Re: Costly victories

From: Tim Ellis <tim_at_...>
Date: Sun, 08 Jul 2001 17:41:13 -0000

> You could treat the trollkin waves as simple
> contests and then give penalties to the main battle if the PCs
> overextented themselves. Treat the whole contest as a single
> contests, simple or extented.

Treat each ambush as a "Group Simple Contest" - Players vs Trollkin  

Players all get Success/Crits , Trollkin don't -

        Players drive off Trollkin without further ado or loss - The Trolls will have fewer Trollkin for subsequent attacks.

Some players get failure/fumbles -

        In addition to calculating the net result (HW:RiG p128) any player who failed/fumbled has been injured in the attack (even if the trollkin were driven off) and will be at a penalty in the forthcoming battles

Players all fail/fumble, Trollkin don't -

         The ambush has been an outstanding success! You probably don't want to kill off the players completely, but they may be captured by the Trollkin.

If you want to make the Trollkin tougher in these contests without necessarily makijng them ridiculously tough if/when they are fought in the final battle then you could always make the contest between the pc's assorted combat rolls and the Troll Leaders "Ambush" or "Tactics" rather than the Trollkins Attack skills. - This represents that their roll is intended to wear the PC's down by attrition rather than take them out in a straight fight