Half Tilt

Duke Stonebridge II and Squires Focus
about 1 year ago – Sat, Feb 03, 2024 at 12:33:28 PM

Named due to the interesting shape of its towers, Croquette Castle lies on the quiet river that runs across Verteridge. Duke Stonebridge is lord of that castle, a stern faced halfling that takes who crosses his bridge very seriously. He is said to be a good judge of character, and only lets those of noble hearts pass. He also is known to hold jousts along the length of his bridge, with many a defeated knight being sent plunging to the river below upon their defeat. None-the-less, when Stonebridge gets into the tiltyard himself, he never seems more alive.

Another Renown 4 Option for the Chivalrous knights comes in the form of Duke Stonebridge II, an imposing halfling with a grudge against those who cross his path. Armed with a mighty Two Handed Weapon, Duke Stonebridge II is able to both deal damage and take it with his Tough Trait. In addition, his “Lord of the Crossing” ability is able to slow the opposing knight down, meaning they have to use 2 Momentum to move 1 extra space after an Impact.

Some knights are born into noble families, granting them a position of authority immediately upon coming of age. Such knights are trained from a young age in the ways of their families, with many generations training under the same tutor. Others have to make a name for themselves in the world, normally by becoming the squire of another knight. Alvin, Bob and Charlie are three such knights. Three brothers born in ordinary circumstances, they grew up with the same dream. They practised on their father’s farm, and by the end of their 15th year, were able to joust using many of the farm's animals as mounts. On their 18th birthday, they set out. Alvin managed to draw the attention of Sir Rooksborough when he turned up to a local joust to challenge the knight. He’s been his squire ever since. 

On the other end of the Renown scale, we have the squires Alvin, Bob and Charlie, three Renown 1 knights to fill in the gaps of those Chivalrous teams. In the lore, Alvin is Sir Rooksborough’s personal squire, and so carries the “Yes M’Lord?” unique trait. At the start of the game, you may select one Renown 3 or higher Chivalrous knight and grant that knight one free re-roll over the course of the game. Bob on the other hand is out to make a name for himself, allowing him to roll once on the Glory table whenever he rolls two or more 6s on an Action Check. 
 

As for Charlie, he acts as the knight with the greatest potential of the three. He has possession of a magical trinket of jousting, granting him a whopping Jousting Skill of 12! Unfortunately, it also makes him extremely unlucky, and so he carries the Hindered Generic Trait for all Action Checks! Each time Charlie rolls a 1 (or a 2 due to his “Simply Unlucky” Unique Trait) he suffers a -1 Modifier to that Action Check!

Tomorrow, we’ll have a look into the final team. One that doesn’t contain a single halfling! Well, unless one of the wolves has had a snack on the way to the tiltyard.

Sapphire Oasis Focus
about 1 year ago – Fri, Feb 02, 2024 at 08:07:34 AM

Deep to the south east of Shortreach lies the Sapphire Oasis, a vast expanse of desert and sunlight. In the centre of the desert, lies the Oasis itself and the neighbouring towns of Biscuit Base and the originally named Oasis Town. Here, Halflings and Humans (or Doublings) live together to survive the harsh nature of the desert. The Sapphire Oasis also acts as the home to the Desert Elves, a mysterious people who seem to be able to disappear into the sand just as quickly as they emerge from it. When it comes to jousting however, the three races work together, each using their various skills to great effect. Camels act as the mount of choice for the people of the Oasis, and while they may not be the quickest of mounts, they are certainly hardy animals.

The Sapphire Oasis team are hardy folk and known for sticking it out in the most stressful of circumstances. This is shown by most members of the team having access to the Focused Generic trait, giving them a +1 to any Resolve Check they would make. The team also has a heavier than normal focus on resource management. Barakaa, Mercenary Captain for example may use his “Have you got the coin?” trait to discard Ploy Cards in exchange for additional Modifiers to his Action Checks allowing him to really press the advantage where it matters. Similarly, Omar of the Oasis may spend a point of Glory to gain a +1 Modifier to an Action Check. Paired with his Crowd Pleaser trait, this means he should have a steady flow of Glory.

The team’s Renown 4, Amir, Lord of Blades is an expert swordshalfling. With 11 Jousting Skill, 1 Extra Dice in Strike, Proficient (Strike) and his Unique Trait “Death by a Thousand Cuts” also potentially providing additional Modifiers to his Strike, you can be sure he’ll lay the hurt on his opponent. 

Meanwhile, Nasir the Sentinel is able to control the opponent’s Momentum with his spear, slowing them down, while the twins, Imran and Rayan, Brothers in Arms receive modifiers to either Initiative or Strike depending on if one of them has been defeated or not.

The team's additional character is Kaylessa Sandweaver, an elf wizard with the power of the dunes behind her. While she may be on the fragile side, she finds some protection in her high Jousting Skill and Sand Veil trait, allowing her to Allocate a decent amount to Block and giving Hindered (Strike) to the opposing jouster. That is if the opponent even gets to strike! Her vicious Velocigator provides her with an extra free Initiative dice while her second unique trait “Dune’s Fury” provides her with additional striking force!

Due to their mercenary nature, the human (doubling) members of the team are also Hedge Knights. When we add additional rules for building teams, you’ll be able to include Hedge Knights in any of them!

We’re on the home stretch now. So join us tomorrow for a look at some of the future stars of the jousting world and the Lord of the Crossing himself.

Half Tilt Gameplay Part 3: The Game Turn
about 1 year ago – Fri, Feb 02, 2024 at 05:12:19 AM

Welcome back all. Today we have for you the third and final Gameplay video for Half Tilt. In this video, you’ll find details on the different stages that each knight plays through during the turn, how those Action Checks we spoke about in the last video come into play and how you ultimately win the game!

We’ll be combining our three videos together to put on the main page shortly. 

As always, if you have any questions, please drop them in the comments below.

Scribbit & Mertha Focus
about 1 year ago – Thu, Feb 01, 2024 at 01:24:42 AM

Life in the Roughlands is, well, rough, especially if you’re a gnoblit. If you hang out at Rumblegut Mountain, you run the risk of being kicked, sat on, dropped, squashed or even eaten. If you leave the ogres, you then have to deal with the various orc tribes that wander the lands, who are just as likely to do any of the above. Even coming across a goblin can spell death for a gnoblit, as they finally get the chance to take out their aggression on something actually smaller than them! Scribbit’s story is something of an inspiration, a gnoblit that not only managed to get away, but took an ogre with him! In truth, Mertha is more than just an escape route, the two are close friends, and never seen apart. Having turned their backs on the Roughlands for good, Scribbit and Mertha have made their home in Vertridge, fulfilling their dreams of jousting and breaking the perceptions of their respective races. 

Scribbit and Mertha are a unique team of Gnoblit and Ogre that actually provide a fair amount of options to your team. First up, they sport a respectable Jousting Skill of 9, 2 Glory and a whopping 10 Endurance (turns out using Mertha as the mount was the best choice). In addition, the pure force of having an ogre smashing into you provides them with a +1 Modifier in Strike and the Strong Impact generic trait for another potential +1, while +1 Modifier in Block helps them make the best use out of that meaty endurance pool. Their “Brains and Brawn'' trait, allows the pair to either use Mertha’s lance as a lance, or as a giant club, gaining the benefits of either. As this is chosen at the end of the Allocation stage, you will have the knowledge of your opponent’s dice locations to aid you in choosing. If it is likely for you to get Initiative, you can choose the Lancer trait to lower your opponent’s defences, or if not, the free Strike Re-Roll will help you really drive home the swing. 

You’ll also notice that Scribbit and Mertha do not have a team keyword and instead feature the keyword “Hedge Knight”. While this will not come into play at this stage in the game’s life, we have plans in the future to offer players different ways to build their teams. Hedge Knights may be taken in any such team regardless. After all, Scribbit and Mertha care not where they get to joust, as long as they do!

Join us again tomorrow when we’ll be talking about a team who know how to stay cool under pressure!

Eternal Legion Focus
about 1 year ago – Wed, Jan 31, 2024 at 08:22:08 AM

Long ago, a Vertridge noble dabbled too deep in magic not meant for his eyes. Through this power, he gained the ability to raise the dead. Throughout the years this power has been passed down to future generations, from master to student. Necromancy now, fortunately, is still a rare occurrence in Shortreach. With the exception of Southhallow, a small county to the south of Vertridge. There, the city of Little Blood exists with almost a purely undead populace. One thing that never dies however, is the love of Jousting! 

The Eternal Legion offers yet another twist to how to approach a match of Half Tilt. Each individual knight features a solid amount of Endurance and the ability to heal combatants is more prevalent than in other teams. On the other hand, Eternal Legion knights all tend to have lower Block Score Modifiers than their living counterparts. Similarly, they also feature the Neglect (Block) Universal Trait, which means they don’t have to allocate any dice to Block if they don’t want to. This lack of preservation often means that while it may seem that the Eternal Legion are taking a lot of damage, it means they can focus on Initiative and Strike to bring down their opponent’s quickly. The team also has the ability to bring defeated knights back to life! Check out the teams Renown 4, Count Nicolas Von Halfstein! 

 

As well as having 11 Jousting Skill, he also has the “Do my bidding Thrall!” Unique Trait, which allows one knight that he had defeated to rise up and join your team mid-game! Similarly, Ribbs, a Renown 1, has two Unique Traits. The first “Spare Ribbs” allows him to put himself back together the first time he is defeated and re-join the action. Then, if he ends up fighting the knight that downed him the first time, “A Bone to Pick” gives him +2 Jousting Skill!

 

The rest of the team all follow this theme of survivability. With both Alaric the Soul Lord and Doug Upp, being able to heal themselves and The Bleakhold Reaper being able to reduce any damage they take by 1 and ignore any penalties to their Momentum from taking damage! Finally, Jarlen of Blood Peak, has the last say in superiority, gaining different bonuses depending on the weapon the opposing knight is wielding!

Tomorrow we’ll be talking about a fan favourite knight of ours. We'll say knight in the loosest sense as no-one is really sure which of the two is the one in charge!