I decided to see how a battle may run out with a bunch of Goblins & Kobolds attacking a small farmstead. I have no idea yet why they were attacking, and why the Goblins grouped up with the Kobolds. Other than me having a bunch of those minis from the Reaper Bones V Kickstarter. And I am trying to keep away from Bones VI...
I was really interested in seeing how this combat would fair compare to the Fantasy Trip. I may re-run it using those rules depending on how much time I have next weekend. Of course, the major differences in the combat systems are two-fold: you move and attack in your turn, and armor makes it more difficult to get hit and is not a damage reduction. Depending on your AC and rolls, a highly protected fighter may avoid getting hit at all. Of course, this is all an abstraction which I am, after 40 some years, starting to actually appreciate more than I did when I was gaming back in college. It is not that you are harder to hit just because of the armor, but because you are a better fighter and can manage to avoid getting hit in the first place.
The Kobolds actually have a shaman or wizard, so I gave him 1 missile spell and assumed he was a level 1. Most of the heroes are level 1, though the guards and the half-Orc were level 2.
One of my favorite game aids are battle maps I can write on. Between this and the initiative tracker, it makes running battles a lot simpler. I kept my notes on the map as I went along. Having the initiative tracker really helps keep things in the correct order. I have 2 more trackers that I need to get to a couple of my fellow GMs. 
Round 1, and with our adventurers generally having initiative, our 2 guards move and kill off 2 Kobolds, the thief actually moved behind a tree. There were a lot of Kobolds and yet the guards moved fast into the horde. The Goblins on wolves moved fast to attack the wizard, who they thought would be the biggest threat. Of course, a level 1 wizard is not really much of a threat, but I was going with they had no idea. As the wizard had the same initiative as the Goblins, it was an attack at the same time. The Goblins both missed, but the wizard whacked one of the Goblins with his staff, killing that Goblin. The half-Orc in full plate attacks and misses. The cleric moved up and manages to kill a Kobold as well with his mace. The Dwarf moves in, and also manages to miss. I have bad rolls no matter which side I play for. The Kobolds had swarmed the Orc, and one got a natural 20 which I allowed for double damage, which thankfully I still rolled low so 4 points of damage to our tank. And finally, the Kobold shaman lets loose his magic missile, killing our wizard. End of round 1 and a few Kobold are killed, and the wizard is now dead. Not a great start for our heroes!
Round 2, the thief moves in to backstab a Kobold and kills him. Both guards, engulfed with the vicious Kobolds, manage to miss in all the confusion of the snarling creatures. The Goblin on the wolf turns on the Orc but misses, the rest of the Goblins wisely hanging back from the battle (they are a tad smarter than the Kobold). The cleric, still swinging his holy mace, kills another Kobold, as does our dwarf fighter. And of round 2, and a couple more Kobold are killed but our remaining adventurers were not hurt.
Round 3, our thief moves behind another Kobold but misses his mark. As do our two guards, and it turns out the Orc fighter and his Goblin and Kobold foes are all swinging and not managing to make anything other than glancing blows that do no damage.
Round 4 I realize I had not been rolling the attackers' moral rolls. I rolled this round and both groups, despite their losses, continue the fight. Our thief strikes and misses in the heat of battler, but the guards have finally rallied and each kill a Kobold. The Goblins all miss, firing arrows fruitlessly at the armored half-Orc. Somehow a couple of Kobolds manages to hit the Orc and delivers another 4 points of damage, bringing our mighty fighter down to a single HP left! One of the guards takes some damage this round, a small Kobold dagger stuck in her thigh.
Round 5, and the Goblins, seeing where this is heading, lose moral and start to run away. The Kobolds continue to battle this round. The thief slides his dagger into another of the attacking creatures, while only one of the guards manages a killing blow. The half-Orc, missing most of the time, finally slays a Kobold at the same time the cleric sends another to the afterlife. I do not know if he said a prayer with the killing blow. The Kobolds are all disheartened by the number of their dead at this time, and they never land a single blow.
Round 6, and having lost morale, the Kobolds flee after the Goblins. Not in any condition to give chase, our remaining heroes will lick their wounds and heal up over the next few days, having saved the farm house.
The wizard will be buried out back, a small stone to mark his untimely death. And the story will grow in the telling. From a small horde of Goblins and Kobolds, the Battle at Bonesetter's Farm grew into a legend of waves of vicious beasts attacking the farmstead, valiant heroes protecting the innocent against incalculable odds until after hours of mortal combat. the last of the creatures was killed or driven off. Bristlebeard Higgs, the wizard, despite casting firebolts that lit the sky, died a heroes death.
In reality, 5 effective rounds are less than a minute of actual battle. It took me maybe 45 minutes or so to run through things, and I still missed a few steps, I think. And of course, this would have been a lot more fun with other people to play with. I'll probably start thinking about adding some people to play with face to face. I've got a couple friends who may be able to play, just need to see if we can make that work.
And how would this have played out in the Fantasy Trip? I've a feeling the heroes would not have fared nearly so well. While I cannot seem to find much for Kobold stats, they are shorter than Goblins, actually prefer traps to frontal attacks. I'd go with a low strength/hit points, moderate to low dexterity (9, 10 maybe?) and IQ does not come into play. The difference is that their daggers would not be able to hurt the half-Orc in plate, and that plate would also mean that the Orc is unlikely to hit anything at a 32 or 34 point build. I think the statistics would be against the group, but perhaps I can re-run the assault and see how that plays out.
All in all, it was still fun to play as I iron out how to run combat in OSE. Just need to get the gang together to play with all the toys! Now I have a farm near one of my settings that has a name and a bit of history. I need to track all this somehow so that my fantasy world has some living aspects to it. One of the keys to a good campaign, I think: there are things that go on with or without the characters interacting with it. Traveller did this with the news they posted in the Journal. I am hoping that yet another Kickstarter I got, Organic Towns, can also help me with this. There are some notes in Spectacular Settlements that deals with what happened in the past to get the town to where it is now, but does not have any sort of process for what happens going forward. While I do have some rules for taverns I could use (and may for some of the taverns I've added). this other production is for all the things in the towns.
And I do ask myself: why do I do this? It is not like any of this really gets used at the moment. COVID really screwed up my face to face gaming. And the last few games I've run have not been set in "my worlds" but rather the settings for whatever game I was running. But it comes down to entertainment. I enjoy world building. While I'd much prefer to be able to use the stuff I create in an actual game, it is still an enjoyable pastime in and of itself. I have an answer to my question, though in bleak moments I do wonder why I bother.
And looks like the Cowboy & Dinosaur game will be starting up after the next game. We're doing a Star Trek game that takes place in the TOS time frame. I'll try & detail my character in the next post. But then expect several posts on world-building for an Old West with dinosaurs. With any luck, at least parts of that world will get used, and my friend will finally get to play a cowboy riding a dinosaur.
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