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Story Hour
D&D 5e Into The (Keep on the) Borderlands (B1&2) #032 Monster Mash.
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<blockquote data-quote="Goonalan" data-source="post: 8561750" data-attributes="member: 16069"><p style="text-align: center"><strong>The Unexpected in the Caves of Chaos.</strong></p><p></p><p><strong>Session #030 Trials & Tribulations.</strong></p><p><strong></strong></p><p><strong>PCs (in alphabetical order)</strong></p><p><strong>Krago of the Mountains </strong>(Pete) Male Mountain Dwarf Ranger (Folk Hero) Level 4.</p><p><strong>Lappoy the Unexpected </strong>(Rob) Male High Elf Wizard (Sage) Level 4.</p><p><strong>Mohag the Wanderer</strong> (Pete) Male Human Barbarian (Outlander) Level 4.</p><p><strong>Sho-Rembo</strong> (Dave) Female Stout Halfling Druid (Hermit) Level 4.</p><p><strong>Sir Glen</strong> (Dave) Male Human Paladin of Lathander (Noble) Level 4.</p><p><strong>Sosspan </strong>(Dave) Male Dragonborn Wizard (Spy) Level 4.</p><p><strong>Trebbelos</strong> (Pete) Male Tiefling Sorcerer (Charlatan) Level 4.</p><p></p><p><strong>Sidekick (played mostly by the DM).</strong></p><p><strong>Scrubs</strong> Male Human Sidekick Expert (Soldier) Level 3.</p><p></p><p><strong>Dead PCs, NPCs & Sidekicks (in alphabetical order)</strong></p><p><strong>Afton Barr</strong> (Dave) Male Half-Elf Bard (Entertainer) Level 1.</p><p><strong>Corbis</strong> Male Human Sidekick Warrior (Soldier) Level 2.</p><p><strong>Estra Zo </strong>(Pete) Female Wood Gnome Rogue (Urchin) Level 1.</p><p><strong>Farned of the Leaf Lord </strong>(Dave) Male Wild Elf Cleric of Rillifane Rallithil (Acolyte) Level 1.</p><p><strong>Tassit </strong>(Dave) Female Human Monk (Hermit) Level 1.</p><p><strong>The Mystical One</strong> (Pete) Female Human Warlock (Outlander) Level 1.</p><p><strong>Tribbits</strong> Male Human Sidekick Warrior (Soldier) Level 2.</p><p><strong>Wormwood</strong> Male Human Guard.</p><p><strong>Yor</strong> (Pete) Male Dragonborn Fighter (Folk Hero) Level 2.</p><p></p><p><strong>QUESTS (and stuff to do).*</strong></p><ol> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">Find Zelligar and Rogahn's former base, explore it and steal its treasures.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">Find Tolpuddle, the 'mad druid' or 'mad hermit' of the Whispering Woods, he may know where Z&R's base is (see #1 above), also say 'hi' from his brother Bumble.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">Tell Darvon, Priest of Oghma, about the Unexpected's adventures. ONGOING.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">Track down and kill/capture the former bandit leader- Dee Dee Raven (see Mebros, Captain of the Watch).</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">Help the water sprites of the Goblinwater River, for Bumble.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">Clear a bunch of spiders out of the Spiderwood, for Bumble.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">Stop the undead attacks in the Whispering Woods, for Bumble.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">Clear the Caves of Chaos for the Castellan of the Keep on the Borderlands, reward 2,500gp plus. IN PROGRESS.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">Find the rest of the Fortune's Five adventuring party- Bullywugs?</li> </ol><p>*I've been asked to put this here because the players keep forgetting some of this stuff, also they have lots of quests on the go right now.</p><p></p><p>Note, we now read this list at the start of each new session, that's what it's like to get old- your memory just stops working.</p><p></p><p><strong>Note, you can click on the pictures here to make them bigger (if you didn't know this already).</strong></p><p><strong></strong></p><p><strong>Day 44: Being the 14th Day of Kythorn, in the year 1493 by Dale Reckoning, known as the Year of the Purple Dragons, around two in the morning, that's early.</strong></p><p></p><p>[ATTACH=full]152723[/ATTACH]</p><p><strong>The PCs new home from home is now the former gnoll's lair, and everyone is moved in now.</strong></p><p></p><p>Although, that happened some time ago, let us therefore briefly catch up with events...</p><p></p><p>The Unexpected spend a little time telling Darvon, the aged priest of Oghma- and the gatherer of their tales, all about their slaughter of the gnolls, and... their venture into the newly discovered lair. The storeroom with the gelatinous cube, and the crypt full of dead priests of Orcus- latterly returned as a wight, and a clutch of skeletons.</p><p></p><p>But here's the thing- Darvon is overjoyed.</p><p></p><p>“You found it! You found it!” And so the story to be told is Darvon's, and here it is.</p><p></p><p>Many years ago Darvon was working at a temple of Oghma as a researcher, and there- in books obscure and arcane he found a tale about a secret temple dedicated to the Master of the Undead, this foul place was situated, the old tome said, in this region, and-</p><p></p><p>“in a defile favoured by many humanoid tribes, a valley pointing towards an ancient burial ground known as the Pit of Demise...”</p><p></p><p>So, Darvon wants in- this is his life's work unfolding, the temple of Orcus must be destroyed, and the old priest wants, even if it is his final act- to be involved in the fight.</p><p></p><p>The Unexpected, except for Sir Glen- he says 'yes' to the old priest's request immediately, are less than keen to grant Darvon's (maybe) last wish.</p><p></p><p>Note, Darvon is a shuffling old man, guided in his steps by his two wordless acolytes- he's slow is the PCs main complaint, but... the outright 'no' from the other members of the Unexpected eventually softens into a 'maybe'.</p><p></p><p>So, then there's all the magic stuff that the Unexpected found in and around the crypt, and in particular- a wand (in the gelatinous cube), a helmet and a shortsword (the latter two were found in the Orcus-flavoured crypt).</p><p></p><p>The issue is... the Unexpected (Sir Glen) has already got burned once (with Dawnkicker, his new -1 longsword, still makes me laugh). Are any of these three items similarly cursed?</p><p></p><p>There follows a nearly thirty minute debate/squabble (call it what you will) in which various players express their opinions, although none of them actually come up with anything akin to a solution to the problem.</p><p></p><p>The thing is, as made clear by Google (and the DM), neither an Identify spell nor a Detect Magic will reveal that an item is cursed. Thank heavens the PCs had their phones/tablets with them, and that the wi-fi in the Caves of Chaos is so good.</p><p></p><p>We move on, and the magic items are distributed, and attuned where need be. Sosspan has got himself a Wand of Enemy Detection, Trebbelos a Helm of Underwater Action, and Mohag is now armed with a +2 Shortsword, the barbarian is also going more defensive, he adds a shield to his equipment.</p><p></p><p>Note, the Unexpected also get in an extended rest here, they're taking things real easy.</p><p></p><p>Then, well... more resting, the Dark Squad finished their last adventuring day early, and so they're going to nestle in and spend the rest of the night in the ex-gnoll cavern, waiting for tomorrow to come.</p><p></p><p>But that, of course, doesn't happen, because...</p><p></p><p><strong>Day 44: Being the 14th Day of Kythorn, in the year 1493 by Dale Reckoning, known as the Year of the Purple Dragons, around two in the morning, that's early.</strong></p><p></p><p>And the bugbears in the ravine have done a deal with the inhabitant of the only other unexplored cave on the PCs map. The inhabitant of this other cave is a minotaur, a max hit point, magic weapon wielding, armoured minotaur.</p><p></p><p>His name is Korgan the Terror!</p><p></p><p>As for the bugbears, well... the entire tribe is taking part in this attack- that's 15 normal bugbears (high hit points remember), plus five tough warriors & the chief's consort (all max hit points) and the bugbear chief- Gurpz (also max HP, of course).</p><p></p><p>Here they come...</p><p></p><p>[ATTACH=full]152724[/ATTACH]</p><p><strong>But the first anyone knows about it is when one of the guards, Jimmy Riddle in this instance, looks up from his ham sandwich just in time to see Korgan the Terror rushing straight for him.</strong></p><p></p><p>Korgan is a very nasty looking minotaur.</p><p></p><p>Young Jimmy R. dies screaming, but briefly, Korgan's charge attack is a Crit, the minotaur rushes on.</p><p></p><p>But here's the thing Korgan's initiative is sky high, and so the next guard along the passage, Patsy Poundcake, also starts screaming- but here comes Korgan again.</p><p></p><p>[ATTACH=full]152725[/ATTACH]</p><p><strong>Seconds later and poor Patsy is also gored to death, Korgan bellows and snorts for a moment, and then charges on- further into the lair.</strong></p><p></p><p>Note, at this point the screaming has been taken up, and more folk are grabbing their weapons or else coming awake.</p><p></p><p>More remarkably Sir Glen is already awake, and armoured, and on patrol- talking to the men, and so the paladin also takes up the call, and of course rushes to intercept the monstrous lair invader.</p><p></p><p>[ATTACH=full]152726[/ATTACH]</p><p><strong>Kargon the Terror just keeps on charging, although he ran out of movement just short of the next guard in line to be crushed, and that's Sir Glen just to the right of the ferocious minotaur.</strong></p><p></p><p>Sir Glen is, of course, the first into action- and he's in super-heroic mode (more Morning Lord babble & with his Sacred Weapon up and running).</p><p></p><p>And so... Sir Glen rolls a '2', still, one better than his usual.</p><p></p><p>Note the PCs, atm, think that the minotaur is unaccompanied, when actually the bugbear chief and his tough guys are creeping their way into the lair.</p><p></p><p>Lappoy fires four Magic Missiles into the roaring Terror, that's Mr. Terror to you, High Magickist.</p><p></p><p>Sho-Rembo becomes Sho-B-Bear, and then waddles into the fight and attempts to savage the horned bastard, the ursine is wide of the mark.</p><p></p><p>Note, Kargon is quickly surrounded, but there's a lot of rolling to hit and missing going on so far.</p><p></p><p>Sir Glen keeps on screaming stuff about the Morning Lord and keeps on missing.</p><p></p><p>At last, one of the guards shoots the minotaur, and then a second- and this one's a Crit.</p><p></p><p>Trebbelos starts screaming blue murder and also lets loose four Magic Missiles. Lappoy, seconds later, fires another three into the brute, and Kargon is left stomping and snuffling, and bloodied.</p><p></p><p>Note the wizard artillery are mostly at long range, firing down the corridor at the raging minotaur.</p><p></p><p>[ATTACH=full]152727[/ATTACH]</p><p><strong>Kargon is surrounded, note the bugbear chief and warriors are creeping closer, they're just at the top of the stairs to the south, and have not been spotted.</strong></p><p></p><p>At which point however Old Gurpz, the bugbear chief, orders his warriors to attack, the first rushes down the stairs and flings a javelin into Sho-B-Bear's hefty rear, the great bear yowls in pain. The second javelin hit leaves Sho-B bloodied and beyond.</p><p></p><p>Then Kargon spears Corporal Grubbins and gores Sho-B, leaving both of the good guys on one hit point each.</p><p></p><p>Sho-B sticks with it, and claws and bites at Kargon- both hits, and the minotaur is left staggering and honking in anger, trying to get out of the spot that he's in.</p><p></p><p>But then Old Gurpz arrives and smashes Sho-B, and Sho-Rambo- almost, right down. The great ursine is gone and the halfling druid is left on just eight hit points, that was a big hit.</p><p></p><p>Chief Gurpz's second morningstar attack caves Corporal Grubbins head-in, and he's dead.</p><p></p><p>Sir Glen bravely (you decide) steps into the passage- between Kargon and the exit, and very specifically between Kargon and Old Gurpz. The paladin swings and misses, seconds later another javelin sails out of the dark and thunks into his back, the paladin is bloodied in an instant.</p><p></p><p>One of the guards cuts Kargon, the minotaur is now critically wounded.</p><p></p><p>[ATTACH=full]152728[/ATTACH]</p><p><strong>Between a rock and a hard place, is Sir Glen's AC (21 or 22) going to keep him safe from harm?</strong></p><p></p><p>Well, a second later and Krago gets to the fight, and to his namesake (sorta) Kargon, and wrecks the minotaur's world- with a Crit, and with his Hunter's Quarry, and his magical black mace for something like 30+ damage.</p><p></p><p>Kargon is down.</p><p></p><p>[Kargon the Terror, the minotaur is dead 700 XP]</p><p></p><p>And with an inspiration point Krago pumps a Cure Wounds into Sir Glen, the Unexpected are suddenly back in business.</p><p></p><p>Lappoy catches up with the action and fires a Shatter spell into the five tough bugbears, now spotted, creeping down the stairs.</p><p></p><p>Moments later a raging Mohag dashes into the goblin invaders and begins stabbing with his new +2 magical shortsword, Old Gurpz takes two good hits.</p><p></p><p>One of the wordless acolytes of Oghma gets to the badly wounded Sho-Rembo and delivers a Cure Wounds and a smile.</p><p></p><p>Sosspan's Shatter spell is much more impressive, and the five tough-guy bugbears are starting to look weary, and wary, already.</p><p></p><p>Sho-Rembo launches a Faerie Fire up the corridor, making many of the enemies glow, and then scurries for cover.</p><p></p><p>Old Gurpz and his fellows get to work with their morningstars, Mohag takes several hits but doesn't even blink, not even when he gets Critted.</p><p></p><p>Sir Glen, at last, hits Old Gurpz, just for info he had Scrubs' Helpful on him (advantage to attack), his Sacred Weapon (+4 to hit), a Bless spell running +1d4 to hit, and with a Divine Smite he delivers nearly '10' damage.</p><p></p><p>Old Gurpz barely notices.</p><p></p><p>Krago's magical black mace brains the first of the bugbear toughs- dead, the snarling dwarf ranger pushes on into the scrum and stabs Old Gurpz with his magic dagger.</p><p></p><p>Trebbelos drops a third Shatter spell into the tough bugbears (& Old Gurpz), and now they're all just about sunk. Slightly contentious this one as the tiefling sorcerer also catches Mohag in the blast, but using a Sorcery Point and his Careful Spell he's able to reduce the damage taken by the barbarian. That said, Mohag is now bloodied.</p><p></p><p>Lappoy goes one better with his Shatter spell, using his Sculpt Spell ability to avoid harming the barbarian at all, two of the tough bugbears collapse- dead. The others are now very keen to get away...</p><p></p><p>[ATTACH=full]152729[/ATTACH]</p><p><strong>Old Gurpz and the tough guy bugbears have been burned, or else, thundered.</strong></p><p></p><p>Mohag, now in a Frenzy, cuts another of the tough bugbear's down.</p><p></p><p>Sosspan fires three Magic Missiles into chief Gurpz.</p><p></p><p>At which point however the other fifteen or so members of the bugbear tribe come lurching down the stairs lead by Gurpz consort, Grim-Grim, and they're straight into the action.</p><p></p><p>Mohag keeps taking hits.</p><p></p><p>Sho-Rembo has seen enough, the halfling fills the corridor up the stairs and beyond with Spike Growth, this is going to hurt.</p><p></p><p>Alas the first creature to put the Spike Growth to the test is chief Gurpz, after disengaging the wily (he thinks) bugbear heads back to the mass of his tribe, he doesn't notice the change to the steps, and... gets cut to shreds. He doesn't make it to the tribe, and his consort, Grim-Grim watches him die.</p><p></p><p>“Good riddance, you old fool!”</p><p></p><p>It brings a tear to the eye.</p><p></p><p>But some of the bugbears in the corridor have seen the change to the terrain, and are therefore much less keen to press on...</p><p></p><p>[ATTACH=full]152730[/ATTACH]</p><p><strong>The rest of the bugbears are bickering, they don't want to head down the stairs- they look dangerous, and some of them don't want to head out (back the way they came) and for the same reason. Note the circle is the Spike Growth area, obviously.</strong></p><p></p><p>However, the less observant bugbears press forward- and get slightly shredded, soon after Mohag is taking more hits, the barbarian is now critically wounded.</p><p></p><p>“Get 'EM! Are you BUGBEARS or just big goblinz?”</p><p></p><p>Grim-Grim is trying to take charge of the situation, and she does so by throwing a javelin into Mohag, and with a Crit, the barbarian is down to five hit points.</p><p></p><p>Mohag stops another javelin, with his chest.</p><p></p><p>He's on one hit point.</p><p></p><p>And then another, and this one's a Crit too.</p><p></p><p>The barbarian sprawls, he's down.</p><p></p><p>Sir Glen cuts a bugbear (thanks to all the usual buffs and bonuses) but doesn't cut it down.</p><p></p><p>Krago however does smash another bugbear down.</p><p></p><p>Trebbelos fires yet another Shatter spell into the mix, but this time into the crowd of bugbears prevaricating within the Spike Growth spell at the top of the stairs. A moment later and Sosspan follows suit.</p><p></p><p>Lappoy meantime fires three more Magic Missiles into the nearest bugbear, the casters are getting through their spell slots very quickly- its a duck shoot.</p><p></p><p>[ATTACH=full]152731[/ATTACH]</p><p><strong>Mohag's passed two Death Saves so far, none of the PCs have had a chance to get to him with a heal.</strong></p><p></p><p>Sho-Rembo does however get to Sir Glen, who is also about to drop, the druid heals the paladin.</p><p></p><p>Krago gets smashed by a flailing bugbear tough's wild morningstar swing.</p><p></p><p>But the call is, back at the top of the stair, for the bugbear tribe to retreat, Grim-Grim has seen enough- time to flee the encounter.</p><p></p><p>Sir Glen (again, with all of his bonuses) cuts a bugbear down.</p><p></p><p>Krago smashes down the last of the tough bugbear warriors that accompanied the chief.</p><p></p><p>[Bugbear Chief Old Gurpz and his elite warriors are all deceased 1700 XP]</p><p></p><p>There are only two bugbears left in the fight, the rest have fled, or are in the process of doing so.</p><p></p><p>[ATTACH=full]152732[/ATTACH]</p><p><strong>Grim-Grim leads the remainder of the tribe to safety, attacking the Unexpected has proven to be a spectacularly bad idea.</strong></p><p></p><p>Trebbelos lets loose another trio of Magic Missiles, and another bugbear falls.</p><p></p><p>Lappoy follows suit, and now the last bugbear left standing in the bloody staired passage is badly wounded, and looking to flee.</p><p></p><p>Sosspan hits it with another trio of Magic Missiles and the big goblin is struggling to stand.</p><p></p><p>It attempts to flee, only to be stabbed in the side by Sir Glen, shot in the back by Scrubs and then ripped apart by Sho-Rembo's Spike Growth- it's no way to die.</p><p></p><p>Sho-Rembo cancels her Spike Growth spell instantly and then rushes to Mohag, who has in fact stabilised- he passed three Death Saves in a row, the halfling druid fires a Cure Wounds into the barbarian.</p><p></p><p>Sir Glen pumps all of his Lay on Hands into the barbarian too, and then races off after the bugbears, they're getting away.</p><p></p><p>Cue more Dawnkicker waving and the usual mumbo-jumbo about the Morning Lord.</p><p></p><p>This kind of thing wouldn't be so bad if he actually brought a bit of fun to it-</p><p></p><p>“The Morning Lord will have you for breakfast!”</p><p></p><p>That kind of thing, although... actually, I can't think of anything else vaguely funny.</p><p></p><p>Sir Glen says stuff like-</p><p></p><p>“For the Morning Lord, onwards!”</p><p></p><p>It needs a bit more zip, pep- call it what you will.</p><p></p><p>Then...</p><p></p><p>It quickly becomes a foot race, the bugbears fleeing, the Unexpected in hot pursuit.</p><p></p><p>The deal is the Unexpected are not doing half-a-job, they're going to kick the bugbear's arses while they've got them on the run.</p><p></p><p>The first of the chasers to emerge into the moonlit ravine is Scrubs (with his Dash option), he fires off a crossbow bolt but at this range, and in this light...</p><p></p><p>[ATTACH=full]152733[/ATTACH]</p><p><strong>That's all of the bugbears that are left, just eight of them, and keep in mind twenty two went in with a minotaur, and lots of them with max hit points. It took just thirteen turns to get to here, and for the first three or four of them 90% of the PCs weren't even awake.</strong></p><p></p><p>Sho-Rembo becomes Sho-B-Bear (again) and she too takes up the charge.</p><p></p><p>[ATTACH=full]152734[/ATTACH]</p><p><strong>The 2 AM moonlit dash across the ravine continues, Scrubs is on target with his next crossbow bolt- a straggling and badly wounded bugbear gets shot in the back, and dies.</strong></p><p></p><p>And moments later, as the chase continues, the expert sidekick shoots another bugbear- its critically wounded, but it survives, just... for now.</p><p></p><p>Because Sho-B-Bear is catching up with 'em.</p><p></p><p>And then... the ursine bridges the gap, but Sho-B is out of actions and so Grim-Grim, effectively the new chief of the gang, turns to defend her subjects, but fails to land a hit with her morningstar.</p><p></p><p>[ATTACH=full]152735[/ATTACH]</p><p><strong>Sho-B catches up with the bugbears.</strong></p><p></p><p>But the other bugbears join the attack, and the second hit is a Crit, and suddenly Sho-B is mewling like a bairn, and on just one hit point.</p><p></p><p>Then, when the another bugbear turns and attacks, and Crits... well, Sho-Rembo is down and dying.</p><p></p><p>That was enough damage to end her Sho-B wildshape, and reduce the druid below zero hit points.</p><p></p><p>The bugbears under Grim-Grim's instruction rally, all of them turn to face the rest of the quickly approaching Unexpected.</p><p></p><p>Trebbelos blasts the nearest with a trio of Magic Missiles, the tiefling sorcerer is still some way behind in the chase.</p><p></p><p>Lappoy gets a little closer and fires his last trio of Magic Missiles into Grim-Grim, and the new bugbear chief is now critically wounded.</p><p></p><p>Then Sosspan double moves, and spends the last inspiration point any of the PCs have, to send a Shatter spell into the thickest part of the bugbear pack, and three of the four creatures caught in the blast (including Grim-Grim) are destroyed in an instant.</p><p></p><p>Panic ensues.</p><p></p><p>[ATTACH=full]152736[/ATTACH]</p><p><strong>There are only four bugbears left.</strong></p><p></p><p>Scrubs dashes to the fallen Sho-Rembo and glugs a healing potion down her, the halfling druid staggers to her feet, helped by Scrubs, and then spying bugbears in the vicinity dashes out a Thunderwave of her own, and yet another bugbear dies.</p><p></p><p>There are just three of the brutes left, Sir Glen in a mad dash (and then out of actions) positions himself between a pair of the great ugly goblins and draws their ire.</p><p></p><p>“Thou art scurvy knaves, and have bad posture!”</p><p></p><p>That's better, he's learning.</p><p></p><p>Two of the three remaining bugbear's flee, neither aiming for the lair, just for off the map- anywhere, as long as they survive.</p><p></p><p>The last bugbear, wondering what to do next gets blasted by three more Magic Missiles, courtesy of Trebbelos again, and then hit by a Fire Bolt (Lappoy). The foolish big goblin tries to fight its way out of the situation, not a smart move.</p><p></p><p>Sosspan hits it with more Magic Missiles, and then a still wobbly Sho-Rembo steps in and brains it with her Shillelagh.</p><p></p><p>Dead.</p><p></p><p>That just leaves two bugbears fleeing, the first out-runs Mohag and Sir Glen, and races off, up the ravine and into the woods, it's gone.</p><p></p><p>The second, that's odd- it dives into a densely vegetated area and... there's another cave in here...</p><p></p><p>The bugbear disappears within.</p><p></p><p>[Grim-Grim and the rest of the bugbear tribe 2800 XP]</p><p></p><p>[ATTACH=full]152737[/ATTACH]</p><p><strong>M= yet another unexplored cave?</strong></p><p></p><p>But that's all we had time for in this one, except to say that Scrubs now has enough XP (after an extended rest) to become a level 4 expert sidekick.</p><p></p><p>The pot is up to £130.</p><p></p><p>Stay safe and well you lovely people.</p><p></p><p>Toodles for a bit.</p><p></p><p>Cheers the Unexpected and goonalan.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Goonalan, post: 8561750, member: 16069"] [CENTER][B]The Unexpected in the Caves of Chaos.[/B][/CENTER] [B]Session #030 Trials & Tribulations. PCs (in alphabetical order) Krago of the Mountains [/B](Pete) Male Mountain Dwarf Ranger (Folk Hero) Level 4. [B]Lappoy the Unexpected [/B](Rob) Male High Elf Wizard (Sage) Level 4. [B]Mohag the Wanderer[/B] (Pete) Male Human Barbarian (Outlander) Level 4. [B]Sho-Rembo[/B] (Dave) Female Stout Halfling Druid (Hermit) Level 4. [B]Sir Glen[/B] (Dave) Male Human Paladin of Lathander (Noble) Level 4. [B]Sosspan [/B](Dave) Male Dragonborn Wizard (Spy) Level 4. [B]Trebbelos[/B] (Pete) Male Tiefling Sorcerer (Charlatan) Level 4. [B]Sidekick (played mostly by the DM). Scrubs[/B] Male Human Sidekick Expert (Soldier) Level 3. [B]Dead PCs, NPCs & Sidekicks (in alphabetical order) Afton Barr[/B] (Dave) Male Half-Elf Bard (Entertainer) Level 1. [B]Corbis[/B] Male Human Sidekick Warrior (Soldier) Level 2. [B]Estra Zo [/B](Pete) Female Wood Gnome Rogue (Urchin) Level 1. [B]Farned of the Leaf Lord [/B](Dave) Male Wild Elf Cleric of Rillifane Rallithil (Acolyte) Level 1. [B]Tassit [/B](Dave) Female Human Monk (Hermit) Level 1. [B]The Mystical One[/B] (Pete) Female Human Warlock (Outlander) Level 1. [B]Tribbits[/B] Male Human Sidekick Warrior (Soldier) Level 2. [B]Wormwood[/B] Male Human Guard. [B]Yor[/B] (Pete) Male Dragonborn Fighter (Folk Hero) Level 2. [B]QUESTS (and stuff to do).*[/B] [LIST=1] [*]Find Zelligar and Rogahn's former base, explore it and steal its treasures. [*]Find Tolpuddle, the 'mad druid' or 'mad hermit' of the Whispering Woods, he may know where Z&R's base is (see #1 above), also say 'hi' from his brother Bumble. [*]Tell Darvon, Priest of Oghma, about the Unexpected's adventures. ONGOING. [*]Track down and kill/capture the former bandit leader- Dee Dee Raven (see Mebros, Captain of the Watch). [*]Help the water sprites of the Goblinwater River, for Bumble. [*]Clear a bunch of spiders out of the Spiderwood, for Bumble. [*]Stop the undead attacks in the Whispering Woods, for Bumble. [*]Clear the Caves of Chaos for the Castellan of the Keep on the Borderlands, reward 2,500gp plus. IN PROGRESS. [*]Find the rest of the Fortune's Five adventuring party- Bullywugs? [/LIST] *I've been asked to put this here because the players keep forgetting some of this stuff, also they have lots of quests on the go right now. Note, we now read this list at the start of each new session, that's what it's like to get old- your memory just stops working. [B]Note, you can click on the pictures here to make them bigger (if you didn't know this already). Day 44: Being the 14th Day of Kythorn, in the year 1493 by Dale Reckoning, known as the Year of the Purple Dragons, around two in the morning, that's early.[/B] [ATTACH type="full"]152723[/ATTACH] [B]The PCs new home from home is now the former gnoll's lair, and everyone is moved in now.[/B] Although, that happened some time ago, let us therefore briefly catch up with events... The Unexpected spend a little time telling Darvon, the aged priest of Oghma- and the gatherer of their tales, all about their slaughter of the gnolls, and... their venture into the newly discovered lair. The storeroom with the gelatinous cube, and the crypt full of dead priests of Orcus- latterly returned as a wight, and a clutch of skeletons. But here's the thing- Darvon is overjoyed. “You found it! You found it!” And so the story to be told is Darvon's, and here it is. Many years ago Darvon was working at a temple of Oghma as a researcher, and there- in books obscure and arcane he found a tale about a secret temple dedicated to the Master of the Undead, this foul place was situated, the old tome said, in this region, and- “in a defile favoured by many humanoid tribes, a valley pointing towards an ancient burial ground known as the Pit of Demise...” So, Darvon wants in- this is his life's work unfolding, the temple of Orcus must be destroyed, and the old priest wants, even if it is his final act- to be involved in the fight. The Unexpected, except for Sir Glen- he says 'yes' to the old priest's request immediately, are less than keen to grant Darvon's (maybe) last wish. Note, Darvon is a shuffling old man, guided in his steps by his two wordless acolytes- he's slow is the PCs main complaint, but... the outright 'no' from the other members of the Unexpected eventually softens into a 'maybe'. So, then there's all the magic stuff that the Unexpected found in and around the crypt, and in particular- a wand (in the gelatinous cube), a helmet and a shortsword (the latter two were found in the Orcus-flavoured crypt). The issue is... the Unexpected (Sir Glen) has already got burned once (with Dawnkicker, his new -1 longsword, still makes me laugh). Are any of these three items similarly cursed? There follows a nearly thirty minute debate/squabble (call it what you will) in which various players express their opinions, although none of them actually come up with anything akin to a solution to the problem. The thing is, as made clear by Google (and the DM), neither an Identify spell nor a Detect Magic will reveal that an item is cursed. Thank heavens the PCs had their phones/tablets with them, and that the wi-fi in the Caves of Chaos is so good. We move on, and the magic items are distributed, and attuned where need be. Sosspan has got himself a Wand of Enemy Detection, Trebbelos a Helm of Underwater Action, and Mohag is now armed with a +2 Shortsword, the barbarian is also going more defensive, he adds a shield to his equipment. Note, the Unexpected also get in an extended rest here, they're taking things real easy. Then, well... more resting, the Dark Squad finished their last adventuring day early, and so they're going to nestle in and spend the rest of the night in the ex-gnoll cavern, waiting for tomorrow to come. But that, of course, doesn't happen, because... [B]Day 44: Being the 14th Day of Kythorn, in the year 1493 by Dale Reckoning, known as the Year of the Purple Dragons, around two in the morning, that's early.[/B] And the bugbears in the ravine have done a deal with the inhabitant of the only other unexplored cave on the PCs map. The inhabitant of this other cave is a minotaur, a max hit point, magic weapon wielding, armoured minotaur. His name is Korgan the Terror! As for the bugbears, well... the entire tribe is taking part in this attack- that's 15 normal bugbears (high hit points remember), plus five tough warriors & the chief's consort (all max hit points) and the bugbear chief- Gurpz (also max HP, of course). Here they come... [ATTACH type="full"]152724[/ATTACH] [B]But the first anyone knows about it is when one of the guards, Jimmy Riddle in this instance, looks up from his ham sandwich just in time to see Korgan the Terror rushing straight for him.[/B] Korgan is a very nasty looking minotaur. Young Jimmy R. dies screaming, but briefly, Korgan's charge attack is a Crit, the minotaur rushes on. But here's the thing Korgan's initiative is sky high, and so the next guard along the passage, Patsy Poundcake, also starts screaming- but here comes Korgan again. [ATTACH type="full"]152725[/ATTACH] [B]Seconds later and poor Patsy is also gored to death, Korgan bellows and snorts for a moment, and then charges on- further into the lair.[/B] Note, at this point the screaming has been taken up, and more folk are grabbing their weapons or else coming awake. More remarkably Sir Glen is already awake, and armoured, and on patrol- talking to the men, and so the paladin also takes up the call, and of course rushes to intercept the monstrous lair invader. [ATTACH type="full"]152726[/ATTACH] [B]Kargon the Terror just keeps on charging, although he ran out of movement just short of the next guard in line to be crushed, and that's Sir Glen just to the right of the ferocious minotaur.[/B] Sir Glen is, of course, the first into action- and he's in super-heroic mode (more Morning Lord babble & with his Sacred Weapon up and running). And so... Sir Glen rolls a '2', still, one better than his usual. Note the PCs, atm, think that the minotaur is unaccompanied, when actually the bugbear chief and his tough guys are creeping their way into the lair. Lappoy fires four Magic Missiles into the roaring Terror, that's Mr. Terror to you, High Magickist. Sho-Rembo becomes Sho-B-Bear, and then waddles into the fight and attempts to savage the horned bastard, the ursine is wide of the mark. Note, Kargon is quickly surrounded, but there's a lot of rolling to hit and missing going on so far. Sir Glen keeps on screaming stuff about the Morning Lord and keeps on missing. At last, one of the guards shoots the minotaur, and then a second- and this one's a Crit. Trebbelos starts screaming blue murder and also lets loose four Magic Missiles. Lappoy, seconds later, fires another three into the brute, and Kargon is left stomping and snuffling, and bloodied. Note the wizard artillery are mostly at long range, firing down the corridor at the raging minotaur. [ATTACH type="full"]152727[/ATTACH] [B]Kargon is surrounded, note the bugbear chief and warriors are creeping closer, they're just at the top of the stairs to the south, and have not been spotted.[/B] At which point however Old Gurpz, the bugbear chief, orders his warriors to attack, the first rushes down the stairs and flings a javelin into Sho-B-Bear's hefty rear, the great bear yowls in pain. The second javelin hit leaves Sho-B bloodied and beyond. Then Kargon spears Corporal Grubbins and gores Sho-B, leaving both of the good guys on one hit point each. Sho-B sticks with it, and claws and bites at Kargon- both hits, and the minotaur is left staggering and honking in anger, trying to get out of the spot that he's in. But then Old Gurpz arrives and smashes Sho-B, and Sho-Rambo- almost, right down. The great ursine is gone and the halfling druid is left on just eight hit points, that was a big hit. Chief Gurpz's second morningstar attack caves Corporal Grubbins head-in, and he's dead. Sir Glen bravely (you decide) steps into the passage- between Kargon and the exit, and very specifically between Kargon and Old Gurpz. The paladin swings and misses, seconds later another javelin sails out of the dark and thunks into his back, the paladin is bloodied in an instant. One of the guards cuts Kargon, the minotaur is now critically wounded. [ATTACH type="full"]152728[/ATTACH] [B]Between a rock and a hard place, is Sir Glen's AC (21 or 22) going to keep him safe from harm?[/B] Well, a second later and Krago gets to the fight, and to his namesake (sorta) Kargon, and wrecks the minotaur's world- with a Crit, and with his Hunter's Quarry, and his magical black mace for something like 30+ damage. Kargon is down. [Kargon the Terror, the minotaur is dead 700 XP] And with an inspiration point Krago pumps a Cure Wounds into Sir Glen, the Unexpected are suddenly back in business. Lappoy catches up with the action and fires a Shatter spell into the five tough bugbears, now spotted, creeping down the stairs. Moments later a raging Mohag dashes into the goblin invaders and begins stabbing with his new +2 magical shortsword, Old Gurpz takes two good hits. One of the wordless acolytes of Oghma gets to the badly wounded Sho-Rembo and delivers a Cure Wounds and a smile. Sosspan's Shatter spell is much more impressive, and the five tough-guy bugbears are starting to look weary, and wary, already. Sho-Rembo launches a Faerie Fire up the corridor, making many of the enemies glow, and then scurries for cover. Old Gurpz and his fellows get to work with their morningstars, Mohag takes several hits but doesn't even blink, not even when he gets Critted. Sir Glen, at last, hits Old Gurpz, just for info he had Scrubs' Helpful on him (advantage to attack), his Sacred Weapon (+4 to hit), a Bless spell running +1d4 to hit, and with a Divine Smite he delivers nearly '10' damage. Old Gurpz barely notices. Krago's magical black mace brains the first of the bugbear toughs- dead, the snarling dwarf ranger pushes on into the scrum and stabs Old Gurpz with his magic dagger. Trebbelos drops a third Shatter spell into the tough bugbears (& Old Gurpz), and now they're all just about sunk. Slightly contentious this one as the tiefling sorcerer also catches Mohag in the blast, but using a Sorcery Point and his Careful Spell he's able to reduce the damage taken by the barbarian. That said, Mohag is now bloodied. Lappoy goes one better with his Shatter spell, using his Sculpt Spell ability to avoid harming the barbarian at all, two of the tough bugbears collapse- dead. The others are now very keen to get away... [ATTACH type="full"]152729[/ATTACH] [B]Old Gurpz and the tough guy bugbears have been burned, or else, thundered.[/B] Mohag, now in a Frenzy, cuts another of the tough bugbear's down. Sosspan fires three Magic Missiles into chief Gurpz. At which point however the other fifteen or so members of the bugbear tribe come lurching down the stairs lead by Gurpz consort, Grim-Grim, and they're straight into the action. Mohag keeps taking hits. Sho-Rembo has seen enough, the halfling fills the corridor up the stairs and beyond with Spike Growth, this is going to hurt. Alas the first creature to put the Spike Growth to the test is chief Gurpz, after disengaging the wily (he thinks) bugbear heads back to the mass of his tribe, he doesn't notice the change to the steps, and... gets cut to shreds. He doesn't make it to the tribe, and his consort, Grim-Grim watches him die. “Good riddance, you old fool!” It brings a tear to the eye. But some of the bugbears in the corridor have seen the change to the terrain, and are therefore much less keen to press on... [ATTACH type="full"]152730[/ATTACH] [B]The rest of the bugbears are bickering, they don't want to head down the stairs- they look dangerous, and some of them don't want to head out (back the way they came) and for the same reason. Note the circle is the Spike Growth area, obviously.[/B] However, the less observant bugbears press forward- and get slightly shredded, soon after Mohag is taking more hits, the barbarian is now critically wounded. “Get 'EM! Are you BUGBEARS or just big goblinz?” Grim-Grim is trying to take charge of the situation, and she does so by throwing a javelin into Mohag, and with a Crit, the barbarian is down to five hit points. Mohag stops another javelin, with his chest. He's on one hit point. And then another, and this one's a Crit too. The barbarian sprawls, he's down. Sir Glen cuts a bugbear (thanks to all the usual buffs and bonuses) but doesn't cut it down. Krago however does smash another bugbear down. Trebbelos fires yet another Shatter spell into the mix, but this time into the crowd of bugbears prevaricating within the Spike Growth spell at the top of the stairs. A moment later and Sosspan follows suit. Lappoy meantime fires three more Magic Missiles into the nearest bugbear, the casters are getting through their spell slots very quickly- its a duck shoot. [ATTACH type="full"]152731[/ATTACH] [B]Mohag's passed two Death Saves so far, none of the PCs have had a chance to get to him with a heal.[/B] Sho-Rembo does however get to Sir Glen, who is also about to drop, the druid heals the paladin. Krago gets smashed by a flailing bugbear tough's wild morningstar swing. But the call is, back at the top of the stair, for the bugbear tribe to retreat, Grim-Grim has seen enough- time to flee the encounter. Sir Glen (again, with all of his bonuses) cuts a bugbear down. Krago smashes down the last of the tough bugbear warriors that accompanied the chief. [Bugbear Chief Old Gurpz and his elite warriors are all deceased 1700 XP] There are only two bugbears left in the fight, the rest have fled, or are in the process of doing so. [ATTACH type="full"]152732[/ATTACH] [B]Grim-Grim leads the remainder of the tribe to safety, attacking the Unexpected has proven to be a spectacularly bad idea.[/B] Trebbelos lets loose another trio of Magic Missiles, and another bugbear falls. Lappoy follows suit, and now the last bugbear left standing in the bloody staired passage is badly wounded, and looking to flee. Sosspan hits it with another trio of Magic Missiles and the big goblin is struggling to stand. It attempts to flee, only to be stabbed in the side by Sir Glen, shot in the back by Scrubs and then ripped apart by Sho-Rembo's Spike Growth- it's no way to die. Sho-Rembo cancels her Spike Growth spell instantly and then rushes to Mohag, who has in fact stabilised- he passed three Death Saves in a row, the halfling druid fires a Cure Wounds into the barbarian. Sir Glen pumps all of his Lay on Hands into the barbarian too, and then races off after the bugbears, they're getting away. Cue more Dawnkicker waving and the usual mumbo-jumbo about the Morning Lord. This kind of thing wouldn't be so bad if he actually brought a bit of fun to it- “The Morning Lord will have you for breakfast!” That kind of thing, although... actually, I can't think of anything else vaguely funny. Sir Glen says stuff like- “For the Morning Lord, onwards!” It needs a bit more zip, pep- call it what you will. Then... It quickly becomes a foot race, the bugbears fleeing, the Unexpected in hot pursuit. The deal is the Unexpected are not doing half-a-job, they're going to kick the bugbear's arses while they've got them on the run. The first of the chasers to emerge into the moonlit ravine is Scrubs (with his Dash option), he fires off a crossbow bolt but at this range, and in this light... [ATTACH type="full"]152733[/ATTACH] [B]That's all of the bugbears that are left, just eight of them, and keep in mind twenty two went in with a minotaur, and lots of them with max hit points. It took just thirteen turns to get to here, and for the first three or four of them 90% of the PCs weren't even awake.[/B] Sho-Rembo becomes Sho-B-Bear (again) and she too takes up the charge. [ATTACH type="full"]152734[/ATTACH] [B]The 2 AM moonlit dash across the ravine continues, Scrubs is on target with his next crossbow bolt- a straggling and badly wounded bugbear gets shot in the back, and dies.[/B] And moments later, as the chase continues, the expert sidekick shoots another bugbear- its critically wounded, but it survives, just... for now. Because Sho-B-Bear is catching up with 'em. And then... the ursine bridges the gap, but Sho-B is out of actions and so Grim-Grim, effectively the new chief of the gang, turns to defend her subjects, but fails to land a hit with her morningstar. [ATTACH type="full"]152735[/ATTACH] [B]Sho-B catches up with the bugbears.[/B] But the other bugbears join the attack, and the second hit is a Crit, and suddenly Sho-B is mewling like a bairn, and on just one hit point. Then, when the another bugbear turns and attacks, and Crits... well, Sho-Rembo is down and dying. That was enough damage to end her Sho-B wildshape, and reduce the druid below zero hit points. The bugbears under Grim-Grim's instruction rally, all of them turn to face the rest of the quickly approaching Unexpected. Trebbelos blasts the nearest with a trio of Magic Missiles, the tiefling sorcerer is still some way behind in the chase. Lappoy gets a little closer and fires his last trio of Magic Missiles into Grim-Grim, and the new bugbear chief is now critically wounded. Then Sosspan double moves, and spends the last inspiration point any of the PCs have, to send a Shatter spell into the thickest part of the bugbear pack, and three of the four creatures caught in the blast (including Grim-Grim) are destroyed in an instant. Panic ensues. [ATTACH type="full"]152736[/ATTACH] [B]There are only four bugbears left.[/B] Scrubs dashes to the fallen Sho-Rembo and glugs a healing potion down her, the halfling druid staggers to her feet, helped by Scrubs, and then spying bugbears in the vicinity dashes out a Thunderwave of her own, and yet another bugbear dies. There are just three of the brutes left, Sir Glen in a mad dash (and then out of actions) positions himself between a pair of the great ugly goblins and draws their ire. “Thou art scurvy knaves, and have bad posture!” That's better, he's learning. Two of the three remaining bugbear's flee, neither aiming for the lair, just for off the map- anywhere, as long as they survive. The last bugbear, wondering what to do next gets blasted by three more Magic Missiles, courtesy of Trebbelos again, and then hit by a Fire Bolt (Lappoy). The foolish big goblin tries to fight its way out of the situation, not a smart move. Sosspan hits it with more Magic Missiles, and then a still wobbly Sho-Rembo steps in and brains it with her Shillelagh. Dead. That just leaves two bugbears fleeing, the first out-runs Mohag and Sir Glen, and races off, up the ravine and into the woods, it's gone. The second, that's odd- it dives into a densely vegetated area and... there's another cave in here... The bugbear disappears within. [Grim-Grim and the rest of the bugbear tribe 2800 XP] [ATTACH type="full"]152737[/ATTACH] [B]M= yet another unexplored cave?[/B] But that's all we had time for in this one, except to say that Scrubs now has enough XP (after an extended rest) to become a level 4 expert sidekick. The pot is up to £130. Stay safe and well you lovely people. Toodles for a bit. Cheers the Unexpected and goonalan. [/QUOTE]
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D&D 5e Into The (Keep on the) Borderlands (B1&2) #032 Monster Mash.
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