Tonight, I ran a brief playtest of the first portion of an upcoming starter adventure I'm hoping to get out in the February update. Here's a play report: In their final semester at the Academy and after months of training and studying, the Tacticians begin their final exams - 2 weeks of field exercises held in the regions surrounding the Academy.
Joined by their advisor Professor Dekkin Von Lopesbane, an aging and boisterous hippofolk professor (and graduate of the First Class of Tacticians) led Quablin, a Blobish Mage and Helios, the Flame-Touched Cleric of Solara, through their trials.
First, they were put in a equal footing fight against several Imperial Army troops who had traveled from the White-Walled City of Ahm as part of an annual rivalry contest between the groups. The Tacticians pride themselves on winning (more often than not).
Over 4 Rounds, Helios and Quablin managed to take out the soldiers, 1 Archer and 1 Spearman (both EL1 enemies), but Helios was nearly brought down and Quablin was tapped out of good combat options by the end. A challenging fight, especially with no healing abilities between the two of them.
The duo took 1 XP for the successful battle, but had fought rather disjointed and did not receive any RP for teamwork during the fight. The two were definitely an odd, not completely happy with one another duo at this point, with various barbs being thrown by Helios especially during the fight.
Next, Von Lopesbane brought the group to Penelope Thunderberry, a broad and muscular dwarven woman and one of the Academy's esteemed Beastmasters, who summoned a number of wolves for the two of them and other groups of nearby Tacticians to fight in a simulated nighttime attack.
Over 2 high damage Rounds, Helios and Quablin took out the Wolf (EL2) but only through smart use of their shields, clever backstabs, and an ideal Stupor by Quablin. Otherwise, either would have been taken out in a single hit given the wolf's penchant for backstabs due to its high speed.
The duo took their 2nd point of XP and advanced to Level 2. They also took 1 RP due to their Stupor and spear Backstab combo that greatly shifted the fight in their favor. After the first battle's barbs, this time the duo learned to play to each other's strengths as varied as they may be.
As the advisors were bringing out a midday lunch spread, a pair of huge Griffins (EL5) swooped down, attempting to feed off the field full of students and professors. Chaos broke out and Von Lopesbane, with a mouthful of melon, was hauled up by one griffin and carried off, towards the northern horizon!
Next session: The Search For Dekking Von Lopesbane!
[GM/Designer Notes: This adventure is intended to act as a tutorial for, first, the combat and then, second, exploration, interacting with the world and NPCs, and more intense combat which will be coming in the next session(s). The battles here were crafted in line with the equivalent EL to CL guidance using rules as currently written but were varied by equal combatants in the first and one very strong (comparatively to the Tacticians) combatant but with the Tacticians having a numbers advantage. I definitely took a solid handful of notes for new areas to tweak and clarify the rules to help dodge some confusing situations.]