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Combat Encounter Templates

Purpose

These templates prove that the simplified combat model can stay readable while still supporting depth across beasts, undead, escorts, storms, swarms, and bosses.

Template Format

Each template uses:

  • type
  • monster family
  • goal
  • required coverage
  • optimal damage loadout (with matchup note)
  • failure mode

Required coverage uses the role names from combat-resolution-and-party-logic.md. Optimal damage loadout notes the matchup modifier — strong, neutral, or poor — so the player knows what the resolver will apply.

1. Wolf Pack Field Cull

  • type: basic hunt
  • monster family: beasts
  • goal: stop the pack before it gets the first clean swing
  • required coverage: none — solo-friendly
  • optimal damage loadout: bow + light armor (strong matchup vs. beasts)
  • failure mode: opener damage and early control loss without ranged advantage

2. Thornboar Thicket Drive

  • type: dangerous hunt
  • monster family: beasts
  • goal: survive the first charge and keep the line standing
  • required coverage: tank recommended
  • optimal damage loadout: bow or polearm + medium armor (beasts — strong matchup)
  • failure mode: frontline collapse and wound spikes without a tank holding

3. Marsh Rot-Swarm Purge

  • type: pest control
  • monster family: vermin and swarms
  • goal: clear the swarm without losing the expedition to poison afterward
  • required coverage: support strongly recommended
  • optimal damage loadout: traps + tools or arcane focus (vermin — strong matchup)
  • failure mode: poison escalation and attrition loss without support to counter status effects

4. Grave Road Restless Dead Patrol

  • type: road-clearing contract
  • monster family: undead
  • goal: break the patrol without losing morale control
  • required coverage: support mandatory — fear and corruption require restoration to contain
  • optimal damage loadout: arcane focus (undead — strong matchup)
  • failure mode: morale break from fear and corruption without support coverage

5. Grain Caravan Bridge Raid

  • type: escort defense
  • monster family: raiders and brigands (humanoids)
  • goal: keep the caravan intact through the raid
  • required coverage: tank + support (cargo protection)
  • optimal damage loadout: blade + light armor (humanoids — strong matchup)
  • failure mode: cargo loss and broken retreat order without frontline and recovery coverage

6. Storm Coast Reef Drake Run

  • type: storm escort and elite hunt
  • monster family: drakes (future region)
  • goal: survive the storm opener and keep the escort moving
  • required coverage: tank + support
  • optimal damage loadout: arcane focus or polearm (neutral matchup vs. drakes)
  • failure mode: escort destabilized before the fight settles without frontline to absorb dive lanes

7. Blizzard Pass Supply March

  • type: long-route escort (future region)
  • monster family: cold beasts and environmental hazard
  • goal: deliver supplies without the route destroying the convoy first
  • required coverage: support + tank
  • optimal damage loadout: bow or polearm + medium armor (beasts — strong matchup)
  • failure mode: convoy breakdown from exposure and supply loss without sustained recovery coverage

8. Barrow Procession Interdiction

  • type: escort and undead boss interception
  • monster family: undead
  • goal: protect a funeral procession moving through barrow ground while intercepting the restless dead that rise to claim the cortege
  • required coverage: tank + support mandatory; arcane strongly recommended
  • optimal damage loadout: arcane focus (undead — strong matchup)
  • failure mode: support overwhelmed by corruption spread, morale collapses before the procession reaches the barrow gate, and the cortege is abandoned; escort failure ends the contract regardless of creature kill count

9. Goblin Mine Camp Raid

  • type: offensive sweep on a fortified humanoid position
  • monster family: raiders and brigands (goblin subtype)
  • goal: break a fortified goblin camp that has claimed an ore deposit, neutralize the mine boss, and secure the site for gather access
  • required coverage: tank to hold the entrance choke while damage clears the camp; support recommended for sustained engagement
  • optimal damage loadout: blade + medium armor (humanoids — strong matchup); polearm viable against the mine boss who uses reach attacks
  • failure mode: camp reinforcements from the second tunnel entrance overwhelming the engagement before the mine boss is reached; without tank holding the choke the engagement becomes a two-front fight

10. Plague Marshland Rescue

  • type: rescue under environmental hazard and hostile pressure
  • monster family: vermin and swarms (marsh variety) + environmental poison
  • goal: reach a stranded survey team in the deep marsh, stabilize survivors, and extract through the creature-pressure zone before poison exposure becomes permanent injury
  • required coverage: support mandatory (poison counter and survivor stabilization); tank recommended to absorb contact damage while support works
  • optimal damage loadout: traps and tools (vermin — strong matchup); melee contact with marsh vermin adds poison stacks without a ranged option
  • failure mode: support overwhelmed by multi-target poison management; survivors die before extraction route is cleared; time-limited contract structure means delay is itself a failure mode

11. North Road Ambush Defense

  • type: escort defense under ambush conditions (solo-accessible variant)
  • monster family: raiders and brigands
  • goal: protect a courier or light supply wagon through the bandit corridor between Rumiarr and the North Road Relay; encounter triggers mid-route rather than at a fixed engagement point
  • required coverage: none strictly required; support beneficial for injury management on a long route
  • optimal damage loadout: blade or bow + light armor (humanoids — strong matchup); bow preferred since the encounter may open at range before the wagon reaches the choke
  • failure mode: wagon or courier reaches 0 condition during the ambush; partial delivery is rejected for this contract type; rider-only survival does not complete the order

12. Barrow Ritual Disruption

  • type: ritual interruption
  • monster family: undead
  • goal: stop the ritual before corruption snowballs across repeated waves
  • required coverage: support mandatory + damage
  • optimal damage loadout: arcane focus (undead — strong matchup)
  • failure mode: corruption buildup across waves without arcane counter and restoration

13. Barrow Warden Chamber

  • type: boss fight
  • monster family: undead
  • goal: survive the full boss cycle, not just the first damage window
  • required coverage: tank + support + damage — all three required; support mandatory
  • optimal damage loadout: arcane focus (undead — strong matchup); blade loadout at poor matchup drops effective quality one step
  • failure mode: fear spiral and accumulated wound pressure without tank holding the line and support countering fear

Template Design Takeaway

Templates 1–5 and 8–13 cover Frontier Marches launch content. Templates 6 and 7 illustrate how the same system handles future-region expedition types (Storm Coast, Frost Tundra) without needing a separate ruleset.

These templates show the core pattern of the resolver:

  • role coverage requirement scales with encounter difficulty (none → recommended → mandatory → all three)
  • matchup matters most in boss and elite fights where there is no coverage slack to absorb a poor-matchup penalty
  • the failure mode is always the consequence of the weakest or missing role, not of general under-power
  • combat and skills integration
  • skill catalog