Miss Points IV - After Action Report II

The bad news is, we didn't get a ton of gaming done this week. The good news is that we did not because our friends are awesome.

My birthday was a week ago. It was one of those birthdays that is considered a major milestone of sorts - that being I'm old. We did not game the week before due to some family obligations. So our friends, who make up 40% of our group, decided to go all out for me this weekend.

First, this little side trip. We have cats. Those cats are outdoor cats. They have claws. Those cats were in our backyard when a neighborhood dog of the large white husky variety got loose and came bounding into the same backyard. One cat bolted while the other seemed to try not to draw attention and slinked away. The dog took the bait chasing the sprinting cat for about three steps when that feline disappeared into some brush. He then turned his attention to the fat waddling ball of fur skulking away - and the chase was on. I have never seen that overweight piece of hate move so fast. He was up a tree in a flash. Did he stop at the first branch? Nah...too easy - and that dog might have super powers that allow him to hover! Second Branch? Nah...the dog might even be able to climb trees himself! No...that quivering mass of anger went up to the third branch...a good 18 to 20 feet up.



Then he realized he was not going to get down on his own...and started that mournful, plaintive wail. While it was Mozart to my ears, my wife and kids were not so pleased. For some reason, they like that blubber-bound spawn of satan. After much consternation - which is a nice way of saying me swearing at my wife, my kids, and that plump beast, I finally got him stuffed in a pillowcase and out of the tree without either of us dying.

Our friends arrived about an hour later. They not only brought my favorite stuffed mushrooms and peppers (no...seriously..these things are unreal), my friend +Paul Kelley made a cake....from scratch...I mean really from scratch. And he went all out...



But he didn't make me just one d20 Cake...he made two!



I'm not doing these justice. The top one...he actually made the mold for the d20 by himself out of cardboard and aluminum foil! He built it in two pieces. Then he made some physics-defying icing out of white chocolate and gelatin and then "enrobed" the cake - all so it would look like a d20. Amazing.

Suffice it to say, we spent quite a bit of time just eating and talking. We started with the "appetizers" (which really were just dinner) and spent about an hour eating. Then we finally got down to gaming. As is typical, that was another half hour of remembering where we left off and exactly what had happened so far. Even with a map and better notes, it still takes some time to reorient.

There were three events that had the potential to engage the Miss Point system.

First, a minor skirmish in which our intrepid stumblebums actually used some tactics and were able to dispatch the challenge rather quickly (I also began the streak of rolling for crap!). So no Miss Points to worry about here.

Second, a pit trap. Saves were failed and into the pit she went. However, it brings up an interesting question - are traps miss points? How do they work in the damage system? For the moment, I treated them like any other attempt to strike in combat. That is, the character took 6 points from her Hit/Miss points, and I narrated that she was able to land without major injury and just avoid impaling herself on spikes.

Third, a more significant combat even though it lasted but a round as one opponent rolled a crit against a character (my only good roll of the night!). I ruled that the crit would take away Hit/Miss points, but also force a roll on the nasty Death, Dismemberment, and Injury table. He rolled a d6 three times. First roll: 1. Second Roll: 1. I thought for sure the character was going to die. Third Roll: 5, for a total of 7 - Major Injury! The 50/50 chance indicated the injury affected movement - so I narrated it that the creature was able to hamstring the character. Everyone freaked out. The other two nearby characters basically tackled the injured character, allowing their opponents a free attack, but successfully hustling the injured character through the door, shutting it behind them.

They dragged the hamstrung character to a comfortable spot where a cleric of like alignment attempted Miraculous Healing (Lay Hands On). I allowed one point of spell burn (which we discussed briefly what that meant for her god) and she rolled...a total of 18! So she was able to cover the 3hd equivalent necessary to heal a major wound (see the chart). Using all of this info I narrated how they were all stunned as they watched the pieces of hamstring weave themselves back together followed by the wound closing up leaving just a scar.

We decided it was a good place to break for cake. Cake that was so filling by the time we were done, we were all in a sugar/carb induced coma. So we quit for the night.