Book Cover:
So what's this book about?
Back cover blurb:
YOU are a mercenary, battle-hardened and cunning, a man with a mission You will need all your skills if you are to penetrate Bloodrise Keep and destroy the threat to the Alliance.
First of course, we have the rules, and as usual there are the Standard FF Boilerplate Rules:
Skill, Stamina, & Luck
STAMINA score: Roll two dice. Add 12 points to the result. We roll a 4+2 and get 18 (The Alliance doesn't seem willing to spare much expenses for a first-class mercenary. They'll have to settle for an average one!)
LUCK score: Roll one die. Add 6 to the result. We roll a 5 and get 11 (Good fortune for a Soldier of Fortune!)
SKILL score reflects your expertise in combat, your ability with weapons, and your dexterity. STAMINA is your general constitution and "Life points" . LUCK score shows how lucky you are. None of them may exceed their Initial score unless specifically stated.
Eating a meal restores up to 4 points of STAMINA; you may only eat one meal at a time.
Testing your Luck: When instructed by the book to Test your Luck, roll two dice. If the result is equal to or less than your current LUCK score, you are Lucky. If the result exceeds your current LUCK score, you are Unlucky. Whatever the outcome, you must deduct one point from your current LUCK score every time you Test your Luck. The more you use your LUCK, the less likely you are to be Lucky.
The combat sequence is then:
1. Roll two dice for your opponent. Add the total rolled to its SKILL score. This is the Attack Strength of your enemy.
2. Roll two dice and add the total to your own current SKILL score. This is your Attack Strength.
3. If your Attack Strength is the higher, you have wounded your opponent: deduct 2 points from your opponent's STAMINA..
If your opponent's Attack Strength is higher, it has wounded you: deduct 2 points from your own STAMINA.
If both Attack Strengths are equal, you have avoided each other's blows.
4. Begin the next Combat Round, starting again at step 1. This procedure continues until either you or your opponent has a STAMINA score of zero. If your opponent's STAMINA score reaches zero, you have killed it and can continue with your adventure. If your own STAMINA score reaches zero, you are dead.
Often you will have to fight more than one opponent at a time. Sometimes you will treat them as a single opponent; at others, you will be able to fight them one at a time; and sometimes all of them will be able to attack you, while you defend yourself and may attack only one of them. Specific instructions will be given whenever you meet more than one opponent.
Using Luck in Combat
You can use your LUCK in combat to inflict a particularly serious wound, or to minimize a wound that has been inflicted on you.
Whenever you wound an opponent, you may Test your Luck. If you are Lucky, you have inflicted a severe wound: deduct an extra 2 points from your opponent's STAMINA. If you are Unlucky, you have merely grazed it, and you deduct 1 point less than normal from its STAMINA.
If you have been wounded, you can Test your Luck in exactly the same way. If you are Lucky, the wound upon you was only a glancing blow and you can deduct 1 less point of STAMINA than usual. If you are Unlucky, the wound is serious: deduct 1 extra point from your STAMINA.
There are 2 new values we need to keep track of (although one of them only comes late in the book). They are:
Resolve
Our Initial RESOLVE can be determined by rolling 1 die and adding 5: we roll a 3 and get 8. However, Resolve CAN be raised above our Initial scores. But it can never go above 12, or below 2.
There's one more thing about this stat that needs to be mentioned, but I'll leave it to later, as there's something I want to determine by your votes....
Pretty standard stuff here too: we're armed with a sword, dressed in leather armour, and carries a backpack that contains enough provisions for 10 meals.
So, before we begin, here something concerning the new stat that I'd like to hear your opinions on: one thing I've yet to mention about RESOLVE is that it's stated that every time we test it successfully, we can add 1 to it, whereas if we fail, we must subtract one from the score. Now, if we go strictly by the text, if we start with a high score we're almost guaranteed to get it up to 12 after the first few tests and pretty much be immune from failure for the rest of the book. Conversely, starting at a low score is likely to mean that it'll deteriorate all the way to 2 very quickly.
Some players choose interpret this in a different way so that the stat tests will not be horribly unbalanced: when they pass a RESOLVE test, they add 1 to the score for the next RESOLVE test (and vice versa for failures) instead of adding to the score permanently, which does sound fair.
What do you guys think about this? Should be adhere strictly by the letter of the text regarding the RESOLVE tests for this playthrough (add/subtract 1 permanently for each test), or go by the latter interpretation (add/subtract only for the next test)?
Note that there are also other opportunity for gain/loss of RESOLVE other than via tests (some permanent and some not).
Also, any ideas regarding the name of our new hero are welcome!
Adventure Sheet:
SKILL 9/9
STAMINA 18/218
LUCK 11/11
RESOLVE: 8
Equipment: Sword, Leather Armor
Provisions: 10 Meals (+4 STAMINA)