Session 6 got a bit explosive and we had some action this time around. Sleve & Sinnea spy on the miners a bit, then the group regroups to decide on their next step.
They send the runner back through the caves, intending to have a two pronged attack on the now verified repellium mining operation. Waiting was a nail biting experience, or should have been - being a game it magically happened in a few minutes while I rolled a couple of agility rolls for the cabin boy for his solo return trip. Over sink holes and past pissed off fire imps. The players never saw that part and there were enough successes that I went with that. Otherwise, Ordo, Ylervan and Sleve may still be waiting for some sign of the attack.
Finally, the Fools Errand comes round and fires off a fulisade against the moored Dancing Crester and doing a hull and gun deck hit. The attack made the sailors and miners rush to the front of the mine, and that's when our group set up the dynamite. I use the sailing skill as the general purpose engineering roll, and Ylervan made a fantastic roll for the placement of the pony keg of black powder. Setting a short fuse, they light the keg and charge out, yelling about a cave-in in the back of the mine. The Lady Grysby is shouting orders to free the Crester while the captain is also yelling out orders to return fire. At this point, the explosion happens and the miners are running for their lives down the mountain, while our group heads up the mountain to get a better vantage. Except for our brute sailor fighter who charge the Lady. Which ended up being a huge mistake as she is really good between the Steady Wind bonus plus the well-balanced sabers she carries. The dread fighter sailor was no match and was cut down in a single round of combat. Wonder if he was wearing a red shirt?
Ordo at this point is cutting down the sailors attempting to release the final mooring line. Being a crack shot, he kills the first sailor on the docks in a single shot. He also manages to kill off two more as they attempt from the deck to cut the line. By this time there is a second ship combat round (a ship combat round is 15-20 minutes, and I did not see a personal combat round, but going with a vague "something a lot less than 15-20 minutes to just use the timing for plot advancement). The Crester manages to get a shot off and hits one of the sails and the gun deck. The Errand manages to hit the sails, another gun deck and a crew. So they are doing a lot better as I was cutting the gun rating in half for the Crester as half her guns are facing the dock and unable to fire. Finally the Lady Grysby cuts the line herself as Ordo maims the captain, leaving the first mate Rey now in charge. Still feeling as though they have a good fighting chance, the Crester finally moves off the dock and starts to turn about for combat with all guns being available.
Seeing her ship leave, the Lady starts running down the mountain as well, knowing she is out-numbered from our small group. Ordo manages to actually maim her despite her athleticism as opposing dice. So she falls on the ground and almost bleeds out before our group can get down there to administer first aid. Which did nothing but at least did not kill her - the healing rules when a person is maimed can actually kill the patient. Realistic and terrifying for our resident slacker healer Sleve.
The final round of ship combat had the Errand take out the last sail and rudder of the Crester. Being unable to steer, the Alderil sailors give their word to stop hostilities. And this was the end of session 6.
There was more adventure this time, and I think we handled the ship and personal combat a lot better (see, practice does pay off!). I still need to get better organized, but I did print out a ship sheet to track the battle there. I do like the ship combat mechanics: simple and while pretty random in some ways, it makes for a fast combat which the point for this RPG. Some of the game may have been faster had I the printed copy, which is in the mail at this point. But I'll have it for the next time we play!
Next session we'll wind up a few things, then I believe we'll be playing another game with another game master. I'll post my feelings about the game once we get our first adventure completed, but after a couple of rough starts I do enjoy the game.
And just had a thought: I could bring this game into my Fantasy Trip world: sudden magical portal created by a mad scientists. I've had Traveller characters end up in D&D. These characters would not be your 32 point starting characters though, but probably at least 35 or 36. But as always, I digress...
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