Campaign Commentary- Adventures in Fallcrest

[Goonalan]

HS1 The Slaying Stone
Session 5 Part 2

First up is Triflik, hog-tied he's made to stand trial for his crimes- well it felt that way to me, and I was roleplaying him; Maldor meanwhile is back in the street, undercover, and keeping an eye on things outside- particularly what's left of the Inn.

The last piece of information (the fate of the Inn) has already been discussed by the PCs during the now ritual break for the players to draw up a list of questions they need answers to. Then leading the interview are Resolute, whose Intimidate checks prove farcical, and Neb, who while Triflik swears and curses at the PCs, the Wizard somehow lays claim to having just destroyed the Inn of the Tallest Fir. At least that's what Triflik hears- the Goblin goes pale, and decides to come clean, terrified of Neb's 'exploding death gaze.'

Over the next twenty to thirty minutes Triflik reveals the following, in small portions-

That a bunch of Severed Eye Orcs arrived in Gorizbadd last night, Hu-Jat went to meet them, on his Rage Drake, the Orcs are cruel mercenary types, Triflik has no idea why they are here or who they are working for. This was the torch lit procession the PCs witnessed the previous night.

Triflik has sworn to destroy Kiris Hoyt (Wererat), the 'baby-eater' as he is known to the Goblins. Hoyt through jagged sobs confesses to his crimes- 'the things I have done to survive...' he screams. Hoyt accused is mortified, almost catatonic- Drake cares for him. Triflik meanwhile sees himself as the hero of the piece, 'like a pallydin' he explains, 'a holey warrior an' dat.'

Trifliks's blade turns out to be a magical +1 Silver Dagger- Triflik's Blade; Rogar takes it for now but the PCs decide they're probably going to sell it when they're back in Fallcrest.

Triflik confirms all the PCs have been told about the various named Goblins, and that the Goblins don't much like the Kobolds.

After a few more death stares Triflik is grabbed and shoved in one of the sarcophagi in the temple, there's no chance of him actually lifting the stone lid, it took three PCs to haul it in to place.

After a good rest, and after Hoyt is much recovered, the PCs requestion him, Hoyt however is still very much aware of the things that he has done- the PCs however convince him they can help, that they will take him back with them to Fallcrest and find a cure for him- he clings to this hope.

The PCs get to hear the end of Hoyt's sentence, interrupted when the Goblins invaded, there's a Dragon in Kiris, Hoyt's not sure but he thinks the creature lairs near the Baths.

The PCs bathe and clean their wounds, they're all about 50% (or slightly more) through their Healing Surges, time to press on. Hoyt is left food, and instructions- if he has to leave this place (the temple) then he should return here as soon as he can- the PCs will be back for him.

And so a little while later the PCs make the short-ish dash across the road and to the Baths, after first checking the way is clear. It all goes well...

Except for Jeb, who again ends up sprawled in the road, as he tries to rise he looks up and spots in a ruined building nearby a bunch of Kobolds- several heavily armoured, they're drawing weapons. However the day is saved, Rogar covers his face with the hood of his cloak, draws out Triflik's Blade and rushes into the road, delivers a kick to the sprawling Jeb, and screams at him 'slave, get up', he snarls. The Kobolds think better of messing with Triflik- they scarper, as do Rogar and Jeb, the PCs get across and to the Baths.

Next time- The Perception Check.

 

[Bob_NS]

Bit rich coming from a guy who two sessions past was carving out the eyes of Kobolds, I know we haven't got to that bit yet with the write up but...

Not exactly Mr. Nice-Guy the Elven Avenger of the Lady of Death.

Goonalan

Oh, don't get me wrong, Maldor isn't nice, he just wants to be clean and he hates bugs, insects, etc. When it comes to killing someone or carving out the eyes of (dead, may I add) kobolds he has no problem, that is perfectly acceptable.

And in defense of my character. The eye-carving incident was a brilliant plan to blame the orcs for our doings. And I do believe brilliant was the exact word used by our DM.

 

[Goonalan]

HS1 The Slaying Stone
Session 5 Part 3

The PCs take a good look around the Baths, actually they roll a bunch of 10's and spot little, except for Maldor, who conjures a '26' on his Perception check while looking around the ruined tower to the south-east. Which is one more (DC 25) than he needs to spot the very well hidden trapdoor.

Damn him!


Jeb climbs a tree- because he can.

Rogar and Maldor open the trapdoor and then lead the other PCs down a short flight of stairs and into the dark, Jeb however decides to remain in his tree- to keep watch, a minute or so passes and the other PCs have not returned, he's feeling... something just moved.

'Wait for me', the Githyanki is back down the tree in a rush and racing for the trapdoor when three Bullywugs emerge from the water and throw javelins and/or themselves at him- there are more Bullywugs surfacing to join the hunt.

'Guys... Guys!'

Jeb makes it inside, just- slams the trapdoor shut and slides a bar across, safe at last... Phew. He's back to bloodied- his usual state.

He follows a short passage in to a larger lit cavern, the other PCs are stood like statues peering at something in the chamber, he strains to see over and/or around them.


'It's a Dragon', Rogar states...

Alas in the short session the PCs only gain enough XP to put them a little over 900, so session 6 will be the one in which they make the great leap forward, to be honest the slower the better for me- I'm loving the new style of play, much more roleplaying, and a lot more thoughtful than the previous campaign.

Next Time- Session 6- It's a Dragon.

 

[Goonalan]

Rogar's diary for the above session-

<session 05>

They came from the north, south and west. I took the west door, Jeb went south and Resolute went north (although Maldor pushed past him and into the goblins). I was hoping the goblins would juat change into our fists/feet/axes, but half of them had crappy shortbows as well. Still, took down two of them quickly and think I heard another one or two squeak out to the north.

Three more goblins assiled me, but I got away with just scratches, they where not so lucky; got close to the 1st two and the third thought he was safe at the back. No more comming from that direction, so I moved down to assist Jeb.

The goblin leader (who we later learned was named 'Triffick' or similar) had snuck out of one of the broken windows; and now snuck back in, to try and backstab Jeb!

This is where things went from bad to worse. Hoyt was clearly angry and scared by the sudden attack, the exposure to the goblins he had hid from... but turns out there was more to Hoyt's secrets. Hoyt schreeched (squeaked?) and shifted into a man-sized human/rat hybrid! To make matters worse he lost his mind in the change, stabbing both Neb and Drake before trying to escape.

I still hate rats.

I say trying to escape, as both Resolute and Maldor broke off from the goblins and chased Hoyt down.

Me and Jeb take on Triffick and the remaining goblins, cracking skulls and blasting with waves of force. The goblins do prove to be shifty foes and it takes longer than we hoped to mop them up. This means we can't help with Hoyt, who manages to scuttle past Maldor and Resolute, and try to run again, this time squeezing out of a broken window. Maldor can't let anyone get away from him (he's like a terrier) but Resolute can't keep up, so he helps us pummel goblins. It looked like Hoyt was going to get away, but there was a timely and strange distraction as the 'Inn of the Tallest Fir', the town's central tavern... exploded.

How and why are completly unknown! Just BOOM! then debris and goblins flying everywhere. Luckily, two tallfolk rushing about was small potatoes compared to this, and Maldor/Neb are able to stop Hoyt from running with a combination of illusion magic, battlefield diplomacy and the flat of an axe(!) they manage to keep Hoyt from running, get him humanish again and get inside before they get spotted.

Inside, I drop Triffick with a sharp blow to the solar plexus (so we can talk to him later), grab his shiny silver dagger before it hits the floor (didn't I mention that? impressivly silver) and the last goblin meets resolute a moment later.

All in all, a very eventful couple of minutes! Could have gone horribly wrong if the tavern hadn't exploded (there's a line I never thought I would write!), but the big chaos from that hid the little chaos from your fight.

Resolute puts the fear of Resolute into Triffick and he quickly becomes quite responsive to our questions, we learn:

- The procession at night was the arrival of the "Severed Eye Orcs" a known group of extra-evil Orcish mercs. Not known why they are here, but we do know that they take severed eyes as trophies, both from their enemies and weak allies!
- Hu-Jat met the Orcs, is he still in change?
- No sightings or even rumors of dragons
- Hoyt is a … Wererat! We figured that, but not that Rat-Hoyt has been stealing and eating goblin children. Eww. Hoyt, crying, confirmed this
- Wolf-Goblins (just Goblins who ride wolves, phew) have claimed the stables

We can’t think of anything else to ask Triffick and Hoyt points out that there is a heavy sarcoghicous stone coffin here, the Goblin has no chance to lift that on his own. We stow him there, in case we think up any more questions.

Hoyt wants to talk, but only really has a couple of useful things to say.
- He is a Wererat, infected by a big rat in the other temple (didn’t say it’s size, guessing ‘tiny’/cat sized). He hasn’t fully turned yet and wants to be free of the condition.
- He lacks full control in his hybrid form, and has done terrible things.
- He hasn’t seen it directly, but has seen clear signs that... A Dragon (Brass or Gold?) is active in the area. I want to disbelive it... but he says he found Dragonscales. He thinks the Dragon might be at the old baths or somewhere grand.

Hoyt seemed to think that we would leave him here to his fate, that we would hate him for his curse. He was pleased when we said we would do whatever we could to help him, and how Treona may know a cure. As we kept a close watch and rested for a little while, I split some of my rations and the last of my slow-roast deer with Hoyt.

Still think you should know someone before you eat with them. But what do I know? My response to giant spiders is to punch them.

Hoyt stays at the temple and we sneak off the baths! The snow is still present, but not falling. There is more activity due to the exploded inn (how will be find out what happened? maybe we can explore it at night? Why would they guard it?) but luckly that was also a persistant distraction. Anyway, just a couple of quick hops between buildings, then across the street; easy right? … How do you write a ‘sigh’ anyway?

The first part goes well, although ?Maldor/Drake? slips and Resolute steps up to carry him to cover. I act as rear-guard and sweep the snow to keep out path hidden. The road has isn’t own problems; again Maldor slips in the worst possible place, right in the middle of the road and this time it’s in sight of a small building. A Kobold-occupied building! There is little time to act, so I try something risky. I make sure my hood is up, then rush out to Maldor and speak loudly in Goblin, then Common, acting like I’m a Goblin leader and Maldor is a slave. I figured that the Kobolds wouldn’t want to mess with a Goblin powerful enough to keep slaves and it seemed to work, they left us alone as we traveled the rest of the way to the baths...

Forgot something before, Triffick’s dagger! Oh it’s a shiny one all right; silver plated blade, crossguard and pommel, full tang, fine braid on the grip. This weapon in the hands of a goblin was a crime. Still, it’s not a great use to us either. Only me, Jeb and Resolute can use it, but Jeb prefers his well-practiced longsword, Resolute prefers his gauntlets for grabbing and I prefer my sling for the range. Jeb takes it for now, but I think it’s something we will try and sell later date.

So, the bathes. Quite a sight! A large pond pool of clear-ish water, surrounded by artful stone walls and apparently fed by hot underground springs. I’m sure how that works, but’s now isn’t the time to be asking about odd geology. There is still the danger of being spotted, so we keep low and head to a small ruined tower that stands at the edge of the pool. It provides some good cover and an unknown prize: Maldor notices a well hidden trapdoor, concealed within the stones! It took a lucky moment, trained eyes and that special elven something, but he spotted it. Now, lets see what’s down the hole...

<notes>
Jeb hangs back, get bullywugged and flees to follow.
face-to-face with...
</notes>

 

[Badgerish]

DRAGONS!

I've always loved Dragons. Loved the concept, the totally alien creatures that yet speak like us. Loved the challenge, for Dragons should be stronger than the fighter, smarter than the wizard, wiser than the cleric and quicker than the rogue.

This Dragon was... sufficient (and Skype makes it difficult to totally talk over people and yet still have both heard, so the players and Dragon had to take turns to speak more than they would face-to-face).


I was surprised, scared and engaged by Hoyt the wererat. It was unexpected, yet explained so much. Scared that a dangerous melee-fighter was suddenly loose in the middle on our lines. Engaged in how Hoyt clearly had terrible things happen to him, yet was still within the limits of understanding, all the party wanted to help him, not to kill him and get him out of the way.

 

[Goonalan]

DRAGONS!

I've always loved Dragons. Loved the concept, the totally alien creatures that yet speak like us. Loved the challenge, for Dragons should be stronger than the fighter, smarter than the wizard, wiser than the cleric and quicker than the rogue.

This Dragon was... sufficient (and Skype makes it difficult to totally talk over people and yet still have both heard, so the players and Dragon had to take turns to speak more than they would face-to-face).


I was surprised, scared and engaged by Hoyt the wererat. It was unexpected, yet explained so much. Scared that a dangerous melee-fighter was suddenly loose in the middle on our lines. Engaged in how Hoyt clearly had terrible things happen to him, yet was still within the limits of understanding, all the party wanted to help him, not to kill him and get him out of the way.

I tried to play the dragon as a powerful and yet reasonable controlling element, he lead the conversation, asked each PC in turn various questions, and insisted they answer truthfully- at first the PCs were relcutant to divulge their mission. I didn't make an Insight check I just presumed the Dragon could see through the PCs half-truths.

To be fair the PCs very quickly realised that not telling the truth, the whole truth, would just be the wrong thing to do- the Dragon Channoa has been stuck in Kiris for the last 8 months or so- guardian of the Slaying Stone. The PCs turning up is an ideal opportunity for it to get out of the ruined town and get on with other things- it was happy to see the PCs, and hopeful that they would prove themselves capable of taking care of the Slaying Stone.

The Dragon also has another secret, not one I'm going to reveal now of course...

Hoyt, as I stated in one of the previous write-ups was played as a sympathetic character, his backstory tailored to present the PCs with an ethical dilemma- Wererat but a good man, with a desire to do the right thing- and still faithful to idea of seeing Kiris Dahn made anew, but better...

Seems I did okay with Hoyt.

In different circumstances Channoa, the Dragon, may of course behave in a different way.

PDR

 

[Bob_NS]

Maldor can't let anyone get away from him (he's like a terrier) but Resolute can't keep up, so he helps us pummel goblins.

I know that it is actually Badgerish (or is it actually Rogarr) I'm quoting but you put the post up Goonalan, so I'm quoting you instead.

This is where I'm having difficulty once I put my Oath of Enmity on someone it wouldn't be logical to let them escape. I know I don't have to chase after them, but as and avenger it seems logical to do so (good role-play). In this case we truly wanted to keep up with Hoyt (for his own good naturally) so even if I didn't put my oath on him, I would've chased him down, but like Rogar said: Maldor can't let anyone get away from him.

On a different note, I too was super excited about the dragon. Maldor the cold and cool-headed Avenger of Lady of Death couldn't help himself but stare with an open mouth at the dragon for full 3 rounds or so, before he composed himself and talked back. It is just that dragons deserve respect, and we as players, should role-play our characters to show that proper respect is given to the amazing creatures that they are.

 

[Goonalan]

Session 6- where the PCs chat to the Dragon.

HS1 The Slaying Stone
Session 6 Part 1

Formal introductions begin, the (Brass) Dragon is not as angry as the PCs thought he would be, the creature, who introduces himself as Channoa, wants first and foremost to know who the PCs are.

This is the first part of a two part Skill Challenge, as per the Module, I wrote out the challenge as per the previous overt Skill Challenges, however I didn't send it to the PCs as... well, it just worked- the Dragon asked lots of questions, enquiring of each PC their motivations for their actions et al, and the players responded- very well (eventually- see below). It just flowed, clearly there are moments when invisible Skill Challenges are the order of the day.

I did however make it clear that should the PCs offend the Dragon then there would be consequences, depending on just how insulted Channoa felt. At first the PCs prevaricated a while- trying not to mention the Slaying Stone, or Treona, the Dragon warned them once (their Bluff rolls were only so-so) and... It went like a dream, each of the players making a little speech and associated rolls, backing each other up, explaining their adventures to date, their quest and patron- Channoa was soon convinced that the PCs were a trustworthy crowd.

During the discussion several PCs note, that the chamber is cramped for such a Lordly creature, which makes Channoa smirk. They also observe that many of the items in the lair are half-finished Magic Items, Masterwork items prepared for enchanting- yet more clues.

Channoa reveals that he has been stuck in this squalid hole for quite sometime, his task to protect the Slaying Stone, somewhat humbled by his surroundings he wishes to pass over his duty (and the Slaying Stone) to someone capable of seeing the thing destroyed- the PCs brighten a little. He further explains that as the Guardian of the Stone he has had to creep about the ruined town in an effort to avoid confronting the Goblins- there are after all several hundred of them in Gorizbadd. He cannot leave until his task has been complete, and thus the PCs arrival is a blessing, and yet...

The Skill Challenge, and Channoa's test is not complete, 'one way to defeat an army is to cut of its head', the Dragon states, and goes on to explain that without the necessary leader types the Goblins and Kobolds could perhaps be ousted from Kiris Dahn, the PCs task then is to accomplish this.

In practical terms this means, Channoa explains-

The death of Hu-Jat the Gorizbadd Goblin Commander, actually Hu-Jat is a Hobgoblin, the creature is located in the ruin of the Kiris Mansion, he is not alone however.

The death of Boontah; Boontah the Maniac guards the Gorizbadd Town Gate, along with a gang of frenzied Goblin followers. Boontah is an extremely violent Goblin Champion, not bright, but incredibly strong- Channoa fears that should Hu-Jat be killed then Boontah would simply take control, and things would get worse in the ruined town.

Lastly, and the least important task, the Kobold leader, called Speelock, must be either killed or persuaded to leave the town with his ragged Kobold camp. He is sometimes to be found in the Trade District; he, like all of his Kobold followers, is a master scavenger.

Channoa insists that the first two tasks be completed, other than a little more information he has little else to offer, the PCs soon wear out there welcome and are told to be about their business, and thus they emerge from the Dragon's lair and back into the ruined town.

They have a plan, although not too many Healing Surges left.

Next time- The PCs call on Boontah the Maniac.

 

[Goonalan]

A letter from Drake to his Mum, possibly written while in the Dragon's lair.

Mum,

Today was the longest day of my life; it feels like a year has gone by since I last wrote. I'll do my best to recall all of the day's events but I apologise if I leave something out; some things are perhaps best not remembered.

The day started early (a lot earlier than I'm used to) and we mapped out our plan; during the night I spotted a procession entering the Library and, as we were also asked to investigate the library's basement, we made our way there first. Inside we came across a group of Goblins and a fight broke out. It was one thing fighting wolves; I had practice with defending myself against such creatures. However, to fight against sentient beings such as Goblins? It was an altogether unreal experience. At first I was somewhat afraid to inflict harm upon these people but I soon noticed that I would be screwed if I didn't at least defend myself.

It was tough but we eventually overpowered our adversaries. Their leader (a polite mage named Rort) gave himself up once we vanquished his underlings. He was genuinely apologetic and was willing to give up any information he had, so I persuaded my peers to leave him in the vault (with provisions) until we had finished our search. I later learnt that my friends stabbed both Rort and I in the back. Fortunately for myself it was only figuratively though their betrayal still hurts. As I sit here writing this letter I can't help but wonder who I'm really travelling with and why; are these really the "good guys"? Don't worry though Mum, even if they are capable of evil I do not think they would put me in danger so easily; they need me after all.

Prior to Rort's demise he informed me of a secret passage down to the basement of the library. I happily shared this information with my peers and we descended the steps to the bottom. On the way we were attacked by two groups of frog-like creatures though, of course, we managed to overcome them each time. Finally, at the bottom we came across a locked door. Have you ever noticed how small events can repeat themselves? Well, just like yesterday, one of the mages was wiped off his feet by a flood of mud that came bursting through the door and, just like yesterday, Resolute saved him. Inside the room we waded through mud, fought off some weird mud-like men and retrieved (what we assumed) was one of Treona's artefacts.

Having completed one of Treona's tasks we set off towards the temples in search of the slaying stone. We first arrived at a temple devoted to Pelor; I'm sorry to say that the place was in ruin. So much so that we had to fight off a horde of rats and stirges that had taken up residence. It was obvious that there was nothing in here for us so, after a prayer, we left and headed towards the temple of Sehanine.

Inside this comparatively untouched temple we found and befriended Kiris Hoyt, son of the Petreus Hoyt who founded this village. I won't tire you with the history of the village (as this letter is so long already) but in conversation we did learn that the village was abandoned 8 months ago and Kiris was left behind to fend for himself. He also gave us a fair bit of information about the squatters in this village.

Unfortunately, during our discourse we were attacked by a group of Goblins while simultaneously Kiris transformed into a beastly were-rat. After the Goblins were defeated their leader, Trifik, gave himself up and Kiris returned to normal. During Trifik's interrogation (for which I made myself absent) we learnt of their leader, his pet Drake and a group of Orcs that recently entered the village for some yet-unknown purpose. Neither party knew the location of the slaying stone and it was clearly not in the temple, so we set out once again through the village. During this we stumbled upon an underground lair and, much to our astonishment, it was guarded by a bronze dragon. Have you ever seen a dragon, Mum? It was amazing and beautiful. It confessed to being the guardian of the slaying stone and offered it to us if we proved our worth. In order to do so we must take care of the Goblin & Kobold leadership.

I have so much more to tell you but my eyes grow heavy, I hope to write more in the morning.

I would have slept like a log if not for the worries on my mind; primarily who I am adventuring with? I'm not sure I would have so boldly taken up this venture if I'd known their evil intentions.

Anyway, it was a long few battles but we managed to take down the leadership of the Kobolds and defeat the second-in-command of the Goblins. Today, I think we're planning on taking down the big chief himself. I'm not entirely comfortable with all this slaying but I'm focusing on the end goal; the retrieval and destruction of the slaying stone.

I hope I'm able to write again soon.

Drake

 

[Goonalan]

HS1 The Slaying Stone
Session 6 Part 2

First step of the plan is get themselves over to the town gates, Boontah's empire, again we use the extended Skill Challenge- Keeping Hidden in Kiris, this time all goes smoothly, the PCs pick an ideal route (see map below), and choose discomfort over danger- wading down the shallows of the river below the bank.


The cold route.

They get to the ruined gate with little fuss, the weather they note is milder, the snow starting to melt, it's approx. midday and with a weak sun on their backs they scope out the gates.

At first there's not a lot to be seen- some fires burning a little way in, the sounds of Goblins doing gobliny things, a gruff voice (obviously Boontah) barking orders every now and then.

Rogar creeps forward a little and spots a few Goblins, one of them wearing only strips of leather, although wielding a battleaxe almost as big as he is- the Goblin looks- crazed, most odd. The Halfling sneaks back and a half-plan is hatched.

A few moments later Drake (of all people) strides forward, a Goblin spots him, shouts a warning and then... Drake asks the creature for directions, and perhaps to trade!

The Goblin is a little... confused, especially as the young Priest of Pelor rolls a 22 Diplomacy check. Which leaves the Goblin somewhat disarmed by the bedraggled Human- he shrugs forlornly- wishing he did have something to trade with the young man. Two more Goblins join their comrade, and wonder why they're not attacking the lone stranger, that's when Rogar strikes from hiding- his Steel Wind catches two of the creatures, and kills them both dead, while his Ironsoul Flurry (with Sling) does for the third.

The entire manoeuvre is accomplished in silence, just the thunk of a sling bullet against Goblin cranium.

Jack (Drake) comments in the chat window-

'Wasn't aware you were an Assassin.'

Simon (Rogar) answers-

'Neither was I.'

Having thinned the crowd a little the PCs do their best to move closer, but are spotted soon after, it kicks off.


Boontah and his maniac friends.

As Bob (Maldor) commented in the chat window-

'We found the bastard.'

Hmm... Let's see how Maldor fares in this fight.

The two sides clash, a few Minions get hosed and one of the Goblin Cutthroats (Tixter) is quickly Bloodied and on last legs, then Boontah steps up and...

Dizzy Goblin Strike, spins around in a circle with Fhis lail, and makes contact with the Elven Avenger- Maldor, bloodying him- the attack also knocks Maldor back, Boontah swiftly follows up and stabs Maldor again, for 16 damage- and Maldor's on 0 HP and Dying.

Welcome to Boontah, the PCs take a collective breath.

Bob's (Maldor) screams in chat-

'MEDIC!!!!!'

And then he relaxes into unconsciousness.

The PCs pile on the hurt, almost all of it aimed at Boontah, soon enough the creature is bloodied, but not before Resolute, Jeb and Rogar have taken one, some or many wounds each.

Soon after Drake does the business and Maldor is up and about his business-

'Thank you Drake... That was close!'

Although still very bloodied, to make matters worse Jeb takes a good hit, with Combat Advantage, from a Cutthroat and is also very bloodied.

Rogar takes down several more Minions, all of which have been rolling high and hitting in the previous rounds. Maldor meanwhile chops at Boontah, the Goblin Maniac Champion is now down to only one-third of his starting health, and with Drake's Astral Seal on Boontah, Maldor regains 9 HP and is back on the healthy side of things.

'Thanks again Drake.'

Bob (Maldor) adds to chat, and giggles a little.

It's at this point that Unholy Jeff and Terrible Bobby (both Goblin Acolytes of Maglubiyet) wade in with their Maglubiyet's Fists Powers, double attacks, and several hits- at the end of which all of the PCs except Drake are Bloodied, several of them down to single digit HP.

Oh and Terrible Bobby is leading a smaller group of Goblins in a pincer style movement, they attack the PCs from the rear, which catches all of the players off guard, and leaves their soft-underbelly (Neb & Drake) exposed.


If you look closely you can see the PCs soft-underbelly, although... why would you want to?

Which conjures the following exchange on chat-

'TPK!'

From Bob (Maldor), who's feeling a little fragile having been taken down once already, followed by-

'Looks like it.'

From Zoran (Jeb), the Serbs are running scared, and I'm grinning like a chimp.

And then Boontah gets into the middle of four PCs, including Drake and goes again for Dizzy Goblin Strike, and misses all of them except Resolute, who takes a measly 4 HP damage. His secondary attack misses again. He Action Points and barely scratches Resolute again- bugger.

Resolute retaliates, and in style, and Boontah is now looking a little crestfallen.

Meanwhile Neb has taken a pounding and is down to just 4 HP, with Goblins closing in- Drake saves him with a Healing Word just in time, and Jeb jumps into the fight to defend the Wizard, who is also Immobilised and cannot get away.

As Christer (Neb) put it in chat-

'Heeeeealing!'

Which is succinct and to the point.

Boontah, now also subject to Drake's Exacting Utterance (Vulnerability 5 & 5 Temp HP to those that Hit him), is quickly taken down thanks to 15 HP damage from Rogar, 13 HP from Maldor and to finish him a Magic Missile from Neb for 12 HP, all of which benefited massively from Drake's Power.

As Zoran (Jeb) wrote in chat-

'Drake MVP!'

The fight however is not over, Rogar is down to 1 HP remaining and in pursuit of a fleeing Terrible Bobby, all the other Goblins left standing are likewise beating feet.

Bob in chat-

'Damn it they're running... We need to cut them off.'

Which is exactly what they do, barely missing in the next round or so, Terrible Bobby is the last to fall, the Goblin fleeing out of Gorizbadd and back in to the wild- again, it's Neb's Magic Missile that finishes the creature (as with Boontah- this will become a theme- keep reading).

And it's over.

And it was titanic to play at the time- real threat and menace, and only a Level 2 Encounter, actually I stole the encounter from Dungeon 177 'Eyes in the Forest', obviously I fiddled with it a bit- adjusted levels and made room for the MM3 damage, added a few more critters, and swapped out the Goblin Blackblades for Cutthroats, which I had MM3 adjusted stats for, unlike the Blackblades.

Encounter Level 2- Goblin Thorns (Level 1 Minion Artillery) x4, Goblin Crazies (Level 2 Minion Brute) x4, Goblin Cutthroats (Level 1 Skirmisher) x2, Goblin Acolytes of Maglubiyet (Level 1 Controller) x2 & Boontah the Maniac (Level 2 Elite Brute). You really should check out a few of their powers, for some reason the Thorns target Reflex with their Basic Missile, the Goblin Crazies have Crazed Charge, which is just... crazy,

Some notes-

Excellent play at the start from the PCs to draw a few of the critters out, I want to encourage this sort of thing so fogged the bad guys a little bit so that the PCs could have their fun.

The PCs were not prepared for Boontah, if he had connected more often then... as it was he was doing 25+ damage every turn (except those in which he just missed everything- high damage vs low to hit). Maldor was shocked when he took 27 damage in his second turn, he'd already taken a hit or two from a Minion and then Boontah strolled up and sat the Avenger down.

I enjoyed the Acolytes of M, on one round, when the secondary group of Goblins arrived they hit with three of their four Fist of M attacks and everything teetered on the brink for a moment.

Rogar got left alone with about three or four enemies at one point, although two of them were Minions, the next round or so they all hit and suddenly he was on 1 HP, priceless.

Neb has one spell (I think) that's not a Burst or a Blast- Magic Missile. When he hits with the Area Effects he seems to hit hard, however he misses quite a lot too. He needs to get the Staff of Earthen Might fixed for his extra +1 To Hit and Damage.

Remarkable how few criticals there have been so far, I remember two only from the PCs and maybe double that from the bad guys, although two of those were Minions, that's in 6 sessions of play.

A drag out fight that kept the PCs guessing- excellent.

The PCs quickly search the bodies of the fallen, and then dump them all in the river- Boontah has some +1 Scale Armour, which, after a visit to a good armourer (to re-size it) will become Resolute's.
Other than that a few gold and another pair of Healing Potions, the PCs tidy up as best they can, check the area and generally take a short rest- they're all low on Healing Surges, Resolute has three, the rest one (mostly) or two.

Thereafter they argue about what should come next, the group are certain that need to take an extended rest the split is between those that wish to return to the farm house to do so, and those that say the Kiris Library is the place. Obviously from where they are the farm house is much closer and entails almost no effort, the Library however, while probably safer, is a riskier journey.

The discussion rumbles on, and I sit here like a plum listening to it, hoping sometime soon they'll come to a decision.

But they don't...

So I take matters into my own hands.

“Ahem, give Stone here...”

So speaketh the seven foot tall Orc with the huge axe- Krayd, the Butcher.

The PCs turn around to see four Severed Eye Orcs facing them, a little over thirty feet away, the creatures are huge (actually medium sized) but each is at least six and a half feet tall and 200 lbs of corded muscle.

The PCs are lost for words, and still very short on Healing Surges. This will be their eighth combat encounter today.

Next Time- More Violence.