Circle of Death: Grend vs. Mad Ramos

In this match the two human warriors face each other in the arena. Grend has proven he can stand a long fight and hold a stronger opponent at bay until they are tired. Mad Ramos defeated the elf Black Talon with a mixture of skill and luck. [In this fight I played Mad Ramos, who has a rating of 8, against Grend who has a rating of 9. I've also built some walls to decorate the arena.]

The two warriors move to the center of the arena. With a quick dash, Grend moves to Mad Ramos' right in order to avoid his shield and stabs with his spear. However, Ramos quickly deflects the attack and strikes back in a continuous motion. Grend steps back and lunges again, wounding Mad Ramos in the chest.

Feeling the pain of the wound, Mad Ramos takes a step back and catches some air. Grend advances, trying to hit with another stab but his opponent blocks him. The fight continues and Grend attempts another attack. Before Mad Ramos can react, he makes a quick stab that catches him in the belly. He steps away and catches his breath again, his back against the arena wall.

Trying to regain some strength, Mad Ramos moves along the edge of the arena, keeping out of reach of Grend's attacks. As the audience starts booing, he stands his ground and waits for the attack. Grend moves in and makes a series of quick stabs, holding his spear above the shoulder. Mad Ramos dodges and blocks the spear tip and then, as Grend pulls his arm back, slashes him across the chest, with enough force to push him back.

The two warriors pause for a moment, breathing heavily, then resume the fight. Their weapons meet each other's shields several times and the roar of the spectators is frightening, like thunder announcing a storm. Mad Ramos pushes Grend back once more, and he charges again. The wild swordsman steps to the side, spinning around and hitting Grend in the neck as he passes. The impact decapitates him in a single strike.

Conclusion

Grend's shield was very useful as it blocked a strong attack from Mad Ramos, which otherwise might have caused a bleeder wound. Unfortunately, Ramos would land another strong attack to the head, this time a killing stroke.

One of the tournament finalists has been defined, and now only two matches remain. Mad Ramos succeeded on the recovery roll so he's ready for the winner of the fight between Drush and Terokk.

Last Stand at Kirrinbahr

This is just a quick post to comment on the solo adventure "Last Stand at Kirrinbahr." It is a paragraph-based adventure, along with some maps to help understand the context and a simple action and combat resolution system. I've just finished playing it in about 3 hours and thoroughly enjoyed it. By the end of the game I was really immersed -- a feat in solo games as it's just too easy to step back and analyze the game from the outside.

Two things I liked: your actions have logical consequences (at least for me) and the story does have some twists. Actually, make it three: the action and combat resolution systems work well to keep the game moving.

Two things I didn't like: the PDF could have hyperlinks to aid navigating across paragraphs and maps (I bet many people will play this on a computer or tablet instead of printing the book) and some character options don't seem to matter so much as others (but I didn't explore every possible path in the book.)

It's hard to comment much more without spoiling the game, so I'll stop here. As with most paragraph-based games, the replay value isn't very high although I'll probably try again with different character choices.

Circle of Death: Keris vs. Terokk

Keris had watched the match between Drush and Sussimog. Officially, he had joined the tournament to champion the red sun, in a land where most people ignored the traditions or had sympathy for the dark cults. There was more, however. He learned that the orc who killed his brother in the arena would be there, and maybe he might avenge him.

Terokk the wanderer came from distant lands. At first he spoke in a strange tongue but with time, he learned how to be understood by the locals, although with a disturbing accent. It is known that foreigners sometimes are accepted as gladiators (some say the gods welcome all races, others say they are good to draw people to the arena.) Terokk is always on the move, looking for better opponents and that's the motivation for him to joining the tournament.

Keris entered the arena and looked at his opponent. Although green-skinned, he was no orc: Terokk was taller and built more like a human, except for the hair that looked like plant roots. And that unnerving white mask that looked like bone. [In this battle, Terokk has a rating of 8 so I controlled him, against the rating 10 dwarf fighter.]

Terokk advanced to the center of the arena, holding his sword with both hands at an angle across his chest. Keris moved towards him, and taking advantage of the reach of his halberd, tried a stab but the large humanoid dodged it.

The two fighters started to exchange blows. Terokk tried to avoid Keris' shield with slashes to his right side but the dwarf managed to parry and deflect the attacks. On the other hand, the dwarf also couldn't find an opening for a decisive strike. At one time, Terokk would burst a chain of attacks, only to be blocked by the dwarf's shield. Then Keris would try to hit with alternate stabs and slashes, but the green man kept dodging and deflecting the attacks.

As the fighters grew tired, their movements became slower and less precise. At one point Keris tried to hit with another stab but Terokk spun around and slashed his left leg, causing a serious wound. The dwarf stumbed back, almost losing his balance.

Terokk tried to press on but the dwarf avoided the attacks. Keris focused on the fight, ignoring as much as he could the bleeding wound on his leg. Unfortunately, he grew weak and after parrying one slash from Terokk he left his guard open. The green giant took the opportunity and drove the sword through him, ending the fight.

Conclusion

Despite having a higher rating, this matchup was the worst possible one for the dwarf, as the size difference gave a bonus attack die to Terokk all the time. I think I'm getting the hang of the game, both in terms of being able to play it at a good pace, and in learning some strategy.

This fight completes the first part of the tournament. Now the fights between Grend and Mad Ramos and between Drush and Terokk will define the contenders for the final match.

Circle of Death: Drush vs. Sussimog

There's shadow, and then there's darkness, in Talomir. The cult of the black moon spreads and corrupts and while some orc tribes embrace it fully, other races are drawn by its promises of power. Such is the case of Sussimog's tribe of turtle men. Constantly losing territory to other tribes, the once peaceful creatures moved to a region infested by demonic energies. Not long after, they were waging war against other reptilian races. Sussimog is the third in command of his tribe. He was sent to the tournament as a champion to prove the strength of his tribe, to bring new allies and intimidate their enemies.

Drush is one of the black moon orcs. He travels around the continent to fight anyone in the arenas for the glory of the dark forces.

[Since both fighters have the same rating and almost the same point values (85 and 87) I randomly chose one to play, getting Sussimog.]

The crowd cheers as the two fighters enter the arena -- on one side, the huge turtle man waves his club above his head, while the musclebound orc roars and shakes his two handed axe. The orc charges to the center of the arena, showing his pointed teeth. Sussimog advances in a steady pace and lifts his club, ready to bring it down on the orc's head.

However, the orc is faster and spins his axe in a wide arc that cuts through the turtle man's armor, and flesh. The sound of the breaking shell startles part of the crowd, and blood gushes from the turtle man's belly, who stumbles and falls on his back.

Before the turtle man can stand up, Drush leaps forward and brings his axe down on his chest. Once again, the sound of broken shell is terrifying and Sussimog is covered in his own blood.

Sussimog finally stands up, grasping his club with both hands in a defensive posture. He seems to lose focus for a moment but then his expression changes to grim determination. He blocks and parries the orc's strikes and every averted blow brings cheers from the crowd. This only increases Drush's rage and when he finally breaks through the turtle man's defenses, he drives his axe deep into his chest. The hit is so violent that Sussimog drops his club and is pushed back, his life gone as he falls to the ground.

Conclusion

This was the most brutal fight so far. I didn't want to use too many bonus dice at the start, while the orc rolled seven bonus dice to attack (plus another one for his rage and two for his vicious signatures.) The result was that serious, bleeding wound right at the beginning. Once the orc burned his bonus dice, he was a lot less dangerous, as seen at the end of the fight...

Now only one fight remains for this first part of the tournament. Who will fight Drush: Keris or Terokk?

Circle of Death: Black Talon vs. Mad Ramos

Black Talon used to be a notorious thief and assassin, hired for dangerous and complex missions by the rich and powerful. As it tends to happen, overconfidence got the best of him when he stole an artifact after murdering a powerful wizard. The wizard's colleagues traced him through the artifact -- and worse yet, found and destroyed the man who hired him. When he learned that he was the next target of the vindictive wizards, Black Talon used whatever contacts he still had to become a gladiator. Most of the time, he travels around fighting opponents that he knows he can defeat. He is not in the arena for fame, but for survival. There are rumors that he joined the tournament to gain allies that might help him against the wizards...

No one is sure about Mad Ramos' story as he tells it differently every time: one day he might say he fought in two wars, while on the next he was born a gladiator, or maybe an escaped slave. He's said to come from Mirish because that's when he was first seen fighting in arenas. Barefooted and wearing no armor, his opponents tend to underestimate him until it's too late. [In this match, Black Talon is a rating 9 gladiator while Mad Ramos has a rating of 8, so I played him.]

The two opponents reach the center of the arena and the clash of swords begins. Mad Ramos attempts a stab but Black Talon counter strikes, only to be blocked by Ramos' shield. The two fighters keep exchanging attacks until Black Talon cuts into Mad Ramos' left leg, causing him to jump back defensively. [There was an awesome exchange of seven attacks, moving back and forth before Black Talon got a hit.]

After the intense start of the fight, Mad Ramos pauses to catch his breath, his wounded left leg instinctively placed backwards. Black Talon advances, alternating attacks with his two swords but can't find an opening, so Mad Ramos hits back. The elf attempts a bold maneuver, slashing with both swords but Ramos dodges to the side and cleaves Black Talon's left leg just above the knee, causing him to fall down with the impact. [And then on the third turn I got lucky, winning an attack by 3 and getting 5 successes on the damage roll -- destroying Black Talon's left leg and causing a bleeder wound!]

Black Talon gets up with surprising speed, blood flowing from his left leg in pulsating rhythm. Mad Ramos barely avoids a strike as he turns around and the two fighters start another exchange of blows that continues until Mad Ramos hits the elf with a high slash, opening a cut to his forehead. Keeping the pressure, the crazed warrior bashes the elf with his shield, hurting his right arm.

The elf is noticeably weakened by the loss of blood and most of what he can do is keep his defenses up, and maybe get a lucky hit. However, Mad Ramos won't stop in his berserker rage and attacks again, this time causing a grievous wound to the elf's right arm.

With all the pain from his wounds, and his right arm nearly useless, Black Talon attempts one last strike before the mad warrior can turn around. The two exchange attacks furiously and the crowd is startled at the elf's resilience. Seconds feel like hours as the swords meet but for every clash, life leaves Black Talon's body. It doesn't take long before he collapses on the ground, dead.

Conclusion

Who'd have guessed that the human would defeat the elf? This was a nice fight and I was a little less stingy with the bonus dice this time. The exchanges of attacks during the fight were great to play, with several counter-attacks -- they don't translate so well to this battle report. 

On the next phase of the tournament we'll have Grend vs. Mad Ramos, but the next match will be Drush vs. Sussimog: a battle between the strongest and the best-armored fighters in the Circle of Death.