The Judge will remind the PCs that served with, or rode with, the No Buffalo Outfit . . . that they were in fact in Kansas, at least once.

OOC:

It seems to me that the players (with the Judge's input) ought to discuss the background and present setting (where the PCs find themselves to begin this chapter of our adventure) and come to some sort of consensus before we jump in and begin writing. By way of example, I have absolutely no interest in a "Weird West" setting (involving werewolves, zombies, vampires and the like), but I understand that that sort of thing may appeal to others.

So, I'm going to ante up with a proposal, with the understanding that it is for the purposes of starting a discussion. In my version of our setting, the South did indeed win its independence as a result of the War Between the States/Civil War, and the PCs now find themselves in a cantina in Havana, Cuba. I perceive Jake as being there on behalf of certain Southern interests, but obviously this leaves the other PCs with a blank canvas as to what they are doing there.

This idea not a crazy as it (perhaps) sounds. Historically the South did have designs on expanding its influence into Cuba, but this setting assumes that this has not yet occurred -- Cuba is still under Spanish control. However, with an independent South close by, ideas that had originated before the war are being dusted off and re-examined.

This would place the PCs in an entirely different setting, but one which is, I feel, historically justifiable. It would also give the Judge a chance to exercise his historical chops by expanding into a setting that (I suspect) he does not know quite as well as the American West.

Again, this is being tossed out for discussion. I understand that it may not appeal to other players or the Judge, in which case my feelings won't be hurt. :)

Edit: Moved to this thread from the OOC thread.
This message was last edited by the player at 23:54, Tue 14 Aug 2018.

OOC:

Here is another variation on a (somewhat) similar theme. Let us assume that Mexico, still seething from the effects of the Texas revolution and the indignities heaped upon it by the young United States during the war between the two nations, took advantage of the Gringos being locked in a war with each other by annexing the area that is now New Mexico, and areas of southern California.

Perhaps the PCs now find themselves in a cantina in old Santé Fe, which has now passed back under Mexican control . . .
This message was last edited by the player at 16:02, Fri 17 Aug 2018.

OOC: Since it's just Jake and the Judge (tv show title?) we're gonna have some fun with a sample combat based on Jake's initial design.

---------------------------------

Jacob Richardsen couldn't sleep. Normally, the Texan could sleep anywhere. Tonight, on the chaparral, with his pards all snoring loud as thunder, the rifleman just couldn't rest his mind.

Finally, near dawn, Richardsen arose and set to walkin'. He kept the Winchester in the crook of his left arm, as usual. At a glance, a feller might think the rifleman had three arms. Technically, or at least figuratively, he did.

The rifleman was a mite deaf in his left ear but fortunately the sound from the rolling rock was to his right. Turning towards the sound, the Texan saw a silhouette on the ridge above, and the glint of a gun barrel in the early rays of the sunrise.

---------------------------------

OOC: Initiative. Read the Savaged Goin' sticky forum.

The Judge draws from the Initiative deck. Jacob, then the silhouette (OOC: crazy draw)
Jacob: Joker
Sil: Ten

JR has the initiative. In fact, because Jacob drew the Joker, he may act at any time during the combat. In a "solo" combat, it is less impactful than it might be in a larger fight. Nonetheless, Jacob may act, or wait for the silhouette to act. Richardsen may even interrupt another character's action with the Joker. If Jacob possessed any Joker Edges, waal, look out.

---------------------------------

OOC: Jake agreed to play a public test combat. Here it is. Jake, feel free to ask any questions, here, so that everyone can benefit from your trailblazing.

In reply to Judge Messalen (msg # 4):

OOC:

Since this is a sample "Combat", should JR assume that the silhouette is hostile? If not, he would probably hail the stranger.

Thanks

Jacob spotted the silhouette up on the ridge to his right and could tell that it was a man with a longarm up there -- but that was about all. Squinting up at the fellow, Jacob flexed his knees, ready to act quickly if the man made a hostile move. He figured that a friendly fellow would hail the camp -- a bad man who had ill intentions would likely just up and shoot at him.

Jacob knew that he had mighty quick reflexes -- they had saved his bacon more than once -- and he trusted that he would still be able to react before the stranger got a shot off, if it appeared that the man was gunnin' for him . . .

---

OOC:

I decided to have Jacob go ahead and react, based upon the information that the Judge provided. Since the Judge has specified that Jacob can interrupt the stranger's actions, Jacob will see what the other man does next, and will interrupt upon seeing a hostile move (e.g., raising the rifle into a firing position).

In reply to Jake Richardson (msg # 6):

Trampus Monday had always said Jacob was too good-mannered. Why that thought had passed through the rifleman's mind, as he saw the silhouette take cover and level the long arm, the Texan didn't ponder. Recognizing the the silhouette's hostile intent, Richardsen makes his move to interrupt the interloper.

-----------------------------

OOC: As the rifleman drew the Joker, he sees the hostile action and is able to interrupt, as stated. The Judge already rolled for the attack action for the silhouette (aka AFJ), but withholding adjudication until Jacob's action -- which will come before the result of AFJ's shot. The Judge assumes that Jake's Interruption is to shoot.

Because the Judge knows SW combat is new to the player:
Again, assuming Jacob is shooting, he rolls a die for his Shooting skill (d10), and a d6 for the Wild Die. Highest roll prevails. If you roll the max on either die, that is called an "ace" and you roll it again and add the result. (Yes, aces can ace again . . . ). If you roll snake eyes, bad.

The to-hit number for ranged combat is 4. It is dim light, so it's -1 to the roll. And AFJ has light cover, another -1. It is short range for a Winchester (no mod). That means Jacob would roll d10-2, d6-2, needing a 4 to hit.  (The Judge didn't apply the -1 to AFJ's first roll, but will factor it in, as well as Jacob's Dodge modifier, when adjudicating AFJ's roll). When using the die roller, it is helpful to "record each die" and to use the "manual" field, in this case entering "d10-2,d6-2" and the roller will roll both the d10 and d6, in that order and apply the minus 2 to each roll.

We will pause on damage if Jacob hits, to examine whether the attack hits -- and if it gets any raises.

In reply to Judge Messalen (msg # 7):

From the actions of the man up on the hill, it seemed pretty clear that he had a hostile intent. Rather than standing in one spot like a statue and hoping for the best, Jacob took off for the nearest cover at a lope before his opponent could get off a shot.

After he had moved a bit he leveled his Winchester at the would-be bushwhacker and fired a shot, then dropped prone so as to give the varmint a tougher target.

---

OOC:

12:06, Today: Jake Richardson rolled 5,5 using d10,d6, rerolling max with rolls of 5,5.  Ranged Attack (Trademark Weapon).

I have assumed that Jake is using his trademark weapon, and that the bonuses provided by the "Improved Trademark Weapon" Edge (+2) will cancel out the negatives to his Attack roll that the Judge mentioned above. That's a good thing, because otherwise he would have missed by 1.

I don't know how close Jake is to the nearest cover, but he will move towards it and try to reach it before dropping prone (a free action, I believe) at the end of his turn.

PS. 08:30, Today: Judge Messalen rolled 4,5 using d8,d6 with rolls of 4,5.  AFJ Winchester r1. Based on this roll (d8, d6), it looks to me like Jake is facing a Wild Card, who is a pretty fair shot himself.
This message was last edited by the player at 16:23, Tue 21 Aug 2018.

In reply to Jake Richardson (msg # 8):

Richardsen lopes towards a thicket of scrub, finding some quick cover and then squeezing off a round from the rifle. He doesn't stare after his bullet to see its result. Instead, the Texan drops to his belly attempting to take full advantage of the waist-high vegetation.

--------------------

OOC: Jake is correct about the attack roll. It was -2 for cover and dim light; +2 for his Improved Trademark Weapon. The result of 5 hits the ranged attack target number (TN) of 4. A hit but no raise; a raise requires a result that is 4 better than the TN.

Jake please roll damage, normal 2d8; damage dice can ace. There is no Wild Die for damage.

And yes, AFJ is no slouch.

In reply to Judge Messalen (msg # 9):

OOC:

Here is Jake's Damage roll: 12:17, Today: Jake Richardson rolled 10 using 2d8+2, rerolling max with rolls of 4,4.  Damage (Winchester, Joker).

I added a +2 to the roll not because of the Improved Trademark Weapon Edge (which I believe only applies to Attack rolls), but because Jake drew a Joker. I recall reading somewhere that it adds +2 to both Trait tests and Damage rolls (during the applicable Round of combat).

I didn't backtrack and add it to Jake's Attack roll, because it would have given him a 7 -- it wasn't needed to hit his target (the 5 took care of that), and it wasn't quite enough to give him a Raise on the Attack roll, so I didn't see any need to do so (other than being precise, I suppose).

Hopefully the 10 on the Damage roll will be enough to grant a Raise on the Damage. I don't remember what that does, but I believe that gaining a Raise is better than not (as long as you are the shoot*er* and not the shoot*ee*).

PS. I'm trying to remember a RL bad man from the old West who had the initials "AFJ". Nobody immediately comes to mind, but admittedly your knowledge of that time and place is superior to mine. :)
This message was last edited by the player at 17:11, Wed 22 Aug 2018.

OOC: Replies to the game mechanics -- narrative will follow after the Judge makes a roll or two.


That is a Setting Rule called Joker's Wild. The Judge wasn't planning to use that rule (see the sticky forum for the Setting Rules). I could be convinced to use it, if players like it (and acknowledge that as most rules, it would work in both directions -- i.e., if an enemy drew the Joker, they would also get the +2 bonuses). For now, we'll skip it. For the record, Jake's assessment of the +2 (if it were applied) to the attack roll was exactly correct . . . it wouldn't have changed anything in this case.


So, no +2 for Joker's Wild means the damage result is an 8. Damage is compared to the opponent's Toughness. AFJ has Toughness = 6. So 8 against 6 means a success, but no raise (as Jake said, raises occur when the TN -- in this case TN 6 -- is exceeded by 4 on the damage result). Again, the result of the damage is a success but no raise, which means that AFJ is Shaken but doesn't suffer a Wound.

AFJ, since his action is about to happen, will make a Vigor test to "unshake." If that fails, he may use a Benny to unshake. If he doesn't unshake, he won't be able to do anything other than a free action.  (The Judge mentions this as it is important to the combat process -- the Judge also addressed this in a sticky message, and intends to add more such notes as we progress with using SW in this game, assuming anyone else joins Jacob).

One way or another, AFJ will unshake (question of how and whether Benny is used) and the Judge will post narrative later today to continue.


Hehehehehe. A hint . . . pard, AFJ is an historical character featured in a DHR free product.
This message was last edited by the GM at 17:55, Wed 22 Aug 2018.

Jacob, lying prone on the ground, hears the partially-muffled sound of a gunshot (to his left) and bullet finding purchase among the bushes in the thicket.

The Texan has the initiative for the new round, although he cannot currently see his opponent from this prone position.

----------------------------

OOC: AFJ made the Vigor test to unshake. Therefore, he was able to fire his weapon at Jacob in r1. He missed, spent a benny and re-rolled the trait test (-3 all told -- -1 for dim light, -1 for Jacob's Dodge, -1 for Jacob's cover) and still missed.

The Judge re-shuffled the initiative deck (it is re-shuffled at the end of a round in which the Joker is dealt).

Jake: King
AFJ: Five, Ten (ten is better, but Jacob still has the initiative) - AFJ has Level-Headed and gets to draw an extra initiative card (forgot to do that the first time but it didn't matter after Jacob's Joker -- and the next card wasn't the second Joker).

Jacob's choice to go prone would give a +2 to cover, now (the Judge ruled the first round was only 1 because of the circumstances). It starts at 2 now, but an additional result is that Jacob cannot see his opponent from this position. He could certainly get off his belly and shoot at the previous position -- but he doesn't know whether AFJ is still there. He could make a Notice test to locate the enemy -- but that would be an action. In SW, a PC may take more than one action in a round (as many as desired), but each extra action beyond the default of 1 action means a -2 to each Trait test involved in the actions taken that round. So, Jacob could do both Notice and Shooting this round (for example), but each of those tests would be -2 when done in the same round.

BTW, the Judge isn't trying to convince the player to take any given action(s), just using the situation to elaborate or rules, choices and how the SW handles such things in combat. Jacob could decide to stay prone, our move a little and do Notice test only, move again, whatever.

OOC: A couple of rules questions:

If Jake rises up from prone (into a crouched position, presumably, in order to gain the benefit of cover from the thicket of shrubbery*), is that considered a move action? The reason I ask is that Jake gains the benefit of the Marksman Edge if he does not move during a round.

Does a "crouch" afford a (lesser) defensive bonus, in the same sense that being prone does -- say, a -1 as opposed to a -2?

If Jake wishes to take a Notice test in an attempt to locate AFJ, does he have to rise up from his prone position to do so?

Thanks, as always.

PS. *I can hear the Knights who say "Ni!" muttering "A shrubbery! He should bring us a shrubbery!!"

PPS. I have noticed (no flies on me, Pard) that +1/-1 and +2/-2 modifiers carry a lot more "weight" when rolling lower-denomination dice, as opposed to a d20. For example, your chances are pretty slim if you are rolling a d4 and you are facing a -1 modifier, let alone a -2 (you would have to Ace your roll in order to succeed, I suppose). It makes perfect sense, but it didn't occur to me until I started making the rolls (and crossing my fingers when AFJ made his).
This message was last edited by the player at 20:20, Wed 22 Aug 2018.