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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Goonalan" data-source="post: 5415095" data-attributes="member: 16069">HS1 The Slaying StoneSession 5 Part 1A short session this one due to a late start after the work's Christmas Meal, a fat and happy DM in play this evening.The Goblins burst in and in the opening salvo attempt to swamp the PCs- there are a lot of them, and coming from all directions...<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/40504969@N08/5283697805/" target="_blank"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5048/5283697805_95533c0c5d.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " data-size="" style="" /></a>Jeb asks the Goblins to form an orderly queue.In the opening rush Jeb is hit every time- and Bloodied very quickly, Drake has to dash down to provide healing while Neb drops the bomb (Scorching Burst) repeatedly- he and Jeb soon thin the Goblin Minion herd to the south.Maldor and Resolute take a few hits but accomplish the same task to the north; Rogar is repeating the feat to the west- all is going to plan for the PCs.Which is why Triflik, the Goblin leader with the oh so shiny blade, decides to get a better position, he heads out of a window, creeps around the outside of the temple, and then heads back in, gaining surprise against Jeb- who's soon Bloodied again, and requires yet more healing from Drake.To make matters worse Triflik's second appearance, now much closer to Hoyt, sends the son of the town's founder in to a fury- in fact...“Noooooooooooooooo!”Hoyt screams as he transforms in to a six foot tall Rat Man, Hoyt is a Wererat. The cursed son of the founder however still possess a sliver of good, he slashes at Neb and Drake with his Rapier, hurting both of them, and then flees the scene- diving out a window.The PCs decide quickly- Maldor and Resolute are despatched, taking attacks of opportunity en route- the pair head off and after Hoyt, their intent- to save him, they're a noble breed the PCs.We'll catch up with this action in a moment, back inside the temple of Sehanine Rogar and Jeb do their best to defend the more squishy Neb and Drake. Neb is proving to be worth his weight in gold- Scorching Bursts destroy clumps of the Goblin Minions and badly scorch Triflik, soon enough the Goblin leader is taken down- knocked unconscious, while the last of the Goblin Minions are chased down and destroyed- none escape.Neb meantime heads out into the snow in pursuit of Hoyt and his friends.Now back to Hoyt, the Rat Man runs off through the snow, out in the open for all to see, Resolute and Maldor following on- the threesome end up stuck in the middle of the street battling, Hoyt is aware of what he's doing (and that is is wrong)- he screams for mercy as he slashes at the pair with his Rapier.Resolute and Maldor are trying to get Hoyt to calm down, I improvised a Skill Challenge here to have the PCs talk Hoyt back round from his cursed/diseased form- alas Maldor and Resolute suck, or at least their dice rolls suck.Worse still there seems to be some sort of commotion over at the Inn of the Tallest Fir, Goblins are spilling out onto the street, the lick of flame comes from the upper story of the building- the Goblins fortunately are too immersed in their own problems to notice the PCs fighting the Wererat Hoyt about 500 yards away.It's at this point that Neb appears, he has a plan, and what a plan...Ten or so seconds later Hoyt is rolling around on the floor screaming and hollering like his life is ending- in his mind the road has opened up and he is at present hurtling down some endless chasm to his death- Neb's Phantom Chasm Daily does the job perfectly.“Grab him...” Neb shouts, Resolute and Maldor grab a leg each and drag Hoyt at pace back into cover and towards the Temple of Sehanine, just in time as it happens.Down the street the Inn of the Tallest Fir explodes sending splinters of wood high into the air- from the ruins spill another dozen or so flailing Goblins, a number of them on fire, or else on their last legs- blackened and bruised.<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/40504969@N08/5293264581/" target="_blank"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5210/5293264581_686736d06c.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " data-size="" style="" /></a>The Tallest Fir becomes the widest distributed Fir.From behind a stand of trees Resolute, Neb, Maldor and a slightly calmer (and Grabbed/Restrained) Hoyt watch as a bunch of Orcs wade into the Goblin wounded- kicking, punching, slicing- killing, laughing all the while.The Orcs take particular delight in disfiguring several still alive Goblins, cutting at their faces with daggers and long knives- it's difficult to tell exactly what's going on.The PCs have seen enough, and Hoyt is back to his normal self, and crying and gasping for air- they head back inside the temple to tell their tale, and to make sense of what's going on here in Gorizbadd.An excellent combat that had the PCs run ragged at times, Minions are such a joy, particularly in big numbers- 15 Goblin Grunts (Level 1 Skirmisher Minions), Triflik (Skirmisher Level 3) & Kiris Hoyt, Wererat (Elite Skirmisher Level 3), a Level 2 Encounter.Some notes-In the initial attack I moved up every one of the Minions I could, I was after that feel- oops, we're surrounded and there's lots of them type of thing. It worked the PCs were in a tizzy from the start, particularly when Jeb took so many hits in the opening moments- and he has the best AC in the group, I just kept rolling 18+ to hit.I was determined to have Triflik get as close as he could to Hoyt, I needed to justify Hoyt's transformation, hence the moving around the building- he also got a good hit on Jeb again, just after Drake had provided the Githyanki with a Healing Surge, he needed another straight away.Hoyts transformation took all the players by surprise, although there had been mutterings previously of him being 'too good to be true', and thus it proved.I was overjoyed to see the PCs first off knock out Triflik- for questioning later, and then grab and restrain Hoyt- then talk calmly with him until the terror had passed, excellent play x2. The fact that they then chased down all of the Minions, not one of them getting away, was also top work.At the start of this scenario I exchanged a bunch of e-mails with the players stating that the  adventure in Kiris would be a special ops style affair- several of the players expressed doubts, they thought themselves not up to it- being only 1st level and all. I'm glad to say that they are proving to be extremely competent...My intention with Hoyt was to try to have him get away, I wanted him to be a sympathetic figure (and thus he proved to be), the forlorn wanderer, cursed/diseased and abandoned- the PCs however had other plans- they're the good guys after all.Ahead of the game I made notes about a number of events that would take place in the ruined town- I wanted the environment to prove dynamic, other wheels are turning. The fire at the Inn was one such event, as was the torch-lit procession the previous evening. It's working.Lastly the players loved the fight, it was desperate at times, although Jeb was the only PC ever in danger of hitting the negative numbers, there was lots going on all the time, and plenty at stake with the fracas in the street.Next time- Goof Fighter, Bad Wizard.</blockquote>

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