The Vigil — Pilgrimage: Skirmish

You chose this ground. Not because it is defensible — it is not — but because something here is worth defending. Your Foe knows you have stopped moving. They are coming.

Setup

Place terrain to fill the board. At the board’s centre place a prominent Vigil Marker — a shrine, a body, a collapsed archway, whatever the road warrants. This is the position the Oathband must hold. The area within 6” of the Vigil Marker is the Perimeter.

Place Waymarks using standard placement rules. All Waymarks must be placed outside the Perimeter.

Roll for Initiative; the winner is the Defender and deploys within 6” of the Vigil Marker. The Attacker deploys D12+6” away from the Defender, but otherwise anywhere else on the board they wish.

Major Trial

Whoever has the greatest amount of Endurance within 6” of the Vigil Marker at the end of Turn 6 fulfils the Major Trial.

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	The Attacker nominates one of their Pilgrims not yet Tired. That Pilgrim makes one Free Move Deed.
2–3	Each Defender Pilgrim within the Perimeter makes a Panic check (see Panic); a failed check applies Shaken or Panicked as normal.
4	The Attacker nominates one unspent Waymark. The Defender must either send a Pilgrim to interact with it this Turn, or it is removed from play.
5–6	No effect. The dark holds its breath.
7–8	The Defender removes one of Shaken, Panicked, Knocked Down or Shrouded from each Pilgrim currently within the Perimeter.
9–10	A glint beyond the perimeter. One Waymark of your choice, if investigated this Turn, adds +2 to the Waymark table roll.
11–12	Attacker Pilgrims who enter the Perimeter for the first time this Turn suffer −1 Might on any Assault Deed made after entering the Perimeter this Turn.

Outcomes

In the Aftermath, if the Major Trial is completed, roll for Battlefield Finds at Advantage; if not, at Disadvantage. Add +1 for each Waymark interacted with beyond the first. 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)
Assault: Close combat within 1". Both roll D12 + Might; the winner deals damage equal to the margin (less the loser's Ward), then may push 2" to break off or remain Engaged. (→ Close Combat)
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)
Endurance: [6] Damage a character can take before going Out of Action. (→ Recruitment)
Foe: An opponent character. (→ Core Concepts)
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)
Knocked Down: From taking 4 or more Harm from one attack: must spend a Stand Deed before acting, and −1 Might while down. (→ Effects)
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)
Might: [0] Bonus to Assault, and to defence against Fire. (→ Recruitment)
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)
Panic check: Triggered once a side has lost half its starting number (rounded up) to OOA: D12 + Valour − allies lost this Trial; 7+ passes. (→ Panic)
Panicked: From failing a second Panic check: spends Deeds fleeing to the nearest board edge (leaving the board counts as OOA). (→ Panic; Effects)
Pilgrim: A character in your Oathband. (→ Core Concepts)
Shaken: From failing a Panic check: −1 Might and −1 Aim until a Panic check is passed; checks at the start of each Act. (→ Panic; Effects)
Shrouded: Beyond a Foe's Sight; attacks against a Shrouded character suffer −2 Might and −2 Aim. (→ Effects; Sight, Shroud & Light)
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)
Tired: Marks a character that has completed its Act this Turn; it cannot Act again until every character is Tired and a new Turn begins. (→ Deployment & Turn Structure; Effects)
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)
Vigil: A Trial archetype: hold ground or endure. (→ The Vigil)
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)