lunge, increased by one for last round’s feint) and gets a 5; Lydia matches with a 5 on her d6. Poincarre wins, however, because his die size is larger. He sticks Lydia for 1 point of damage.
Now the archers shoot at Lydia, each fighting
in Arrowheart, each choosing an Archer’s Shot. Each rolls a d6, resulting in a 5 and a 3. Lydia rolls her d6 defense twice more, getting a 3 and a 4. The first ar- row slices open her shoulder for 1 body damage. The second, however, is now rolled as an attack against Poincarre because of Lydia’s duck and slip! The ar- row’s d6 is a 3 this time. Poincarre rolls his d2 lunge defense and gets a 2. That explodes, so he rolls a d4, but alas, the result is only another 2. His own archer’s arrow sticks Poincarre’s bicep! The damage is 1 body. Poincarre roars at the archers to hold.
Round 3. Trevor does a daredevil move climb-
ing up the clotheslines and tenement walls to as- sault one of the archers. Because the maneuver lists “Climb” as a result, he does not need to make a char- acteristic or skill check to succeed at this.
Lydia decides that her duck and slip won’t work this round. She isn’t ready to risk a further wound with a low-defense sneak attack, so she thinks
Common Environment Tricks
Trick Attack/Defense Effect
Set fire to an area -/- 1 body damage per round to all in area
Take cover -/+2 die size +2 die size to defense vs. ranged until you move Crash through glass/wall (on purpose) d6 vs. you/- 1 body vs. you if hit; +1 Mood to you and allies
Sandbag dropped on head d4/- 1 body + rebalance
Soup in the face d6/- -2 die size to attack and defense next round Fall off a ledge -/- Rebalance + 1 body/five feet beyond ten feet
Use bystander as marionette d4/d2 1+2 Mood damage to humiliated foe; +1 Reputation to you Rip open a bag of flour -/- -2 attack die size & -1 defense die size to all in area
Tie foe to ox cart, slap ox d2/- Move (random) & 1 body/round until untied (Trick unties) about using the clotheslines to tangle up Poincarre. Ul-
timately, she decides to dodge into the shadows again. The archers shoot at Trevor as he scales the tenement, and Poincarre strikes a pose: the “Judge’s Stance,” a dueling pose taught to him by his honored father the Butcher of Marmn. This is the pose maneu- ver, and it intimidates those who know it (along with the Poincarre family’s reputation for torture).
The GM narrates, and resolution is straightfor- ward. The archers each roll a 4 on a d6; Trevor rolls a 1 and a 5 on his d6. The 1 would result in a critical hit for 2 body damage, but Trevor uses an inspiration - his love for Lydia drives him faster than any arrow can fly - allowing him to roll a d10 for defense (d6 for his heart, increased twice for the stunting narrative description). He rolls a 4, which wins because of the larger d10 die size. The arrows whiz by, and Trevor takes no damage.
Round 4. Lydia decides now is the time: a
sneak attack from the shadows can almost finish off Poincarre. She whirls out of the shadows and slices at his throat.
Trevor thinks about a spectacular strike in- volving tomatoes and laundry thrown into the face of a humiliated archer, but he wants to maintain his momentum for next round. He decides to attack the highest archer with a charge.
Poincarre has his feet under him now; he
knows how to riposte out of the Judge’s Stance pose. That is what he will do. His archers run for their lives into the tenement hallways, not willing to face a swashbuckler at close range.
Lydia rolls a 3 on her d8; Poincarre rolls a 2 on his defense and a 4 on his Reputation die (bonus from posing last round). The rogue misses! But Lydia uses an Inspiration - ambition to become a Queen Below, and Poincarre stands in her way - and she rolls a 5 on her inspiration d12. She hits. Normally, this would do 2 body damage, but Poincarre’s armor is of higher quality than Lydia’s weapon, so it deals only one point of damage. Poincarre is at 2 body.
Poincarre would have a chance to riposte against Lydia if she had missed, but she did not.
Trevor’s charge on the archer allows him to slice one for 2 body damage (4 on a d6 vs. 1 for the archer’s defense; a critical hit).
Round 5. Seeing his archers chased off, Poin-
carre turns to flee.
Trevor has other ideas. He leaps from the balcony, swinging down on a tomato line, screaming Poincarre’s name. This is a Death from Above maneu- ver. Lydia dodges into the shadows again.
Trevor’s is the only attack. He rolls a 4 on his d8; Poincarre gets a 3 on his d4. Trevor hurtles down, smashes into Poincarre and finishes the combat with the fop bleeding and groaning underfoot!
Common Environment Tricks (Cont.)
Trick Attack/Defense Effect or Note Topple wardrobe (full) d4/d2 1 body + unsteady
Strew marbles, fruit rinds, ice d4/- Rebalance (only works once/area)
Bag over the head d2/d2 Blinded (-4 die sizes from atk & def, min. d2) Clang bell to deafen d6/- Unsteady (only works once)
Crash through glass/wall (accident) -/- Str vs. quality of wall; 1 body on a make, 2 on a fail
Blinding sun reflection in eye d4/- -1 die size attack and defense
Toss screeching cat d6/d2 +1 to a negative reputation; 0 + unsteady (1 body on crit) Living shield: boy, baby, puppy 0/- 50% atks hit hostage; +4 neg. reputation to you & foe Threaten a hostage 0/- If your Qck roll beats the atk roll, deal a Coup de Grace Hit ignorant bystander, frame foe dCha/- Miss or bystander’s reason roll > your atk roll betrays you Sip tea while fencing 0/d2 +1 Rep. to you if you end up winning
Spit apple on sword, bite between
blows 0/d2 As sip tea while fencing; +3 Rep. if both in same fight Collapse balcony d20/d2 First must break balcony (see Breaking Items Ch. 10) Domino improvised weapon d2/- Hit chandelier, it knocks torch, it hits stein, stein falls on
foe: 1 body + 1 Mood to self or allies
Pull rug out from under feet d6/- Rebalance; must beat doom with Str or Qck roll
Fight on railing, rolling log, spar -/- Fight normally; make Qck vs. doom each rd or rebalance Scatter coins to create crowd -/- Fighting in a crowd: -1 atk and def die sizes
Swing on chandelier, rigging,
slide down bannister -1 die size/- Basic atk at -1 die size, move; +1 body dmg on crit
* If no defense die is listed, then it uses the base defense for a trick/miscellaneous action. This is a d4, barring some exceptional power.
Healing
Surprise
If one combatant surprises the other, he can enter his fighting style before the other does. In the surprise round, the surprised defender uses a d2 to defend, and the attacker uses whatever maneuver he chooses to open the combat with.
A defender is surprised only if he is completely unaware of the attacker. Simply drawing a sword quickly, say in the middle of an argument over the origin and recent history of a playing card, surprises no one.
A character heals 1 body per week.
If a player wishes, his character can be maimed or permanently wounded in order to accelerate the healing process. The wound could be a lame leg, a missing eye, a scarred lower lip, or something similar. This is an important event in the character’s history. It preys on his mind, and it cannot be forgotten. When a player takes a wound, he loses one history slot.
After three wounds, a character who is maimed also loses one point from his strength score.