Combat Walkthrough

In This Chapter

This chapter walks through the combat confrontation from the Saint Adela Incident (covered in full as a session walkthrough in Chapter Fourteen) in complete mechanical detail, demonstrating how Hollow-specific rules, weapon qualities, holy items, supernatural defenses, faction passives, and entity interaction integrate with the core Exodus NDS combat rules you already know.

The characters entering this scene are the same four from Chapter Fourteen. Their relevant combat values are listed at the opening of each turn.

Characters in walkthrough

The Setup

Location: The basement of St. Adela's Hospice. The old storage chapel, approximately 12m × 8m, has been rearranged as a ritual space. Folding tables along one wall hold materials. A circle is chalked on the concrete floor. Dim overhead lights, two portable work lamps near the circle.

The threat: Three cult members caught mid-preparation.

• Ramirez: cult lieutenant, The Corrupted, Tier 1 (Chapter Eleven). Knife. WP 14, Willpower 3, Resistance 1 (resilient, not immune; confirmed weaknesses: iron, holy water).
• Cult Member A (Cabrera): basic human. Improvised pipe weapon (Engaged range). WP 10, Resistance 1.
• Cult Member B (Harwick): basic human. Light Pistol (Short range). WP 10, Resistance 1.
• Maria Chen: the possessed nurse, held at the far end of the room. The Gripping Demon is forcing her against the wall, using her as a human shield and a bargaining chip. Do not harm Maria.

Characters entering:

Initiative is rolled at the start of structured play (Chapter Seventeen). Because the investigators are caught mid-conversation when the shooting starts, they roll the surprised pool, Willpower + Composure; an alert character would roll Savvy + Perception. For a clean teaching example this walkthrough assumes the rolls fall in descending order of each character's Willpower + Composure pool (the value shown below); in your game, rank by net Successes.

Antagonist initiative: Ramirez 5, Cabrera and Harwick both 3.

Ranking all seven results gives the round's slot order: player, player, player, GM, player, GM, GM. The players decide which of their characters takes each player slot as it comes up, and the GM decides for each GM slot. This round the players open with Kwame, then Sister Marisela, then Darian; the GM answers with Ramirez; the players take their last slot with Dr. Stern; the GM closes with Cabrera and Harwick.

This round's order: Kwame → Sister Marisela → Darian → Ramirez → Dr. Stern → Cabrera / Harwick

Round One

Kwame Asante (Initiative 6)

The room is 12 meters across. The three cult members are at Short range (Core Rules). Maria Chen is at the far end. Medium range.

Kwame's Passion activates (Chapter Four). He established this in preparation: if he is acting to protect Maria Chen from the cult's use of her, his Passion (protecting the innocent) is directly engaged. When it fires, after seeing any roll made in direct service of that Passion, Kwame may suffer Strain to add successes (3 for the first, then +1 per further success), never paying past what would incapacitate him. It applies to his Righteous Fire use this scene.

Action: Kwame draws his Light Pistol and fires at Harwick (the armed cult member, greatest immediate threat to the group).

Pool construction: Core Rules. Ranged attack at Short range: Easy difficulty (Core Rules).

Result: Success with 1 Boon. The Light Pistol deals 5 WD (Chapter Seven); Harwick's Resistance 1 reduces it, so he suffers 4 Wounds. Kwame spends the Boon for positional advantage (Chapter Seven, Boon spend options), he has read the room and established cover behind an overturned table, gaining a defensive benefit on the next incoming attack against him.

Harwick: 4 Wounds of 10 WP. Kwame: in cover.

Sister Marisela Duarte (Initiative 6, resolving after Kwame)

Sister Marisela's target this round is Maria, not the cult members.

Action: She moves toward Maria Chen, but the Gripping Demon forces Maria to back against the wall and begin speaking in a voice that is not her own. The demon is announcing itself and attempting to use Maria as a hostage.

This is not a combat action by the demon. It is a supernatural influence action: the demon asserting control through the host to create a tactical constraint. This does not require a check against the characters yet, but it establishes that Maria cannot be approached without engaging the demon's leverage (Chapter Eight, entity behavioral profile in Chapter Eleven).

Sister Marisela redirects: She holds her position and uses her action to assess the possession, a Discernment check (Chapter Five) to read the demon's current grip on Maria.

Pool: Willpower + Discernment. Average (Gripping Demon at partial possession, Concealment 2, but Sister Marisela has Discernment 2).

Result: Success. She confirms partial possession: the demon does not have full control, and Maria Chen is still in there, reachable briefly, an opening for the exorcism later.

No WP changes. Sister Marisela has a critical read on the situation.

Darian Cole (Initiative 5)

Darian's primary target is Ramirez: the Corrupted cult lieutenant. He has confirmed weaknesses on the Gripping Demon (from Research in Chapter Fourteen), but Ramirez is a different threat category.

Weakness exploitation (Chapter Eleven; Chapter Four): Ramirez is The Corrupted (Chapter Eleven). Darian has Monster Lore 2, and his preparation Research confirmed two of Ramirez's weaknesses: holy water (1 WD on contact) and iron.

Ramirez is resilient, not immune, so a confirmed weakness changes the math for whoever exploits it: +1 Boon die, Resistance drops to 0 for the hit, and one Supernatural Defense is bypassed (Weakness Mechanics, Chapter Eleven). Kill It Right would additionally let Darian act on an unconfirmed weakness, not needed here.

Darian engages Ramirez in close combat with his prepared iron-edge combat knife (Chapter Seven: Combat Knife, Dam +1, Balanced quality, with an iron edge fitted), putting that confirmed weakness to use.

Pool: Might + Melee, +1 Boon die . Difficulty: Average (Engaged melee, Core Rules).

Result: Success with 2 net Boon. A melee weapon's WD entry adds to the wielder's Might, so the knife deals Might 3 + 1 = 4 WD; Ramirez's Resistance is 0 for this hit, so the full amount lands. Darian spends 1 Boon for extra WD, permitted by the knife's Balanced quality ( Boon spend, Chapter Seven), dealing +1 WD, for 5 Wounds total. He spends the second Boon to read Ramirez's next action. GM informs Darian's player that Ramirez is going for distance, not pressing the engagement.

Ramirez: 5 Wounds of 14 WP. Darian: positioned at Engaged range with Ramirez.

Ramirez (Initiative 5, antagonist)

Ramirez takes the hit and reads the room. Darian is too close and too capable in close combat. He disengages, a maneuver (Core Rules), and moves to Short range, putting a folding table between himself and Darian.

He shouts to Cabrera and Harwick. Cabrera moves toward Kwame. Harwick, wounded, raises his handgun toward Sister Marisela. She is the one who hasn't attacked yet and she's in the open.

No damage this turn. Ramirez repositioning.

Dr. Yael Stern (Initiative 4)

Harwick is lining up on Sister Marisela. Dr. Stern acts before Harwick's turn.

Action: Ranged attack on Harwick (Pistol, Short range).

Pool: Agility + Ranged (Core Rules). Easy difficulty (Ranged at Short, Core Rules).

Result: Success, no Boon. The Pistol deals 6 WD; Harwick's Resistance 1 reduces it to 5 Wounds.

Harwick: 9 Wounds of 10 WP. Still standing, barely.

Cabrera and Harwick (Initiative 3, antagonists)

Cabrera swings the pipe at Kwame. Kwame's positional advantage from Round One applies its defensive benefit to this incoming attack (Chapter Seven, Boon spend options), so Cabrera's attack is at increased difficulty.

Result: Failure. The swing goes wide. Kwame does not take damage.

Harwick fires at Sister Marisela. She is in the open.

Result: Success. Harwick's Light Pistol deals 5 WD; Sister Marisela's Resistance 1 reduces it to 4 Wounds.

Sister Marisela: 4 Wounds.

Round Two

Kwame Asante (Initiative 6)

Cabrera missed him last round. Cabrera is at Engaged range. Kwame spends a Maneuver (Core Rules) to break cover and come up standing, squared to Cabrera at Engaged range.

Action: Kwame addresses the Gripping Demon directly. He uses Righteous Fire (Chapter Five, Hard-Gated Authority skill; Willpower + Righteous Fire).

From Chapter Eight: Righteous Fire against a possessing entity at partial possession disrupts the entity's hold on its target, imposing a Bane die on all actions the entity takes through or against that target until the beginning of Kwame's next turn.

Kwame's Passion is active again (see Round One): this use of Righteous Fire also serves the goal of protecting Maria Chen.

Pool: Willpower 4 + Righteous Fire 2 (Core Rules). Passion active if needed (see Round One).

Result: Success with 1 Boon. The demon's hold on Maria is disrupted. It cannot act through her or force actions on her until the start of Kwame's next turn. Kwame spends the Boon to set his own footing against Cabrera as the demon recoils, taking positional advantage again (Chapter Seven).

Sister Marisela has her opening.

Maria Chen: free from demon's active control for this round. Gripping Demon: Bane die on all actions through the host until Kwame's next turn.

Sister Marisela (Initiative 6)

The demon's control of Maria is suppressed. Sister Marisela crosses the room to Maria's side: two Maneuvers, her free Maneuver plus a second bought by suffering 2 Strain (Core Rules), which keeps her Action available. She makes physical contact, speaking directly to Maria and not to the demon.

Marisela's approach is an interpersonal action under combat conditions: she is attempting to reach Maria's consciousness while the demon's control is briefly disrupted. The GM calls for a Charisma + Theology check (Average , partial possession, demon suppressed this round).

Result: Success. Maria's eyes clear for a moment. She whispers one word to Sister Marisela. It is the demon's name, or a syllable of it. She does not know what she is saying. She heard it when the demon spoke through her during a ritual. She has been holding it.

GM note: This is partial-name leverage (Chapter Eight, Name Leverage in Exorcism). Sister Marisela now holds one syllable of the Gripping Demon's name. Invoking it during the formal exorcism after the combat will impose 1 Bane die on the demon's opposing pool at Stage 3 and cost the demon 1 additional Strain per Stage 4 interference action. No talent is required to use it; the True Name tree (Chapter Six) offers separate, additional benefits to those who have it.

Combat continues. Sister Marisela is at Maria's side. Maria is not fighting back.

Darian Cole (Initiative 5)

Ramirez repositioned last round. Darian is not going to close that gap under fire: he transitions to his Light Pistol (iron-core rounds, Chapter Seven: Iron quality applies to ranged attacks with iron-core ammunition).

Action: Ranged attack on Ramirez (Short range, partial cover behind the table), the same iron benefit as Round One: +1 Boon die before the roll, Resistance to 0 for the hit.

Pool: Agility + Ranged, plus 1 Boon die . Difficulty increased for cover: Ramirez adds a Bane die to Darian's pool (Core Rules).

Result: Success with 1 Boon. The Light Pistol deals 5 WD; Resistance drops to 0 for the hit and one Supernatural Defense is bypassed, so all 5 land. Darian spends the Boon for +1 WD, a standard ranged Boon spend (Chapter Seven; the Balanced quality is only required for melee attacks), for 6 Wounds total.

Ramirez: 11 Wounds of 14 WP.

Ramirez (Initiative 5)

Ramirez is losing. He is carrying 11 of his 14 Wound Points, Darian is consistently hitting with iron, and the cult members are not doing well. He calls a retreat, shouts to Cabrera and Harwick, overturns the worktable as additional cover, and moves toward the stairwell.

Cabrera breaks off from Kwame and runs. Harwick fires a covering shot (ranged attack, disadvantaged because he is moving while firing, Core Rules) at Darian. Result: Failure.

Ramirez makes it to the stairwell. He escapes. Cabrera follows. Harwick, still moving, is caught. Kwame closes the distance.

Ramirez: escaped carrying 11 of 14 Wounds. A loose thread (Chapter Fourteen, aftermath). Cabrera: escaped. Harwick: cornered.

Dr. Yael Stern (Initiative 4)

Harwick is cornered, carrying 9 of his 10 Wound Points. Dr. Stern does not shoot a cornered surrendering person. She moves to flanking position and holds, reading Harwick's body language.

Inquiry read (Chapter Five): Quick action. Is Harwick going to fight or fold?

Pool: Savvy + Inquiry (Core Rules). Easy : his body language is not subtle.

Result: Success. He folds. He drops the gun. He is already talking.

Combat effectively ends. Harwick is in custody. The demon (through Maria) is no longer a combat factor. Kwame's Righteous Fire disruption held for the round, and without the cult members active, the demon has no leverage it can apply through violence.

Post-Combat

The combat produced: two cult members in custody (Harwick secured, Cabrera escaped with Ramirez), one cult lieutenant escaped, Maria Chen unharmed, ritual materials intact for examination.

Sister Marisela moves immediately into exorcism preparation: Stage 2 (Chapter Eight), while the scene is still controlled. The partial name from Maria will apply as name leverage in the exorcism (see Round Two).

Darian begins examining the ritual materials. His Latchkey-adjacent field training (he has worked with Archive contacts before) leads him to approach carefully, but this is not an examination requiring the Do Not Touch That passive, as he does not have it. He documents, photographs, and does not touch anything unusual until a Latchkey contact can be called.

Wound Site status: The ritual preparation that was underway has been interrupted. The Thursday blood-letting that would have occurred in ninety minutes will not happen. The Waking Shard in this basement does not escalate tonight. The cessation of feeding activity begins a slow de-escalation process (Chapter Ten).