HS1 The Slaying Stone
Session 7 Part 1
Just a note to say that this evenings session suffered from a myriad interruptions, that said it was December 23rd- family meals, work, significant others and some problems with Skype all made for a shorter stop-start session...
That said, time for some more of the same...
And the PCs are bruised and battered and desperately in need of an Extended Rest, Jeb has two Healing Surges left which makes him king of the hill, the rest have either one or zero; oh and everyone is wounded still.
Still, makes my job easier.
The PCs hot foot it, in cover back along the banks of the river to the farm house, not their ultimate destination remember- they're set on returning to the Kiris Library basement- to get as far away as they can from the Goblins and Kobolds of Gorizbadd, particularly as they've been very busy and except for Hu-Jat they're fairly certain that all the 'named' Goblins have been taken care of.
From the farm house its a short dash across the road to cover, and from there a much easier trek to the Library- Maldor is the first across, no problems, Rogar however... spots something.
The ruined farm house, the building the PCs are stood next to- there's a Kobold in the door way, smoking, and the sound of other Kobolds within- scavenging. Yes, that's right, they've been stood next a bunch of Kobolds for the last five minutes, a thin and broken wall is all that separates the two groups, and during this time your friendly DM has been rolling Perception checks for the Kobolds within, my best to date- a '4'.
Rogar whispers this news, and then dashes across the road to join Maldor.
Leaving the other four PCs with a decision to make- go for the run, or take care of the Kobolds within- Neb has an idea- one whispered conversation later and its nodded through. Neb will get close enough to see inside the ruined farm house- there are plenty of holes in the walls, then cast his Ghost Sound- the sound of money spilling out- the soft chink of minted coin, just loud enough he hopes to alert all of the Kobolds.
It's as good a plan as these guys are going to come up with, I rule that all he needs to do is make a half-decent Stealth check and the Kobolds will fall upon the unseen cache and squabble a good while, providing an ideal opportunity for the remaining four PCs to dash across the road.
Actually what I say regarding the Stealth check is- “don't roll a '1'”
So it was my fault then.
To be honest several of the players were already laughing before Christer (Neb) rolled... a '1'.
Kobolds- not what the PCs wanted for Christmas.
There's a squawk from inside the farm house, a Kobold wearing armour made of pots and pans with a soup tureen on his head points at Neb who is struggling to stand up on loose stone, and with his head poking through into the chamber.
The comedy continues as the four adventurers on this side of the road rush to block the front and back entrances of the farm house- they don't want any of the Kobolds to get out and raise the alarm, while the two PCs who are already on the other side of the street, some 150 feet away (thirty squares), have to double move- run just to get close.
The Kobold fight provides comedy and chaos, firstly the Kobold Guttersnipes, the ones with improvised armour, on taking a hit lose their armour- that is it falls apart leaving them mostly butt naked except for a lattice work of string and scraps of cloth from which hang a bunch of sacks of junk that they insist on hurling at the PCs.
The Dragonshield Kobolds however, with their Dirty Tactics Power, hit on three of their four possible attacks- soon enough Resolute is on 5 hit points and only the swift arrival of Drake on the scene- dashing from one side to the other (around the outside of the farm house) saves him.
The Guttersnipe Kobolds (the ones with the great armour) are soon beaten down, as are two of the four Dragonshields, with all of the PCs hovering just above or below Bloodied status.
The two remaining Kobold Dragonshields cut and run, one climbing through a hole in the wall, he's chased down by half the group and eventually stopped in his tracks by... wouldn't you know it- a Magic Missile from Neb.
The other escaping Kobold evades several missiles, takes a few hits, and carries on running- screaming at the top of his lungs for help, Resolute, by dint of an Action Point dash catches up with him and flying tackles the little guy. The crush of the Human Brawler breaking the Kobold's neck as the pair collapse into the dirt.
The PCs have to make an emergency round of skill checks, to get back inside the farm house and under cover before any of the Kobolds in the Slums, about 250 yards away, spot them and come calling. I continued to use the Keeping Hidden in Kiris Skill Challenge from previous, however I upped all of the DCs to make things harder, it came as quite a shock when not one of the blighters failed their checks.
This was the PCs ninth encounter in a day, the actual run went a little like this-
DAY 3
ENCOUNTERS LEVEL = 2-1-1-3-1-2-2-1-2;
TOTAL ENCOUNTERS = 9;
AVERAGE LEVEL 1.666 (+0.666).
Not bad for a bunch of first level characters, and I swear the damage is MM3 stylee, whisper this but slightly high if anything, I only picked up the Monster Vault a couple of days ago. When I flicked through I discovered I had been, if anything, been a little generous- nothing much just an extra +1 here and there in excess of the new MM3 damage. I decided however not to change things, so that's nine encounters in a row- all combat, although the Level 3 did also involve a simultaneous Skill Challenge (Close the Muddy Portal).
This Level 2 encounter comprised 3 Kobold Guttersnipes (Level 1 Artillery) & 4 Kobold Dragonshields (Level 2 Soldier).
Some notes-
The PCs quickly worked out that they had to block both exits, forgoing attacks to make double moves to get round to the far side to prevent the Kobolds from escaping- good work.
I played the Guttersnipes entirely for comedy, they ran about a lot, tried to hide- usually after flinging a sack full of crap at the PCs, they were just terrified and ill-prepared for combat.
I played the Dragonshields as the absolute opposites, they used good tactics, almost always avoiding Combat Advantage with their Dragonshield Tactics, they left PCs (move over) without anything to hit. And they used their Shifty ability to generate their own Combat Advantages- Resolute particularly suffered this way.
With just two to go (Dragonshields) I did everything I could to get them out of the farm house and back to their pals in the slums. If Resolute had failed his tackle then I figure the PCs would have had one more chance (Resolute's Mark) to stop the little guy- the alarm would have been raised and the PCs would be in trouble.
Thirty minutes later, the coast clear, and the Kobold's bodies (now mutilated by Maldor in the style of the Severed Eye Orcs) are flung around the chamber to create that 'massacre' look. The Kobolds searched prior to this and a stash of gold coins found in one of the Guttersnipes many sacks. The PCs finally get across the road and to the Library, descend and take a well earned Extended Rest.
Next time- Gorizbadd bad.
