Playtest Report: The Border Guard

Myself, OW, and DS gave AW:DA our first playtest recently.

We were a little confused at the very beginning by the instruction "create a holding," as we weren't sure if this meant a stronghold or something else. Seeing that the stronghold sheet has its own creation mechanics, we eventually settled on creating one and went from there.

What does the stronghold defend?

• A troubled and contentious border.

Who are its enemies?

• Fractious and rebellious free landowners
• hostile clans, never conquered
• The remnants of the former crown's rule

We decide to combine the last two options, deciding that the enemies beyond the river border were the scattered remains of a once great kingdom, shattered by our people ages ago. (We were aiming for ourselves being similar to the Huns for a historical example). Inside our border there were also fractious and rebellious free landowners, but this didn't come to fruition in the session.

What are its fortifications?

• Archers' overlooks
• A hilltop position
• A stone outer wall
• Watch- and signal towers

We decide that the stronghold lay on a hill that was cut through by the river that made up the border. On the river/cliff side, there were various archers' overlooks used to police river traffic and ward off enemies approaching from beyond the border. Watch- and signal towers punctuated the stone wall protecting the stronghold.

What does its armory include?

• Spears
• Hide coats and leather helmets
• Crossbows and a supply of quarrels
• Horses, lances, kite shields

We decide that were preferred to fight by range and reach, and naturally selected spears and crossbows as such. We also have mounted cavalry for when the river has been crossed by our enemies.

Next was the creation of our people.

People
Defined by

• Our descendance from an ancient hero, bound to uphold the borderland.

Again, the huns were somewhat of an inspiration here. We liked that the descendance of this hero (who we didn't flesh out at all) united and brought ruin to the kingdom beyond the river, and that our people swore to uphold the border against any of the tattered remnants of those people.

Numbers
We spent some time looking at the different options here, and were surprised at how small most of them were. After some discussion, we decided to go with something between a clan and a warrior order, hosting 35 souls, 10 households, and 16 warriors

Look Like

• Olive/Bronze skin
• Mixed body types

There was some debate on the body type between short/stocky and tall/willowy. We decided to settle on "mixed" and moved on.

Names and Language
We eventually settled on a Greek origin, specifically calling ourselfs the Cretans.

Stats
+2 war was a no-brainer, followed by 0 wealth and -1 rites

Known For

• Their devotion to law
• Their archers
• Their loyalty to one another
• Their strategy and tactics
• Their towering monuments
• Their craft and skill

We liked the idea that we maintained a law of the border, which seemed appropriate with such a duty centered mentality. Loyalty to one another came next given the tight knit nature of the community. Archers had already been established earlier as a large facet, so we went with that.

We were somewhat confused with the wealth options, as they seemed out of scale with most of the stronghold sizes. We settled on towering monuments, referring to our large stone watchtowers, and our craft and skill, deciding that we make our own weapons and are known for our quality with them. OW mentioned that some of the options from the "known for" lists were a little generic, suggesting options like "stealthy and ambush-y" (my wording, not his) as a war option, and "endless endurance and toughness" as an alternative option to "physical prowess". There was also some confusion on what exactly a "rich land" was.

Seeing how small our stronghold was (OW noted it wasn't really a self-sustaining outpost), we created two additional peoples.

1. The Tavie
A river people who had built up a community, outside of the stronghold wall.

Defined by

• Their cultural life of living on the river

Look Like

• Small, wirey, milky white to peach pink skin, red hair, freckles

Known For

• elaborate cosmology
• vigilance against monsters
• priests and witch doctors
• scouts and stealth
• abundance of food

Language and Names

• Celtic (The Tavie)

Numbers
Souls: 50
Households: 6
Warriors: 8

Stats
Rites 2
War -1
Wealthy 0

We wanted a more spiritual people to counter the militaristic Cretans. We created some of our own "known for" options based off of those present.


2. The Slaves
Slaves of the Cretans

Defined by
Their having broken our laws

Look Like
Mostly the cretans, some Tavie

Known For

• Their patience in suffering
• Their insularity
• Their insatiability for war
• Their craft and skill
• Their superb metalwork

We originally thought that the slaves might have been from the enemy border, but since there was such a deep seeded hatred that had been established, and that "our devotion to law" was something we were known for, we decided that slavers were predominantly those who had broken our laws. When looking at "known for" options, we chose "their insatiability for war," and came up with the notion that those who had been reckless in battle, pillaging and raping when only defense was needed, were arrested and turned into slaves for the stronghold. Again, the wealth options seemed to clash with the scale of the populations in question. We opted for "superb metalwork," noting that the slaves spent much of their time crafting weapons, and hence became quite skilled at the process.

Numbers
Souls: 20
Households: 4
Warriors: 5 (potential)

Stats
Rites 1
War 0
Wealth 1

Character Creation
I ended up MCing while DS and OW created characters. I busied myself with creating enemies and a Troll while OW and DS did their thing. There was very little interaction until the process was done. OW created Herakleus, the Cretan Troll-Killer, and DS made Parlan, the Tavie Wicker-Wise. I created the people beyond the border (Slaves, known for their implacable blood vengeance, ruthlessnes, insularity, and a few other things), and a Wood Troll. I noted that a "monster sheet" in the vein of a character playbook would be nice to have.

Start of Play
When asked what was done last season, DS opted for "Rites and Celebration," while OW chose "At the Hearth," noting that a grandchild had been born. I asked what their holds were like. DS mentioned having a large ceremonial shrine. OW stated that he was not known as the "Troll Killer" by the Cretans, instead referred to as the land-watch patrol. The Tavie, more in tune with the magical beasts of the world, venerated OW for his aid in fighting on their behalf.

As MC, I mentioned that the lack of "getting to known the characters" left me not sure what to do next. We talked a bit, and thought that the "what did you spend last season doing" options might benefit from something that brings conflict into the game more. Some ideas included:

• what did you spend last season preparing for
• what did you spend last season doing, and what stood against your effort

Not sure what to do next, I opted to bring in my Troll (which I was excited about since I originally saw the Troll page of the playtest documents). We opened with DS speaking with the chieftess of the Tavie (Muirne), whose mother had had her breath stolen the previous night. OW was called, and Murine stated that it was the Wood Troll who had taken her mother. OW was bewildered, stating that he had killed that troll last season, sticking its head on a pike beyond the village.

DS decided to consult the other world, and blew the roll. OW opted to do the same, to the same effect. I described DS coming to his ceremonial shrine, only to find that several of the stone pillars making up the space had huge, deep gashes in them, many toppled over. Similar claw marks were dug into the dirt at the center of the shrine. OW inspected the pike (bearing no head), seeking a sign from his gods. He saw that the pike was cracked, now leaning towards the desecrated shrine - the creature had in fact returned.

After some conversation about how to move forward, OW and DS decided to try and track down the beast. DS asked for the hospitality of the Tavie, and was granted both a small troop of warriors (5). Additionally, DS enchanted one of OW's arrows to burn with hot fire, using the same hospitality to gain a bounty of food as a sacrifice.

In the woods, OW struck a quarries trail, blowing the roll. The troop arrived at the den of the Wood Troll, and were quickly ambushed by the beast.

Here we struggled for a bit with the rules. We started off the fight by stating the Tavie warriors as a War Company, and they rolled to "come under attack." While the warriors were quite weak (war -1), their "considerations for harm" were devastating.

They: outnumbered the enemy 3:1 (+3 harm, +3 armor), and had high ground (archers set up in trees) (+2 harm, +2 armor). After the first come under attack exchange of harm, the troll was nearly dead and the war company was unharmed. In response, OW lead an attack against the troll. When we read that the roll had to roll to come under attack, using its war, we realized that the battle mechanics probably weren't made for this. As such, we jumped back to when the troll burst forth from the treeline and attack OW. There was some confusion as to which move to use next - we originally looked at undertake great labor as a "acting under fire" equivalent, but I noted that the wording of the move and the move outcomes didn't really fit. Once we realized this didn't work, OW rolled to engage in single combat, and was brutally mauled by the troll as a result. He then noted that he really didn't want to go to single combat when the troll burst out - his intention was actually to flee, but he misunderstood the way the move worked. He opted to keep the harm inflicted (3 harm as established) but to then try to escape. We went with it for the sake of moving through the playtest.

DS decided, quite reasonably, to run, and succeeded in "covering the distance" to his escape on a lead into action roll. OW was quick to follow suite. He made the roll, "seizing hold of" his escape and "covering the distance" between himself and the exit. We got to a point where we felt like every move made was leap into action, but we weren't sure how else to engage the mechanic in this situation.

I had the archers fire off a volly at the troll, but as individuals, none of them could puncture the trolls hide. We decided in the interest of moving forward with the playtest, the Troll decided to retreat to the woods rather than get pelted with arrows again and again.

After the fight, DS consulted the other world, discovering that the Troll had survived its earlier "death" because it kept its organs hidden in a broken tree somewhere amidst the woods. He also saw that the troll must consume its own organs before removing them again at each half moon. OW opted to strike a quarries trail again, this time choosing to "study it for insight." He learned that the Troll was going to a cave in the side of a cliff to deter followers, and would wait to regenerate. Since they did not yet know the location of the organ tree, and OW was badly wounded, they decided to return to the stronghold.

One back, DS began a healing enchantment. The sacrifices chosen were:

• Bind the subject by oaths to your gods, in this case swearing the Troll-Killer to slay the troll in exchange for their blessings
• take a measure of blood from each person in the village
• give a bounty of goods to the river
• spend the rest of the season performing the enchantment

The oaths were acquired by OW after some cajoling, and the villagers were willing to give some blood to help revive their only protection from the troll. The bounty of goods was trickier however. Since a bounty had already been taken this season, the Tavie simply did not have it to give. OW asked the Cretan war captain, asking for 2 horses to be sacrificed for his healing. The war captain was unhappy about the request, but decided he would grant it if OW swore to him not to take up such foolish errands as chasing after trolls in the woods. "Stay at your guard post - do not enter the woods" was his demand, which OW made (this was fun since he had already sworn to DS's gods that he would hunt down and kill the troll). Since drowning two horses is kind of a task, I decided to call for a undertake great labor roll from DS. He blew the roll, and I described the horrific scene of cutting, stabbing and drowning the two horses, who fought for their life with tooth and nail. In the chaos and wild fighting for survival, 3 Tavie drowned, and DS took 1 harm from a horse kick to the femur.

We were just about done for the day at that point, so I called for the end of the season. DS's 1 harm couldn't be spent in recovery since one sacrifice was to spend the season enchanting, so it became permanent. OW slowly recovered over the season (healing 2 from the enchantment, and choosing to recover for the season to heal the last 1). During the season, I noted that 2 more Tavie had died, their breath stolen just as Muirne's mother.


Things we/I liked:

• Stronghold/People creation
• Rights and the interaction of characters and the people
• The design of the engage in single combat move (although I and OW noted, any harm at all is brutal in this game)

Questions/Things that were weird:

• Is "creating a holding" the same as "creating a stronghold"? Did we do this right?
• The scales of the wealth options given the populations in question
• Direction about world creation - should we have created a region rather than a single hamlet? How far reaching is "create the enemies holdings and peoples"?
• Where to go after character creation - I felt that I really need to interject something independent of the players, which was very different from AW (perhaps this is the intention? That this world is about outside threats coming in, not what you personally care about/seek to achieve?
• the whole fight with the Troll was confusing
• how "lead into action" seemed to be the only mechanic to use if doing anything other than "single combat"
• The focus of the game in general - we, perhaps expectedly, were very character/individual centric in our approach, but it seems like this game is much more about the community(s) as a whole. Were we approaching the game wrong?

Thank you, Jwok! This is great.

I can answer a couple of your questions, but I'm going to leave the rest of them as open and outstanding. Meg and I will consider them as we revise the game. Not the most helpful for you, I know! But very helpful for us.

Anyhow:

Creating a holding, yes, means creating a stronghold. I thought I'd changed it to stronghold throughout the document, but I guess not!

For peoples, the list of sizes is not at all exhaustive, and is, yes, very small. You can use "or as you choose" to create larger populations.

-Vincent

Definitely - happy to be of service! And after reading your Answering your questions post, I totally get and am down with just report without getting "fix it" answers. Thanks for those two clarifications, and for sharing the playtest document with everyone!

-Jamil