Battle of Hex 1911. Day 1.

Trent aka Sir Manning wrote this Actual Play Report/Plea For Aid after our last Cobalt Reach game...

Stuff in black by him, stuff in blue by me.

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COBALT REACH Travel.. Tip? Battle... thing?

Ok we have definitely got ourselves into a fight.Someone help us next week, please.__________________

Besieging a Chaos Gnoll fort. ~50 Gnolls, Each one at least 4HD, and at least 2 Witches and 2 Superbadass warriors... Commanded by the exemplary GM,+Zak Smith.The PC force is Sir Manning's Warband (~130, primarily Amazons, with some goblins, elves, drow, panthermen and beastmen, mostly 1HD) allied with some Goblins of Gaxen Kane (~120 1HD Goblins).

(Recruited one unit at a time over the last few months and bought off with favors, gold, and promises of victory. -Z)

First round starts.... unexpectedly. +Chris H Kootenai has a Druidic bolt of Lightning reflected upon him through foul magics.... Damaging him most cruelly, annihilating +Scrap Princess's fabulous cat-fish looking man, Phaddius and Koot's Battlefrog.... A Fortune turned foul, indeed!

(This refers to the fact that Chris had earlier in the day consulted the Astrologer's Consortium and randomly rolled the fortune "One you hope to surprise will be expecting you and one you love will be set on fire". What witch wouldn't use those stars? -Z)

25 Gnolls charge forth from the fort! The jungle shakes with their roar, as their hooves churn the strange jungle earth. The vile, inscrutable creatures are met in the open with Bolts, Arrows, Bola, A Fireball (from +Ian Burns' Morgan) and a well placed Entangle. Despite this, many gnolls reach our line, where a fierce battle rages. Sir Manning duels their Extremely Strong leaderbeast, and Koot Druid-shifts into a bear to confront a sublieutenant. The beasts are strong and fast, delivering heavy blows with terrible weapons. Manning remains calm and defends as well as able, and Kootenai strikes home with ursine claws.

After a furious minute, Manning is on the back foot. Koot too is looking rough. Morgan raises his hands and draws power from strange places, before putting the largest beast down with a horrible Phantasmal Killer 

(Terrifying spell). 

Manning siezes the opportunity, removing and then flourishing the foul LeaderGnoll's head.

(Nice.)

Some inspiring words and roars of victory force the surviving Gnolls to flee to their keep. The sublieutenant goes down in retreat, from a well placed Magic Missile, and several more beasts are trapped and slain from Amazon Bolas and Spears. A fortunate victory with minimal losses, team Manning, though PC resources are low.

Kootenai demands another Lightning Bolt leap out of the heavens, after Morgan dispels the Witch's barriers. She survives the tremendous blast, taking a crossbow bolt from Manning for good measure.... Gesturing menacingly, the creature descends farther into the keep, beyond sight. From within, she summons a Foul Shelled Troll to rush poor Kootenai, determined to end the torrent of electricity. Hurriedly, the thing is intercepted by Sir Manning, 3 Beastmen and some swift Panthermen, who bear down on it with broad weapons and scything claws.A fierce battle ensues, as the main forces exchange arrows across the field. Manning is knocked down and unconscious as the troll unleashes terrible blows, but is dragged to safety by the lovely and enigmatic Olgreth. Manning's loyal beasts continue to drive their weapons into the thing, as Kootenai's summoned Insect Swarm keeps it at bay.

(Also terrifying.)

Manning regains his feet, praise Vorn, to do battle again. A second sally of Gnolls spew forth from the gate, headed in the direction of the critical Troll Battle. Manning gives orders for infantry to intercept the push at the treeline, whilst death flies from the forest into their advance.

(Also, the trolls eyes roll out of his head, hit the ground, sprout spider legs and begin walking around on their own...)

The game ends with the battle in the balance...We estimate 5% losses for Sir Manning, and 35% losses for the Gnolls. It has cost us in HP and magic, and we ache over what the Witches have still to throw at us._________________________

Just ignore the telephone pole

(This is how it'll work:

Ok, so assuming you don't do anything especially tactically intelligent/relevant and just went ahead and ordered a charge on the battlements, a full on combat would be resolved something like this:

(superior gnoll losses have been accounted for in the smaller "model" versions of the combats)
(also: keep in mind gnolls have cover (+2 AC) and high ground (+2 to hit))
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UNIT 1

White Elf Warriors: 13 (7 have Bows)
vs
3 gnolls (in cover behind battlements)
which will be resolved as
5 White elves
vs
1 gnoll

UNIT 2

Drow Elves: 7 (With Bows, inc 2 Scouts/Thieves)
vs.
2 gnolls

UNIT 3

Trent's Goblins: 19 (Crossbows + Flails)
vs.
4 gnolls
which will be resolved as
6 goblins
vs.
1 gnoll

Warpig: 1 (I guess the Goblin Lieutenant has it)
(assume this is strategically irrelevant)

UNIT 4

Yellow Pterodactyl Tribe Amazons (w/bolas):50
vs.
12 gnolls
which will be resolved mechanically as
6 Yellow amazons
vs
1 gnolls

UNIT 5

Red Pterodactyl Tribe Amazons (with crossbows) 26
vs.
6 gnolls
which will be resolved as
5 red amazons
vs.
1 gnolls

UNIT 6

Green Amazon: 1
Blue Amazon (Cleric): 1
(All Amazons have various Jon Blanche Weapons, 50% have Bolas & Crossbows.)
Beastmen (2hd) : 3 (Two Handed Swords, Morning Stars)
vs.
2 gnolls

UNIT 7

BlueBlack Panthermen: 9 (4 x 2HD, 1 x 3HDftr, 1 x 3HD Ranger, 2 x 4HDFtr, 1 x 5HD Ftr)
vs
2 gnolls
Which will be resolved as
5 panthermen
vs.
1 gnoll

UNIT 8

Gaxen Forces:
Goblins: 113. 13 are on garrison duty back at the fort, 100 came with you.

...so that's 100 goblins
vs.
23 gnolls
which will be resolved as
5 goblins
vs
1 gnolls

plus

PCs (3-6)
vs.
Witches, Bosses, special troops (# unknown)
...

I suggest that you assign, for convenience sake, a number of units (1-2) to each player (not necessarily PC) to control. 

....

Essentially from now on, mathwise, every time a PC kills an ordinary gnoll, you can add 4hd worth of troops to your side in any unit you want.

If one of your units gets so big that the estimated model combat beneath is no longer inaccurate in your favor, you add a unit to the estimate.

Like: lets say Scrap kills a regular gnoll in personal combat.

You may then add 4 amazons to unit 5, making the total 31 red amazons vs 6 gnolls.

This means the 5-to-1 estimate is no longer accurate, it favors the gnolls. So the estimate is revised to 6 to 1.

You don't actually get more troops, of course, you just jigger the numbers more in your favor.

...

Also, you can pull in NPC troops to help with the leaders, you just get less xp at the end and the number are less in your favor.

_________________________

Will Kootenai's next bolt strike true? Can the incessant stream of stormy death continue to force the Gnolls from their bastion?Will the Troll go down before it destroys either Sir Manning or the valiant Kootenai? Will the Infantry reach the Gnoll's push in time? Or will Sir Manning be overrun?What cruel tricks have the Witches still remaining? Can the fort be taken, or are the foul magics too strong?

Join us next time, all ye PCs of significant/high level with ideally lots of magic or attacks or some way to fucking save our asses and would fit into Zaks game, because god dammit we can win this fight but I'm out of HP and both Chris and I are out of spells.

Check with me, opportunity is limited.

(Game is midnight on the cusp of Monday and Tuesday, Pacific time, if you want in.)

ps I love this game. We are constantly on the precipice of annihilation...

(Me too.)

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Updated Character Generation Rules (now with Fuck It Mode!)

Character generation rules for Zak's games..

1. There are four methods of character generation, disaggregated by associated bragging rights, choose whichever you want...

A) ("Pornstar's first character" rules): Roll 4d6, pick the 3 highest and assign to the 6 stats. These are the rules the girls used for their first characters. Recommended for people who have never played an RPG before. 
B) ("Veteran" rules): Roll 3d6 for each stat, assign as you please. 
C) ("Bad Motherfucker" rules): Roll 3d6, in order. (These are the ones we all usually use now.)
D) ("Fuck it mode" rules): Roll 3d6, in order, then skip down to under the picture of the snowflake of this entry to decide everything else. (It's fast, that's for sure.)

2. Here are my canonical races and their associated bonuses, click to enlarge...


You can also be a sea elf (can survive underwater indefinitely but has to be fully immersed for ten minutes once per day) or, goblin (mechanically as halfling. They talk backwards. You can if you like.) Or hengeyokai (is actually an animal that can turn into a human)... 

...or, if you want to get crazy with it, any other thing you want so long as it's humanoid, its bonuses and penalties balance and you can convince me it's cool before gametime. Showing me a picture may help, especially if John Blanche drew it.

3. For online games we use the AD&D system for bonuses and penalties--look it up.

At home we use the 3.5 system, for bonuses and penalties. Like if you have a 12 or 13 in a stat, you're +1 to things associated with that stat, if you have an 8 or 9, that's -1, 6 or 7 is -2, etc. Write the number next to the stat. That same link will tell you where your base melee mod, damage mod, missile mod, ac mod, save mod and con mod are. Or just ask me and I can hook you up.

4. Classes available are Ranger, Paladin, Barbarian, Cleric, Thief (Rogue), Druid, Wizard, Fighter.
I have some alternate versions of the classes in bold under the "new classes" tag here, as well as a new, nonstandard class called The Alice.

Feel free to reskin them. I am also experimenting with a witch class, if you want in on that, talk to me. Once you pick a class, write down the attack bonus and save mods for your class from here.

5. You do not start at first level with maximum hit points. If your con penalty is such that you'd get 0 or fewer hit points, take d4.

6. No feats or skills. Except: thieves get skills--just pick 8 from the list here. No skill points, just pick 8. Pick 9 if you have an 18 int.

7. Other stuff to pick for your class and starting gp is summarized below, click to enlarge...(The barbarian part is messed up--add 4 to strength and con when raging--which you can do once per day.)


8. If you have a lot of time before the game, go here or to the AD&D player's handbook and buy stuff with your starting gp. If you don't, just tell me what you want and get it ok'd. If you write down a weapon's special 3.5-style crit you can have it--if you forget, you don't. We use "size m": damage only.

Any reasonable item on neither of those lists may be bought on a penny, nickel, dime, quarter, dollar basis. PCs may have familiars or buy dogs according to these rules, but all brand new PCs in any given party can only have one attack animal between them.

9. Clerics: possible gods...Vorn: Grim grey god of iron and rain, Tittivila: horned goddess of mutation and healing, Gor: bullheaded god of law, Ch'od: esoteric weirdo god, Cult of the White Web: Creepy spider cult, or invent one of your own, Akayle Ozph: elf /goblin chaos god . After and only after you have chosen your path, the DM will reveal special spells available to those of your order.

10. If you got spells, note duration, area of effect, etc. They can be from any system you want so long as you're comfortable with me tweaking them. I may use AD&D or 3.5 versions of spells, it's idiosyncratic, if my interpretation of a spell totally harshes your buzz we will discuss it before play starts and come to an agreement.

11. You may import old characters from any D&D-derivative (S&W, LL, C&C, 4e, Rolemaster, Tekumel, WFRP, LOTFP, DCC, Harn, Gurps, Pendragon, etc.) into the campaign if you have them, if they had 0 xp (or less) as of July 26, 2011, and if their stats can be intelligibly rendered in D&D format as a character of the appropriate level for the adventure I'm running. Strip them back to stats and hp, figure out the bonuses and penalties, and transfer them over. Consult me about anything weird or high-powered, we'll negotiate about it.

12. You may want to roll up a backup character or two. Motherfuckers die.

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FUCK IT MODE.

1. So you rolled 3d6 in order, that was step one, now...

2. Background: roll d100

1-3 Goblin from Gaxen Kane. You are from the Great Goblin Empire. 

4-5 Goblin from Cobalt Reach. You are from the radioactive jungle. 

5-6 Dark Elf Royalty from Drownesia. How did you get this far north? You're a prince or princess that somehow wandered up here. You lost most of your stuff in the process, sorry.

7-10 Dark Elf Pirate from Drownesia.  You can sail a ship. Roll for the crew form whence you hale.

11-22 Vornheim native (human).

23-24 Vornheim native (human, aristocrat) Go here, and read the section on "Inherited Rank".

25-30 Vornheim native (elf)

31 Vornheim native (elf, aristocrat) Go here, and read the section on "Inherited Rank".

32-39 Vornheim native (half elf)

40 Vornheim native (half elf aristocrat) Go here, and read the section on "Inherited Rank".

41-45 Vornheim native (halfling)

46-49 Vornheim native (dwarf) go here.

50 Vornheim native (dwarf)(aristocrat) go here.

51-52 Vornheim native (tiefling)

53 Vornheim native (tiefling, aristocrat) Go here, and read the section on "Inherited Rank".

54-58 Alice from Voivodja (human) (your class is Alice)

59-62 Alice from Voivodja (halfling) (your class is Alice)

63-71 White elf from Nornrik. You have a cool creepy viking-elf warmask that gives you +1 AC but -1 to notice stuff visually with Wisdom rolls.

72-75 White elf from Nornrik (aristocrat) Go here, and read the section on "Inherited Rank".

76-77 Gray Elf from the Far Lands You are one of those inherently magical elves from the Hexenbrachen or some other disturbing fey realm. You have the hit points and saves of a thief, one wizard spell (pick), and are otherwise a fighter at first level. You may level up in any of those three classes using these tables. -1 con. Note that your choice of spell affects your subrace.

78 One With Two Skins from the Far Lands. 

79 Vat Spawn from some alchemist's tower in Cobalt Reach

80-84 Pirate (human) from Vornheim. You're a human. You can sail. +1 con. Roll for your former captain.

85-86 Pirate (human) from The Land of Naj: choose one piece of slightly anachronistic technology to own. You can sail.  Roll for your former captain.

87-88 Pirate (human) from The Exotic East: pick a Kung Fu number.  You can sail. If you collect at least 4 levels in both fighter and thief, or at least 3 in fighter, thief and wizard you can call yourself a ninja.  Roll for your former captain.

89-94 Dwarf from The Nameless City/Lanthanum Chromate.

95-98 Dwarf from the Far Lands. Roll on the Dwarf Land trait table from Huge Ruined Scott's Dwarf Land pdf. Oh you don't have it? Just roll d6 and tell me what you got.

99-00 Sea Elf from the Drowned Lands. 

3. Scroll up to (2) above the snowflake if your race doesn't have its own link and note the stuff. If you're an Alice, Vat Spawn or an elf from the Far Lands, you've pretty much got your class cut out for you, otherwise, roll d8 for your class:

1. Ranger 

2. Paladin

3. Barbarian 

4. Cleric or, if you're Two-Skinned/Hengeyokai, you're a thief

5. Thief (Rogue)

6. Druid or, if you're Two-Skinned/Hengeyokai, you're a thief

7. Wizard/Witch

8. Fighter

Note all the stuff for your class from 5, 6, and 7 above the snowflake. Ignore money.

4. If you're One With Two Skins, choose what animal you are, if you're a paladin or cleric, note your god depending on your background:

Human of Vornheim

1-2. Vorn: Grim grey god of iron and rain

2.Tittivila: horned goddess of mutation and healing

4. Gor: bullheaded god of law

Goblin 

1-3 Great Maggot

4. Akayle Ozph: elf /goblin chaos god . 

Dark Elf

1-2 Rangda, the Widow

3 Lolth

4-5 The Dracolisk

6 Akayle Ozph

Other I haven't got there yet, make something up

5.  You have a knife and another melee weapon of your choice and a backpack. If you are a cleric you have a holy symbol, if you're a wizard you have a spellbook.

Roll d20 on this table until you get the same result twice or the table instructs you otherwise

1. Shield or helmet AC +1

2. Leather armor +2

3. Studded/ring mail AC +3 or take leather armor or a cloak and (no matter what you choose) roll d10+10 on this table from now on

4. Scale mail AC +4 or take leather armor or a cloak and (no matter what you choose) roll d10+10 on this table from now on

5. Chain mail AC +5 or take leather armor or a cloak and (no matter what you choose) roll d10+10 on this table from now on

6. Banded/Splint mail AC +6 or take leather armor or a cloak and (no matter what you choose) roll d10+10 on this table from now on

7. Plate mail AC +7 or take leather armor or a cloak and (no matter what you choose) roll d10+10 on this table from now on

8. Crossbow w/10 bolts 

9. Roll d20 under your charisma. If you fail, take one thing, if you succeed, choose a number of things off this list equal to the number under, then stop.

10. Mirror, wolvesbane or 10' pole

11. 100gp or or thieves' tools

12. 5 torches + 2d4 oils

13. Rope

14. Grappling hook

15. Bedroll + some mundane object smaller than a breadbox not on this table

16. Caltrops or 10' chain

17. Melee weapon of your choice, it may be throwable

18. Short bow w/10 arrows

19. Lantern + 2d4 oils

20. Rations: 1 week +Wineskin

6. Fly little bird.

Hengeyokai, or the Those With Two Skins

Text in normal font is stolen from AD&D Oriental Adventures. Modifications are in this font. For clarity's sake, some of the stuff in the original has been just left out.

Hengeyokai are intelligent, shape-changing animals. Several subraces exist, each a different type of animal. They are found throughout the Oriental world, usually on the fringes of human-settled lands. In the west they have no collective name and are referred to simply as "a crow that walks like a man" or by local misnomers such as "fey animals", "dopplecanthropes" etc. The elves call them Eithed-Aethe or Those With Two Skins.

A hengeyokai can be a shukenja, kensai, bushi, or wu jen. He can never be a samurai or ninja, since he is not human. any class except a druid or cleric (the connection of the natural world in the religious sense understood by these classes being strictly a construct of humanoid culture) and paladin hengeyokai are always animals sacred to the PC's god, so, for instance, a hengeyokai paladin of Vorn would be a boar or crow and a hengeyokai paladin of Set would be a snake.

Most hengeyokai are chaotic, although player character hengeyokai can be lawful or neutral. Various animal types must be good or evil, as noted on the table above. The alignment tendencies of the various animals are well known by humans, who will treat hengeyokai accordingly. A badger hengeyokai, for example, will be shunned by humans because they assume know it is evil.

In general, the hengeyokai are a secretive race, preferring to avoid prolonged contact with humans. They have little desire for land or position and can never establish families or strongholds even if their chosen class allows this.

A player who decides to have a hengeyokai player character must have the minimum required scores for the race before modifications for animal type play a standard-race PC for a while first, then have that PC die. That's life. Then s/he must choose his character's animal form.  S/he rolls stats by any ordinary method germane to the campaign, but should be allowed to arrange the stats to match his/her conception of the animal in question.  The traditional Eastern forms are carp, cat, crab, crane, dog, drake, fox, hare, monkey, raccoon dog, rat, and sparrow, though PCs may take the form of any animal in that size range (and no, the dog is not a great dane).

A hengeyokai can assume any one of three two shapes: its animal form, and its human form, and a bipedal form that combines both animal and human features . This ability is limited, however. The number of times a hengeyokai can change forms in one day equals his or her level. Thus a 1st-level hengeyokai can change from human to animal form once in a day. S/he then has to remain in animal form until the next day, when s/he can change to human or bipedal form. A 3rd-level hengeyokai can change form three times in one day. The hengeyokai must sleep in animal form.

Changing form requires one complete round during which the character can do nothing else. Armor and equipment do not change form along with the hengeyokai. The character must make provisions for the storage or transportation of his equipment in some way.

In each form, the hengeyokai has certain advantages and disadvantages. In all cases, however, the character's level and ability scores are unchanged. In addition, a hengeyokai can speak the language of hengeyokai in all forms.

Animal Form

When in animal form the hengeyokai is virtually undetectable from normal animals and have the same physical and charisma stat. Since the change of form is real and not an illusion, it cannot be detected by spells that reveal illusions. While in animal form, hengeyokai have the movement abilities, armor class, and damage range shown on the table above. However, real animals not of their type will avoid them. Druids, and, to a lesser degree, rangers, may realize something's up.

Hengeyokai also gain infravision and the power to speak with normal animals of their kind when in their animal form. Infravision has a range of 120 feet. Conversations with normal animals are usually quite simple and basic, depending on the level of cunning and wit possessed by the animal.

Hengeyokai also have several disadvantages while in animal form. They cannot use any weapons, armor, or equipment, making it possible for them to be mistaken for (and even hunted as) normal animals. Hengeyokai with magical abilities cannot cast any spells in animal form, nor can they speak any languages other than those of the hengeyokai and the normal animals. They can understand any language they know, but may not be able to reply.

The hengeyokai has fewer hit points in his or her animal form than in either of his/her other forms. Hengeyokai in animal form have only one-half their normal number of hit points (rounded up). Hit points lost in one form are carried over point-for-point to the new form. Thus a hengeyokai with 23 hit points in human form has only 12 hit points in animal form. If the character is wounded and loses 8 hit points, he has 15 hit points remaining when in human or bipedal form, but only 4 in animal form. A hengeyokai cannot change to animal form if this would leave him with 0 or fewer hit points.

When a hengeyokai character reaches 0 hit points in any form, s/he is slain. A hengeyokai in human animal form with 0 hit points left does not instantly changes to animal one of his other forms.

Human Form

When in human form, a hengeyokai looks like a normal human being. However, s/he always retains some distinctive feature of his/her animal form. A raccoon dog hengeyokai may have a silver stripe through his hair. A sparrow hengeyokai may have an unusually sharp nose. The choice of the exact identifying feature is left to the player and the DM.
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