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Author Topic: The Tale of Marcus Templeton and Shane - (A Mountain man story)  (Read 7438 times)

Offline marianas_gamer

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Re: The Tale of Marcus Templeton and Shane - (A Mountain man story)
« Reply #30 on: August 18, 2020, 07:49:51 PM »
I would love to her more of this adventure!
Got to kick at the darkness till it bleeds daylight.

Offline Florida Tory

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Re: The Tale of Marcus Templeton and Shane - (A Mountain man story)
« Reply #31 on: September 05, 2020, 01:27:27 PM »
I will second that wish!

Rick

Offline Oberstleutnant Koenig

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Re: The Tale of Marcus Templeton and Shane - (A Mountain man story)
« Reply #32 on: September 05, 2020, 10:05:35 PM »
Sorry for leaving you Gentlemen, hanging...

I have been sidetracked over the past few months into umpiring a Dark Age campaign. Almost two months in and things are getting interesting.

Rustling five Romano-British Warlords has consumed much of my spare time.

I will endeavor to post something on Marcus and Shane in this coming week. 

Thank you for following this thread.
« Last Edit: September 06, 2020, 11:02:15 PM by Oberstleutnant Koenig »

Offline Oberstleutnant Koenig

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Re: The Tale of Marcus Templeton and Shane - (A Mountain man story)
« Reply #33 on: September 08, 2020, 11:37:36 PM »
Gents, as promised.

Game turn 4 – 2 PM

Templeton and Bulfinch untangled Bennett from the tree branch and make him comfortable after hauling him into the cover of the nearby forest. Bulfinch collects two stout sticks and started to splinting Bennett’s leg. There were a few curse words as he straightened his companion’s leg, ready for splinting. Templeton gathered two saplings to act as poles for a litter he was fashioning. 

Meanwhile, Shane knew he couldn’t continue running as he had been since the village. Deciding to move more slowly, he and his party broke into a walk. Hemmed in by cliff and escarpment, his parties path already predetermined. Shane moves from hex 10.07 to 11.06.

The slower pace bares them fruit, almost immediately.

Gibbson sights a wild turkey in a nearby ticket.

He freezes in place and looks back at Shane, slowly conducting hand signals and indicating the ticket. Mouthing the words, “Shall we have forest chicken, tonight?”
Gibbson raises his musket, ready to put an ounce of lead into the bird.

“No!” Shane responds, casting noise discipline aside in the attempt  to check Gibbson's shot. “You’ll bring those bloody heathens down on our necks, You blasted fool!”
Slowly Gibbson lowers his firearm, to which Shane adds, “we will camp soon. Hopefully we can get down to the river and get some fish.”

This was a lucky call on Shane’s part.

With only three miles separating Red Knife and his war party from the Mountain men, they would have heard the shot - Firing a firearm can be heard five hexes away for game purposes.

Saved from a possible costly error, the three mountain men continue their journey east. Unluckily, they continue leaving trail as they do so – 50% of this when walking, 100% if moving fast.

Smoke Wolf now mounted on Indian ponies, leads 11 braves east, following Red Knife and intent on catching up to him. Horses moved two hexes per turn when moving normally, ending his move in hex 06.06.

Deaf Buffalo takes the remaining nine braves on foot south. Following Templeton’s initial trail, he ends his turn in hex 04.06.

Bloody Bear, Black Eagle and Grey Deer, continue chasing phantoms in the south.
« Last Edit: September 08, 2020, 11:50:08 PM by Oberstleutnant Koenig »

Offline Belisarius

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Re: The Tale of Marcus Templeton and Shane - (A Mountain man story)
« Reply #34 on: September 09, 2020, 08:58:53 AM »
Nail bitingly good story , well told . 🤭 The basis for a good board game here .

Offline Oberstleutnant Koenig

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Re: The Tale of Marcus Templeton and Shane - (A Mountain man story)
« Reply #35 on: September 30, 2020, 04:17:08 AM »
Game turn 5 – 3 PM

With Bennett’s broken leg, the situation was now dire. The only way to move Bennett was now to carry him. This would reduce the party’s movement to a walk. Templeton knew their chances of survival was now, cut in half.

Night was fast approaching, so Marcus decided it was best to remain in place and regain some of their strength. Marcus scouted the local area, hoping to bag something for them to eat. He was out of luck and came back to camp empty handed.

Meanwhile, Bulfinch went down to the river and tried his hand at a spot of fishing. He doesn’t have any luck either.

On the other side of the river, Shane and his party continue following the cliff face. They had just reached a rock fall when Moore shouts out, “Cougar!”

Perched high on one of the house sized boulders was a tan mountain loin. The big cat snarls at the intruders, showing his fangs. Luckily  the cat isn’t interested in tangling with three men in a life or death struggle, he turns and fades into the scattered rocks.

There was a 50% chance a predator will attack a party, otherwise they will flee. Bears having a much higher chance of aggressive behavior.

Gibbon lets out a sigh, “Phew, that was close. When do we make camp? I’m just about done!”

Gibbon’s Stamina was only one point away from being totally exhausted.

“Soon,” Shane replies. “As soon as we get over this rock slide, we will make camp.” Gibbon nods and silently they press on.

Red knife having now found trail, indicating direction of Shane’s party. He again presses his war-party into a fast pace pursuit. Shane’s lead was being eroded quickly.
 
Smoke Wolf and his mounted war-party continued to follow Red Knife and his braves.

Deaf Buffalo raced south.

Bloody Bear, Black Eagle and Grey Deer picked up the pace, but continued looking in the wrong direction.
« Last Edit: April 30, 2021, 07:49:13 AM by Oberstleutnant Koenig »

Offline von Lucky

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Re: The Tale of Marcus Templeton and Shane - (A Mountain man story)
« Reply #36 on: February 21, 2021, 03:20:11 AM »
Only catching up now - but yes, still gripping.
- Karsten

"Imagination is the only weapon in the war against reality."
- Lewis Carroll, Alice in Wonderland

Blog: Donner und Blitzen

Offline Vagabond

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Re: The Tale of Marcus Templeton and Shane - (A Mountain man story)
« Reply #37 on: April 04, 2021, 09:56:31 AM »
Only catching up now - but yes, still gripping.

Me too and even slower than Von Lucky, looks like the trail has gone cold as your last post is last year but surely you can't leave it hanging there?

I've enjoyed this as much as anything I've read on the forum for a long time. Thanks

I have a question that will probably remain unanswered but were the Indian groups coordinating their search and if so how did you rationalize that comunication as each was miles away from the other?

Anyway thanks again this has been most stimulating.
Cheers

Offline Oberstleutnant Koenig

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Re: The Tale of Marcus Templeton and Shane - (A Mountain man story)
« Reply #38 on: April 30, 2021, 06:42:47 AM »
Hello Vagabond,

My war-gaming eye has ventured away from the Wilderness of the Rockies and Tale of Marcus Templeton and Shane. The story lays locked away in my war-gaming archive. I rarely throw anything war-gaming out. It is only with the spark of interest from other Lead Adventurers that it moves me to continue the narrative.

To answer your question about communications between Indian bands.

This question perplexed me for sometime. Then I finally settled on fleet footed Indian boys and girls, darting through the forest in a constant pall mell. Carrying messages between the various Indian parties.

« Last Edit: April 30, 2021, 09:33:50 AM by Oberstleutnant Koenig »

Offline Oberstleutnant Koenig

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Re: The Tale of Marcus Templeton and Shane - (A Mountain man story)
« Reply #39 on: April 30, 2021, 09:24:15 AM »
Game turn 6 - 4 PM

Templeton and his party remains in their current location and continue trying their hand at trying to catch fish. Bulfinch brings in a good haul of 9 lbs of fish, Marcus catches nothing.

With 9 lbs of fish caught, their food needs for the day are met.

Each man consumes 3 lbs of food each day or they lose Stamina and reducing their overall Stamina Level. Overtime, the lack of food erodes their Stamina Level and thus reducing their daily efforts to a crawl.

Fishing or resting for an hour will recover half a point of Stamina. Hunting, gathering resources etc. being equal to walking for an hour - 1 Stamina Point.
All of the Templeton’s party recovers half a Stamina Point each.

Bulfinch enquires if they should risk building a fire. Marcus says no, feeling they are still too close the Indian village which is just up river. They eat the fish raw.
A fire and its smoke can be seen by friends or foes if they are located in an adjacent hex to the fire, both day and night. Having a fire gives the characters using it a Stamina boost during the night.

In Shane’s party, Gibbon’s Stamina finally gives out (reaching zero Stamina), he stops and must rest in Hex 11.05.

With Gibbons unable to move any further, Shane and Moore leave him to rest and push on to the river. They hope they can catch some fish for the group to meet their food requirements for that day - they move to Hex 11.04.

Red Knife returns to tracking and moves slowly towards Gibbons’ location in Hex 11.05. He is aware the mountain men are ahead of him, but he has no clue as to how close.
Black Eagle, Bloody Bear and Grey Deer continue their search in the south, whilst Deaf Buffalo hastens south to join them.

Strangely at this point in time, Smoke Wolf galloped his band of mounted warriors southwards. Clearly the Indian Player felt he needs more braves to search the woods in that direction.
« Last Edit: April 30, 2021, 10:00:38 AM by Oberstleutnant Koenig »

Offline Florida Tory

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Re: The Tale of Marcus Templeton and Shane - (A Mountain man story)
« Reply #40 on: May 09, 2021, 01:37:16 AM »
This story is as gripping as ever; I am sure that I am not the only reader looking forward to more.

Rick

Offline marianas_gamer

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Re: The Tale of Marcus Templeton and Shane - (A Mountain man story)
« Reply #41 on: May 09, 2021, 01:45:46 AM »
I am always happy to see this story go forward.

Offline Oberstleutnant Koenig

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Re: The Tale of Marcus Templeton and Shane - (A Mountain man story)
« Reply #42 on: May 13, 2021, 09:00:57 PM »
Game Turn 7 - 5 PM

Night is only one hour away and most of the Peaquin warbands were also coming close to exhaustion. Their constant running over the previous six hours had depleted their Stamina level to zero in some cases.

Only Bloody Knife was close enough to Gibbons to have any chance of catching him, but the War leader and his bands Stamina was at zero. They rested for that turn.

Gibbons didn’t know how close he had come to facing 11 Indians by himself. He continued to rest for the hour, regaining half a Stamina point. With night fast approaching, he knew his two companions weren’t going to be returning. He drew himself up into a ball and tried to get some sleep as best he could.

Gibbons having not eaten for the day, he had two penalties placed on him. He loses one point off his Stamina Rating (the character’s overall fitness) and he loses one Stamina point off his current Stamina level (his current level of exhaustion) – the last two hours of resting was for nothing. His Stamina level returns to zero.

Down by the river, Moore has had some luck. He manages to haul in 13 lbs of Channel Catfish – a nice catch. Shane didn’t catch anything, but greedily shared the fish with Moore in its uncooked state.

Having spent the hour fishing, both Shane and Moore knew they wouldn’t get back to Gibbons, so they too cuddled up on the river bank and slept.

On the other side of the river, Marcus Templeton, Jack Bennett and Charles Bulfinch all settled in for the night. Without a fire or shelter built, they were in for a hard night.

A game mechanic required characters to eat, have shelter and fire to maximize their Stamina recovery of two points per hour that they slept. Failure to have all three of these perquisites means they only recover one Stamina point per hour. Standing guard, recovers only half a point of Stamina.

Marcus organised a rotating picquet for the three men, but then Bennett suggested that he would stand guard all night. Bennett's logic being he was broken and needed to be carried. It was best that he stood guard and allowed the two fit men to sleep all night and maximize their Stamina recovery. Being a logical option, they went with Bennett’s plan.

In the south, with night closing in. Black Eagle, Bloody Bear, Grey Deer, Deaf Buffalo slowed their search to a walk or they made camp for the night. Only Smoke Wolf and his war band of mounted Peaquin warriors rapidly searched the north side of a creek to find nothing.
« Last Edit: May 13, 2021, 09:21:13 PM by Oberstleutnant Koenig »

Offline Florida Tory

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Re: The Tale of Marcus Templeton and Shane - (A Mountain man story)
« Reply #43 on: May 19, 2021, 12:00:12 AM »
Great stuff!

Rick

Offline Skipper

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Re: The Tale of Marcus Templeton and Shane - (A Mountain man story)
« Reply #44 on: August 28, 2021, 04:14:58 AM »
OK,  I'm hooked.  What's next. 

This is feeling like an old fashion serial with a cliff hanger at the end of each show.

Nice job, keep it coming
Skipper

"No challenge is too small.......or too large!"

 

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