Best Left Buried - Observation, Stat, and Grip Checks - Oh My!

I've been enjoying Best Left Buried recently.  Some folks have asked for some play through examples, so I decided to start putting some together.  This time around I'm writing about Stat Checks, Observation Checks, and Grip Checks.  We'll also take a look at the Against the Odds and the Upper Hand mechanics. Let's start out by introducing our intrepid group:

• Amy - plays Wormac, a Dastard who’s quick with her blade
• Bill - plays Gannon, a hulking Protagonist
• Tom - plays Bjorn, a Cabalist with an unhealthy obsession with fire
• Pat - the Doomsayer, or referee

Pat/Doomsayer - You manage to outrun the mummy and enter a room at the end of the hallway.  There’s a table in the center of the room. It has some papers and books on it. There are shelves of urns on the wall to your left. A doorway on the wall to your right leads into another hallway.

Tom/Bjorn - Gannon, wedge that table up against the door while we check things out. 

Bill/Gannon - Ok, Gannon will move behind the table and push it up against the door.

Pat/Doomsayer - The table is pretty heavy, make a Brawn Check for me.

Bill rolls 2d6, getting a 5 and a 3.

Bill/Gannon - an eight, but my 2 Brawn makes that a ten. Gannon grunts with the exertion, but he muscles that table up against the door to block it.

Pat/Doomsayer - As you search through the shelves, let’s make an Observation Check, Wormac.

Amy rolls 2d6, getting a 3 and a 6.

Amy/Wormac - A nine - I make it.

Pat/Doomsayer - Among the urns, you see one that stands out, shaped like a lion, little black stone eyes seem to stare at you. As you try to move it aside to see what’s behind it, you find that it shifts. There’s an audible click and the shelf pivots to the side opening into a room behind it.

Tom/Bjorn - What do we see?

Pat/Doomsayer - Bjorn’s torchlight flickers, casting shadows on the walls. As you peer around Wormac you see a small room layered in heavy dust. No human hand has disturbed it for ages. A cot and a desk are along one side of the room, shelves of books and pottery casks line the other visible walls.

Tom/Bjorn - There’s loot to be had, friends! I can smell it. Let’s go in and see what we find.

Bill/Gannon - I’ll bet those books are worth something, c’mon let’s check it out.

Pat/Doomsayer - the room is about 15 feet square except that the corners of the far wall are cut off at 45-degree angles forming a bit of a niche, 5 feet wide in the center of that wall. A quick search reveals that the crocks are filled with powders and oily substances. It’s going to take you a while to search through it all.

Tom/Bjorn - It’s worth it. And maybe we can use this room as a cache for the other stuff we’ve found.

Amy/Wormac - Wormac will go back outside to stand watch.

Pat/Doomsayer - Great. She steps back into the room with the table, it’s dimly lit by the torch in the room behind you. Suddenly Wormac feels something softly hit her ankle. She looks down and sees a ball of yarn rolling away. Looking up, she sees a cat at the very edge of the torchlight. It looks at Wormac, tilting its head, and she suddenly sees that it has no eyes. In fact, it is unnaturally thin, it’s body wrapped in bandages -

Amy/Wormac - I think I need to make a Grip Check. (Rolls 2d6, getting a 1 and a 2..) A three! Wormac’s will isn’t going to make a difference with that roll. I’ll mark off a point of Grip. Wormac shudders and lets out a little groan, why did it have to be a cat? Umm, that leaves Wormac with just one point of Grip - can I take an Aflliction for her now?

Pat/Doomsayer -  Sure. Shall we roll on the chart, or is there something you think fits?

Amy/Wormac - I was thinking maybe Debilitating Dread of these mummy cats, what do you think?

Pat/Doomsayer - That sounds a little narrow, what about undead in general, So, you’ll need to make a Growing Will Check anytime Wormac sees undead monsters. If you fail, you’ll either need to spend a point of Grip or you’ll be Against the Odds on any action other than running or hiding from them until they’re gone. Since this is Wormac’s first instance of a Debilitating Dread, you’ll roll your checks with The Upper Hand. The good news is, you’re up to ten points of Grip now.

--Later-- 

Pat/Doomsayer - The three of you come up to a large stone door. There’s a pull ring near the right side, but it looks heavy.

Bill/Gannon - Let’s give this a go. Will it be a Brawn Check to open it?

Pat/Doomsayer - Yes, but given the size and weight, Gannon will be Against the Odds.

Bill/Gannon - Well, Gannon has a crowbar which would normally give me The Upper Hand and will offset that, plus Wormac can help. That gives me two instances of The Upper Hand and just one Against the Odds so I’ll have The Upper Hand on this. (Rolls 3d6.) Two 4s and a 3. With The Upper Hand, I’ll drop a 4 and have a seven, but my 2 Brawn brings that to a nine. Gannon and Wormac are able to open it.

Pat/Doomsayer - Great as the door pulls open, a skeleton that was propped against it falls at your feet.  Gannon, you’re totally unprepared for the skull that rolls in front of you and stops, seeming to grin up at you. Why don’t you roll a Grip Check but Against the Odds?

Bill/Gannon - Gee, thanks! (Rolls 3d6) I rolled a 4, a 5, and a 6 - I’ll have to drop that 6 but I still made the nine, so I’m ok.

Pat/Doomsayer - Awesome!  You’ll get a point of experience for succeeding on that check. 

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Best Left Buried is a Horror Fantast RPG by Zachary Cox and Ben Brown.

There is a Questing Beast review of Best Left Buried.

You can grab a hard copy from either Exalted Funeral or Melsonian Arts Council

And you can grab PDFs from DriveThruRPG

Best Left Buried - Character Generation

I've been enjoying Best Left Buried recently.  Some folks have asked for some play through examples, so I decided to start putting some together. Setting up characters seemed like the best way to start. 


Creating Insil One-eye
Best Left Buried recommends starting with a name and an idea, and I thought Insil would make a hard-bitten warrior.

Next, I need to set up his attributes: Brawn, Wit, and Will. I can set one of them to 2, one to 1 and leave the other at 0.  I want Insil to be fast and strong, so I’ll go with:

Brawn 1  Wit 2 Will 0

Vigour (physical health/HP) is 6 + Brawn. Grip (mental health/Sanity/mana) is 4 + Will, so Insil is

Vigour 7  Grip 4

There are a number of archetypes (the base for a character) that fit the warrior mold. To match the hard-bitten aspect, I’m going with Veteran.

A veteran has Years of Experience, I can have the Upper Hand* against one kind of monster (subject to the Doomsayer’s approval.)  I think Insil might have spent a lot of time fighting skeletal creatures, my Doomsayer thinks that’s reasonable, so we’ll go with it.

Veterans also have Danger Sense, they’ve got the Upper Hand on Observation Checks to detect dangers in crypts and the like.

Finally, Veterans are Battle-Scarred, I roll a random injury a 3 on the d3 and a 2 on the d6. Insil has lost an eye and will be Against the Odds* on Observation Checks that rely on vision.

I think Insil lost his eye to a skeletal warrior. This coupled with his experience drives him to fight against skeletons with particular hatred and skill.

Players get to choose an advancement to start the game, I chose to give Insil Horde Killer. This means he can negate 2 instances of the Upper Hand from Ganging Up (a benefit some monsters have) by any monsters he faces.

Finally, I need to pick some equipment.  All characters start with a week's worth of rations, a full waterskin, a backpack, a bedroll, three torches and a set of Basic Armour. They add two weapons, I’ll take a light weapon (a scimitar) and a throwing weapon (3 darts.) Characters also get 5 pieces of equipment, I’ll go with a shield, 3 doses of medicine, some caltrops, 50 feet of rope, and a crowbar. The basic armour and shield give Insil an Attack Target Number of 9. This is the number opponents will need to roll to hit him.

Creating Marcon
I also wanted to create a crypt-shaken spell caster and I thought Marcon would be a great name for her.

I’ll follow the same pattern that I did with Insil:  As a spell caster, I’m much more worried about Will and Wit:

Brawn  0  Wit  1  Will  2

Vigour 6  Grip 6

There are several archetypes that could work, but I’ll go with Cabalist. Cabalists start with an Affliction, my Doomsayer and I talk about it and Hoardlust seems to make sense.  Marcon will be prepared to betray NPCs (or, eventually, PCs) in order to collect more treasure.

Cabalists have Been There and Done That, so the first time they would lose a point of Grip on any adventuring day, they ignore the result and don’t lose it. They also have the ability, I’ve Seen Things, which gives them the Upper Hand on Grip Checks* due to monsters or the environment.

For an advancement, I’m going to give Marcon Fire and Lightning Strange. This lets her attack foes with one specific kind of magical or elemental material. I’m going to go with ice.  Marcon can spend up to three points of Grip to attack an enemy within short range*.  The attack will be with the Upper Hand and deal damage equal to the damage die times the number of Grip points spent.

For equipment, Marcon gets the same starting set of equipment: a week's worth of rations, a full waterskin, a backpack, a bedroll, three torches and a set of Basic Armour.

For her two weapons, Marcon will take a light weapon (a dagger), and wants to use a whip. The section Strange Weapon Types suggests that this be treated as a Wit based throwing weapon.


Marcon will carry two bottles of alcohol, a lantern, a dose of paralysing poison (-1 Wit), and a set of fine clothing.
 

We’ll look at how weapons and equipment work in another post.

* Check out my Best Left Buried Collection page for information on these features of the game.

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Best Left Buried is a Horror Fantast RPG by Zachary Cox and Ben Brown.

There is a Questing Beast review of Best Left Buried.

You can grab a hard copy from either Exalted Funeral or Melsonian Arts Council

And you can grab PDFs from DriveThruRPG