[December 12 – Exhibition Fights 8 and 9 plus a bonus fight!]
[This game uses the Fifth Revised Edition of the Hero System rules along with the Fantasy Hero supplement. These sessions happened March 14 and 21, 2022.]
Player Characters:
Jala – human female – a person of discretion, studier of Pact Magic with a focus on shadows
Ozrel Runeweaver – human male – Pugilist and Rune Magician
Zarek the Red – fox male – Golem-mancer
Vorgand – human female – Guildmaster and Chief Combatant for the Delvers Guild
Ricky the Astrologer – human male – Newly-minted specialist in Magic Circles and Teleportation Gates
Non-Player Characters:
Torsten, Fish, Harek – ex-bandits, now The Torchbearers for the Delvers Guild
Lars – Chamberlain of the Delvers Guild
Unit: Z0-E – Zarek’s first golem, looks like a fox made of iron
Cromsday, December 12th, 1st year of the reign of King Vladik the Gamesman
11:00 AM
Fight 8: Ozrel Runeweaver vs. Tamara Greenshield
Both combatants stepped into the arena inscribed on the ground, each with empty hands.
Ozrel activated the runes tattooed on his arms [Strength and Dexterity Aids] and then advanced on Tamara, expecting an easy victory over the healer. Tamara surprised him by performing a Whirling Rose Lunge, an acrobatic dodge that involved spinning from one foot to another and allowed her to move away from Ozrel to a far corner of the arena. [She aborted to a custom Dodge that includes a Full Move as part of the maneuver, the downside being is only provides a +4 to DCV.] Ozrel attempted to pursue her but ended up a bit short. Luckily for him he was significantly faster than Tamara and closed the gap to deliver a Branding Strike. He was able to just connect with her shoulder, breaking her clavicle [he did Body] and temporarily knocking her out.
Tamara quickly regained consciousness and then cast Blooming of the Rose [her healing spell] on herself with some difficulty due to the broken clavicle. Once she was healed, Ozrel helped her up and the crowd applauded politely. [Ozrel may have received some side-eye from the crowd from beating up on a healer.]
[This is where we paused Part 1. Everything that follows is Part 2 of Session 7 and happened a week later.]
With what appeared to be the headline bout about to take place, there was a flurry of last minute betting happening with the bookies. Vorgand called out to Fisk and asked if he was willing to up the interest in the fight by switching to live steel. There was a pause in the placing of bets to hear Fisk’s response. Fisk replied he was willing, but demanded “proper attire” for such a fight. Vorgand agreed and betting resumed, now including bets on first blood as well as who might win.
Fisk took off his outer coat and started donning a metal chest plate [DEF 5 Armor from locations 9 to 13], suggesting he might have anticipated this challenge. Vorgand buckled on her sword belt and used her magic whet stone to hone the blade [and gain a +1 to OCV]. Just before the fight started, she also snuck a swig from Zarek’s potion of speed [temporarily raising her Speed from 3 to 4].
Fight 9: Vorgand vs. Fisk Greenling
Both combatants stepped into the arena inscribed on the ground, Vorgand holding her elven rapier, Fisk holding a rapier and a short cinguedea in his off-hand.
Vorgand, having the edge due to the potion, stretched her legs to reach Fisk [pushed her Running 1"] and attacked, but missed [bad roll]. Fisk attempted to disarm Vorgand, but she twisted out of the way [aborted to a Martial Dodge] and he missed. Fisk followed up with a Precision Strike, connecting with Vorgand, but to little effect [minimal damage roll]. Vorgand responded with a Martial Strike of her own. Fisk attempted to parry the strike before it landed and failed, but his metal chest plate absorbed all the damage. Vorgand attacked again and hit Fisk on the chest plate again, this time to some but minimal effect.
Vorgand attacked Fisk again. This time Fisk was successful in Parrying the attack, nullifying it. Vorgand never let up and attacked again, just getting past Fisk’s continuing parry, and striking Fisk in the arm to no effect. Fisk essayed a Precision Strike again that Vorgand failed to dodge [Fisk rolled low enough to hit despite Vorgand aborting to a Martial Dodge] and Fisk landed a solid blow to Vorgand’s chest. Having enough of Fisk’s shit, Vorgand went for a sword-assisted throw. Fisk saw it coming and attempted to parry the attack but failed! Vorgand sent him sailing out of the arena space to immediate applause from the crowd!
Fisk was indignant, claiming there was no throwing in proper Umbrian Fencing, but no one was listing to him as the fight had been exciting and loss by being tossed out of the arena space was a known rule for these fights. Fisk eventually stormed away, trailing his lackey, sputtering about the crassness of it all.
Once things had quieted down a little [and the potion of speed had worn off], Vorgand asked Bear if he was up for a bout with her, wooden weapons but no throwing the other out of the ring. Crow immediately stepped in and asked if this would increase the chance of getting into the guild and Vorgand readily agreed. Bear agreed to the fight and it was announced to the crowd, who applauded, greatly entertained. The bookies asked for some clarifications on the rules [surrender or knock-out only, wooden weapons only] and then posted odds on the fight. Betting was lively.
Bonus Fight: Vorgand vs. Bear
Both combatants stepped into the arena inscribed on the ground, Vorgand holding a wooden practice sword shaped like a rapier, Bear’s hands empty.
Vorgand advanced on Bear, not quite closing the gap, and held. Bear took the invitation to close and grapple. As he moved in, Vorgand interrupted and struck him on the arm [doing Stun]. Bear ignored this, grabbing and squeezing Vorgand. Vorgand attempted to escape [Matrial Escape] but Bear held the grapple [he rolled more Body on the Strength check than she did]. Bear squeezed again, but was not able to get much effect [rolled low damage]. Vorgand was able to twist free on her second try and Bear failed to grab her during his follow-up.
Vorgand went to strike Bear with her sword, but he stepped out of the way [aborted to a Martial Dodge] and she missed. She went all in on another attempt [put all levels into OCV] and landed a solid blow on his chest, stunning him. Bear shrugged off the effects of the blow just in time for Vorgand to hit him in the arm for little effect. Bear lunged in and successfully grabbed Vorgand and squeezed hard, making her eyes bulge a bit but not quite stunning her [after subtracting her defenses, he did exactly her Constitution in stun].
Vorgand twisted free of Bears grasp, but she was now too close and he grabbed and squeezed her again. She twisted free yet again, but this time Bear was unable to resecure his grasp on her. Vorgand wisely backed away from Bear and held to see what he would do. Bear closed and attempted to grapple Vorgand, but she danced out of his reach [used her held action to Martial Dodge].
Vorgand went back on the offensive and struck at Bear, who in turn dodged her blow. Vorgand again did her best to strike Bear, hitting one of his hands to no effect. Bear tried to grab Vorgand again but missed. Vorgand got in a quick low blow to Bear’s vitals [hit location 13], but it was not enough to cross his eyes [she rolled very low damage]. Bear took advantage of her being close and successfully grappled her, squeezing the air out of her and Vorgand went limp. Bear quickly raised her above his head to indicate he had won and then gently set her down. The crowd went wild! Vorgand was conscious again by the time Bear set her down. He helped her up and they shook hands, both satisfied by the fight.
Noon
Over lunch and drinks at The Library, the Guild Founders discussed the applicants and did a final sorting of their starting ranks.
Trainees: Bork, Kettle, and Lukyan
Delvers: Bear and Crow, Bellinus Dragonkiller (Provisional), Erian Eldergold, Fadeyka, Leopard, Stefan the Wanderer, Tamara Greenshield, Victor Yakokovitch, and Yngvar Copperarrow
End of Session
Guild Postings
[At the last minute, Vorgand’s player could not make the initial game session, so I did the next bout with Ozrel and then we chatted about the game and things going on in it. This included working the math for an elf-exclusionary ward for the guildhall, which Ricky and Ozrel would need to team-up to accomplish. Turns out it is expensive points-wise due to the need for a Conforming Area of Effect. This drove the Active Cost up to where neither character could make the roll and they both have extremely high Magic rolls. As the GM, I have a solution to their problem, but I think it a player-generated solution would be better. There is no urgency (yet) for the ward, so they have some time to think it over.]
[A week later we did Part 2 of this session and wrapped up the exhibition bouts, plus the PCs sorted out all the named applicants. I’ve told them there are numerous unnamed applicants that they can draw on later to fill out expeditions. There are only so many NPCs a GM can be expected to create, and name, at one time.]
[Vorgand’s player had purchased Martial Escape after Vorgand was nearly crushed by the beithir in the desert city. Since then, she had never needed it and was keen to see how it worked. A fight with a grappler seemed to be a good opportunity. I made a small error during the fight with Bear, applying the +10 Strength from the Martial Grab to damage when it should only apply to resisting a target trying to escape. I retroactively fixed this by giving Bear +2 Damage Classes with his Martial Arts, but Vorgand’s player now considers this fight a draw, which is fair.]
[Also, this is the third of the three posts I wanted to post before May 5, so I feel caught up at this point. We just finished Session 12, so I might keep up an elevated posting level until I get closer to current, maybe another 3 posts before May 20th? We'll see how it goes.]
Delvers Guild
Arc 1
Arc 1 Landing Page – Links to all Arc 1 sessions
Arc 2
Arc 2 Landing Page – Links to all Arc 2 sessions, as they post
Last Session: Arc 2, Session 6
Next Session: Arc 2, Session 8
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