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Keep the Dispatch from the Road Bandits - AI-generated fantasy Encounter

Keep the Dispatch from the Road Bandits

Encounters
Protect · Guided · 4 players, level 3

Keep the Dispatch from the Road Bandits

If the bandits take the sealed dispatch, the trail to the missing cavalier may go cold.

Run the fight

Round
1
3 to 5 rounds
Creatures
4
Guided

This round

Nothing planned.

Win The horse and dispatch case remain in the party's hands

Lose The bandits escape with the dispatch case

Party 4 players, level 3

System Savage Worlds

Cheat sheet

Protect

Protect the riderless courier horse and its sealed dispatch until the party can reach it; the bandits want the dispatch before anyone can identify their employer.

Win

The horse and dispatch case remain in the party's hands, or the bandits surrender or flee without them.

Lose

The bandits escape with the dispatch case.

If it goes badly: The bandits abandon the horse and flee down the ditch, taking the case if they have it.

Forces

  • 3 × Road banditAC 5 · HP 5 · CR N/A
  • 1 × Bandit lookoutAC 5 · HP 5 · CR N/A

Rounds

  • 2The cut wire snaps against the road.
  • 3The cart rolls toward the ditch.

Read aloud

Say this

A horse bolts around the bend, reins dragging and a sealed dispatch case banging against its saddle. Three figures rise from the ditch wall while a fourth shoulders a rifle beside the flour cart; wet earth sucks at your boots, and the sharp smell of powder cuts through the rain. One bandit points at the horse and shouts, “Take the case, leave the animal!”

Forces

2

  • Road bandit

    Skirmisher

    3 of them
    AC
    5
    HP each
    5
    CR
    N/A

    SWADE Extra · Parry 5 · Toughness 5 · Pistol

    Opens
    Rush the horse and try to seize its dispatch case; fire only if a character blocks the grab.
    Targets
    The character closest to the courier horse.
    Flees
    Flee once two bandits are Incapacitated or the lookout calls retreat.

  • Bandit lookout

    Artillery

    1 of them
    AC
    5
    HP each
    5
    CR
    N/A

    SWADE Extra · Parry 5 · Toughness 5 · Rifle

    Opens
    Fire from behind the cart at a character guarding the horse.
    Targets
    Anyone carrying or reaching for the dispatch case.
    Flees
    Retreat when alone or when two bandits are Incapacitated.

What happens

3 to 5 rounds
  1. 2

    Round 2, at the start of the bandits' turn.

    The cut wire snaps against the road. Anyone in the lane must choose: dive clear or be knocked prone.

  2. 3

    Round 3, if the cart has not been moved.

    The cart rolls toward the ditch. Anyone beside it can spend an action to stop it; otherwise it blocks the road and grants cover.

The battlefield

Zones

  1. 1

    County Road 625 by 25 ft

    A rutted lane, open sightlines, and enough room for a mounted rider to turn.

  2. 2

    The Ditch Wall25 by 25 ft

    A low stone wall borders a muddy ditch; the wall gives cover to anyone crouching behind it.

  3. 3

    The Flour Cart25 by 25 ft

    A broken cart and spilled sacks crowd the verge; the sacks smell of damp flour.

What the party can use

A cut telegraph wire hangs beside the road; pulling it drops a loose pole across the track.
A handcart is loaded with flour sacks. A shove sends it rolling downhill and creates cover.
A shallow drainage ditch offers cover but counts as difficult ground when climbing out.

Scaling

  • Wild Cards ~ PC count (4).
  • ~3 Extras = 1 Novice Wild Card.
  • Extra mobs of 6-8.
  • +1 die step per 2 PC advances.
  • Hand out Bennies; mind the Action Deck and terrain.
  • Non-combat options: Dramatic Task, Chase, Quick Encounter, Mass Battle.
Weaker

Guided

One fewer Road bandit

Remove one road bandit; the lookout fires once, then retreats if pressed.
As written

Guided

Stronger

Guided

One more Road bandit

Add one road bandit, entering from the far end of the lane in round 2.

Treasure

The bandits carry a few coins, loose cartridges, and a rough sketch of the road bend marked with a time.

Media

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