Running a recent combat against 5 goblins, at night, I discovered how different the RuneQuest system makes combat, here is the story and some issues / thoughts about the RQ system along the way, I hope it’s of interest:
The PCs (two warriors and a sorcerer) were sent to investigate raiders coming from a craggy set of hills in the wilderness. A hole leading into the ground was found: the Goblin den! The Goblin den was very dark and only accessed via a narrow (siz 7) tunnel some 12m long, that would be difficult to squeeze and climb through – no armour could be worn for the largest PCs. The PCs were loathe to simply enter the tunnel, they had detected the goblins (Project Sight spell) and needed a plan.
• This was the first point where RQ differed from D&D – a frontal assault would be deadly to the attackers, and there were no convenient fireball spells. The absence of light and difficulty of getting a lantern or other torches down the tunnel was also a problem: the players had spend a lot of money on armour rather than ‘adventuring’ gear.
The plan involved trying to draw the goblins out of the tunnel to a fake campsite, and then ambush them from front and back. They built a very large fire and then hid. The Goblins crept from their hole, with the Projected Sight spell hovering some 60m from where the PCs were hiding. The first problem was that it was very dark (and overcast night), making perception skills difficult or hard which especially hindered the Project Sight spell (note: players who pick this spell really should put some points into Perception!). Only one Goblin could be followed: they have very high Stealth skills, night sight so ignored the darkness penalty and good athletics, allowing them to cover the broken hill easily. Goblins are also very perceptive.
The PCs had attempted to prepare the ground for the ambush to make the camp look real and to improve their hiding places.
• I allowed a Survival check, to add a bonus to subsequent Stealth checks in order to set up the ambush. The survival check was Easy given the time spent, but the roll was failed, and then each player cocked up the stealth check...the plan started to look a bit wonky!
Moving to a ridge some 25m from the fake ‘camp’ the Goblins managed to critically fail their own perception check, convinced that the fire was a lure for an ambush they mistakenly thought the enemy was hiding amongst some rocks. The Goblins were prepared to wait, only one of the PCs could see a Goblin, it was difficult to guess where the rest were.
• The modifiers for darkness to Perception (difficult to hard) and the exceptional Stealth skills of the Goblins made this situation a stalemate – the Goblins had no tactical reason to rush the strangers. Only once PC knew where a Goblin was. At this point it was clear that some form of light spells are exceptionally useful, the loss of vision, limited to a few metres, made these Goblins very powerful – on par with the PCs. Also, spells to allow communication (Mindspeech) are essential if a party splits up. The PCs were separated in two groups about 30m apart (one near the fake campsite, the others hidden near a tree).
Becoming frustrated, the sorcerer blasted the Goblin it could see with a Disruption, through the Projected Sight spell. The sorcerer followed with Frostbite and downed the Goblin. The others scattered. Two Goblins had stayed close to their tunnel. The other two split up, spotting the PCs hiding (well, failing to hide) near the tree, a Goblin started using slingshot to keep the PCs busy, the other returned to get help but was seen by the Sorcerer through his Projected Sight. This one two was subject to Disruption and Frostbite (leaving the Sorcerer with few MPs).
• This was a bit tricky. I ruled that the PC that was visible (a soldier) could parry but at a -40 penalty (the darkness penalty for close combat), even though these sling shots were shooting some 25 – 30 m from the darkness. It seemed far to unfair to not allow the PC any form of defence, especially given the consequences in RQ. I slightly changed my approach later ‘though.
The PC near the fake camp, lying in ambush, was getting bored. Only about 4 – 5 combat rounds had passed, but this seemed an age. He also had no idea what was happening without shouting out and giving away his position. He set off to stealthily close in on the Goblins den, hoping to come across them enroute.
• The abstract movement of RQ was a bit difficult here. I limited stealthy movement to 8m round. This had two problems. First, the movement was only cost a single CA, and the player felt they were then twiddling their thumbs for the remaining CA turns (especially as they had a lot of CA remaining); Second, the distance to cover (about 40m) was taking ages, as the rough ground, sloping terrain and darkness required a Routine or East Athletics, failure leading to half-speed. I noted that where all PCs are not engaged fully with the enemy, the CA / turn sequence can make play drag. I switched to ruling that some actions were taking a certain number of rounds, rather than play through the cycle turn by turn.
The other PCs, at the tree, also got bored. The warrior set out into the open, banging his shield and calling out to draw out the Goblins. The Sorcerer followed at a distance. The third started moving along a ridgeline (failing Stealth check again – bad luck). At this point the PCs had their first close combat engagement. A Goblin saw the single PC moving along the ridge, closed in and charged! The Goblin scored a minor chest wound, but tripped the PC. The Goblin stayed engaged to finish off the PC but had to use an action to take a free shot at the PC attempting to stand. The Goblin missed, and the PC failed their Evade so stayed on the ground but the Goblin had run out of CA so the PC could stand uncontested. Another round followed, the Goblins weakness meant that it could not strike a significant blow, it won a combat manoeuvre and chose to disengage, fleeing into the darkness. A failed Difficult perception check meant the Goblin was lost from sight.
• I used the Charge rules, which are pretty simple if the defender chooses to hold their ground. The interesting point was that SR is determined by weapon length, both had equal size weapons so I ruled they acted simultaneously. This meant the PC receiving the charge had to parry, as they were using their longsword 2-H and you cannot attack and parry with the same weapon on the same SR. To recover from a trip or fall I used the Closing / Disengaging rules, except that success allows you to recover your feet.
At this point I reasoned that the Goblin, if it succeeded at a Stealth check and kept moving (costing 1 CA), could fire a slingshot and possibly win surprise. The PC would need to make an opposed Hard Perception test against the Goblin’s Routine Stealth. Effectively, the Goblin become unbeatable – only stones from the darkness, which usually struck a specific location but did very small amounts of damage. This upset the players: not fair! But, it was a very dark night, and Goblins can see perfectly in those conditions – Humans can’t!
• This was a difficult ruling: I see no reason why a hidden attacker, that is silent and keeps moving location cannot get repeated ambush results (essentially preventing the PC from using CA to defend themselves). The players did not like it. But, if you will go hunting Goblins in the dark...
At this point, the PCs with draw to their fire, set up lanterns and spread the fire and started to dig in, we left it there...
• In conclusion: darkness is nasty when the enemy doesn’t suffer the same limited visibility as you and is excellent at hiding. This encounter played out very differently from any D&D 4th ed (which I play). I’m sure you could design a D&D encounter to be this tricky, but I did little design work for this, just a narrow hole, darkness and creatures that could see in the dark! The RQ system led the players to think tactically (the alternative being butchered very effectively in a dark cave!). They are even talking about trying to negotiate with the Goblins! There were only five Goblins, and now three, but they have really stumped the players!!! (mwhahahaha!)
The PCs (two warriors and a sorcerer) were sent to investigate raiders coming from a craggy set of hills in the wilderness. A hole leading into the ground was found: the Goblin den! The Goblin den was very dark and only accessed via a narrow (siz 7) tunnel some 12m long, that would be difficult to squeeze and climb through – no armour could be worn for the largest PCs. The PCs were loathe to simply enter the tunnel, they had detected the goblins (Project Sight spell) and needed a plan.
• This was the first point where RQ differed from D&D – a frontal assault would be deadly to the attackers, and there were no convenient fireball spells. The absence of light and difficulty of getting a lantern or other torches down the tunnel was also a problem: the players had spend a lot of money on armour rather than ‘adventuring’ gear.
The plan involved trying to draw the goblins out of the tunnel to a fake campsite, and then ambush them from front and back. They built a very large fire and then hid. The Goblins crept from their hole, with the Projected Sight spell hovering some 60m from where the PCs were hiding. The first problem was that it was very dark (and overcast night), making perception skills difficult or hard which especially hindered the Project Sight spell (note: players who pick this spell really should put some points into Perception!). Only one Goblin could be followed: they have very high Stealth skills, night sight so ignored the darkness penalty and good athletics, allowing them to cover the broken hill easily. Goblins are also very perceptive.
The PCs had attempted to prepare the ground for the ambush to make the camp look real and to improve their hiding places.
• I allowed a Survival check, to add a bonus to subsequent Stealth checks in order to set up the ambush. The survival check was Easy given the time spent, but the roll was failed, and then each player cocked up the stealth check...the plan started to look a bit wonky!
Moving to a ridge some 25m from the fake ‘camp’ the Goblins managed to critically fail their own perception check, convinced that the fire was a lure for an ambush they mistakenly thought the enemy was hiding amongst some rocks. The Goblins were prepared to wait, only one of the PCs could see a Goblin, it was difficult to guess where the rest were.
• The modifiers for darkness to Perception (difficult to hard) and the exceptional Stealth skills of the Goblins made this situation a stalemate – the Goblins had no tactical reason to rush the strangers. Only once PC knew where a Goblin was. At this point it was clear that some form of light spells are exceptionally useful, the loss of vision, limited to a few metres, made these Goblins very powerful – on par with the PCs. Also, spells to allow communication (Mindspeech) are essential if a party splits up. The PCs were separated in two groups about 30m apart (one near the fake campsite, the others hidden near a tree).
Becoming frustrated, the sorcerer blasted the Goblin it could see with a Disruption, through the Projected Sight spell. The sorcerer followed with Frostbite and downed the Goblin. The others scattered. Two Goblins had stayed close to their tunnel. The other two split up, spotting the PCs hiding (well, failing to hide) near the tree, a Goblin started using slingshot to keep the PCs busy, the other returned to get help but was seen by the Sorcerer through his Projected Sight. This one two was subject to Disruption and Frostbite (leaving the Sorcerer with few MPs).
• This was a bit tricky. I ruled that the PC that was visible (a soldier) could parry but at a -40 penalty (the darkness penalty for close combat), even though these sling shots were shooting some 25 – 30 m from the darkness. It seemed far to unfair to not allow the PC any form of defence, especially given the consequences in RQ. I slightly changed my approach later ‘though.
The PC near the fake camp, lying in ambush, was getting bored. Only about 4 – 5 combat rounds had passed, but this seemed an age. He also had no idea what was happening without shouting out and giving away his position. He set off to stealthily close in on the Goblins den, hoping to come across them enroute.
• The abstract movement of RQ was a bit difficult here. I limited stealthy movement to 8m round. This had two problems. First, the movement was only cost a single CA, and the player felt they were then twiddling their thumbs for the remaining CA turns (especially as they had a lot of CA remaining); Second, the distance to cover (about 40m) was taking ages, as the rough ground, sloping terrain and darkness required a Routine or East Athletics, failure leading to half-speed. I noted that where all PCs are not engaged fully with the enemy, the CA / turn sequence can make play drag. I switched to ruling that some actions were taking a certain number of rounds, rather than play through the cycle turn by turn.
The other PCs, at the tree, also got bored. The warrior set out into the open, banging his shield and calling out to draw out the Goblins. The Sorcerer followed at a distance. The third started moving along a ridgeline (failing Stealth check again – bad luck). At this point the PCs had their first close combat engagement. A Goblin saw the single PC moving along the ridge, closed in and charged! The Goblin scored a minor chest wound, but tripped the PC. The Goblin stayed engaged to finish off the PC but had to use an action to take a free shot at the PC attempting to stand. The Goblin missed, and the PC failed their Evade so stayed on the ground but the Goblin had run out of CA so the PC could stand uncontested. Another round followed, the Goblins weakness meant that it could not strike a significant blow, it won a combat manoeuvre and chose to disengage, fleeing into the darkness. A failed Difficult perception check meant the Goblin was lost from sight.
• I used the Charge rules, which are pretty simple if the defender chooses to hold their ground. The interesting point was that SR is determined by weapon length, both had equal size weapons so I ruled they acted simultaneously. This meant the PC receiving the charge had to parry, as they were using their longsword 2-H and you cannot attack and parry with the same weapon on the same SR. To recover from a trip or fall I used the Closing / Disengaging rules, except that success allows you to recover your feet.
At this point I reasoned that the Goblin, if it succeeded at a Stealth check and kept moving (costing 1 CA), could fire a slingshot and possibly win surprise. The PC would need to make an opposed Hard Perception test against the Goblin’s Routine Stealth. Effectively, the Goblin become unbeatable – only stones from the darkness, which usually struck a specific location but did very small amounts of damage. This upset the players: not fair! But, it was a very dark night, and Goblins can see perfectly in those conditions – Humans can’t!
• This was a difficult ruling: I see no reason why a hidden attacker, that is silent and keeps moving location cannot get repeated ambush results (essentially preventing the PC from using CA to defend themselves). The players did not like it. But, if you will go hunting Goblins in the dark...
At this point, the PCs with draw to their fire, set up lanterns and spread the fire and started to dig in, we left it there...
• In conclusion: darkness is nasty when the enemy doesn’t suffer the same limited visibility as you and is excellent at hiding. This encounter played out very differently from any D&D 4th ed (which I play). I’m sure you could design a D&D encounter to be this tricky, but I did little design work for this, just a narrow hole, darkness and creatures that could see in the dark! The RQ system led the players to think tactically (the alternative being butchered very effectively in a dark cave!). They are even talking about trying to negotiate with the Goblins! There were only five Goblins, and now three, but they have really stumped the players!!! (mwhahahaha!)
