Session 1: The Broken Cart

Before deciding what to do... I still have questions:
The top of page 5 introduces some smoke, but no source.
Page 6 mentions that we hear crackling and the leaves above are partially obscured by some smoke.
Then, we're suddenly taking heat damage? Instinctively, I'd assume all living things would move towards the area where there is no smoke, or at least less of it. But, if we're close enough to a forest fire to sustain +3 damage in so few turns (measured by the 2-3 turns/actions we've taken since smoke first appeared), it seems trivial for party and bandits alike to continue skirmishing in face of such a great threat—abandoning the battle well before the threat of physical harm by fire. But, I digress...

Is the fire coming from one direction? All directions? Can we see fire, or just smoke? Is the road clear? Is the stream a safer option? I'm only asking because Mig wants to know! :)

The fire was sparked by the GMI introduced here. It has continued to grow each round, which I've tried to portray in the narrative/abstract instead of outlining it (the fast rate being attributed to the dryness of the underbrush). At this point, the bandits have fled the battle in part due to the fire, and in part due to the whomping you were all delivering. In-character, it can easily be assumed that everyone was so focused on those they were fighting with they had stopped paying attention to what was going on around them. (lifting up the GM screen for a moment, they would have fled this round solely due to the fire had you all failed your rolls. I also referenced the corebook for the 3pts ambient damage from a minor fire (p94)).

This is how I'm envisioning the scene. The fire is near the road, but is centralized and is expanding outward. At this point, everyone (with the exception of Ythrinda and Zandoran who have fled) is somewhere near/between the flames and were the cart is drawn (in-game, Khoj took it with him when he fled). The road is clear for the moment (though is obscured by smoke), and the stream that you heard previously is further in the forest than you have explored yet.

Might have gotten missed above Godric what would I be looking at to put out the fire abstractly is it feasible? Does the difficulty without revealing the level seem doable to Crash with the Cypher step down 3 plus some effort to drop it 4 levels?

Hasn't been overlooked, I just hadn't responded to it yet (I have a few narrative ideas for how the cypher will play out that I need to settle on plus I wanted to see what everyone else was deciding to do). Putting the fire out is definitely feasible though it's a challenging task. The boost from your cypher will make it seem like a normal thing to do, and putting effort into it would make it even easier. Your action this time was using the cypher, you can make a roll on your next action to put out the fire.

Cool cool, *googles dogs putting out fires*.

GMI stands for GM Intrusion - some sort of complication triggered by either rolling a natural 1 or by the GM offering it to a player along with 2 XP. In this case, it was from rolling a 1.
I must have missed seeing your question about the origin, and I had forgotten about you exploring the stream. Sorry about that!

While I haven't fought any wildfires, I'm no stranger to them (living in Colorado Springs, we've had our fair share of them over the last couple of years), and I agree - once the flames have taken to the trees, it'd take a miracle to put out without some major intervention. At this point, though intense enough to burn hair and blister flesh, it's still just consuming the underbrush. Cyphers really shine in moments like this, allowing players to accomplish things that are wildly beyond their natural skill set.

@Qralloq, what direction is Ythrinda running?

Ythrinda and Zandoran, you'll reach the stream next round.
Crash, go ahead and give me your firefighter roll.

@remnant, Effort would have come from your Speed pool