Unsure about a play procedure? Need examples of how something might work in play? This is a thread for us to help each other out.
A roleplaying game of courtly intrigue, feudal ambition, and perilous conflict · By
Hey, good question.
You begin the battle by making two clocks that the players will fill with successful actions: the field clock (representing routing the enemy forces) and the foe clock (representing eliminating the enemey commanders). When (and if) these clocks are full, the players win the battle. You could totally make a racing clock to track when the player retinue's forces are routed and tick that when the players' forces are routed. We aren't too prescriptive on how you frame the consequences for these rolls.
The fallout clock comes out after the battle is resolved, representing the aftermath of battle: "wraiths emerging, fires spreading, and structures collapsing". The players can resolve these, and potentially face consequences, or they can ride home. Choosing to not manage the fallout is likely to mean that the players will face more severe unrest and entanglements after this fight.
All that said, battles tend to be a rare thing. Most playtest groups only ran a few battles over the whole campaign. Most smaller skirmishes can be resolved in a single roll or pair of racing clocks. These rules are designed to give more detail and time to epic conflicts.
Hi, came here to ask a similar question. (Great game btw, I rarely sit down and read an RPG book from beginning to end before my intent to run it).
I would really love a better example of the battle sequence, in part because the language in the book implies all clocks need filling but don't showcase how a battle would be waged or which actions would affect said clocks. Also while the raising of levies and their quality would be an important part of the narrative, I am uncertain how to deploy these resources in play mechanically. I feel battles, however rare, would be quite pivotal and essential to the story, and a play-by-play example would really bolster my confidence in running these scenarios.
Keep doing what you're doing!
I don't have a recording of any full battles that I can share, but I wrote up an example.
Hopefully this helps folks interested in battles who want a sense of how they might flow. Keep in mind that this is just one way it could go. players might resolve the foe clock before the field clock, or they could even lose the fight and resolve either.
This has been both incredibly informative and fun to read!
Last followups.
1. So the clocks move in sequence, not at the same time - correct?
2. With the field clock full, Ailios describes him riding up to Luthais Gearr and demanding his surrender. Luthais refuses but offers to end the battle in single combat. The retinue is conflicted about how to proceed.
I wondered about this one when reading the book. If the NPC surrenders does the clock fill automatically and in the inverse - if their army is shattered but refuse surrender, what is the clock supposed to represent?
3. Is dealing with the fallout always about wraiths and perhaps collateral damage like fire etc? (I hadn't imagined the wraiths would appear so instantly until reading this, really does put more weight on the dangers of killing/murder). The book suggests the clock MUST be filled for the battle to be over, but earlier in this thread you said they can choose to ignore it (with consequence). Would that just be a mitigating of more fallout (in terms of Ire and Faction relationships)?
Thank you for taking the time, you should post that link on the KS section as well!
You're welcome. Thanks for the questions! I'm sure other folks wondered the same things.
A campaign with 1 GM and 2 players is totally feasible. I ran a 3 player campaign last year knowing that not all players could make each session, so most of the time we were playing with just 2. An advantage of small player counts is that you can really explore the relationship between those characters. I'd suggest talking about that upfront during character creation. Figure out who wants to play the claimant and ask questions about why the other character is committed to the claimant's cause. I also would nudge the players to remember that they can muster levies between sorties. Two people against the world can feel impossible but they have the resources to gather mercenaries and supporters. They can even do a flashback to muster before the first sortie.
I didn't record any of my two-player sessions but you can listen to a one-player actual play here: https://www.partyofonepodcast.com/2020/05/21/234-rebel-crown-with-michael-dunn-o...
Does the increased attribute dot get placed before or after the line --or more relevantly, does completing the attribute xp bar and increasing an action currently with 0 rating increase the attribute rating by 1 level as well? If so, can you max out your attribute rating with just 3 level ups on the same attribute bar while having 1 action rating in each of the attribute's action plus one initial point in the fourth action of that attribute?
