Alright, that is pretty much the setup for the two runnings of the games, let me break down the two of them individually.
GAME #1
Our very own Lead Adventurer and local miniature painting legend Chambersofminiatures decided he wanted to be a Kushite for the day. I will always hold a spot for someone from this forum so if you attend future RECRUITS, let me know in advance which session you want me to hold a spot for you. And you thought you did not get any super cool benefits...
After the Skittles explanations and the background and all of that the game got going with some early moves and exploration. The Kushites with four models had a much easier time of that, since more could find things quicker, something I had not really considered during design, but it makes for a bit more desperation on the part of those looking for Elyssa. Pat's Kushites found the Drums encounter early and benefitted from the bonus to GUTS for several turns early on, although eventually the other encounter silenced them. One of the Slavers wound up finding some Black Lotus and having " an acid trip" that resulted in a bonus Skittle for him! Much laughter and conjecture abounded over the presence of drugs, a lost Brythunian beauty, the list could go on and on. As the four factions neared the center of the table it was clear that there would be blood spilled rather rapidly. It would be washed away in the Downpour that was triggered and lasted for a few turns. The Stygians found one of the Black Lotus encounters and were able to harvest the deadly plant very early, but I was quick to inform them that the more they found and recovered the better off things back in Stygia would be, so they sought out more. I forget who, but someone triggered the two encounter markers for Elyssa and the Child of Gullah fairly early on, so then it was a race against time to see when the ape and the babe would appear. As it happens, she appeared first right towards the center of the table. The Duke and Brodir make straight for her and wound up in deadly combat with the Slavers over the lissome lass. Brodir in particular found himself fairly well matched by Ibrahim bin Sulieman, and once they joined combat it wavered back and forth in the rain until the end of the game. To their mutual credit, I think Ibrahim was the most sorely wounded of the two, his shield arm was tiring and the powerful Aesir was shrewd in attacking his hated foeman's arms. Ibrahim did not panic, however, nor did he break off to try and grab the girl and make a getaway, this is where that Flaw-Bloodthirsty came to haunt him.
About two turns into their titanic struggle for the girl, who changed hands a time or two, the Kushite warriors N'kuta and M'bora raced into the small clearing and executed a textbook Rush Attack. Well, it was damn close anyhow, as N'Kuta broke his spear on his first pass and wound up fighting the Duke with a shield and fist combination. This fight went back and forth as the Duke was unable to put his foe down. At this point, N'kuta broke away from combat to make way for the mighty Ghomli, who charged the Duke and did not live up to my expectations as a real monster. Don't forget that all the while in the background the Stygians were exploring encounter markers and had silenced the Drums and managed to turn off the Downpour as well. The Kushite leader, M'buna, found an encounter which challenged me and made me laugh out loud, then he found another one that would change the game.
The first required a test vs. GUTS to explore further encounter markers, as a strange call came from the nearest jungle stand. Pat immediately asked me what made the call. Hell, I don't know what made the call and I did not go into any more description on my list of encounter marker designations other than to say " a strange call". So I told him it was "Intuka'tuka" an not to be trifled with! I still don't know what the hell Intuka'tuka is and if I do figure it out, I sure as hell won't tell anyone what it is, it makes it that much more frightening as is. The second encounter brought the Child of Gullah into play. I was smart and had not taken the gorilla miniature out of my case so the players would see what else was in it. A few eyes got wide when I placed it. Pat had been asking me since the first turn of the game what the Black Painted Skull on his character sheet meant, so now, I told him. He also was not sure why he would have the Animal Handling skill...well...there you go!
He made his rolls an hurled the skull at the ape and now had control of his whole faction AND the Child of Gullah....WRONG, I promptly traded him the ape's character card for that of Ghomli, and had him break off from combat with the Duke to move towards the ape as fast as possible. By this point, the Shemites and Brodir were having a serious row smack in the middle of the table, Elyssa had gotten to the Duke who was busy fighting a Kushite warrior and trying to make good his escape with his favorite slave. Seems like we have not mentioned the Stygians in awhile, doesn't it?
As the Child of Gullah barrelled into the Shemites, the High Priestess stepped forth and began casting Wall of Fire... A turn later, she had placed it and it killed both Shemite Grade 1's, wounded Brodir and Ibrahim AND the ape. A turn or so earlier, M'buna had cast his spell, Ancestor Spirit on Ibrahim, but the spirit was not able to get past the guard of the fierce slaver.
At this point our time slot was finished and it was time to see how things wound up in terms of victory. The Duke had partially met his objective, as had the Stygians, who found one of the three Black Lotus plants. One other plant had been located, but they were not quite able to reach it before the end of the game. The Slavers did not recapture anyone and pretty much got either barbecued in the end or slowly carved up by Brodir, the Aesir bodyguard. The Kushites were delighted to see that someone else was doing much of the killing and making their job easier, but none of the Stygians had fallen, nor had the Duke and Brodir. It really seemed like to me, the Duke would meet his victory conditions best if he abandoned Brodir and fled with Elyssa, which I think he was in the process of doing.
Here are a few action pics I took along the way.
The Duke's Player uses a Hero Point!
I make Chambersofminiatures (Pat) perform some kind of Kushite Juju dance before his Spirit Ancestor spell will go off
The Duke struggles against Ghomli, before Ghomli becomes an ambitious traitor. Brodir is on the right about to engage the Slavers. Elyssa is found just after this picture was taken.
The Child of Gullah Arrives!
There are a few more pictures I apparently did not upload, but this should wet your whistle for the time being, more to come!
RWF
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August 28, 2007, 03:16:21 AM