WF goes off.

I'm attacking B2, so as not to waste precious turns and leave casters in the open.

By "attacking" do you mean you wish to close in for melee instead of using your bow? Just a reminder that you have traded places with the Warrior, and you're now at No. 4. The Warrior and the Sage are the ones adjacent to the enemies.

[Darth Rabbitt]

(Is Pepito in space 2 or 3 in battle order? Also, are there any penalties for firing into melee? Both of those will influence my tactics.)

[SGamerz]

(Is Pepito in space 2 or 3 in battle order? Also, are there any penalties for firing into melee? Both of those will influence my tactics.)

As I said, you're next to an opponent, you're at position 2.

The rules state that you "must dispose of any opponents who have closed to attack you before picking off others with your bow", so you can't use your bow unless you kill the barbarian next to you or disengage by moving away.

[Darth Rabbitt]

Apparently I can't read.

Anyhow I'll beat down the guy in front of me with my quarterstaff. His armor sucks enough that I should be able to put a dent in his HP.

[Shiritai]

Reed will cycle between casting White Fire and preparing White Fire.

White Fire targets 1 opponent at a time. Who will you be striking at first?

I'm not Reed, but the best option is presumably some tradeoff thingy between focusing fire on one guy and not wasting additional potential damage points, depending on their current Endurance when WF goes off.

Right; I figured it wouldn't make a huge difference, but I'll prioritize targets with >4 endurance, and my first cast will be against the barbarian in front of our sage.

[angelfromanotherpin]

Dame Kiki will stab the face of the barbarian she's adjacent to until one of them stops moving, then will engage the enemy adjacent to the engaged friend with the lowest Endurance and repeat.

[Starmaker]

By "attacking" do you mean you wish to close in for melee instead of using your bow? Just a reminder that you have traded places with the Warrior, and you're now at No. 4. The Warrior and the Sage are the ones adjacent to the enemies.

Er, waitwhat? Damn, I though "default order" meant Warrior - Trickster - Sage - Enchanter.

As my first action, I shoot the one adjacent to Dame Kiki, then I shoot at the more heavily wounded one.

[SGamerz]

COMBAT LOG:

Round 1 ... FIGHT!

Awareness 8 acts ...

Trickster shoots Barbarian #1. Dice Roll = 4 (Hit!). Damage roll = 3-1 (Armour rating) = 2. Barbarian #1 has 10 END left.

Awareness 7 acts ...

Barbarian #1 fights Warrior. Roll = 9. (Miss)

Barbarian #2 fights Sage. Roll = 6 (Hit!). Damage = 3 + 2 - 3 (AR) = 2. Sage has 8 END left.

Awareness 6 acts ...

Warrior fights Barbarian #1. Roll = 7. Hit! Damage = 1 + 1 - 1 = 1. Barbarian #1 has 11 END left.

Sage fights Barbarian #2. Roll = 8 (Miss).

Enchanter attempts to cast White Fire. Roll = 6 +1 =7 (Success!) Damage = 9+2-1= 10! Barbarian #2 has 2 END left.

Quick Thinking Bonus: Trickster shoots Barbarian #2. Dice Roll = 8 (Miss).

Round 2

Awareness 8 acts ...

Trickster shoots Barbarian #2. Dice Roll = 4 (Hit!). Damage roll = 4-1= 3. Barbarian #2 is killed.

Awareness 7 acts...

Barbarian #1 fights Warrior. Roll = 8 (Hit!) Damage = 6 + 2 - 3 = 4. Warrior has 8 END left.

Awareness 6 acts ...

Warrior fights Barbarian #1. Roll = 6 (Hit)! Damage = 4 + 1 - 1 = 4. Barbarian #1 has 7 END left.

Sage shoots Barbarian #1. Roll = 6 (Hit)! Damage = 5 - 1 = 4. Barbarian #1 has 3 END left.

Enchanter Calls White Fire to Mind.

Round 3

Awareness 8 acts ...

Trickster shoots Barbarian #1. Dice Roll = 5 (Hit!). Damage roll = 3-1= 2. Barbarian #1 has 1 END left.

Awareness 7 acts...

Barbarian #1 fights Warrior. Roll = 8 (Hit!) Damage = 2 + 2 - 3 = 1. Warrior has 7 END left.

Awareness 6 acts ...

Warrior fights Barbarian #1. Roll = 7 (Hit)! Damage = 5 + 1 - 1 = 4. Barbarian #1 is killed.

Rounds 4-8

Warrior and Trickster Move to block the doorway as they hear the other 2 Barbarians coming (I figure Trickster would do better in melee than Sage).

Round 9

Awareness 8 acts ...

Trickster fights Barbarian #4. Dice Roll = 6 (Hit!). Damage roll = 5-1 = 4. Barbarian #4 has 4 END left.

Awareness 7 acts ...

Barbarian #3 fights Warrior. Roll = 8. (Hits) Damage = 5 + 2 - 3 = 4. Warrior has 3 END left.

Barbarian #4 fights Trickster. Roll = 9+1 (Dodging Bonus) =10 (Miss).

Awareness 6 acts ...

Warrior Defends (END is low).

Sage shoots Barbarian #4. Roll = 9 (Miss).

Enchanter attempts to cast White Fire. Roll = 12 (Fails!)

Round 10

Awareness 8 acts ...

Trickster fights Barbarian #4. Dice Roll = 7 (Hit!). Damage roll = 2-1 = 1. Barbarian #4 has 3 END left.

Awareness 7 acts ...

Barbarian #3 fights Warrior. Roll = 7. (Hits despite rolling on 3 dice) Damage = 2 + 2 - 3 = 1. Warrior has 2 END left.

Barbarian #4 fights Trickster. Roll = 5+1 - 6 (Hits). Damage = 3 + 2 - 2 = 3. Trickster has 9 END left.

Awareness 6 acts ...

Warrior Defends.

Sage shoots Barbarian #4. Roll = 6 (Hits). Damage = 2-1 = 1. Barbarian #4 has 2 END left.

Enchanter attempts to cast White Fire. Roll = 6+1-1 = 6 (Success!) Damage = 9+2-1= 10! Barbarian #3 is dead.

Round 11

Awareness 8 acts ...

Trickster fights Barbarian #4. Dice Roll = 10 (Miss!).

Awareness 7 acts ...

Barbarian #4 fights Trickster. Roll = 4+1 =5 (Hits). Damage = 3 + 2 - 2 = 3. Trickster has 6 END left.

Awareness 6 acts ...

Warrior Moves out of the way.

Sage shoots Barbarian #4. Roll = 7 (Hits). Damage = 2-1 = 1. Barbarian #4 has 1 END left.

Enchanter Calls White Fire to Mind.

Round 12

Awareness 8 acts ...

Trickster fights Barbarian #4. Dice Roll = 3 (Hits!). Damage = 1-1 = 0 (No Damage!)

Barbarian #4 fights Trickster. Roll = 8+1 =9 (Miss).

Awareness 6 acts ...

Sage shoots Barbarian #4. Roll = 7 (Hits). Damage = 1-1 = 0. (Yeah, I kid you not).

Enchanter attempts to cast White Fire. Roll = 4+1 = 5 (Success!) With only 1 END left, Barbarian#4 is burned to a crisp.

That......could have gone better. Warrior is hurt pretty bad. And the Sage has run out of arrows.

Enchanter is, without a doubt, the MVP of this battle.

The last of them falls to the floor. As he dies, he reaches out towards the fire-burnt skull. His fingers twitch in front of its sightless sockets and he grunts something in the guttural Mercanian tongue. Then he dies. Examining their bodies, you find four battleaxes, four breastplates (not much use to you; only Armour Raring one) and twenty gold pieces. Take what you will from these spoils.

If you also want to take the skull, turn to 38. If you decide to leave this room and continue on your way, turn to 249.

Other than voting for whether to pick up the skull, each of you may determine whether or not you wish to take any of the barbarians' loot. None of their stuff is better than what we already have, but some of you may want to take a spare weapon or armour.

I will split the gold evenly between the 4 of you (5 coins each), unless any of you object.

Warrior, Sage and Trickster are all injured, so they'd each eat a portion of their food to restore 1 END. Sage will decide whether he wants to spare any END for healing. Enchanter can decide whether to use to use the Snuffbox (note that he risks losing END himself if he does, since the Snuffbox affects everyone, even uninjured guys).

Adventure Sheets:

WARRIOR:

NAME: Dame Caecilia Wither-Stoat
RANK: 2nd

Battle Order: 1

Fighting Prowess: 8
Psychic Ability: 6
Awareness: 6
Endurance: 3
Damage: 1 Die+1

Items:
1 Sword
2 Chainmail armour (Armour Rating three)
3 Money pouch (15 gold pieces)
4 Opal Medallion
5- 9 Food (eat one for +1 EN after combat)
10 Empty slot.

TRICKSTER:

NAME: Benedict of the Crimson Spires, Honourable Duelist
RANK: 2nd

Battle Order: 4

Fighting Prowess: 7
Psychic Ability: 6
Awareness: 8
Endurance: 7
Damage: 1 Die

Items:
1 Sword
2 Studded leather armour (Armour Rating two)
3 Money pouch (15 gold pieces)
4 Bow
5 Quiver (2 arrows)
6 Opal Medallion
7 Octagonal glass prism
8- 9 Food (eat one for +1 EN after combat)
10 Empty slot

SAGE:

NAME: "Pepito" Cascadero, Master of the Mystic Way
RANK: 2nd

Battle Order: 2

Fighting Prowess: 7
Psychic Ability: 7
Awareness: 6
Endurance: 9
Damage: 1 Die

Items:
1 Quarterstaff
2 Ringmail armour (Armour Rating two)
3 Money pouch (15 gold pieces)
4 Bow
5 Quiver (empty)
6 Opal Medallion
7-9 Food (eat one for +1 EN after combat)
10 Empty slot

ENCHANTER:

NAME: Enchanter Reed, Ninth of the Inverted Tower
RANK: 2nd

Battle Order: 3

Fighting Prowess: 6
Psychic Ability: 8
Awareness: 6
Endurance: 10
Damage: 1 Die-1

Items:
1 Sword
2 Silver armour (Armour Rating two)
3 Money pouch (15 gold pieces)
4 Opal Medallion
5 Golden Snuffbox
6-10 (eat one for +1 EN after combat)

[Starmaker]

This is srs bsns.


Inventory:

Damn, I assumed we could pick up used arrows if we win.

If not, since the book is soloable, we can't probably support two archers -- we'll only find this many arrows, and parties with fewer characters are more likely to fight in melee. Also, we could've saved slots on money pouches - one pouch carries 100 coins, but a solo character only has one (but we should keep at least two, if one gets lost as an item). The extra medallions are probably useless, barring a medallion-carrier getting permanently lost.

I give all my money to Pepito. I also think we should eventually switch to the default marching order (WTSE), because I'm harder to hit and more likely to successfully defend or flee without eating a hit if things go sour. If we do, I give Pepito my leftover arrows, too. Then I pick up a battleaxe.


Healing:

We're down 15 hp.

The snuffbox will heal 2/3 of a hp, on average, and since Reed is not wounded, telling them to use the box would be kind of dickish.

We should heal before doing anything else. (Can we postpone eating in this room until we heal up and/or use the box?) I have no opinion on how much we should burn, though, it's up to Dame Kiki and Pepito to decide. (Sage healing gives, on average, +2/3 hp per hp spent, but is very swingy.) I volunteer to be healed last.


The skull:

I may be overthinking it, but since Barbarians 3 and 4 arrived with less hp than the first pair (8 and 10 vs 12), they might have split up and the second pair had gotten themselves into a trap. Which means this room is okay and we should take the skull. I volunteer to take it.

[angelfromanotherpin]

I also think we should eventually switch to the default marching order (WTSE), because I'm harder to hit and more likely to successfully defend or flee without eating a hit if things go sour.

We are in the default. Default is Trickster in the back, or more specifically, the two with bows in the back where they are presumably more likely to be able to use them.

I need healz badly. I'm willing to gamble on the box, but Sage should do his thing first. I'm down with Trickster taking the skull.

[Shiritai]

I also think we should eventually switch to the default marching order (WTSE), because I'm harder to hit and more likely to successfully defend or flee without eating a hit if things go sour.

We are in the default. Default is Trickster in the back, or more specifically, the two with bows in the back where they are presumably more likely to be able to use them.

I need healz badly. I'm willing to gamble on the box, but Sage should do his thing first. I'm down with Trickster taking the skull.

I'd definitely want to wait on the sage healing you before opening the box; right now opening it has more than 15% chance of killing you. And I agree we should pick up the skull. Also I vote for Starmaker's proposed party order; the warrior and trickster taking point makes more sense with how the previous battles have been.

[Darth Rabbitt]

Unless anyone else has a better plan, Pepito will use 3 EP worth of healing, focusing on Dame Kiki first. If he gets her EP over 10 this way (i.e. if he rolls really well) he'll use the remainder of the healing (if any) on Benedict. The Snuffbox should hopefully be able to do the rest.

[SGamerz]

The Sage spends 3 END on healing.

Healing roll: (5-2) x3 = 9

Dame Kiki regains 7 END (up to 10).

Benedict gets the remaining 2 (up to 9).

Sage however is down to 6 due to the END he spent on healing (if the Sage prefers to regain his own END before he spends the rest on his companions, let me know)

Inventory-wise, Benedict passes his money and arrows to Pepito, discards the empty money pouch and quiver. He also drops his Opal Medallion and picks up one of the barbarian axes.

*Regarding equipment, each player/character can decide independently to keep or drop any item they choose unless the book says otherwise. If another character doesn't agree with dropping a particular item, let me know if he wishes to pick that item up himself (providing he has enough equipment slots).

It doesn't specifically say so in this section, but picking up the skull actually requires an item slot. Benedict opted to pick it up, and by discarding 3 items (and picking up 1), he has more than enough.

Btw, does Benedict still want to hold on to his bow for now, or does he want to discard it with the quiver?

I'm going to switch to tentatively switch to the Battle Order suggested by Starmaker. Since the Sage is also involved in the switch, it would be good if he can confirm if he approves of the switch.

Here's what the Adventure Sheets look like now. Please confirm (for Sage) on the END distribution as well as any other changes to your equipment, and (for Enchanter) whether to use the Snuffbox, before I move on with the Trickster picking up the skull.

Adventure Sheets:

WARRIOR:

NAME: Dame Caecilia Wither-Stoat
RANK: 2nd

Battle Order: 1

Fighting Prowess: 8
Psychic Ability: 6
Awareness: 6
Endurance: 10
Damage: 1 Die+1

Items:
1 Sword
2 Chainmail armour (Armour Rating three)
3 Money pouch (15 gold pieces)
4 Opal Medallion
5- 9 Food (eat one for +1 EN after combat)
10 Empty slot.

TRICKSTER:

NAME: Benedict of the Crimson Spires, Honourable Duelist
RANK: 2nd

Battle Order: 2

Fighting Prowess: 7
Psychic Ability: 6
Awareness: 8
Endurance: 9
Damage: 1 Die

Items:
1 Sword
2 Studded leather armour (Armour Rating two)
3 Battleaxe
4 Bow
5 Octagonal glass prism
6 -7 Food (eat one for +1 EN after combat)
8- 10 Empty slot

SAGE:

NAME: "Pepito" Cascadero, Master of the Mystic Way
RANK: 2nd

Battle Order: 3

Fighting Prowess: 7
Psychic Ability: 7
Awareness: 6
Endurance: 6
Damage: 1 Die

Items:
1 Quarterstaff
2 Ringmail armour (Armour Rating two)
3 Money pouch (30 gold pieces)
4 Bow
5 Quiver (2 arrows)
6 Opal Medallion
7-9 Food (eat one for +1 EN after combat)
10 Empty slot

ENCHANTER:

NAME: Enchanter Reed, Ninth of the Inverted Tower
RANK: 2nd

Battle Order: 4

Fighting Prowess: 6
Psychic Ability: 8
Awareness: 6
Endurance: 10
Damage: 1 Die-1

Items:
1 Sword
2 Silver armour (Armour Rating two)
3 Money pouch (15 gold pieces)
4 Opal Medallion
5 Golden Snuffbox
6-10 (eat one for +1 EN after combat)

[Shiritai]

I certainly won't be opening the snuffbox, and I'll hand all my gold to Caecilia for safekeeping.

[Darth Rabbitt]

Good point. Healing distribution retcon time!

Pepito will healing touch himself first to restore the 3 points he lost in the first place (keeping him at 9). Out of the 6 remaining points he'll give 5 to Dame Kiki and 1 to Benedict (bringing them both up to 8).

[Starmaker]

I'll keep the bow and the quiver for now.

[SGamerz]

END is re-distributed as Darth specified, and the Trickster hangs on to his bow and empty quiver, leaving him 2 empty slots. He uses 1 to pick up the skull:

In a multi-player party, if no one specified he or she was touching the skull, then it is the first player in the battle order who has done so. The following applies to him or her.

The moment you lift the skull, its empty eye-sockets seem to glare at you, and the outlines of the room wash away like a watercolour in the rain. Suddenly you find yourself standing alone in a room filled with scrolls. The skull is no longer in your hands, but rests on an oak table beside you. You may take as many scrolls as you wish, up to your normal encumbrance limit. In order to rejoin your comrades, however, you will need to pick up the skull again, so remember to leave one space on your encumbrance limit for this item.

The available scrolls are:

INVISIBILITY - When read during a combat, this allows all players to take the flee option (if there is one) on the next Round, without first having to move.

HEALING - This can be read at any time. It restores two Dice Endurance points to the player who reads it (up to his or her initial Endurance maximum).

ADJUST - The player who reads this can take one point from one of his or her attributes (Endurance, Fighting Prowess, Awareness or Psychic Ability) and transfer it to another attribute. The effect is permanent.

TIME BLINK - This can be read in combat, when it has the effect of returning time to the point when the combat started. The Endurance of both player(s) and opponent(s) are restored to what they were at the start of the combat.

PRECOGNITION - This scroll, which can be read at any time, gives you a glimpse into the past or future - or one possible past or future. When you read it, you can turn to an entry at random and see what it says, then return to the entry you were at before. To find out which entry you may look at, roll a Die three times: a roll of 3, then 6, then 4 would mean you could look at entry 364. If you roll a number for which there is no entry (666, for instance) then the scroll is used up but you see nothing in the past or future.

There are several copies of each scroll, so if you were able to carry three items, for example, then you could take three INVISIBILITY scrolls, or two INVISIBILITY and one TIME BLINK, or whatever. You may like to note down this entry number in case you need to refer back later to remind yourself what the scrolls do.

Each scroll can be used only once, because once read it will crumble to dust. Also, none of the scrolls can be read in this room, so you cannot get endless PRECOGNITIONs before leaving.

When you are ready to leave with the scrolls you have chosen, you take up the scorched skull once more.

Handy find (except precognition which seems pretty useless).....but since only Benedict is in this room, he can only take as much of the scrolls as he can carry. He has only 1 empty slot at the moment (he needs to leave 1 for the skull), so it's up to him to decide whether he wants to drop anything to bring out more scrolls.

Here's the Trickster's inventory:

TRICKSTER:

NAME: Benedict of the Crimson Spires, Honourable Duelist
RANK: 2nd

Battle Order: 2

Fighting Prowess: 7
Psychic Ability: 6
Awareness: 8
Endurance: 8
Damage: 1 Die

Items:
1 Sword
2 Studded leather armour (Armour Rating two)
3 Battleaxe
4 Bow
5 Octagonal glass prism
6 -7 Food (eat one for +1 EN after combat)
8 Quiver (empty)
9 Skull
10 Empty slot

[Shiritai]

Oh wow. ADJUST would be amazing for me; I don't need fighting prowess at all if I have psychic ability.