We D&D.
Session #17 Hoard of the Dragon Queen #3 Once a Zealot...
Brothers of the First Light.
Ray the Zealot (played by Pete) Male Human Paladin of Lathander Lvl 1
Lummins (played by Rob) Male Half-Elf Cleric of Lathander Lvl 1
Lux (played by Sandy) Female Human Warlock Lvl 1
Watt (played by Jackie) Male Human Bard Lvl 1
Secondary PCs
Hotlips Houlihan (played by Sandy) Female Halfling Rogue Lvl 1
Hard Bonk (played by Rob Male Half-Orc Monk Lvl 1
Sgt Harald Hardaxe (played by Pete) Male Dwarf Fighter Lvl 1
Derek Pilch (played by Jackie) Male Human Druid Lvl 1
Note, this is session #17 of our game but only session #3 of the Hoard of the Dragon Queen scenario.
And so, atop the Greenest Keep battlements a great Blue Dragon swoops out of the black sky and strafes the area with its Lightening Breath- Governor Nighthill, Castellan Escobert the Red, the Brothers of the First Light, a bunch of Greenest Guards, and an assortment of other rough folk (including the players secondary PCs) are forced to scatter.
Three of the Greenest Guards are killed in an instant- tumbling screaming from the battlements, the great beast beats its wings once and then soars away, although already turning for another run.
And so…
Mission #1: Dragon Attack.
PCs taking part: all of them.
Mission Brief: Because the players have eight PCs in action here (two each), I doubled the module requirements, and so to make the Dragon cease its attacks they need to deliver 48 points of damage to it, or else two Crits. The mission is only a partial success if 15 or more Greenest Guards are killed- I didn’t tell the players that I wasn’t going to be targeting their PCs, but they soon worked this out.
I also rolled every round to see when the Dragon recharges its Breath Weapon, the minimum time the Dragon needs to turn and swoop in again to make another run was three rounds- oddly the first three attacks all occurred in the shortest possible time, the fourth attack didn’t happen for another nine rounds (because I couldn’t roll a 5-6 to recharge the weapon). Therefore, the N/PCs had plenty of time to get positioned, figure out tactics and take cover etc. between the latter attack runs.
On the Dragon’s second run it suffers, but only a little- Sgt Hardaxe (Dwarf Fighter, son of the Dragonslayer) fires a heavy crossbow bolt in to the beast, Ray the Zealot (Human Paladin, with help from a lot of Bardic Inspiration- +6 To Hit) buries a javelin in its flank, but the cheers that follow ring false as four more guardsmen are caught in the Dragon’s lightening blast and killed. On its third run the Dragon manages only to frazzle one Greenest Guard and is hit by an Eldritch Blast (Lux- Human Warlock), another crossbow bolt (Hard Bonk- Half-Orc Monk) & an arrow (Watt- Human Bard)- that’s more like it.
Then things go bad- or else the PCs dice rolls go bad, on the fourth Dragon pass three more Guards die, and only Lux manages to hit the beast with yet another Eldritch Blast. On the fifth none of the PCs manage to score a hit- and yet two more Greenest Guards are blasted. It’s not looking good, that’s thirteen Greenest Guards dead already.
That is until the sixth run when Hotlips Houlihan (Halfling Rogue) catches the Dragon in a vulnerable spot with an arrow from her shortbow (a Crit), which brings the damage dealt to exactly 48 points, the Blue Dragon curtails its run, gains altitude, and then heads elsewhere.
The Dragon’s departure is met with a roar of approval, Hotlips is hoisted in the air and cheered for a while.
Job done, and only thirteen Greenest Guards had to die to save the Keep.
Derek Pilch (Human Druid) is in a fury throughout this encounter, the Blue Dragon during its passes never gets closer than thirty feet from the battlements, the Druid (whose family were slain by a Green Dragon- he doesn’t like them much) had no spells, or even weapons, to throw, fling or cast effectively at the terrifying beast. In the six rounds of combat he managed to throw four daggers at the Dragon (all misses). Jackie, who plays Derek, is not best pleased- which is odd because all of her friends around the table were laughing like drains at her sweary frustration.
And so after the chatter has died down, and the terror has passed, its on with the other Missions, although there’s time for a little topping up of equipment first, particularly as every PC that had a javelin, spear or dagger (some were desperate- Derek) is now out of ammunition- all lost over the side of the Keep battlements.
And so…
Mission #2: Save the Mill.
PCs taking part: Ray, Lummins (Half-Elf Cleric), Lux & Watt- the Brothers of the First Light have got the call.
Mission Brief: Get to the Mill, via the secret sewer and the Greenest River, unseen- prevent the enemy from setting alight to the place, or else stealing the grain. Signal when the Mill is secured, and Sgt Markguth will lead a contingent to the area to keep the place safe. The good Sgt will then accompany the PCs back to the Keep. Prisoners should be taken if possible, and brought back to the Keep for interrogation.
Alas there are problems from the start, the Brothers emerge from the secret sewer at exactly the same time as a Kobold (x6) patrol is passing, it gets bloody- the guys know they can’t let the enemy discover the hidden way in to the Keep.
Several Kobolds charge in to the emerging Brothers, Lux is kept safe from harm by Lummins’ Warding Flare*- the Warlock stabs a Kobold dead, Watt’s Thunderwave leaves another three Kobolds dead and one barely standing- which tries to flee but doesn’t get far- Watt stabs it in the back. The last of the miscreants, also attempting to flee, is bonked on the head by Lummins with his mace and taken prisoner. Ray heads back in to the secret sewer to deliver the Kobold-shaped parcel to the Greenest Guards awaiting them there.
*Yeah, that’s not how Warding Flare works at Level 1, we worked this out eventually…
The Brothers head on, down the river and keeping out of sight- they hope, and to the Mill, outside of which are another clutch of Kobolds (just three of them), and another Cultist who seems to be on the lookout. The Kobolds have bought kindling but not enough, and they’re making a poor fist of getting the fire started- in fact…
The Brothers watch for a while- Lummins & Lux are suspicious, the Kobolds don’t seem to be doing anything much- the whole thing looks like a pretence. Five minutes later and they’re certain- there’s something very odd going on here, Watt goes for a little scout around (the Bard, when he wants to be, is very Stealthy). The Brother’s caution proves to be a wise move- there are another four Cultists (actually- Guard x4) hidden around the corner, watching- and every now and then surreptitiously signalling to the Cultist with the Kobolds.
A trap? For them? If not, for whom? Hmm… how to play this?
First task then, re-position, and then attack the Cultists (Guards) observing the Mill- which turns out to be easier to do than they expected- the enemy seem to be solely intent on observing the Mill.
The Brother’s attack catches the mercenaries by surprise, however all of their efforts (including a Burning Hands spell from Lummins) count for little- all four Cultists (Guards) are wounded in the opening salvo, but none fall. The fight gets serious because the action is only twenty or thirty yards away from Mill. If it lasts another round (the kindly DM informs them), then it’s very likely they’re going to be spotted.
The fracas continues to go badly, the Cultists (Guards) are tough- Ray is speared, and all four of the bad guys are still in the fight and screaming loudly- the Kobolds and Cultist outside of the Mill eventually hear the rumpus and come running.
Eventually Lux takes down a Cultist (Guard) with an Eldritch Blast (her third attack and first hit, after spending her Inspiration Point), Ray is taking hits- the Paladin of Lathander is quickly down to three hit points and is being mobbed by the three Cultists (Guards) still standing. Watt shoots one of them dead, and the odds are looking better for the Brothers, although the Kobolds and the Cultist are on their way.
Lummins to the rescue, the Cleric keeps Ray on his feet with a Healing Word and then blasts another Cultist (Guard) dead with a Scared Flame. Then alas the Kobolds arrive and open up with their slings- Ray is very quickly back to being heavily wounded. The Paladin however manages to cut the last of the four Cultists (Guard) down, and then charges forward to menace the Kobold slingers- there’s no backing down for the Zealot.
The Cultist (who really is a Cultist- stat wise) with the Kobolds sees the Brothers in action and realises that the PCs are tougher than expected, the frustrated fellow runs back to the Mill screaming at the Cultists (x4) hidden inside to come out to play. Or he would do if he didn’t suddenly sprout and arrow from his back, his calls for aid die on his lips as he bleeds out in the street- Watt is yet to miss with his longbow.
The last of the Kobolds makes it to the melee, and stabs Ray the Zealot down to the ground (with a Crit). The gang of Kobolds rush on and in to Lux and Lummins, the Warlock and the Cleric are both stabbed, for good measure Ray fails his first Death Save.
Watt shoots a Kobold dead, after having to spend his Inspiration Point- his first miss of the fight. However, the two remaining Kobolds keep fighting, and seconds later Lummins is also down on the floor and bleeding out (his first Death Save is a ‘1’, that’s two failures in an instant).
Seconds later Lux is down, that’s three of them- Watt shoots the second to last Kobold dead and then emerges from his sniping position making terrible threats (in Draconic) towards the last remaining Kobold (which is badly wounded- on 2 HP), he Intimidates the creature- it flees.
Which just leaves the Bard with his three dying companions.
It goes like this- Ray bleeds out, three Death Save failures in a row; Watt gets to Lummins in time and feeds him a Potion of Healing, and then repeats the trick with Lux- the trio manage somehow to get themselves in to cover, dragging Ray’s body with them. They rob the dead Paladin of his Potion of Healing (Lux), and money (Watt, when the other two aren’t looking). Then they recover for a while (Short Rest) and then make their way, somehow, back to the Greenest River. There they meet up with Sgt Markguth and his men, the brave Sgt recovers Ray’s body (the PCs left the dead Paladin back where they hid up) and then the group head down the river, via the secret sewer, and back in to the Keep.
Mission failure, with the following caveat- the remaining Brothers are certain (somehow)- it was a trap, possibly/probably for them.
They did however take a Kobold prisoner earlier- Woo Hoo!
Remarkably there’s very little in the way of anger after the PC death. Pete is happy with the fact that he played Ray like a Zealot- the Paladin when faced with tough odds never for a second took the easy option, he charged in to the bad guys (repeatedly).
That however is the end of the session, after a little more stocking up (spending of XP) for the three guys that made it back to the Keep. Pete will be playing Sgt Harald Hardaxe in the next session, but also rolling up a reserve PC for the trials and tribulations that lie ahead.
More next time.
KEY: A= The Greenest Keep. B= Kobolds in the River. C= The Mill. D= Hidden Guards.
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