elle said she would gm this time, so the rest of us rolled up characters and got set to go!
(a couple notes! we're going to play the campaign that came with the boxed set, so if you don't want it spoiled for you, you should probably sit this set of posts out. also, the usual thanks to msg for his note-taking, which explains the capital letters from here on!)
GM Elle: Okay. Your characters are traveling through the Kummer mountains toward this place called the Misty Vale. Supposedly humans abandoned the valley ages ago and there's a crap-ton of treasure there for the taking, because the orcs were running the place all that time and have started leaving over the last couple of decades. That means the ruins and abandoned castles where old-timey empires kept all their loot are up for grabs, and settlers and adventurers have been making their way into the valley in recent years. It's hard to get to, because the entrance isn't well known and the mountains are tough, but you've been traveling a while now and you think you're close.
MSG: So ... there was all this loot lying around that the orcs didn't bother messing with? And the orcs are just up and leaving for no particular reason? Like, there's not something crazy dangerous scaring them off?
Ariel: Ooh! That's a good question!
Akane: Yes! MSG, your character must have great intelligence.
MSG: Err ... guess I'd better check my sheet. Okay, yeah, 15 is pretty good.
GM Elle: This might be the right time for everyone to describe your characters to each other. And double-check to remember what kind of character you're playing, right, MSG?
MSG: Okay, okay, I should have looked at my sheet before I started snarking about whether this is a suspicious set-up or not. My character is Dour Dolora, a young dwarven bard with dark skin and thick braids. She has a horn on a cord around her neck, and she carries a big-ass wooden club. I rolled pretty sweet stats, so in addition to typical bardic attributes, she's really strong and tough. Her weakness is that she has a craving for knowlege.
Claire: Sweet! My elf craves knowledge too. He's not so good on people skills, though, so when he finds out, he's probably like, "That's cool, as long as you don't get in my way when we find some primo knowledge." His name's Filvius Factsnacker, and he's got silver eyes, short, messy silver hair, and a long, thin silver moustache that doesn't really look all that great on him. Oh, and he's a mage who can do healing and summon lightning and shit.
Ariel: My character is slothful, so does that mean I can be kind of lazy and not really say so much about him?
Sasha: Oh, come on. We've been traveling for days. Even if he's not saying much about himself, we have eyes, right?
Ariel: Well, I mean, I just haven't worked all that much on the details. I guess he's got dark grey fur that's kind of shaggy around the edges, maybe even a little matted here and there because he doesn't brush it ... um ... he's old, so some of the fur is going white. Maybe around his ears?
Sasha: So you're saying he's one of those wolfkin?
Ariel: One of which wolfkin? I didn't know there were different kinds.
Sasha: I just meant any wolfkin. You started talking about his fur but you didn't actually mention why he has fur.
Ariel: It's because he's a wolfkin.
Sasha: Right. Obviously. I'm saying I figured it out, but you could have made it easier on us by actually telling us that.
Ariel: Sheesh. Sorr-ry. Anyway, I guess if we've been journeying along together, you've all been sleeping in my tent, since I have a big one that will fit six people.
Akane: That's so spacious! What character gets a tent of this size?
Ariel: He's a merchant. And his name is Fidu Greymane. And he's got a backpack to carry some of the stuff in, but that tent is super heavy, so if somebody stronger wants to carry it, that would be great.
Sasha: Well, I don't know whether I'm stronger or the dwarf is stronger, but my character's a knight, so I'd probably be chivalrous and offer to help carry something for an old pup like you. My guy is Sir Quackenscrump. He's a dashing young mallard with shiny emerald headfeathers that he keeps really nicely preened. I have plate armor and a great helm and a big-ass broadsword, so I'll probably be tanking it for the group. Don't really have a weakness, unless you count thinking all monsters are evil and need to be slain.
Claire: Isn't that literally one of the weaknesses listed in the random weakness table we all rolled on?
Sasha: I mean, if you want to consider it a weakness. Sir Quackenscrump doesn't think it's one.
Akane: My character also has no weakness. Except for weak strength ... she is so weakling there. But she rolled "overbearing" on the table of weaknesses, so she thinks it's natural leadership for her. Her profession is magic, but not the healing kind or lightning kind of Claire's elf. She'll tell you if those magics are needed, Claire.
Claire: I can't wait. What's her name?
Akane: She is Zedeja of Mind. Scrawny! Wild white hair! Her eyes ... so squinty! These are signs of her agedness. Not so great in physique, but very smart and willful.
Hettie: Interesting. Looks like we all went either young or old, no one in the middle. My character is a young halfling called Dilfriida Sidewise. She's a bit on the mediocre side, as far as her ability scores go, though reasonably healthy and very agile. Her build is on the slim side, her hair long and black and worn in twin tails. Her skin is swarthy and a bit pocked, and her face appears set in a constant grimace. She hasn't much equipment of note, just two daggers and some bandages she picked up in case anyone gets hurt. She doesn't know how to use them, but if the someone who gets hurt is her, she'd just as soon there be bandages at hand. It won't have taken much traveling with her to recognize that she's rather thin-skinned. I'm afraid it's unlikely she's getting along well with Zedeja, Akane.
Akane: It's not a problem. I can tell you how to do better with this. You just need to be more heedful to the words of Zedeja. For instance, give me your bandages; I am obviously the party's best at healing with them.
Hettie: Splendid. That's my assessment, not Dilfriida's -- she loudly asks if anyone else has healing skills besides Zedeja.
Ariel: I'm pretty bad at it.
Sasha: Me too.
MSG: Yeah, not Dolora's thing either.
Claire: I'm aces with healing, but if I can learn something from the old bag here, I'm game for that too. Maybe you should split your bandage supply between us.
Akane: I disagree. Accept my tutelage and then I will dispense bandages when I see that you have acquired enough skill.
Hettie: Dilfriida's going to give nine of the bandages to Filvius and keep one in her pocket. That way if I get hurt and need healing, Zedeja can use it to prove to me she's so much better than Filvius.
Akane: You receive a scowl from Zedeja.
Hettie: Dilfriida feels validated by that.
Akane: This insolence! It's unacceptable from a person who is only a ... a what? Explain your occupation, you dawdler.
Hettie: Let's say I'm a ... handy appropriator.
Akane: Guile! Your dishonesty announces itself. I tell everyone to be on guard against thievery from this one.
Hettie: Fine. Dilfriida says to placate Zedeja, she'll give her the last bandage instead of keeping it in her pocket.
Akane: At last, some sense from this thief.
Hettie: Then I will immediately try to pick it from her pocket using Sleight of Hand.
Akane: What!!!
GM Elle: Okay, that's a skill roll ... let me make sure I have the book open to the right spot ... aha! It's also an opposed roll. Het, you roll your Sleight of Hand while Akane rolls Awareness to see if she notices your shenanigans.
Hettie: Ouch. I roll a 19.
Akane: Zedeja's roll is success with 14! I spot this burgling before it happens!
GM Elle: Not for certain. Hettie could still do what's called "pushing" her roll. She rolls again, but she also suffers a condition that will give her a bane on some of her rolls until the next time the group rests.
Hettie: Dilfriida will absolutely push the roll.
Akane: This feels conspiratory.
Hettie: Ah, this time I roll a 2, an easy success. I'll say I'm frightened by nearly getting caught, though, so my condition is "Scared."
GM Elle: Nice rationale, Hettie. That makes complete sense to me.
Ariel: Is the game starting anytime soon?
Sasha: Shh, you.
Akane: So my Awareness is now a failure?
GM Elle: Unfortunately, yes.
Akane: Hmm. Then Zedeja remains satisfied by the gift of bandage. And later if she tries to heal Dilfriida, she will wonder where her bandage went, but since she knows the scoundrelous thief gave up her last one, there's no need to search the bleeding body of Dilfriida when trying to help. Possibly not so smart in outcome as Dilfriida thought.
Hettie: Well, I never said Dilfriida was smart, did I?
Ariel: It's true, Akane, she never did.
Akane: Yes, but Zedeja thinks, I am intelligent, so I should have authority. If this is a challenge to my authority, it is also a challenge to my intelligence. This means if she learns Dilfriida tricked her, it is much better if Dilfriida suffers from her unintelligence even before Zedeja realizes the trick. It proves the masterful brain of Zedeja compared to all others.
Hettie: Beautiful, really, but definitely in a way Dilfriida will never appreciate.
GM Elle: All right. With that brief argument behind you, you continue on. You crested the high point in the pass and began the downhill trek earlier in the day, and now you catch glimpses through the mists that suggest you may be getting close to the valley floor. As you round a bend in the pass, you start hearing sounds -- whimpers of some kind, possibly an injured person or creature.
Sasha: I'm going on high alert in case there's some monster involved.
MSG: I definitely don't want to get into a situation without every bit of knowledge I can get, so I'm looking around carefully as we get closer to the sound.
Claire: Same.
Ariel: Not me. Fidu can't be bothered to put in that kind of effort every time there's a noise.
Akane: Zedeja cannot tolerate anyone being lackadaisical. She insists for everyone to be careful and pay attention. Sad fact, though: she is paying attention to whether everyone is paying attention to her order to pay attention. This means, the attention of Zedeja is not on the whimpering or other surroundings.
Hettie: I'm specifically not paying any extra attention as a response to Zedeja ordering me to.
GM Elle: All right, then. Ahead, through the mists, you see a figure lying on the cold, rocky ground of the pass. Sir Quackenscrump, Dolora, and Filvius can make an Awareness roll.
MSG: 17.
Claire: Uh, yeah, 17 also. I don't notice squat.
Sasha: Ye--no. It was right there on the 2 and then it rolled onto the 12. My Awareness is 4. I guess I lead us closer to the figure.
GM Elle: You see that it's a man in dark robes, and as you get closer, you notice that there's a black arrow jutting from his right thigh. He's moaning and struggling to lift his head. You can see blue streaks branching across the pallid, damp skin of his face.
Hettie: I think the arrow makes Dilfriida worried enough about an ambush to overcome her spiteful resistance to Zedeja's orders. I'll look around to see if there's any sign of where the arrow came from.
Akane: Zedeja feels satisfaction that almost everyone has now minded her commands. She says, "Fidu! Be observant!" Then she looks around herself.
GM Elle: The man suddenly sits upright! You see that he's been clutching a bundle to his chest, and now he thrusts it out toward Quackenscrump. "Quick!" he says, "Take it! Message from Master Weatherman ... Leanara will understand ... must find all four pieces! The secret of the Dragon Emperor!" Ariel, does Fidu listen to Zedeja's advice?
Ariel: I mean, this dude seems pretty interesting, and he's not acting like there's ambushers around, so probably not.
GM Elle: All right, then. Zedeja and Dilfriida get to make Awareness rolls.
Akane: 9. That is easily a success for the 14 Awareness of Zedeja.
Hettie: Hmm. I roll a 17, which is a suspiciously high number of 17s so far in this encounter. Are we certain this die is fair?
GM Elle: It came with the game. I couldn't tell you any more than that. But I can tell you that at this point, a band of goblins springs an ambush from the clusters of boulders ahead of and behind you. Three of them are attacking from each direction. Akane, you get to draw an initiative card for the round. Everyone else gets dealt from the bottom of initiative order.
Akane: Hmm. Exceptional. My card is 5, so I am equally at the bottom with the rest of my group.
GM Elle: Then the order is goblins first, then Zedeja on 5, then Quackenscrump, 6, Dolora, 7, Fidu, 10, Dilfriida, 9, and Filvius, 8.
Akane: Fidu should have been more heedful. Now he is last.
GM Elle: The goblins attack with short bows. There's one of them for each of you. The ones on Zedeja, Quackenscrump, and Filvius hit. You can use your action for the round to dodge, or you can parry if you have a shield, or you can just take the damage and retain your action for later. A short bow does d10, plus any bonus die the goblins might have.
Claire: I'd really like to Lightning Flash these guys ... the most you can have for a bonus die is d6, right? So how likely are they to toast my whole 12 hit points? My math is failing me. What's the expected damage on d10 + d6, MSG?
MSG: 5.5 plus 3.5, so 9. So if they have a d6 bonus, They need at least a 6 on the d10 to cream you, so it's somewhere under 50/50 that you'll drop.
Claire: That's not very reassuring, but I'm young and foolish and I want to find out if this will work, so I'll let it hit.
Sasha: I've got 8 armor points, so there's no way they can get me.
Akane: Zedeja also has 12 hit points. Probably, she should dodge. The roll for evasion ... ei! 13, so a failure.
GM Elle: They only have a d4 bonus die, so Claire takes ... 8 points. Quackenscrump ... 3 points. Zedeja ... 11 points.
Sasha: ptink!
Akane: ai!
GM Elle: Zedeja used her action, so now it's Quackenscrump's turn.
Sasha: I'm running up to broadsword the first goblin. 5! That's a hit. And they attacked already, so they can't dodge or parry, right? I get 8 points on my 3d6. Kind of sucky for 3d6, but whatever.
GM Elle: It's still on its feet. Dolora?
MSG: I'm attacking that same one to try taking him out ... or ... how hurt does he look from that?
GM Elle: Pretty hurt.
MSG: I'd hate to roll better on my 3d6 than Sash did and kill a guy with 2 or 3 hit points when I could kill one who's at full strength. I'll hit the guy to the left of him. 8! Oh, dang, my club is 2d8, not 2d6, so I end up doing 20 points of damage.
GM Elle: His leather armor is 2 better than normal against your bludgeoning weapon, but you still crush his thorax like an eggshell.
MSG: Yes!
Claire: I'm next, right? I'm going to try to cream these 3 behind us with Lightning Flash. I roll a 10, so I get the spell off, and I think I'll pump it to max with 6 willpower points to do 4d6 to the first guy and 4d4 to the second one. 11 on the first guy. Whoo! 14 on the second guy.
GM Elle: They both do a spasming, screeching dance and collapse smoking to the ground, totally fried. Dilfriida, then Fidu.
Hettie: I can swap initiative cards with anyone after me, right? I'm going to let Fidu go first so I can use my backstabbing ability.
Ariel: That sounds like more work than I'd like, but I guess I'll do it. That's a 12, so I hit and knife him for 7 points.
Hettie: Great. I move in to strike. That's 3 WP to backstab, and I roll with a boon ... which is good, because one of the two dice is a 20.
GM Elle: Close one. That would be a "demon" if you rolled it without a boon.
Ariel: I think I'm glad I'm too lazy to ask what that means.
Hettie: Well, since I hit, it means I do 2d8+d6 for a total of 8 points.
GM Elle: Kills him. Time for a new round. BUT -- from behind more boulders ahead charges another enemy -- a Worg Rider on a huge wolf. His attack surprises you, so he gets initiative card 1 automatically. And because he's a monster with 2 Ferocity, he gets to draw a 2nd card as part of the normal initiative draw. Here, everybody take an initiative card.
MSG: 6.
Claire: 7.
Ariel: 10.
Sasha: 5.
Akane: 9.
Hettie: 8.
Ariel: Wow. We really suck at initiative in this game.
Sasha: No kidding!
GM Elle: In addition to card 1, the Worg Rider gets card 4, and the goblins get 2. First action for the Worg Rider is a Battle Cry! All of his underlings now get a boon to attacks until his next turn. First goblin attacks Dolora ... hitting for yikes, 10 points of damage. That was a straight d10, they don't get a bonus die for their swords.
MSG: You didn't give me a chance to dodge, but that's okay because I would have sucked it up and taken it anyway. But if this next one hits, I'm definitely dodging.
GM Elle: Unfortunately, his boon gives him two dice, and one of them is a natural 1, which is a Dragon. So you'll need a Dragon of your own to dodge it, and he can choose to roll double damage dice or get a free attack on a different character. Still want to dodge?
MSG: I mean ... I might as well. Even with one die, he's got a 50/50 shot of dropping me. But I roll a 10, so no Dragon, no dodge.
GM Elle: He rolls only one die, but it's an 8, so you go down. Now he gets a free attack on Quackenscrump and holy moley, another Dragon!
MSG: You stole my Dragon.
GM Elle: Sorry. Is Quackenscrump dodging or parrying?
Sasha: Hell no, baby, I'm armored out the wazoo.
GM Elle: 18 points, then, meaning you take 10.
Sasha: Uh, yikes.
GM Elle: Second turn for the Worg Rider. This one does 2d10 damage and hurls you 2d4 meters to fall prone.
Sasha: Yeah, I'm definitely dodging that one if it hits.
MSG: Monster attacks always hit.
Ariel: What!!!
GM Elle: That's right. You really don't want to fight monsters very often in this game. Roll your dodge, Sash.
Sasha: Wait, my plate armor gives me a bane on Evade rolls, and my Evade sucks, so I'd better parry instead.
MSG: Monster attacks can't be parried unless the attack description says so.
Ariel and Akane: What!!!
Akane: Ridiculous and unfair!
GM Elle: Still the rules.
Sasha: A 6, but a 19, so no dodge.
GM Elle: 7 points, so it doesn't get through your armor, but it does hurl you 4 meters, and you're prone.
Ariel: So ... Sash is okay, but is MSG just ... dead now?
GM Elle: No, he's at 0 hit points and will have to make a death roll on each one of his turns until he dies or stabilizes. He can Rally to keep fighting with a WIL roll at a bane, or if someone uses Persuasion to encourage him. Who's got initiative card 5?
Sasha: Me, but I dodged.
GM Elle: 6?
MSG: Me. I guess I'll try to Rally. Nope. But I do succeed on my CON roll, so I'm not any closer to dying.
Claire: Card 7 is me, so I'm going to try to blast that monster with another Lightning Flash. 10 makes it, and I have no idea how many hit points this guy has, so I'm pumping it to max which will shoot my whole wad of Willpower Points. Oh. Great. For a total of 9 points on him. and 4d4 on the goblin 2 meters away ...
GM Elle: Don't bother, he's got 2 hit points left. Who's card 8?
Hettie: That would be me. I suppose I'll move closer and try to Rally Dolora, though my Persuasion is terrible. 19.
Akane: Zedeja has 9. She attempts a spell ... but it's 18, so a failure. Time to "Push!" My new condition is "disheartened," and the second roll is ... 12! Success! I give myself Stone Skin of power level 3, which is 8 armor points.
Ariel: Okey-doke, then, if it's time for card 10, that's me. I'll move up next to Dilfriida and make the Worg Rider my "prey" so I can get a boon to attack him. If I'm not dead by the time it's my next turn!
GM Elle: If that's it, then we need to draw initiative cards.
MSG: Any chance you could draw first this time, Madame Game Master? It seems to go really bad for us when we draw first.
GM Elle: Sure. Wolf Rider gets a 2 and a 7, Goblin gets a 4.
MSG: Great, so at least one of us will go before one of the bad guys' turns. I draw the ... 8. That sounds about right.
Sasha: Sir Q draws 5.
Akane: Unusual! Zedeja has initiative of 3.
Hettie: Dilfriida gets a 9.
MSG: Oh, actually now that I think a little harder, at least 3 of us have to go before initiative 7.
Claire: Well, at least I'm one of them. 6!
Ariel: I got the 10. Again.
Sasha: So ... 6 tries for the 1 card out of 7 cards that were left, and it's the one we don't get. Super.
Akane: Maybe we will live another round and have a chance for initiative 1.
GM Elle: We'll see. The Worg Rider's first action is ... oh, lucky you, it's the battle cry again. So his one flunky gets a boon to attack.
Akane: It's time for 3, first, though! I will move close enough to the final goblin to Levitate him! Success! Wait though. There is a bane. Okay, pushing again, now for exhaustion. 2 and 6! Success! I lift him 8 meters to drop for 4d6 falling damage. 19 points!
GM Elle: He pancakes on the rocky ground.
Sasha: Sir Quackenscrump! Up and at 'em! Does it take all my movement to get up?
GM Elle: No, actually, it's a free action.
Sasha: Sweet! Broadsword to the brain, Mister Worg Rider! Hit! Damn, I'm really liking this system where I always know whether I hit or not. Screw that armor class crap from now on. Dammit ... only 5 points of damage, though. Can I push a damage roll?
GM Elle: No, only a skill or attribute roll.
Sasha: Dammit. Who's 6 then? Put this guy down before his second turn!
Claire: It's me.
Sasha: Yes! Mage power!
Claire: Except that I'm out of willpower points, and I don't have a ranged weapon, so all I can do is a round rest. And move up a little. Ooh, but at least I roll a 6 for the WP that I get back!
Ariel: Here's hoping we're alive for you to use it!
GM Elle: Monster's turn. This time his monster attack is ... 6!
MSG: That's got to be bad.
GM Elle: Spear charge! 3d8 piercing damage ... but it can be parried. It's going for Quackenbush again.
Sasha: Dang it. All right, I'll try to parry with my shield. What. Demon. How bad is that on a parry?
GM Elle: No specific rule, so GM gets to decide, and I'm going to roll on this table that's normally for rolling a Demon while attacking. Mostly the results make sense for parrying too. Urk. Especially this one -- you expose yourself to the enemy --
Ariel: (That's what she said.)
Sasha: Shh!
GM Elle: -- who gets a free attack that can't be dodged or parried. The attack you tried to parry does 16 damage. The free attack --
Sasha: I'm already down.
GM Elle: Then it counts as a failed death roll.
Sasha: I'm not too worried because my Con is awesome.
GM Elle: Who's got the 8?
MSG: That's me. First, my Death Roll. Made it. Now I'll try to Rally myself. Nope.
Hettie: 9 is me. But I'm switching initiatives with Fidu again so maybe we can bring this dude down.
Ariel: Okay, well I'm definitely spending that extra willpower point for a boon attack against my prey! Hit! 7 points of damage!
GM Elle: Still up.
Hettie: I'll give it a backstabbing shot then. Aha! That's a Dragon, I believe.
GM Elle: You normally have 3 options, but the only one that makes sense here is to roll an extra weapon damage die.
Hettie: That's 19 points, then.
GM Elle: He is very, very dead. Now --
Ariel and Sasha: Loot!
GM Elle: On the goblins, you find 6 short swords, 6 suits of goblin-sized leather armor, 6 short bows, and 6 quivers of arrows. On the Worg Rider you find a scimitar and a long spear. He's not wearing any armor.
MSG: Will we even be able to carry all of that?
GM Elle: Well, you can have up to 3 weapons "at hand" that don't count against your encumbrance. Mages can't cast spells with metal weapons at hand, though, so only 4 of you can pull that trick. And the armor will fit Dilfriida, so if she's willing to abide a little goblin stink, that's another item that doesn't count toward encumbrance. Before you start divvying things up, though, you've still got two characters making Death Rolls.
Ariel: Oops!
Sasha: Sorry, guys.
MSG: I fail, so that's two successes to one fail.
Sasha: I make it.
Claire: Since I got willpower points back, on that turn I cast Treat Wounds on somebody for 3 points. Let's say Quackenscrump since Dolora is closer to recovering on her own.
Akane: I attempt a Healing roll on Dolora then. But look! I have no bandages. How can this be? I suppose it's a bane for my roll, then. Still, success. 1d6 hit points return ... 3.
MSG: Thanks!
GM Elle: Now each person who went to zero has to make a CON check or receive a severe injury.
MSG: Yikes. 16 fails for me. Can I push it?
GM Elle: I don't see anything that says you can't.
MSG: Dragon. Kind of a waste.
GM Elle: I'll let you recover an extra d6 hit points or skip the condition.
MSG: Sweet, thank you. I'll just become Angry though, since my Int skills are already crap anyway. That's 3 more from the d6.
Sasha: I roll a 15. That's a save for me.
Hettie: Dilfriida is happy to wear the goblin leather.
Sasha: Hey, wasn't that dying guy holding some kind of package out toward me right before the goblins attacked?
Akane: Possibly we should also be concerned about his dying? I tell skillful healer Filvius to check.
GM Elle: He's very dead. The bundle he was holding contains a map and a portion of a black basalt statue. It looks like a pedestal with two feet and lower legs standing on it, and the bottom half of a sword attached to the pedestal near one of the feet. The map looks like this.
Ariel: Ooh, cool!
MSG: I grab it immediately because I crave the knowledge on it.
Claire: I grab it away from her.
GM Elle: Make opposed STR checks. If either of you gets a Demon, the map rips.
MSG: I make mine.
Claire: I blow mine, but no Demon. I'm pissed though, and I tell her I won't cast any healing on her if she doesn't let me see.
MSG: When I'm done looking. And if you won't heal me, I won't be able to stand between you and whatever the next monster we meet is.
Ariel: Yawwwnnn. Guys, I'm getting tired. Is this a good spot for us to finish the session?
GM Elle: Sure. You can divide the loot next time. We have to do experience now, though.
MSG: Excellent. I feel myself becoming more knowledgeable already.
Claire: Me too.
GM Elle: First ... oops. You were supposed to be keeping track of any Demons or Dragons rolled when using a skill. You mark the tick box next to a skill when that happens.
MSG: I was taking pretty good notes. Here, everybody can look them over and mark wherever they need to.
Claire: Looks like there weren't many of them, and Hettie got most of them on the same skill when backstabbing. Sash got one for parrying too.
Sasha: Marked.
Hettie: Thank you, Claire.
GM Elle: Now, for each of these questions, you can make another mark next to a skill of your choice. Once we've got all the marks, you roll a d20 for each marked skill, and if you get higher than the skill, it goes up by 1.
MSG: So even a Demon is good now, right?
GM Elle: Right. The questions are, did you participate in the game session? I think everyone gets credit there. Did you explore a new location? I'll say getting to the valley counts. Next, you definitely defeated one or more dangerous adversaries. Now we're up against one that's not as obvious. Did you overcome an obstacle without using force?
MSG: Do arguments we had with each other count as obstacles?
GM Elle: I'm going to say no or that tick mark becomes a gimme.
MSG: Worth a try.
Claire: I can't think of anything. And I just looked at MSG's notes, so I think we pretty definitely didn't do that.
Ariel: Is how to divide the loot an obstacle? If it counts, I can try to stop yawning long enough for us to do that.
GM Elle: I think that would be overly generous too. Let's go to the last one. Did you give in to your weakness?
MSG: Nearly tore the map over it.
Claire: Which counts for me too.
Ariel: I didn't bother doing those Awareness checks because I was too lazy.
Sasha: Does it count that I attacked the monster and I'm a monster slayer?
GM Elle: Wellll ... I guess I'd better count it, since we could easily go whole sessions without the party fighting monsters, which would put you at a disadvantage for getting the tick mark.
MSG: But a major advantage for getting it when there is a monster.
Claire: Dear, didn't you notice how annoying everyone was with their weaknesses? I think that mark is going to be pretty easy to get every session.
Akane: Do not call Zedeja "annoying!"
Claire: Sorry.
Akane: It's okay, still role-playing.
GM Elle: So everybody gets that mark for tonight too. Mark them and then roll for all your marks.
MSG: Four whiffs for me.
Claire: Whoosh. Me too.
Ariel: Ooh! I bumped up my Awareness, Persuasion, and Knives!
Sasha: Kudos! Let's see what Quackenscrump can do, learning-wise. Yep Acrobatics, nope Evade, nope Performance, nope Bows, nope Blades.
Akane: My Awareness and Evade both benefited.
Hettie: I rolled quite well. Plusses to my Spot Hidden, Bows, and Knives.
GM Elle: Right, then. So how's everybody feel about Dragonbane?
MSG: Terrific. You did a great job running the game too.
Claire: Yeah, it totally did not disappoint. And of course you never do, Elle.
Ariel: I had tons of fun!
Sasha: Ditto!
Akane: More personality than the "Fantasy Trip" game we played! I enjoyed both, but Zedeja entertains me more than my Zamez character.
Hettie: High marks from me as well. To the game and to the Game Master.
GM Elle: You're all too kind. Thanks. I'm interested to see what happens next time.
and there you have it! i hope you had as much fun reading this as we had playing it!
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