You retrace your steps from the armoury and make your way to the market-square.

Even the death of Baron Bluestone does not prevent the traders making their daily living, and the market-square is busy. Exotic goods, fine cloths and succulent foodstuffs adorn shops, stalls, carts and barrows. Business is brisk, and the locals have little time to take notice of strangers, though the Tarrian draws a glance or two; barbarian warroresses are rare even in cosmopolitan Kallamehr.

As you pass through the throng, a cry goes up. The crowds part as a lanky, ill-formed youth shoulders his way through, wildly swinging a vicious looking cudgel. Behind him, sprawled in a quivering heap, you can see a rich merchant. There is no room to draw a sword, and even if you did you would risk hurting innocent bystanders.

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OOC: The thief is making directly for you, aiming to squeeze through the packed crowd and get away. If you try and avoid him Test for Luck. If you succeed he ignores you, if you fail he clips you with his cudgel (take 2 STAMINA points of damage) on his way through.

If you want to stop him you'll have to fight him without weapons (he might not care his swings smack a bystander in the face but you aren't going to accidently gut some civilian with a stray sword sweep). Fight with -4 to your Attack Strength since you have to rely on your fists and the odd headbutt. Temporarily replace your damage roll with this:

Unarmed Attack: 1 1 1 1 1 2

Tarrian still adds + 1 from Strongarm Talent.


LARGO THE SWIFT
SKILL 6 STAMINA 10

Armour: None
Attack: 1 2 2 2 3 3

Vithrain: Er, no you haven't. Tripping him merely stops him escaping you still have to actually fight him.

(Also remember you reduce your LUCK by 1 every time you test it - your LUCK is down to 6.)

Heroes will often face foul creatures and evil monsters in combat, and the battle is resolved as follows:

1: The Player rolls two 6-sided dice (2D6) and adds the result to his SKILL and any appropriate special skill. This is the Hero’s attack total.

2: The Director rolls two 6-sided dice and adds the result to the monsters SKILL. This is the monster's attack total.

3: Which ever combatant has the highest attack total wins that combat round. If both totals are the same, both fighters have avoided each others blows and the combat round ends.

4: The winner of the combat round rolls one 6-sided die and looks at the appropriate weapon chart on their Hero sheet or given in the adventure for the monster. The result from that chart is the amount of STAMINA damage inflicted on the opponent.

5: The loser also rolls one 6-sided die and looks at the armour chart on their Hero sheet (if they have an armour that is!!) or given for the monster. The result from this chart is deducted from any damage, and whatever remains is deducted from their current STAMINA.

6: Progress to the next round of combat and repeat!  If any of the combatants reach 0 STAMINA, they will fall unconscious, and a monster can be considered to be dead.

This process will apply to combats between two opponents. If more than one enemy fights a single combatant, then the single combatant must declare which of his opponents he will attack. All combatants must roll attack totals as normal, although if the “extra” opponent has a higher attack total than the single combatant, he will inflict a wound. This “extra” combatant cannot however be injured if he has a lower total.

Okay, now that Tarrian has piled in I need to check something:

- if I now attack and lose then I don't lose any STA as he has already wounded Tarrian, so doesn't get a 2nd bonus attack. Is this correct?

- do I need to modify his SKILL score as he is fighting multiple opponents?

- my dagger is designed for close range combat and is a stabbing weapon. Can I use it without penalty rather than using my puny fists?

Handmaiden: Remember your Attack Strength = 2d6 + SKILL + appropriate weapon skill. In this particular case you aren't using a weapon so don't add a weapon skill and you are unarmed facing a foe with a weapon so deduct -4 from your Attack Strength.