On the Road (OOC)

I think bolster our side.

Also can you please clarify for me the scope of what I should narrate? Would I say the guards are inspired and leap into the fray etc, or is that going too far?

Show us that. Add a roll. The roll could be primarily an attack and we will use that outcome to decide how effective you are at exhorting your troops; or it could be something else (social, maybe?) with might not be as effective against the enemy but could keep Rook safer and focus on how well the troops do. Your call.

Since Rook is kinda 'leading' the guards, let's see how that goes before we say just how inspired they are.

For now: Roll damage. If you can score more than 4 (which should be easy with the Oli extra) the bandit can die for sure and you can go ahead and narrate that however you wish. Less harm than that and it will be a sliding scale of how hurt they are and how much that bolsters your side.

LizzyPinkHood: After resolving Meht and Rook's actions the fight might be over. We are not going to wait for Leesha to weigh in, but we do hope you are still with us and would like to get your input if time allows, there will still be plenty for you to do afterwards.

My bad, I should have messaged sooner instead of putting it aside again and again - I had some real life issues, and work. It's sad, I wanted to play with you alot, but I don't think I have time to do it right now. I am very sorry :

Sorry to hear that.

We will background your character.

Once things get better you are welcome to come back and join us again.

theatreofcomets: You have a choice in your post. You can stick with what we have already and I can roll (already low) morale for the bandits; or you can roll +CHA to intimidate them further.

If you score well on the intimidate their morale will just break, else I will roll for them adjusted a bit more based on your result.

A 12+ would give you a lot of control of exact how their morale breaks.

Meht has Heal as one of his skills, which he'd like to use on the wounded guards. It looks like skills, while always succeeding to some degree, still need a roll - do they also need a properly-justified modifier, or just a flat 2d6?

Pursuant to all rest of this, healing takes time "When you rest and consume a ration/waterskin/wineskin, you may re-roll your HP." so that HP mechanic might not be immediately relevant.

The guards, being NPCs, do not have --nor roll-- HP, so the rules are very open when applied to them.
Yes, the Skills change the bottom end of the dice curve, so, by RAW, they apply to rolls. But they also define the characters, and provide fictional positioning.

The fact that Meht has the Heal Skill justifies him taking actions related to first aid, triage, or even dealing with the dead. Without it people may look askance at such actions.

With the withdrawal of Leesha's player we can assume --for now-- that there is further NPC healing available off-screen in the general cases where you don't want to take on that ongoing responsibility. Play out as much as you want, but try to keep any references to sidelined PCs to a minimum in terms of impact on said PC.
This depends on the fiction. Show us what you are doing, bearing in mind that 'healing' or full recovery will take time.

If you want Meht to start helping the wounded, then do that, it might require a roll to determine how successful you are, or the fact that you are a Heal(er) might be all we need, depending on the intended outcome. Show us the fiction.

Just because the bandits ran away and the caravan settled down does not mean you can not chose to chase them, track them, or try to take prisoners, or something. Your characters don't need to have been there for the merchant/captain's reactions.

It is up to you.

Rook: These are, of course, poor and desperate bandits. Their weapons (where they are not sticks) are pretty junky as well.

How open are you being about what you are doing? Are you trying to hide the fact that you are being less than respectful of the dead? How clear is it that you are looting the enemy only? Are you in fact looting the enemy only?

So far as you know there is no official policy for loot or loot distribution, but the merchant may have thoughts on the subject now that it has come up. :)

Are you (in character or out) looking for anything specific or just for valuables?

It does not seem like any particular Attribute is in play so far. If nothing applies we can roll the Die of Fate (single d6 with high being good and low being bad) to see how it goes.

I don't think Rook will be particularly subtle about what he's doing. Where he comes from, this is just how its done. He'll be more surprised if he's only one looting. He won't hoard though, he's accustomed to the idea that everybody gathers, and everybody get s a cut. Nothing specific he's looking for (though he'd like to find a good weapon, as you say these guys were pretty desperate), so die of fate seems reasonable to me.

Add a Die of Fate (1d6) roll to your IC post and we can see how it goes. A 1 will garner negative reactions, a 6 will get you something special, and the rest will be a sliding scale of very little to little.

You won't find weapons better than what you have, but might be able to branch out or collect them for conversion to copper coins later. Maybe 10 times the Die of Fate, twice that if you collect weapons for later resale?

Hi vagueGM - from your post I'm not sure if there's still a chance for Meht to intervene to stop the wounded bandit being killed, or if that moment's already passed and Meht is where the bandit queen is? If the former, Meht would like to intervene. If the latter, then yes, Oli is always corrent.

Ah, yes. That was a bit of a jump ahead, sorry.

Meht can intervene and save the bandit. He will have to stop the guard and may also face an uphill battle convincing everyone to spend time, effort, and medicine to help a bandit (they don't know they are in a story or that there is more to the world then their little philosophy:).

It is too late for their queen, though, that ship has sailed.

Thanks for clarifying, have posted. Does this need a roll, or is Meht's prestige still high enough post-battle that he'll be listened to? It seems pretty quick for the other guards to ignore him, given the stories they're starting to tell.

Added Rooks Die of Fate roll - he didn't blow it this time, which is an achievement for Rook these days.

I think I'll take the 10x deal. He'd take the weapons too, but he's also sharing with the others as appropriate, establish a little goodwill and comraderie, and maybe just palming a few of the nicer pieces here or there.

You said this would be the amount in copper, right? So if I got 40 cp worth of valuables, that'd be only 4xp? Am I understanding your intent correctly?

It occurred to me, later, that asking you to roll the Die of Fate with a 1 being potentially serious was a risky endeavour. :)
Cool. The 20x reward came largely from keeping the weapons long enough to sell them, so sharing them out is a good idea. Buy yourself some goodwill now.
40 copper is 2 silver. 240 copper per gold. See: youtube: Lindybeige - Pounds, shillings, and pence: a history of English coinage
Well, it is currently coin and not XP, which can be converted to XP when appropriate. Spending it on other stuff does not count towards leveling up (though, remember the start of game warning: Don't bargain on leveling up) but 'stuff' can still make you 'stronger'.

This was not the most rewarding encounter. They were poor bandits and things did not go smoothly (those damn pesky dice!) and you did not achieve anything 'special' (as in 'outside of just doing your job, for which you will be paid).

If things go really well with Meht's bandit patient you may find there are hidden opportunities (or were missed opportunities).

Everyone take this many XPs. \\\\

I changed the NPC's name from 'Jojo' to 'Jonjo' since we might have a new player called JoJo. We can change the NPC even more if we need to, Calum can be insensitive about names, but Meht does not know that he is being referenced.