DragonQuest Campaign Newsletter issue 14.0
Go To Issue #15.0
Main Page - DQ Main Page - DQ Campaign - Campaign Chronicles
Where We Left Off..
Game Date: Wednesday, August 3rd
We are at Amar Das’ place, and just killed two orc warriors. Their Wargs ran away. Another group of 6 Warg-riders is a couple of miles away, you probably have about ½ hour before they show up. Further behind them is a mixed group of 30 or so orcs, some riding Wargs, along with an Orc Shaman. One of the front Warg-riders will probably head back to fetch the main group, and it’ll take them a bit over an hour to get here.
Amar Das says he has a couple of wards set up around his place that may be of use if we can lure them there. Also, if you can take care of the first group, he and one of the mages can probably set up a ward-spell to "severely hinder the progress of the main body". He also mutters some things about "young whipper-snappers", "cocky as all hell", and "When I was that age..."
He is not particularly crazy about much spell casting, especially on the other side of the river (see his brief run-down on Demons below). Although with the wards going off in his cottage and the trap ward-spell.. It might be best to be a ways away. He gives a quick explanation of Demons, and anyone who does not have the familiarity with them can take it to rank 0 after this adventure by spending the experience points.
There are some places both downstream and upstream which may provide crossing points for the Orcs, but being forced to cross at those points will slow things down a bit (they involve fallen trees or rocks in the river). Further upstream, the river becomes just the primary feeder stream, before it’s fed by the other feeders from the surrounding mountains.
Tidbits (top)
Demons
Demons (whose Generic True Name is "Chthon") are apparently from another dimension, although how exactly they got here is unknown. Sometime during or after the First Wizard War, they showed up in the ruins of Zyr (in the Daemon Desert). An expedition to the ruins freed them, which set the world into another terrible Wizard War as all races banded together to fight the Demon invasion.
Some things which are known about Demons: They’re highly magical, prefering to live in high Mana regions. In fact, they are drawn to discharged Mana, such as when Adepts cast spells. Demons take on many forms, pretty much spanning the range of creatures from insects to sentients. The more intelligent specimens are capable of using magic spells (although they do not tend to be as bound to ritualized spell preparation as we are), while even some of the more lowly ones have inherent magic. There have been recorded instances of them giving up "the chase" rather than crossing running water (hence the placement of his cottage in the middle of the river),
Some of the lower types to be feared are Feeders, whose size is proportional to their food supply, Amorphs which are pseudopod blobs, and Imps who are the tricksters of the Demon world. Higher forms include the powerful Balrogs (very powerful, affiliated very strongly with Fire Magic), Devils (who tend to rely on manipulation of others to do their bidding rather than direct confrontation), and Reapers (of which only three are known to exist, who’ve been given the nicknames of Ginsu, The Preacher, and Death).
Rule Clarifications, Notes, and Extensions. (top)
Effects of Altitude - Revised
As characters go higher in altitude (say, by climbing a mountain), they will begin to suffer from lack of oxygen. They will tire out more easily. In effect, any work they do will seem harder. At least until they become accustomed to the difference in oxygen levels. Therefore, any level of activity should be considered one level more strenuous. A character in melee combat will lose 1 FT per 10 rounds.
The altitude at which this starts to take place is around 5,000 feet.
Acclimatization typically takes 2 weeks. Starting after the 7th day, characters need to roll against straight Endurance to become acclimated. Every three days after that, the chance of success goes up by their Endurance rating (so for days 7-9: 1xEN; 10-12: 2xEM; 13-15: 3xEN; 16-18: 4xEN; 19+: 5xEN). Once the character has successfully made the roll, they are acclimated and no longer need to make those rolls. Furthermore, due to the physiological affects of having become acclimated to the thinner air, their Endurance and Fatigue are both boosted by 1. This effect will end 2 weeks after they return to altitudes under 5,000 feet. Up to altitudes of 8,000 feet, the acclimatization will negate the affects of higher Fatigue loss. Above that, however, the characters will still suffer from the greater Fatigue loss although they will still gain the benefits of increased Endurance and Fatigue.
Combat Turn Sequence
An Engaged figure is anyone who has an opponent in their Melee Zone, or has a spell or missile weapon already prepped.
All Engaged characters’ actions are resolved first, in order of descending Initiatives. If an Engaged character performs an action which will disengage him, the remainder of his actions are resolved in the Non-Engaged phase. (i.e. withdrawing from combat).
After all Engaged actions have be resolved, Non-Engaged characters move in order of descending Initiative. At this point, any characters who were withdrawing from an opponent’s melee zone may actually move to exit that zone. As soon as they do, the opponent may make a free attack. The attack is at a -20% if the character was withdrawing maintaining facing towards the opponent, and no penalty if they turned away (fleeing).
Initiative
Everyone's Base Initiative is their Modified AG + PC.
Each turn, the leaders of the sides rolls a D10 and adds their rank with Military Scientist. If the leaders do not have rank with that skill, only a D5 is used. This result is the Leadership Modifier.
The GM should determine the difference between the Leadership Modifierss, and apply this difference as a modifier to the Initiatives for the side with the best Leadership Modifier.
Example: Leader for Side A rolls 6 and adds Mil Sci rank of 1, giving a 7. Side B's Leader doesn't have Mil Sci, and rolls a 5 on D5. Side A's Leadership Modifier was 2 better than Side B's, so everyone on Side A get's a +2 to their Initiatives for that turn.
Main Page - DQ Main Page - DQ Campaign - Campaign Chronicles
Go To Issue #15.0