DaimonGames : yet another design blog

See part one here

You can also comment about the adventure on G+

Casting :
- Grégoire de Marsiac, Frankish Leader who went to the holy land to avoid ashaming his family further more
- Azim ben Arrabas, the veteran follower of the book of Q trying to redeem himself through combat for what he did during the crusades

Our two blood brothers just arrived at the gate of the remote village of Bersaba after being sent by Magister Geoffrey to evaluate the economical and strategical potential of the place and start partnership with the Iron Fist if worthy.
As they rode down the mountains where they had to flee an enormous Roc bird, they spotted a group of riders arriving at the village as well…

As they approached, they realized that the village was circled by a high (5m) stone wall and the door to wit they were arriving at was flanked by a wooden tower. A villager spotted them from afar and urged them to state their business. The compagnions declared being sent by the Iron Fist compagny to discuss the possiblity of a partnership with the village and there was a bit of a fuss from behind the walls. Several people were arguing amongst themselves and after a short while, the doors opened and two men welcomed Azim and Grégoire to Bersaba.

One of them, a broaded shoulders man by the name of Yakov, told them that it’s so rare to have so many visitors in Bersaba, especially the kinds who want to do business with them. The battle borthers were intrigued about the identity of the others and, as an answer, Yakov led them to the village plazza. The place was crowded by many villagers, men, women, old ones and children, gathered to listen and watch to the other visitors and as Yakov opened the crowd for Azim and Grégoire, they saw them as well.

A small group of warriors cladded in shiny and exotic armors, scimitars sheathed at their flanks, were standing next to a stern looking man, with an aquiline nose and an impressive and intricate helmet. They were grim, dour and dangerous followers of the book of Q and as soon as they saw each other, their leader stared straight at Azim with a murderous expression in his gaze.
In the middle of the two groups, sat on a small bench was a very old villager with a sheep pelt over his bony shoulders and a very long white beard. Despite his very advanced age sparkles of wits and wisdom could be easily seen in his grey eyes and he spotted at once the animosity that arose between the leader of the riders and Azim. Yakov hushed to his ear some words designing the newcomers and a cunning smile appeared on his dry lips as he spoke with a clear warm voice :
“By the Holy Vengeance of Judas, what do we have here? Other visitors who want to treat with us and from the City of Judas itself no less? So fortunate we are here in Bersaba! So, my friends, as I was saying to lord Al Kerim here, we, Bersabites, are a humble but hard working people. Our ancertors built this wall a long time ago, before even the Sons of Rome came and settle in Judea. We’re mostly herders and farmers but open to new opportunities nonetheless. So what is it you have to offer strangers?”
Lord Al Kerim, who didn’t stop staring at Azim with hate and disgust, answered to the Elder :
” We, followers of the book of Q, won’t demand much to your people, old one. We only ask you to convert and join our evergrowing army of followers for the benefit of the only Truth, in exchange of what you’ll receive protection from us against the carrion-eaters and scums that apprently roam this land even inside your very walls as it seems!”
Azim replied :
“At least, we, brothers of the Iron Fist won’t let their families rot when all the men will be killed in your senseless wars and feuds!”
NOTA : as you understood, Al Kerim & Azim knew each other. I introduced here an element of the BG of Azim as he chose for an issue which he will have to deal with soon. He described how some other followers of the book of Q beside whom he fought during the crusades resented him as a traitor and apostate, hence the behaviour of Al Kerim here.

The Elder, turned to Azim and Grégoire and asked them :
“So what do you have to propose then dwellers from the Holy City of our Saviour Judas blessed his name?”
NOTA : Grégoire should have spoken here for, as the Leader, his character was the most skilled at this, but as Azim stood up against Al Kerim AND it was an issue from his BG, I prefered to let him do the talking. So he spoke :
“Our brotherhood only want to start a partnership with Bersaba. As we saw, your walls are thick and high and your flocks plentiful. We may have the use of such an asset as your village as a place for shelter and resupply in this wilderness. In exchange, we’ll send brothers to help you out in case of need, some of our barbers might be sent here as well to tend the wounded and the sick, and our warriors will protect you against the rapacity of the desert wolves and other petty annoyances” said he looking at Al Kerim.
NOTA : he rolled+charm for a manipulate check the leverage being the help the IF might give to the village, and he got a 7-9.
The other followers of Q grabbed the hilt of their scimitars but Al Kerim raised his hand and they backed off.
Once again a witty smile shone upon the Elder’s face.
“Hummm…let’s see. So we both have here two valiant and potential allies and both their requests seem to be fair, in a way despite the fact that our faith is deeply rooted in Judas…”
“Then, you’ll have to pay a fine and go on with your faith. We’ll ensure that your temples and ceremonies go on as they always did.’ replied Al Kerim.
“That is very kind of you lord Al Kerim and a very sensible counter proposal. So now how to decide between the two of you?”
“Put us to a challenge! -proposed Al Kerim. We could easily overpower those ridiculous worms and son of traitor!”
“Then it is settled. There is a threat to us and our shepherds in the mountains nearby. A gigantic bird kills our people and our flocks for many moons but we can’t repell it. Warriors might. So here is the task : the first of you who brings us the head of the beast will receive our support. I swear it by the Holy Name of our Saviour Judas. What say you?”
The two sides agreed and the hunt shall begin.

As nightfall was upon Bersaba, Al Kerim and his warriors left the village by the way they came but the compagnions were offered a place to stay for the night. They really didn’t want to spend another one in the mountains… And as they were getting water at the village’s well by a young woman, Azim saw in guise of her the beautiful maiden he met in the Essenian district during his last mission. She was smiling at him with her radiant smile, her birght red lips and something, a primal urge to take her in his arms and kiss her was devouring his soul.
NOTA : remember the visions he had when he got bitten by the scorpion in the Part 1? I chose this precise moment to have him make a test your Spirit check that he totally botched. He chose then to take a -1 spirit instead of succombing to his urge…
NOTA : as it was getting late, I decided to jump in media res from this point to the confrontation with the Roc bird.

After a long day of hunting the monster among the rocky wilderness, they finally found it feasting on the remains of a few sheeps. But as they were getting closer, they could see the reflection of the light against metal : their rivals were here as well.
A tough and dirty battle was about to begin…

END of part 2.
As you saw there wasn’t so much of tests this time, I prefered having the players role play the talking but what I loved was the tension between the two sides and the surprise of Azim’s player when I told him that he saw this old ennemy in the village (I think he welcomed his presence with a “oooooh crap” or something like that).

Continue to part three

Here is another actual play by Gregory.
If you want you can also comment here on G+

For starters, the casting :
- Azim ben Arrabas, the veteran from the crusades follower of the book of Q who successfully accomplished one mission (and saved a mule called Judith^^).
- Grégoire de Marsiac, a Frank leader from Gasconny who ended up at Jerusalem after having ashamed his family.

The two of the blood brothers were summoned once again by the Magister Geoffrey but this time he sent them to the small and remote village of Bersaba in the southern part of Judea. Their mission was to assess the economical and strategical strengths of the place and if worthy to start negociate a business relationship with the Iron Fist (IF). Even if Azim was the most experienced brother, Geoffrey gave the command to Grégoire because he’s heard “some people” speaking highly of him (As a noble, Grégoire’s got some family in Jerusalem as he described in his background). Nonetheless, it didn’t really please the Magister who will particularily have an eye on Grégoire’s results. Better for him to succeed in his first endeavor…

The Quatermaster of the IF (have to give him a name next time, because I have the feeling he’ll be a recurrent NPC) gave them one horse each (strong european ones actually) and rations for the 10 days trip.
Before leaving the City of Judas, Azim thought that a map would (justly) help them to get quickly and safely to Bersaba.
NOTA : I, at first, thought they should have gotten a map but then thought that those items were rare and mostly very expensive at the time so I decided that, as rookies still, the IF wouldn’t invest so much in them…for now at least.
I called for a Equipment move and Azim scored a 7-9, so he could find a map but had to pay some extra gold for it (-1 equipment).
As for Grégoire, he had the very good idea to buy some presents for the Bersaba’s authorities, so both of them spend the rest of the first day around the numerous bazaars and souks of Jerusalem. They even witnessed to a christian flagellant procession towards the Mount of Olives.
NOTA : concerning the Grégoire’s request, I didn’t want to have him check his equipment move now as I thought it would be more funny/interesting to have it roll when he’ll give it to the village’s elder. I thought that maybe he could have choosen poorly the gift and maybe anger the Elder if he rolled 6- for example.

Anyhow, Azim & Grégoire got out of Jerusalem and started a long trip into the Judea’s wilderness. I asked only Grégoire to roll a Face Danger+steel and Azim to help him (actually both of them) rolling a face Danger+Brains as he was using the map. He rolled again a 7-9.
So…the map was really usefull to them as Azim’s player described how it’s got many places indicated to rest during the hottest part of the day and to find good shelter for the more than chilly nights (probably a map maide by an old pilgrim) but one day as Azim was looking at it at mid-day, he didn’t notice the scorpion crawling under the map and before he realized it stung him.
NOTA : the scorpion was the consequence of his 7-9 face danger test, it was a soft move at first as Azim spotted the crawly but failed at another Face Danger+Edge check. So I turned it into a hard move and had him loose 2 or 3 health (I don’t really remember how much it was).
BTW, how do you guyz rule the effects of poison? Do you give it a straight number of damage like I did? I thought that maybe one could give as well the Unstable condition even if Health is superior to 0? What do you think?

Grégoire decided to loose couple days to stay put to help Azim recover a bit from his strong fevers (I took there the opportunity, as part of the fiction to have Azim dreamt about the girl at the well from their first adventure and start having strange and mixed feelings about her. You’ll see why later…)
NOTA : Here I asked Grégoire’s player to choose between helping Azim and stay put but maybe loose their supply of food and water or to keep them but keep on going riding with a feverish veteran on a saddle.

After the two days, the fever was gone and they could resume their trip. So as part of the deal, i asked both of them to make an Equipment check to see if they’ll have suffciently rations to get to Bersaba, and they both aced it.

At the ninth day (out of 10) they reached a treacherous mountain path and had to take their mounts by the bridle, mostly climbing more than walking. I asked for another Face Danger+steel : Azim got a 10+ and Grégoire a 7-9. So as they were advancing amongst the rocky landscape, Grégoire spotted a strange shadow passing right over them. He couldn’t see what it was but it gave him an eerie feeling about it.
NOTA : here I used my move from the 7-9 of Grégoire to introduce a Remote Danger.

Some time later they heard screams quickly followed by a strange buzz and a sudden wind. As they were getting closer a flock of sheeps emerged from the top of a cliff, running in every directions. They peeked from over the cliff and saw a shepherd desperately trying to drive out the most gigantic bird they had ever seen. They noticed as well another shepherd lying on the rocks in a pool of his own blood. The huge bird of prey was flapping its wings with such a strength that he could create such a strong wind, that the shepherd had to wrestle with it to stay on his feet.
NOTA : the bird was indeed a monster. I just got my inspiration from the classical Roc Bird and have it be Massive with 2 armor points roughly speaking.

I asked the two compagnions what they wanted to do and after some considerations towards the beast, they finally decided to avoid any confrontation whatsoever with it. So as they were sneaking past it, I called for a Defy Danger+shadow test when the Roc just cleved the poor shepherd they could have saved.
NOTA : now I know what to do to them when they’ll reach -1spirit…Some tainting is on its way.

Azim, once again, proved himself worthy and sneaky and therefore avoided the monster quickly with his mount. But things didn’t turn out so good for our leader. Unfortunately he got a 6-, so he didn’t sneak past it AND the Roc spotted him! I also stated that his horse got scared and ran away (now I thought that maybe I was a bit hard on him at the time). Grégoire asked for the best course of action (or should has he said “survival”?) and I asked him to roll a perception test. he managed to figure out that the best way out was a small cave at some distance or trying to jump on Azim’s mount to ride double. But first he had to get the hell out of there at once as the enormous bird-thing was jumping straight at him! Time to roll an other Face Danger +edge. Grégoire just had the time to get to Azim before he heard the slamming of a gigantic beek right behind his neck!
NOTA : I had Azim helped Grégoire automatically as his described how he was getting his mount clsoer and ready for the Frank, waving and cheering at him to give Grégoire some more strength.

But now they weren’t out of harm’s way yet, they had to outrun the Roc and another time the battle brothers saved themselves thanks of the horsemanship of the veteran (who got another 10+ on his Face Danger+edge test).
NOTA : I’ve got a question here : I think I should have given him maybe a -1 to Azim face danger test as they were riding double. How do you deal with this kind of drawback in general? I believe that in DW you could do that but I’m not entirely sure.

They rode and rode quicker than the wind, avoiding the holes and the treacherous rocks along the way and after what was an eternity of riding, ducking and keeping balance on the saddle their got outside the mountain pass by nightfall. They didn’t catch any glimpse of the bird but could spot some lights down the valley. They had reached the village of Bersaba.
As there was 1 hour of riding left and it was dark, they prefered spend the night in a cave nearby even if the monster could be near.
NOTA : I thought that it was kind of a poor decision personnaly, as i described that the Roc was on their tail for most of their escape but their argument was valid, so I called for a spirit check. And they both failed (6-).

Azim and Grégoire spent the worst night they ever lived. During most of it, they could clearly hear the threatening buzz and the flapping of massive wings followed sometimes by a terrifying shriek. Azim was submerged by fear and crawled to the deepest part of the cave where he spent the whole night trembling and sweating, chanting all the prayers he knew from the book of Q. As for Grégoire, he was just furious against himself as he thought that he acted with cowardice when he let the shepherd got killed gruesomely by the monster.
NOTA : here I used the consequence of a failed test your spirit check and chose : “you show the worst of you…”

Only when the firsts rays of light shown themselves, they got it together and could they resume their mission.
As they were climbing down the mountain, Grégoire spotted from far away, the cloud of dust made by a group of riders approaching the village. Who were they and what was their business at Bersaba?…

END of the first part.

So, as usual, I’d love to hear comments, critics and advices from you guyz about how I ran the first part of this adventure. As you noticed, I called for a lot of Face Danger tests. Do you think there were too many? Or should I had replaced some of them with other moves maybe? To me it didn’t appear like weird really but I’m always open to suggestion! Hope you liked it! :)

Continue to part two

Again about the design process of City of Judas. I’d love to hear your opinions – as fellow game designers and as players as well.

This time it’s all about the Setting - the crusades, the medieval times, and why the Middle East…

Previous articles about the game design:
intro and inspiration
starting to design the game
playbooks, counters, and moves
about the number of moves, and about accepting good advice

The Setting
When I released the first beta (or actually, alpha) of the game, it already had a very precise setting: the characters are mercenaries, and they start in the area of Jerusalem, in a setting that is a mix of real historical events (such as the crusades) and imaginary ones (the most prominent being the cult of Judas).
What I wanted to achieve was a setting that would stand out as clearly different from the dark “European” fantasy setting that most of the games have. This choice required some sacrifices: there is no Empire, there are no Fantasy Kingdoms with their wars and their nobility, for example, but here the characters are somehow part of an invading force, or anyway forced to cope with a mix of war and politics where it’s very hard to determine who to side with…
There is no space for a dark and cold forest with ogres or goblins - but there are demons, many of them; they’re at work in the dark, influencing the politics of men in power and trying to exploit the weaknesses of the various religious cults. And there are other monsters like Carnivorous Elephants, Sand-worms, Scorpion-men or Horned Wild-cats (for all of those I took some inspiration from the ancient persian and arab monsters).

I felt that the setting had a great potential: both for its intrinsic value and for the simple fact that it is different than others.
The temptation to recycle a more common stereotype was strong (and I guess City of Judas could be also played in such setting with a very minimal adaptation, if you feel inclined to do so). I was actually working on a different system with such traditional setting. But judging by the feedback I received, the choice of the holy land and the crusades was a winner.
Another positive side of the combination of the medieval times and the holy land, is that it presents a subject which is reasonably familiar for most of the players; there’s no need to study some alternative history or geography. But at the same time, since this is not the real history, not the real crusades, it leaves space for improvisation and original stories.
Strongly tied to the setting is the issue of religion and sorcery.

But before we discuss that, here are some questions for you.

What’s your favorite part about the setting or the City of Judas flavor and color?
Did you have a chance to exploit, in terms of fiction material or inspiration, this setting with its very well defined premises?
Do you feel still free enough to improvise, to re-write history with your players?

Click here if you prefer to comment on G+.

Some questions from Gregory - see the original G+ thread here .

As somehow new to the Apocalypse World system in general, I just would like to have your different views here about how you deal with the Perception move.

For instance, during and investigative mission I asked my PC to have a Perception check because they were watching over their client. One of the PCs got like 3 holds/questions and started to ask me things like : what’s hidden here, what might be the escape route, and so forth. Only matter was that I didn’t plan anything really dangerous at this point so I had to play along because I didn’t want to rob the player of one of his hold. What do you think?

During such a kind of watchful mission, would you maybe have your PCs to roll for Perception only once and assume this check will cover, say a day of watch or maybe like a special event only?

One, very useful answer from Richard Sardinas:

You can always tell the player that they can keep those holds for the future. Well not too far into the future, but maybe the scene, where they can ask other questions as the RP develops. I’ve seen GMs that sometimes merge Read a Sitch and Read a Person if the player rolls high enough, and there’s not enough relevant information for either moves.

A lengthy answer from myself:

A perception move is somehow broader than read a situation or read a person, in the sense that it can be triggered also by the GM (”When you observe and ponder, when you need to decide your course in battle, when there’s something to notice).
If as a GM you call for it, the idea is to let the person with the highest Stat roll for the group so that they can be prepared for what’s coming.

Now, for the example that you mentioned: if there is no danger, I tell that to the players. The thing is: if they’re rolling perception in a dangerous situation, then the answers are usually obvious.
But if there is no immediate danger? Well, that can be a good thing for the characters, if they can use this time, safely, to setup something or pursue something in relative safety.
Why where they watching over the client? was he someone that they needed to protect?

It is fine to use a single roll to cover a longer period of time: if you prep says that the afternoon will be quiet and someone will try to kidnap the client at night, then you can say that they spot no one until after dark…
Or you can say something that will put them on alert: for example that there is no immediate threat but they notice a couple of fake beggars checking out the surroundings reasonably in preparation for some later attack…
In general, as you said, tune accordingly to the situation, and be honest with the players. Sometimes if there is no danger, there’s no danger.

The only thing, of course, if you give them a relative safe time/safe zone, then you should stick to it. Make it clear to them when the situation changes and another roll would be needed to ensure everything remains safe.

And continues after a reply from Gregory:

If they work together - they keep watch together on a small location - yes, I’d say ask the one with highest Brains to roll and the others to help.
It’s one roll: they should not be frustrated… there would be plenty of rolls for everybody as a follow-up from the Perception. I.e. if they gather info on the threat(s), then every character would have a role in dealing with it.
Say that they ace the roll, a 10+: this doesn’t mean that you cannot show an incoming threat. It means they’re aware of it and ready to act before the enemy gets to them. For example they will have the time to organize a defense, to setup a trap or an ambush, to escort the client out from a backdoor and try to run away safely… or they might try to kill the spies sent by the enemy (this will give up their intentions to the enemy, but the enemy will receive no info about the client) etc.

I wouldn’t ask “on what or who their watch will be focused”: the game is not much about making the perfect choice as ‘players’ (a player is only vaguely aware of what the GM thinks - remember the scene of the bribe in front of the gate?). The game is about what happens to the characters.
This is their job: they know what to look for… If they stick together, the one with the highest Brains rolls and the others chip in to help if needed.

Let’s say the one rolling gets a 7-9, and one steps in to help. He gets a 7-9 too, so he brings the Perception roll up to 10+ (it goes up one step, not just + 1), but he’s now exposed.
How did it go in fiction? Let’s say the sorcerer is on the watch, he notices something, the other player wants to help, he steps out of the gate to check it out and thump, a dart hits the wall an inch from his nose. The spies have seen him and have decided to try an attack on their own…

They want to act independently? Ok, so deal with the first one on the watch. He gets a 10+ and they use the safety at their disposal to setup some defense. They don’t? Ok, so tell them that they’re just wasting time, are they sure they don’t want to try to prepare something in advance?
Then move to the next turn of the watch, who’s on the watch now? … since we’re not going to sit all night rolling Perception, then give them signs of the approaching danger. A good Perception roll will just allow them to spot them.

Here is the third and last part, from Gregory.

Read the first part here, and the second part here.

PART 3 (and last!) of my first COJ game.

As they were getting outside of Jerusalem by night, Azim and Zeno (and their mule) went towards the port of Ashdod. Zeno’s gang stayed behind as they didn’t cross the gate in fear of compromising the mission (that was a call of Zeno’s player actually and not such a bad idea).

Staying on the merchant road heading to the west, Azim pondered and strong of countless treks in the wilderness during his soldier life, thought that the road would be watched and decided to get off the beaten tracks. But as the City of Judas was at least lit a bit, that wasn’t the case (at all!) in the wilds and that they might be spotted at a distance if they used torches. Azim’s player asked me if he could have a kind of thief’s lantern with only one beam of light that one could shut down quickly. That wasn’t something his character was supposed to have amongst his possession as a veteran but I called for an Equipment check anyway. Azim scored a 10+ and then used two holds to have something unusual for his character and the last one to have it while on the road. Our two Fraters started their trip through the wild and rocky countryside.
NOTA : I called then for a defy danger+steel (if I remember correctly) as the trip was rough and they had to keep on moving quickly to egt to Ashdod before the captain ran away. Both aced it. However, I have a question here for +Davide : have you considered a move to deal with this “adventuring into the wild” like there was in DW?

After a harsh night spent walking, climbing and exhausting themselves, Zeno the raider and Azim the veteran finally caught a glimpse of the shimmering waters of the sea! They reached the port itself and noticed the frank vessel, “le Fol Ventoux” not far away. But between them and the boat stood a group of tough mean looking mercenaries who were visibly patrolling in the vincinity of the ship.Azim told Zeno to stay behind as he’ll try to get past the guards to talk to the captain of the Fol Ventoux. He succeeded (10+) and managed to reach the dock just in front of the vessel. There he asked for the Captain and saw a frightened bearded face looking at him with extreme caution. As they were nearly mid-day, he Frank was tense. He hushed at Azim about hem being crazy to try to board their cargo now as the mercenary pack was searching for them all around the docks. Azim tried to calm him down but failed (6-) at his face danger+charm move… Suddenly a rugged voice shouted something behind him. The mercenaries finally saw him! (I used the GM move show remote danger - well not so remote actually ). Already two of them were nearly at him and he started a bloody fight standing on the footbridge. He managed to throw one of his adversaries off the bridge but the other one forced him to abandon his position (-1 to his AD) using the length of his spear. Zeno who saw the whole scene from behind a sturdy building started to shoot at the other group of mercenaries, mostly forcing them to dive for cover. Azim fought fiercely against three opponnents (should I had him used the face death as they were more than 2 Vs 1?? At this time I didn’t but I am not so sure now…) and Zeno was now crossing blades with the sergeant (a strong type adversary) whose broad sword moved aside the light dagger of the raider and ripped his armor apart (thought that some weapon should definitely be able to break some armor, for good, as Zeno was only wearing light leather armor) putting his life at a real risk.
During the fight, the footbridge collapsed as the boat was leaving the port! Worse, one of the mercenary started to take the mule with him (as a consequence of one of their failed combat move)! Azim fled the battle and sprinted along the docks to finally jump and land on the Fol Ventoux’s deck! Then as he was trying to assess the situation (using a perception check) he asked as one hold this question : what is the best course to have the captain stop the ship? To which I answered : in threatening his life, and that’s what he did. He rolled a test of manipulate (and succeeded with a 7-9. With a blade onto his throat, the captain reconsidered his option and acept to give a bit more time to the blood brothers (Azim player chose the “they give you what you want …” option). The boat stopped his course and a rowing boat came down.

At the docks the battle between Zeno and the mercenaries led by their grim and strongly build sergeant went bad for the raider (he suffered several injuries and was at 0 health). As he didn’t see where Azim was (the player didn’t want to make a perception check maybe in fear of a failure hence another GM move?^^) he decided to run for his life! The mercenaries didn’t really care to kill him anyway, so they let him go (they were paid to recover the shipment only). That’s at this precise moment that two sailors led by a determined Azim appeared from below the dock where a poor now exhausted mercenary tried to pull the mule away. Quickly and with a deadly precision, the veteran sneaked behind the man and stroke him down with a blow of his mace crushing helmet and skull alike.
NOTA : here Azim asked to sneak behind the merc, so I asked for a defy danger+shadow. As he succeeded with a 10+ I decided that he stroke the man down without a Inflict harm move. I thought it suited best the fiction. Was the guard dead or simply KO, it didn’t really matter as he was taken down for the rest of the fight.

At once he started to pull the mule to get it inside the rowing boat when the rest of the mercenary gang spotted him and rushed straight towards his position! Zeno spotted this two from behind his hideout and rushed as well to help his brother. He ran like a madman until he reached the rear of the mule, pushing his bottom as Azim was dragging it!
NOTA here I asked for a help someone move and decided that Zeno automatically succeeded. I guess I was maybe a bit too kind having him spotted the whole thing as he said he was running away from the fight but it was late and I thought ah “what the heck”.

Finally the mule got in the rowing boat with Azim and the two sailors completely startled by the beast standing now next to them! As for Zeno he was the last to get on board and was baddly struck by a spear as he was trying not to regain his balance. The spear head pierced his leather layers and broke his shoulder blade (I think he was then at -2 health and as such got the unstable condition). And the hit pushed him overboard! Fortunately for him, Azim saved the day (and surely his life!) and pulled him out!
NOTA : as he got a 6 on the suffer harm move, I chose the “it”s serious…” option and decided he strength of the blow pushed him overboard. Then I don’t remember well but I asked a face danger+steel (or was it edge?) at Zeno’s player and I think he missed it completely., but as Azim tried to help him and successfully got a 10+ I said that he saved him from drowning. Was I right here? Can you still increase the success of someone who just failed ?

At the end, both Azim & Zeno went aboard the Fol Ventoux and managed to deliver the opium. The mission was still a success but there were some questions here still unanswered : who paid those mercenaries and the bribe at the gate? How could he knew of the operation? What was the fate of brother Timeus? Did he die during the assault in the Essenian district? And most importantly what will become of their new friend the mule?^^

Anyway I had a good time running this game even if I screwed up from time to time. We still have to go through the “milestoning” and the end of a mission move but I think we had a good overview of the game’s mechanics. Hope you enjoyed this gaming report!

Link to the original G+ post