Back to the drawing board... again. I've made significant changes to the game system in the last few weeks, and I want to make sure that all information I distribute about the game world has internal consistency. I'm putting together a level 1 party of four heroes, and taking them into Mount Brim.

I have a few 'iconic' characters in my imagination, whose only purpose has been to take part in my play tests... these characters are:

- Aldarra the Human Cleric
- Mim the Gnome Magician
- Scab the Ork Fighter
- Tashya the Dusk Elf Rogue

Variations on these characters have appeared in multiple play tests, and other characters who appear elsewhere in my world lore have come alongside at points; some of these (like Teothas the Scribe) are being taken out (for Teo, because he is so busy helping me write the core rules).

I'm going to use the stats for the characters I rolled up in preparing the core rules as the baseline for these four heroes, so I start with the following. I roll starting gold, and get 7 for Aldarra, 12 for Scab, 3 for Mim and 8 for Tashya. I purchase gear as appropriate for each.

Aldarra the Chosen Human Cleric 1 (10 CPs)
Combat: club or sling (att +2/dmg +1/sling range 3); soak D12+1
Abilities: Armor +1; Prowess +2; Resolve +4 (4 CPs, +1 racial shift); Weapons +1
Traits: Healing Word (+2)
Gear: pack +1; leather armor +1; club +1; sling +1; 1 gold

Scab the Ork Fighter 1 (10 CPs/ 15 wounds)
Combat: sword (att +2/dmg +5); soak D12+2
Abilities: Armor +2; Might +2; Prowess +2; Toughness +1 (racial shift); Weapons +2
Traits: Weapon Specialization [swords] (+2)
Gear: Pack +1; studded armor +2; broadsword +2; (owes 1 gold to Aldarra)

Mim the Gnome Magician 1 (11 CPs)
Combat: Bolt (att +4/dmg +2/range 4); soak D6
Arcane Bolt +4; Evade +1; Lore +2 (1 CP, +1 racial shift); Resolve +1
Repertoire Spell: Charm (+2)
Gear: Pack +1; walking staff +1; 2 gold

Tashya the Dusk Elf Rogue 1 (10 CPs)
Combat: sling or dagger (att +1/dmg +1/sling range 2); soak D6
Abilities: Burglary +1; Evade +1; Prowess +1; Stealth +4 (4 CPs, +1 racial shift); Weapons +1
Traits: Backstab (+2)
Gear: pack +1; dagger +1; sling +1; 6 gold

The heroes are going to plumb the depths of Mount Brim, because this is the site I want to develop. I'm using the map that I developed inspired by Dyson Logos, and I already have a key to the map started on my computer (along with pretty much everything else... note to self, I MUST backup my hard drive again sometime soon).

One of my favorite things about the map is the number of access points it provides. Areas 34 and 35 go off the map entirely, and other areas provide opportunities to enter/exit. I think that this whole section sits over the ruins of the goblin town on the eastern side of the Mountain, just over the river that separates Mount Brim from the lands of man. The river has a small tributary that bleeds off and empties into a cavern that drops to area 36. This is going to be a pretty rigorous way to go in, and I don't think a team of level 1 heroes is up to this one yet. However, I like 35 and what it implies... I'm going to say that this was a tunnel that was built that leads out to a hidden entrance just outside of Jurris' Crossing...

Backstory: A mercenary man-at-arms in the employ of a relatively powerful group of adventurers was left behind in Jurris' Crossing after the company that employed him suffered a massive defeat in Mount Brim. He escaped with his life, fleeing back to town. He spoke almost nothing of this exit, but ended up putting this knowledge up on a wager (after far too many ales) against Scab. Scab won the wager, and took the information. He found an exit from the dungeon, pursued by rat men. He left a broken shield in the woods at the base of a tree to mark the entrance.

Scab gets his team together, gives them the briefing, and they head out.

It will take them about an hour to get to the tree, and there will be a 1 in 6 chance of a random encounter en route. I am tempted to stop here and create a hex for this environment, but I'll make a mental note that the tree and this entrance have to be there... I need a random encounter table for the wilderness outside of Jurris' Crossing... do I want to stop and do that now, or do I want to keep playing? Let's roll to see if there's an encounter, and if there is I'll do the work now... I roll and get 5. That die roll just saved me a bit of work for the evening. Thanks, friendly D6!

However, I do want something to be lairing at/near the tree. I'm going to put some chaos pixies here, since I like them for a starter encounter. Three chaos pixies will have set up shop here, having a small tree fort, using the shield as a roof.

Chaos Pixie (8 CPs)
Combat: dart (att +1/dmg +1/range 1); soak D6
Abilities: Evade +1; Flight +1; Intuition +2; Precision +1; Weapons +1
Trait: Chaos (+2)
Chaos pixies tie their chaos spell to their intuition.

Chaos. Use 1 turn to roll vs. the better of the target's Intuition or Lore. Success means that the target suffers a random effect, as determined below.

1. Forget what happened for the last 1 minute per success.
2. Attack the nearest creature for 1 round per success.
3. Laugh uncontrollably for 1 round per success.
4. Wander off aimlessly for 1 round per success.
5. Starts stripping down for 1 round per success (armor is removed in the first round).
6. Believes he or she is an animal for 1 round per success. Start acting your favorite animal (note: award 1 XP for playing this well).

When a chaos pixie is slain, it explodes for D12 damage, affecting all creatures in the same unit. All creatures roll to soak this damage.

***

The heroes approach the tree, stopping 3 units (30') away. They prepare their weapons. Tashya activates her stealth and moves around away from the rest of the party, getting hidden in heavy brush. The other 3 stand together. They decide that Scab will go up and investigate the tree, while the other three hang back. Scab goes up and starts poking at the makeshift little house, "hey, anyone home?" The 3 pixies spring out, hoving around. They start cackling with joy.

- Scab can't even be bothered to go first. He just smiles and turns back to the rest of the group, "ey! Look at these cute lil things!"
The party holds to see what the pixies do. Two pull out their darts (to attack at the end of the round, depending on how things go), but the first casts chaos on Scab. She rolls 8+2=10, and Scab rolls 3+0=3 to resist; this is 2 successes. For the chaos effect, I roll 3; Scab's smile turns into a deep belly laugh, and he falls to his knees in uproarious laughter, wiping tears from his eyes.
- This is enough for Tashya. She looses a sling bullet at the one who just cast the chaos, rolling a natural 1. There is a 1 in 12 chance that something bad happens; she rolls and gets an 8. Her sling bullet thunks off of Scab's armor, but doesn't actually strike him. She curses under her breath and reloads her sling.
- Mim mutters an incantation and an arcane dart leaps from his fingers; he rolls a natural 1 as well! Wow... I guess that the chaos magic got into the online dice roller I'm using... maybe I should switch to an actual die. I roll again to see if something really bad happens, and I get 9. Magic arcs off of the tree, splitting a branch, but missing the pixies by a wide margin. Clearly, the heroes are a little jittery here...
- The first pixie throws a dart at Mim. It rolls 6+2=8, and Mim rolls 8+1=9 to evade. He sidesteps the dart.
- The second pixie throws a dart at Aldarra. It rolls a natural 1. At least the bad luck is affecting everyone! To see if something really bad happens, I roll D12 and get 7. Nope; it's dart flips backwards out of its hand as its hand comes forward; it looks around to see what happened to its dart...
- Aldarra has had enough of surveying, and she fires a sling bullet at the first pixie; she rolls 12+2=14 to hit, and the pixie rolls 6+1=7 to evade. She strikes it with a solid thunk; for damage, she rolls 5+1+7=13 wounds; it rolls 3 to soak; she deals 10 wounds, bringing it to -2; it explodes, dealing 2 wounds to the other 2 pixies and to Scab. The other two pixies and Scab all soak the full damage. (2 wounds, 5 wounds, and 9+2=11 wounds respectively).

Round 2
Scab sees the pixie explode, and this evokes another bout of uproarious laughter. He is rolling on the ground, holding his belly from laughing so hard.
Tashya has reloaded, and flings a bullet, rolling 3+4+1=8 to hit; the pixie rolls D6 instead of D12 because of stealth, rolling 1+1=2; for damage, Tashya rolls 8+1+6=15 wounds, and the pixie rolls D3 to soak (instead of D6, because of the backstab), getting 3. She deals 12 wounds, bringing the pixie to -4; it explodes for D12 damage, dealing 9 wounds. Scab rolls to soak and absorbs 4+2=6 wounds. Scab suffers 3 wounds, and is down to 12. The other pixie has moved out of range (we'll say) and ducks for cover as her cousin pops. Scab lets out a final peal of laughter, starting at last to regain his composure...
Mim tries again, throwing an arcane bolt 7+4=11; the pixie rolls 5+1=6. He hits by +5; for damage, he rolls 6+2+5=13 wounds, and the pixie rolls 4 to soak. He deals 9 wounds, and one-shots it. It explodes for 10 wounds. Scab rolls to soak, getting 2+2=4 wounds. Scab suffers 6 wounds, now down to 6. He's finally standing up. patting out the fire on his head as he finishes laughing.

Before the end of the scene, Aldarra casts a healing spell on Scab, restoring 3+4=7 wounds, bringing Scab back to 13 wounds.

The pull apart the tree fort looking for any loot the pixies may have had. Monetary treasure is DT 5 (each success is one instance of treasure) and magical treasure is DT 10 (each success is one instance of treasure). These creatures were level 0, so they roll D6 unmodified. For money, I roll 6, and for magic I roll 2! There is an instance of cash, but there is no magic (nor can there be; these are level 0 foes).

The monetary treasure will be in silver coins; I roll and get 1. There is 1 shiny gold coin amid the broken wagon wheel, old sawblade, spool of rotten rope and various garden implements that the pixies have collected. The heroes scavenge through the pile, sticking anything that could conceivably be useful into their satchels. Scab asks if Aldarra can get the gold coin so that he can be even with her. Each hero gets 2 XP for this encounter, since it was 1 level below the group's level (the heroes are 25 CPs altogether, while the 3 pixies were 16 CPs altogether).

Sweet!

I'm glad to see that you are still at it.  I was a little dismayed to see that you pulled your Army Ants, Mythweaver, and Splintered Realms lines from DriveThruRPG.  I dig your stuff; always have!

No worries! I'm quite alive, well and active. I decided that I didn't feel right keeping games and systems out there that 1) I wasn't supporting and 2) that could be confusing from the consumer side. It wasn't fair to have a version of the Army Ants game with a competing version of the same game... if you got into one and wanted to purchase support material, and you got something that wasn't compatible because you didn't understand the differences between editions (which sometimes still confuse me!), you'd have a right to be miffed. I wanted to make sure that anything I had out was supported and at least internally consistent as a game system/world/vision.

The superhero game was the first step towards that, and the revised fantasy game I'm play testing here is the next big step. If I follow form, a revised and upgraded Ants game will be the next step at some point, likely built around the same engine I'm using for the other two games.

Let's play test a dragon...

The heroes descend the stair, moving into deep shadows. Their torches fight the dark, but it creeps upon them, edging them in, making their world smaller, their pool of light weaker. The smell of burnt coals hangs in the air. Smoke rises.

Now light moves before them. A living light, forged in flame. It is the dragon. She knows they have come. She's ready.

I created a dragon last night. Now I want to kill it! I'll bump my playtest heroes to level 4 for this and see how they do... I am going to go low magic to see how it ends up. Each hero will have a potion of healing +3, and one additional potion that is particularly useful to that hero...

Aldarra (40 CPs) Lawful Chosen Human Cleric 4
War mace (att +4/dmg +7); sling (att +4/dmg +3/ range 7); Dodge +2; Soak D12+3
Armor +3; Evade +2; Intuition +1; Might +2; Prowess +4; Resolve +6 (9 CPs/ +1 racial shift); Shields +4; Weapons +3
Banish Unhallowed (+2); Healing Word (+2); Stunning Word (+2)
Potion of Healing +3; Potion of Prowess +3; war mace +3; chainmail armor +3; shield +4; pack +1

Mimsby (40 CPs) Lawful Forge Gnome Magician 4
Bolt (att +7/dmg +5/range 7); Dodge +3; Soak D6
Arcane Bolt +7 (eldritch); Evade +3; Intuition +2; Lore +5 (6 CPs/+1 racial shift); Resolve +2
Charm (+2); Energize Weapon (+2); Life Tap (+2); Mage Armor (+2); Reflective Armor (+2)
Potion of Healing +3; Potion of Invulnerability +3; spellbook; pack +1

Scab (40 CPs/50 wounds) Neutral Bloodstone Ork Fighter 4
Great sword (att +7/dmg +10); Dodge +3; Soak D12+2
Armor +2; Evade +3; Intuition +1; Might +3; Prowess +6; Resolve +2; Toughness +2; Weapons +6 (9 CPs/ +1 racial shift)
Weapon Specialist, Swords (+2); Two Handed (+2)
Potion of Healing +3; Potion of Speed +3; studded armor +2; great sword +6; pack +1

Tashya (40 CPs) Neutral Dusk Elf Rogue 4
Bow (att +6/dmg +3/range 9); Dodge +4; Soak D12+2
Armor +2; Burglary +3; Evade +4; Intuition +2; Prowess +6; Resolve +2; Stealth +5 (6 CPs/ +1 racial shift); Weapons +3
Backstab (+2)
Potion of Healing +3; Potion of Luck +3; bow +3; studded armor +2; pack +1

Moving into position, the heroes can do a few things...
•   Aldarra drinks her potion of Prowess; she will now attack at +5; she will stand near Mimsby and share her shield with him as needed.
•   Mimsby casts energize weapon on Scab's sword (it deals +11 damage for 7 rounds); he drinks his potion of invulnerability (his soak moves to D12+3 for the rest of the scene)
•   Scab rolls out his shoulders and gets ready to rumble. Oh, and he drinks his potion of speed as well, moving his Speed to +3.
•   Tashya drinks her potion of luck, moving her Luck to +3. She activates her stealth and falls back from the group, staying deeper in shadows.

And here's the dragon...

Cinder, the Adult Flame Dragon (100 CPs/120 wounds) Chaotic Dragon 10
Combat   Bite (att +8/dmg +10); two claws (att +8/dmg +7); Dodge +2; Soak D12+6
Abilities   Bite +6; Breath Weapon +8; Claw +3 (x2); Evade +2; Flight +3; Invulnerability +6; Intuition +5; Lore +1; Might +8; Prowess +4; Toughness +4

The dragon rears up, but the heroes are ready to spring upon it, and spring they do...

Round One
- Scab leaps at the dragon (throwing himself off of the stairs), using one of his Resolve points, and using the speed to get a running leap; the referee rules that he can travel the 3 units to the dragon, swing at its head, and land on its back with a successful Prowess roll (DT 10). He attacks, rolling 10 (he's off to a great start here) +7 +6 (Prowess from the Resolve point) = 23 to hit; the dragon rolls 7+2=9 to dodge; Scab hits by +14. For damage, he rolls 12 (NICE) +11 +14= 37 wounds! The dragon rolls to soak and gets 10+6=15; Scab still deals 21 wounds, bringing the dragon to 99 wounds. The team is off to a great start. Now, Scab needs to make a Prowess roll to successfully slide across the dragon's back without falling; he rolls a natural 1, and face plants after his tremendous victory. The referee rules that he will fall D12 + 10', and rolls 11; Scab falls 21'. He tries to dodge to negate part of this, and rolls 8+3=11 wounds; he is down to 39 wounds remaining.
- Tashya attacks from stealth. She rolls 8+6+5=19 to hit, and the dragon has to use D6 to evade, rolling 3+2=5; she hits by +14. For damage, she rolls 7+3+14=24 wounds, and the dragon has to use D6 to soak because of her Backstab trait; it rolls 1+6=7 to soak, and suffers 17 wounds. The dragon is down to 82 wounds remaining.
- Mimsby throws an arcane bolt, rolling 5+7=12 to hit; he too will spend a Resolve point, doubling his attack rating and brining the attack to 19. The dragon rolls to evade, getting 10+2=12; Mimsby hits by +7. For damage, Mimsby rolls 7+5+7=19 wounds, and the dragon soaks 10+5=15; he's disappointed, but what can you do? He deals 4 wounds, and the dragon is down to 78 remaining.
- Aldarra crosses her fingers and tries to use a Stunning Word on the dragon, and will spend a Resolve point here. She rolls a natural 12 (this fight might be over) +6 +6 =24 with the spell; the dragon rolls 7+5=12 to resist; she scores 3 successes. Wow... the dragon will lose 3 turns. I should have let it go first! It loses its turn in rounds 1 (it had yet to act this round), 2 and 3.

Rounds 2-3. I'm going to let each hero take 2 turns, and then it will be the dragon's turn at the beginning of round 4... if it's still alive!

- Scab swings his sword twice; he rolls 5+7=12 to hit, and the dragon rolls 8+2=10 to evade; Scab hits by +2. For damage, he rolls 7+11+2=20 wounds, and the dragon rolls 8+6=14 to soak. 6 more wounds. On his second attack, Scab rolls 10+7=17 to hit, and the dragon rolls 10+2=12 to evade. Scab hits by +5. For damage, he rolls 7+11+5=23 wounds, and the dragon soaks only 2+6=8 wounds. 15 wounds on this strike; the dragon is down to 57 wounds and hurting.
- Tashya will attack twice without stealth; on her first attack, she rolls 10+6=16 to hit, and the dragon rolls 7+2=9 to evade; she hits by +7. For damage, she rolls 10+3+7=20 wounds, and the dragon soaks 10+6=16. She deals 4 wounds. On her next turn, she re-activates stealth (she doesn't want to be in range when it comes back from its stun...). The dragon is down 53 wounds.
- Mimsby throws two arcane bolts. He rolls 3+7=10 to hit, and the dragon rolls 6+2=8 to evade. He hits by +2. For damage, Mimsby rolls 10+5+2=17, and the dragon rolls 1+6=7 to soak; he deals 10 wounds. On his second attack, he rolls 3+7=10, and the dragon rolls 11+2=13 to evade. He misses with his second bolt. The dragon is down to 43 wounds.
- Aldarra will use her first turn to come down into melee range with the dragon (she'll be using her shield to guard Scab instead going forward); she also takes a swing at the dragon (although at -3 because she had to move 3 units), and rolls 10+5-3=12; the dragon rolls 9+2=11 to evade; she hits by +1. For damage, she rolls 1+7+1=9 wounds, but the dragon rolls 10+6=16 to soak, and she fails to harm it; she swings a second time, rolling 6+5=11 to hit, and the dragon rolls 4+2=6 to evade; she hits by +5. For damage, she rolls 5+7+5=17 wounds, and the dragon soaks 11+6=17. Sigh. It soaks the full amount. After the stun, the dragon is now ready to rejoin combat, with 43 wounds remaining...

Round 4
- Okay, they've managed to REALLY tick off the dragon. It's going to drop a breath weapon on them to get things rolling. Since they are mooks to it, it can attack everyone at once with its breath weapon; however, it should have to find Tashya first, who's stealthing around. Both will take a free turn here; he is making the action here, so he has to equal her Stealth roll. He rolls 7+5=12 for Intuition, and she rolls 1+5=6. She uses her Luck to reroll this, but gets 6+5=11. No way is she hiding from a dragon in his own lair, trying to use the shadows that he's studied for centuries against him... at least, not without Resolve! She doubles her Stealth rating with one Resolve point, sinking even deeper into shadow, just beneath his notice. He breathes, dealing 40 wounds to each of them. Since this is everyone's remaining wounds (except Scab who is at 39), the soak roll will be their remaining wounds! Aldarra rolls 12+3=15 to soak, and comes out in great shape, now at 15 wounds. Mimsby rolls 6+3=9, so he has 9 wounds. Scab rolls 11+2=13, so he's at 12 wounds. Tashya gulps, grateful that she wasn't any part of that noise. The heroes are feeling the pain, and are quite grateful that the dragon didn't get to do that sooner...
- Scab is going to go first for the team, using his final Resolve point to engage the dragon, drawing its attention for the rest of the fight (or until he's dead...). He then swings his sword, rolling 8+7=15 to hit, and the dragon rolls 2+2=4 to evade. He hits by +11. For damage, Scab rolls 10+11+11=32 wounds. The dragon's armor soaks a natural 1+6=7 wounds, meaning that he suffers 25 wounds. Scab is a MACHINE. The dragon is down to 18 wounds. The party is feeling much better.
- Aldarra uses her healing word on Scab, rolling a natural 12+6=18 wounds, restoring Scab to 30 wounds. He's ready to rock, now.
- Mimsby uses his life tap, rolling 3+7=10 to hit. He uses his final Resolve point here, adding his arcane bolt to the attack for another +7, a total attack of 17. The dragon rolls 8+2=10 to evade. For damage, Mimsby rolls 5+5+7=17 wounds, and the dragon soaks 6+6=12. Mimsby deals 5 wounds (bringing the dragon to 13 wounds, and Mimsby is back to 14 wounds remaining).
-Tashya is tempted to just stay hidden, but that dragon probably has quite a bit of treasure... she will instead pop an arrow at the dragon from stealth, rolling 9+6+5=20 to hit; the dragon rolls D6, getting 1+2=3 to evade. Nice shot! For damage, she rolls 9+3+17=29 wounds, and the dragon rolls D6 again, 5+6=11 to soak; she deals 18 wounds, leaving the dragon at -5 wounds.

Round 5
- The dragon has to roll to stay in the fight, but it's an automatic success; he has Might +8! The dragon is happy to oblige Scab's engage... he'd have spent all of his efforts there anyway. Scab is enemy #1 at present... with the bite attack, the dragon rolls 6+9=15 to hit; Scab rolls 2+2=4 to evade. The dragon hits by +11. Aldarra could use her shield to turn some of this back, but she'll save the shield for one of the claws, hoping to negate an attack altogether. It's a judgment call, because every point could matter... for damage, the dragon rolls 10+10+11=31 wounds, and Scab rolls 10+2=12 to soak. Gak! 19 wounds. Scab is now down to 11 wounds. The dragon still has 2 attacks remaining as well... it rolls 2+8=10 to hit, and Scab rolls 6+2=8 to dodge; Aldarra is very happy she saved that shield point now; she uses it to add +4, beating the claw attack back for Scab. With its final claw, the dragon rolls 7+8=15, and Scab rolls 3+2=5 to dodge. The dragon nails him with this one, hitting by +10. For damage, the dragon rolls 4+7+10=21 wounds, and Scab rolls 5+2=7 to soak; he suffers 14 wounds, bringing him to -3. Like the dragon, he's okay because of his great Might... at least for 1 more round.
- Scab retaliates, rolling 4+7=11 to hit, and the dragon rolls 11+2=13 to evade. Bad time for a weak attack roll...
- Aldarra attacks, rolling 5+5=10 to hit, and the dragon rolls 6+2=8; she hits by +2. For damage, she rolls 5+7+2=14 wounds, and the dragon rolls 5+6=11 to soak. It suffers 3 more wounds, down to -8; Aldarra will spend a Resolve point here, adding her Resolve to the damage; the dragon is now at -14, and the heroes have a legitimate shot of dropping it...
- Mimsby throws another arcane bolt, rolling 7+7=14 to hit, and the dragon rolls 6+2=8 to evade; he hits by +6. For damage, he rolls a natural 1 (crap) +5+6=12 wounds; the dragon soaks 3+6=9. It suffers 3 wounds, and is down to -17. So close...
- Tashya fires an arrow, rolling 2 on the die; she uses her second Luck point, and re-rolls, getting 4+6=10 to hit. It's not much better, but it's better... the dragon rolls 11+2=13 to dodge. She has 1 Resolve point left, and she may as well use it; she increases her attack roll to 16, hitting by +3. For damage, she rolls 8+3+3=14 wounds, and the dragon soaks 4+6=10 wounds. She deals 4 wounds, bringing the dragon to -21 wounds. That should do it...

Round 6
- Before the dragon can act, it has to roll Might to keep from falling; it rolls 7+8=15 vs. DT 21. This is 2 failures. The dragon is D.E.A.D.

Analysis:
- LOVED it. Great dragon fight, and worked like it should. It took into round 6. I like this. There was a great deal of variety to the fight, and each character had multiple tactical decisions to make that had a genuine impact on combat. To stealth or not to stealth? Use the shield now or wait? Which spell to drop when? Should I engage? Do I spend the Resolve point or do I save it? All genuine choices that affected the flow of the combat on a moment-to-moment basis.
- Scab was awesome. I think that the fighter class is well designed. Fighters are built to give and take damage, while the others are designed as support. Pretty much every group should be built around a fighter. Between his damage output and his toughness, he's the heart of the team's combat operations.
- Aldarra was great. Her versatility was just right; she used a heal to play a key role, her shield came in quite handy, she was able to deal some melee damage; in short, she was a versatile support character who did well in each facet of her role. Well balanced in general.
- Tashya was great. Her stealth is very useful, and the Luck potion ended up being vital to her, and the team's, success... and she still has a luck point left, so she's going to use that on treasure rolling! (see below)
- Mimsby was the only member of the team who didn't really shine. He did okay, and he contributed (he dealt a total of 22 wounds, so it's not like he didn't do anything- plus you could argue that his bonus to Scab's weapon also added). Part of this was poor rolling, and part of this is that I've probably built him wrong. Casters probably need fewer repertoire spells and more Resolve... it will be important to know the full spellbook (which I don't). Hmmm. How many spells can you have in your spellbook? Good question... because Resolve allows you to cast a spell from your spellbook during combat. I'm going to redo his stats for next session... and lock down the rules for spellbooks and Resolve. I was going to leave these a little cloudy in the core rules and refine them in the future. Not any more! The specifics of spellbooks and their use/upkeep is central to the class.
- I feel like 40 CPs is the 'sweet spot' for the game. I'd expect that in long-term play, the game really clicks from here to about 60 CPs or so... beyond this, the numbers get a little big (my playtests with Mary, where she's been playing a solo hero built on 120 CPs, have demonstrated that the game holds up that high, but the dice have trouble keeping up with the bonuses sometimes). Right here is perfect; the balance between the dice and the ratings is exactly how I want them to work. If you have a team of 4+ characters each built on 70+ CPs, you're going to have trouble consistently challenging them... at least, that's in theory. In my mind, 70 CPs is about 14th level Classic D+D, so that is where games always broke down for me anyway.
TREASURE TIME

I elect Tashya to roll for the group (because she has a Luck point left) for both monetary and magical treasure...

For monetary treasure (DT 5), I roll 5+10=15. I'd like a higher roll, but this is 3 successes for financial treasure. I can live with this. I'm far more interested in the magic anyway.

For the first instance of monetary treasure, I roll 11x10=110 gold value. For treasure type, I roll 3. This is 110 gold coins. For the second instance, she rolls 1x10 = 10 gold... blech. This is 100 silver coins. For the third treasure, I roll 5x10=50 gold value. This is also silver coins, so another 500 silver coins. All told, the lair has 110 gold coins and 600 silver coins, a treasure valued at 170 gold... okay, this doesn't jive (that's why we play test!). If this was the lair of... well, anything other than a dragon... I'd be okay with it. For a dragon's hoard, it feels quite skimpy indeed. This is barely enough to purchase a suit of chainmail armor or a heavy crossbow (but not both)... Originally, I was going to multiple treasures by x10 beyond this, and I might go back to that. This would increase the hoard to 1,100 gold coins and 6,000 silver coins. This is much more in line with what I'd expect, and each hero will come out of this with just over 400 gold in pocket, enough to purchase a suit of +4 armor with money to spare. This feels just right. Consider this rule officially changed.

For magical treasure, I roll 8+10=18. This is two successes... I'm not willing to risk this better than average roll, so I'll accept that there are two magical items. For the first item, I roll a natural 1. This one I'm willing to risk, and Tashya spends her final Luck point, rolling a 12 instead! (I really rolled this, BTW). This is a result of 22, or two successes; they find a mystical item! Nifty. For the second result, I roll another natural 1... and there's no way to fix this one. The result is 11, so they find a scroll.

I roll D12 for the scroll (let's get that out of the way) and the heroes recover a scroll of Curse. It's not a cursed scroll; it allows you to cast a curse on another creature. Mimsby has been staying away from things like this, but it may be time to reconsider...
Okay, on to the mystical item. I roll 1. It's a suit of armor. For the base rating, I roll 1+10=11 CPs. It's a suit of armor +5/+2. I'm going to rule that this is a suit of exceptional scale mail armor. I roll to see if it has a special property, and roll 2 on the D6. It does! I roll and get 3; it deals reflective damage. I roll D6, and the armor deals 6 wounds on every successful strike against it. The armor glows with magical energy, and this energy is flame that doesn't harm the wearer. Man, this is an awesome suit that I randomly determined... let's give it a history.

Klurik's Infernal Mail. This magical suit was constructed by Chandar the Archmage of Flame for one of his chief lieutenants, Klurik the Cruel. In the days before the Reckoning, Klurik was dispatched by Chandar to bargain on his behalf with Surdur for an allegiance to survive the Reckoning and rebel against Bael. Klurik was slain by Surdur, his remains (and his armor) given to one of his favorite pets, the dragon Cinder. Now, it has fallen into the hands of my heroes... although no one yet has the awesomeness to wear it (but Scab is sorely tempted).

The heroes have won the scene, clearing the end of the upper levels of Mount Brim (we'll say), and prepared to descend into the lower levels... they defeated a beast at their level, so this is 3 XP... that seems like a LOT of work for 3 XP. I have it set so that a monster at your level is worth 3 XP, and that's what this encounter was. I figure an encounter can give you (unlike classic D+D) great XP or great treasure. You're not likely to get both... so the treasure it is.

In regards to Scab, he can keep his current armor and get D12+2 soak (range of 3=14, average , or he can just accept that his training is not there, and take the new armor with its D6+7 soak (range of 8 to 13, average 10). Well, that was pretty easy, wasn't it? And, he'll get the reflective armor proc... and when he gets his armor ability to the right rating (if ever), he gets to bump to the D12. Honestly, I'm not too worried about that- he's pretty happy the way it is. Scab is totally taking the armor. All agree that this is going to help the whole team, so they divide up cash evenly (he opts out of the silver, though... so each hero gets 275 gold coins, and the other 3 each get 2,000 silver coins). Each hero still has a potion of healing left as well!

Quote from: mtdesing;556679The superhero game was the first step towards that, and the revised fantasy game I'm play testing here is the next big step. If I follow form, a revised and upgraded Ants game will be the next step at some point, likely built around the same engine I'm using for the other two games.

Hells yeah!  Good news.