The Heroes' Journey Begins (in Merivale)

Kessa quietly and slowly unsheathes her daggers.

Intitative

GM Note: Ok, so we've got 3 actions for Thorne, and 1 for everybody else. At the moment, you've got the drop on these guys.

What do you do?

Thorne is not a man who kills for sport, and he’s not eager to loose an arrow into a distracted goblin just to thin their numbers. Without a sign of the fairy, rushing in blind feels like a mistake.

He glances back to the others, whispering.

"Moonblossom’s not in sight. And goblins drunk and arguing tend to spill more truths than blood. We watch them a bit longer—see if they slip, or show where they’ve kept her."

He grabs his bow, eyes never leaving the clearing.

"No point spilling blood until we know where she is."

Caldra nods and shifts her focus to watch their surroundings so they are not set upon unawares.
But we cant wait too long.

Kessa nods at Thorne then crouches down and waits.

You watch for a while as the pelting and taunting continues. When one of the Goblins finally lands a decent hit on the ratrider's back, he calls out, "Oy, alright alright you lot, dat's enuff! Not bad for a bunch o' Gerbs." They all share a laugh and you can hear but not quite make out a bit of what sounds like lighthearted Goblin trashtalking amongst each other. The ratrider, at the center of the clearing, surveys the area and is taking a long pull on a water skin from his hip when his mount perks up - nose and whiskers twitching, sniffing the air while its eyes and ears move semi-independently, sweeping around the perimeter of the clearing.

The rider stows the waterskin in a saddlebag then sticks his fingers in his mouth and makes a distinctive whistle. In a slightly lower voice, he calls out, "Alright, pack it in and get ready for da night." As he says this he draws a circle in the air with his right hand.

Hearing the whistle, the other goblins immediately perk up as well and turn their eyes and attention to their leader. A quiet chorus of "Right boss, on it!" and "Looks like its bedtime boys!" follows, as the Goblins pair off.

The biggest of the remaining Goblins moves up to the boss and exchanges a few words while the rider watches his mount's behavior. After a few moments pass, the giant rodent with its matted and mangy fur, nose furiously twitching lets out a low squeak, and turns it's head in your direction. The rider gives it an affectionate pat on the shoulder, then makes a gesture with raised hands like... closing a door perhaps... and with a wicked smile says, "Oh yeah, it's bedtime boys!"

With that, the two pairs of Goblins on the perimeter disappear into the woods on either side of the clearing, the rider and his companion splitting up each following one of the two pairs.

Kessa silently gets Thorne's attention. She motions with her daggers, pointing at the goblins as they leave, then moves her daggers in circular motions to indicate movement around the party. She silently mouths the word "Trap". She prepares to move, but waits for Thorne's reaction.

With no other option, Thorne marks the leader as his quarry and fires two arrows.

As Thorne fires on the leader as they move towards the woods Caldra scans the area for a defensible location and plots how the goblins might attack, through the woods or directly through the clearing. Being outnumbered she scans for anything that can limit the goblins approach or give the team any kind of advantage. Large tall trees, large rock formations, anything to protect their rear and flanks as much as possible.

There is a pained squeak from the enormous rodent followed by an angry snarl from its rider as Thorne's arrows strike just before the pair disappear into the woods. Meanwhile, Caldra scans the area looking for something that might give you a defensive advantage, but everything is hindered in the darkness. There is the giant tree, around the base of which you are huddled, as well as the bushes which gave you visual cover from the camp, beyond that its too dark to tell.

GM Note: We're into regular combat now, so you have three actions to spend this turn. Thorne has used his three, Caldra has two remaining. Don't forget the various Assess options:

Quote:

Assess: A great way to include creativity and role-playing in combat. Choose one of the following and then make a DC 12 skill check to:
• Ask a Question. About a weakness, ability, or immediate plans of enemies, the environment, story, etc. The GM will answer honestly.
• Create an Opening. Increase the next Primary Die Roll against a target by 1 this round.
• Anticipate Danger. Reduce all Primary Dice rolled against you by 1 this round.

Which Skill To Use? Whatever skill you use must make sense based on the circumstances! Monsters Are Smart! You cannot assess using the same skill more than once in a single encounter, as your foes adapt to your tactics. You’ll need to stay creative!

@htech: You're absolutely right - on all counts! Thorne did spend all three of his actions for actions for the round.

I blame it on moving fatigue >.<

Caldra raises her shield in anticipation of goblin assault

Vilde quickly scans the surrounding area, trying to anticipate where the Goblins are most likely to strike from. She's not really sure what she's looking for, but relying on instinct and a strong sense of self-preservation (bolstered by mortal terror).

Kessa maintains absolute stillness as she waits for the ambushers to emerge, so that she will see them before they see her.

@timplausible: It is kind of confusing at first, but once you get your head around the logic of it, it makes sense. Once we get into combat, Nimble uses a really streamlined turn system - Heroes get a turn, then the bad guys, rinse and repeat (there are some exceptions, but that's the baseline). Heroes have up to 3 Actions to spend *on their turn.* Once their turn is over, any unused actions are lost. BUT - their pool of Actions resets, so they have their full complement of 3 Actions ready to use for Heroic Reactions during the monster's (or another player's) turn, and/or as Actions on their next turn. That means that Reactions count against your limit for your *upcoming* turn. We're used to 'holding' an action from a previous turn, but Nimble goes the other way so you never waste an action by holding it if the trigger never happens. Does that help?