Need a Ride? (1244)

Wait, so the ships are facing bow towards bow, are still moving, but maintain distance and aspect...is one of them moving backwards?
How far in between are the ships?

The spell Rust, Rot and Ruin... is designed as a Terram spell like many other Terram spells without any other Form requisites in the design (meaning: not costing a magnitude) but requiring them as casting requisites. Fist of shattering and Stone to Falling dust are examples. This seems to be an inherent advantage Terram has. That seemed fair to me, I assumed it was ok.

The Woad does not have total damage immunity, so he'll try to dodge. You can roll the dice if you want, I can't seem to find the online die roller.

Brawling Defense is 2+ stress die [edit: unless you allow the use of other combat abilities instead?], I assume I'll get hit. Soak is +10 so I'm counting on that. The Concentration roll is 9+ stress die, EF for dodging looks to be 12 so that's doable.

Assuming the Woad escapes relatively unharmed, he will be moving around to be a more difficult target.

If he succeeds in ruining the bows, the next step is more offensive. What arms and armour are they carrying, are the archer equipped like the meat-shields?

Since Shattering the Sword in Seven Sharp Shards both has T:Part and allows wood to be exploded (with a casting req), there is no shortage of targets when standing on the deck of a ship.

Splinters were historically the most damaging effect of cannonballs in hulls during the xviii-early xix century naval battles. At least to my Trafalgar book by Osprey Publishing. So yeah, exploding wood should be an extremely effective weapon in a Naval battle.

1 Like

Try this...
http://www.coyotecode.net/roll/

Since you leave it to my discretion, I say it is easy to dodge the arrows. But you fail your Concentration. Try casting again the next round. You are still invisible, and now that you have moved, you can notbe made a deliberate target.
Or can you? mwahahahahahaha!

The ship you are on, the Betty, is moving sideways. It gets pretty freaky if you think about it. But Santiago once told you that it is wise to adapt first and analyze later. The enemy ship (the *Black Agnes") is moving normalllly at a speed of maybe five knots? The Betty is positioned so that her bow is pointed at the starboard bow of the Black Agnes. She maintains a distance of a quarter cable (about 50 yards or more),and is moving sideways to keep pace with Black Agnes.

You can discern the nature of the enemy a bit better if you scrutinize. I'll make that roll for you too. :smiley:

You see four "corpse-men", that which you refer to as meat-shields. They don't seem to be equipped with anything. Behind and dodging between them are three archers with long bows. One of them is down. They took a hit from Betty's fire team.

So top of the next round. You can try to cast your spell, but you may want to wait on that. The archer that took a hit. He rises up as walking dead. You saw that coming. But the same thing happens on the Betty. The one guy in the fire team that took a hit, it killed him. And now he rises up from the dead, a corpse sailor, and will start to attack the crew.
But that attack comes next round. It is this round in which he rises up from death. The Woad has the next move.

Corpse-men don’t fire bows, so the Woad thinks.
But an enemy in our midst has first priority.
The Woad attacks the rising corpse-man with his spear, before it harms our side.
_: 1D10 = [6] = 6
And Atk + 11 = +17
Dam +8, in addition to a hopefully high Atk advantage.
The Woad makes sure to move about as much as he can

Eilric might be the smallest sailor on the Betty, and the youngest, and the newest, but he was damned if he was going to let anyone tell him he was the most useless! As soon as trouble started, he grabbed his bow and started shooting. At first he didn't realize what exactly he was shooting at. But as he looked more carefully he could see that some of the enemy weren't alive - well., not really. He'd heard the older sailors tell stories about things like this. But he hadn't really believed them until just now.

OOC: Enter Eilric, the smallest, youngest, and newest sailor on the Betty. Eager to prove himself, he's ready to do whatever it takes! Just tell me how you want me to participate. I posted his stats on the New CharGen Ideas thread so as not to clutter things up here.

You do surprise the thing. In only you were strong...
(I am suggesting maybe you may want to trade one Great Stamina Virtue in for Improved Characteristics in Strength. If you want.)

But I will give you this. You distract and confuse the corpse (who is just barely dead with an arrow in the eye (and brain)). Two of our sailors manage to pin it down and restrain it. This slows our fire rate, but the enemy has slowed also. Mindless corpse men don't use bows. Too much multitasking for the animator, unless he focuses on animating just one (and can use bows).
Next round: Both sides are maintaining cover and no one shoots. The Woad surveys the situation. Black Agnes is making a turn to their starboard coming towards the Betty. Johan tries to pivot and maintain distance, but the Betty is buffeted by an unfortunate wind (The Woad suspects it was a supernatural wind).

Distance is about an eighth of a cable (30 yards).

I took Great Stamina twice, because Concentration rolls are vital for the Woad being in the midst of battle and wanting to cast spells while touching with his spear.
But reducing Stm by that one buys Str from 0 to 2...

The Woad wants to spot the enemy helmsman and blast deck planks with Shatter the Sword in Seven Sharp Shards

(I was just putting the idea out there.That fifth point of Stamina is impressive in many other ways).

Eilric the sailor, in cover behind the rail, takes aim at the cowardly English hiding behind corpses. The Woad looks for where he thinks the helm would be. He spots someone that looks to be a leader type. A filthy and disgusting obese thing. You feel offended just having seen the thing.
This is Ugly Pete.
25 yards.
Roll your spell, take your shot.

Raising his crossbow, Eilric takes aim and fires his crossbow at the English hiding behind the walking corpses. He has a perfect shot at one of them, and his aim is true. But will it be enough?

Roll to hit: Eilric crossbow attack: 1D10+10 = [8]+10 = 18
Damage: Eilric crossbow damage: 1D10+9 = [9]+9 = 18

OOC: Well, that's it for the crossbow. :slight_smile: It's 30 combat rounds to reload. I'm guessing the undead aren't going to give us that long. I hope this shot counts!

According to Lords of Men page 139, reloading takes three rounds using a belt hook, or a single round for someone with Str +3 or better to do it by hand. You had a two man team behind you, handing off a fresh weapon and taking the discharged one to reload it. One of those two guys got shot in the head. He is now a corpse being restrained by two other sailors. You and the other sniper now share a back up crew of just one guy.
To speed things up: Your shot was great, and you incapacitate an archer. The other shooter aims for the last remaining archer and hits him in the leg.
Waiting on results from The Woad before I decide Ugly Pete's next move.

It’s probably Ugle Pete at the helm, so Penetration matters.
Is he wearing armour or bearing arms? In that case I’ll go for them, or another individual object close to him, flexing down to Individual and lvl 20.
Roll is a lucky _: 1D10 = [1] = 1
followed by a _: 1D10 = [8] = 8

Casting 16+36=52
Penetration is thus 52-20+4=36
Damage is 10+ _: 1D10 = [9] = 9

Whoa, I just remembered that the Woad has the spell mastered at lvl 1 with Mumtiple casting, so he casts two copies.

I'm hoping Ugly Pete has both a sword and a helmet, in order to cast using only Terram. Using Herbam casting requisite means the casting bonus drops to +22.

Second copy rolls _: 1D10 = [7] = 7
so Penetration is 22+7-20+4=13 for Herbam or 36+7-20+4=27 if there is another Terram object.

Damage is 10 + _: 1D10 = [8] = 8

Ugly Pete has an axe strapped to his left arm. He is missing a hand. No helmet. Pirates don't wear helmets :laughing:

You have no difficulty with Penetration, even at your Herbam score. You shatter his axe-arm, and it knocks him asunder! He is tough, and undead, so it does not destroy him. But he is stunned.

Assessing the tactical situation, you have the upper hand. There is one wounded archer left, and Ugly Pete is down for the round.

Of course pirates don't wear helmets. And I expect an exploding bandana is a lot less dangerous than it sounds.

The follow up is to shatter the remaining archer's bow
Casting is _: 1D10 = [4] = 4
+22. I expect Pen is irrelevant.
Dam is 10+_: 1D10 = [4] = 4
, but the main point is to rob him of a weapon.

Good work :smiley:
There are two enemy archers still alive on Black Agnes. One is incapacitated. The other took a shot in the leg and then his bow detonated.
The Woad spots Cidito on the enemy ship! Not using his cartoon image. He is scruffy and scragly, and grown to the size of a short man. He grabs each of the living archers and tosses them in the water. Then he takes a leap himself, and lands right on top of one of them. He flips the incapacitated guy over to float on his back.
You see that Cidito is carrying a box or something strapped to his back. All three floating together, they start to paddle towards the Betty. Then from overhead, Roberto comes sailing in and blasts the enemy ship with multicast Piliae of Fire. The bloated corpse of Ugly Pete is consumed by flame. Not a permanent solution, but it should keep him down a few years.

What had happened:
Roberto was flying recon to locate the Agnes, and had communicated directions to Ciditio via mental transmission. When you encountered the Black Agnes, you and the team did a fantastic job of keeping the enemy's attention occupied. While you were doing that, Cidito infiltrated that ship and recovered Veronica's Jewelry Box (the box you spotted him carrying). Cidito has this trick where he can walk around corners, and if unobserved, he could be anywhere. Like Pixel from The Cat who could Walk through Walls. Once he had the box, Roberto could torch the ship. But first, because he is not a butcher, the two remaining living humans had to be rescued.
As for setting Pete on fire, as I said, it is a temporary solution. Back in 1222, Havlard Ex-Miscellanea torched him. Or was it Alianus? But it didn't stay. Pete reconstituted himself from wet ashes. He is either a Faerie repeating a cycle, or a powerful spirit that conjures a body. Something uncertain.

All right, that went well.
The Woad’ tricks worked somewhat. Although he needs a lot more training to be as efficient as I’d like him to be.

The Woad talks to Roberto after the incident, de has deactivated his Stoneskin as to look normal and not freak out the crew anymore:

The Woad hopes things worked out as planned. He is reasonably satisfied with his own contribution, although there is ample opportunity for improvement. The Woad had forgotten how much he detests arrows, such undignified way of fighting. He will need to develop some magic to render arrows less needful of his attention.
Ther Woad will gladly act as a distraction in combat, and he understands the episode might also have been some sort of test of his skill, cool, and ability to think on his feet. However to better contribute to succes the Woad would like in the future to be privy to plans and tactics.
Ugly Pete is some kind of faerie you say? A recurring vilain? Hibernia has loads of fae, and while not an expert in any way, the Woad has heard of faeries with powers of some significance reforming from destruction and repeating their stories.

And then he moves into shop talk:
The Woad sees a need to train the Art of Herbam, since wood is such a plentifully used material, he hopes Andorra's library has good tomes on this subject. It would seem most firring with a Perdo based solution to the arrow problem, however there seems to be some challenge in long-lasting Perdo effects, which effectively needs to be reapplied again and again every moment, if approaching arrows are to be destroyed before hitting. Hermetic magic seems to have a lack in this respect, and if it were easy someone would have done it by now. It may be that Shriek of the Impending Shafts or a personal ward is the way to go.

That third person thing..., nevermind.
Archery is not undignified. I am unskilled in the art, but it has merits. Harder than it looks. You would do well with some ranged attacks in your repitoire. Battle axes and poison daggers. Different styles are better suited to different applications.

Don't overthink it. I am not sneaky or clever enough to devise such a test. And I did inform you of the plan. Through Cidito. We have a mental link. I told him to tell you to keep their attention. My best plans tend to be spur of the moment affairs.

I am not sure what Ugly Pete is. I have theories, but I have no evidence to examine. He is associated with the Sea Hag that I mentioned. He may be a spirit, like a genie, and can just magically create a body as needed. But it seems to be tied to a cycle. Or something. It will take a few years before he returns.

I know that spell. I can teach you. I also know Howl of the Steel Weapons, a similar spell that assists against different weapons. Enhanced perceptions in combat are essential.
And I also need to brush up on Herbam. It is my one weak spot. Not because of any flaw in my Gift. I just have yet to get around to it.
As for your Perdo idea, I am not sure what you mean. You just need a Momentary Perdo to destroy an arrow. Multicast it and destroy multiples at once. Ot a Group Target. Or even better, an enchanted device! As for a Perdo"field", I am sure it can be done, but that sounds like more trouble than it is worth. How would that work? Are you thinking of some sort of anti-wood zone?
And here is the thing about secret tricks of Hermetic Magic. Just when you are certain a thing can't be done, somewhere someone is doing it. They figured it out using traditional methods right under our nose, or they made a breakthrough and are keeping it secret. There are all kinds of magic secrets out there. Most of them are useless.

If it's too annoying I'll stop. It's just a gag, a character trait, and yes I know it sounds arrogant and pretensious. If any real people hate it, or if any player characters are likely to be so annoyed that it harms covenant relations, the Woad can stop.