The Grim & Deliberate Beast in Action

Full Combat Example: The Ryn-Kar Orcs of Harkenhold Mountain

The Harkenhold Free Orcs are raising hell in the mountain passes above Lowenberg.

Lowenberg is a small, inland trade settlement where you and your party were enjoying some much-needed rest. Your latest excursion was a bloody exploration of the Tomb of Belen-Gariad, the stronghold of a Grey Elven Necromancer that stretched from the canopy heights of silver-barked Hus trees, down to the Submerged Lakes within the Blackness of Undermere.

After surviving a mélange of magical traps, undead guardians, and the twisted monsters who skulk in the Blackness, you thought cleaning up a band of Free Orcs would come as a welcome break.

You thought wrong.

Step 1.

Before combat starts, the DM refers to the Monster A.I. card for Orcs and rolls 5 x d100 to quickly find:

Aggression Level: How aggressively do the Harkenhold Orcs act and attack?

General Intelligence: What is the general strength of their combat reasoning, combat cool, and combat expertise?

Special Units: What specialized Orcish units are present in the Harkenhold Clan?

Special Abilities: Do these Orcs have special abilities they use in battle?

Weaponry: How are the Harkenhold Orcs equipped?

Using these five quick d100-rollable tools as a standalone will add theme interruption to combat, giving your playgroup less of what they’ve come to expect. This will increase fear, inspire fresh tactics, and encourage party comradery.

DMs may stop here, after the initial 5 x d100 dice rolls, and run the combat as normal. Or they can use monster Culture & Psychology, Tactics, Qualities, and Grudges to add detail, and use our narrative blueprints for Horde Monsters to add variance and difficulty throughout the entire combat as it unfolds.

When using these latter features, think of The Grim & Deliberate Beast as a full-length sourcebook resource for your campaign. There’s more to read, and more to learn. The payoff is increased depth for your campaigns.

Results of Step 1.

How the dice fell…

Aggression: d100 = 52. The Harkenhold Orcs are Aggressive. You can leave this number as is, or modify it with Pre-combat Aggression Modifiers, given on the Orc A. I. card.

Aggressive monsters press their combat advantages immediately, and attack with only moderate regard for their own safety.

General Intelligence: d100 = 98. Yikes. These Orcs are Intelligent, just 1% away from Brilliant.

Intelligent monsters communicate well and employ high-level tactics. They can predict enemy combat behaviors and adjust their strategy as combat unfolds. They are not prone to mistakes. Their battle plan is cohesive and their reasoning is tight. They are tough to rattle.

Special Units: d100 = 09, 84, 61. The DM chose to roll three times for Special Units, to give the Harkenhold Clan some variety. They obtained two results with their rolls: 10% Pit Fighters and 10% Witch Doctors.

Consulting the section for Orcs in The Tome of Lore, we find that Pit Fighters do +2 damage with their melee attacks, and Witch Doctors cast spells as 3^rd level Clerics. With healing and extra damage onboard, this is a very tough clan.

Special Abilities: d100 = 76. Poisoned weapons! Wounds from bladed Orcish weapons will require a one-time CON 15 save to avoid a -2 STR penalty for the rest of combat. And 25% of the Harkenhold Orcs’ arrows and bolts are coated with Black Frog poison, for d6 extra damage. This is shaping up to be a lethal encounter.

Weaponry: d100 = 85. Melee 2 and Missile 1. The Harkenhold Orcs are armed with Spears and Polearms. In addition, 50% of them carry crossbows. A nasty combination.

Step 2.

For the following combat, the DM has decided to use the additional information presented in the Tome of Lore for Orcs, as well as our Narrative Blueprints for Horde Monsters.

These decisions have an immediate impact as the narrative continues…

Your party ventures up toward the pass, with no knowledge of the strength or cunning of the enemy you are about to confront.

The road becomes rutted and narrow as it cuts up the side of the mountain. Soon you encounter rubble that obliterates the path completely. A natural rockslide, or intentional sabotage?

“Tough to say.” Alma Greenbottle, the Halfling Ranger, tosses aside a few rocks and brushes off her hands. “Looks natural. Either that, or made by somebody who knew exactly what they were doing.”

Regardless, you are forced off the trail and into a steep section of haggard woods. The small trees are so densely packed that it is easiest to walk single-file. Vorin Grimsbeard, the Dwarven Barbarian, smashes his way through the low-lying, dead branches for the rest of you.

You hear the barrel-shaped Dwarf grumbling continuously from the head of the line, until suddenly, you don’t. There is a cracking sound, and Vorin disappears completely from view.

An instant later you hear his muffled shouting. He has fallen through a cover of woven sticks, into an 8’ Orcish pit trap.

“I’m covered in Rot Grubs!” Vorin shouts, “And there’s something else down here with me…arg! It’s Ghouls! I hate Ghouls!”

But the rest of your party have their own problems. The Harkenhold Orcs have chosen this moment to attack, with surprise.

Note: The DM inserted an ambush into the encounter based on the information provided for Orcs in the Tome of Lore. They selected the Rot Grubs & Ghouls Pit Trap by rolling the dice on one of our Traps Tables: 10 Traps for Forests!

Step 3.

The DM consults our A. I. for Horde Monsters and rolls d100 for Aggressive Monsters with Surprise.

The result is a 12, which corresponds to the Monster Combat Action:

11-20. Stone Club Beaters. d6 enraged Horde shock troops armed with two-handed stalactite clubs rush the party and attack the first PC they encounter. Stone Club Beaters Troops have +2 AC, +2 to hit, and +2 to damage, compared to their comrades.

The DM rolls 3 on a d6, so 3 Stone Club Beaters charge past Vorin (who is still in the pit trap) and attack Alma Greenbottle, who was behind him in the marching order.

Alma has a high DEX and a good AC, but two of the Beaters connect with their blows. Alma takes 1d8+4 damage, twice, for a total of 18. Ouch.

The Horde with ranged attacks then fire their crossbows, each bolt from which has a 25% chance to be poisoned. And the Horde infantry, led by Pit Fighters, use their Moves to position themselves strategically for the First Round.

The DM decides to roll d100 for First Round Combat Behaviors and gets a 39. This corresponds to:

31-40. Evil Allies. The Horde attack as normal with melee and ranged attacks, then let loose with a thunderous howl to alert their allies. They may roll on the Horde Reinforcements Table at the end of the round.

After rolling Initiative and resolving all attacks for the First Round the DM rolls d100 on the Horde Reinforcements Table and gets an 09. This corresponds to:

9-12. Staff Sling Pelleteers! 1d10 crack shot Goblins take the field with two-handed staff slings. They stay at a distance and pelt the party with polished red stones. They have +2 to hit.

This battle is getting extremely tough. The DM rolls a 6 for the number of Pelleteers and the PCs have one more thing to worry about.

The cruel DM then decides to roll a third time, for Continuing Combat Behaviors. (Remember, the DM may choose to roll for Combat Behaviors only once, or not at all! Each roll makes combat more difficult for the PCs. In this case the DM has rolled the maximum of three times, for the Surprise Round, the First Round, and for Continuing Combat.)

The d100 roll for Continuing Combat is 19. This corresponds to:

11-20. Dark Fire. The Horde Chieftain strikes an obsidian rod with her mace! All Horde melee weapons glint with an evil black light and get +2 damage on their next attacks.

The damage just keeps piling up. Note that any one of these rolls could be used as a narrative seed for the entire combat. Or, if you want to create a memorably difficult encounter in which one or more PCs might die, you can roll all three times.

For this encounter, d100 rolls within our system led to:

Aggressive, Intelligent Orcs armed with polearms, spears, and crossbows. They had Pit Fighters and Witch Doctors in their midst for extra damage and healing. They had poisoned melee blades, and 25% poisoned crossbow bolts.

The Orcs sprung an ambush and made use of one of our Traps for Forests, in this case a pit trap that took the party’s Barbarian out of action. Stone Club Beaters rushed in during the Surprise Round, then Goblin Pelleteers showed up as reinforcements. To top it off, the Horde got a +2 damage bonus for all attacks during the third round.

Not all combats using The Grim & Deliberate Beast will be this lethal, but you can see how making full use of our system quickly provides detailed combat narratives and a difficult challenge for the PCs.