NEW (AGAIN)- Thunderspire Labyrinth- Stat analysis #25 Shrine to Baphomet

H1 Keep on the Shadowfell

Return to Winterhaven.

The PCs learn more from Phrenic, although not much more- he doesn't have all the answers. Douven rests a while and the next day is on the first trade wagon out of Winterhaven- now the Kobolds have gone the roads are open and farmers and traders have stock to shift- all thanks to the PCs.

Rond meets up with the PCs, still no progress on the spy in Winterhaven front, will the PCs help him? Actually no, they have bigger fish to fry.

The PCs are invited to a 'spiritual' evening with Valthrun the Sage; it gets a little shambolic but they eventually hear the mad sage out- although not before Dirty and Winstanley depart- heading back to the pub. Valthrun rattles on about an ancient fortress, abandoned hastily when the Guard Captain went mad and slew his family and some of his men- Sir Keegan was his name. Valthrun 'senses' a great darkness at the aforementioned fortress, actually Keep. The PCs conclude that they should pay a visit.

Before he leaves Winterhaven Douven rewards the PCs with a magical locket, and the charming DM gives them a big bag of XP (1250) as a quest reward for saving Douven. However I don't think I'll be doing that again, second session and I expect the PCs to have enough XP for level 2 sometime soon- that's very quick progression in my book. I'm going to have to get tighter with the XP rewards.

The PCs say goodbye to Douven and then head off bound for the Keep on the Shadowfell.

H1 Keep on the Shadowfell
Encounter #6 Area 1 Goblin Guard Room

Five hours later and the PCs are cautiously entering the dungeons beneath the ruined Keep on the Shadowfell, Winstanley taking the lead. Winstanley is on top form, he spies the Pit Trap ahead, points it out to his companions and then sneaks forward some more, as silent as the grave, having spotted a Goblin Guard. However the bubble bursts when the Guard spots the Halfling when he's only ten feet away and about to launch his attack- the Goblin Guard screams a warning- just in time.

Good Guys
Dirty Biskit, Male Dwarven Fighter 1 (HP31)
Kaspard, Female Half-Elf Cleric of Bahamut 1 (HP26)
Winstanley Portico, Male Halfling Rogue 1 (HP25)
Grey Morlock, Male Human Wizard 1 (HP23)
Phrenic, Male Tiefling Warlord 1 (HP24)

Bad Guys 675XP Level 2 Encounter.
Goblin Warrior Level 1 Skirmisher [GW] (x2) (HP 29)
Goblin Sharpshooter Level 2 Artillery [GS] (x2) (HP 31)
Rat Swarm Level 2 Skirmisher [RS] (HP36)



Initiative- 27 Grey 25 Winstanley 17 Goblin Warriors 16 Dirty 15 Kaspard 13 Rat Swarm 9 Phrenic 6 Goblin Sharpshooters

Round #1.

Grey- Move. Ray of Frost GW1; Hit 5 Cold damage (24 HP) & Slowed.

Winstanley- First Strike Deft Strike with Combat Advantage GW1; Hit 15 damage (9 HP bloodied). Shift.

GW1- Drop Spear. Draw Javelin. Throw Javelin Winstanley; Hit 2 damage (23 HP). Moves away (Slowed), screaming for help.

GW2- Move. Mobile Ranged Attack Javelin Grey; Miss.

Dirty- Move. Reaping Strike GW2; Miss 3 damage (26 HP). Marked.

Kaspard- Move. Lance of Faith GW1; Miss.

RS- Not in play.

Phrenic- Move. Charge GW1; Hit 11 damage- DEAD.

GS1- Move- Hidden. Combat Advantage Crossbow Phrenic; Crit 16 damage (8 HP bloodied). Note, rolled 16 damage anyway so no use using Armour of Bahamut.

GS2- Move- Hidden. Combat Advantage Crossbow Phrenic; Hit 11 damage (-3 HP Dying).

Time to play 11 minutes including setting out minis.

End of Round-

Good Guys
Dirty Biskit, Male Dwarven Fighter 1 (HP31/31)
Kaspard, Female Half-Elf Cleric of Bahamut 1 (HP26/26)
Winstanley Portico, Male Halfling Rogue 1 (HP23/25)
Grey Morlock, Male Human Wizard 1 (HP23/23)
Phrenic, Male Tiefling Warlord 1 (HP-3/24)

Bad Guys 675XP Level 2 Encounter.
Goblin Warrior Level 1 Skirmisher [GW] (x2) (HP 26/29) 1 DEAD
Goblin Sharpshooter Level 2 Artillery [GS] (x2) (HP 31)
Rat Swarm Level 2 Skirmisher [RS] (HP36)

Action Points 0 Total 0
Daily Powers 0 Total 0
Healing Surges 0 Total 0
2nd Winds 0 Total 0
Crits 0 Total 0
PCs Ko'd 1 Total 1
Bad Guys Crits 1 Total 1
Bad Guys Action Points 0 Total 0

Comment: That's much better, concentrated fire from me this time- Phrenic however was the largest and most obvious target, just begging to get plugged by the Goblin Sharpshooters. James, who plays Phrenic, is wearing a wonky grin again, first round- could he be about to see another of his PCs bite the big one? Shame about Winstanley getting spotted at the last moment, otherwise it may have been a different sort of fight altogether.

Good job spotting the pit, your players are playing smartly.
All to often you have the thugs charge in and thats where the rat pit is lethal.
I dont we will see any problems here, they are all mobile so should be able to finish the snipers quickly.

Aran Thule said:

Good job spotting the pit, your players are playing smartly.
All to often you have the thugs charge in and thats where the rat pit is lethal.
I dont we will see any problems here, they are all mobile so should be able to finish the snipers quickly.

Click to expand...

Try telling James who plays Phrenic that, he's on -3 HP and it's only Turn #1.

H1 Keep on the Shadowfell
Encounter #6 Area 1 Goblin Guard Room

Round #2.

Grey- Move. Scorching Burst GS1-2; Hit GS1 only 6 Fire damage (25 HP).

Winstanley- Move. Sly Flourish GS1; Hit 10 damage (15 HP bloodied).

GW1- DEAD

GW2- Spear Dirty; Miss.

Dirty- Spinning Sweep GW2; Miss. Immediate Reaction GW2 Goblin tactics- Shift back. AoO Dirty; Hit 11 damage (15 HP). GW2 Marked.

Kaspard- Sacred Flame GW2; Miss. Healing Word +9 HP Phrenic (15 HP).

RS- Not in play.

Phrenic- Stand. Charge GS1; Miss. Immediate Reaction GS1 Goblin Tactics- Shift away.

GS1- Move- slams through store room door. Crossbow Phrenic; Miss.

GS2- Move into store room. Crossbow Phrenic; Hit 10 damage (5 HP bloodied).

Time to play 8 minutes.

End of Round-

Good Guys
Dirty Biskit, Male Dwarven Fighter 1 (HP31/31)
Kaspard, Female Half-Elf Cleric of Bahamut 1 (HP26/26)
Winstanley Portico, Male Halfling Rogue 1 (HP23/25)
Grey Morlock, Male Human Wizard 1 (HP23/23)
Phrenic, Male Tiefling Warlord 1 (HP5/24)

Bad Guys 675XP Level 2 Encounter.
Goblin Warrior Level 1 Skirmisher [GW] (x2) (HP 15/29) 1 DEAD
Goblin Sharpshooter Level 2 Artillery [GS] (x2) (HP 15/31 & 31/31)
Rat Swarm Level 2 Skirmisher [RS] (HP36)

Action Points 0 Total 0
Daily Powers 0 Total 0
Healing Surges 1 Total 1
2nd Winds 0 Total 0
Crits 0 Total 0
PCs Ko'd 0 Total 1
Bad Guys Crits 0 Total 1
Bad Guys Action Points 0 Total 0

Comment: Phrenic's up, but soon to be back down again, the PCs are not concentrating fire, and the Goblins are doing their best to stay away from melee, the Sharpshooters have the lead on the PCs as they barge into the storeroom take aim and fire, ready to move again. The Goblins have much better tactics and the PCs are floundering a little, only a little mind.

Another Turn, that's two today-

H1 Keep on the Shadowfell
Encounter #6 Area 1 Goblin Guard Room

Round #3.

Grey- Move to store room. Burning Hands GS1-2; Miss both. Action Point- Action Surge +3 To Hit & Tactical Presence/Assault from Phrenic extra +2 To Hit & +4 Damage for total +5/+4. Scorching Burst GS1-2; '1' & '1' Miss.

I bet he couldn't do that again!

Winstanley- Move in store room. Positioning Strike GS1; Hit 9 damage (6 HP bloodied) & Slide next to Phrenic.

GW1- DEAD.

GW2- Spear Dirty; Miss.

Dirty- Reaping Strike GW2; Hit 8 damage (7 HP bloodied). Marked.

Kaspard- Sacred Flame GW2; Hit 7 Radiant damage- DEAD & 3 Temp HP Dirty. Move. Healing Word +7 HP Phrenic (18 HP).

RS- Fed up of being in the Pit. Move out of Pit. Charge Dirty; Miss.

Phrenic- Leaf on the Wind GS1; Hit 9 damage- DEAD. Move to GS2. Intimidate- Success GS2 -1 To Hit.

GS1- DEAD.

GS2- Drops Crossbow. Draws Shortsword. Shortsword Phrenic; Hit 5 damage (13 HP).

Time to play 9 minutes.

End of Round-

Good Guys
Dirty Biskit, Male Dwarven Fighter 1 (HP31/31)
Kaspard, Female Half-Elf Cleric of Bahamut 1 (HP26/26)
Winstanley Portico, Male Halfling Rogue 1 (HP23/25)
Grey Morlock, Male Human Wizard 1 (HP23/23)
Phrenic, Male Tiefling Warlord 1 (HP13/24)

Bad Guys 675XP Level 2 Encounter.
Goblin Warrior Level 1 Skirmisher [GW] (x2) (HP29) 2 DEAD
Goblin Sharpshooter Level 2 Artillery [GS] (x2) (HP31/31) 1 DEAD
Rat Swarm Level 2 Skirmisher [RS] (HP36)

Action Points 1 Total 1
Daily Powers 0 Total 0
Healing Surges 1 Total 2
2nd Winds 0 Total 0
Crits 0 Total 0
PCs Ko'd 0 Total 1
Bad Guys Crits 0 Total 1
Bad Guys Action Points 0 Total 0

Comment: I added the Rat Swarm out of the Pit because they've never faced a Swarm yet and I felt it was time to for them to take the plunge, they'll see how hard Swarms are to take down- without area effect powers. Otherwise they have the last Goblin shaken and on the run.

And another...

H1 Keep on the Shadowfell
Encounter #6 Area 1 Goblin Guard Room

Round #4.

Grey- Ray of Frost GS2; Hit 5 Cold damage (26 HP) & Slowed. Move.

Winstanley- Move AoO GS2; Crit 8 damage (15 HP). Sly Flourish Combat Advantage GS2; Hit 17 damage (9 HP bloodied).

GW1- DEAD.

GW2- DEAD.

Dirty- Swarm Attack Bite; Hit 5 damage (29 HP) & 3 ongoing damage. Reaping Strike RS; Miss 1 damage (35 HP). RS Marked.

Kaspard- Move. Sacred Flame RS; Miss.

RS- Bite Dirty; Miss.

Phrenic- Inspiring Word +2 HP Self (21 HP). Viper Strike GS2; Hit 5 damage (4 HP bloodied).

GS1- DEAD.

GS2- Drops to his knees and begs to be spared- SURRENDER.

Time to play 7 minutes.

End of Round-

Good Guys
Dirty Biskit, Male Dwarven Fighter 1 (HP29/31)
Kaspard, Female Half-Elf Cleric of Bahamut 1 (HP26/26)
Winstanley Portico, Male Halfling Rogue 1 (HP15/25)
Grey Morlock, Male Human Wizard 1 (HP23/23)
Phrenic, Male Tiefling Warlord 1 (HP21/24)

Bad Guys 675XP Level 2 Encounter.
Goblin Warrior Level 1 Skirmisher [GW] (x2) (HP29) 2 DEAD
Goblin Sharpshooter Level 2 Artillery [GS] (x2) (HP4/31) 1 DEAD & 1 SURRENDER
Rat Swarm Level 2 Skirmisher [RS] (HP35/36)

Action Points 0 Total 1
Daily Powers 0 Total 0
Healing Surges 1 Total 3
2nd Winds 0 Total 0
Crits 0 Total 0
PCs Ko'd 0 Total 1
Bad Guys Crits 1 Total 2
Bad Guys Action Points 0 Total 0

Comment: So that's everything bar the Swarm taken care of- let's see how the PCs fare against this new type of enemy.

And two updates today as well...

H1 Keep on the Shadowfell
Encounter #6 Area 1 Goblin Guard Room

Round #5.

Grey- Scorching Burst with Wand of Accuracy RS; Hit 8 Fire +5 (Vulnerable) = 13 damage. (22 HP).

Winstanley- Move. Sly Flourish RS; Miss.

GW1- DEAD.

GW2- DEAD.

Dirty- Ongoing 3 damage (26 HP). Swarm Attack Bite; Miss. Reaping Strike RS; Miss 1 damage (21 HP). RS Marked. Save vs ongoing damage- Fail.

Kaspard- Move. Divine Guidance. Sacred Flame RS; Hit 3 damage (18 HP bloodied) & 3 Temp HP for Dirty.

RS- Bite Dirty; Miss.

Phrenic- Takes care of GS2.

GS1- DEAD.

GS2- SURRENDER.

Time to play 6 minutes.

End of Round-

Good Guys
Dirty Biskit, Male Dwarven Fighter 1 (HP26/31)
Kaspard, Female Half-Elf Cleric of Bahamut 1 (HP26/26)
Winstanley Portico, Male Halfling Rogue 1 (HP15/25)
Grey Morlock, Male Human Wizard 1 (HP23/23)
Phrenic, Male Tiefling Warlord 1 (HP21/24)

Bad Guys 675XP Level 2 Encounter.
Goblin Warrior Level 1 Skirmisher [GW] (x2) (HP29) 2 DEAD
Goblin Sharpshooter Level 2 Artillery [GS] (x2) (HP4/31) 1 DEAD & 1 SURRENDERED
Rat Swarm Level 2 Skirmisher [RS] (HP18/36)

Action Points 0 Total 1
Daily Powers 0 Total 0
Healing Surges 0 Total 3
2nd Winds 0 Total 0
Crits 0 Total 0
PCs Ko'd 0 Total 1
Bad Guys Crits 0 Total 2
Bad Guys Action Points 0 Total 0

Comment: Hard things to kill Swarms, to be used sparingly- the PCs certainly don't like the thing.

H1 Keep on the Shadowfell
Encounter #6 Area 1 Goblin Guard Room

Round #6.

Grey- Scorching Burst RS; Hit 6 Fire +5 (Vulnerable) = 11 damage. (7 HP bloodied).

Winstanley- Move. Sly Flourish RS; Hit 4 damage (3 HP bloodied).

GW1- DEAD.

GW2- DEAD.

Dirty- Ongoing 3 damage (26 HP). Swarm Attack Bite; Miss. Reaping Strike RS; Miss 1 damage (2 HP bloodied). RS Marked. Save vs ongoing damage- Fail.

Kaspard- Move. Sacred Flame RS; Hit 2 damage- DEAD

Time to play 5 minutes.
Total time to play 46 minutes.

End of Combat-

Good Guys
Dirty Biskit, Male Dwarven Fighter 1 (HP26/31)
Kaspard, Female Half-Elf Cleric of Bahamut 1 (HP26/26)
Winstanley Portico, Male Halfling Rogue 1 (HP15/25)
Grey Morlock, Male Human Wizard 1 (HP23/23)
Phrenic, Male Tiefling Warlord 1 (HP21/24)

Bad Guys 675XP Level 2 Encounter.
Goblin Warrior Level 1 Skirmisher [GW] (x2) (HP29) 2 DEAD
Goblin Sharpshooter Level 2 Artillery [GS] (x2) (HP4/31) 1 DEAD & 1 SURRENDERED
Rat Swarm Level 2 Skirmisher [RS] (HP36) DEAD

Action Points 0 Total 1
Daily Powers 0 Total 0
Healing Surges 0 Total 3
2nd Winds 0 Total 0
Crits 0 Total 0
PCs Ko'd 0 Total 1
Bad Guys Crits 0 Total 2
Bad Guys Action Points 0 Total 0

Comment: The captured Goblin is roughed up a bit, he tells the PCs courtesy of an improvised Skill Challenge (No XP awarded) that the Torture Chamber lies one way, and near there 'big fat Balgron', the Goblin Chieftain lairs. Also there's a bunch of Goblins digging for 'summatz' in the other direction. The Goblin doesn't know who Kalarel is- but he reckons Balgron will. The prisoner is trussed and tied, gagged and beaten a little- then dragged with the PCs as they head off to have a word with the Torturer fellow.

Note all of the PCs except Phrenic have enough XP to Level up, Phrenic is less than a 100 XP away.

Stats: The combat was made a little longer, again, because the Swarm was involved, as difficult to kill as the insubstantial Kalarel in the previous encounter. It also didn't help that the PCs, or at least three of them, couldn't hit a barn door from three feet away. Kaspard, Grey & Dirty all connected 50% or less with their attacks- Dirty only connecting 28.57% of the time (2 from 7 attacks). This could once again have been about enemies that are able to shift away and get on the move.

Otherwise the encounter plays out pretty much the same as the others encounters to date- PCs slightly better connection rate (54.55% versus 43.75%), PCs make more attacks- actually twice as many (33 versus 16); and finally did more hit points damage/turn (26.17 versus 9.15).

Combined Stats; We're approaching the point when all the PCs will be leveling up and I can analyse all the data available for the PC Level 1 Encounters. There's nothing much new to report here, the Striker (Winstanley) is maintaining his hit rate; the Defender (Dirty) is still soaking up the hits taken- Dirty has now weathered 44 attacks upon him, the next nearest of the PCs in play is Grey with 15 attacks; McGyver stood up to 28 attacks but he's no longer in the land of the living.

One stat that I keep noticing is PCs KO'd/Encounter which is running at 1.33, that's quite high, although skewed by Encounter #4 in which the PCs were reduced to 0 HP on six separate occasions. Without this encounter the stats would have only hit the dirt on 2 occasions- it seems playing Level (same) and Level +1 encounters makes for less exciting (or perhaps dangerous) play.

The dilemma is, as a DM, to challenge the PCs without having to rely on Level +4 or +5 encounters, inevitably it's a fine line- if the dice go badly it's a TPK, if the dice average out then the encounter could be a long one- and subject to grind.

H1 Keep on the Shadowfell
Encounter #7 Area 2 Torture Chamber

Winstanley leads the PCs on, in Stealth mode, gets all the way to the door to the Torture Chamber and peeks inside- the other PCs cautiously move up- and then plan 'A' burst into the room.



Good Guys
Dirty Biskit, Male Dwarven Fighter 1 (HP31)
Kaspard, Female Half-Elf Cleric of Bahamut 1 (HP26)
Winstanley Portico, Male Halfling Rogue 1 (HP25)
Grey Morlock, Male Human Wizard 1 (HP23)
Phrenic, Male Tiefling Warlord 1 (HP24)

Bad Guys 625XP Level 2 Encounter.
Goblin Warrior Level 1 Skirmisher [GW] (HP 29)
Goblin Sharpshooter Level 2 Artillery [GS] (x3) (HP 31)
Hobgoblin Torturer Level 3 Brute [HT] (HP53)

Initiative- 20 Phrenic 17 Winstanley 16 Goblin Warrior 15 Grey & Hobgoblin Torturer 11 Kaspard 7 Goblin Sharpshooters 6 Dirty

Surprise Round.

Phrenic- Charge GS1; Hit 11 damage (20 HP)

Winstanley- First Strike Combat Advantage Sly Flourish GS1; Hit 20 damage- DEAD.

Grey- Scorching Burst with Wand of Accuracy HT & GS2; Hit HT only 8 Fire damage (45 HP).

Kaspard- Charge GW; Miss.

Dirty- Charge GW; Hit 5 damage (24 HP). GW Marked.

Time to play 7 minutes including setting out minis.

End of Round-

Good Guys
Dirty Biskit, Male Dwarven Fighter 1 (HP31/31)
Kaspard, Female Half-Elf Cleric of Bahamut 1 (HP26/26)
Winstanley Portico, Male Halfling Rogue 1 (HP23/25)
Grey Morlock, Male Human Wizard 1 (HP23/23)
Phrenic, Male Tiefling Warlord 1 (HP20/24)

Bad Guys 625XP Level 2 Encounter.
Goblin Warrior Level 1 Skirmisher [GW] (HP24/29)
Goblin Sharpshooter Level 2 Artillery [GS] (x3) (HP31) 1 DEAD
Hobgoblin Torturer Level 3 Brute [HT] (HP45/53)

Action Points 0 Total 0
Daily Powers 0 Total 0
Healing Surges 0 Total 0
2nd Winds 0 Total 0
Crits 0 Total 0
PCs Ko'd 0 Total 0
Bad Guys Crits 0 Total 0
Bad Guys Action Points 0 Total 0

Comment: What a difference a surprise round makes- Winstanley is serving up the big numbers with his Stealth checks and helping the PCs get the drop on the bad guys.