Black tide AP report
Hey, sunday I gmed a table in an event here and used the Black Tide, sort of. I like to use the campaign fronts as an inspiration and roll with it. The session used Diablo (I, II and III) classes, and was based in Diablo's world. Also, I tested the rules of using 2d6 Damage Rolls for Harm, the new rules that were discussed here in the forum. The rules are as follows:
When you deal damage, you roll+ Damage of the weapon. On a 6-, no damage. On a 7 to 9, you stun, scratches or paralyze the target. On a 10+, you knock down,maim or kill it. The protection roll is used when you take damage. You roll+Protection of your armor. On a 6-, you are knocked down, incapacitated, mutilated, wounded or killed. On a 7 to 9, you are stuned, paralyzed or scratched. On a 10+, no harm. There are no HP values.
So, the players were Sasha (the witch nurse); Oak (The Barbarian); Varyel (the Amazon); Hauk (the sorcerer); Kallem (the Assassin) and Katsume (The Paladin).
The group of adventurers heard about a long lost treasure in the town of Lea. When the players arrived at Lea, they saw the Templars sect approximating the town. They went to the king and, after hearing his lamenting for the children and his daughter kidnapping by goblins and demons, they accepted to help and received from him a badge of knights on duty.
Fearing that the inquisition of the Templars would take matters personal if they discovered that they are trying to deal with the problems of the demons without consulting them, the Amazon, together with the Barbarian, went to talk with the sect. After some parole from the Amazon, they convinced the Templars that they were there to help.
After dealing with that, the group decided to search for clues about the lost treasure and the missing children. The Barbarian, Witch and Amazon decided to investigate the basements of the houses by kicking their doors down and imposing their will to the villagers, while the Assassin, Paladin and Sorcerer talked with the people searching for clues.
The Barbarian group defied danger with STR, kicking doors down and intimidating. They got 10+ and found a hidden basement filled with black magic content. The villager tried to scape and the barbarian leaped at him, but failed (6-) and felled into the black magic stuff, but resisted the danger (10+). The amazon grabbed the villager, and just after that the the inquisition appeared and wanted to take the villager for interrogation. The Amazon convinced them that they should allow her to interrogate, for she could do the most horrible of tortures without making a bad name for the templars. They accept. In the meantime, the Witch searched the basement and got a 10+, and I gave her a little manticore inside a bottle, and she asked for a cape of invisibility. The 'cape of darkness': If you give your mind to the darkness, you become invisible. The other group found a father that lost his arm fighting against the goblins to save his child. The Paladin cured the rotten flesh of his arm, and he decided to guide them to the goblin's nest.
The two groups reunited and went to the dark forest in search of the goblins nest. The sun settled and they were surrounded by darkness. The sounds of the forest became screams, as the waves of goblins trowed themselves into the adventurers. The Amazon rushed to the darkness, luring the goblins to her, and used a decoy to escape. The barbarian leaped (10+ with STR) into the goblins, and rolled damage (Axe+2, total 10+) and he squished the goblins at his feet. A group of goblins in the trees leaped at the head of the Sorcerer, and he asked: “Can I manipulate the force of action and reaction to push them in mid air”. I said: “you control the elements, so you can control gravity. Ok”. He rolled and got a 10+, and he said: “Fus ro DAH”, and the goblins were pushed beyond the stars, and everyone singed the Dovahkin theme.
Then, a giant ogre appeared, advancing into them. The Amazon took a shoot and blinded it. The ogre, enraged, pulled a tree off and trowed it at the Witch. She invoked a cloud of insects to eat through the wood (7 to 9), but some splinters hurt her. She rolled protection and got a 7 to 9, and the splinters stunned her. The Assassin jumped at the ogre (7 to 9), slashing it (damage 7 to 9), it's blood gushing in his face. The ogre then hugged the assassin and started to strangulate him. The Amazon rushed at the ogre's knees, impaling with her lance (10+) and rolling damage (7 to 9), destroying the monster's knee caps and making it fall to the ground, still grabbing the assassin. The assassin defied danger to escape (7 to 9) and, escaping the monsters grapple, his leg hit the mouth of the ogre and he tumbled to the ground. The Barbarian leaped from the darkness, now using his maul, trying to smash the ogre's head (7 to 9, his damage was 7 to 9), but the ogre defended with it's arm, which was broken by the powerful attack. With it's other arm, the ogre pushed the barbarian away, his maul flying far. The sorcerer invoke flames to hit the ogre (atack 10+ and damage 10+) and the creature is burned from inside out.
After that, the group found the hideout of Ducat, the necromancer who was controlling the goblins and using them to steal the children. The father, who was serving as a guide through the forest, found the corpse of his child at the entrance of Ducat's hideout and went to it. When he grabbed the corpse, it exploded, killing him. The players advanced and entered the place, and the phantasmagorical voice of Ducat said to them that, if they helped him, he would tell where the Tomb of treasure was. Right now, the Barbarian player had to leave, so they gave the barbarian to Ducat, trading for the secret.
While the barbarian was left behind and killed, the players got out of there and, after a while, a zombie, sent by Ducat, puked into the forest soil the map for the lost tomb of treasures. They found the tomb and entered it, but a curse felled upon the paladin (he rolled 6- in his saving throw) and he lost his powers to that day. Then, after entering the tomb, they got into a main saloon filled with food and well made carpentry. Not trusting what they saw, the Amazon poked the food with her's spear, and the chicken leg sprouted pus and rotted fungi legs, attaching itself to the spear. The Amazon trowed it away and the sorcerer burned it. Then, the living rotten food expelled some putrid gas, that awakened all the rest of the food into a wave of rotten meat. The Witch invoker a cloud of locusts (10+ and damage 10+) that ate all of the rotten food in an instant. With the room clear, they advanced and found the sarcophagus.
After opening it and finding lots of treasure inside, a spirit appeared and said that the treasure was needed to make him pass away to a higher plane and asked them to leave it forever untouched. They cursed at him and began stealing the treasure, and the spirit invoker a giant three armed demon through the nether realms. Also, a legion of ghost warriors appeared and surrounded them. The Witch grabbed the manticore in the bottle and trowed it at the demon (result 6-) but a ghost appeared in the trajectory and the bottle hit very close to her. The manticore grew and landed upon her, causing damage. She rolled protection (leather armor +1, total of 5, a 6-) and her legs were broken under the weight ot the manticore.
The red demon advanced, and the sorcerer invoked a wall of ice with spikes to retain it (7 to 9, damage 7 to 9) and the spikes scratched it's skin. The demon broke through the wall and stumbled through the sarcaphogus, it's gigantic and heavy top was projected into the direction of the paladin, who defended against it. While all that happens, the Amazon fights the hordes of ghosts (7 to 9, damage 10+) destroying many of them, but getting hurt. She rolled protection (Leather +1, total 6-) and got stabbed in the neck (suffered great wound).
The Assassin said in secret to my, through a hidden note at the table, that he was planting bombs throught the scenery and, after that, he would scape, kill everything, and then come back to the treasure. He rolled for it (10+) and he planted the bombs very well. When he tried to escape (7 to 9) he got at the exit, but a spear of some ghost pinned him to the wall through his leather armor.
The paladin prayed to the god of light so that his powers came back (7 to 9) and they did come in a flash of ligh...that blinded him. Blinded, but with his powers back, he slashed trough the ghosts (10+, 7 to 9 damage), pushing them all back with his blind sword swings. The witch sacrificed her magical cape to the forces of vudu to heal back her legs, and then invoked insects inside the skin of the manticore (10+) and the manticore started running and breathing fire with the pain and agony that the insects were causing it.
The room was filled with fire, the ghosts were burning and the Red Demon, that was just hurt by the sorcerer (10+ attack, 10+ damage), was now bleeding in waves. The waves of blood flowed through the room, and the Assassin, who just got out of being pinned to the wall (with a 7 to 9), was splatted with blood and glued again into it. The Amazon tried to stop the bleeding (+Con, 7 to 9) and she could do it by sacrificing her armour and using it to wrap the wound. Then, she shoot some arrows to the demon (7 to 9, damage 7 to 9) causing pain to it. The demon spilled it's guts, blood and pus into her (protection 7 to 9) and she tried to fend it off, but was hurt and the bow broken with the impact. With the wild manticore raging, the Sorcerer tried freezing it (7 to 9) but was left open for an attack by ghosts on fire (protection 7 to 9) and was pushed down into the seas of blood.
The Assassin tried escaping again (10+) and the freezing ray of the sorcerer almost hit him, but he managed to escape. Outside, he detonated the bombs, and the whole tomb went down. The Amazon defied danger (6-) but an explosion got her (protection 6-) and exploded her arms and she died. The Witch tried running (7 to 9) and, although she was able to run, she was hit but the fire of the manticore that was able to free itself from the ice prison and set the hair of the with on fire. The Sorcerer also tried running and was targeted by the manticore. He invoked a water gush to project himself out of the room and deflect the manticore breath (7 to 9) but, although he was able to project himself out, he missed the mouth of the monster and also had his hair on fire. The Paladin, blinded, had to roll to remember the entrance (+Int, 7 to 9) and, while he remembered, when he tried running the Red demon grabbed his legs. He used repel evil (7 to 9) and, to repel that evil, he had to explode his leg with it... and so he did. Without one leg, the Paladin tried crawling to the exit (7 to 9) but a rock felled upon him (protection 7 to 9). He pushed the rock away and had to test his faith to live and crawl away (WIS, 6-) but his faith failed him and he died.
They rolled the death move. The Amazon (7 to 9) saw herself in front of a horrid mask and a blood red bow. Would she accept becoming the new Blood Raven and gain new life, or accept death? The Amazon then grabbed the bow, and became the Blood Raven II. The Paladin (7 to 9), saw himself at the backstages of a theater. He was saluted by Belial, who said that his god is a lie and that he was behind it. If he embraced Belial as his lord, he would give him another chance. The paladin refused and died for good.
The Sorcerer and Withc, both with their hairs on fire, walked out of the tomb and the assassin attacked by surprise the Sorcerer. The assassin rolled damage (6-) and the sorcerer rolled protection (7 to 9). It was a success for the sorcerer, and the dagger could not penetrate the leather armor. Then, the sorcerer invoked magic (7 to 9), but opened himself for the assassin's attack. The sorcerer rolled damage (10+) and the assassin protection (7 to 9), and the assassin's armed bursted into flames. Then, the assassin rolled damage (7 to 9) and the sorcerer protection (7 to 9), it was a tie. The sorcerer, heavily hurt from the other battle, was knocked down.
The Witch then invoked a giant spider to bite the traitor (10+), a full success, not alowing the assassin to attack back. She rolled damage (10+) and the assassin rolled protection (7 to 9), a full success again for her. A giant spider appeared and devoured the assassin. The witch then grabbed the sorcerer and they went out of the tomb, the treasure forever lost. When they see the town of Lea on the horizon, a wave of demons is assalting it, leaded by the zombie of a giant and powerfull Barbarian.
That was the end of the session.
Many things of the cenario I didn't use because I forgot. I'm sorry for that, my bad. The new damage resolution with 2d6 that I used in that game proved to be very successful, even more than I anticipated. The older versions were very finicky with health and how to deal with healing. But this one, with a more clear cut table of effects, was very, very effective.
The thing is that the effects on each side of Damage and Protection are varied, so you can push someone down instead of hurting them, for example. And the 10+ damage result can both be 'mutilate', 'maim', 'kill' or 'knock down'. You can make a very hard move, to knock someone down, without compromising with his death.
Death and health came naturally in the session, and the players never complained about Hp or about imposition by the MC. And there were two novice players. That was the 3r d session of the Sorcerer and the 2 nd of the Witch. And she said that her first play was with DeD, and she preferred this one instead.
So, that's it. What do you think guys? Liked the story? The players? The system? I would like to hear your opinion.
Peace