Grognards in Grongaard: Session Report 3
I survived an attack from the Nephilim and all I got was this lousy t-shirt
The Cast:
Sir Aleksandr the lvl 5 Rudyk Lancer
Sir Edward the lvl 1 Hearseborn Orphan of Perdition
Sir Jorgen (henceforth referred to as Solid Jorgen) the lvl 2 Skald Hospitaller
Sir Jorgen (Liquid Jorgen) the lvl 1 Skald Thundermaker
Sir Soren the lvl 2 Skald Lancer
The Knight of Oeselia, lvl 0 follower
Session Report:
April 10th
Two players’ primary Knights are busy training for level 2, so they decided to roll 2 new characters: Sir Edward and Liquid Jorgen. Liquid Jorgen belongs to the Thundermakers of La Terre Sainte (Name subject to change), a new Order commissioned by one of our Baron-tier backers. The Thundermakers are a blackpowder themed Order inspired by the likes of the French cuirassiers and Cromwell’s “London Lobsters”. The Thundermakers have a broad array of unique abilities when wielding firearms, and they are the only truly missile-focused Order in Knight Errant. This concept needed much testing, as one of Knight Errant’s biggest selling points is its novel melee combat system.
The Knights heard of a Blasphemer, or necromancer, working great evils in the mountains of Faagskaal. They quickly banded together and set out to put this cretin’s head on a pike.
A Quest Event, a weekly random occurrence, revealed a nearby mountain to be an ancient tomb of the Nephilim. They Knights surmised this location must be the object of a Blasphemer’s desire. The Knights took a 4 hour march with their pikemen in tow and arrived at the mouth of the tomb. Outside this vile place, porters and men-at-arms tend to camps of other adventuring parties! Liquid Jorgen asked one heavy footman if they would be willing to pay to have their masters’ bodies brought back to them. The footman replied he would owe the Knights a favor, as that was all he could afford.
The Knights entered the mouth of the cave and immediately found a massive door that was jammed tight, but barely cracked open. The Knights had to sidle through, one at a time, to enter the tomb. The Knights proceeded and were immediately greeted by the sight of a massacre. A great number of heavy footmen lay dead inside. Their bodies were partly consumed.
The Knights proceeded cautiously along the right wall of this room, discovering it to be a grand chamber. Evenly spaced columns upheld a ceiling too tall to see in torchlight. The columns bore crude and frightening reliefs of large-mouthed men devouring one another. 150’ into the chamber, the Knights found a door to their right. Sir Soren and the Oeselian Knight kicked the door down with ease. On the other side they found a seemingly empty chamber.
Sir Edward, being Hearseborn, could see the spirit of an an ancient pagan scribe writing on an equally intangible vellum. This scribe did not notice the arrival of the Knights. Sir Edward directed Liquid Jorgen to fire his arquebus at the scribe’s location. Liquid Jorgen sent a fat ball of lead downrange, but his mundane munitions struck nothing. Sir Soren, bearing a magical battle axe, charged into the room and cleaved the air, striking the unseen scribe and severing him from existence. In an instant, the Knights’ torches were snuffed. The sounds of rummaging and rattling filled the tomb.
Solid Jorgen used “Illuminate Healend” to bring light to his holy symbol. Cracks appeared on the north wall of the burial chamber. Load, zombie-like groans reverberated through the wall, and monsters banged on the stone from the other side. From the grand chamber behind the Knights, a zombified party of errant knights approached. A zombified knight in full plate with a zweihander, a zombified knight in leather armor with a saber and buckler, and a zombified magic-wielder shambled forward.
The party used their first Movement Phase to retreat back to the grand chamber, so that they would not be backed into a corner when the monsters on the other side of the north wall finally broke through. The Player Character Knights charged into melee combat, and Liquid Jorgen blasted the plate-wearing zombie from afar. When the zombies entered melee range, the plate-wearing zombie struck Liquid Jorgen with its zweihander. The Thundermaker just narrowly survived what would have been a fatal blow, thanks to Liquid Jorgen’s 6+ armor save.
The Player Character Knights chopped down these zombies, but not without a few close calls.
The Knights proceeded into a new chamber, but a 10’ deep chasm in the middle of this room made them decide to check elsewhere.
At last, the zombies on the other side of the scribe chamber’s north wall burst through. Outside of line of sight, and unable to smell through the gunsmoke, the zombies mindlessly paced about. Liquid Jorgen daringly crept up to the doorway where these monsters lingered, listening in on their movements. He determined there were large, nonhuman zombies, as well as skeletons in chain armor.
Sir Edward cast the spell “Plague of Moths” into the room. The undead did not stir at this sudden influx of ravenous insects, but the moths enjoyed a feast of the zombies’ quilted armor. When the Knights stacked up on the doorway and entered, they found six zombified maneaters— a type of Nephilim —and six skeletons awaiting them.
A pitched battle raged. The skeletons struggled to get past any Knight’s armor, but the Maneaters’ vicious bite attacks nearly slew Sir Soren. A sustained volley from Liquid Jorgen, combined with every Smite Undead the Lancers had available, saved the day. Tired and wounded, the Knights fled from the tomb of the Nephilim without acquiring any treasure.
Developer Commentary:
The first play test of the Thundermaker Order proved very exciting. Liquid Jorgen’s player was smart during character generation and stacked some pretty deadly bonuses to ranged combat which, admittedly, should not have existed. His character’s Speed score reduced the arquebus reload time by 1 activation, his Skald racial ability reduced reload time by 1 activation, and the first level ability of the Thundermaker Order reduced the reload time of arquebuses specifically to 1 activation. This brought a level 1 Thundermaker to be able to fire his arquebus every 30 seconds. This is just slightly faster than the world record arquebus rate of fire. While everyone else was playing Knight Errant, Liquid Jorgen was playing Boot Hill. His rapid volley slew a great deal of High-Endurance undead and truly saved the day. Liquid Jorgen was vulnerable in melee range with the zombie knight, but he was able to defend himself with his Order’s level 1 ability which allows him to use his arquebus as a quarterstaff. Whether the proper balance has been achieved in the design of this Order will be revealed with further testing.
The prototypical Knightly Order page for the Thundermakers can be accessed here. Give them a try and let me know what you think!