The Crossing — Pilgrimage: Skirmish

The road does not ask where you came from. It asks only whether you will cross it. There is ground ahead that was not yours this morning. By nightfall it will be behind you, or you will not have reached the far side.

Setup

Place terrain to fill the board: ruins, hedgerows, rocky outcrops, whatever the road warrants. Avoid open ground at the centre; the board interior should feel inhabited and contested.

Place Waymarks using standard placement rules.

Mark a centreline across the middle of the board, parallel to the two deployment edges.

Roll for Initiative, then randomly determine a board edge for the side that lost to deploy from — these are the Defenders. The side that won are Attackers and deploy from the opposite side. These roles are fixed at setup; the Initiative roll each Turn changes activation order, not who is Defender or Attacker.

Major Trial

The Defenders must move at least half their Oathband (rounded up) off the opposite board edge. The Attackers must make it impossible for the Defenders to do so. The Trial ends when the Major Trial is fulfilled by the Defenders, or becomes impossible for them.

Minor Trial

A side needs to interact with at least 3 Waymarks — or all Waymarks, if fewer than 3 were placed — before the Major Trial is completed.

Special Rules

Roll on the Sight, Shroud, and Light tables as normal for Season, Time, Light, and Weather.

Events

At the start of each Turn, after rolling Initiative, the Defender rolls on the event table.

D12	Event
1–2	The weather shifts. Reroll the current Weather condition on the Sight, Shroud, and Light tables and apply it immediately for the remainder of the Battle.
3	Gone before you reached it. Remove the nearest Waymark from the board.
4	Difficult going. All Move Deeds cost 1 additional Deed until end of Turn for characters not yet across the centreline toward their own far edge.
5–6	No effect. The road holds its breath.
7–8	A clear path opens. One Pilgrim of your choice makes a Free Move Deed immediately.
9–10	Something catches the eye. One Waymark of your choice, if investigated this Turn, adds +2 to the Waymark table roll.
11–12	More than you thought. Place one Waymark using standard placement rules.

Outcomes

In the Aftermath, if the Major Trial is completed, roll for Battlefield Finds at Advantage; if not, at Disadvantage. If the Minor Trial was completed, add +2.

Terms on this page

Advantage: Roll two D12 and take the higher / the lower; both at once cancel. (→ Core Concepts)
Aftermath: The steps played once a Battle ends, in the order After the Trial gives them: Battlefield Finds, then Injury and Death for every Pilgrim taken Out of Action, then Vows Fulfilled. (→ After the Trial)
Battle: One tabletop engagement, from deployment to the end of the final Turn. The environmental tables are rolled once per Battle, and Lore that triggers "once per Battle" or "each Battle" is scoped to it. (→ Deployment & Turn Structure; Sight, Shroud & Light)
Deed: One action within an Act. Standard Deeds: Move, Assault, Fire, Aid, Aim, Climb, Guard, Hide, Stand, Use. Some cost more than one Deed. (→ Deeds)
Free Move Deed: A Move Deed granted by an event: 3" flat, with no Pace bonus, taken in addition to the Act's three Deeds. (→ Book of Trials)
Initiative: Rolled each Turn: D12 + the highest Valour on your side; the winner activates first. (→ Deployment & Turn Structure)
Major Trial: The primary objective of a Battle, stated on the Trial's own page. Fulfilling it rolls Battlefield Finds at Advantage in the Aftermath; failing it, at Disadvantage. Referenced by some Vows. (→ Book of Trials; After the Trial)
Minor Trial: The secondary objective of a Battle — a Waymark count, or a restraint on how the Major Trial is won. Completing it adds +2 to the Battlefield Finds roll. (→ Book of Trials; After the Trial)
Oathband: The group of characters a player commands, built from 600 Supplies. Advancement and identity belong to the Oathband, not its members. (→ Recruitment; Core Concepts)
Pilgrim: A character in your Oathband. (→ Core Concepts)
Sight: Not a character stat: the distance characters can see in a Trial, set by the season / light / weather tables (0"–24"). A character beyond another's Sight is Shrouded. (→ Sight, Shroud & Light)
Trial: The objective a Battle is fought for; one Battle plays out one Trial. The three archetypes are the Crossing, the Vigil, and the Reckoning. (→ Book of Trials)
Turn: One round: roll Initiative, then sides alternate activating one character at a time until all are Tired; then Tired clears and a new Turn begins. (→ Deployment & Turn Structure)
Waymark: A site placed on the board (D12÷2+1 of them, at least 9" apart); a character within 1" may spend a Deed to roll for a result — Supplies, Vow progress, or a setback. (→ Waymarks)