Menu
News
All News
Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
Pathfinder
Starfinder
Warhammer
2d20 System
Year Zero Engine
Industry News
Reviews
Dragon Reflections
Columns
Weekly Digests
Weekly News Digest
Freebies, Sales & Bundles
RPG Print News
RPG Crowdfunding News
Game Content
ENterplanetary DimENsions
Mythological Figures
Opinion
Worlds of Design
Peregrine's Next
RPG Evolution
Other Columns
From the Freelancing Frontline
Monster ENcyclopedia
WotC/TSR Alumni Look Back
4 Hours w/RSD (Ryan Dancey)
The Road to 3E (Jonathan Tweet)
Greenwood's Realms (Ed Greenwood)
Drawmij's TSR (Jim Ward)
Community
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Resources
Wiki
Pages
Latest activity
Media
New media
New comments
Search media
Downloads
Latest reviews
Search resources
EN Publishing
Store
EN5ider
Adventures in ZEITGEIST
Awfully Cheerful Engine
What's OLD is NEW
Judge Dredd & The Worlds Of 2000AD
War of the Burning Sky
Level Up: Advanced 5E
Events & Releases
Upcoming Events
Private Events
Featured Events
Socials!
Twitch
YouTube
Facebook (EN Publishing)
Facebook (EN World)
Twitter
Instagram
TikTok
Podcast
Features
Top 5 RPGs Compiled Charts 2004-Present
Adventure Game Industry Market Research Summary (RPGs) V1.0
Ryan Dancey: Acquiring TSR
Q&A With Gary Gygax
D&D Rules FAQs
TSR, WotC, & Paizo: A Comparative History
D&D Pronunciation Guide
Million Dollar TTRPG Kickstarters
Tabletop RPG Podcast Hall of Fame
Eric Noah's Unofficial D&D 3rd Edition News
D&D in the Mainstream
D&D & RPG History
About Morrus
Log in
Register
What's new
Search
Search
Search titles only
By:
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Menu
Log in
Register
Install the app
Install
The
VOIDRUNNER'S CODEX
is LIVE! Explore new worlds, fight oppressive empires, fend off fearsome aliens, and wield deadly psionics with this comprehensive boxed set expansion for 5E and A5E!
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*Dungeons & Dragons
Demetrios1453 Plays the Gold Box Games
JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an
alternative browser
.
Reply to thread
Message
<blockquote data-quote="Demetrios1453" data-source="post: 9324716" data-attributes="member: 6801060"><p><strong><em>Pool of Radiance </em>(Part 46): Outpost of Zhentil Keep (Part 2)</strong></p><p></p><p>We head out of our quarters, into the chaos of the Zhent forces forming up to confront us. We move towards the front gates, but just as we get there...</p><p></p><p>[ATTACH=full]359421[/ATTACH]</p><p>[ATTACH=full]359422[/ATTACH]</p><p></p><p>Well, this won't be so tough. Eleven 4HP guards will be virtually no challenge at all, especially with my warrior-types sweeping...</p><p></p><p>[ATTACH=full]359423[/ATTACH]</p><p>[ATTACH=full]359424[/ATTACH]</p><p></p><p>At this point, we could walk out the gates directly in front of us, return to Phlan, and the mission would be considered completed. But what fun would there be in that? And beyond that, there's some nice treasure and XP available if we clear out this den of iniquity.</p><p></p><p>So, we stay and start moving around. It's not long before we meet the first wave of defenders. These waves will steadily increase in size and difficulty until we encounter the final two groups with the fortress' leaders.</p><p></p><p>So... Round 1!</p><p></p><p>[ATTACH=full]359425[/ATTACH]</p><p>[ATTACH=full]359426[/ATTACH]</p><p></p><p>Is <em>this</em> the best they could do?</p><p></p><p>It goes as quickly as you would think.</p><p></p><p>[ATTACH=full]359427[/ATTACH]</p><p>[ATTACH=full]359428[/ATTACH]</p><p> </p><p>We wander around a bit more.</p><p></p><p>[ATTACH=full]359429[/ATTACH]</p><p></p><p>We're going to stay in this narrow walkway, which it will make it so that the ever-increasing number of foes will find it tough to outflank us.</p><p></p><p>Shortly thereafter...</p><p></p><p>[ATTACH=full]359430[/ATTACH]</p><p></p><p>Round 2!</p><p></p><p>[ATTACH=full]359431[/ATTACH]</p><p></p><p>This is a bit meatier than the previous fights, but still nothing that will give us any worry. Some of those in the back have crossbows, which periodically score a hit (but, thankfully, in 1e crossbows only did a ridiculously low 1d4 points of damage - Gygax must have hated and looked down upon them as much as medieval knights, despite the actual damage they were capable of!). Still, we mow through them rapidly, with my melee sweeping in the front and my ranged taking out the corporals in the back.</p><p></p><p>[ATTACH=full]359433[/ATTACH]</p><p>[ATTACH=full]359434[/ATTACH]</p><p></p><p>And we're done...</p><p></p><p>[ATTACH=full]359435[/ATTACH]</p><p></p><p>We walk a bit further forward, and then meet the next group.</p><p></p><p>[ATTACH=full]359436[/ATTACH]</p><p></p><p>Round 3!</p><p></p><p>[ATTACH=full]359437[/ATTACH]</p><p></p><p>Slightly larger group, same tactics.</p><p></p><p>[ATTACH=full]359438[/ATTACH]</p><p>[ATTACH=full]359439[/ATTACH]</p><p>[ATTACH=full]359440[/ATTACH]</p><p></p><p></p><p>We continue forward until we meet the next group:</p><p></p><p>[ATTACH=full]359441[/ATTACH]</p><p>[ATTACH=full]359442[/ATTACH]</p><p></p><p>Round 4!</p><p></p><p>The groups are getting larger, so for the sake of saving time and to reduce the number of crossbow bolts coming the party's way, Brin will throw out a <em>sleep</em> spell just to decrease the time between turns and to control the battlefield a bit. I'm saving my <em>fireballs</em> until the tougher fights later on.</p><p></p><p>[ATTACH=full]359443[/ATTACH]</p><p>[ATTACH=full]359444[/ATTACH]</p><p></p><p>Bragir joins in as well.</p><p></p><p>[ATTACH=full]359446[/ATTACH]</p><p>[ATTACH=full]359447[/ATTACH]</p><p></p><p>[ATTACH=full]359449[/ATTACH]</p><p></p><p>All those lovely "X"s are going to make this much easier.</p><p></p><p>[ATTACH=full]359450[/ATTACH]</p><p>[ATTACH=full]359452[/ATTACH]</p><p></p><p>And soon we're done...</p><p></p><p>[ATTACH=full]359454[/ATTACH]</p><p></p><p>We wandered to the edge of an open area for this battle, so we move back into the narrower walkway. A few steps beyond...</p><p></p><p>[ATTACH=full]359455[/ATTACH]</p><p>[ATTACH=full]359456[/ATTACH]</p><p></p><p>Round 5!</p><p></p><p>And this group is noticeably smaller, and with no corporals, which isn't how it should go. What's likely happened is that the foes were generated up against the wall, with the area to the south being inaccessible to the rest of the battlefield, so the game just generated what it could and dropped the rest. A lucky break! Nothing more but easily sweep-able 4 HP guards in this group.</p><p></p><p>It doesn't take us long at all to thin out their ranks considerably.</p><p></p><p>[ATTACH=full]359457[/ATTACH]</p><p>[ATTACH=full]359458[/ATTACH]</p><p></p><p>A couple towards the top break morale and start running. But unfortunately for them, it's hard to outrun arrows. A friend of mine once had a t-shirt that had a picture of a longbowman with text that said, "Go ahead and run, you'll just die tired." They die tired.</p><p></p><p>And the battle is soon over.</p><p></p><p>[ATTACH=full]359459[/ATTACH]</p><p> </p><p>We move north, but before we can take a second step, things escalate.</p><p></p><p>[ATTACH=full]359460[/ATTACH]</p><p></p><p>Having cleared the preliminary waves of guards, we now face the first of the two groups led by the leaders of this fortress.</p><p></p><p>[ATTACH=full]359461[/ATTACH]</p><p></p><p>This is obviously going to be a bit tougher. Time to call in the artillery!</p><p></p><p>[ATTACH=full]359462[/ATTACH]</p><p>[ATTACH=full]359463[/ATTACH]</p><p>[ATTACH=full]359464[/ATTACH]</p><p></p><p>Decent damage for a 5d6 <em>fireball</em>, but any of those that make their saves will still be up.</p><p></p><p>[ATTACH=full]359465[/ATTACH]</p><p> </p><p>We took a few down, but a lot made their saves. Luckily, that drops them to single digit HP. Also, my melee have been targeting Bant's cousin on the front line. Bant isn't mad that his cousin has joined the Zhents, just disappointed...</p><p></p><p>[ATTACH=full]359466[/ATTACH]</p><p></p><p>And down he goes.</p><p></p><p>Time to get things moving along faster, and to quiet down the guards in the back with crossbows, with a <em>sleep</em> spell.</p><p></p><p>[ATTACH=full]359467[/ATTACH]</p><p>[ATTACH=full]359468[/ATTACH]</p><p>[ATTACH=full]359469[/ATTACH]</p><p></p><p>The party quickly moves through all the wounded ones near the front, while again some in the back break morale and try to run.</p><p></p><p>[ATTACH=full]359470[/ATTACH]</p><p></p><p>And soon enough, they're all dead or have fled the battlefield.</p><p></p><p>[ATTACH=full]359472[/ATTACH]</p><p></p><p>While all the previous battles didn't have much XP, and just basic equipment for loot, this one looks to be a bit more lucrative.</p><p></p><p>[ATTACH=full]359473[/ATTACH]</p><p>[ATTACH=full]359474[/ATTACH]</p><p>[ATTACH=full]359475[/ATTACH]</p><p></p><p>Nothing much exciting there, just +1 equipment, and no one needs the gauntlets. They'll sell well, though.</p><p></p><p>But before we have time to think about that, a large group of Zhents appears from around the corner...</p><p></p><p>[ATTACH=full]359476[/ATTACH]</p><p></p><p>Time for the final battle! We'll start there in the next post!</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Demetrios1453, post: 9324716, member: 6801060"] [B][I]Pool of Radiance [/I](Part 46): Outpost of Zhentil Keep (Part 2)[/B] We head out of our quarters, into the chaos of the Zhent forces forming up to confront us. We move towards the front gates, but just as we get there... [ATTACH type="full" alt="Screenshot 2024-04-21 164050.png"]359421[/ATTACH] [ATTACH type="full" alt="Screenshot 2024-04-21 164107.png"]359422[/ATTACH] Well, this won't be so tough. Eleven 4HP guards will be virtually no challenge at all, especially with my warrior-types sweeping... [ATTACH type="full" alt="Screenshot 2024-04-21 164151.png"]359423[/ATTACH] [ATTACH type="full" alt="Screenshot 2024-04-21 164214.png"]359424[/ATTACH] At this point, we could walk out the gates directly in front of us, return to Phlan, and the mission would be considered completed. But what fun would there be in that? And beyond that, there's some nice treasure and XP available if we clear out this den of iniquity. So, we stay and start moving around. It's not long before we meet the first wave of defenders. These waves will steadily increase in size and difficulty until we encounter the final two groups with the fortress' leaders. So... Round 1! [ATTACH type="full" alt="Screenshot 2024-04-21 164242.png"]359425[/ATTACH] [ATTACH type="full" alt="Screenshot 2024-04-21 164256.png"]359426[/ATTACH] Is [I]this[/I] the best they could do? It goes as quickly as you would think. [ATTACH type="full" alt="Screenshot 2024-04-21 164324.png"]359427[/ATTACH] [ATTACH type="full" alt="Screenshot 2024-04-21 164401.png"]359428[/ATTACH] We wander around a bit more. [ATTACH type="full" alt="Screenshot 2024-04-21 164446.png"]359429[/ATTACH] We're going to stay in this narrow walkway, which it will make it so that the ever-increasing number of foes will find it tough to outflank us. Shortly thereafter... [ATTACH type="full" alt="Screenshot 2024-04-21 164521.png"]359430[/ATTACH] Round 2! [ATTACH type="full" alt="Screenshot 2024-04-21 164531.png"]359431[/ATTACH] This is a bit meatier than the previous fights, but still nothing that will give us any worry. Some of those in the back have crossbows, which periodically score a hit (but, thankfully, in 1e crossbows only did a ridiculously low 1d4 points of damage - Gygax must have hated and looked down upon them as much as medieval knights, despite the actual damage they were capable of!). Still, we mow through them rapidly, with my melee sweeping in the front and my ranged taking out the corporals in the back. [ATTACH type="full" alt="Screenshot 2024-04-21 164631.png"]359433[/ATTACH] [ATTACH type="full" alt="Screenshot 2024-04-21 164735.png"]359434[/ATTACH] And we're done... [ATTACH type="full" alt="Screenshot 2024-04-21 164803.png"]359435[/ATTACH] We walk a bit further forward, and then meet the next group. [ATTACH type="full" alt="Screenshot 2024-04-21 164831.png"]359436[/ATTACH] Round 3! [ATTACH type="full" alt="Screenshot 2024-04-21 164846.png"]359437[/ATTACH] Slightly larger group, same tactics. [ATTACH type="full" alt="Screenshot 2024-04-21 165236.png"]359438[/ATTACH] [ATTACH type="full" alt="Screenshot 2024-04-21 165316.png"]359439[/ATTACH] [ATTACH type="full" alt="Screenshot 2024-04-21 165405.png"]359440[/ATTACH] We continue forward until we meet the next group: [ATTACH type="full" alt="Screenshot 2024-04-21 165446.png"]359441[/ATTACH] [ATTACH type="full" alt="Screenshot 2024-04-21 165457.png"]359442[/ATTACH] Round 4! The groups are getting larger, so for the sake of saving time and to reduce the number of crossbow bolts coming the party's way, Brin will throw out a [I]sleep[/I] spell just to decrease the time between turns and to control the battlefield a bit. I'm saving my [I]fireballs[/I] until the tougher fights later on. [ATTACH type="full" alt="Screenshot 2024-04-21 165508.png"]359443[/ATTACH] [ATTACH type="full" alt="Screenshot 2024-04-21 165533.png"]359444[/ATTACH] Bragir joins in as well. [ATTACH type="full" alt="Screenshot 2024-04-21 165652.png"]359446[/ATTACH] [ATTACH type="full" alt="Screenshot 2024-04-21 165711.png"]359447[/ATTACH] [ATTACH type="full" alt="Screenshot 2024-04-21 165751.png"]359449[/ATTACH] All those lovely "X"s are going to make this much easier. [ATTACH type="full" alt="Screenshot 2024-04-21 165856.png"]359450[/ATTACH] [ATTACH type="full" alt="Screenshot 2024-04-21 170032.png"]359452[/ATTACH] And soon we're done... [ATTACH type="full" alt="Screenshot 2024-04-21 170107.png"]359454[/ATTACH] We wandered to the edge of an open area for this battle, so we move back into the narrower walkway. A few steps beyond... [ATTACH type="full" alt="Screenshot 2024-04-21 170145.png"]359455[/ATTACH] [ATTACH type="full" alt="Screenshot 2024-04-21 170156.png"]359456[/ATTACH] Round 5! And this group is noticeably smaller, and with no corporals, which isn't how it should go. What's likely happened is that the foes were generated up against the wall, with the area to the south being inaccessible to the rest of the battlefield, so the game just generated what it could and dropped the rest. A lucky break! Nothing more but easily sweep-able 4 HP guards in this group. It doesn't take us long at all to thin out their ranks considerably. [ATTACH type="full" alt="Screenshot 2024-04-21 170327.png"]359457[/ATTACH] [ATTACH type="full" alt="Screenshot 2024-04-21 170420.png"]359458[/ATTACH] A couple towards the top break morale and start running. But unfortunately for them, it's hard to outrun arrows. A friend of mine once had a t-shirt that had a picture of a longbowman with text that said, "Go ahead and run, you'll just die tired." They die tired. And the battle is soon over. [ATTACH type="full" alt="Screenshot 2024-04-21 170451.png"]359459[/ATTACH] We move north, but before we can take a second step, things escalate. [ATTACH type="full" alt="Screenshot 2024-04-21 170713.png"]359460[/ATTACH] Having cleared the preliminary waves of guards, we now face the first of the two groups led by the leaders of this fortress. [ATTACH type="full" alt="Screenshot 2024-04-21 170751.png"]359461[/ATTACH] This is obviously going to be a bit tougher. Time to call in the artillery! [ATTACH type="full" alt="Screenshot 2024-04-21 170815.png"]359462[/ATTACH] [ATTACH type="full" alt="Screenshot 2024-04-21 170903.png"]359463[/ATTACH] [ATTACH type="full" alt="Screenshot 2024-04-21 170912.png"]359464[/ATTACH] Decent damage for a 5d6 [I]fireball[/I], but any of those that make their saves will still be up. [ATTACH type="full" alt="Screenshot 2024-04-21 170939.png"]359465[/ATTACH] We took a few down, but a lot made their saves. Luckily, that drops them to single digit HP. Also, my melee have been targeting Bant's cousin on the front line. Bant isn't mad that his cousin has joined the Zhents, just disappointed... [ATTACH type="full" alt="Screenshot 2024-04-21 171004.png"]359466[/ATTACH] And down he goes. Time to get things moving along faster, and to quiet down the guards in the back with crossbows, with a [I]sleep[/I] spell. [ATTACH type="full" alt="Screenshot 2024-04-21 171041.png"]359467[/ATTACH] [ATTACH type="full" alt="Screenshot 2024-04-21 171106.png"]359468[/ATTACH] [ATTACH type="full" alt="Screenshot 2024-04-21 171123.png"]359469[/ATTACH] The party quickly moves through all the wounded ones near the front, while again some in the back break morale and try to run. [ATTACH type="full" alt="Screenshot 2024-04-21 171312.png"]359470[/ATTACH] And soon enough, they're all dead or have fled the battlefield. [ATTACH type="full" alt="Screenshot 2024-04-21 171457.png"]359472[/ATTACH] While all the previous battles didn't have much XP, and just basic equipment for loot, this one looks to be a bit more lucrative. [ATTACH type="full" alt="Screenshot 2024-04-21 171504.png"]359473[/ATTACH] [ATTACH type="full" alt="Screenshot 2024-04-21 171522.png"]359474[/ATTACH] [ATTACH type="full" alt="Screenshot 2024-04-21 171543.png"]359475[/ATTACH] Nothing much exciting there, just +1 equipment, and no one needs the gauntlets. They'll sell well, though. But before we have time to think about that, a large group of Zhents appears from around the corner... [ATTACH type="full" alt="Screenshot 2024-04-21 171654.png"]359476[/ATTACH] Time for the final battle! We'll start there in the next post! [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*Dungeons & Dragons
Demetrios1453 Plays the Gold Box Games
Top