[SGAM 2016] Let’s Play Chainmail! Part 2 – Don’t Give Up The Ship

Alright, so let’s be blunt right now. Trying to play the game with the original Chainmail rules was just confusing. A lot of cross referencing would have to be done and in the end, it wasn’t exactly as clear cut as I wanted it to be. So, I spent a good chunk of this month working up some new rules for the game.

Unlike with Braunstein, Chainmail did come with its own rules, but the problem was that I couldn’t comprehend them in a way I could easily put it into practice, and thus, I decided to create a new system while keeping the spirit of it in check. Perhaps this is history repeating itself, as Chainmail was originally adapted from some rules as well.

When we last left off our commander, Robert, he ended up taking over Bodenberg with the help of some pixies that might have ended up being necromancers. So yeah, Robert’s first action is to confront the Gnome on that, since he owns them.

• NPC Mood: 44, sociable
• NPC Bearing: 7 & 8, enigma
• NPC Focus: 56, flaws

The Gnome, however, speaks in riddles and picks fun at the fact that Robert led hundreds of peasants to their demise. Still, Bodenberg is ours which is what the villagers want, so no harm no foul.

[Q: Does he get around to explaining the necromantic pixies? A: 3]

No, but he does manage to tell us that if Robert truly wants to free the realm from the tyrannical king, he’d have to go to Schwarzfeld where he resides. And unfortunately, his domain is a boat ride away. So Robert and his army will have to sail to Schwarzfeld.

And thus we do. Unfortunately, during our sail, we encountered a ship belonging to Schwarzfeld’s army.

We now begin our next skirmish with a new event.

• Event Focus: 24, NPC Action (in this case, it’ll be the ship)
• Event Meaning: 77 & 35, Deceive Lady

Hmm… That’s actually intriguing.

[Q: Is this Lady on Schwarzfeld’s side? A: 1]

No, and she’s allied with us.

That must mean that there’s someone assisting us, but she is tricked by Schwarzfeld’s army into believing that they’re defecting to our side. It isn’t until we get up and personal that they start firing. They gave our ship a lot of damage, but we counterattack with only half of our guns.

Next round, the group boards our ship and battle begins proper.

• Event Focus: 92, NPC Negative
  • NPC: 3, Kobold
• Event Meaning: 57 & 72, Create Snow

So boarding our ship is a horde of Barbarians. Next to them are a band of Kobolds, Goblins, Hobgoblins, and even dog-looking Kobolds. One of the Kobolds, however, accidentally set off a bomb that caused a blizzard in their area, taking out a good chunk of the army. The round becomes something of a slug fest.

Next round and we get two random events.

• Mythic Event Focus: 94, NPC Positive
  • NPC: Hobgoblin
• Mythic Event Meaning: 37 & 1, Struggle Song
• TSS Event Focus: 3, Goal/Thread Changes
  • Thread: 2, Feed the Peasants becomes Rally the Peasants

I’m guessing from the explosion, the Hobgoblins must make Morale Checks. They fail and jump off the boat. The battle rages on as a Barbarian falls off the boat. As the battle continues, more people end up getting killed in the battle. Making things worse is that the blizzard is expanding. By the end of that round, we get another event.

• Mythic Event Focus: 66, PC Negative
  • PC: Pixie
• Mythic Event Meaning: 3 & 56, Neglect Watch

And sadly, the Pixie fails to inform us that we’ll be heading directly into an iceberg. We smash into it and it will sink within 5 Rounds. During the sinking, another solider dies, but Robert rushes in and kills the traitorous man. The lack of a leader scared the Dog-looking Kobold and he ran off, leaving only the two Barbarians left.

Next round, we got another event.

• Mythic Event Focus: Move away from a thread
  • Thread: 2, Deception of a Friend
• Mythic Event Meaning: 59 & 3, Agree Fire

So, I guess it’s time to explain the backstory for our lady friend.

Marie is a pirate that loaned her ship to Robert for use on the trip to Schwarzfeld, joining him upon realizing that he’s out to defeat the King. Her friend lied to her about defecting to her side and betrayed her. Thus, she lacks any care for his death and agreed for Robert to kill him.

By the end of the round, we have a TSS Event: New NPC.

[Q: Is this new NPC a friend? A: 5]

Yes, he is. Out of nowhere, a Rogue comes and stabs one of the Barbarians in the back. And I might as well wrap this up because there’s only one Barbarian left and he’s out numbered. So they dispatch him as they get off the ship and go on the Rogue’s neighbouring ship. Scene ends.

The next scene is our heroes on the ship with the remaining troops they have. The Rogue explains his story to the group and why he is helping them.

[BOLD Time: Haunting social environ solved by a strong attribute]

Beat was on his way out of Schwarzfeld after having left it. He told the others how it’s a hellish place and that he managed to escape only through his sneaking. When Robert tells Beat that they’re going to Schwarzfeld, he understandably freaks out. Dude just got out, he’s not going back.

[Q: Does Marie convince him? A: 5]

Yes she does. But this triggers a twist. A positive thing happens.

As it turns out, Beat ends up agreeing to going back to Schwarzfeld and knows where they can find some seedy criminals to help them with the fight. And with that, the session comes to a close. Pretty cool so far, and I can’t wait to see how Schwarzfeld would fair. Well, Bon Voyage, Gamers.