Sample Challenge Phase:You embark from your camp and journey down the mountain road. Soon, you see the great wooden gate of the Dark Fortress, situated in the middle of a 20-foot tall stone wall. A mighty Half-Giant stands imposingly in front of the gate, wielding a Greatclub made from a fallen tree. The gatehouse that controls the Gate sits atop the high wall, guarded by pikemen. and it must be reached to open the gate.
Today's Challenge is to Enter the Dark Fortress. Obvious actions are:
1) Fight the Half-Giant Guard
2) Climb the Wall
3) Defeat the Pikemen Guarding the Gatehouse
4) Open the Gate
◘ First, players propose actions and ways to tackle the challenge in public. Knaves will want to have a good a cover story if they're going to try to thwart the Knights during the Challenge.
P1 (
Knight): I'll fight the Half-Giant.
P2 (
Knight <Hospitalier>): P1 might need backup, so I'll help him fight the Half-Giant.
P3 (
Knave <Assassin>): I'm no good at fighting, so how about me and someone else climb the wall and try for the gatehouse?
P4 (
Knight): I can't climb well. How about I just shoot the Pikemen with my bow?
P3 (
Knave <Assassin>): If I climb the wall, and you shoot up there, you could hit me... or miss, and the Pikemen will kill me. How about I climb the wall and throw a rope down for you, and then you take out the guards?
P4 (
Knight): Okay, fair enough.
P5 (
Knight <Paladin>): If P1 and P2 can't beat the giant, I've got an idea for something that might work.
◘ After players discuss how they'll tackle the challenge, they declare their Actions in private to the GM:
P1: I attack the Half-Giant with my sword.
P2: I use my Hospitalier Power to Protect P2, in case he loses against the Half-Giant.
P3: I climb the wall, and throw a rope down for P4, but I'm going to pour oil on the rope so he slips, using my Assassin Power to cover it up.
P4: If P3 makes it up and drops the rope, I climb it. If he doesn't, I'll shoot at the Pikemen with my bow.
P5: I want to use my Speech skill to convince the Half-Giant to smash the door down for us.
◘ The GM then posts the results of the actions:
Major Failure
The Half-Giant trounces you within seconds, knocking you out cold with a swing of his club. It was a shattering blow, and by all accounts you should be dead... but once you come to, you find yourself back in camp, your head bandaged up, and feeling perfectly fine short of a pounding headache.
Success
The Half-Giant easily knocks P1 unconscious, but you manage to drag him off the field of battle and back to camp, bandaging his wounds before he regains consciousness.
Major Success
You manage to scale the wall, and hastily coat the top of the rope using a flask of eel oil. P4 nearly reaches the top when his hand finds the oily length of rope. He loses his grip, plummeting 20 feet backwards and lands with a sickening crunch. P4 is, without a doubt, dead, and no one will be any the wiser.
Success
P3 throws the rope down to you, and using it, you climb up the wall carefully. You try not to look down, but the rattle of a loose stone pulls your gaze earthward, and you find yourself dangling nearly 20 feet above the ground. Nevertheless, you press onward, throwing hand after hand upward in hopes that you'll get to the top of the wall soon. As your hand clamps down on the final foot of rope, it grasps something slick and you lose your grip, and begin to plummet backwards. Just as you begin to wonder why P3 would have greased the top of the rope, you crash into the ground, and everything goes black.
Over-Success
After the Half-Giant trounces your comrade with a swift swing of his club, you approach him to make a deal. If he helps your party enter the Dark Fortress, you'll give him a share of whatever loot you find, and let him smash things to his heart's content. After a few moments of consideration, the Half-Giant nods his head emphatically, and charges the wooden gate headfirst. He barrels into the door, and it splinters into fragments of wood. Congratulations, the gate to the Dark Fortress is no more! ...but sadly your new Half-Giant friend doesn't stand up afterward. Alas, poor Lumpy. We hardly knew you.
◘ The GM then makes a public report of what happened in the Challenge:
As P3 and P4 run up to the wall, P1, P2, and P5 approach the Half-Giant. P1 makes a valiant stand against him, charging into the fray... but their battle was a short one, as the giant managed to club him into unconsciousness with a single blow. Soon after, P5 approached the giant, and appeared to somehow convince him to charge the wooden gate, which he did with much gusto. The half-giant's headlong charge shattered the gate into splinters, but also seems to have shattered his skull. Ah well, such is life.
With the gate breached, you all prepare to give a cheer, only to notice that P4 was still in the midst of scaling the wall. P3's hand reached down to grasp P4's, but it came too late... P4 lost his grip, and plummeted backwards to the ground below, hitting it with a sickening crunch.
You return to camp, finding P1 laying near the fire, his wounds bandaged up. You deliver the day's tale of mixed success, and settle in for the evening, mulling over the loss of a brave Knight.