MortalPlague
Adventurer
We sat down to play some 5th Edition tonight, and we had a blast. Here's how it went. Be warned, there are some spoilers for the adventure.
First off, we had four players running five PCs (one ran both dwarves). We had:
Lin - Male Dwarf Cleric
Morak - Male Dwarf Fighter
Evan - Male Halfling Rogue
Lavora - Female Elf Wizard
Ender - Male Human Cleric
Our erstwhile heroes, ready to explore the Caves of Chaos, decided to have a look inside the kobold den. Confident in their right to explore dangerous caves, they missed the kobolds hiding to ambush them. So as the pit trap went off (failing to trap anyone, actually), they were attacked from behind, and from both sides at the front (the rats joined the fight, as did some of the guards). A pitched battle ensued, while people got used to their characters. Ender's player was incredulous at how the kobolds had advantage with superior numbers.
Things went well for our heroes; a well-timed sleep spell dropped five of the eight ambushers, so the kobolds fled off into the tunnels, leaving their dead to be picked over. They were scrambling to grab reinforcements, while the PCs chose to loot rather than take a short rest. The kobolds attacked again in force; the first warning that they weren't going to sit on their laurels and wait for the adventurers!
Their attack was met with failure; seeing Ender conjure his spiritual weapon, and watching Morak dispatch a kobold handily, the band of kobolds made a quick retreat. It seemed the 'charge in' approach wasn't going to work.
Wary to the kobolds' tricks, the PCs decided to press on. Despite having some of their resources spent, and having spent most of their hit dice already, they wanted to finish exploring the cave before they rested. Searching for traps, they came to a passage shaped much like an 'H'. The middle section was a pit trap. With their excellent perception, they noted that a section along the north ledge of the pit was reinforced enough that they could cross (no check required, even, for out of combat!).
Ender crossed.
Morak sized up the pit, picked up the elf wizard Lavora, and decided to be manly and jump the pit! He rolled a strength check. He scored a 2. He fell into the pit.
We had him roll a dexterity check to try and throw Lavora to safety. He scored another 2. The wizard also tumbled into the pit.
The kobolds, incredulous at their good luck, decided to spring their ambush.
On the near side of the pit, the rogue Evan, and the battle cleric Lin found themselves fighting six kobolds as the little rat men tried to overpower them. Lavora and Morak were both at the bottom of the pit, while Ender was up on the far side, listening to kobolds approaching from his side. Winning the initiative, Lavora managed to climb out of the pit on the far side, right beside Ender.
A pair of kobolds carrying a cauldron full of acid appeared, headed for the pit. Ender valiantly tried to slip past the kobold acid-carriers, botched his dexterity check, and wound up spilling acid all over himself and the two kobolds. The poor rat-men went down in awful fashion. Ender was burned, but eight damage wouldn't put him down for the count.
Lavora, however, was in all sorts of trouble. The kobold chief appeared, and with Ender off messing around with acid, the chief had nobody else to dissuade him from attacking the soft target. He hit the mage twice. The battle cleric healed her. Then the chief's guards acted; they stepped up and stabbed poor Lavora, dropping her to negatives.
Morak, last on the initiative, managed to climb up and stand over Lavora's body. But his stand was short-lived; the chief hit him, then the guards hit him, and Morak fell down on top of the poor wizard.
Things were looking grim for the heroes; Evan and Lin were taking a beating on the near side, while trying to dispatch the kobolds that were swarming them. Evan in particular had taken a nasty spear from a kobold, dropping him to two hit points. Lin slayed one of the kobolds and stepped in, letting the remaining four surround him. Evan decided that discretion was the better part of valor; he ran away.
Lin was hit by a few unlucky blows; the dwarf went down. Now only Ender and Evan were still up, and Ender was on the far side of the pit. Ender made an attempt to jump it and failed, but managed to scramble up the far side. Growing a conscience, Evan turned around to help out. There were a few blows traded, whittling down the kobolds, but there were too many. Evan ran, Ender took an unlucky knife in the back and succumbed to the kobold threat.
And so Evan was the only survivor of the group's first foray into the caves. And the kobolds dined well that night.
First off, we had four players running five PCs (one ran both dwarves). We had:
Lin - Male Dwarf Cleric
Morak - Male Dwarf Fighter
Evan - Male Halfling Rogue
Lavora - Female Elf Wizard
Ender - Male Human Cleric
Our erstwhile heroes, ready to explore the Caves of Chaos, decided to have a look inside the kobold den. Confident in their right to explore dangerous caves, they missed the kobolds hiding to ambush them. So as the pit trap went off (failing to trap anyone, actually), they were attacked from behind, and from both sides at the front (the rats joined the fight, as did some of the guards). A pitched battle ensued, while people got used to their characters. Ender's player was incredulous at how the kobolds had advantage with superior numbers.
Things went well for our heroes; a well-timed sleep spell dropped five of the eight ambushers, so the kobolds fled off into the tunnels, leaving their dead to be picked over. They were scrambling to grab reinforcements, while the PCs chose to loot rather than take a short rest. The kobolds attacked again in force; the first warning that they weren't going to sit on their laurels and wait for the adventurers!
Their attack was met with failure; seeing Ender conjure his spiritual weapon, and watching Morak dispatch a kobold handily, the band of kobolds made a quick retreat. It seemed the 'charge in' approach wasn't going to work.
Wary to the kobolds' tricks, the PCs decided to press on. Despite having some of their resources spent, and having spent most of their hit dice already, they wanted to finish exploring the cave before they rested. Searching for traps, they came to a passage shaped much like an 'H'. The middle section was a pit trap. With their excellent perception, they noted that a section along the north ledge of the pit was reinforced enough that they could cross (no check required, even, for out of combat!).
Ender crossed.
Morak sized up the pit, picked up the elf wizard Lavora, and decided to be manly and jump the pit! He rolled a strength check. He scored a 2. He fell into the pit.
We had him roll a dexterity check to try and throw Lavora to safety. He scored another 2. The wizard also tumbled into the pit.
The kobolds, incredulous at their good luck, decided to spring their ambush.
On the near side of the pit, the rogue Evan, and the battle cleric Lin found themselves fighting six kobolds as the little rat men tried to overpower them. Lavora and Morak were both at the bottom of the pit, while Ender was up on the far side, listening to kobolds approaching from his side. Winning the initiative, Lavora managed to climb out of the pit on the far side, right beside Ender.
A pair of kobolds carrying a cauldron full of acid appeared, headed for the pit. Ender valiantly tried to slip past the kobold acid-carriers, botched his dexterity check, and wound up spilling acid all over himself and the two kobolds. The poor rat-men went down in awful fashion. Ender was burned, but eight damage wouldn't put him down for the count.
Lavora, however, was in all sorts of trouble. The kobold chief appeared, and with Ender off messing around with acid, the chief had nobody else to dissuade him from attacking the soft target. He hit the mage twice. The battle cleric healed her. Then the chief's guards acted; they stepped up and stabbed poor Lavora, dropping her to negatives.
Morak, last on the initiative, managed to climb up and stand over Lavora's body. But his stand was short-lived; the chief hit him, then the guards hit him, and Morak fell down on top of the poor wizard.
Things were looking grim for the heroes; Evan and Lin were taking a beating on the near side, while trying to dispatch the kobolds that were swarming them. Evan in particular had taken a nasty spear from a kobold, dropping him to two hit points. Lin slayed one of the kobolds and stepped in, letting the remaining four surround him. Evan decided that discretion was the better part of valor; he ran away.
Lin was hit by a few unlucky blows; the dwarf went down. Now only Ender and Evan were still up, and Ender was on the far side of the pit. Ender made an attempt to jump it and failed, but managed to scramble up the far side. Growing a conscience, Evan turned around to help out. There were a few blows traded, whittling down the kobolds, but there were too many. Evan ran, Ender took an unlucky knife in the back and succumbed to the kobold threat.
And so Evan was the only survivor of the group's first foray into the caves. And the kobolds dined well that night.
