The (Solo) Adventures of Solomon Kane
Witchfinder General: Chapter 2
The scene is laid out. Our Virtue is on the board, so her extra abilities can be used whenever Kane is in her immediate surroundings. The Virtue and the Shadows are etherial beings, which can react with each other, but can not be seen by mortals. Shadows have a weakening effect on Kane's actions, while the Virtue has a positive one.
Following a successful first Chapter, the stats have increased slightly. Compassion is important with Talking, and in many stories the initial Chapters involve interactions with other people. In this case talking with Villagers is given as a possible Action. It is usually a good thing to follow that advise!Solomon Kane makes his judgement on which side he must support, a visceral decision. He pushes his way through the crowd and as he does so, overhears remarks from the gathered villagers in support of one side or the other.
Kane overhears fewer opinions that support his choice of whom to side with than are for it, and he finally bursts forth from the crowd, sword and pistol in hand, just as the men on both sides of the conflict draw arms and go at each other. With the crowd behind him, Kane knows he has made the right decision.
The timing of each Chapter in the game depends on the number of “Darkness” cards available at the beginning of the scene. Different Actions by the Virtue can increase or reduce this time. Note that each Darkness card has a negative impact on Kane’s ability to complete the objective but equally more time is often needed to succeed. Getting that balance right can be the difference between winning or losing.
In this case there are 12 darkness cards, which suggests that this will be a long slog to complete the objective. Luck (or Providence) will be one factor, and decision making the prime other!
As the scenario gives an option to Talk to the villages, this is probably a good thing to do. But of course when you take any Action, the result might not always be a good one.
Discovery Cards influence what can happen in a scene. There are usually a new card for each chapter of the story. In this case, there is another action to take at the end of the Virtue turn
The Virtue board after a couple of dice rolls. The "Light" token on the board affects what the Virtue can do ONLY when it is on the board and in proximity to Kane. The additional die roll is obviously useful. Note that a single die can be re-rolled or flipped to the alternative symbol. Usually 3 dice are rolled, but with the additional "Light" token 4 dice are rolled when Virtue is close to Kane.
Now that Kane is close to a Villager he can talk to them. For the test he gains +2 for being close to the Virtue and +1 for high Compassion. The random value is drawn from a card, which in this case was a 6. So totaling 9. The target value was 6+, so another Discovery card is drawn.
So, a successful talk leads to drawing two more random cards which show an increase in Strength of +1 (might be useful in a later fight). If a further Puritan or Roundhead card is drawn, this may have positive or negative impact! Scary!
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