Bear with me friends

I will post again shortly.

Saving face

Sorry for the delay, thinking up the intrigue is harder than the combat scenarios for me. Derek and Chris this is more your area of expertise.


Turin is dragged before the Lord Durand, who sits upon a viewing platform with his wife and daughter to his left, his son to his right, a gaggle of  related nobles behind him and two guards to either side of the front of the platform.
Two guards stand just behind Turin, with Ser Jacyn a step behind them, his destrier waiting off to the side.
Arn has positioned himself opposite the platform on the far side of the grounds.
Magnus is waiting at the foot of the stairs leading to the platform.

The Intrigue encounter starts with Durand ordering Turin to tell us his true name as he can see by his unkempt hair he is no Lannister.
Turin is trying to convince Durand that he is just a lowly hedge knight and to let him go.

If Durand has not made any headway in 5 rounds he has decided he will have the man put into the cells to rot. If they reach 8 rounds, Turins ex-wife who is in the crowd with one of Durands nobles will recognize Turin.

Round 1: Turin is Malicious towards Durand he cannot hide his feeling of loathing towards the man he has a DR of 7 a +3 to his deceit and an intrigue defense of 10
Durand has not yet recognized Turin he is mearly disliking of him,  he has a DR of 5 a -2 to Per and an intrigue defense of 12.
Initiative
 Turin: 26, Durand: 24
Turin considers his words carefully, he will not get many chances. +2B next turn
Durand tries to convince him to reveal himself. 4d6-2 = 18 v 10 (2 degrees)
                        3*2-7=0, no composure loss for Turin

Round 2:
Initiative:
 Turin: 24. Durand: 27
Durand does a little fast talk to throw Turin off his guard. 3d6= 18 v 8. Turin loses his cunning mod to def for 1 turn. Turin's defense = 8
Turin tries to convince Durand to let him go by decieving him. 2d6+2B+3=8 failed

Round 3
Init. Turin 23, Durand 26
Durand tries again. 4d6-2 = 14 (2 degrees) 3*2-7=0
Turin tries to read his target 2d6 = 7 v 8 failed

Round 4
init: Turin 26, Durand 23
Turin reads his target 2d6 = 11 v 8, he gets a +1D for the rest of the intrigue
Durand considers his next words carefully +2B

Round 5
init. Turin 18, Durand 17
Turin considers his words carefully +2B
Durand tries again. (4d6+2B-2)= 14 v 10. (1 degree) 3-7=0

Round 6
init Turin 25, Durand 12
Since he read his target accurately Turin realizes that Durand is tired of this. He decides there is no use trying to talk his way out of this.
He spends one destiny point so that the guard next to him has a handaxe instead of a dirk on his belt.


Turin spins to face the guard next to hi and decks him.

**********************************************************************************
Stats for Arn and Magnus
Arn:
Agility 4+1B dodge; Awarness 3; Cunning 3; Fighting 3+2B shortswords; Marksmanship 5+3B bows; Persuasion 3; Stealth 3; Thievery 3; Warfare 3
3 destiny pts
Accurate +1D to shoot through cover
Deadly Shot piercing +1 weapon becomes viscous (always kills a defeated character)
Double shot take two shots at a -1D each, they can be against one opponent or two
Bastard Born -1D intrigue against opponents with a higher status
Defense 7, AR 3, Health 6, Damage 6 Bows, 2 Blades

Magnus
Agility 3; Animal Handling 3; Athletics 5; Awareness 3; Endurance 5; Fighting 4+2B shields +4B axes; Marksmanship 3+2B thrown; Status 3; Will 3+2B courage
3 destiny points
Endurance -1D
Defense 12, AR 5, Health 15, Damage 5 axe

For the other characters I am using the Guards from the book, the annointed knight for Ser Jacyn, the heir for Lucas and Liranna, the Noble for Durand.
**********************************************************************************

**Combat: Surprise Round**
In a surprise round the characters get a +1D against surprised opponents, the guards are also completely unaware because this is really unexpected.


Turin tries to knockout the guard. Fighting 5d6 = 20 v 12 (2 degrees).
Since Turin succeeded by two degrees the guard falls unconscious


Arn takes a double shot, one at each guard on the platform.
Arn also has peircing 2 with his longbow so all AR is at a -2
Guard 1: Marksmanship 5d6+3B=15 v 5 (3degrees) damage 6*3-3=15 dead
Guard 2: Marksmanship 5d6+3B=21 v 5 (4degrees) damage 6*4-3=21 dead

Magnus rushes up the steps, past the dead guard and grabs Liranna Durand. Fight 10 v 8. he grabs her.

**End Surprise Round**
Initiative:
Turin-4, Arn- 12, Magnus- 7
Guard-12, Knight-14, Liranna-9, Lord Durand- 7, Lucas Durand-8

Order:
Ser Jacyn
Arn
Guard
Liranna
Lucas
Magnus
Durand
Turin

Round 1:
Ser Jacyn draws his bastard-sword and swings at Turin with both hands. Fighting 20 v 6 (3 degrees). Damage 5*3 -10 = 5
Turins health = 7

Arn double shot Ser Jacyn.
Shot 1: 17 v 3 (3 degrees) Damage 18-8 = 10. Since Jacyn only has 12 wounds he will take two injuries to reduce the damage by his endurance each(4). He takes two damage, the injuries give him a -1 each on all his checks. He may only take injuries up to his endurance.
Shot 2: 15 v 3 (3 degrees) Damage 18-8 = 10. Since taking two more injuries would put him at his max injuries. Jacyn will take a wound. This negates all the damage but will impose a -1D to all his checks, if he takes more wounds than endurance he dies.
Ser Jacyn health = 10, -1D-2 to all checks


Guard attacks Turin with his polearm. 20 v 6 (3 degrees) damage 7*3 = 21 -10 = 11. Turin can't take 11 damage so he takes a Wound.

Liranna tries to fight off Magnus, she will use her Athletics(2) against his passive athletics which is 20. She will never beat that.

Lucas draws his sword and hacks at Magnus. 11 v 10(lost agility bonus since he is grappling) (1 degree)
damage 4-5 Magnus' armor deflects the blow


Magnus tries to pick up the daughter. Athletics 11 v 18 (weight). Her struggling makes it ahrd for him to pick her up

Durand calls for more guards (they arrive in 3 rounds about 20 seconds).

Turin grabs the axe and swings at the guard. 4d6 +3B -1D = 12 (two degrees). damage 2*2=4-3 = 1
Guard health = 8

Round 2:
Knight attacks Turin again. 15 v 6 (2 degrees). Damage 5*2-10=0

Arn Doubleshot
Knight: 19 (4 degrees) damage 6*4-8=16. Jacyn takes a wound(total modifiers -2D-2)
Guard: 19 (3 degrees) damage 6*3 - 3= 15 dead

Liranna, continues to struggle

Lucas attacks. 8 v 10, miss

Magnus picks up Liranna. 22 v 18. He throws her over his shoulder.

Durand draws his sword and attacks the Ironman. 15 v 12. Damage 4-5=0

Turin goes and grabs the Knights horse. He uses his last destiny point to make it a very gentle war horse


Round 3

Ser Jacyn swings at Turin. 5d6 +2B -2D -2 = 4. His wounds overtake him and his strike misses.

Arn Double shot on the knight.
Shot 1: 17 v 3 (3 degrees) 18-8=10
Shot 2: 15 v 3 (3 degrees) 18-8=10
If he takes the damage he will die because Arn's bow is vicious. He takes two injuries and 1 wound.
Jacyn's health = 8, total modifiers -3D-4

Lucas attacks Magnus. 12v10 (1 degree) damage 4-5=0

Magnus takes Liranna to the Palfrey and tosses her on.

Durand charges after Magnus. 8 v 12(he is no longer carrying Liranna) miss

Round 4: The guards arrive at the end of the round.


Arn blends in Stealth(3) = 12 v 12 he uses a destiny point for a bonus die


Ser Jacyn drops to his knees, the fight is literally draining from him.

Liranna makes one final attempt to wriggle free. (I will impose a -2D on Magnus since she is half on the horse.) 2d6 v 18, still impossible.

Lucas charges down the steps. 8 miss

Magnus mounts the horse and rides off.

Durand can only yell after him.

Turin mounts the horse and rides off.

The guards arrive in time for the horse to burst past them.

**************************** After combat report****************************

All wounds are automatically healed.
Injuries will take at least a day, after which an endurance check is made based on the amount of activity you have. 
Wounds take a week.
Since Turin will be travelling with a wound it is a hard(15) test. Since he has 2B for stamina he can use those for the test. he rolls a 15, so after a week he will recover from one wound.


Turin gets 6xp
Arn and Magnus get 4 xp
They also get 2 glory each

Turin's Folly

The Grand melee goes without any involvement from House Stif, Turin is preparing for the joust while Magnus and Arn hide themselves in the crowd.

A note on Turin, he is not a jouster. In fact if everything were fair he will lose this coming bought. Moreover, he should not be winning intrigue tests. He was lucky with the herald, but if it comes up again he will probably be found out. This is not Turin's game, he is being bold and rash. On that note I will explain the uses of Destiny points, 'cause he's gonna need 'em.


First you can spend points (a spent point will eventually return). Spending does one of the following:

• Gain +1B, the normal limits to bonus die do not apply here
• Convert one bonus die into a test die (so you will not remove it after rolling)
• Remove a penalty die
• give a penalty die to your opponent
• Take an extra lesser action
• Ignore Armor Penalty for one round
• Improve or worsen a disposition by one step
• Negate another characters use of a Destiny point
• (my favorite) Add a minor detail to the scene, such as a shoddy lock on the door, a minor clue, or other useful but small element to move the story along
• Activate and environmental quality
• ignore an environmental quality

Or you can burn the points to get one of the following (a burnt point is gone forever)

• Convert all bonus die into test die
• add a +5 to your test
• Automatically succeed as if you had rolled the difficulty exactly
• remove all damage and injuries, but not wounds
• when defeated, decide the consequences of your defeat
• change another characters success into a failure
• automatically compel another character in an intrigue
• permanently remove the penalties from a drawback
• negate another characters burned point
• or add a major detail to a scene

We might have to use some of these with Turin we'll see.

Now for the joust.

Turin will wait till the end of the joust to challenge the winner as a black knight. Since the people will assume he is some highborn lord, this will be an enthusiastic change of events. He will be tilting against Ser Jaycen (whom will be using the template knight from the book).

In a joust the two characters test their fighting skill( Turin 4, Knight 5) against their opponents passive Handle Animal score (Turin 8, Knight 12). The attacks happen simultaneously, so even if your are unhorsed you still roll your attack. You also receive normal damage from lances, but unless a character receives multiple degrees of success in this example the platemail will negate the damage,

Turin and Sir Jaycen face off, and with the heralds signal they charge each other. 

Turin rolls a 14, that's one degree of success so he shatters his lance on Ser Jaycen's sheild. Sir Jaycen must make a handle animal(9) check or be unhorsed. 3d6 = 12, he stays on.

Ser Jaycen rolls a 15, that's two degrees, Turin is struck in the chest and must make a handle animal(12). 2d6 = 7. He would have to burn a destiny point to pass this test, he does not. Lord Turin is unhorsed and knocked to the ground.

His helm is knocked free, and on seeing his face Lord Durand leaps up on his viewing box and orders him brought over for a closer look of this black knight, his voice full of suspicion.

Let the games begin!

Arn has snuck off with the order to hide amongst the crowd with his bow in case Turin needs to fight his way out. However Arn thinks that he will look suspicious with a bow in the crowd and, more importantly, he wants to show up these milk drinkers in the archery contest.

The archery contest is the first event. It will consist of 5 rounds. The first four rounds will be against targets of varying difficulty, if you hit the target you move on. The last round with be against the hardest target and you must not only hit it but you must also out shoot your remaining opponents.

62 archers line up for the first round. The target is a routine shot(rating 6). 56 archers make it past, now its Arn's turn. His marksmanship is 5 +3B longbows. he rolls 8d6 dropping the lowest 3. 23, easy peasy.

Round two is challenging (9), 49 archers make it through. Arn, 17. no problem.

Round three, Formidible (12), 30 archers left. Arn, 21. Not even sweating.

Round four, Hard (15), 9 archers made the shot. Arn, 24. He has a smug little smirk on his face.

Round five, Hard (15).
Archer 1 - miss
Archer 2 - miss
Archer 3 - 18
Archer 4 - miss
Archer 5 - 20
Archer 6 -18
Archer 7 - 22
Archer 8 - 23
Archer 9 - 21
Arn - 3,...5,...4,...1,...5,...6,...1,...5... = 25! Arn takes the trophy and nets 2 Wealth for his House! With a smirk and a mocking bow he takes the prize and heads over to the jousting grounds.

On Intrigue

To get into the tournament Lord Turin will need to bribe the herald to put his name on the list. This will be an Intrigue encounter. Before I do this I will create two new character's for Turin's companions that are following him in this rash decision. They are,...
Arn Pyke, a baseborn born son of some lord of Pyke, Arn has found service at Stonetide. His quick wit and sharp eye made him a close companion to the Lord. He has become the youngest captain in the history of House Stif. He earned his ship through daring and no man aboard would say a word of ill towards the young man. They say that he must be a hero reborn to have such skill at such an age.


Magnus the Bold, or Bold Magnus, has been a companion of Turin's since he was a child. The Lord's elder by a few short years, his advice is always readily desired in the hall of Stonetide. Even in his aging years he has command of the raiders of Stif, his hair has long since receded from his brow and the men call him Magnus the Bald - though never in his hearing. Though his health has begun to suffer he is still a fierce fighter and a worthy foe on the field of battle.


Turin lands his ships just up the coast from Durand's port, and the three of them make it to the tournament without incident. They arrive at the tournament, Arn slips off to enter the archery contest while Turin fins the herald, with Magnus as his squire.

Turin finds the herald and thus begins the Intrigue encounter.
Intrigue encounters run a lot like a combat encounter with various steps and actions to be taken.


Step 1: Type.
Since this is a small encounter with an immediate effect, this is a Simple Intrigue.

Step 2: Scene.
Location: Tourney grounds.
Participants: Herald, Turin, and Magnus

Step 3: Objective.
Service, Turin wants the herald to add him to the list.

Step 4: Dispositions.
Choosing the starting dispositions of all characters in the encounter. Since they are all strangers in this encounter everyone's starting disposition will be indifferent. This gives everyone a Disposition Rating (DR) of 4 and a deceit and persuasion modifier of +0.
Turins intrigue Defense is 10 and composure is 6 Composure is like health for intrigue encounters, when its at 0 you lose.
Heralds defense 6 and composure 6
Magnus will just be assisting Turin, and providing a +1 to his checks

Step 5: Initiative.
Intrigue initiative is a Status roll. Turin 18, Herald 8

Step 6: Technique.
Turin will be trying to intimidate the herald
The herald will be trying to convince him to calm down.

Step 7: Roleplaying.
This is where the narrator can give bonuses or negatives for the characters roleplaying. This can be bonus die or penalty die or a flat numerical bonus or penalty. Since this is a test game I will not try to roleplay myself against myself.


Step 8: Actions and Tests.
We will come back to this in a second.


Step 9: Repeat.
Repeat form step 2. I will be keeping this simple for the first intrigue and none of the characters will be changing their starting choices.

Round 1:
Turin uses Shield of Reputation to increase the Heralds disposition using his status(6). 6d6 = 20 against the defense of 6. The herald is now amiable with a DR of 3 and a deceit modifier of 0 and a persuasion modifier of +1.

The herald tries to Influence Turin. 2d6 = 8 against a defense of 10. He fails.

Round 2:
Turin intimidates the Herald. Persuasion(3)(Intimidate 1B) = 14(2 degrees of success). Success works the same as in combat multiplying the damage dealt which is based on Turin's Will score(2). 2*2 = 4 - 3 for the DR of the herald. a total of 1 damage is dealt to the heralds composure bringing it to 5.

Herald, Influence. 7 vs 10 fail.

Round3:
Turin intimidate 19 v 6 (3degrees).
2*3-3 = 3
Herald composure = 2

Herald Considers this change of events. He will get a +2B next turn.

Round 4:
Turin intimidates the herald. 17 v 6 (3 degrees)
2*3 -3 = 3.
 The Herald is defeated!


Turin got lucky this time, if the herald had had a few higher abilities this would have gone poorly. Hopefully he won't have to run into many more intrigue encounters. Yet, for now Turin gains entrance into the tourney and has bribed the herald to let him tilt against the final entry for the daughters hand.

Herald the News!

House Durand decides that the best way to improve their lot will be to host a Tournament. To do this though they will have to wait another month.

Fortune roll, 28. Boon, Influence +2.

He will use his action to host his tournament.
He has three options:

1. A local tournament. This will cost 2 Wealth to put on and 2 Wealth per event for the prize (or he can substitute the hand of a younger daughter). It will draw around 100 Knights.
2. A regional tournament. 5 Wealth to put on and 2 Wealth per event. It will draw upwards around 500 Knights.
3. A Grand Tournament. It costs 10 Wealth to put on and 5 Wealth per event. It will draw thousands of knights from all across Westeros.

• Of course the bigger the tournament the more Influence to be gained.

House Durand only has 7 Wealth to through around. They decide to host a Local Tournament with a grand melee, an archery contest, and a Joust. The winner of the joust will have the hand of his daughter. This tournament will cost him 6 Wealth.

House Stiff also has a Fortune roll 11. Growth for Law +1 to 22.

Lord Turin learns of Durand's Tournament and decides to sneak in as a Black Knight (he himself is not a knight, and would not be able to ride in the joust) to win the Lord's own daughter.

He spends the remaining starting gold for full plate, a sheild, and a lance. He gets a lion-faced visor for his helm, hoping to trick the heralds into thinking he may be a Lannister sneaking into the tourney. And off he goes.

Idle Hands

House Durand seethes at the attack on their mines, but without a fleet there is no way for them to retaliate at this time. So now we explore the actions that a House can take during this "down time."

Each game two month two things occur. First there is House Fortune, second there are House Actions.

• House Fortune: A House Fortune is a random event that can either improve or degrade the resources of a house. A house may roll for a fortune each month, or it may forego the roll and increase one resource by 1. However. you must roll a House Fortune at least once every three months.
• A House Fortune roll is a status roll modified by the Law and Population resources. There are three positive outcomes and three negative outcomes.
  
  
• House Actions: A House can take one of four actions each month. 
1. Manage Resources: A house may trade one resource for another. A House may only do one exchange, unless they choose to "rush" in which case the can exchange a second resource but it is at a very reduced rate.
2. Start Projects: You begin construction of a project, be it a defensive holding or troops or a new port. You invest the full cost of the project at the beginning though you see no benefits till the end.
3. Wage Wars: You fight battles, such as the previous two examples.
4. Host Tournaments: You host a tournament. The details of which I will go into in another post. A house uses Wealth to host a tournament and gains influence in return.

House Stif:

Lord Turin makes a Status check for the Fortune roll at 6d6 for a 23. He receives a -5 for his law score bringing his total down to 18. This roll is a blessing which improves one resource 1-3 points or two resource by 1 point (chosen by the Narrator). Letting randomness decide... looks like I'll improve the Population by 1.

Lord Turin also uses his two glory points to raise Law by 2 for a new Law of 21.

After the first month house Stif has:

Defense       26          Population          16

Influence       4           Power                19

Lands         12           Wealth                10

Law            21

Month two, with the good fortune last month Turin will roll again... 24 -2 (for the new Law score) for a total of 22 which gives a result of Growth. Growth improves one resource by 1 pt, in this case Defense for a total of 27.

Month three sees another go at the Fortune...23-2=21, Growth again. This time its for Lands, from 12 to 13.

Now House Stif has:

Defense       27          Population          16

Influence       4           Power                19

Lands         13           Wealth                10

Law            21

Lets see how Durand does.

Month one,
Durand has a lot of bonuses. +5 from their mine, +5 from their port, +1 from Population and -5 from Law for a total of +6. House Durand's Lord will roll his Status(6) check for a 21+6 = 27 a blessing. The resource blessed is Law for a +2 bringing it up to 22 and reducing future modifiers to a -2.

Month two.
 27 + 9 = 36. This is a Boon, a boon either increases one resource 1-6, or two by 1-3. This time it will be Lands by 1 and Population by 3.

Month three.
30 + 9 = 39. Growth for Defense by 3.

House Durand now sits at 

Defense       24          Population           27

Influence      40          Power                 36

Lands          32          Wealth                37

Law            22

Lord Durin needs more power to purchase ships to attack Stif, he decides to use his house action to exchange for more Power. The only resource that can be exchanged for power is either money (at 2:1) or population (at 1:1). He exchanges 7 Population for 7 Power. Still not enough for ships but he's closer

Defense       24          Population           20

Influence      40          Power                 43

Lands          32          Wealth                37

Law            22

Paying the Blood Price

Scenario 2:

Turin's fleet has landed at near Durand's mine and the ironmen raiders have disembarked.


L is the longships with their crew, R is the Stif Raiders, G is Durand's Garrison, and M is the mine. Yellow is the lowground, Green squares are highground. The entire region is hilly, Hills confer a -10 yds to speed (infantry speed is usually40). High ground confers a +1D Fighting for the defenders. The entire area is covered in fog. Fog confers a -1D to Fighting and Awareness (and a few others I won't worry about at this juncture), and a -2D to Marksmanship.
Stif's goal is to slaughter the garrison and loot the mine they are not here for to keep the land. The garrison's goal is to defend the mine, they have taken the high ground on a hill to do so.

Turin again commands Stif, with a Warfare of 4(strategy 1B, command 1B)

The garrison has a competent commander with Warfare 3 (let's see how much of a difference that makes).

Unit stats: 

Stif Raiders Health 9, AR 2, Damage 3, Defense 5, Discipline 9

Stif Longboats Health 6, AR 5, Damage 3, Defense 7, Discipline 9

Durand Garrison Health 6, AR 3, Damage 3, Defense 5, Discipline 6

Round 1:

Initiative: Stif: 20, Durand: 12

1. Stif(1)- Command roll 13 for Longships to Attack(ranged) against Discipline 9. Marksmanship (3-2D) 1d6, 1. Miss.
2. Durand(1)- Command roll 11 to Ready an action against Discipline 6. The Garrison readies an attack until a unit is within range.
3. Stif(2)- Command roll 19 to Move Raiders to D5 against Discipline 9.
4. Durand(2)- Skip turn, keeps readied action.
5. Stif(3)- Command roll 19 to Charge against Discipline 12. Fighting (4-1fog -1charge) 10 (2 degrees). Damage (3+2)*2 - 3 = 7. The garrison is at 0 health and is disorganized.
   Durand(readied)- Attack(since this is before they are injured they will not incure the -1D) Fighting 5(1 degree). Damage 3-2 = 1. Raider health = 8.
6. Durand(3)- Command roll 12 to Attack against Discipline 12. Fighting (2 -1fog - 1disorganized +1hill) 1. Miss.
7. Stif(4)- Commadn roll 15 to Attack against Discipline 15. Fighting 9 (1 degrees). Damage 3-3=0.

Round 2:

Initiative: Stif: 11, Durand: 8

1. Stif(1)- Command roll 12 to Attack against Discipline 9. Fighting 13 (2 degrees). Damage 3*2 - 3 = 3. The Garrison is routed to D5.
2. Durand(1)- Command roll 15 to Rally against Discipline 9. The Garrison is now disorganized.(another -1D to rolls and +3 to discipline)
3. Stif(2) - Command roll 20 to Charge against Discipline 9. Fighting 6 (1 degree). Damage 3+2-3=2. Garrison routes to A5. If they leave the map they escape the battle.
4. Durand(2)- Command roll 10 to Rally against Discipline 15. Failed.
5. Stif(3)- Command roll 16 to Charge against Discipline 15. Fighting 10 ( 1 degree). Damage 3+2-3=2. Garrison is destroyed.

House Stif Victory!

After Battle Report.

Stif:

1 Glory to Turin (Total 2 Glory)

Wealth +2 up to 10 Since there was a mine (a wealth resource) on the land the victor gains 1d6-1 wealth and the loser loses 2d6 wealth.

Units: Spent his two destiny point because he had bad rolls on his units.

Raiders to Veteran Discipline 6, Endurance 4, Fighting 5

Longships to Elite Discipline3, Fighting 5, Aware 4, Marksmanship 4

Durand:

Lost a Garrison -3 Power down to 36

Law -3 down to 17 Lost 1d6 Law for losing

Wealth -10 down to 27

Adventure on the High Seas

Scenarios 1:

Now, finally the part I have been wanting to test out this entire time. Mass Combat!

Here's the setup: Lord Turin has decided to launch a raid on the mines of House Durand in an effort to not only win back some wealth but also strike a blow at his hated foe. Lord Turin leads his ships south from Stonetide with his Ironmen on board. They sight the shore just as the morning sun feebly rises up out of the ocean. the coast is swathed with fog, Turin blesses the Drowned God for the this boon, which should give them plenty of cover as they ambush they mines garrison. But wait, what's this. There sailing past the shore is House Durand's fleet of brand new warships doing their best to give a sense of protection to the realm. Turin decided to try and ambush the ships as well, if he can capture them he can add them to his own.

To sneak up on them the fleet must pass a stealth test against the enemies passive awareness. (A passive score is your ranks times 4, so in this case it is an 8). Turin rolls 2d6 getting a 5, they are spotted. Combat ensues.

House Stif's goals are either the capture or destruction of the warship. House Durand just wants to get away to warn their Lord to the east.

Round 1:

Each round begins with a number of steps such as parley, seige, weapon, etc. since some of these do not apply I will only spend time on the actions currently involved. Now for the initiative, each commander will make a warfare test any strategy bonus die count as well. Initiative is rerolled at the beginning of each battle. 

Turin has Warfare 4(Strategy 1B) he rolls a 3,5,4,3,6 dropping the lowest from the bonus die his initiative is 18.

The opposing force only has a simple captain with Warfare 2 (the most basic level) he rolls a 6.

Turing will start off.

Each commander can give a number of orders equal to their Warfare ranks, they will alternate turns giving orders until all orders have been given.

In this combat both the warship units have a Defense of 6, Health of 6, Damage 3 and Armor Rating of 5 and a Movement of 60 yds. Each square on the map represents 10 yds in mass combat.

Commands:

1. Stif(1)- Turin commands his ships to charge the enemy. He must make a command test against their discipline of 9. He rolls 5d6 and will drop the lowest (Warfare 4 (Command 1B)), he rolls an 18. The longships rush forward to engage the enemy in close combat. They meet the foe and a fierce boarding action takes place with axes and swords clanging. Charging confers a -1D penelaty to Fighting but gives a +2 to damage. The ships make a Fighting check with 3d6(4D -1D) they roll a 14. This beats the opponents defense by 8 which confers 2 degrees of success (1 degree is 0-4, 2 5-9, 3 10-14, and 4 15+). This will double the damage. The damage is (3+2)*2 = 10 the bonus from a charge is added before the multiplier. The enemy has an armor of 5 so they take 5 damage (10-5) leaving them with 1 health.
2. Durand(1)- Originally they wanted to get away, but that doesn't look like a good idea anymore so they will try to surrender. The command test will be against the Discipline of 12, 2d6 rolls a 2. The captain was unable to be heard over the din of battle and none of his men surrendered.
3. Stif(2)-Turin orders the men to press the attack. For each order past the first the discipline increase by a cumulative +3. The commadn check is now at 12, 4d6 +1B rolls 15. The men press the attack. They make a Fighting roll at their full 4d6 and get 9, which is only one degree of success. Their damage is 3 -5 for armor. The Durand ships take no damage this time.
4. Durand(2)- The captain signals for surrender again. This time against a discipline of 12. His 2d6 roll an 8, again he fails to give the order.
5. Stif(3)- Turin orders his men to attack. Command against a Discipline of 15, 4d6 + 1B rolls him an 11 his order is unheard over the battles roar.
6. Stif(4)- Turin tries once more to press the attack, this time against a Discipline of 18, 4d6 + 1B roll a 19. His men rush the enemy decks. Their Fighting check is 13 (2 degrees of success). Damage 3*2 -5 = 1 damage. The Durand ship is at 0 health. They are disorganized. Whenever a unit reaches 0 hit points they become disorganized, this confers a -1D to all tests and a +3 to all Discipline checks. They can still fight when disorganized but if they take damage again they will route.

Round 2:

Initiative Stif: 17, Durand: 5

1. Stif(1)- Command roll of 18 to Attack against Discipline 9. Fighting check 11 (2 degrees). Damage 3*2-5 = 1. House Durand takes damage and is routed, they flee to H4. A routed unit automatically flees the battlefield, in this case I decided that they would automatically try to make for their Lord's port to the east. If a routed unit takes damage again they are destroyed.
2. Durand(1)- Command roll of 7 to Rally against Discipline 12. They fail to Rally.
3. Stif(2)- Command roll of 19 to Charge against Discipline 12. Fighting check 9 (1 degree). Damage 3+2 -5 = 0. House Durand takes no damage.
4. Durand(2)- Command roll against a Discipline 15 to Rally. With 2d6 this is impossible, they automatically fail.
5. Stif(3)- Command roll of 16 to attack against Discipline 15. Fighting 15 (2 degrees). Damage 3*2-5 = 1. House Durand takes damage andn the routed units is destroyed.

Victory for House Stif!

After Battle Report:

House Stif:

1 Glory point for Turin. Glory is gained through battles depending on the odds though there is always a minimum of 1 Glory even if you lose. Glory can be used to improved your House.

Unit roll. After each battle roll 1d6 to determine the affect on your units. 1d6 = 5, and Stif's Longships were not damaged so they receive training +1 and become veteran. This lowers their discipline from 9 to 6, and give enough xp for two ability upgrades. The longship improves its Fighting to 5 and its Awareness to 3.

House Durand:

No Glory because they had no commander.

Unit Roll. Since it was destroyed and its green, any roll less than a 6 will result in complete loss of a unit, they roll a 4. House Durand loses the Warship and the cost of it(8) from its Power score, bringing House Durand's Power down to 39.

Since there was no land involved there are no other rewards from this battle. Though if this was an actual game the PCs could be allowed to loot the enemy (especially if they're ironmen-they paid the blood price) for some material rewards as well. And PCs would also gain xp.

On Character

Alright so I have the Houses down, now I just need one more thing before I can start testing out the combat systems... a character. For this Character I have decided to make the Lord of House Stif since it is a small hous with few retainers the Lord is going to take a large role in the upcoming adventures.

I have decided to name him Lord Turin Stif. I envision him as an incredibly bold and courageous leader. Always on the forefront swinging an axe with fury in his eyes. And with that idea lets dive in.

Step one, House and Lands. Easy enough, House Stif

Step two, Character Concept.

1. Age.
   This is actually a very important aspect of the character and unlike in other games where you always pick the adult age because you don't want any negatives and the benefits are never worth it to be anything other than a strapping man in his prime, age confers some important benefits, for one bonus experience, at the price of natural drawback(for example bad knees). While I could roll to determine Lord Turin's age I already have a concept in mind of a man at the end of his prime who has lost everything in this life and is desperately trying to regain something before his time is up so I choose 39- right in the middle aged category.
2. Status.
   Again I could randomly roll but I have already decided that I will have this be the Lord of the house and so He is required to have the highest status (a 6), while this will be nice in some situations I will have to use a lot of my starting xp to pay for that.
3. Role.
   This is your 'class' in ASIF, there are 5 roles. The Expert, The Leader, The Fighter, The Rogue and The Schemer. Each of these has key abilities that you should improve to stay within the concept, but other than that they are not restrictive. Nor do they confer any special bonuses, they are just a role... an idea to direct your character. You are not required to stay within the key abilities, in fact you can pick two roles and be a fighter/leader. No big deal, just that the more roles you try to have the weaker you will be in any one specific area. Alright, enough rambling as a Lord I want Turin to have the Leader role. So his Key abilities are Cunning, Endurance, Fighting, Persuasion, Status, and Warfare.
4. Background.
   This included goals, motivation, vices, and virtues. Since I already have alot of the background done through the house I pick power to be his goal, he is trying to regain the strength of his forefathers and prove himself as an Ironman to be feared. He is motivated by his hatred of the wealthy milk-drinkers, specifically House Durand who shamed him when they bedded his wife. He is a courageous man who sometimes gives into his wrath.

Step Three, Abilities.
As a middle aged man I have 240 xp to spend. Every ability starts at 2 and at middle aged the highest any one can start at is 6 (except status). Since I have to have Status 6 that is my first xp buy, raising status from 20 to 6 costs me 100 xp. Next I wand Turin to be a strong man so I raise athletics to 3 (10 xp). He is also a robust fighter, so I raise Fighting and Endurance to 4 (40 xp each). He is a great warleader (warfare 4 for 40xp) and an intimidating man (persuasion 3 for 10xp). All of his other abilities will be at 2.

Step Four, Specialties.
For every ability there are a number of specialties that give bonus die for specific situations. It costs 10xp per bonus die and you can never have more dice than attribute score. At middle aged Turin gets 100 xp for specialties. I chose Endurance( resistance 2B and Stamina 2B), Fighting(axes 3B), Persuasion(intimidate 1B), and Warfare(command 1B and strategy 1B).

Step Five, Destiny Points and Benefits. Destiny points are alot like fate points and can be used alter the course of events. In addition you can use destiny points to buy benefits. The older your character the fewer destiny points you get, as a middle aged man Turing gets 3. I spend 1 to gain the Blood of the Ironmen benefit which give me a +1 die to Fighting once per combat and gives me bonuses on the water. Leaving 2 destiny points for his harrowing adventures to come.

Step Six, Flaws and Drawbacks.
As you age you gain flaws or drawbacks. as a middle aged man Turin has to choose a flaw for either agility, athletics, or endurance. A flaw takes away a die from your dice pool for that given ability. For Turin I choose Agility, his knees are getting old. A drawback is sometimes an option, which is like a 'negative feat'.

Step Seven, Starting Possessions.
You make a status check, which means roll a number of d6 equal to your status rank. Turin is rank 6 so I roll 6d6 and got a 29. Turin starts with 29 gold dragons. This seemed kinda disapointing until I realized that almost everything is in the range of silver stags, of which 210 makes 1 dragon. I had around 4,000 stags. And you are required to spend half of it. So I bought a superior longaxe, chain mail a set of fareyes (telescope), a palfrey and some barding. after all that I still had 12 dragons left. It'll have to do for now.

Step Eight, Derived Stats.

1. Intrique.
   Your Intrigue Defense = Awareness + Cunning + Status. So Turins is 2+2+6 = 10.
   Your composure is 3 * Will. Turin's is 3*2 = 6.
   We will worry more about what these do when we get into some intrigue encounters.
2. Combat.
   Combat Defense = Agility + Athletics + Awareness + Defense Bonus(sheilds) - Armor Penalty. Turin's 2 + 3 + 2 + 0 - 3 = 4.
   Health 3 * Endurance, so 3*4 = 12.
   Armor Rating(AR) = 5 for mail.
   Damage for a Longaxe is Athletics +3 so 6 for Turin.

... and Lord Turin is done. A strong leader and warrior who is more at home drinking ale with his men or on the field of battle swing his longaxe than in the realms of courts and nobles.

In the Opposing Corner...

So I have one House down, I am going to need a second one to pit against it. For the second House I will use the same rules, but I chose the realm to be in the Westerlands (Lannister realms) because it borders the Iron Islands.

I won't go step by step through the resources this time, but rolling up the House in the Westerlands I get (after Histories):
Defense 21, Influence 40, Lands 31, Law 20, Population 24, Power 47, Wealth 37
This is house is really rather well off, they've got gold power and influence.
This hosue is going to be a little older so I will roll 1d6 histories,...oh, looky a six. When I rolled their histories I got Infrastructure, Treachery, Treachery, Madness, Treachery, Favor. Hmm, ok.
House Durand was founded shortly after the conquest of Aegon, they were raised up to be wardens of the coast lands north of the Rock. They were awarded lands and power to aid them in that endeavour, but the Lords of the house were an ambitious lot and strove to grasp more than they should. Through treachery and deceit they raised their status until finally they were caught in the act of treason. They were cast down and their titles were stripped from them. A sharp eye was kept on House Durand and when they once again tried to raise their place through shady dealings they had their lands taken away and given to their neighbors. The constant concern of the crown eventually drove one of the patriarch's of the house mad and during his reign their power and influence grew through the extravagant spending of their wealth. During the War of the Usurper Durand pledged Robert their support then turned on him when they thought he was weak. After the Battle of the Trident he punished the house by stripping them of what few titles they had regained. Little did Robert know, but they had been urged to betray him by Casterly Rock, and Lannisters always repaid their debts. The Lannisters quietly bestowed some of the lands of the Stif's to Durand after the failed rebellion of the ironmen.


Whew, there we go. Now for Holdings.
Defense, the House has a large Hall in one of its domains.
Influence, House Durand has two heirs. The First born son Lucas, and the second, a daughter, Liranna.
Lands, House Durand has control over two domains the first a coastal region wwith grassy hills and a quiet stream. The second- their seat- a quite grassland coastal plain with a small town around their keep.
Power, House Durand has a Banner House, House Gotter, who have pledge allegience to them.
they also have:
Green Garrison Discipline(6/12) Awareness(3), Fighting(2), Endurance(2)
Green Garrison Discipline(6/12) Awareness(3), Fighting(2), Endurance(2)
Trained Personal Guards Discipline(0), Athletics(3), Endurance(3), Fighting(3)
Green Archers Discipline(12) Agility(2), Awareness(2), Marksmanship(3)
Green Warships Discipline(9) Awareness(2), Fighting(2), Marksmanship(3)

Wealth, House Durand is incredibly wealthy. They have a mine in the hills region as well as a port and market at their seat.

The words of House Durand are "Seize the Moment"
The shield is an Argent field with an Azure border and an Azure Clenched fist as its charge.

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A quick overview of House Gotter
Defense 13, Influence 25, Lands 6, Law 13, Population 18, Power 19, Wealth 31
Holdings:
(D) a small tower
(I) a firstborn son
(L) a small flat stretch of grassland
(W) a sept and a mine
Troops:
2 units of trained garrisons
1 unit of trained archers
1 unit of green support

On Houses

One of the most exciting things about ASIF is the idea of belonging to a noble house. Even better as a party you create your noble house together.

(Since this is a test I created my first house completely with random rolls, though on some rolls the party can pick their choice.)

First step choosing your starting realm, rolling a 3d6 I get a 7 for the Iron Islands. Looks like I will be paying homage to the Grejoys of Pyke. Even though they come across as dirt bags a couple of times, I like vikings so I'm already getting a good idea for this House.

Step two, I roll for resources. There are 7 resources for houses which are synonymous with abilities for characters. They are Defense, Influence, Lands, Law, Population, Power, and Wealth. Being an Iron Islander this house gets +10 Defense, -5 Influence and Lands, and a +10 to Power.
Rolling 7d6 for each resource (and counting my Realm bonuses) I get:
Defense 30, Influence 19, Lands 18, Law 28, Population 19, Power 40 and Wealth 21. After rolling stats each character gets to add 1d6 to any one resource they choose, I roll a 6 and add it to Lands for a total of 24.

Step three, House history. I want this House to be a recently established House so I get 1d6-1 rolls on the history table (in this case 4). Rolling 3d6 I get 7 Decline, 8 Doom, 8 Doom, 12 Revolt.... ouch poor guys every one of my rolls causes them to lose some resource. Since Doom is the worst possible roll that could happen I take away the second 8 and reroll for a 14 Scandal. Sorry guys this next part is going to hurt.
Each History roll has a positive or negative affect on a number of resources (in this case a lot of negative).
Decline subtracts 1d6 from Influence, Land, Power, and Wealth. Doom subtracts 2d6 from everything. Revolt subtracts 2d6 from Law, and 1d6 from Population, Power, and Wealth. Scandal subtracts 1d6 from Influence, Lands and Power.
After all the rolls the poor House is down to the following stats (and the book gives a fun list of how they stand up at each level):
Defense 26 - "Defensible with at least one fortified town or castle."
Influence 4 - "A minor landed knight or equivilent, i.e. Craster"
Lands 12 - "A small stretch of land about the size of a single small islands, i.e. House Mormont"
Law 19 - "Lawlessness and banditry are a problem along the fringes of your realm"
Population 15 - "Small population, but no single community larger than a small town"
Power 19 - "Small force of soldiers largely made up of smallfolk"
Wealth 8 - "Impovershed. Your family lacks essential resources, adn struggles to make ends meet"
(Ouch what a toll that history took)
So at this point I am going to flesh out the House a little more. I do a little research into scandinavian names and settle on Stif.
House Stif of Stonetide is descended form the younger sibling of long lost house. The old House was once stripped of its titles and the family sent into exile, it was only through the desperate marriage of an aging lord that any lands were returned to them at all. For a time it seemed as though House Stif may well climb its way back into the good graces of the higher nobles but all there effort was brought to ruin when a massive storm hit the island of Stonetide. The Maelstrom tore down their forts and towers and sunk their ships, it laid waste to their fields and drowned their peoples. The name Stif was thought to be a sign of bad luck and the mere mention of the name would be enough for captains to abandon a contract with the House. Years passed and they continued to decline, until they saw a golden moment to take back their glory - Greyjoy's Rebellion. But yet again fate was not on their side and after Stannis smashed their fleets their power and wealth were taken from them. As they wallowed in the misery of defeat on last blow was struck. The Lord's wife had run off to the bed of a Durand, she had been having a trist with him for many years. House Stif was left dishonored and without any heirs.


Hmm,  you know I'm starting to like these guys but we're still not down yet. Next is holdings...
Step four, Holdings. Each resource has some effect on the realm, most of them through holdings which are like equipment for characters.
First, Defense. Since their defense is down to a 26 is a small keep for 20 pts.This won't subtract from their total but it will be considered spent and if their total ever drops below 20 they lose the keep.
Second, Influence. Influence is used to 'buy' heirs. Stif has no influence and therefore no heirs.
Third, Lands. your realm is divided up into domains which are about a league (3 miles). Land costs land points.  Since I am in the Iron Islands I can only have hills or plains, I have few points and plains are cheaper so plains it is for 5 points. Each terrain can then have features on it, otherwise I would have a flat rocky chunk of land. Again being on the iron islands I will be limited, this time to coasts, community, grasslands, islands, roads, and ruins. I want this to be an island so that will be 10 pts, I also want some grass on these rocks 1 pt, I am left with three points so I get some ruins (it will fit in well with the backstory).
Fourth, Law. Law doesn't get holdings, instead it affects House Fortune (which we'll worry about latter) my house fortune will suffer -5 for my lawlessness.
Fifth, Population. Again this affects fortune, Stif's population gives a +0... oh well.
Sixth, Power. This is the fun one. With power you can purchase banner houses and troops. I have to have at least 20 pts to get a banner house... so its just troops for me. These are ironmen so I want two things, vikings and longships. First, the longships. I don't want green troops so I go for trained troops (3 power), warships (7 power) and I am going to also make them raiders so they can leave their ships and attack the land as well (3 power) for a total of 13 power spent. With my last 6 power I get a unit of trained raiders.
Their level of training affects their discipline and gives them experience to improve their attributes, each 'type' has a list of 3 attributes that it can improve. Being trained gives enough xp for 3 improvements, each attribute starts at 2. So Stif has the following:
Trained Longships/Raiders Discipline(9), Agility(2), Awareness(2), Endurance(2), Fighting(4), Marksmanship(3)
Trained Raiders Discipline(9), Agility(2), Endurance(3), Fighting(4)

Seventh, Wealth. Stif is far too poor to afford any wealth holdings.

Alright there we go, those are all of the game essential stats for House Stif...

but wait here's one of my favorite parts... Heraldry.
this completely nonessential part has six whole pages devoted to it. I love it!
Continuing with my decision to roll for everything, I randomly create a really cool coat of arms...

Then I pick my hosue words (you gotta love this game) thinking about their history I choose "Hard lives make Hard men" for House Stif.

and there you have it House Stif of Stonetide.

Out of the gate

So this blog is currently just so I can place my thoughts in some form of order as I test out A Song of Ice and Fire and so others can see how that goes down.
Briefly looking over the rule system of ASIF I really think this may become my favorite fantasy roleplaying system. It seems far more balanced for non-combat adventures than DnD ever appeared to be. It also has a much more in depth medieval world than even my beloved Bretonians of Warhammer. In this 'review' I plan to go over House and Character creation, mass-combat, single combat, and Intrique. Because its me and I like to have more than just a set apart scenario to try these on I will endeavor to have an adventure that kinda-sorta ties these things all together. For those very few of you who will see this.... enjoy.