PURITY SABRE DUEL- Roan vs. Sienar
And so, for the first time in years, we return to our sabre duel format...
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THE SET-UP: The Jedi are on the planet Mandragos, home of the Synod of Ferradyne, a religion that worshipos the Light Side. They are there to try and build a case against Sienar, an Abbot in the Synod who has done great good in the galaxy, but whom in the previous episodes was discovered to be a powerful Dark Sider playing a long game, who has loomed in the back stories of many players.
Now elected Archimandrite- leader of the Synod and Head of State on Mandragos- Sienar has mocked the Jedi all story, claiming that they will never get enough evidence against him before it is too late, and daring them to kill him before that (offering no resistance), a temptation at least one Jedi nearly went for.
To make matters worse, Sienar took with him to Mandragos the Acolyte Gallagher, who since last episode has been trying to avert the massive deaths that will be be caused by a coming famine- a famine he knows that Sienar is in some way instrumental to stopping. The Jedi had hoped to bring Gallagher back, but since being with Sienar he has started to act very strangely and refused to rejoin his friends.
Now the situation has changed. The Jedi finally acquired enough evidence to move against Sienar's associates, who offered lethal resistance. Now, keen to recover Gallagher who they fear may be slipping to the Dark Side, they have advanced to face Sienar himself. Sienar claims that they are idneed now too late, so he has no more need for deception. He faces them openly. And he has little to lose. The Jedi knew that Sienar suffered form a crippling wasting disease- but they have only just found out that a degenerative brain condition means he also only has weeks to live at most.
Sienar's cunning and traps have reduced the final amount of Jedi he faces to one, Roan, the most senior Jedi in the group, who fought at Zeiton when we last had such a duel.
The fight is in a library room. It is poorly lit but the contents of much of the room have been dumped into a hidden chamber underneath as part of Sienar's trap; a metal floor has slid back covering that over. Sienar threw a few bookcases at Roan as he made his way to Sienar, but the floor is generally clear so the environment makes no difference to this duel.
HOW THIS WORKS: Well... here we go!
Combatants will exchange blows each turn, trying to defeat their foe's guard and score the single blow you need to win a sabre duel. One player is nominated as the attacker. The title of attacker changes between participants each round of the duel.
There are three different moves you can make, each based on one of the three physical stats of Strength, Dexterity or Agility. You add the value of your chosen stat onto your sabre skill as used in combat to get the final power of your move.
There are two other complications. First, moves become better against other moves. Strength moves get a bonus against Dexterity, Dexterity gets a bonus against Agility, and Agility gets a bonus against Strength,. The bonus is worth two extra points.
The other complication is that when you play your move, it has an inbuilt extra power of +0 (known as a weak move), +1 (a normal move) or +2 (a strong move).
Obviously, if you could, you would only ever play strong moves... but your options are not that flexible. At the start of the duel, each combatant chooses to take six moves, choosing no more than three of one type. This gives you a 'hand' of moves to choose from each turn. The strength of each move is randomly determined, but weak attacks are more common than normal, which are more common than strong. When you get down to just one card remaining, you re-draw your hand.
The highest score wins each turn. If a draw, then the attacker wins. Winning scores you a point. First to five points wins... so long as you are leading by at least two points. The duel continues until one playe has at least five points, and two more than his opponent.
ANALYSIS:
Roan is a skilled and veteran Jedi. Sienar's skills with the force are truly formiddable and his skill with a sabre great as well- but Sienar is an ageing cripple also. But Roan has much on his mind- his fellow Jedi caught in a trap of Sienar's, the possible failure of his mission, his ignorance of what Sienar's plan actually is, and his fears for Gallagher, whom Sienar is preventing the Jedi from accessing. At least one fear- that of Sienar himself will now be settled.
Roan has leapt into the offence and hence is the attacker.
Roan- please select your fitst hand of six moves.