Campaign Setting - The Isles Part 1

Hello, and welcome back. Probably a shorter post than usual today, since I'm working on my two final essays at the moment, but I promised at least one post each saturday, so I'll do my best.

So, what is today's post about, I hear you ask? Well, not much really. Didn't have a chance to game this week, so no battle report or update to Elyas' adventures, and while I have just finished my Roman Captain, my camera phone, as you may recall, is utterly terrible. A shame, cos I'd intended to talk to you about him - the model itself, paint job, and fluff. May still do so, but it makes me regret that I didn't take pictures whilst painting him up.

But, anyway, I've decided that, instead, I'm gonna welcome you all into the world of my latest setting - The Isles. So, bit of background first...

Right, when I first started D&D, it was because of a series I'd been reading - Twenty Sided Tale, for those interested - when the author described how he thought of making a setting was always easier for a new GM than learning about one. And, well, I like being creative, and I wanted to start D&D, so, I made mine up.

It was called Jugisium, and it was... well, alright. There were fun parts, ancient mysteries, and the like, but five years down the line, I'm just a bit bored with it. At the time, it seemed pretty cool, and I've inserted hints as to something bigger hiding beneath the surface, but looking back, well... it's about as generic as fantasy can get. The elves live in trees, the dwarves in mountains, and the men in rural Berkshire. The land was emerging from a Dark Age of indeterminate length, and was a pretty nice place to live all round.

Sorry, boring might have been the wrong term. It's not quite boring, just too Noblebright for me.

So, moving on, around a year ago, I started reading the Order of the Stick. Nice series, I'd recommend it, but more importantly, whilst bored one day, I started reading the articles on the homepage, one of which was about creating a new setting. And, well, I liked it. A lot.

It was, well, much better than what I'd done. Really, it showed me a lot about how to make a better setting for a game. And, that made me realise just how uninspired I was by Jugisium.

So, I began a new setting.

It started off simply enough - just doodling maps and the like, but as I grew to like it more, I got my friends involved in it. And now, dear readers, I'm gonna involve you too.

The Basics

So, to start with, I decided on what I wanted out of this setting. I'd played around with the idea of including primitive matchlocks in a future game of Jugisium - I still might, truth be told - but to be honest I wanted something more memorable than 'generic fantasy with blackpowder'; especially given how utterly useless they'd have to be.

So, instead, I decided to cast it back further - say, 1700 years or so. To the high classical era - before Rome became the big boy, when anyone could've been the top dog. A lot of technological and social changes. Sounds perfect.
So, moving on, there was one other thing that I really wanted - Boats. I can't much recall why now - I'm sure I'd had a reason at the time why it was so imperative, likely a book I'd read, but I cannot for the life of me remember why. In any case, this led to two decisions - that they'd live on islands, and that there'd be a lot of fishermen.

For a map, I'll introduce you to the following. I started off as OotS told me, by drawing three lines, meant to be the highest points on the map. Then, I built in the map around them - creating a rough topography.

Next, I mapped in the rivers - I said I wanted a lot, and I stuck to that. In retrospect, the rivers on the Eastern Isle are a bit too fluid - ironic really - but it's a bit late now to edit them. This, happily, gives me thress clearly defined basins - and, more importantly, borders - and a vague idea of what they'll all be doing. Those on the right have a thick river leading to the mountains, so ought to be great at moving cargo about, while those in the middle have a pretty gentle landscape, so there'll be a lot of argicultural work.

Next, as you can see, I added in the terrain - mountains, trees, etc. and began to thing about the actual groups who'd live there. For this, I asked my friends which races they liked, and which they did not. It took a bit of effort, but eventually, we settled onto a list of 'civilised' races.



The red dot, along with the name,
is the capital of the youngest 'civilised' nation.

Now, at this point, I'd like to say that one of the biggest changes I wanted was a lack of segregation. Most fantasies have the different races seperated politically, culturally, and spiritually, and I was kinda sick of it. I wanted people to have cultural differences, not genetic ones. It's something we've clashed over a few times, cos they're not so concerned about it as I am, but on the whole we've managed to agree.

So, anyway, by the end of it, we had a list of what we wanted, and it looked like this - Dwarves, Elves, and Humans. Fantastic. But, we thought, the races might be a bit cliched, but we've already said - different cultures, not different races. So, lets get down to it.

In the west, we have a warlike nation - only recently emerged as a major player, who are less a unified nation than a series of tribes conquered by a overclass of military elite. They are democratic, but only former-officers can enter their senate, and former soldiers vote, so they lack the infrastructure of the other nations.
Centrally, we have a primarily agrarian nation, made up of serfs rules over by a king; think Macedon, but rather more oppressive. It's weaker than it's neighbours - both in terms of military and economy - but it makes up for that by being the breadbox of the Isles, and it's neighbours being too busy to invade.
Next, alongside the largest river, we have a trading nation. It's ruled by a theocracy, and practices some limited human sacrifice, but is also closest to the more exotic civilisations, so is surprisingly wealthy. Think Carthage, if it neighboured pre-columban Chile.

Finally, we have the two exotic civilisations. The former is made up of, well, racist elves. Basically, they once ruled much of the Isles, but their empire slowly decayed - brought down less by invasion than simply being too byzantine and corrupt to function. Most elves made peace with it, and integrated into the new civilisations, but some chose instead to seperate themselves off, and locked their culture in stasis. Anything new is wrong, don't shake the boat, and salute the flag. Mostly ignored by everyone else.
The other, is the dwarves... who are Incan. They live in the forests and mountains around the inland sea, lack a lot of the technological developments of the other nations, but are surprisingly well organised; their government (however it functions) is probably the most well run, and they also possess the highest reserves of unmined gold.

Eagle Eyed vewiers may also have noticed The Far Lands arrow in the bottom corner. This leads of to, obviously, the far lands. Not much is known about them - it's meant to be a huge continent an ocean away, where there exists a large, far more advanced nation. The natives of the Isle lack the technology to build boats capable of travelling that far, but occasionally one of their ships will arrive bringing exotic spices, superior tools, and advanced weapons. They tried to invade some years ago, but their superior tech lost out to the Islanders' natural sailing skills. They have an Ottoman aesthetic and culture, but little else is known.

Anyway, I think that's enough for now. If needs be, I'll come back to this at a later date - either when I run out of stuff, or if I get positive response.

Oh, and a week late - Happy Easter.

Iron Kingdoms - Where Are They Now?

So, in a start to our latest session, something of a time gap has ensued. Two months have passed since the crew stopped the Khadoran Konspiracy, and we've become minor celebrities in the region. Cara has managed to fix her 'jack, though she's had no luck finding a new cortex for the Talon we recovered, and the rest of us have taken up a variety of odd jobs to keep ourselves afloat in the mean time.
And, somehow, we've managed to befriend an ex-Iron Fang.
Well, when I say that, I mean he's part of the group. Personally, Elyas can't stand the man, but the others think he's useful. His name is Sergei, and he was retired after insulting... well, everyone in the army. And the peasants, merchants, and aristocracy of their Empire. Anyway, apparently before getting the can he heard about our efforts in thwarting their plot, and decided he'd like to meet the individuals who were able to almost single-handedly derail a Greylord/Military scheme.

Anyway, so, one lazy day while Tiny's out fulfilling a contract, and with the Hutner missing for some time, we get a messenger knocking at the door. The General has requested our presence first chance we've got, so we load ourselves up and set off on the noticeably journey.
Upon arriving there, we find out that the town is still undermanned, and a partol she'd sent out has failed to report in. She doesn't have the manpower herself to send out a rescue or recovery party, so she's called us in to do it for her.

Now, after a short walk, we find an old camp the patrol used. It takes a surprising amount of effort on our half - the dice gods were not kind - but, eventually, we manage to find where the tracks lead to.
It appears to be an abandoned farmstead - a ruined watchtower, an old cottage with an outhouse, and an old field with a smouldering campfire in the middle. Elyas climbs atop a nearby hill and retrieves his spyglass to get a better look at the situation.
The patrol is here, slaughtered where they sat; bodies lying at awkward angles about the campfire. From the hilltop, Elyas can't see what caused the damage, but the others move in to investigate. as they approach, they begin to see signs of injury; holes across their bodies as if they were shot. But not with bullets; that much is obvious. As they turn over one of the corpses, the whisling of arrows fills our ears and we dive for cover.
Most of this opening volley is ineffectual; the bolts either failing to hit, or deflecting from heavy armour. In either case, their hand now played, the enemy have little choice but to engage.
Elyas recovers first, and spotting a cloaked form moving about it the woods he snaps off a magic-embued shot at it - a critical hit, which was sadly let down by the damage... though, a feat point managed to correct that, and he added a body to his count.
Cara acted next, drawing her axe as she charged toward the nearest enemy; 'jack following behind like a trained hound. David leapt forward and through a cinder bomb at an assassin hiding in the forest. It went wide, but they were still caught; severly injuring them, and likely ending them if they failed to leave the conflagration soon.
Sergei moved last; his armour slowing him almost to a crawl. He ran toward the farmstead, where two more enemies lurked, though loaded down with equipment it took him quite some time to work up any appreciable speed.

The Assassins now had a chance to strike back. Almost to a man their drew sabers; knowing that to fire again would grant us the initiative, and leave them simply as reactionary. One charged into David, cloak still smoking from the alchemical fire, and struck out, though the Gobber's diminutive size allowed him to avoid any damage. Much the same happened with Cara - her mechanikal armour allowing her to avoid the cut-and-thrust.
Sergei did not fair quite so well. He was easily struck - his armour more a hindrance on this occasion - and the Assassin rolled well, landing a solid hit that cut deep.
The last two Assassins helped little on this occasion. The one closest to the cottage moved to fire at me, but their shot went wide - I'd acquired a magic hood at some point that basked my area in shadows - and the other moved to flank David.

Our turn again. Elyas pivoted about to kill the crossbowman who'd just targetted him, and Smiter caught up to his mistress - flattening the agressor as he did so, which Cara rewarded by casting a defensive spell upon him. David drew his trenchblade, but failed to land a hit, and Sergei only managed to strike his opponent once - a deep gash with a spear, but even so they dodged about the seemingly clumsy attacks.

Alright, their next chance to kill us. The first struck out at Sergei again, managing to land another hit and cause a little more damage - none of it threatening individually, but the wounds were multiplying.
The worst though, happened to David. Now outnumbered by two to one, he was swiftly cut down, the first blow leaving him near dead, and the second unconscious. We knew we had to act fast now. They split up then, one moving to engage Smiter, the other preparing to flank Sergei.

Elyas charged downhill, heading for the ruined tower. Smiter barrelled forward, apparently to the rescue of David, with Cara a bit further behind. Sergei finally caught his foe - his spear thrust through the enemy's gut. As he turned, triumphant, a bolt struck him in the flank - the broadhead easily penetrating his armour at the close range. He was left severly injured - only one point of health remaining - and struggling to move in his armour.
The next charged Smiter - seeming to know exactly where to strike he caused a massive 15 damage to it, wrecking his left arm, though the electric backlash fried their body, leaving a new corpse smoking upon the ground.

Working in tandem, Elyas shot the foe down as Sergei charged past, intent on healing our diminutive companion. He may not be the smartest of individuals - especially not whilst drunk - but Sergei knew well field-treatment, and stabalised David. Whilst they reovered, Cara and I investigated the bodies.
They were elves. It was a suspicion both of us had harboured throughout - we'd both encountered them before, either as fellow mercenaries or as opponents when they learnt of our Gift. Still, it left a heavy question - why were they killing off random town guard? That was not their way - xenophobic as elves were, they took no issue with ungifted humans. Had they been caught whilst attempting to pass unchecked through human lands, or were they simply particularly hate-filled specimens?
... Or were they, perhaps, trying to lure out a pair of mages who were known to aid the General in charge of the local garrison? The question of where the Hunter had vanished to resurfaced in Elyas' mind, and he felt a creeping sense of paranoia engulf him.

We gathered up the bodies, and took it upon ourselves to return the human bodies - unlooted, despite David's protests - to the town. We were atacked by an Argus on our journey, but truth be told it was hardly a fight, injured even though we were. Sergei was faintly put out though, as it's death left it unsuitable for conversion into a fur cloak.

The General was equally confused by the turn of events as we were, but she seemed less concerned about that than by the loss of six much-needed soldiers. We promised to track down the elves the first chance we could, and while David recovered from his injuries, Elyas made one last trip down to the market district. If he was to walk into a hornet's nest, he'd need to stock up; a better suit of armour and a hold-out weapon would serve him well on this expedition.

Firefly - and the Minigun in my Jacket

So, I was a bit unsure on what to post today - wow, that's becoming far too familiar an opening line here - since I haven't done any more Iron Kingdoms. I did have my first ever game of Mordheim tuesday, and spent the day before filming a zombpaclypse comedy, so I suppose I could do a post about either of them... but I won't.

Instead, I'm gonna write about the new Firefly RPG.

It came out last week, and, well... I bought it instantly. DriveThruRPG is the pen-and-paper equivalent to Steam it seems, in that my wallet does poorly where they're involved. Anyway, it was up there for around £12, and it's well worth it.

The system I'd most liken it to would probably be WoD, but that's still a stretch. It works on a Dice Pool mechanic, but rather than assigning each ability a number of dice, abilities are expressed as a different dice. So, for WoD, if you had 2 points in melee combar, and 3 in strength, you'd roll 5d6 and pick out successes. In this, you will have Fight d6 and Physical d8, so you roll those and add the total. This is then compared to the opponents total, and whoever's is higher wins.

Sounds pretty straightforwards so far, yeah? Well, not so much... you see, no one has health, or equipment, or experience. They simply do not exist. Everything uses Assets and Complications.

Now, what are these? Well, basically, they are extra dice the player - or the GM - gets to roll. So, you stab someone, which causes them to take a d6 Complication. What this means, is next time you attack them you roll get to roll an extra d6. If you stab them again, they Complication is increased to a d8. Then a d10, and finally a d12. If it ever goes over that, they're taken out of action - which in this case would mean bleeding out, but could mean anything from 'escaped capture' to 'lost an argument'. Which, is a mighty interesting way to work things I reckon.

Now, that's the Complication down, so what about the Assets? Well, the opposite obviously - but, to explain the implementation, I'll have to tell you that the system is very much set up to draw from the roots of the franchise; so sessions are called Episodes, campaigns are Seasons and encounters are Scenes. Following on from this, everyone has a supply of 'Plot Points'. These are basically the equivalent to Action-, Fate-, Feat- or whatever-Points that you find in most games; just little things that help you win. In universe, they represent twists and turns in the plot - so you tend to get them when bad things happen to you. You can use them to avoid being taken out, do something even when taken out, or use a special ability. Most importantly though, they let you create Assets.

An Asset lets the owner roll an additional d6 on a relevant roll, and represents a beneficial plot element - even one not previously mentioned. So, for example, you could be in the middle of a desert when a firefight breaks out, and spend a Plot Point to dive for cover behind an outcropping of rock. Or, when a business deal goes sour, blackmail the buyer with details of his newly revealed affair. Provided it makes sense in context, you can do it.

Now, earlier I mentioned there's no equipment, and that's both true and false. There is equipment, but with two exceptions, it's irrelevant. The gun you're firing isn't half as important as the individual using it, and obviously you're not gonna starve unless things go very wrong. The only exceptions to this are your ship, and signature assets.

Your ship is in essence another character - to the point it has virtually identical traits, and similar stats. And, obviously, they're unarmed as standard; you gotta choose between that laser turret and an improved hold... or silk bedcovers, if you'd prefer. It's nice to see a system where ship combat isn't under-developed (indeed, it has virtually identical rules to regular combat) but is not endorsed. Taking torpedo tubes sure will help if any pirates spot you, but then again, it might be nice not to be boarded everytime you see the Alliance, and really, how you plan to move cows is beyond me...

So, the other piece of equipment are Signature Assets, which are basically the same as regular Assets, but permanent. Obviously, this means that some cover can't be used as such, nor some knowledge about a particular individual, but otherwise... it's basically a PP-free d6. A particular gun, a connection to your ship, or even an old bracelet - any of them can become Signature Assets. You can start the game with up to two, and then you can add more as the Season progresses. They can even gain additional effects if you want - firing at full-auto in exchange for running low on ammo (so, a bonus to shooting for a complication). The possibilities are limitless - well, depending on your GM.

Anyway, that's the lack of Health, and the missing Equipment, so what's left? Ah, yeas - Experience.

Rather than earning experience, you earn Episodes - i.e. if you complete an Episode, you name it, and write it down on your sheet. These can then be used later for a variety of things - create an asset by remarking how similar the current Scene is to something that happened previously, boost a stat, learn a skill, gain a specialty, or, of course, turn a one-off boost into a Signature Asset. Call-backs to old games don't cost anything, whilst boosting a skill could cost up to 3 Episodes, so you gotta decide between a permanent but costly boost and several minor replenishable bonuses.

Of course, beyond this, you can spend them on earning abilites - both for assets, your character, and the ship, which are generally the best investments. They may tend to be more situational, and often include drawbacks, but are also significantly cheaper than a straight-up skill boost.

Now, obviously, there's a lot more to it than that, but this is all you're gonna get cos a) I've not actually played it yet, b) I'm not so sure what the line between "review" and "illegal upload" is, and c)it's a 360 page book, how do you expect me to fit it in here?

But, anyway, a system I am really quite looking forward to trying out. It seems a great for narratives, and admittedly this is just a gut feeling, I don't think it'll do well for people who're just in it for the winning. Looting people gives no bonuse - excepting possibly the occasional free Asset - and levelling up, while quicker than many systems, doesn't really net that much of a bonus over starting characters. Especially considering most abilities require a narrative explanation before they can be used.

Anyway, that's all from me. With a bit of luck, I'll have the next session of Kingdoms up for you in a week, so catch you later.

Iron Kingdoms - Unconventional Tactics

So, in a return to the mad world of Immoren, we find ourselves on a boat... and then I missed a bit.

Our friend was back from uni, so I helped him make a character this week. He doesn't play Warmahordes himself, so he didn't really know anything about it, so he had a quick flick through the races and careers, and decided (based mostly on the hilarity which was destined to ensue) upon a Gobber Achemist/Thief named David. Anyway, I spent the opening ten minutes filling in his character sheet, whilst the others investigated the ship from the last session.

From what I can tell, we - and by that I mean Cara and Tiny, I apparently spent the intervening time patching myself up - found David tied up in a locked store room in the bowels of the ship. Apparently, he and his crew had been contracted by the Khadorans to smuggle the works of the Necromancer north for them, something he had never really been keen on. When the hollowed began to rise, he had definite second thoughts - enough to land him in the brig. Being both a grateful and friendly sort, he informed us that the remainder of his crew - and several Khadorans - had set off to investigate our newly acquired barn. He even offered to help us defend it, which I considered quite sporting of him.

This is about where I came in, well into our journey - in the forest by the barn in fact. About the same time the mists decended. Which, incidentally, is the weather we've been having for the better part of a week now... Anyway, after a moment, we saw a shape moving in the fog; a vaguely humanoid form, blurred at the edges and seeming to flow more than it did walk. David, possessed of both a keen mind and an Alchemist's mask, was able to pierce the white shroud and reveal it to be a Riven; the spirit of an Elven Priest, killed when their gods passed from the Veldt to Caen. This proved... well, rather an issue, as spirits are immune to conventional attacks, and magic looses as dice of damage. David, regretting not bringing any Ashes of Urcaen, moved west to flank it, Cara cast Polarity Shield upon herself - thus preventing the Riven charging - and Tiny moved forwards, too dumb to realise his weapon wouldn't cause it any harm. Elyas set up his bipod, and loaded a runeshot into the breach.
The next turn began, well... poorly. David hid behind a tree, Tiny yelled ineffectually at it, and Cara  moved forwards before realising that, with only a single die, she'd be unable to damage it with her sole offensive spell. Elyas did what anyone in his position would do though. He imbued his runeshot with the force of a cannonball, and fired it at his foe - the shot causing not insignificant damage, and knocking the ghost back and over... sadly, pushing it out of his range.
So, quite understandably, the response of said Riven was to charge into Tiny - but, thanks to my knockdown, it was forced to forfeit it's attack that turn. Tiny ran away, but suffered little damaged thanks to his armour. Then Cara, for reasons quite beyond me, drew the Fang of Urcaen... Now, the fang is a dagger - a cursed dagger - that she acquired from the Khadoran Officer who tricked her. The benefit of it is that it can use the souls of whomever it slays to empower the wielder. Sadly, it also makes undead fixated upon it's wielder, to the point they'll completely ignore anyone else. It was magic - and hence the only thing she had that could damage the Riven - but it was still very, very risky. She also chose to draw it after moving, so she couldn't actually attack it this turn...
The Riven's turn came about, and it charged her, but through good luck and better defence, it failed to land any hits - with either of it's weapons. It also, happily, moved into my range, and after Cara dodged aside I pelted it with a rune of accuracy and power, finally banishing it to the Veldt. Which, I thought was rather nice of me, but Cara felt rude, given that she was without Feat Points.
She was cheered up by the loot though; we each got a gem - Tiny gave me his, so I actually got two - and Cara found a lovely crown. Magic radiated from it, and our GM identified it as the Crown of the Night. I thought it an obvious trap, but Cara insited on wearing it, whereupon... nothing happened. It was only mid-afternoon I suppose.

Anyway, with the Riven gone, the fog began dispersing, and we were quickly able to rediscover the route to our barn. Which was something of a 'Good news; Bad news' situation, as the compound was presently filled with Khadoran soldiers.

Anyway, for the first time ever - presumably because we didn't have a 'jack - we decided to do the smart thing, and infiltrate the compound, rather than simply charging in guns blazing. Actually, I say first time ever; during the original game, I did infiltrate this compound, and was doign a pretty good job of it til James turned up... alright, I'd been found, but I was making good my escape.
Anyway, staying to topic, we decided the best option would be for Cara to dress up as a Khadoran officer - she'd been carrying the uniform around for a while, not having had the opportunity to sell it - whilst I circled the compound. These both went well, until we hit a flaw... Cara doesn't speak Khadoran. Which meant the trio soldiers were content to be told to form up when she spoke in Cygnaran, but weren't so keen on recieving any further orders in the enemy tongue. She tried a few times, but when they reached for their weapons, we decided enough was enough. My silenced shot took out one guard, Cara engaged another, and then Tiny... well, Tiny wasn't in charge range, so he yelled. Loudly. The Khadoran was ripped apart by it, but it ruined any chance of stealth we had left.
Now, David, at this point, decides that he wants some action, and he wants it to be visceral. Grabbing an acid grenade, he charges in, pulling the pin as he 'Space Jams' it into the man's throat. Imagine it; a diminutive form, clad in a leather cape and wearing a gasmask in the shape of a beak, leaping into the air - resembling nothing so much as a giant raven in the light of the setting sun - only to punch the explosive into a bemused man's face. It was spectacular... and explosive. It fried through his mind, before splashing David and Cara, damaging her, and activating both her armour's holy fire, and her lightning spell. Only through extreme luck and the strategic application of a Heroic Dodge did he survive her defences, and even so he was near dead.
Oh, and I jumped down and ran to the side of the barn. Unimportant at the moment, but becomes relevant later.

So, at this point, obviously, David's former crew decides to show. A Gobber assassin, an achetypical Nyss and an Ogrun with knuckle dusters walk out of a barn... and we rolled initiative, cos this is essentially a new fight.
The elf shot her bow at Tiny, but he manages shrugs it off. The Gobber runs towards David - possibly to hug him, possibly to stab him, who knows. The Ogrun gets as far as looking grumpy before it's Elyas' turn.
He turned around, aimed, and fired a single shot straight through the Nyss' spine, killing her in an instant. I was - well, I'm not gonna lie - I was frankly astounded that it worked, but I'm not one to complain. This, happily left Cara open to charge, armour still sizzling as David's acid ate away at it. She engaged the Ogrun, her fang poised to trap his soul, though it's toughness meant she only managed to get a single good hit in. David and Tiny stayed back - the former to heal and loot, the latter to protect our diminutive companion.
So, the crew's turn. The Ogrun lashed out - 4 attacks which failed to connect, thanks to Cara's stellar defence, but also failing to activate either her armour or her spell. Which, admittedly, is probably for the best - considering how frail she was beneath it. The assassin turned at the sound of my shot and charged towards me, knives at the ready.
Time for our response. In a move I've always wanted to pull, Elyas swung around the corner - coat flying behind him dramatically - and unloaded his rifle; the charged shot striking the Gobber in the face, much like a clothesline, and causing him to perform an impressive backflip, even if the landing was upon his face. Cara, meanwhile, continued doggedly to strike her foe, but the lack of Feat Points meant she was unable to penetrate his armour.
Turn three began, and this battle was taking longer that we'd expected. The Ogrun manages to heal itself - damn, but that thing is tough - almost to full health. Cara does what she can, but with the acid still eating away at her, there's not much she can do. Tiny is still too far away to help, and David isn't allowed within throwing distance of her... so it's down to Elyas.
He pivots sharply, whispers the words for accuracy and power, and pulls the trigger. Even with an extra dice, I rolled poorly, and was forced to use a Feat Point to re-roll. Hit, and Elyas causes 8 damage. This, sadly, just makes the brute angry. The second round, however, left it dead... and that, kids, is how I killed every boss.

[Note: In this session, it does seem really like a) I made a Munchkin or b) I'm ignoring everyone else and just bigging myself up. Just to clarify; I'm not. I got a lot of lucky rolls, and to be fair, killing single, high wound models is what I made Elyas to do, against a horde I'd be screwed. This session just happened to play to my strengths, and the others were either new, missing their jack, or too far away to participate (or, often, looting). It doesn't hurt that I'm also a slightly higher level than them...]