Chapter 2 - Cash Dollars on the Hoof (Sebastian)

[jemmus]

Intruder's initiative [1d6]=2 Please roll Sebastian's.

[Bluetongue]

Sebastian

Sebastian: initiative [1d6]=6

Well the cowpoke chats, .... I am going to move, scurrying out of the shed (hopefully unseen by cabin cowpoke) and I want to slink to locate Lou Shepherd who, while 'coddling his lil' bro', may be more inclined to be caught off guard.

Sebastian: Observation (10) [1d20]=4 [1d20]=13 [1d20]=3

Searching and observing for the dying cowboy and his brother. In order to save his own life from a fate like Riney's, he is not averse to shooting a bandit in the back or with any other advantage I can make.

Sebastian: Careful Shot vs Coordination 18 [1d20]=14Sebastian: Caused Wound location [1d20]=15 Severity [1d6]=4

[jemmus]

Sebastian is a man of many skills. Pistols, rifles, riding, gambling. But stealthy movement is not one them. Maybe the subject just hasn't come up yet?

Sebastian feels eyes behind rifle sights watching every corner of the shed's southern doorway tracking with the barrel of a long-ish rifle. This may not be an ordinary sh*tkicker cowboy. This might be a professional killer. Or just another crazy man with a gun in the middle of nowhere in Texas. Possibly a determined, murderous one. Texas 1873 doesn't lack for that type of fellow. Odds are you'd be lucky avoid meeting up with one of them one day.

Sebastian tensely moves along the dark back wall of the shed, and exits through the open west doorway, out into the high grass of the western setting Sun. No rifle shots were fired through any doorway or decrepit wall of the shed. About 100 yards to the northwest, he can hear horses snort to each other And voices: Just go ahead and cut it off, Lou.
I know bad arm when I seen one.
Farley, I ain't got the skills er the saw. This ain't the war, and there ain't no doctors out here on the bumfool prairies. It's 20 mile to the nearest sawbones doctor in San Marcos er Austin. And then they'll just hang you and me both fer crimes. Git on yer horse and ride. To hell with that dang Phineas! We'll ride off and leave him right here! That sucker is dangerous!

[Bluetongue]

Sebastian

Well okay. If Lou and Farley want to ride out to seek medical aid, that whittles numbers down. While I posted not being averse to taking advantage of their distracting predicament, if they do move to mount up and ride away, so much the better. So much depends on them carrying through with that, otherwise I will shoot (using my last posted Careful shot, which with the shotgun might add multiple wounds).

Presuming they ride away, my action then would be another unobserved sneak back to the rear of the cabin.

A few seconds pass after the deputy dropped from behind the window. Sebastian hears loping hoofbeats behind him in a couple of hundred yards away, to the north, headed west. They stop at what he guessed was the position of the firing from the northwest. Some more seconds passed and he could hear horse hooves galloping from the northeast, southward. They go past the shed and the house, around maybe 300 yards to the east, then stop. A rifle fires twice, four times in deliberate succession. Horses at the other side of the house-- very likely his and the deputy's-- screamed, and their bodies thudded heavily to the earth. Just around 40 feet away. The rifle fires twice again, and Sebastian hears bullets thudding into flesh.

Lou & Farley ride away. So that leaves Phineas in the cabin. He killed my horse & Riney's horse. The pack mule also? So I want to limit Phineas options too. Draw him out of the cabin and advantage he has being in there.


Sebastian: Observation (10) [1d20]=13 [1d20]=12. Unskilled sneak? [1d20]=19 alright I kick up dust ...

Sebastian: Luck roll vs 8 [1d20]=12 Stature vs 7 [1d20]=2 having little luck but maybe cutting that wild, dust devil, 'Wendigo', fearless and vengeful figure ...

Sebastian: Careful Shot vs Coordination 18 [1d20]=20Sebastian: shotgun misfire results: [1d20]=8

I was hoping to shoot Phineas horse, but looks like I missed! Still if the horse bolts, that might actually serve better if I can calm it later and ride away.

After I deal with Phineas of course.

hope those actions make sense.

[jemmus]

This might be brutal, depending on the die rolls. But I try to present an interesting, fair, and challenging game where the NPCs behalf rationally, according to their own self-interest, abilities, and character. They had some good die rolls that took out the deputy early, so that affected the situation by a lot.

Sebastian only heard four shots and two horses scream and hit the dirt. The third isn't a mule, it's an unsaddle pack horse led by a bridle and reins.
The intruder in the house and the ones on the prairie roll observation to see him trying to sneak through the grass toward the brothers.
[1d20]=16[1d20]=20[1d20]=16

Sebastian various crouches and walks in the tall grass toward the mounted brothers named as Lou and Farley. One shakes dust out of kerchief andties up the other's bloody oddly-dangling arm, while the other reins his horse with his good hand to keep it from shying away. Sebastian looks back at the house, and sees the intruder warily peering around toward the shed, then off to the right across the prairie, in the wrong direction. The riders on the prairie to the northwest turn their horses' heads and gallop to the north-northwest. Not toward the northeast, where the rode in from. After a few tens of yards, at where a long rifle shot would be hard, they slow their horses to a lope. Presumably to pace them for a ride to a distant destination.

The house is more or less at the corner of Hays, Comal and Blanco Counties. Just a little over the border into Blanco County. Sebastian knows that the German-speaking town of Fredericksburg and the English- and Spanish-speaking town of Burnett are up that way.

That threat crossed off, Sebastian turns and stealthily heads through the grass toward the back wall of the lonely, dilapidated old house. Toward a position where he can negate the positional advantages of the man he believes is Phineas McLaury, and bring the advantages of his short range shotgun into play in this deathly game of cards.

Sebastian dodged up to three bullets-- without them even being fired! The first stealth roll was for leaving the shed, toward the horsemen. Need another for approaching the back side of the house. You've already rolled your shotgun to-hit roll, it will apply if/when that happens. (I didn't even look at it yet, or the other rolls. We'll apply them after the new Stealth roll).

[Bluetongue]

Sebastian

Sebastian: Unskilled sneak? [1d20]=8

[Bluetongue]

We'll apply them after the new Stealth roll).

Were you expecting more actions?

[jemmus]

Sorry, for the past few days receiving notifications has been spotty.
The riders out in the tall grass turn away and ride northeast, leaving their companion to deal with his fate as he will. In today's last hour of daylight, wounded Sebastian turns to approach the abandoned house and the shooter within it. The body of Deputy Sheriff Riney lies unmoving on the back porch. Sebastian holds his shotgun down and tries to move through the tall overgrown grass of the prairie unseen. But at 60 paces out a bare unhatted head is seen to raise up to just its eye-sighting level and drop a rifle barrel onto the deputy's inert legs and line it up. In half a second, there's the sharp crack of the cartridge of a new 1873 Winchester rifle.

But Sebastian doesn't feel the jolt of a fast lead bullet striking his body. He know he's a target for a rifle lying stable and at rest. Grisly as the substitute sandbags may be. He kind of doubts that his opponent has much care for that. In fact, he wonders if the man might have set it up that way....

It's 60-70 yards from here to that doorway. Crazy long range for a shotgun. And the shooter has only an eye and a forehead showing. And reloading a single-shot shotgun takes a couple of quick steps. Reloading a '73b Winchester lever action rifle takes just as long. But that's 9 shells loaded into the magazine in the same time-- compared to just one. .

The intruder's roll: To hit [1d20]=20 Location [1d20]=9 Severity [1d6]=4
The tall grass partially conceals Sebastian (-1 to hit him), but a 20 roll is a miss in any event. I didn't ask for an additional roll for initiative, but the intruder's shot missed, so it works out as is.
Misfire roll [1d20]=8
A 20 is a misfire, but a 1-8 is treated as a non-dud round for a rifle. But in this case it's still a wide miss.

The range is 60 yards to the doorway. Extreme range for a shotgun (-4), but shotguns are +2 always, so -2 net to hit. Target is obscured, so -2. Sebastian's wound modifiers still -7 I think. Net -11. I

[Bluetongue]

Sebastian

Moving which adds to his own modifiers as well as Phineas's. I am going to move and shoot and when I get close enough, fast draw my revolver.

Sebastian: initiative [1d6]=3

Sebastian: Careful Shot vs Coordination 18 [1d20]=10

Next round:

Sebastian: initiative [1d6]=5

Sebastian: Fast Draw vs 13 [1d20]=6

Sebastian: three Hip Shots vs Coordination 18 [1d20]=9 [1d20]=17 [1d20]=10

[jemmus]

Initiative [1d6]=4
Intruder shoots first (two shots), then Sebastian shoots, then moves. Will Sebastian walk (6 yds), run (24 yds), evade (12 yds) or crawl (2 yds)?

Movement (of target )
Running/trotting -2
Evading/Galloping -4

Movement (of shooter )
Walking -2
Running/Trotting/Galloping -4

[Bluetongue]

Evade

[jemmus]

From 40 yards out, Sebastian charges in toward the shooter, angles away, side-steps, and charges in again. The rifleman fires, levers a round into the chamber, and fires again. Sebastian hears the hum of bullets passing him, but he isn't struck. He winces with pain from his gunshot wounds as he raises the shotgun on the run and fires. It can only be a point-and-hope shot. He sees buckshot balls shake the inert limbs of the deceased lawman- but not the head, arms, rifle or eye of the criminal rifleman.

The range is 40 yds, Long for the intruder's lever-action rifle (-2). Sebastian is moving and evading (-4). The intruder's rifle is resting on something solid (the deputy's body), but from the sniping rules, it seems that the bonus (+2) only applies if the target is unaware of sniper. (The bonus is gone after the first shot). Sebastian is well aware of this shooter. So a total -6 to hit.

To hit [1d20]=14 Location [1d20]=14 Severity [1d6]=1 To hit [1d20]=17 Location [1d20]=13 Severity [1d6]=6
Both miss. Sebastian shoots. Long range for the shotgun (-2), evading (-4), wounds (-7) = -13. Sebastian: Careful Shot vs Coordination 18 [1d20]=10 is a miss.
Sebastian moved 12 yds, so the new range is 28 yds.

Sebastian throws down the shotgun continues wildly careening toward the prone shooter with his eye behind the sights of his rifle. There's a shot and sharp force and pain along his right ribs. The desperate pistolero starts to do what he does best-- draw fast, surprise them, sight on the target, and throw lots of lead quick. There's another report of the rifle, and the gambling cowboy takes a jolt to the gut that passes through and slows him, but doesn't stop him or throw him back. He tumbles forward into the former chicken yard of the decrepit old abandoned farm and ranch house. To his right is the doorway with the mouthy, bat-shit rifle man. To the left is the doorway of the snaky old shed he concealed and observed from. But what he can detect best is the oranges and purple grays of the wide open late evening sky. And the always surprisingly sweet smell of discharged shells and clean freshly fired gunpowder in the air.

Next turn
Intruder initiative. Initiative [1d6]=6 Intruder goes first.
The range is now Short for the rifle (+0). Sebastian evading (-4).
To hit [1d20]=12 Location [1d20]=15 Severity [1d6]=1 To hit [1d20]=9 Location [1d20]=5 Severity [1d6]=3
Hit, chest, light. Short range, so can move to head (but head and chest are the same, it doesn't really matter). 1 damage (+1 for location) = 2 damage.
Hit, right arm, serious. A wound to an arm or leg would be -1 to damage. But the char can move it 2 to abdomen, for +/- 0 damage. 3 damage.
Sebastian had 2 health, so the 5 damage takes him to -3 (unconscious from blood loss/shock).

RIP and this GM hat's is off to Sebastian. That wounded cowboy never flinched, and played it and fought it to the end. A lesser sh*tkicker would have let it go. Or many times worse-- just never have bothered to show up or check in again. A tip of the hat and a slow walk off of the scene by the horse... who caught it all.

[Bluetongue]

Died with his boots on.

Not sure if he would have had any fate intervene but his luck didn't hold out anyway.

Sebastian: Luck roll vs 8 [1d20]=17

https://youtu.be/WuKLXZpxOQI

[jemmus]

There's a Luck roll for a Mortal wound, but not for going unconscious from going to Health 0. I RPed and didn't state what unconscious Sebastian couldn't sense, but the evil intruder finished him off.