Fourteen Equus contributors have agreed to pit the equine in their story against all the other horse-like creatures in the anthology and fight it out until only one is left standing. That victor shall win bragging rights… and maybe I’ll make a little ‘I won!’ graphic of some sort 😛
How it Works:
Each Tuesday the competitors will be announced and voting will open. Every vote a story receives counts as one point.
Wednesday, Thursday and Friday the competitors will each roll a twenty-sided die. The resulting number of points will be stolen from their competitor and added to their own score. I will update the scores via a comment on the blog post and social media.
Voting closes on Sunday at midnight MST.
Monday the winner (the story with the highest score) will be announced and move on to the next round.
Story Title: To Ride a Steel Horse
Author: Stephanie A. Cain
Equine Combatant’s Name (if known): Aenbharr of Manannán
Species: Each Uisge
Strength: 12
Dexterity: 15
Constitution: 16
Intellect: 14
Charisma: 18
Special Attacks: Sharp teeth for ripping flesh; sticky skin to capture rider; eats cattle and humans.
Special Defences: Can shapeshift between enticing human form and dangerous equine form; is an extraordinarily fine riding horse when it can’t see salt water.
Story Title: Different
Author: Sandra Wickham
Equine Combatant’s Name (if known):
Species: Unicorn
Strength: 17
Dexterity: 13
Constitution: 15
Intellect: 16
Charisma: 17
Special Attacks: Rising up on forelegs, Stabbing Through the chest with horn
Special Defences: Any touch to the unicorn burns victims
And
Story Title: “Rue the Day”
Author: Laura VanArendonk Baugh
Equine Combatant’s Name (if known): Nova & Reaver (they’re a team)
Species: Unicorn
Strength: 18
Dexterity: 17
Constitution: 16
Intellect: 11
Charisma: 18
Special Attacks: Goring Horn (+8), Striking Hooves (+4)
These specially-trained war unicorns are skilled in the “airs above the ground,” or in RPG terms Acrobatics, and thus can Rogue their way across a battlefield to stomp you dead while simultaneously stabbing your buddy. And there’s not a thing you can do about it.
Special Defences: Magic Circle Against Evil, Too Damn Pretty To Die.
Evil Alignment creatures have difficulty closing distance against a unicorn. They also are a natural example of Reynolds’ Law, being Too Damn Pretty To Die.
Story Title: “Eel and Bloom”
Author: Diana Hurlburt
Equine Combatant’s Name (if known): Eel
Species: limerunner (native Floridian cousin to the Scottish kelpie)
Strength: 15
Dexterity: 10
Constitution: 17
Intellect: 8
Charisma: 12
Special Attacks: Overrun (limerunner hooves are sharp and their kick can exert more than 200 PSI); Jawbreaker (limerunners have carnivorous teeth and strong jaws).
Special Defences: low-light vision, keen sense of smell, heightened stamina for long-distance running and above-average speed (~40 mph) for distances under a mile, dexterity in water or on land.
How to Vote:
Comment on this blog post with the title of the story/stories you are voting for.
For example, if this week’s competitors were:
Star Wars vs. Star Trek
and
Pirates vs. Ninjas
and you wanted to vote for Star Trek and Pirates you would leave a comment that said, “I vote for Star Trek and Pirates.”
And you don’t need to vote for something in each bracket–if you didn’t have a preference between Star Trek and Star Wars you could totally just vote for Pirates.
It’s just that easy.
Cast your votes now, and may the best equine win!
I vote for “Rue the Day” vs. “To Ride a Steel Horse”
This was harder than I expected! But…
Aenbharr of Manannán and Nova & Reaver.
Let the battle begin! I vote for ‘To Ride A Steel Horse’ and ‘Rue the Day’. (Soooo looking forward to reading these, you guys!”
To Ride a Steel Horse and Rue the Day
I vote for Rue the Day
Nova and Reaver for the winnie.
Oh, I see what you did there.
I also vote for ‘To Ride A Steel Horse’ and ‘Rue the Day’!
Eel & Bloom and To Ride a Steel Horse
I vote for Aenbharr and Eel.
Rue the Day!
Nova and Reaver for sure!
I vote for To Ride a Steel Horse and Rue the Day
I vote for To Ride A Steel Horse!
I vote for “Rue the Day”. Twice.
So far the points look like this:
To Ride a Steel Horse — 9
Different — 0
Rue the Day — 11
Eel and Bloom — 2
I vote for Different and Eel. Because unicorns are awesome, but limerunners get an extra point of “I’ve never heard of that and it sounds scary.”
I vote “Eel and Bloom”
Voting for Eel and Aenbharr!
I vote for To Ride a Steel Horse and Rue the Day. 🙂
I vote for To Ride a Steel Horse and Rue the Day.
Voting for:
Eel and Bloom
And
Different
I vote for Different the unicorn and Eel.
Voting for “Different.”
By my count the scores currently stand:
To Ride a Steel Horse: 12
Different: 4
Rue the Day: 14
Eel and Bloom: 7
I did double-check them but if you’re bored feel free to check my math 🙂
I vote for “Different” 🙂
I vote for “Different”
I vote for Different!
I vote for Different and Eel and Bloom.
I vote for Different
Unicorn vs. Unicorn: Different and Rue the Day
I vote for Different, and Rue the Day. Unicorns for the win
I vote for Rue the Day
To Ride a Steel Horse and Rue the Day
I vote “Different” and “Eel and Bloom”
Steel Horse and Rue the Day.
I vote for “Different”
Different by Sandra Wickham
Different and Rue the Day
Steel Horse and Rue the Day!
I vote for Unicorn and Rue the Day
I’m just waiting on one little thing before I can post the rolls and let the competitors steal each other’s points. Right now the points look something like this:
To Ride a Steel Horse — 15
Different — 15
Rue the Day — 22
Eel and Bloom — 9
Today’s rolls are in!
Just as a reminder, each participant is rolling a d20 today, tomorrow and Friday and stealing that many points from their opponent and adding them to their own score.
Rue the Day rolled 17
Eel and Bloom Rolled 12
Different rolled 17
To Ride a Steel Horse Rolled 12
So 17 and 12 appear to be the numbers of the day LOL
Current standings are:
Rue the Day – 27
Eel and Bloom – 4
To Ride a Steel Horse – 10
Different – 20
I vote for “Rue the Day” because the author lives near enough to get to me if I don’t! 🙂
I vote for Rue the Day and To Ride A Steel Horse
I vote for ‘To Ride A Steel Horse’ and ‘Rue the Day’
I vote for To Ride a Steel Horse and Rue the Day
I vote for “Rue the Day”!
To Ride a Steel Horse- the other pair I felt equal
“Rue the day” and “To ride a steel horse”
Wow! “To ride a Steel Horse” and ” Rue the Day”
I vote for ‘To Ride A Steel Horse’ and ‘Rue the Day’.
Rue the Day
I vote for Stefanie Cains steel horse.
We’ve had a few more votes come in. The current standings before adding in dice rolls for today are:
Rue the Day – 36
Eel and Bloom – 4
To Ride a Steel Horse – 18
Different – 20
Today’s rolls are in!
Rue the Day rolled a 3 (video — https://1drv.ms/v/s!AhUxsxivhNMtorFhmHO1U9NKdXEgDQ )
Eel and Bloom rolled a 9
Different rolled a 17
To Ride a Steel Horse rolled a 20
Now, when I’m DMing games at home I give double damage on natural twenties… but we’re not doing that here. Sorry Aenbharr of Manannán.
The current standings after today’s rolls are:
Rue the Day – 30
Eel and Bloom – 10
To Ride a Steel Horse – 21
Different – 17
Keep the votes coming, they really make a difference!
Rue the Day – Go Nova and Reaver!
The final rolls are in!
To Ride a Steel Horse rolled 17
Different rolled 2
Rue the Day rolled 13
Eel and Bloom rolled 10
That makes our current standings look like this:
To Ride a Steel Horse: 36
Different: 2
Rue the Day: 34
Eel and Bloom: 7
That’s it for rolls folks, now it’s all up to your votes! Votes close Sunday night, so get your votes in early!
I vote “Steel Horse” and “Rue the Day”
My votes are going for Aenbharr of Manannán and for Nova & Reaver (although if it had been Nova OR Reaver, then I think Eel would have won).
Right now the standings are:
To Ride a Steel Horse: 38
Different: 2
Rue the Day: 36
Eel and Bloom: 7
And with that I’m going to officially close voting and will announce the winners in the morning 🙂
Rue the Day vs Eel & Bloom my vote Rue the Day
To Ride a Steel Horse vs Different my vote To Ride a Steel Horse