Ironsworn RPG, Session 2
The white pillars easily stood out against the horizon. As Kori ran closer, he saw once beautiful ruins of some ancient sanctuary, now overtaken by the land. He had a few precious seconds to find his position of strength before they caught up.
“Your advantage is short lived, +1 momentum(4)”
Kori weaves between the pillars, breaking line of sight, to take any advantage he can get.
Did all of them chase me? They are farmers so they’re likely athletic, I say this is likely (rollling % oracle & it says yes)
A small pack of troublesome foes, I call this dangerous (the second tier of difficulty. doing Harm or making progress on this fight track will give two progress out of ten.
With facts, we Enter the Fray +shadow (3+2 vs 4,7)
With a weak hit, I can choose to either bolster my position and take +2 momentum, or act now and have initiative. I want initiative to Strike this first guy.
As Kori hoped, the fastest among the aggressors rushed in, and Kori saw his time to strike, lunging out with his spear.
Wow, a miss with a match. A match is like a critical in other RPGs, this goes very very poorly. I’m going to say I take damage, and will also roll something additional on the Pay the Price table
“You are separated from something or someone.”
Anticipating minimal resistance, his lunge was fast and loose, which Bevan knocked aside and counterattacked immediately with the practice of a veteran. Kori tried to pull away, but the tanner’s knife drew blood from his hand. Bevan expertly used the leverage to wrench Kori’s spear from his hand. It clattered against the moss-covered marble.
I don’t have an immediate idea what happens next in the combat, let’s roll on the Combat Action table: “sieze something /someone.” Okay yeah that tracks.
Bevan made wild slashes with his knife to cover his repositioning towards the lost spear. Kori decided against contesting it, withdrawing behind the pillar he tried to strike from. He drew his his carving knife, and whistled, hoping Rythane was close enough as he slipped between ruined remnants.
Kori heard Rythane’s mimicry of a man calling for attention on the north side of the ruined sanctuary. Putting Bevan behind him, he pressed forward and heard the labored breathing of someone else ahead walking towards the source of the noise. Kori knew he could not let them organize here, or he would have no chance, so he got as close as he could before taking two wide strides and…..
I’m going to call this a simple weapon, even though it could be deadly, because it’s not designed for it, and he’s not as trained with it. Against the Dangerous pack, this does two points of progress.
plunging the knife into the man’s back. The man let out a scream as Kori pulled the knife back out. Kori pushed the man out of his way, but he was still not fast enough. Bevan and the rest of the group nearly collapsed on him. He barely saw one of the women loose an arrow in his direction as he leaped over a collapsed wall.
There are tracks for health, spirit, and supply, and they all start at 5.
The arrow whizzed past Kori’s ear as he dropped. The adrenalin was not enough to suppress his panic over how fast a simple shelter from a storm had turned into life or death.
Rolling +spirit because it’s higher. 3+3 vs 1,10. Another weak hit, pressing on
The shouts behind him snapped him out of it, he stumbled forward and tried to keep moving quickly to keep them on their toes.
They tracked him, but Kori kept circling around. A few arrows shattered against stone.
Luckily, it seemed they only had one bow for now. Kori led them around towards the first man he had stabbed, hoping they would split up and leave someone to tend to him. He gave a whistle for Rythane to find and drop something, and doubled back the way he came
It took Rythane a few moments to pick a rock she liked. From his hiding spot, he heard them find the body, and begin to inspect its wounds before before a clunk echoed within the inner sanctuary.
man? no
A lithe woman knelt down and began applying pressure to the man’s stab wound. Kori cringed at his groan. She shouted for them to “Kill the bastard already,” and they uneasily snuck towards the sanctuary. She seemed to have some position of respect among them. Kori took the opening before she realized her rookie mistake.
Strike+iron, 1+1 vs 1,9. So again, I lose initiative but do my harm, now at 4/10.
“Wait,” she called as he was upon her, and she nearly dove out of the way of his knife. Kori still managed to leave a shallow cut along the length of her arm. She picked her axe up and leapt after him with ferocity
Ooooh, a success with a match, things are happening. Definite components of success, +1 momentum(8)
Kori scrambled backwards as the first and second blows sliced only air. Each step got him further and further away from the other three. Her strikes were relentless; Kori could barely deflect the axe, but suddenly the ground gave way under her feet. Stone and vines fell into some form of underground chamber, which swallowed her with a thump. Kori backed up carefully, and heard her grunt below. The collapse would surely have drawn attention, so Kori slunk towards the inner sanctuary hoping to set an ambush.
Secure an Advantage+shadow, 1+2 vs 8,9. A failure. I’m going to call getting ambushed my Pay the Price
“powerful” says the character description oracle.
From his hidden position, he watched the archer woman and a large brutish man leave shelter of the ruined walls. Dead vines crushed behind him, and he turned to find Bevan charging him with his own spear.
Pay the Price: It is stressful.
Kori’s tattered cloak gained a new hole. Bevan shouted, “He’s over here!” The archer turned the corner with bow drawn. Kori briefly considered attempting surrender before remembering what they had done to Shekhar for no reason.
Endure Stress, 3+1 vs 3,8. Weak hit, nothing here.
There was no other option for Kori, he leapt towards Bevan, trying to wrench his spear from his hands to turn the tide.
With his hands on the spear, he throws his weight to the side and backwards. The archer released her arrow where he stood moments ago, but it struck Bevan in the side. The shock was enough that Bevan’s grip eased, and Kori got his spear free. Kori whipped his spear around skillfully.
I forgot to Pay the Price here, but I caught it a handful of minutes later, and made some minor edits to make it work: “forces you to act against your best intentions” – Kori has been trying for less-than lethal methods to disable these people, but it may not be an option any more.
Bevan ducked under the butt of the spear aimed for his head, and redrew his knife. “We will not know hunger again. The sacrifices must continue.” Somehow knowing the desperation of the situation, Rythane dives from above, clawing at the face of the archer at the moment she loosed another arrow towards Kori.
Face Danger+shadow, 3+2+1 vs 1,1. Another success with a match. What a fight. I’ll take the bonus momentum from sly for two total (now 7).
Bevan, who had kept his distance outside the range of Kori’s spear, waved the large axe-wielding man forward. Kori lunged before he lost his advantage, this time not merely trying to disable Bevan.
extra harm from weapon and strike means progress is now 10/10, let’s narratively end this
The bone spear pierced Bevan’s chest, who fell to his knees immediately. The larger man hesitated. Kori moved to keep him between himself and the archer. “End this foolishness, this fight is over. Your leader is gone, and the best fighter among you is downed.” At that moment, the strength faded from Bevan, and he fell to the floor fully.
This is definitely progress towards the “seeking justice for Shekhar” vow. But there’s still more to do for that.
Thoughts: maybe the fight could have been another difficulty up? progress came quickly when I was strong. But losing my spear early was pretty scary.
Both of the aggressor’s weapons hit the floor. Kori’s grip on his spear loosened slightly.
Blue text is my thoughts or meta commentary
Red text is backfilled, added after the fact some time in the future, and was not present when originally written