Stories with Dice
Stories with Dice is an actual-play podcast where a fellowship of everyday gamers explores fantastical worlds, distant futures, and parallel realities through tabletop role-playing games (TTRPGs) from Free League Publishing, Chaosium, Modiphius Entertainment, and more.
Join us at our virtual table as we play Mysteries of the Loop, our Tales from the Loop series; explore the Arthurian mythos in The Sword Campaign, the first part of our Great Pendragon Campaign; chart the stars in Star Trek: Magellan, our Star Trek Adventures series; and sail the seas in Dark Blue Sea, our Mutant: Year Zero campaign. Stories from other worlds are coming soon, including The One Ring, The Electric State, Legend of the Five Rings, Twilight: 2000, and so much more.
We’re not voice actors, professional entertainers, or trained performers—just friends from around the globe sharing virtual dice, stories, and a laugh or two as the game unfolds.
Stories with Dice
The Fellowship of the North S1 E4 Men of the South: An Actual Play of The One Ring
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The Fellowship interrogates their Southron prisoner, but the situation quickly spirals out of control.
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This is the Fellowship of the North, an actual play of the one ring from Stories with Dice. If you're enjoying our actual plays, please subscribe to Stories with Dice so you'll never miss an episode. Don't forget to rate and review us. It really helps others discover the podcast. Follow us on social media to stay updated. You'll find the relevant links in the description of each episode. Hey folks, welcome back. We're playing the One Ring Second Edition from Free League, and this is episode four. I'm here with four fantastic players. Dare I call them a fellowship? We've got Ed, we've got Charlotte, Pete, and Tony. Thank you all for being here. Ed, what do you think? Do we need to remind everybody who you guys are playing or we can do? I mean You can do. Okay, so Ed, who are you playing? I'm Halberin, the uh the Ranger of the North. And your your other name is Ashcloak. It is. I didn't belong. Pete. Pete, who are you playing? I'm playing Assel. A Ranger of the North, right? Okay. And the sexy Spanish person who's blinding me with his sexiness. Tony. Tony, who are you playing? I Danian of Linden. I Danian of Lindon. A scholar of the Grey Havens. Charlotte. Charlotte, who are you playing?
SPEAKER_00Last but not least, I am playing Baranwin the Bjorning.
SPEAKER_03Baranwin the Bjorning. Okay, well, as I said, we're on episode four. The Troll Shaws wore you down. Step by grueling step. Fail here's dying words lingered in your minds. Follow the whore well into the foothills. Look for a star above the mists of the river. For twelve weary days you pressed on into a land of tangled trees and sudden drops. The river mist curling like smoke along the banks. Then through the swirling mist, you saw it. A single light glimmering like a star. Rising above the treetops, a tower loomed. Tall, narrow, ancient. At its crown, that cold blue light burned faint and strange. But between you and the tower, a deep ravine split the hills like an old wound. Searching for a way across, you found a Southron camp at the mouth of a cave and an old stone bridge, half-collapsed, shored up with rough planks and timber. When one of the Southrons strayed, Idanyan crossed the bridge, captured him, and returned. As the noon hour approached, you withdrew with your prisoner into shadowed ruins beyond the camp's earshot. A place of crumbling stone and tangled roots, a forgotten town long reclaimed by the forest. Fragments of walls rise like broken teeth from the earth, their faces etched with faded carvings and inscriptions in Westron, the common tongue. What little can still be read speaks of Kalinmere, once a holding of Arnor and of its lord, Hadaron. The words falter midway through a record of battle and the fallen, their names worn smooth by centuries. One, however, is still legible, carved deeper than the rest, as though the stone itself remembered him. Barinor, son of Belekthor, fell here. Among these older carvings, a newer inscription catches the fading light, a stone scored with runes to ward against harm and give peace to those who shelter within these four ruined walls. At its end was set the mark of the gray pilgrim, the rune of Gandalf himself. Here your captive lay, bound and still at your feet, bits of worked stone and rusted metal lie half buried in the soil. Through the branches above, a thin ribbon of smoke curled into the sky from the camp's cookfire. Because this is marked by Gandalf as a refuge, a short rest will be considered like a prolonged rest here. So you may recover all lost endurance, or a number of endurance points equal to your strength if you're wounded, and you may also recover one fatigue point each. So you're in this sort of ruined area, and you have your prisoner. And so uh I Danian knocked him out with a blow to the back of his head, and he should have been out for quite a while, but he actually seems to to be coming to Well, Halberin is aching to speak to him and also aching to stick a dagger in his chest. That would be a misdeed, but okay.
SPEAKER_05That would be a misdeed. I'm in a bit of a dark place, so I kind of take a couple of steps back and kind of look at my companions to do it. Otherwise I feel that I might do something that I can't take back.
SPEAKER_02Well, uh I I would probably let Asal or Berenguin deal with the other human. You know, I might not be the best one to deal with. Do we have rope? Yeah, I imagine you've already bound him.
SPEAKER_00I say we string him up from the tree.
SPEAKER_03Okay. Like how?
SPEAKER_00Tie rope to his legs, throw the rope over a tree limb and haul him up.
SPEAKER_03Okay, so so he's swinging upside down by his by his legs. And and so, as I said, he he's starting to come too. So and also, if you remember from last session, I mentioned that he smells like the floor of a pub. He he sort of opens he opens one eye and he as he's hanging upside down from this tree. And and he looks around. And and he gives a little bit of a laugh. And he says, You don't frighten me. There are no men left in the north with the strength to stand against the dark tower.
SPEAKER_00I will give him a jab to the side.
SPEAKER_03Jab with what?
SPEAKER_00Just fist.
SPEAKER_03Oh, that tickles.
SPEAKER_00Do your worst, Missy. Why are you here? What business is that of yours? These are our lands, so it's all of our business. Why are you here?
SPEAKER_03Your lands? He's looking at your at your clothing and he's like, don't reckon I've seen someone of your like in uh in Iriador.
SPEAKER_00And I have not seen someone of yours. You are far from home. Why are you here? And I'll hit him again.
SPEAKER_03You can hit me all you like, Missy. Just so everyone is aware of misdeeds. Violent threats, malicious lies, and heedless cruelty will get you an automatic shadow point that you won't be able to make of like a roll to try to avoid. Abusing your authority, deliberate cruelty, manipulation, that's two, theft or plunder, cowardice, treachery is three, torment and torture is four. Murder is four, plus you get a shadow scar. And we'll we could talk about what a shadow scar is a little later.
SPEAKER_00Well, good thing we haven't done any of those yet. Count if he's a Southron.
SPEAKER_03What do you mean? Does it count if he's a South Ron? It's cons yes, you can still you can still perform a misdeed on a Southron.
SPEAKER_05Okay.
SPEAKER_03But he is the enemy. He is the enemy. Or he's a pawn of the enemy. So to r so just sort of to jog some memory, when you overheard them talking in the camp, there was mention of the black ship that they don't take orders from Zakrug, that they take orders from the black ship. And then another another of the South Rons, and that was this guy who said that, and then another of the South Rons told him, but they all take orders from the eye. So so there was a little bit of a of a of a an argument going on there in the camp.
SPEAKER_05Tell me about a South ship.
SPEAKER_03Black ship? What about it? How do you know about that anyway? You know a lot. Do you?
SPEAKER_05I know that you don't like taking orders from Zakru.
SPEAKER_03Zakrugi, he says with a bitter laugh, that ill-tempered wretch. You'd do well to fear him if he crosses your path. He does the dark whisperer's bidding. Whatever madness it puts into his head. And he's like slurring his words a little bit because he's he's been drinking.
SPEAKER_05Kind of like sort of like take a a step forward. And then sort of think about it because my temper is starting to rise again. And I just kind of stop and take a deep breath. How long have you been here?
SPEAKER_03I reckon a couple of months. And you want to go back to home? When the job is finished. Can't go home empty-handed. What's the job? Not not your business. What's your job? Patrolling these lands. Doing a piss poor job of it, aren't you, Ranger?
SPEAKER_05Well, seem quite trussed up Lucky Turkey.
SPEAKER_03Look, if you want to know about the black ship, that's for Sabian to know, okay? Not for not for me. Orders come down, we follow. That's that's how it works. You're uh you're just doing your master's bidding. Aye, we've got a we've got a job to do. Let's not get in our way. I was gonna say the same thing to you. Look, if you're gonna kill me, just get it over with. I'm not afraid to die. Are you ranger? Make a habit of killing rangers? They get in my way. You come across any others? I might have. What's it to you? Well, I'm looking for some that came this way. A ranger who came this way. That's only one that I can think of. Gave us a merry chase. What was his name? Failure, I think. I wounded that little man, hmm. But kill him? I wish I had. No. It was one of Zakrug's goblins that finished him off. He should have been mine, though. Friend of yours, was he?
SPEAKER_05Is there a way of keeping my temper?
SPEAKER_03That be a heart roll, wits? No, you don't really roll against your attributes in that way. But I mean, essentially, if you want to act in in any in any way, you can. There's certain actions will have consequences, like a misdeed or or what have you. How many shadow points do you have, by the way?
SPEAKER_02I have uh one, I think. One we should have one from shadow point. Do you? Unless it's fun.
SPEAKER_05Yeah.
SPEAKER_02I mean maybe so. I've got I've got I've got three. No, you've got three shadow points.
SPEAKER_03I've got three ten percent. Okay. Cool.
SPEAKER_05Alright. Yes, I'm not doing well. I'm sure I could add another five to that. Don't be hasty, I have a plan. Yeah. I kind of I I I shake my head and take a step back while I'm got a hold of my my knife.
SPEAKER_03I look over it barely. I think I've touched a nerve with this one. They've all gone quiet. The ranger's dead.
SPEAKER_00Make you a deal. If you're open to it, that is. You'll have one chance to make it out if you're alive. If you fail, and if you still live, you tell us what we want to know. If you succeed, we'll let you go. Listening? You fight the ranger. Till the first one yields. And?
SPEAKER_03What do you mean? And I don't understand this game you're playing. I fight the ranger. You're gonna let me fight your friend, and the first one who yields, what happens to him?
SPEAKER_00As I said, if you are the victor, you're free to go. If you are not, you tell us everything that we know or that we want to know. Also, Ed, if this goes through, I'm sorry if anything bad happens. No, no, it's fine. Unarmed or armed? Halbrin? I don't care.
SPEAKER_03Well, I guess actually he doesn't have any. He doesn't have a weapon on him, so he is unarmed at the moment. Yeah. I mean, we would give him a knife or something. Okay.
SPEAKER_05I I kind of look at him and say, I don't mind either.
SPEAKER_00Well, to avoid any accidental deaths. There won't be anything accidental about it.
SPEAKER_03A threat, Ranger. It's a promise. Ho ho ho ho a promise deal.
SPEAKER_00With that, I will walk over to the tree where he is tied up to, take my axe and cut the rope.
SPEAKER_03And you'd let him fall on the ground?
SPEAKER_05Absolutely. Yeah, okay. I wonder if to Hassel. If you run shoot him.
SPEAKER_03Um yeah, I'll I'll bring him down. Two rangers. And an elf, I see. Which one of you brought me in? I mean, could you remember? No, the bastard hit me from behind like a coward. While I was taking a leak. You must be the one they're talking about. I don't know what you're talking about. An elf escapes the clutches of the orcs. We know, we hear things. We have eyes all through Eriador. Who is Sagruk? He's a wretch. An orc? He is an orc, yes. What is he doing here? Well, that's his business, not mine. Don't you take orders from him? No. No, no, I I take orders from the black ship. Black ship? Who are who is that? Black ship is a ship, my friend. It is not a who. It is a thing.
SPEAKER_02And who commands the black ship?
SPEAKER_03Captain Nerrick. Captain Nerrick? Hmm, you're a little bit far away from the sea. Yeah, I thought I'd uh, you know, take the boys on a holiday. Like a long walk. Alright, Ranger. Are we doing this with fists or weapons? Someone's gonna give me a weapon or fists a fine?
SPEAKER_05Unless you feel like you need one. Which case I'll throw a n a knife down on the floor. He picks it up. Draw my sword.
SPEAKER_04Yeah, I think as they get ready to fight, Assel will kind of like drift out of the edge of the camp where he's got a good view of anybody exiting the camp, but he's also got a view of anybody approaching the camp if the noise of the fight attracts anybody.
SPEAKER_03Okay. So we're gonna forego opening valleys, obviously. Choose your stance, sir. I'm gonna go I'm actually quite just gonna forward stance.
SPEAKER_05Make your roll, sir. Um I'm gonna use a point. Okay.
SPEAKER_03I expect to be terrible at this. Oh, a success. So we're doing non-needle not non-lethal though, correct? So we'll ignore the per the piercing blow that you made. Are we? Are we? I'm not Oh, you're not, are you? Oh god no.
SPEAKER_05You know. Okay. The rule said as soon as one you know first to yield. First to yield.
SPEAKER_03I mean, okay, but if he if he fails this protection test, that means he dies. No.
SPEAKER_05Sounds like he yields. That sounds like he yields.
SPEAKER_03That is gonna be a misdeed, I'm just gonna point that out. Is it? Is it really? It is. He failed. Well, he's just wounded. It's just a flash wound.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, but when when adversaries are wounded, generally defeated even like quote unquote elite adversaries, because it's like one-on-one and not typical battle. I'm not going to go back to the body.
SPEAKER_03That's why I asked Ed if he wanted to, because we could do this non-lethal, where this essentially means he yields, or do you really want to stick him?
SPEAKER_05No, no, no. I'm not really made the decision I'm gonna stick him, so I'm gonna backpack.
SPEAKER_03Okay. Nope. Alright.
SPEAKER_05You're fucking doubling down. So as far as I'm concerned, he has a weapon, he has, you know, the ability to protect himself.
SPEAKER_03Give yourself four shadow points, my friend.
SPEAKER_00Woo! So can he negate any of those?
SPEAKER_03Nope. So these are on a misdeed you cannot. Plus you have a shadow scar.
SPEAKER_05Oh, I have a shadow scar. I thought we'd just like get the rules in now, shall we? Yep. I mean, if it if it wasn't for the fact that he'd uh he touched a nerve, so when my temporary shadow goes over my hope or matches my hope, I then get a shadow scar, correct?
SPEAKER_03No, that means you're so a shadow scar is a permanent shadow point that can only be removed during an end-of-the-year fellowship phase by choosing the heel scars undertaking. But otherwise it's considered a normal shadow point. But uh if your shadow is above your hope, or at your hope or above, then you are miserable.
SPEAKER_05Yeah, I'm just gonna message this come up. Halburn ashtite should be miserable. So if I so if I click the miserable button.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, when so when your shadow rating matches or exceeds your current hope, you become miserable. So when a miserable hero is making a roll, if the feet die results in an eye of Sauron, then the action fails automatically, regardless of the numerical total.
SPEAKER_05So my temporary shadow points have then given me a scar. So I've now got a scar. If I take a sc well, when I take a scar, does my temporary shadow points disappear or do they stay temporary until I find a way to do it?
SPEAKER_03They stay there. Yeah, yeah. So you've you've you've killed this Southron Ashcloak. Show me how you kill him. So you guys are dancing around a little bit, he's got the dagger, he's smirking at you, he's making remarks about the ranger who died.
SPEAKER_05Yeah, and I I pretty much just I just step in, I knock his sword to the side, and I just basically grab his sword arm and I shove my sword deep in his in his chest. And then I just smirk at him as he dies in my arms, and he just slides off my blade. A step back, I instantly regret what I've done.
SPEAKER_03Okay. What do the rest of you guys do when you watch him murder your prisoner?
SPEAKER_00I'm leaning on my axe with the blade on the ground.
SPEAKER_02Okay. Well, I I guess we need another one. Well, Idanion is a David shock because he was not expecting Alvoran to kill this other human. So Idan will kneel next to this person and try to see if I can do anything to save him. Although I I think I will see quite clearly that there is nothing I can do to save. And I will look at Alvoran like a little bit shocking, saying, What was the reason for this? But you were just gonna bruise him a little bit and get the information that we needed.
SPEAKER_05My temper got the best of me.
SPEAKER_02But it's not the best thing. Can bring bad deeds. I mean, we know very well this elves, how egos and and anger and jealousy can bring. What shall we do with this human now? It's from the chasm.
SPEAKER_04I'm wondering why it's suddenly gone so quiet in the camp when I was expecting to be the sound of a fight going on.
SPEAKER_03So Yeah, you didn't you didn't hear it much at all.
SPEAKER_04Step back in and see the body on the floor. Look at Halbaran and suddenly realize maybe I shouldn't be trusting this ranger quite as much as I thought I could. At least temporarily, anyway. It's obviously all rather unsettled him.
SPEAKER_03Fellowship is breaking. I love it. So also remember the etchings that are on the sum of the stones. If any of that might interest you, you can also, you know, look at those, scan your surroundings, let me know what you want to do while you're in these ruins, particularly within these four walls. This is so this is this we will consider as the as a refuge. So this is a safe place where you can come and have a night's sleep and and recover from injuries and wounds and that's that sort of thing. Thanks very much to what apparently seems to be a spell of Gandalf's. So yeah, at some point, Gandalf was here.
SPEAKER_02Can I roll for lore to know what is this place? Can I use my distinctive feature? Rhymes. Well, I don't know if it works, rhymes of lore behind the case.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, Rhymes of Lore wouldn't work, yeah.
SPEAKER_02So I just roll access.
SPEAKER_03Okay. So uh so the there is that name Calamir in the inscription on the stones. You know, Idanyan that Calimir was once a fortified town in the foothills of the Misty Mountains, overlooking the vales of the Horwell in the days of the North Kingdom of Arnor. During the long war with Angmar, it was besieged and fell after the men here gave a bitter resistance. And the tower that still stands seems to be all that remains of its defenses. And oh that was just a regular success. Okay. If you want to give another role for the name Baron Barinor, because it says also Barinor, son of Belakhor, fell here, if if you're interested to know who that is. Success. Success with an eye. So Barinor, son of Belakhor, served as captain of the guard in the final days of Calanmere. And it is said that his sword was lost when he fell in battle, and with it the last hope of Calanmere, for the tales say it was forged in Numenor before the fall, and that no shadow could withstand its blade. So he fell here in this spot somewhere.
SPEAKER_02If you excuse me, I will probably move aside and meditate. I think you know what has happened did not sit well with the elf. And we'll probably, you know, move on the side and try to find peace of mind. It's it's the night already, right?
SPEAKER_03No, it's like afternoon.
SPEAKER_02Okay, so we'll just excuse everyone and then move out.
SPEAKER_04What are the rest of you doing? I'll discuss with Baranwin whether we should move the body or keep it hidden here in case his companions are out looking for it for him.
SPEAKER_00I mean if we leave it here we run the risk of attracting predators or scavengers by the death. If we toss it into the chasm, like Halberin said, even if they found him, he smells like a bottom of his thigh.
SPEAKER_04So Yeah, if they don't look too closely, they might not see the uh the piercing wound in his in his gut.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, he could have just fallen over the edge of the bridge while going out to relieve himself.
SPEAKER_05Was drunk.
SPEAKER_03Was drunk, that is true. Alright, so are you dragging the body over to the ravine? I'll try and do a fireman's lift kind of thing to take the arms, I'll take the legs. Yeah, okay. Okay. So so you guys are doing that, and you're about halfway to the ravine when you start hearing his companions calling his name, looking for him. Halbrin, what are you doing? Danyan is sort of sitting off to the side, meditating, kind of keeping his distance from you. I don't know if he told any of you about the lore of this place, about who Baronor was, about the sword. We'll leave that up to Tony to let you know. Probably not. Probably not.
SPEAKER_05I mean, I'm I'm I'm kind of like thinking about what I've done. I'm kind of trying to justify what I've done, but then realizing that I probably shouldn't have done what I did. So I'm kind of beating myself up and being particularly moody. But I'll kind of if anyone needs help, I'll help them. If they're not, I just kind of like sit in the corner thinking about here and trying to figure out what he would say about the whole thing. But I'm I'm mostly just kind of like I'm in my own head trying to come to terms with what I'm doing.
SPEAKER_03And does do the do any of the inscriptions on the stones interest you at all?
SPEAKER_05Yeah, I mean if I if I if I kind of sit near them, I'll happily kind of have a look at them. I mean they they are kind of part and parcel of the history of the rangers, so yeah, I'll do wanna give me a lore roll? Let's have a look. What's my lore light? I think I've got some. I do have indeed some lore. So make a roll. I mean, so far so much. So yeah, that's a failure.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, so you've you've never heard of the of the name of this town, Kalinmere? Kalimir. Yep. You can make another role for Baronor if you want.
SPEAKER_05I was never really sort of like It was a long time ago. I I again I I kind of can't I I did a lot of life stuff in the south, so I guess I'm not sure.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, and then and this is sort of on the sort of the frontier of the old borders of Arnor, right? Just before it splintered into smaller kingdoms and eventually.
SPEAKER_05Another lore on him. Yeah. Again, failure. Failure. So far, so good. Um Yeah, so yeah, I I don't know anything about the northern parts of this.
SPEAKER_03So all you know is that someone named Baronor fell here in this spot in battle. If you want to have a look around, you can. What are that would be a scan roll, but we'll come back to you. So what are the two of you doing once you start hearing this guy, this dead Southron's companions calling out, wondering where he is. How many voices are there? How many voices are there? There are that is an excellent question. Four voices. They're like, Moobar!
SPEAKER_00Moobar! Where the hell have you gone? I'd say probably uh duck down to try and hide ourselves a little bit to see if we can see where the voices are coming from.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, so they're on the bridge and they're just starting to cross it, and they're like stopping and looking around and calling out. Try and stay hidden for now, I think. Okay, so you guys just sort of stay hunkered down. Both of you give me stealth tests, please.
SPEAKER_00Oh no. Alright, good enough. I will ride on his coattails.
SPEAKER_03So that was a great success from Assel. So you can spend that success to assist Berenwin so she can uh spotted a great little spot just off the track. You're in this great little spot, they don't see you, the two of the guys cross the bridge, the other two go back to the camp, and then eventually into the cave. So then there are these two Southrons that are that are starting to sort of fan out into the wooded hills. But they're going in a they're going in a sort of a north direction and away from you guys.
SPEAKER_00And how how far at this point are we from the chasm itself?
SPEAKER_03Uh you're not too far. Just you know, a couple more minutes and you'll be there.
SPEAKER_00Think we can make it without being seen?
SPEAKER_04Do or we could track the two that have left the camp.
SPEAKER_00And what, take them out?
SPEAKER_04Well, the fewer the numbers, the easier it will be to get across. But I'll take I'll follow your lead on this.
SPEAKER_00Alright. Okay, so when it comes to misdeeds, when do misdeeds get triggered? Like when that like I I'm kind of confused about that. We're fighting who we perceive to be an enemy at this point. Yeah, so he was a not as if he's innocent.
SPEAKER_03Right. If you were to fight these two guys, that's none of that would be a misdeed. If you captured one of them and then tortured them and killed them, that would be a misdeed. He had a chance to fight. He did have a chance to fight.
SPEAKER_00Not our fault, he sucked.
SPEAKER_03But as as I understood it, as the lore master, and also as he understood it, the rules were not it wasn't going to be a lethal fight, which is why I asked specifically whether Ed wanted to, what do you call it? What's it called when you pull when you pull it?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, pull the blow, yes.
SPEAKER_03Instead of when you like sort of pull your blows, yeah, exactly.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. Alright, fine. I hear logic in what you say. Let's see if we can deal with them. Right. Let's go hunting. Here we go.
SPEAKER_03Okay. You it's they're not trying to sort of hide the fact that they're moving through the woods, so it's very easy to f follow their trail. Uh, and they're not they're making a lot of noise too. And I Danyan and Halbrin, you can both sort of hear now two men calling out for another another man's name. You imagine it's the companions of the Southron that Ed murdered. So you Baranwyn and Assel rather quickly come upon them in a small clearing with a bunch of crumbled, broken stones all around the ground. They do not see you.
SPEAKER_04With a quick glance across to Baranwin to check that they're ready. If so, I will let loose an arrow at one of them.
SPEAKER_00I'll give a slight nod. I was just thinking about what I would have had weapon-wise for this. I probably would have left my bow back at the camp, because need two hands to carry two legs. But axe would have been I'm assuming I would have like some kind of back holster for it. Being a long half of the axe, I don't know if it would rather it would fit rather well on a hip. And I'm just wondering if I would have had my buckler with me or I would have left that back as well. I probably would have left it back.
SPEAKER_03Okay, so we have opening volleys. So, asshole, you can go right ahead and choose your target.
SPEAKER_00So as we kind of give each other a nod, I see that what he's about to do, like start knocking at his arrow. At that point, I'm gonna start running towards the one that he is not aiming at. So like I'll get into like forward combat with the other one. Okay. Axe in hand. Not not yelling, not trying to make any additional noise, because stealth and whatnot.
SPEAKER_04That's just a straight roll, is it?
SPEAKER_03Yes, that's a failure. Alright, so your arrow flies, misses its mark, hits hits it hit uh hits a the trunk of a tree, and then they they sort of shout out in surprise.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, what are my combat tasks?
SPEAKER_03Intimidate your floor. You can intimidate your foe, yep. And because you're in forward, your attack roll gains a die, which it should do automatically.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, uh maybe I'll do intimidate. Feet dice best, miserable, not miserable, that dot that. Difficulty 15, and we roll. And a success.
SPEAKER_03What kind of success did you get?
SPEAKER_00Just a success.
SPEAKER_03Just a regular old success, okay.
SPEAKER_00You never should have come here.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, so they're both made wary. So tell me what you say when you intimidate your foe. What do you do? How do you act?
SPEAKER_00You will never leave these lands, and I'll tighten up both hands on my axe and brace my legs, get ready to either fend off or swing.
SPEAKER_03Okay. Asshole. Are you gonna stay in rearward and shoot your bow again?
SPEAKER_04Yep. Yeah, I'll get another one off. I've just got him to turn round and look at me, so now I'm just gonna fire another one at him. Don't miss. Try not to.
SPEAKER_03Famous last words. Out. Another arrow flies wide.
SPEAKER_04Okay, this fella point I'm gonna put my bow on my back and go to draw my sword. Okay. I'm guessing he's gonna close on me now.
SPEAKER_00You would be better off to drop it temporarily. Because then it doesn't can it doesn't add towards your load if you or when you start taking damage.
SPEAKER_03Alright, so he just threw his spear at you, his short spear, and deals seven damage against you.
SPEAKER_00Oof so much for being weary.
SPEAKER_03Yeah. Yeah, I know, right? It does, yep. Yep. This guy swings his axe at you, Brenwin. He can try. Yeah, and he just he's he's he's his his balance is off from from being intimidated. And and he just as he swings, he just kind of like fumbles a little bit, and you easily just you don't even have to move and to just avoid that that pitiful that pitiful blow against you.
SPEAKER_00It's kind of shifting a little bit to the side. I am going to take a big ol' swing at him, kind of with the axe and like a baseball bat grip or cricket bat for those of you on the other side of the pond, and just try and aim right for his midsection. Okay. I don't need that. Uh da. Attack an adversary with my long hafted axe. Two-hand, difficulty of 16. Why was that again? My strength or something.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, so the weapon skills are fall under the strength category. So your their strength target number is 15.
SPEAKER_00Alright, here we go. Roll in the dice. Let's go. Ooh, and it's the success. Excellent. Six damage. So right into his side, right below his ribs. Kind of like where his kidneys would sit.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, so he just like stumbles back and blood is gushing from his from that wound. Assel, so what stance are you taking? Uh moved up into uh normal close combat.
SPEAKER_00He might want to take defensive.
SPEAKER_03Open or defensive? Open? Yeah, open initially. He's engaging with you. Asle is having a bad night, ladies and gentlemen. A failure. Keep missing by one, but I'm gonna. Yeah, his target number is 15 and he rolled a 14. I thought it I thought my target was fourteen, but never mind. Do you believe you're having him Halberin? He's he's yeah, he's having a Halberin night. Yeah, so this guy just sort of he darts back as you swing at him and he just grins at you.
SPEAKER_00Are they still weary? Was that just for one turn? Oh, that's an excellent question. Not trying to screw ourselves here, but proper rules and all that.
SPEAKER_03It says for the length of the round. Yeah, so that would be over. So that's over, okay. Yep. So they're not weary anymore. So Assel, he swings an axe at you for five endurance damage. He's just wearing you down. It doesn't necessarily have to be actual cuts and bruises and that sort of thing. So certain enemies have hate points, others have resolve. Evil men generally have resolve instead of hate. And that's gonna give him an extra die. Hmm. I don't like this. And it makes the roll favored. Yeah, so it says and make the attack roll favored. Yep. Alright. Oh, and that is a heavy blow.
SPEAKER_00How rude.
SPEAKER_03Boranwin, I need you to make a protection test.
SPEAKER_00Against 18 TN.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, so if you just click on that, it should do it automatically for you.
SPEAKER_00I might want to use a hope if I can. Can I?
SPEAKER_03A protection test? I don't know if you can. Let me see. Doesn't say you can't, so the redhead. Alright. In the old rules, I don't think you could, but.
SPEAKER_00Hooray for the new rules.
SPEAKER_03In the old rules, you spent hope on failed roles to turn them into successes. So that's why you couldn't on a piercing blow. On a protection test.
SPEAKER_00Alright. Alright, so rolling the dice with the hope point. Great success.
SPEAKER_03Okay, so you just you just take that nine endurance damage, but you are not wounded. Uh nine, you say. This fight is taking a lot longer than I thought it was going to. Isn't that always the way, Ed?
SPEAKER_00Down to eighteen. And we're back.
SPEAKER_03We're back at the top of the round.
SPEAKER_00Alright, so endurance is down to eighteen. Does that make me weary?
SPEAKER_03It does make you weary, yes.
SPEAKER_00My load's 20, my endurance is 18. It's below that. Okay, so weary I is. You're up. Uh, I'm going to swing at him. After staggering back a little bit from taking a hit from his axe. That's a failure.
SPEAKER_03You guys can retreat if you want to. When do we change stances? At the start of our attack? Once everyone is gone and then it and then the next turn, that's when everyone can change their stances.
SPEAKER_05Yeah. Start of the round. What point does the elf and I hear this happening? Or can we not hear this? Are they far enough away that we can't hear the combat?
SPEAKER_03Aye, Danyan, give me an awareness test.
SPEAKER_05What are your elf eyes here? Wait.
SPEAKER_03What are your elf eyes here? Yeah, nice. Yeah. Failure. Aye, Danyan, you hear nothing. Halbrin, do you want to give me a roll? You hear nothing.
SPEAKER_05Okay. Pete. Too busy sulking, and Tony's too busy uh reading stuff. Oh no.
SPEAKER_03Oh no. It was with a hype as well. Got another failure. Well, at least this one wasn't one point away from failing. If that's any consolation. If that's any consolation, exactly. Okay, so let's just talk about how death is a bath thing. Let's talk about running away for a minute. Just so just so we all understand how that works. Okay, so if you if you want to leave the fight, you have two options. You can first assume a rearward stance and then choose to escape when your turn to act comes. No role is required to do so. Otherwise, you can assume a defensive stance and roll for your attack normally. And if you succeed, you don't inflict any damage, but you manage to like you know, you're doing like a fighting retreat kind of. You manage to leave the battlefield. So those are your two options. And since, asshole, since you're rolling garbage, you might want to go back to rearward. I'm gonna succeed really well on the run-in-away bit. Yeah, exactly. Uh that's it's an option if you guys wanna if you guys wanna have it. Hint hint. Hint hint, yes, exactly. I know I'm taking defensive next round. He's spending a point of resolve here against Assel with his axe. Oh, Assel, make a protection test. And so in the chat window, you can just click on protection roll test on the Southern Raider chat that just popped up. Oh, Assel has suffered a wound. Alright, so his axe has just pierced your flesh. Probably across your chest. And you also suffer five damage to your endurance. Ooh. A great success on Buranwin. That deals nine damage to you, and you are forced to make another protection roll. You can have the damage and essentially lose your turn. It's called knockback. Yeah. But you still have to make the protection test.
SPEAKER_00I am going to throw some hope at this as well. Need to rally my spirits because things are looking dire. I am wounded.
SPEAKER_03Alright, Buranwin is wounded. Did you want a knockback to lessen the nine endurance or no?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, might as well. Okay, so I need to uh make an injury roll. Yes, that's right.
SPEAKER_03Then so does Assel.
SPEAKER_00I suffer a moderate injury that lasts for the combat only.
SPEAKER_03Yep. Assel, roll a D12 for me. D12. Yeah, I'm surprised. Because you're wounded, yes? Yeah, it didn't. Oh, I see. It's uh if you can scroll up, it'll do it automatically for you. If you scroll up in the chat window, it says Assel is wounded and needs to make an injury roll, and then it'll it'll add whatever your result is right to your sheet, I think. Yeah. Oh, okay. So that's so you have a severe injury and it's gonna last for seven days. The original roll was a three. So if you want to have three days instead of seven days, you're welcome to do that. You can change that on your sheet.
SPEAKER_00Okay, so question.
SPEAKER_03Yes.
SPEAKER_00So since I'm using knockback and I am having the damage, is it rounded up or rounded down? I don't know, but let's just say round down. Okay, so that's another four. All right. Okay, so start of the round, I'm switching to defensive.
SPEAKER_03Yep, you can't because you knocked back. So you uh you have to so it may essentially you lose this this turn, so it's gonna go to asshole.
SPEAKER_00But at the start of the round, we still do our stances, don't we?
SPEAKER_03No, because you're recovering from being knocked back. Yeah, it says they will spend the next main action recovering their fighting position. Is that me as well? No, because you didn't get knocked back. All right. So do you want to change your stance, go into rearward? Well that is to be defensive. I don't want to leave the companion here on their own. Okay. Then you can make an attack if you wish.
SPEAKER_04Yeah, and if I succeed, that means I'm retreating, fighting. Okay. Oh, failure. Oh, it's because I'm fatigued, isn't it?
SPEAKER_03Yeah, you're weary.
SPEAKER_04Oh, I forgot about that.
SPEAKER_03You guys are fucked. I should've paused there for a second, go back to how bring the.
SPEAKER_05Combat shit is like horrendously like hardcore.
SPEAKER_03It really is. It really is. I didn't realize there was gonna be a f a fight that would take 30 minutes. What are you guys doing? So you let's let's have you guys roll again for your awareness. Sure. Give yourself a bonus die. Hawk, what is that I hear through the woods? Yeah, exactly. Okay, you've both succeeded. So yeah, so you hear you you're now hearing the the clank clang of the weapons starting to echo through the woods, coming into the area where you are.
SPEAKER_05Well, I grimly set my sort of teeth together, pick up my bow and my sword. In fact, I can just pick my sword up, I leave my bow at the end. I was reading about shadow scars, but because I am under my permanent hope, I will take another shadow scar to get rid of my temporary shadow. As long as I was reading that. As long as you're under your permanent, which I am, I can choose to take a shadow scar. So I'll give you one more shadow scar, so I'll have two, and then I can get rid of my temporary shadow. What page is it? Shadow 136, 137. Okay, yeah. Harden Will. Adventures who are struggling under the burden of their shadow made challenge. Yeah, so for our unlisters, it says in game terms.
SPEAKER_03So I just wanted to make sure it didn't say that you could only do it in a fellowship phase.
SPEAKER_05Okay, cool. No, no. Yep. So I'll do that, which means I I take an extra scar, but then I lose the thing, which means I'm not gonna be miserable. Miserable. Yeah. Um, which I'm like, I I need to kind of like help my friends or at least my companions, I set it aside and just rush off the uh to the or as my mother would say, suck up buttercup. Suck up. That's exactly it.
SPEAKER_03And uh I Danian, what are you doing? Do you hear this battle happening?
SPEAKER_02Yeah, and I guess I look around and say, Do you hear the same thing? Seems like a fight. I nod.
SPEAKER_05I start to run in that direction.
SPEAKER_02Okay. Me too. Okay. I have athletics, I don't know if that helps.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, give me an athletics role, I Danian. Automatic success. Okay, and Halbrin, give me one.
SPEAKER_05Well, I can't have a an elf out to me running through the wild, but because it's me, I'm probably gonna fail this role. Yep. Failure.
SPEAKER_03Okay, so he has run like ahead of you. He's run like the wind. You've lost sight of him already. What stance would you like to take, I danyin, as you went to the battlefield?
SPEAKER_02Fourth, I will use my bow to uh to shoot if I can, because I don't know when they're in combat. I don't know. Whoever is free, I don't know what they see. What do I see?
SPEAKER_03You see both of your companions are wounded, and it looks like they're sort of on their back foot here. Like they they desperately need your help.
SPEAKER_02Okay, so I will stop bringing out my bow and with the typical style of an elf, I will just shoot my arrow to the first Southerner Raider, which I guess is the one right here in front of me. Okay, you want to put it I I crouch and I shoot the arrow like in a you know in a very kind of soft and well made.
SPEAKER_03Okay, so target this guy here that you're gonna attack. So you just want to right-click on him. Yeah, I don't know.
SPEAKER_02I I right click, nothing happens.
SPEAKER_03You have to hold it down, I think.
SPEAKER_05No, it's different from the GM to the players.
SPEAKER_01I don't know.
SPEAKER_05You have to double click it. Double click it? You have to just double click it, yeah. I don't know if it's left or what, whichever one it is.
SPEAKER_01Right, I think, yeah. Okay, and then I guess I just shoot, I guess, with bows. Mm-hmm. Um I guess nothing change here. Give yourself a keen.
SPEAKER_02Give yourself a bonus die. Yeah, I was thinking if I can use kin eye or something like this.
SPEAKER_03Automatic success. You rolled it from the skill instead of from the combat part. Okay, so what's the damage? That's okay. What's the damage on the bow? Three. That is a piercing blow. Okay. Because you rolled a Gandalf. So Asl and Baranwin, like out of nowhere, you see an elf arrow just sort of whiz through the trees, strike the Southron that had just wounded Asl right in the throat and just knocks him down. He's dead. I mean, it's certainly annoying to be MVP again. And this guy here, he sees that he's now that he that his companion has been killed with a single arrow shot. He's he's outnumbered, and he's like, yeah, fuck this. And he turns to run. So, Buran Wyn, you would be up next if you wanted to attempt to ease his passing?
SPEAKER_00Hack him? Why, yes, yes, I would. Okay. Go back to the abyss. Alright, do you have to do something with the southerner to make it my turn again? Oh, I thought I did do that already. Okay, there you go. Sorry. Alright. I am angry, like starting to get angry. Actually, is there something with Bjornings regarding that?
SPEAKER_03Yep. So you're all of your attack and protection tests are now favored because you're wounded. Okay, so I didn't do that before.
SPEAKER_00Because that would have been sorry, when was that triggered? When I'm weary? No, when you're wounded. Oh, okay. Well, maybe that's why. One moment. I did not set that on my sheet. So that might be a Y. Wounded for zero days. Back to combat. Back to my axe. It does not automatically set that, so I'll have to remember that. And then here we roll. That don't look good.
SPEAKER_03Failure. He has left the battlefield.
SPEAKER_00I'll yell back. We can't let him escape. Never fear. I'm on my way.
SPEAKER_03That's right. Yeah, at this point, Halbrin, you are now in the combat. Let me add you to the tracker just in case we want to, you know, beat a dead horse here.
SPEAKER_00And now chasing. Yes.
SPEAKER_05Yeah, I'll do I see the guy leave the battle and like run through.
SPEAKER_03So you you jump, you like jump out of the woods off of a stone into this clearing. You see, Assel is wounded, Baranwin is wounded, I Danyon is like, you know, he just like took down one of these guys with you see an arrow, like one of I Danyon's arrows in one of these Southron's throats. And Baranwin just just tried to prevent the other Southron from running away, and he's just left the clearing and he's in the woods. What do you do? Take off often. You take off after. Okay. I think that is a good place to leave this episode.