I’m going to run this combat in two parts. Last time I rolled that the PCs would be facing 7 skratts, so that’s going to be the “main” combat, essentially the enemies who pay attention to the party. But I’m picturing the scene more chaotic and cinematic than that, so in the background I’m going to be rolling on how the militia band is doing against the rest of the horde.

First, I’ll have Maelen roll initiative, against her 13 attribute score. She rolls a 7 and succeeds, so the PCs go first. She’s going to Charge (I’ll say the group is currently Far from the shrine), but should she use a class ability right out of the gate and take advantage of Charger? I’m going to say no, because I think Opportunist will help more in a fight against a pack of 1 HD creatures. It’s a normal Charge, then, which not only lets her get into melee but gives her (and the skratts) a +2 bonus to hit. With the Bonebreaker, that’s a whopping +6 to hit an AC 11 creature. But she rolls a 4! Oh dear.

Vessa, meanwhile, will move to Close range and fire with her bow. She has a +4 and rolls an 8+4=12, which is a hit. The shortbow’s damage is 1d6 and I’ll simultaneously roll 1d8 hit points for “Skratt 1.” 2 damage versus 5 hp, reducing it to 3. Something I didn’t do throughout all of Level 1—maaaaybe because I’m still learning the rules and forgot they existed—are Exploits, which are minor (or major) effects combatants can have on opponents. The requirement for a Minor Exploit (which Vessa will now attempt) is to hit and damage an opponent, which she’s done. She’ll hope the arrow will distract the skratt, taking its +2 to hit Maelen away. To do so she rolls an opposed Dex check and rolls a 9 (succeeding by 7) versus a 9 by the skratt (succeeding by 4), which works! Had she failed, she wouldn’t have been able to do another Exploit this combat. Exploits are an amazing way to give flavor and minor advantages, and I’m glad to remember them!

Has Alric received more combat abilities now that he’s level 2? Not really. He’ll move to Vessa’s side and grip his staff, ready next turn to help either Maelen or Vessa as best he can.

Now it’s the 7 skratts’ turns. I won’t roll whether they stay focused on the Watchflame, as these are the skratts who I’ve already determined will attack the PCs. Assume a mass of the creatures continuing to swarm around the shrine and dash all over the village. I’ll say 3 focus on Maelen, and I’ll roll what the other four do.

Skratt 1 (who no longer has a +2 to hit thanks to Vessa’s Minor Exploit) has a +1 to hit, then +1 because of outnumbering her 3:1, versus Maelen’s 14 AC and rolls a 9, missing. Skratt 2 has the bonus and rolls 18+4=22, hitting for 3 damage (on 1d6). Skratt 3 rolls 15+4=19, also hitting and doing 2 damage. Ouch. Maelen is down to 15 hp.

I’ll roll even chances for the other 4. Three of the four will rush Vessa and Alric, but one remains to swarm Maelen. It rolls 13+4=17, and also hits for a max 6 damage. Dangit! She’s down 9 hp, less than half in a single turn.

For the abstracted battle outside the PCs, there are terrific Mass Battle rules in Tales of Argosa, but they don’t quite fit this situation (they’re more for sieges and warfare). Instead, I’m going to do simple opposed rolls between the militia and skratt swarm. The militia rolls 8 to the skratts 17, losing. They take 1d6 “losses” of members and I roll 5. They’ve gone from 8 “strength of force” to 3!

That first round was brutal. Let’s roll Round 2 before I narrate. Vessa rolls 11 against her 13 Initiative, succeeding. Maelen will strike out at one of the four skratts surrounding her with Bonebreaker, rolling 16+4=20 and hitting. She then rolls 5+2=7 damage versus 4 hp and Skratt 2 is dead. She’ll then use Opportunist (which triggers when she reduces an opponent to 0 hp) to attack a second skratt, rolling a nat-19! For a Fighter, that’s max damage plus half her level, plus a Blunt Trauma roll. The 11 damage alone absolutely crushes Skratt 3, so no need for the Trauma. That’s better!

Vessa’s now in melee with 3 skratts herself, so she’ll drop the shortbow, use her Move action to draw her shortsword, and then attack. She rolls a 9+2=11 and hits, doing 1+1=2 damage to Skratt 5’s 6 hp, dropping it to 4. Does she attempt another Minor Exploit? Sure. She’ll try and trip the creature with an opposed Dex check. She rolls 13, succeeding by 3 versus the skratt’s failed roll of 14. Skratt 5 is prone.

Alric will try and bash the prone opponent, which gives him an additional +2. He rolls 9+3=12 and hits! His staff does 2 (on 1d6) damage, bringing it to 2 hp.

It’s now the skratts’ turn. The two versus Maelen no longer have the Charge bonus and don’t outnumber her 3:1, so it’s just a +1 for them to hit. They roll 6 and 7, both missing her 14 AC.

Skratt 5 stands up and launches at Alric, rolling 9+1=10, exactly hitting his AC. I roll only 1 damage, though, bringing him to 13 hp.

Skratts 6 & 7 attack Vessa (rolled randomly) and roll 11+1=12 and 2+1=3, both missing her 13 AC.

Will the militia fare better? Their opposed roll is 19 versus the skratts’ 4, so yes! The Stonekin soldier and his remaining villagers battle back the horde for another turn, whittling away its numbers.

Well, that was a better round for the PCs. No morale checks to make on the skratts, as they’ve only lost 2 of 7 combatants. Here’s the current battle status:

• Maelen faces Skratt 1 (3 hp) and 4 (unrolled). Skratts 2 & 3 are dead at her feet.
• Alric and Vessa face Skratt 5 (2 hp) and Skratts 6 & 7 (unrolled).
• The militia has 3 “strength” remaining before it’s defeated.

Round 3! It’s Alric’s turn to roll for initiative, against his attribute score of 11. He rolls 18 and fails, so the skratts go first.

All the skratts currently have only their +1 bonus to hit, thankfully. The two facing Maelen roll 15 & 11, hitting once for 2 damage and bringing the warrior to 7 hp.

Meanwhile, I’ll have the injured Skratt 5 continue to attack Alric, rolling 10 and hitting. Thankfully, he takes only 1 damage again (!) and is now down to 12 hp.

The remaining two skratts will focus on Vessa. They both roll 4, which means she easily avoids their claws. Not too bad, all things considered.

Can Maelen take out her two opponents in one turn? She rolls 9+4=13 and hits Skratt 1, and 6 damage kills it. She’ll attempt an exploit to knock the crushed body of the skratt into its companion, knocking it prone. They roll opposed Strength checks, and Maelen rolls a 2 versus the skratt failing. It’s prone, and so she now has a +6 for her Opportunist attack. She rolls a 17, though, so I guess it didn’t matter… Six total damage versus 2 hp, and Skratt 4 is gone. She takes a beating, but she can dish it out too!

Alric tries to fend off the skratt attacking him and rolls a 14! He’ll wield the staff two-handed, which gives him +1 to damage. Since the skratt only has 2 hp, it’s dead.

Vessa will stab at one of the two skratts facing her, rolling a 12+2=14 and hitting for 6 damage versus its 3 hp. Only one skratt is left!

How does the militia do? They roll 16 versus the skratt horde’s 3, keeping their three members alive and further diminishing the mob.

Now is a good time for a morale check. The skratts’ Will score is only 7, but I roll a 3 and succeed. They want that flame out!

As we’re nearing the end of the fight, it was time to implement what I’d already rolled last time: That the skratts had successfully doused the Watchflame. It seemed more dramatic to have Alric witness it being snuffed out than to show up and have it already be out.

Anyway, Round 4 is surely the last round of combat. We’re back around to Maelen rolling initiative, and she succeeds with a 7. Can she make a second Charge in one battle? I don’t see why not, so here goes: She rolls a 13+6=19, hitting easily. She then rolls max damage of 10, fully crushing the last skratt. Combat done!

Let’s see if the militia survives the last skratt push. I roll a nat-20 versus the enemies’ 2, so absolutely yes. In fact, I’ll say they are the real reason the battle is over, making the skratt horde flee after they’ve extinguished the Watchflame.

Alric has a new spell! It’s time to Mend Flesh (hopefully), expending 1 of his 2 magic spells for the adventure. To do so, first Alric must succeed at an Int(Arcane Lore) roll, which for him means rolling 16 or under. He rolls 16! Whew.

Next, his Dark & Dangerous Magic score was 2 at the end of last adventure, so Alric must roll a d8 (at 2^nd level) and roll over a 2. He rolls a 5 and doesn’t trigger anything nasty. His DDM score, however, increases to 3. It’s… coming!

Finally, how much healing does Alric provide? His spell allows Maelen to recover 1d6+2 hit points, and rolls 4+2=6! Nice. Maelen is now at 13 hp.

Speaking of which, the PCs can now take a Short Rest, a few minutes to let them catch their breath. Doing so allows each PC to make two Willpower checks. Maelen will go first and rolls 10 & 12, either side of her 11 Will. With one success, she recovers half her missing hit points (3 of 7) and is now at a respectable 16 hp.

Alric, meanwhile, rolls 14 & 10, also one success versus his 13 Will. He’ll leave his hit points at 12 of 14, but will instead recover his lost spell slot.

Vessa neither took damage nor used any class abilities, so the recovery doesn’t matter to her. It’s a good reminder to use some of her Rogue abilities in the future, though.

Finally, some housekeeping: I’ll increase the Chaos Factor from 6 to 7 for obvious reasons. Since the Stonekin soldier survived, I’ll give him a name, Sergeant Brodan Flinthewer, and add him to the Character List. I think that’s it for now.