Session Report: Wolves Upon the Coast A: More Manticore?
Two games in as many days? What decadence! My two players with inhuman schedules could not make it yesterday, and furthermore sickness' attrition turned these two into a one - a character was rolled, Hallr the Norseman. In anticipation of further scheduling incompatibility, it is decided they will run a parallel game and communication with the other party will, perhaps, be through vague portents, dreams, and perhaps the transmigration of souls (if scheduling demands). This explains the use of 'A' for this session instead of a number. We will see if this is sustainable.
Hallr, his Karvi, and his 12 ex-thralls instantiate in the midst of a storm off the coast of Faroe: 49.10. They beach the ship and haul it to forest to wait it out. Penetrating with reluctance the haze of servitude (while I avail myself of the map, having annotated only the immediate surrounds) they at length recollect their former master hailed from Borg 35.07 - on the coast well to the west.
Ex-thralls dispatched to scout the surrounds report a man in a grave who seems half dead, and retrieve Hallr who investigates with all but a small guard: It is the warrior Bjorgulf. I roll for his HP (10) and, based on the description, decide he is at 5 at current. Bjorgulf is prevailed on to come to their camp and pumped for information: He describes his one man war against all Ghouls and describes the ghoul court to the southeast. I decide his hometown was to Atnbrua and his knowledge is largely of the surrounds. He cannot be prevailed upon, however, to commit to leave this place when the weather turns. Hallr reasons he has some connections of wealth and family from his heavy armour and wishes to use him as an inroads to society, and offers to leave 4 ex-thralls to aid him in his war when they depart (the (ex?)thralls are not consulted but the matter does not have time to come to a head while weather is waited on).
As they wait I roll for an encounter: Amalgam Manticore + 26 dogs. I raise my eyebrow - the other party fought just such a creature last session - but do not care to change it. In the early afternoon the distant braying of dogs is heard.
Wind is southerly: Certainly the party would be smelled. The braying grows louder, and a desperate, malignant edge to the keens become discernible. Isolated dogs are visible: Foul in appearance and overbold in mien. They stand off, waiting. I roll a 1d6 oracularly for the local informant's knowledge of the manticore: 1. Nothing. Bjorgulf concurs with the generally raised level of alarm but has no specific knowledge or suggestions.
There sound to be a great many. As a precaution the beached Karvi is dragged further out on the beach, away from the foliage. It is tipped over to form a barrier, and its mast detached and lain before it: The storm-wind disguises the movement of underbrush until it is close, but the hulking form of a manticore grows visible. The dogs assemble at the edge of vegetation.
Ex-thralls are ordered to gather up rocks to use as missiles. The mast is doused in oil and set afire. In the gap between it and the bow and stern there is sufficient space for two fighters to stand abreast. The dogs attack: I do not know if they have stats at all, and decide they have 1d3 HP apiece - they rush on ahead of their leader and attack inefficaciously. They do not dare to brave the flames. Hallr takes his position at the western position, and Bjorgulf at the east, with club-armed ex-thralls milling behind them. Two are boosted up to stand atop the vessel while the collected rocks (count 20, as light missile weapons) are passed up to them. Dogs are killed at range.
The manticore closes, I randomly select the eastern chokepoint and Bjorgulf as its targets, and attritional battle is done. I did not have time to hack an equivalent of Supernatural HP between this time and the session last night, consequently the manticore is treated as other animals might be. It starts with 23 HP. Many dogs are killed. Two thralls are downed in the fighting. Their position is good, though, and it is manifest that there is no where to run: The storm sea rages behind them. NPC Bjorg rolls very well, and Hallr too does fine work against the dogs.
At 3HP the manticore flees, its remaining dogs break with it, and it is pursued closely - its tail spikes ineffective in discouraging pursuit. It is killed, and all those wounded are paraded through its gore and back to health. There the session concludes.
30min to draw up characters and brief on the ruleset: I did not take close notes on the use of the remaining time or the total duration, overall I think it was slightly over 2hrs, and I would speculate that 1/3 of the gameplay was chatting with Bjorg and 2/3 was combat. I feel the procedures are solid (one I figure out natural HP) and further experience + more optimal use of discord rolling will speed it further in practice: I would have preferred to do more than kill one enemy, even if dire.
A number of combat rounds were repetitions of the same action. I do not think this was wrong - the position was good and it made sense to continue. I did wonder at what would happen - the manticore could easily have been a bit luckier, and in such as case the party would have utmost difficulty fleeing or preserving their karvi. Had it prevailed, I would have permitted survivors to flee into the woods and abstracted their escape from the dogs if significant numbers remained, perhaps make a Dexterity check to flee. It occurs to me that the escape rules in OSE or D&D might be useful to have as reference.
I was having great difficulty CTRL+Fing the Bjorg's treasure-sword the Nest-of-Snakes in &Treasure, so I didn't have him use it for most of the fight - instead he kept it sheathed and used his javelin for fighting instead, until near the end. Not ideal but I didn't have time to search.