Deadjaw the Brave 1
- System: Scarlet Heroes
- Oracle: Mythic 2e
- Adventure: Raiding the Obsidian Keep
- Scenes: 3 (~55m)
S1 Skeletal Ambush
[Chaos: 5]
Isla Requia lies across the harbor, wracked with wreckage and flotsam. Deadjaw’s curiosity is piqued — what lies at the other side? He wonders, thinks to himself, and steels himself, as he rows his rowboat onward.
? Random Encounter
d: 2
He steels his warhammer. Sniffs the air. The sound of bones clacking together — then, leaping from the stony cliffs above, are three skeletons! They leap down, wobbling the boat as they land at the opposite end from Deadjaw.
DJ cracks his neck as he stands up. It’s showtime.
He strides forward, and with one bounding leap, swings his hammer for one of their bony, armored chests. “Let’s test that metal of yours!”
d: 5 -> F
He rushed too easily into battle. As DJ steps forth, the boat destabilizes. That, combined with the onslaught of incoming undead, does him no good, and he swings over his target.
They retaliate, jogging forward towards him, handaxes in the sky lowering at his head and shoulders.
d: 7 -> F
He naturally dodges, lowers into a wrestling position, then charges forward. His shoulders, broad and sturdy, threaten to topple them on their backs.
d: 16 -> S
The sounds of the skeletons hissing and their bones cracking. The boat shifts, and the three skeletons fall on their backs. Standing overhead, Deadjaw loads his warhammer backward, then unleashes toward his mark. "I said, let me test your metal!"
d: 25 -> 2 damage
Two of the skeletons, stacked together, are crushed beneath his one blow. The third rolls over, and bumps its head on the side of the boat as it gets up.
? Morale
d: 8 -> S
It is unrelenting. Its hissing voice roars out of its jaw, hinging wildly, and it swings its axe sideways towards Deadjaw’s right arm.
d: 7 -> F
It’s repelled by Deadjaw, who strikes the handle at its blade. In retaliation, Deadjaw swerves beneath the swing, spinning around, delivering a strike at the last skeleton’s right side.
d: 9 -> F
But he parried too hard, and misjudged the distance. The skeleton stumbles backwards.
? Does the skeleton stay on and fight
-> Yes
Something in the thing is angered. Its once sibilant roar turns into a proper scream. It rolls backwards, then springs itself off the side of the boat and leaps, axe in air, aiming straight for DJ’s forehead.
d: 5,9 -> F
“Not today!” Deadjaw shouts, holding both hands on the long handle of his warhammer, pushing upwards at the creature. He tries to push hard enough to send its weight flying off into the water.
d: 12 -> F
? Is it able to strike again
-> Yes
But the warrior skeleton’s vigor is intensified somehow, and it lands upright behind Deadjaw. The skeleton locks the warhammer by the edge of his axe blade, and tries to use it to daze and push Deadjaw to his knees as Deadjaw turns around.
d: 11 -> F
d: 11 -> F
And indeed, Deadjaw is rocked sideways. He falls on his side, and the skeleton gains the upper hand. It stands over Deadjaw. But in the tussle, he still manages to block the ensuing axe-swing that aimed itself toward his belly.
On his back now, Deadjaw makes his retaliating blow. “You’re a true warrior, Sir Skeleton! A shame your life must end now!” He pulls out a dagger with his left hand, reaching from his left ankle toward the skeleton’s eye socket.
d: 12 -> 3 damage
It embeds into the bony skull. A cry of pain rings out from the skeleton warrior — words spill out of its mouth, in some foreign, unknown language to Deadjaw. Its body then falls limp, and begins to wither into mist.
Deadjaw rises from the ground of his boat. The skull and its companions have since turned into mist. “Onward,” he whispers.
[Deadjaw Grim|XP 0 -> 1]
S2 Ill Omen
[Chaos: 5 -> 4]
? Scene Test
d: 7 -> Expected Scene
An overturned hull rests above the waves on a rocky point. From a square hole on one side, a woman sits fishing.
“Hi, stranger! I seek companions on my passage to the beach!” Deadjaw’s voice reverberates across toward the sandy beach, on which the capsized ship lies.
? Does she respond
d: 97 -> No
Nothing.
He arrives on the shore, not too far from that hole from which a fishing rod is poked out.
As he approaches, he keeps talking through what he’s doing, seeming to be as friendly as possible. While he speaks, however, his hands grip tightly around his weapon. “I’m coming up now — please, don’t be an enemy! I seek to uncover the mystery of my lord’s wrecked ship!” He says, while he creeps toward the hole.
? Still, does she respond
d: 90 -> No
? Inspiration
-> Flee/Needs
He finally arrives. There’s a wide enough gap at the bottom which he can slip underneath and into the small room beneath the overturned ship.
There she lies. A woman. But she’s ill–looking. The fishing rod can be seen poking out — but she’s not manning it or even near it. She lies on a bedroll on the opposite side of the small resting place beneath the ship. A fire in the middle, but it’s dead. Her response finally shakes loose from her quivering lips.
Coughing throughout, she speaks. “Lightning … red … need … rescue … not beach …”
@ Understand what she means
d: 13 -> S
He sheaths his weapon. Then he brings her to his boat, as gently and kindly as he can. “I was brought here by the harborman. He should still be waiting. It’s not too far — I’ll bring you to him.”
As he lays her in his boat, he takes a glance at her, and notices that she is not wounded terribly, but is wracked with some kind of illness. He says to her, “You’re ill. My name is DJ. This isn’t too comfortable, but it’s the best I’ve got.”
He takes her things from beneath the boat and sets them next to her. Afterwards, he gets in the boat, and gets to rowing back towards where he just came.
“What is your name, my lady?”
From a croaking voice, she replies, “Admiral … Rosetta.”
S3 Finned Encounter
[Chaos: 4 -> 5]
? Scene Test
-> Altered Scene -> Increase an Activity + Remove a Character
? Random Encounter
d: Three (-> Six) harbor sharks ram the boat, trying to flip it!
Not too long, halfway through back to the ship, fins show up at the edges of DJ’s vision. A couple coughs come out from the woman, followed by a warning — “sharks!”
Standing up, Deadjaw wastes no time. He points the tip of his warhammer, its spiked end, at the swarming sharks. “Six? I’ve faced worse odds.”
d: 19 -> 3 damage
[Sharks | HD 12 -> 9]
? Morale
d: 5 < 8
He thrusts downward, ending one of them immediately, then jabs sideways at another, who is pushed back a moment before it comes back, though wounded.
The sharks try to bite at the man who’s peering over the ship, snarling with bloodthirst.
d: 10,18,18,6,11 -> 2 damage
[Deadjaw | HP 10 -> 8]
They leap over the ship, water splashing over DJ and the Admiral. Deadjaw pushes them off of the one another, and receives a blade-like slice from the teeth towards his right shoulder. Grunting loudly, he strikes upward at the belly while it leaps over the ship.
d: 16 -> 3 damage
[Sharks | HD 9 -> 6]
Hard enough to knock it in the air flying, the shark smashes into another and it seems to break its neck doing so. The two sharks then fall. Three remain.
? Morale
d: 7 < 8
Bloodthirsty, the other sharks round about again. The ship, no longer being rowed, awaits their strike — and they try to push at the ship.
@ Strike before they get to the ship
d: 11 < 13 -> F
[Ship toppled | 0/2 -> 1/2]
Misfortune.
The ship topples, as a beating loudly thrums from three sharks. They recoil backward, and seem to want for more.
“No! No, I can’t let them topple the ship!” Deadjaw turns to the admiral. “Admiral, you have to row the boat!”
? Is the admiral well enough
d: 22 -> Yes -> NPC Action -> Easy/Nature
As he says it, the lady rolls up her yellow jacket and grabs the oar, her swift and strong arms start to move the ship away from the sharks. Her countenance, pale as it is, reinvigorates in this life or death situation.
Though they move now, it won’t be fast enough to outrun the sharks. Deadjaw prepares to meet them head on, and starts with a swing toward the sharks, who race toward the boat.
d: 16 -> 2 damage
[Sharks | HD 6 -> 4]
Its broad end makes contact with the sea creature, brutally ending its life. The other two sharks are repelled by his swinging blows. They shift target from the boat, to the man. They distance, then charge up for a leap, swimming downward then bursting forth from the depths.
d: 7,2 -> F
Front kick, then front kick, Deadjaw sends them flying back into the water. “No! Back where you belong!” The Admiral, looking back, coughs wildly. She, ill as she is, pushes herself to keep moving toward the harborman.
“Hail! Sir Deadjaw, speed it up!” The harborman yells from his bigger ship, watching in fright.
“Almost there, Miss Rosetta! I’ve got them on their last tails!” Deadjaw loads a swing on his left, aiming to broadly swipe horizontally at the trajectory of most impact.
d: 7,11 -> 4 damage
[Sharks | Killed]
The two sharks burst forth. One on his left side, one on his right. Blood staining the flying particles of water, his cut making contact with their beady eyes.
WHAM! His warhammer cuts into their flesh, his strong swing crushing into both their heads. They land with loud impact on the ship itself, their bodies flail about in death throes.
He lets the sharks go back into the water. He sheaths his weapon, then turns to Admiral Rosetta.
“Bloody hell.”
Reflection
This was the first session in the tale of Deadjaw Gum, the Brave.
I've shifted from Dark Canals to Scarlet Heroes because I wanted to know what all the fuss was about with this system, and how it would feel in solo mode.
It's kinda badass.
I'm easy to please!
Some love him, some not so much — but Sly Flourish was one of my first pieces of study when it came to researching how to be a good GM. It was him and the Alexandrian.
I was, for a long time, into the whole automation thing on FoundryVTT. Not a great thing to delve into for roleplay, but dang was it not cool for a guy with a part-time job, and 2k+ hours in CS2. It costs money, Patreon subscriptions, and a whole lotta grating hours to set up.
Was it worth it? Honestly ... not really. What a surprise — Foundry automation didn't help with getting cool moments at the table. There's the initial oohs and ahs, but ... meh? Half the time you're playing IT technician, helping people figure out how to import their DDB Beyond character sheet on Foundry, telling them that their homebrew item isn't gonna work, and figuring out through 3 hour documentation videos on how to integrate this and that.
Yeah I know. "Might as well play Baldur's Gate 3!"
Nowadays, I literally run minimal as I can on FoundryVTT. I use the Systemless version if I can. Much smoother. Some modules are useful.
In person, though, I like my Chessex battlemap. I, even more than that, love Theater of the Mind.
Thanks for reading!