Solo Savage Pathfinder – Scene 3 – Ambush!
We return to the Saga of Ondo and his court-assigned mission to hunt down the despicable warlock pirate Wran and take back the Pearl of Storms. Doing so will hopefully clear the Baridad family name and have bright implications for him and his mother. (See Session 0 for details).
We haven’t really delved much into Ondo’s backstory or personality. We know about his father, of course. We know that he grew up with Ness and that they’ve adventured together in the past. Other things to think about going forward are: how he got his training, the nature of his powers and magic, what types of adventures he’s gone on, and his goals and motivations. But I’m anxious to move along, so we’ll examine these a little later as we go.
For now we’ll have to be content with the Mythic Adventure Lists:
So far I’ve mostly been using the Mythic oracle for open questions and the Solo Savage Worlds oracle for closed yes/no questions. For this scene I’ll try to use the Solo Savage Worlds card drawing tables for open questions, just to see what type of inspiration and direction they can give. So with that, let’s start…
Scene 3 – The Mission Begins
We’ll test this scene, which should be the beginning of Ondo’s voyage, on the Mythic chart. Rolling a 7, which is higher than the current Chaos Factor (6), so there are no major changes to this plan.
Ondo does some research to discover likely locations to find Wran. He succeeds in his Common Knowledge roll to determine that the pirate sometimes does business in…
(Where? Drawing cards for the Solo SW oracle table…the King of Hearts — “Emotional Change” …um, okay. Hmm, not sure where to go with that. Maybe not a place, but a ship…the Capricious Heart. SW oracle – “Technical Communication”. It’s his courier ship. And — “Planning Something Magical”. It is said that the ship stays in contact with Wran via magical means.)
He learns about one of the stops on the ship’s route.
(The Mythic random names table is somewhat limited. I’m going to start using a different method to generate names. I’ll use the SW Solo oracle and take the first syllable of each word, putting them together to see how it works. First draw — “Mental Assistance”… “Men”+”As”. Or maybe 2nd syllable + 1st syllable = “Tal”+”As”. Is it an island – Yes! So the island of Talas. What’s it known for? “Physical Movement”. Cool, an island with physical movement…sounds like a volcanically-active island).
Ondo discovers that the Capricious Heart, Wran’s messenger ship, routinely visits the volcanic island of Talas. He hires a ship to take him to the town there with the treasury funds advanced to him by Ness for his mission. It’s his best lead so far to track down the pirate.
(The name of the ship that Ondo hires – SW oracle — “Social Choice”. How about Devotion – that’s sort of a social choice, right? The Captain of the Devotion is — “Personal Communication”…Per+Com. Sounds like Perkins. SW Reaction table — “Cooperative”. Roll 50/50 for sex — “male”).
Ondo books passage aboard the Devotion. Captain Perkins is an agreeable fellow who is happy to assist in hunting down pirates. It’s a (d12) — 5-day journey to Talas from Delcor. However, on the very first day, I draw a card and consult the Encounters table in the Savage Pathfinder Companion and get — “Scandalous Pirates”. This can’t be a coincidence – clearly Wran has learned of Ondo’s mission and is out to stop him before he begins!
Let’s do a combat on Roll20 between Ondo and the pirates. I think it’s better (and easier) to run it on land with Ondo alone instead of as the crews of two entire ships. A large-scale combat is going to be long and messy and I just want to start with a simpler encounter. I grab a random town map from Roll20’s free web resources and put the pirates in a likely spot for an ambush.
Solo Savage Worlds has a great idea about handing out Bennies when running a game without a GM. At the start of the scene, you draw a card and consult the Open Question tables, using the answer as a concept for the scene. If the character can use that concept in the scene, he gets a Benny. So for this scene I draw “Building Harm”. Cool. I’ll record that on my VTT to remind myself.
The Fight!
The pirates ambush Ondo in an alley on his way to the docks. Three pirate Extras, with the basic stats of a Soldier from the Savage Pathfinder rules, armed with cutlasses, should be a challenge. Their goal is to prevent him from getting on that ship.
Ondo isn’t expecting any trouble at the outset, so this might be a total surprise. I roll his Notice to see if he can react to the ambush and get — a 2 – failed. This seems important enough to spend a Benny on to get a reroll – if one of the pirates get a lucky shot, the fight could be over before Ondo even knows what hits him!
Fortunately on the reroll he gets — a 4 – success! Ondo is hustling to the docks, his mind going over last-minute details of his trip, so he almost doesn’t notice the three rough characters hiding around the corner of the alley. At the last second, however, he glances up and notices these ruffians paying a little bit too much attention to him. He instinctively clutches his cane tighter, and just in time to see the three men rush out, drawing cutlasses.
Round 1 – For initiative, the pirates get the King of Clubs. Ondo draws the Five of Clubs. Ondo doesn’t have any Edges that grant him extra initiative cards, so he’s stuck with the five. The pirates act first, catching him off guard and rushing in with a shout, swords swinging. Two can make it into fighting range and attack. The third can’t quite make it.
Enemy Tactics in Solo Play
Now this is where solo play can get tricky. How do we play the opposition? Do we optimize their fighting tactics to maximize their chances of winning? Make them make bad choices so you don’t kill off your hero right away? Somewhere in between?
Ideally, the three of them should all move into contact to give them a nice Gang Up bonus. And maybe they’d increase their odds if they each did Wild Attacks too, boosting their attack and damage rolls with only minimal risk to any individual. But would a group of cocky pirates think they need to do a full blitz attack on a lone, unsuspecting wizard? Let’s face it, these guys have probably been up all night drinking and aren’t feeling particularly energetic this early in the morning. But how do we know?
In solo roleplay, the answer to that is usually either “what makes sense” or “consult the oracle”. For this, what makes sense to me is to resolve it with a trait roll – is the third pirate smart enough to make the best choice in the heat of the moment? Their Smarts are d4 and I roll — a 2! No, too much rum last night. The third man will keep pace with his comrades, but no more. He won’t be attacking the first round, fortunately for Ondo.
The first pirate rushes in and swings his cutlass — a 1 + 1 for the Gang Up bonus. Miss! His eyes are still a little unfocused from a long, sleepless night. The second pirate, however, has some exploding dice and rolls — an 11 – a hit and a raise! Rolling damage + bonus die = 10. Ondo’s Parry is 6 with his cane, so that’s a hit and a raise. Ondo is going to take a Wound.
This seems like a great time for a Benny to Soak it. I roll — a 1 with a Wild Die of 2 – oh no, Ondo fails to Soak the Wound! One Benny left and the fight hasn’t even really begun. I’ll save the last Benny in case he needs it later. Ondo is now Shaken and takes one Wound. Rolling on the Injury table (just for flavor, not for permanent or Gritty Damage rules) we get a hit location in the Guts.
So to recap round 1 – One pirate is still running to engage. The next pirate is a bit groggy from waiting up all night for Ondo and fumbles around with his sword, missing his attack. The last pirate, however, rushes in with a series of rapid thrusts that Ondo only barely fends off with his cane, the last one slipping past his guard and stabbing him in gut. Ondo grabs his stomach in pain, blood seeping through his fingers.
So now all Ondo’s rolls are at -1 due to his injuries. Always a risk in Savage Worlds that a minor opponent can take you out. For his turn, he’s going to have to act quickly. Looking through his spells, it seems that summon ally and protection would be great ones to start with. Taking some of his opponents down would also be prudent, but right now in his shock and surprise he’s focused on defense. Hopefully it will be a good choice. The odds are not in his favor.
I was thinking that Ondo could have a bird theme to his magic, so the ally he summons is going to be a massive eagle. And the Trappings for his protection spell is a swirl of song birds that swoop around him, distracting enemies and blocking incoming attacks.
First thing’s first, Ondo rolls to unshake and succeeds with a raise.
His first Spellcasting roll at -3 (-1 for the Wound and -2 for multiple actions) for summon ally is a 4 – success! He spends 4 PP for a Bodyguard ally + 1 to give it a bite/claw attack and +2 to let it fly, for a total of 7 PP. It’s a bit excessive and grandstanding, but Ondo has style. And I doubt I’ll succeed in many more rolls, so might as well burn the power points when I get the chance.
His second Spellcasting roll fails, but I’m going to spend that last Benny. The reroll Aces and Ondo gets an 11 to cast protection on himself. With a raise, he gets +2 Toughness for 5 rounds. Let’s hope it’s enough!
Ondo spins his hands in the air and whistles like the shriek of a bird of prey, the sound breathing life into a huge brown-and-white-feathered eagle that flies into existence between him and his attackers. Then he makes a similar, smaller hand gesture as he did with the eagle while whistling a different twittering tune. A small flock of sparrows dart out of thin air and begin circling around him.
Since a summoned ally can act on the round it was summoned, Ondo points at his assailants and directs the eagle to attack. The bird’s attack roll explodes and it gets a 10 – a hit and a raise. Woo hoo! For damage, the bonus d6 explodes for a total of 18 points of damage. The pirate’s Toughness is only 5 so that’s like…a lot of Wounds. The eagle swoops into the pirate’s chest with a solid thwomp, sinking its claws deep into his heart and knocking him off his feet with the force of the impact. The cutthroat lands hard on his back and doesn’t move.
Round 2 – Ondo gets a Three of Spades and the pirates get the Two of Spades. Ondo reacts first.
After the deadly success from the summoned the eagle, he’s going to try to trick the second pirate by pretending to cast even more magic in hopes it will make him flinch or hesitate and throw off his attack. This will be a Test of Spellcasting vs Smarts. Ondo rolls a 2 and the pirate rolls a 5. The pirate ignores the clumsy attempt to trick him. He’s not easily fooled by magic, which makes sense since he works for a notorious warlock.
The eagle swoops to attack the same pirate as well and rolls a 1 – miss. It has trouble extracting its claws from the pirate it killed last round and getting airborne again.
The surviving two pirates press the attack. One is going to go after the bird, which seems to be the bigger threat for the moment. The other one is going to continue to try to take Ondo down, since he’s the target of this ambush.
The attack on the eagle is a 5, just enough to match its Parry. The pirate’s damage dice explode and he does 11 points. The eagle has a 7 Toughness, so that’s one Wound and enough to take it out. The pirate hacks its wing off and it squawks and flutters into itself, disappearing in a puff of feathers as it returns to the realm it was summoned from. No!
The pirate on Ondo savagely swings his cutlass like he’s chopping wood (rolls a 2), but the wizard manages to fend off all the blows with his cane. (In matching with the bird magic theme, I’m going to say that Ondo’s cane handle is a silver hawk head).
Round 3 – The pirates get the Jack of Spades and Ondo gets a Four of Hearts – pirates go first this round. This may be a short-lived career for our wizard.
Emboldened by slaying the eagle, the two pirates set to simply trying to cut Ondo down before anyone starts to investigate the sounds of the fight. They roll a 5 and 4 and with the +1 Gang Up bonus, the 5 + 1 matches Ondo’s Parry (6).
The pirate’s damage explodes (again!) rolling a 13. Ondo’s Toughness is 7 with his protection spell. So he’s Shaken and, with no more Bennies, he has to take another Wound. Rolling on the Injury table, the pirate hits Ondo in the unmentionables. A crotch shot – ouch!
Ondo successfully unShakes, but he desperately needs help. Fortunately he’s in a city. Maybe there’s someone around who can aid him. Looking at the theme for the scene “Building Harm” suggests a course of action – he could break a window and hopefully get someone’s attention. With his Wounds, all his actions are going to be at -2, so his best bet, his highest skill, is his Spellcasting with a d8. Trying to throw something or fire his crossbow would have a very low probability of success.
He focuses his mind through the pain of his injuries, weaving the incantations to summon a flock of crows (the Trappings of his bolt spell). He is going to send the birds through a likely window nearby that looks like it might have a lot of people inside.
(I’ll give him a Notice roll to determine this – if he fails, it’ll just be random chance whether there’s someone behind the window or not. He rolls an exploding 20! He definitely knows that the window at the end of the alley belongs to a busy tavern and he can actually see folks moving around inside).
His Spellcasting roll explodes as well, getting a 9, which drops to a 7 after the Wound penalty – not enough for a raise. But the goal is simply to shatter the window to draw people out, so that’s pretty much automatic. The birds materialize out of the wind generated by his twisting hands, flying en masse at the large front bay window of a popular inn, shattering the glass inward in a loud crash. (The scene theme is “Building Harm” – so, hey, if he survives, at least he’ll get a Benny).
Round 4 – The pirates draw the Ace of Clubs and Ondo gets Three of Hearts. Again Ondo’s attackers have the initiative.
There’s shouting in the direction of the tavern as citizens rouse to the commotion. The pirates know their time is limited and need to finish the job now or risk being caught by a crowd. They move together, jabbing and feinting, looking for an opening in the wizard’s guard. They roll a 2 and a 5, getting a +1 for the Gang Up. The second pirate hits again, clearly the coolest head in this group.
For damage he only rolls a 4, not high enough to beat Ondo’s Toughness (7). The protective flock of sparrows distract the pirate at the last second, causing his blade to only graze the mage.
Ondo hears the growing sound of raised voices where his birds smashed the window, so all he needs to do now is survive a little longer. He opts to take the Defend action, giving him a +4 Parry. He whirls his cane in front of him, smacking at the blades of his would-be assassins.
Round 5 – Ondo draws the Queen of Clubs and the pirates get the Five of Spades.
Every round starting now I’ll roll to see whether someone comes outside and sees the fight. I’ll start with a d4 this round and then increase it one die type every round until there’s a success. First round I roll – a 3. There’s loud complaining about the glass, but no one is coming out of the tavern to investigate yet.
I know it’s kind of boring, but Ondo takes the Defend action again. He can’t really move anywhere without the pirates getting a free attack and his Wound penalties mean that most of his actions have very little chance of succeeding. On the plus side, this gives him a 10 Parry this round.
The pirates need to break through his formidable defenses, so they come upon a quick improvised plan. The first tries to circle around Ondo, shouting to try to get him to drop his guard for his friend. I’ll make this a Test of Fighting vs Ondo’s Agility to try to keep his focus on both attackers. The pirate’s roll Aces and he gets an 8 vs Ondo, who gets a 1. That’s a success and a raise – Ondo is Vulnerable and Shaken!
Ondo is too fatigued from the shock of his injuries to keep pivoting. The second pirate takes advantage of of the wizard’s disorientation. He rolls a 3 + 1 for the Gang Up bonus and +2 because Ondo is Vulnerable, for a grand total of 6 – a hit! He again only rolls a 4 for damage and Ondo’s protective spell blocks the brunt of the damage a second time. Whew…but his luck can’t last forever.
Round 6 – Ondo draws the Jack of Hearts and the pirates act on the Two of Diamonds.
Rolling to see whether anyone comes out of the tavern, this time on a d6, I get – a 6!
(Let’s give this place a name. Mythic oracle – “Pierce” “Peaceful”. A lot of taverns are named after animals and it’s a port town, so “Pierce” makes me think of a narwhal. The Inn of the Timid Narwhal).
Several people come out of the Timid Narwhal looking at the shattered bay window and then to the pitched battle going on in the alley across the way.
Ondo rolls to unshake and succeeds. His protection spell drops this turn, unless he spends a Power Point, which he is definitely going to do. He shouts for help while busily trying to defend himself.
The pirates have to make a choice now – stay and finish the job or flee. Either one comes with its own risk, so there’s no clear choice. I’ll roll on a 50/50 oracle – they decide to run! With a glance back at the growing crowd, the pirates curse Ondo and then run off through the winding streets of Delcor City.
Ondo watches them go, holding his bleeding stomach and wincing in pain. He slumps to the ground as a crowd hesitantly approaches trying to figure out what’s going on. What in the watery hells have I gotten myself into, he wonders.
End Scene 3
Wow, okay, so our wizard survived and we got to find out something new about his powers! This was a risky encounter, fighting one against three. In the future I may want to pad combats with Extras. I and Ondo both take note that there’s strength in numbers.
The story has taken an interesting turn. Wran, the wicked pirate warlock, is apparently aware of what’s happening in Delcor and sent his goons to take out the wizard before his mission could even begin. Does he believe that Ondo is really that much of a threat and, if so, why? Was this just a random opportunity? Were they tipped off about the wizard’s mission? The next adventure may end up staying in town if Ondo wants to put off his voyage to Talas and investigate these questions.
For the game, Ondo gets a Benny for fulfilling an action related to the scene theme “Building Harm” because he smashed out the window of the Timid Narwhal. I’ll also roll for advancement, using the Savage Worlds Solo guide method of asking “does he deserve one?” and then rolling – a 6! Yes, he gets an advance. He’s going to need it.
Let’s increase the Chaos Factor to 7 – things are getting wacky. We’ll add Wran’s pirates to the Mythic Adventure NPC List. Definitely going to see those guys again. The captain and crew of the Devotion may stay relevant, so I’ll add them. And let’s also include the Timid Narwhal because that would be cool if the tavern comes into play again.
For the Threads List we need Wran’s messenger ship, the Capricious Heart. And I’m going to put “Spies in Delcor?” because it’s pretty strange that Ondo was attacked before embarking on his journey. Like how did anyone know what he was up to? Maybe that’ll turn out to be something.
What a great session. It’s amazing how a solo game can go in such unexpected directions. I’m looking forward to finding out what happens next!
