WotA Tutorial 2: Challenge Scenes

Challenge Scenes

During the challenge phase, the players work together to craft challenge scenes that drive towards a climactic conflict (the conflict is the final part of the mission). The Autarch player may add additional complications to challenge scenes - making them more difficult to resolve. The players need to complete one challenge per Stronghold player, and they only have three exchanges to do it! Failing to do so in the given time gives the Autarch player additional fate points for the conflict. The challenge phase is also an opportunity for the Stronghold players to make longer term plans in the form of campaign aspects.

The Stronghold players each take one of two actions during the challenge phase: resolving a challenge scene (Overcome) or creating aspects (Create Advantage). Wrath of the Autarch uses three types of aspects: minor advantage, mission, and campaign. The challenge phase is the only time mission and campaign aspects may be created. Creating mission and campaign aspects may only be done when heroes aren't in challenge scenes (creating mission and campaign aspects involve short scenes of their own).

Conquering North Oaks

For this example, Steingrimr the Noble Barbarian, Aine the Headstrong Ranger, and Arild the Hollow Eyed Assassin are attempting to wrest the neutral region North Oaks from the necromancer Malthias. This is a Conquest (Skirmish) mission with a difficulty of 3 - fairly easy as these things go. Let's go through one exchange of action! Each Stronghold player takes a turn in any order they wish.

Creating a Scene

If a hero isn't already in a challenge scene, they may create a new scene as part of their action. Aaron, playing Steingrimr, decides to create a scene. A fate card is drawn and used to create the scene.

Creating a Challenge Scene

A challenge scene is composed of:

• A difficulty (the result of the card plus the mission difficulty)
• Allowable skills for resolving the scene (found by looking at the appropriate Challenge list)
• (Sometimes) Stress taken when resolving the scene (suns)
• (Sometimes) Additional time needed to resolve the scene (moons)
• Heroes in the scene

Challenge Scene Details

The first three dice on the card are used to determine which entry from the Skirmish Challenges list to use. Looking at the Skirmish Challenges list, the result for this card is the On the Run, which must be resolved using Fighting and Survival. The phrase On the Run is used to help inspire a theme for the challenge scene. In addition, the moons (additional time) and suns (stress) help inspire the narrative of the scene. Scenes flow together, taking into account the mission, campaign aspects, and other influences to help craft an interesting narrative.

The difficulty of this scene is 6 (mission difficulty of 3 plus 3 more for the result on the card) - not very easy! The two suns and one moon indicate it's both stressful and time consuming. Aaron decides that the scene involves a bone golem Malthias' has constructed chasing the heroes through the dense woods. The giant beast is chasing them from their encampment, attacking with a massive club, bashing tree limbs and hero limbs along the way. The heroes are attempting a controlled withdrawal, trying to escape the beast.

Since Aaron drew the card, Steingrimr must be in the scene. The other characters may be in the scene at their option. Heroes in a challenge scene may not create mission or campaign aspects (only minor advantage may be created while in a challenge scene), so occasionally it's worth not joining in a scene. However, this is an all hands on deck situation, so both Aine and Arild are with Steingrimr!

Steingrimr Attacks (Resolve Challenge)

It's Aaron's turn (he drew the card). He may either create an advantage or try to resolve the challenge. The moons must be removed before the challenge may be successfully completed. The opposition for this task is equal to the number of moons (one). Usually this is easier, but it makes the scene take longer.

Steingrimr is a warrior, with a Fighting of +4. Aaron decides to try to remove one of the moons using the Resolve Challenge (Overcome) action rather than creating an advantage. He gets a -2 - for a total of +2, success!

Additionally, every time the resolve challenge action is taken, the hero takes all of the suns on the card as physical or mental stress (up to the player). Steingrimr waits behind a tree, lunging out and smashing the beast! It hits him back, Aaron marks the second box on Steingrimr's physical stress (from the two suns). This buys the group more time to retreat, but the beast takes its toll!

Aine Provides Cover Fire (Create Advantage)

Aine's player, Shawn, decides to lay down defensive fire to buy time for Arild to find shelter from the beast. This takes the form of a Create Advantage action. Only minor advantages may be created while in a challenge scene. Furthermore, only other characters in the same scene may utilize these minor advantages. The difficulty to create a minor advantage is two less than the mission difficulty (in this example a mere +1, since the mission difficulty is 3).

Shawn decides to use Marksmanship to create an advantage. Any appropriate skill may be used for the creation of advantages. Skills used for resolving a challenge are restricted to those on the challenge list (in this case Fighting and Survival). Aine's Marksmanship is +4, and Shawn gets a result of +1 for a total of +5. Success with style!

Shawn creates the aspect Covering Fire, giving it two free invokes from success with style.

Arild Finds Shelter (Resolve Challenge)

Finally, Arild must take an action. With the two free invokes, Geoff, Arild's player, decides that Survival might be a good way to find a path out of these woods and away from the bone golem. The difficulty is +6 to resolve the challenge scene. Not so easy, but armed with the free invokes from covering fire, Arild has a much better chance of success.

Arild's Survival is +3. Geoff initially gets a -3, ouch! Using one of the free invokes, Geoff re-draws, getting a +2, much better! The total is now +5. Using the other free invoke to add +2 to the result, the result is +7, success! However, Arild must take two stress from the two suns on the challenge scene from using the Resolve Challenge action. Geoff marks off the second box on Arild's mental stress track.

Also, because the difficulty of the opposition was higher than Arild's Survival skill, Geoff may mark off one skill advance box for Survival. When a character has three skill advances they may improve their skill rank. Skills only advance this way during the challenge scene, not during the conflict.

While Aine keeps the beast at bay, Arild studies the landscape carefully. His trained eyes spot a narrow cave entrance on the side of a hill. The heroes rush towards it, escaping the beast! Geoff marks off Arild's second mental stress box (from the two suns) - the close call impacted Arild's nerves!