Off the Cuff Pattern

How about something like this?

Orenger's Ossemble!!!

One of other cool concepts for Earthdawn magic is the idea of creating a Group True Pattern. We come up with our group name and symbol and create a pattern that we can weave threads into that give us bonuses. You can see more details starting on p.233, but I just wanted to put this out there to get people thinking about some group names and symbols as we go through our adventures.

Taurba - After Action Report 2

As feared, the other two groups did not return by the deadline. The other returned scouts were sent in search of the group which headed east to explore whatever was left of Uqbar City. Our group was sent out to find out what became of the group which was sent to scout northward to Lake Akhicha.

We had not been out of the Kaer long before we spotted a structure in the blasted landscape. As we approached, an opposition force revealed itself from concealment. The leader was an honor-less troll, evidenced by his lack of horns. The rest appeared to be orc or humans dressed it desert garb. They outnumbered our group nearly 3 to 1. The enemy prepared to attack but was stopped in their charge by words from Oren.

The opposition halted and proceeded with a mockery or negotiation lead by our Windling. Basically they demanded all of our water and would allow Quinn to leave unharmed with enough water to support the Obsidiman. I called out the troll, stating that I doubted that he would keep his word on even such a lopsided agreement. The battle was joined!

Oren used magic to confound the troll and the first few desert men. I charged the enemy striking a mighty blow with my axe. Things did not go so smoothly after that. Another enemy appeared from concealment and ordered the rest to attack Oren. The enemy rushed forward and engaged the rest of our group. Oren was forced from the sky by arrow fire and had to seek shelter behind our water cart. Quinn, Cetharel and Ermin all were set upon by multiple attackers.

I was soon surrounded though I managed to avoid all attacks set against me. Cutting my way free, I withdrew to the rest of the group to help defend the beleaguered spell casters. Still I was able to avoid my opponent’s melee weapons but soon the distanced archer grew tired of firing at Oren and turned his attentions toward me. I did not fare so well against his arrows. The enemy’s true leader managed to hit me twice. A third blow would have surely felled me. I was forced to drink my gifted healing potion to remain standing.

Reinforcements for our side arrived from the structure in the distance. An Obsidiman and Monsanto Wallenrod appeared and harried the archer.

We managed to drop half of the enemy’s number before the rest decided to retreat. The troll added robbery to his list of dishonors as he ran off with our water cart. Cetharel, Ermin, Orin and I gave chase but we were not able to kill the coward before he out-distanced us.

Quinn had been rendered unconscious during the fight. We were able to stabilize our Obsidiman and bring Quinn to consciousness using Ermin’s extract. Of the fallen enemies, 4 were actually dead. The other 3 we tended to, bound and took as prisoners.

We located the group we were looking for but unfortunately we had arrived too late for most. Monsanto and Anneal FarTraveller both lived. Anneal was gravely wounded and suffered from a sickness. The others, Aris Marn, Tiryn Megara and Gabriel, were unfortunately dead. There were also strangers among the dead. The Obsidiman identified them as a dwarf named Harvel and a human named Zugebrian.

Cetharel performed funeral rights for all the fallen. We said word for our brethren from Kaer Uqbar. The Obsidiman, Gvint, said words for his companions. Our enemies were also given respect as fallen namegivers before being added to the funeral pyre.

Afterward we discussed many things with Gvint. He and Monsanto told us of how they came to be in each other's company. Apparently the scavengers we fought had been an even greater force when Monsanto's group encountered them, maybe as large as double their number. Group 4 managed to fight the scavengers but retreated to the abandoned barracks to avoid being overwhelmed. Gvint and his companions were already holed up inside. They fought a costly battle and siege which reduced the enemy by half but also cost them 5 of their own. Our arrival broke the siege and forced the enemy to retreat.

Further, the Obsidiman told us of the Badlands, in which Kaer Uqbar apparently is situated. He told us of his mission as a Purifier. He explained his mission to cleans the Badlands and restore life to the land. He and his companions were on a mission to explore an abandoned kaer in hope of finding the source of the blight which is at the heart of the Badlands and allowing it to spread. This he believed to be located to the southeast of the ruins of Uqbar City.

He told us of his village of Trosk and many other settlements situated outside of the Badlands where things are green and water flows in the Serpent River. His village is located about two weeks travel to the northwest. Apparently the Scourge has been over for some time. Namegivers The told us of the Providence of Barsaive, the dwarves of Throal, the elves of Blood Wood and of two wars with the Therans. Apparently some tragedy occurred involving Quinn's life rock during the latest war.

We parted company with Gvint with an invitation to look him up in Trosk. We traveled back to Kaer Uqbar with our three prisoners and wounded in tow.

Post Combat Review

I was thinking that there would be some benefit to do a postmortem on our combat from last session. As a group, I think our characters may want to discuss how we should/could do things differently the next time. I think that there might also be some value in optimizing our characters based upon what we now know the outside to be like. Things like equipment and spell selection come to mind. It would be nice if we were collectively aware of our assets in case someone see and opportunity that someone else may have missed.

I believe that our characters would benefit from more training with fighting together. This would help to learn synergies and weaknesses.  We have the opportunity to role play this during our next session and if the players find it valuable, we could also "roll play" it to practice combat for the players. Jon is on board but we need to give him some notice to prepare if we plan to do an actual Danger Room-like, attack to stun session against other friendly adepts.

It is really a matter of how much game time that we want to spend. I could go either way. Playing out a mock combat might eat up much of the session time but might work well to knock off the rust. It might also be a good opportunity to experiment with the other advanced combat options.