Turn 1
The worn stone steps spiral downward into a wide chamber, its darkness broken by the flickering orange glow of a lone brazier burning at its heart. The light illuminates faded frescoes on the wall that show starving, wounded humans drinking from an ornate silver chalice and turning into powerful, healthy warriors who battle a horde of demons.
Around the edges of the chamber, bedrolls and crude gear litter the floor—signs of a makeshift encampment. And among them, nearly
two dozen goblins huddle, ready with their weapons drawn.
Next PCs (in any order):
Vordokov
Malfina Bramblebush
Naercalad
Obsidian Rockcrusher
Marbin
Shrike
Next Monster Groups:
Waiting for 1 or more PCs - 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6
Meta currencies:
Malice: 8
Tutorial notes
In this combat, Goblin
Snipers and Goblin Spine
Cleavers are Minions. Minions are enemies designed to
die in droves and make heroes feel powerful by cutting through them quickly. They’re most dangerous in numbers — individually weak, but collectively a threat.
Goblin
Warriors, on the other hand, are regular monsters (you've encountered their spears before) and are captains of these groups. But now they have access to Malice powered attacks!
[ +- ] Minion Squads
Minions with the same number (ex: 1) acts as a Squad. A squad acts on a single initiative count and can make coordinated squad attacks, with fewer rolls.
Area abilities only damage minions caught in the affected area. Damage is applied to the shared Stamina pool (see below) rather than to individuals directly.
[ +- ] Minion Shared Stamina
Each minion squad has a shared Stamina pool, calculated as: "Individual Minion Stamina × Number of Minions in Squad"
Example: 8 goblin spinecleavers with 5 Stamina each = 40 Stamina pool.
Whenever any minion in the squad takes damage, the pool is reduced by that amount. Every time the pool drops by an amount equal to one minion’s Stamina, one minion dies. Minions cannot be winded, regain Stamina, or gain temporary Stamina.
Example: A squad of 8 goblins (5 Stamina each) at 35 Stamina loses one goblin. At 30, another dies, and so on.
If a single attack deals enough damage to kill multiple minions, the player describes how those minions are taken out in a cinematic way.
[ +- ] Minion Attacks
Each minion has a signature ability, usually a strike against one target.
When multiple minions in the same squad use their signature ability on a single target, only one roll is made, but each additional minion adds its free strike value as bonus damage. If multiple minions make an opportunity attack at the same target simultaneously, the damage is added together and resolved as one strike.
[ +- ] Minions with Captains
A captain can be attached to a minion squad if they speak a language the minions understand. While a squad has a captain, each minion in it gains With Captain benefits (usually increased damage, speed, or Stamina). A squad can only have one captain, and a creature can only captain one squad at a time.
A captain acts on the same initiative as the squad but has normal actions, unlike minions. The captain’s Stamina is tracked separately and is not added to the squad’s Stamina pool. If a captain dies or leaves, a new one can be assigned at the start of the next round (no action required).
[ +- ] Potency
Some of you now possess heroic abilities that use a mechanic called Potency — a measure of how difficult an ability is to resist. Many monsters also have powers that use this same rule.
When you use an ability with a Potency, the target has a chance to resist its effects. The effect only applies if the ability’s Potency value is greater than the target’s relevant characteristic score. Potency is always written as a letter (representing the characteristic) followed by a "less than" sign and a number. The characteristic letters are:
M for Might, A for Agility, R for Reason, I for Intuition, and P for Presence.
For example:
"M<2 dazed (save ends)" means "If the target’s Might is less than 2, they become dazed (save ends)."
[ +- ] Saving Throws
If an effect ends with "(save ends)", then a creature suffering the effect can make a saving throw at the end of their turn to remove the effect. To make a saving throw, roll a d10. On a 6 or higher, the effect ends. Otherwise, it continues.
