Range & Cover Example

From Burning Wiki

This was originally posted on [www.burningwheel.org/forum]

Contents 1 The Scene 2 The Characters 3 Relevant stats, equipment, and spells 4 Resolve Instincts 5 Initial Positioning 6 First Exchange 6.1 Scripting 6.2 Volley 1 6.2.1 Initial Ranges 6.2.2 Positioning Test 6.2.3 Adjusted Ranges 6.2.4 Actions 6.2.5 What happens 6.3 Volley 2 6.3.1 Initial Ranges 6.3.2 Positioning Test 6.3.3 Adjusted Ranges 6.3.4 Actions 6.3.4.1 Steel Test 6.3.5 What Happens 6.4 Volley 3 6.4.1 Initial Ranges 6.4.2 Positioning Test 6.4.3 Adjusted Ranges 6.4.4 Actions 6.4.5 What Happens

The Scene

Two comrades, the sorcerer Dallen Flarecrest and the soldier Mathias Kingsblood, have been pursuing a band of orcish assassins for days. The hunt is finally nearing the end. The men catches up with the orcs on a plain, in between small bands of trees and shrubbery. Spotting the men, the orc on the huge black wolf turns his beast around and orders his archers to open fire. Dallen and Mathias spur their horses and begin to close.

It is time for a range & cover!

The Characters

The two men pursuing the orcs.

Ambitious Sorcerer for Hire - Dallen Flarecrest

Noble Career Soldier - Mathias Kingsblood

The stats for Dallen's riding horse and Mathias' warhorse can be found in the character burner.

The orcs.

Orc Heavy Cavalry - Astride the Beast (Tough Goblin Mooks)

The orc is riding the black destroyer found in the back of the BWR book.

Goblin Sun-Blotter-Nightseekers (Cannon Fodder)

Relevant stats, equipment, and spells

Orc Heavy Cavalry: Bow B4, hunting Bow, chain mail armour (chest 5D, arms, legs & head 4D)

Wolf (Black Destroyer): Reflexes B5, speed B6, speed multiplier x7

Goblin Sun-blotters: Bow B4, perception B4, reflexes B4, speed B4, stealth B3+1, hunting bows, hide armour (chest 2D, arms, legs & head 1D)

Mathias: Plate mail armour (chest 6D, arms, legs & head 5D)

Warhorse: Reflexes B4, speed B6, speed multiplier x8

Dallen: Forte B5, perception B5, sorcery B6, will B6, plated leather chest (2D), Shards, White Fire

Riding Mount: Reflexes B4, speed B6, speed multiplier x8

Resolve Instincts

Mathias has one relevant instinct - I will always assess the strongest opponent. He gets an assess action before R&C starts - he uses it one the Orc Heavy Cavalry. Rolling his perception: Mathias: 4D: 1 success. The GM informs him that the Orc sits atop a great wolf, has a bow and is wearing chain mail. That's all he gets for 1 success.

Dallen also has one relevant instinct - Before any Combat I cast Eldritch Shield. He thinks there might be a sorcerer of some kind hiding among the orcs, so he uses it. He casts Eldritch Shield: Dallen: 6D (will) + 6D (sorcery): 10 successes. Dallen is now maintaining an Ob 7 Eldritch Shield. He should be fairly safe from hostile sorcery. He has -1D Will from now on as he is maintaining the spell.

Initial Positioning

Everybody roll their initial positioning. The goblin Sun-blotters form one group. Dallen, Mathias and the orc cavalry fight alone. The gm rules that since Dallen and Mathias were traveling together, and the orc and goblins kept together, everybody will start at the same distance, as determined by the winner of the positioning test.

Dallen: 8D: 4 successes. (riding horse's speed +1D from White Fire’s area + 1D for mount having higher speed multiplier.)

Mathias: 7D: 2 successes. (warhorse's Speed + 1D for mount having higher speed multiplier.)

Sun-blotters: 8D: 5 successes. (perception + 2D range dice from bow at extreme +2D from help.)

Wolf Rider: 9D: 6 successes (wolf's speed +2D range dice from bow +1D for mount having higher reflexes.)

The Wolf Rider and the Sun-Blotters may now determine the initial distance between the two parties. They choose extreme range for their bows (which is out of range for Mathias and Dallen).

First Exchange

Scripting

Everybody chooses one group or individual to script against. It ends up looking so:

Dallen vs Wolf Rider: Speed Close, Speed Close, Perception Maintain

Dallen's player hopes to use his horse's speed to get close and then get a good ol' White Fire off. He wants to try using perception in the third volley, since you never do know with those open-ended tests.

Mathias vs Wolf Rider: Speed Close, Speed Close, Speed Close

Mathia's player simply wants to close as fast as possible and kill that wolf rider, before going for the goblins.

Goblin Sun-Blotters vs. Mathias: Perception Maintain, Perception Maintain, Stealth Withdraw

The goblins are scared of the big bad human on the horse. They hope to wound him and then run away.

Wolf Rider vs. Mathias: Speed Maintain, Speed Maintain, Speed Withdraw

The also hopes to get a few shots of at the knight. Then he will run, not caring whether the goblins can keep up or not.

Volley 1

Initial Ranges

Goblin Sun-blotters: Dallen and Mathias at extreme.

Wolf Rider: Dallen and Mathias at extreme.

Mathias: Sun-blotters and Wolf Rider at out of range.

Dallen: Sun-Blotters and WOlf RIder at out of range.

Positioning Test

The GM has earlier made the call that positioning against multiple opponents should be harder. Anyone who is the target of 2 or more opponents positioning suffers a +1 Ob penalty.

Wolf Rider (Speed Maintain) vs. Mathias: 9D + 1 Ob: 5 successes. Won! (wolf's speed +2D range dice from bow +1D for mount having higher reflexes +1 Ob from having two opponents.)

Mathias (Speed Close) vs. Wolf Rider: 7D +1 Ob: 4 successes. Lost! (warhorse's speed + 1D for mount having higher speed multiplier +1 Ob from having two opponents.)

Dallen (Speed Close) vs. Wolf Rider: 9D: 4 successes. Lost! (riding horse's speed +2D from White Fire’s area + 1D for mount having higher speed multiplier.)

Goblin Sun-blotters (Perception Maintain) vs. Mathias: 8D: 6 successes. Won! (perception + 2D range dice from bow at extreme +2D from help.)

Mathias and Dallen fail at closing on the Wolf Rider. The Wolf Rider gets one action, he shoots. The goblin sun-blotters get two actions, two of them shoot.

Adjusted Ranges

Goblin Sun-blotters: Dallen and Mathias at extreme.

Wolf Rider: Dallen and Mathias at extreme.

Mathias: Sun-blotters and Wolf Rider at out of range.

Dallen: Sun-Blotters and WOlf RIder at out of range.

Actions

Wolf Rider shoots at Mathias: 4D (Bow) vs. Ob 3: 1 success. A miss! (base Ob 3 for extreme range)

Two goblin sun-blotters shoot at Mathias: 2 x 4D (Bow) vs. Ob 3: 3 successes and 3 successes. Both hits! (base Ob 3 for extreme range)

Neither goblins have enough successes to move their shot anywhere but Mathias' chest, so they roll their dice of fate and Mathias has to test for his armour.

Dice of Fate: 6 (superior hit - B10), 5 (superior hit - B10)

Armour test: 2 x 6D vs Ob 2: 5 successes and 4 successes. Both hits are absorbed by the armour, but Mathias' chest armour degrades by one.

What happens

As Mathias and Dallen try to close on the goblins, the beasts unleash a hail of arrows. While the wolf is circling and firing shot after shot at the knight, the goblin sun-blotters stand still and let their arrows fly. Mathias tries to weave in between the thickets to take cover from the arrows, but the goblins fire at him before he can take cover and his chest plate arsorbs the shots. He feels something begin to come loose... The wolf rider's shots all go wide, he must be too busy managing his wolf. Meanwhile, Dallen can't get close to the wolf rider either, he is just too fast!

Volley 2

Initial Ranges

Goblin Sun-blotters: Dallen and Mathias at extreme.

Wolf Rider: Dallen and Mathias at extreme.

Mathias: Sun-blotters and Wolf Rider at out of range.

Dallen: Sun-Blotters and WOlf RIder at out of range.

Positioning Test

This volley, Dallen's player decides to up the ante. He takes a total of +4 Ob to his casting of White Fire to increase the area and uses a persona on positioning.

Wolf Rider (Speed Maintain) vs. Mathias: 9D + 1 Ob: 2 successes. Lost! (wolf's speed +2D range dice from bow +1D for mount having higher reflexes +1 Ob from having two opponents.)

Mathias (Speed Close) vs. Wolf Rider: 7D +1 Ob: 3 successes. Won and Lost! (warhorse's speed + 1D for mount having higher speed multiplier +1 Ob from having two opponents.)

Dallen (Speed Close) vs. Wolf Rider: 11D: 7 successes. Won! (riding horse's speed +3D from White Fire’s area + 1D for mount having higher speed multiplier +1D from persona. All open-ended with fate.)

Goblin Sun-blotters (Perception Maintain) vs. Mathias: 8D: 5 successes. Won! (perception + 2D range dice from bow at extreme +2D from help.)

Mathias closes on the Wolf Rider from extreme to optimal. He get one action, he uses it to take cover for the next volley. The goblins get two actions, they shoot twice at Mathias. Dallen gets 5 actions, he uses one to cast his spell, two to take cover for next volley. The last two are wasted.

Adjusted Ranges

Goblin Sun-blotters: Dallen and Mathias at extreme.

Wolf Rider: Dallen and Mathias at optimal.

Mathias: Sun-blotters and Wolf Rider at out of range.

Dallen: Sun-Blotters at out of range. Wolf Rider at extreme.

Actions

Dallen casts White Fire at the Wolf Rider: 14D (Sorcery +Will +3D) vs. Ob 8: 9 successes. It's cast! (base obstacle 4 + 4 for increasing area)

Damage B8 (will 6+2). DoF for Rider and Wolf: 3 (mark hit - B8 damage). Armour roll for the orc: 5D: 2 successes, degrades by 1. Rider and Wolf takes a Midi Wound (-2D). Dallen resists tax: 5D vs Ob 4: 3 successes (-1D Forte).

The sun-blotters shoot at Mathias: 4D (Bow) vs. Ob 3: 2 successes and 1 success. Both miss!

Steel Test

Now the wolf rider must test steel to see if he hesitates: Steel 6D-2D vs. Ob 3 = 1 success. The wolf rider hesitates and chooses to run screaming.

What Happens

Dallen spurs his horse to keep up with wolf circling them. Then, seeing an opportunity, he throws his hand forward and releases a stream of white, rolling fire. The wolf-rider dodges some of it, but both rider and mount howls in pain. Distracted, the wolf staggers and Mathias begins to close on them, ignoring the arrows hailing down around him.

Volley 3

Initial Ranges

Goblin Sun-blotters: Dallen and Mathias at extreme.

Wolf Rider: Dallen and Mathias at optimal.

Mathias: Sun-blotters and Wolf Rider at out of range.

Dallen: Sun-Blotters at out of range. Wolf RIder at extreme.

Positioning Test

Wolf Rider (Speed Withdraw) vs. Mathias: 5D + 1 Ob: 1 successes. Lost! (wolf's speed – 2D from wound +1D for mount having higher reflexes +2D from speed withdraw +1 Ob from having two opponents.) The range dice from the bow is lost as he is running screaming. No way to bring it to bear then.

Mathias (Speed Close) vs. Wolf Rider: 8D +1 Ob: 6 successes. Won! (warhorse's speed + 1D for mount having higher speed multiplier +1 Ob from having two opponents +1D for taking cover.)

Dallen (Perception Maintain) vs. Wolf Rider: 9D: 4 successes. Won! (riding horse's speed +1D for mount having higher speed multiplier +2D for taking cover)

Goblin Sun-blotters (Speed Withdraw) vs. Mathias: 10D: 6 successes. Tie! (speed + 2D range dice from bow at extreme +2D from help +2D from speed withdraw.)

Mathias closes on the Wolf Rider from optimal to too close to shoot. He gets 5 actions, but has nothing to use them for. The Wolf is hesitating (running screaming) this volley, but when Fight! starts he will be done hesitating. Dallen gets one action, which he uses to take 1D cover for the next volley.

Adjusted Ranges

Goblin Sun-blotters: Dallen and Mathias at extreme.

Wolf Rider: Dallen at optimal. Mathias at too close to shoot.

Mathias: Sun-blotters and Wolf Rider at out of range.

Dallen: Sun-Blotters at out of range. Wolf RIder at extreme.

Actions

None really. Poor Wolf Rider.

What Happens

Now it's time. The wolf and it’s rider have lost too much speed. Mathias shouts his battle cry; "For Cold's Reach!" and charges. The goblin sun-blotters start running, but Dallen easily keeps up with them on his horse. He doesn't want to go too close though, he doesn't trust quite as much in his armour as Mathias. Also, his spell exhausted him.