Big Po - Hungry Hungry Sumotori
Michelangelo - Friendly Capoeirista
Roberto King - Murderous Dagger Fighter
Dan da Ying - Helpful Eagle-Stylist
The Black Fort
Dan tried to grab the Black Centurion and drag him off of his horse, but was parried, while Roberto jumped on another of the bowmen on the wall and brought him down with a savage flurry of knife blows, losing his next turn to Bloodlust. Mike Evaluated for another turn to hopefully set up a Sweeping Kick, while Po kicked at the spearman he had grappled but missed. The archers fired another volley at Roberto, but only one of them managed to actually hit.
The swordsman beside Po stabbed him for minor damage, while the two spearmen accidentally hit their friend who Po was grappling. Dan got stabbed some more by spearmen, then was Feinted and hit with a Deceptive Mighty Blow by the Black Centurion, and bitten by his horse for good measure. Reeling from Shock, Dan missed another Deceptive grab, and Mike launched his Secret "My Foot To Your Neck Technique" Sweeping Kick at the Centurion but was parried.
Po made an All-Out Attack (Double) to switch his grip to his victim's neck and then Neck Snapped him ("Guys, I found a strategy to kill one guy a turn!"). The bowmen on the wall dropped their bows and started picking up their spears, while down in the courtyard, Mike dodged a pair of attacks from spearmen, and Po was stabbed by everyone around him. The Black Centurion Feinted Dan again (for 11 degrees), and followed with a pair of Rapid Strikes to the neck, which certainly hurt, but didn't take him out.
Dan backed away, while Mike took out one of the spearmen near him with a kick, but a second foe made a parry. While Roberto failed to stab anyone on the wall, the Navajo in the courtyard finished readying their bows and launched a volley at the enemy who were trying to switch to spears, wounding three. Po grabbed at the swordsmen near him, but got parried, and stabbed in retaliation (he tried to Dodge, but failed, even after Luck to avoid a crit fail).
With nobody in melee to fight, the Black Centurion took advantage of an opening and charged his stallion at Mike. After Feinting for 21 degrees, he landed a minor blow to the neck, and after the Shock, Mike was unable to land an attack of his own. Roberto likewise failed to wound anyone on the wall, though he at least made all of his defenses against the spearmen, and Po's grapple was parried.
One of the spearmen crit Dan, but only for 1 damage, while Mike Acrobatically Dodged the swordsman's attacks, and Po got stabbed twice and critically Feinted to sub-zero defenses. The Black Centurion wheeled his horse around, and Dan tried to grab a spearman to make himself harder to charge, but failed. Po All-Out Attacked (Swordsman: "My amazing Feint is wasted!") to grab at the swordsman twice, but missed anyway.
Someone in the party finally had a stroke of good luck as Roberto took out a pair of spearmen on the wall with a Dual-Weapon Attack, though he gave into Bloodlust. Po was stabbed twice in the torso and slashed on his left hand, but, because his dodge was already halved, he was content that his 28HP would be enough of a defence. The Black Centurion reared his mount and charged at Dan. The horse landed its Slam, sending him past a death check, and the Centurion himself slashed him in the skull for minimal damage.
Despite Shock, Dan did a sick flip and landed behind the Black Centurion on his horse. Mike knocked a swordsman prone with a Sweeping Kick, and Po finally landed another All-Out grapple on the swordsmen, just as one of the spearmen near him was shot down by a volley from the Navajo. The Black Centurion tried to get his horse to buck Dan off, but he stayed on and successfully put the Centurion in a Choke Hold.
The swordsman that Mike had sent prone made it to his knees just in time to have Mike cripple his hand, while Roberto finished off the last spearman on the wall. Po switched his grab to his prey's neck, which he then snapped for not quite enough injury to take him out, then got stabbed by his friend. The Black Centurion missed a Wild Swing at Dan behind him, but Dan failed to choke him, leaving them in a stalemate. Mike finished off the last spearman near him, and Roberto slid down the canvas tarp from the wall to the courtyard.
Po, frustrated that the swordsman was still conscious, made an All-Out Attack (Double), both Neck Snaps, which finally knocked him out. The weaponless swordsman Shield Rushed at Mike, and he narrowly made the Acrobatic Dodge before stomping his feet out from behind and sending him prone again. The Black Centurion landed a blow on Dan (Po: "Quick, Parry with your kidneys!"), but he kept his hold, though he still failed to choke him.
Roberto ran over to help Dan, while Po failed to grapple the last spearman with an All-Out Attack and got stabbed. The prone swordsman tried to pathetically kick at Mike with his one good foot, but missed and got knocked out by a retaliatory kick. The Black Centurion slashed at Dan again while spurring the horse away from the rest of the fight, and Dan continued to fail to choke him. Mike gave chase to the fleeing Centurion, while Roberto headed to a bunch of horses hitched nearby.
A Brief Chase Scene
Po finished off the last spearman before heading to join Roberto, while the Navajo shot the downed swordsman, leaving only the Black Centurion still standing. Finally, Dan managed to successfully start choking the Black Centurion, if only for 1 damage. Mike caught up to the horse and, following Dan's lead, jumped up and on with a use of Luck, landing in front of the saddle. The Centurion swung once at each of them, and though Mike dodged, Dan took it straight in the chest, sending him past his 4th death check.
Roberto gained ground on his new-found horse, while Po's mount struggled to keep up under his weight. Dan continued choking the Centurion while Mike kicked his legs for 1 injury, and he retaliated with a swing each; Mike made a Feverish Dodge, and he missed Dan. Dan decided he wasn't making good progress and Judo threw the Centurion to the ground instead, but stayed on the horse, while Mike jumped off.
As the Centurion struggled to his knees, Mike ran up and kicked him twice, but he brought his sword up in time to Parry both and made it onto his feet before the others could arrive. Roberto rode around the brawl, trying to come in from the side, while Po jumped off his mount to do a Flying Slam into the Centurion. He made a Feverish Dodge, and Po ended up with his back exposed. The Centurion made a Mighty Blow to Po's skull, but even followed by a triple Rapid Strike, it wasn't enough to knock him down ("Come on, 26HP isn't even my full health bar").
Why Won't You Die?
Dan started fishing through his bag for a sinchu root, hoping he would manage to eat it before passing out. Mike moved to the side and Feinted the Centurion with a 3... but lost the quick contest by 2 anyway. Roberto jumped off his horse and launched a triple Rapid Strike at the Centurion from the other side, but missed the first, and the Centurion sidestepped then Parried the second (which Roberto Lucked from a critical success) and third. Po spun around and made an All-Out Attack (Double), but the Centurion Parried and Dodged.
The Black Centurion repositioned to avoid being flanked, then Feinted Roberto, who parried his followup. The party agreed to try swarming his defences, and Mike stepped to his side and launched two kicks, the first of which crit for 3 damage, though the second was parried. Roberto followed suit, making another Triple Rapid Strike, and the Centurion parried all of them. Po again made an All-Out Attack (Double), and, with the help of a Retreat, the Centurion Dodged them both.
Again, the Black Centurion struck with his sword at the defenseless Po, with one blow to the skull (which caused a death check) and a second to the neck. Mike tried a triple Rapid Strike, but missed the first, and crit failed the second, while Roberto Evaluated. Po tried another All-Out Attack, and was easily Retreated and Parried. The Centurion retaliated with another three strikes at Po's neck (Po: "That leaves me at negative 69, nice." Mike: "Oh man, you're almost dead." Po: "It's okay, I have until negative 140").
Mike Waited for the Centurion to Retreat, while Roberto stepped up and made a -3 Deceptive Dual-Weapon Attack, but, as usual, the Centurion made both. With a "very unique maneuver", Po made another All-Out Attack (Double) but he Retreated to Dodge the first and the second was a crit fail. Mike's Wait triggered, and he made his own triple Rapid Strike, but the Centurion easily made the 2 Parries and Dodged on a 10.
The Black Centurion gave up on killing Po and failed a Feint against Mike, but he failed the Acrobatic Retreating Dodge against the followup and took 6 damage anyway. Dan crit a consciousness roll while still fishing around in his pack, so he would definitely not pass out before he found the sinchu root. Due to Shock, Mike stepped back and Evaluated, and Roberto followed suit.
Po decided to All-Out Attack anyway, but both attacks were parried anyway, and the Black Centurion landed another blow to the skull and two to the neck. The Navajo finally showed up, but they declined to fire into combat for fear of hitting the party. Dan finally found his sinchu root. Mike, Roberto, and Po all stepped up and Evaluated.
The Black Centurion backed up slightly, keeping the others at range, which allowed the Navajo to fire a volley; every single shot missed. The party continued to Evaluate, while the Centurion decided to Wait. Dan ate his sinchu root, gaining a whopping 5HP, then charged "his" stallion at the Centurion. The Black Centurion Sidestepped the charge, then his Wait triggered, and he Feinted Dan for 12 degrees before landing a trio of slashes which knocked him from the saddle to the ground, unconscious.
Notes:
Mike's player asked if cutting to the neck was still 2x damage or if it was 1.5x (like crushing), as I'd reduced weapon damage to flat 1x as part of this game. I couldn't remember off the top of my head and went with 1.5x from that point on, which was incorrect (though it was in the PCs favour, so no big deal).
My ruling on trying to get your mount to buck a second rider was that first the primary rider makes a Riding roll at any difficulty they want. If they succeed, then the secondary rider must make a Riding roll at the same difficulty, or be knocked off.
Dan was rolling for consciousness for quite a while, and only had enough FP to fail an HT-4 roll 5 times while getting his sinchu root. Naturally, he rolled a 5 on the 1d6 turns to pull it out of his backpack, and succeeded on exactly 2 of the 6 rolls he needed to make.
Po's player announced that mountains of HP is better than active defenses. This isn't a huge surprise, as he used to play Zaxod and Virgil in our DF campaign.
The entire time Dan was trying to choke out the Black Centurion, I forgot that he had Extra Attack, which would have made things much worse for Dan.
I busted out the Chase rules from Action 2 for the (brief) chase scene, and it worked well enough.
I realized afterwards that I messed up parry counting slightly during the final stage of the fight: once I said that the Black Centurion had parried, when he actually dodged, and once I said he dodged, when he had actually parried. It hadn't mattered either way, as he had rolled low enough to make the other defence regardless. I then started keeping track of his number of defences with dice, and that worked well.
Importantly, I forgot to add the Weapon Master damage to the Black Centurion's stats, so every single damage roll would have been 2 higher.
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