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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Goonalan" data-source="post: 5449055" data-attributes="member: 16069">Fallcrest- Finding DreusSession 10 Part 2Lunch done the PCs head down in to the cellar, accompanied by Farkill, from there they head in to the newly discovered area, with Farkill guarding the exit behind them, and every now and then helpfully shouting instructions at Resolute, who the Dwarf still believes is the leader of the group.It needs to be said that I had spent a considerable amount of time listing to RPGMP3 prior to the playing of this session, Farkill the Dwarf is now very Scottish, or at least his accent is, every PC is now addressed as 'laddie.'If you've not been to RPGMP3 then you should, for recordings of live play, a excellent distraction for while your working away at the PC, it's to be found here-<a href="http://www.rpgmp3.com/" target="_blank">RPGMP3 - Dungeon ON!</a>The PCs edge forward, there's a torch ahead- most odd, until they sidle up to thing and realise it is an ever-burning torch, there's a door open, and a hole in a wall- Maldor peers in to the hole (not recommended) and spots nothing of interest. Through the open doorway a small squad of Skeletons come alive, and lurch forward.Maldor and Rogar get straight in to action, alas Rogar's sling shot goes astray, Maldor rushes forward and smashes one of the Skeleton (Decrepit = Minions) down.Drake shuffles forward and unleashes a Lance of Faith, high and wide- it scorches the far wall. Jeb follows in and charges a Decrepit Skeletons, and another is reduced to bone shards.The last two Skeletons are likewise brutalised, Resolute charging in and punching the head off the third, while Neb settles for levelling the last with a Magic Missile.Which positions the PCs nicely for my attack, from the hole in the wall a scrawny grey arm reaches out and claws at... thin air. At the same moment Rogar spins around, a noise- a door opening from further down the corridor ahead- a second of the horrid grey-skinned emaciated figures emerges, and yelling and screaming charges the length of the corridor to claw at Rogar, and likewise misses.Just like to share my dice rolls with you here for Ghoul #1 & #2, they were a '1' and a '2', do you see what I did there- synchronicity.<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/40504969@N08/5409177472/" target="_blank"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5260/5409177472_26cfbbd6ba.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " data-size="" style="" /></a>The Blue Moon Basement- Undead, of course.The PCs react swiftly, Maldor dashes in to defend Drake, Bob rolls a '5', but he has the creature Oathed and so rolls again- '2', alas he fails to connect. Rogar does the same, and the same again (i.e. he too fails to connect), his second roll courtesy of an Action Point which produces our second to hit roll of '1' of the evening.Drake's Lance of Faith comes again, Jack rolls a '4'- there's a lot of cursing, Jeb saves the day and slices hard and manages to damage both of the creatures with a Swordburst.Resolute goes to grapple one of the creatures, something he states aloud he may regret, he too fails to connect- '3', Neb opens up with a Scorching Blast, while back-pedalling trying to get some distance between him and the Ghouls, Christer rolls a '4'. That's a pretty poor series of rolls.Time for some hot Ghoul action...Drake is slashed and clawed by the Ghoul in the centre chamber (through the hole), the young Priest of Pelor takes 12 damage as his blood turns to ice in his veins, he's Immobilised.The second Ghoul makes matters worse, it connects with Jeb and delivers 15 points of damage, he too is Immobilised.And then a third Ghoul rushes around the corner, behind the PCs, the adventurers are effectively surrounded. The PCs, still in the first thirty minutes of the session, go from rather jolly to suddenly very serious.Maldor moves in close to the third Ghoul, Oaths the creature and then Abjures the Undead terror, and rolls- '1' then '3', thank the Raven Queen for Elven Accuracy- the Ghoul is blasted for 28 points of Radiant damage- the creature staggers, and Jeb's paralysis wears off.Rogar charges in and crits the creature, the newly arrived Ghoul suddenly find itself bruised and battered; and very bloodied. Jebediah rushes over to join the fun, and after rolling a '1', is given a chance to try again by Maldor- courtesy of his Divine Guidance, second time around he slices in to the Ghoul, and kills it- one down. Is that four or five '1's so far for the PCs?As Maldor (Bob) states on chat-'I may be not the leader of this group, but when it comes to undead you guys better listen to me!'Resolute manages to connect, punching another of the creatures in the face, alas he doesn't do a great deal of damage. Which doesn't work out well as the Human Brawler is clawed again for a further 18 hit points damage and Immobilised some more. The last Ghoul also launches itself at the Immobilised Resolute, attempts to bite his throat out, that's a '3', and another miss. The creature is suddenly engulfed in flame- Scorching Blast, and a '20', from Neb- the creature is briefly burnt, badly injured, and soon after bloodied.Maldor to the rescue, he bathes one of the Ghouls attacking Resolute in the holy light of his Radiant Vengeance, and guess what, '20' crits. Resolute, after a free Saving Throw (Weakened Paralysis), is also no longer Immobilised.The Human Brawler shifts to a better position, and then swings and connects again, and another Ghoul is bloodied. At the same instant, from behind the party a pair of Rotten Zombies hove in to view, again the PCs are surrounded- or at least bottled up in the corridor.Rogar moves in and manages to launch a Steel Wind, Ironsoul Flurry & Sneak Attack triple attack- hitting for 28 points of damage, and one of the Ghouls hits the dirt- one left.Maldor (Bob), again is first to chat-'Nice work Rogar... that's my Halfling.' Drake hits with his Exacting Utterance on the final Ghoul- Jeb moves in and slashes the creature with his Booming Blade, the undead creature is almost down.Resolute swings hard and misses, while Neb lands another Magic Missile, the last Ghoul is now battered, but still swinging furiously- Jeb is caught and sliced, bloodied and Immobilised. However the threat is soon snuffed out, Maldor comes again with his Oath of Enmity followed by an Overwhelming Strike, which with the extra damage from Drake's Exacting Utterance, is enough to slay the creature.Which just leaves some staggering Zombies- easy.One of the Undead connects with Neb, another slams Resolute, both however are only slightly wounded by the creatures, however behind the Zombies the PCs spot a fourth Ghoul who takes the opportunity to attempt to sneak out of the chamber and in to the cellar of the Blue Moon Alehouse.Farkill is too fast, he slams the door shut in the creatures face- it turns- slashes and bites at the air before it and then bounds towards the PCs.A second pair of Zombies appear ahead of the PCs, and again they are bottled in.<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/40504969@N08/5408568417/" target="_blank"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5057/5408568417_92eda0a170.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " data-size="" style="" /></a>There's something about the last Ghoul... he's got a swagger in his walk.Rogar moves to meet the two Zombies, and goes for his Steel Wind, and the bad dice are back- he rolls '1', followed by, '1'- snake-eyes.Drake's Lance of Faith incinerates one of the Zombies threatening Rogar, he then drops a Healing Word on Jeb- who's no longer bloodied. The Githyanki is however still Immobilised, he fails his Saving Throw and spends a moment watching his friends at work.Resolute however is no longer Immobilised, he rushes to Neb's side and with a Dual Strike punches both Zombies in quick succession, both of the creatures are smashed to dust.Neb moves away from the approaching Ghoul and fires off another Magic Missile, the final Zombie falls.The remaining Ghoul smashes in to Resolute, claws at the Human desperately, and connects for 17 points of damage- Resolute is reduced to 10 hit points and guess what- Immobilised again.Maldor swears his Oath of Enmity against the creature, then connects first with his Radiant Vengeance, then follows up with an Action Point and rushes in to deliver an Overwhelming Strike, he hits again and manoeuvres the Ghoul in to the midst of the party. The PCs note that the last Ghoul, although badly cut already, is less affected by its cuts and bruises- clearly a stronger, more dangerous, creature.Maldor (Bob), in chat, calls the other PCs in to the fracas-'GRINDER!!!!'Rogar rushes over and connects with a Steel Wind- Ironsoul Flurry combo. Drake lasers wide with his Sacred Flame and then pumps his final Healing Word in to Resolute, who is now no longer bloodied.Jebediah catches the creature with his Booming Blade, while Resolute makes a Grappling Strike and grabs and Immobilises the Undead, and still the creature is not bloodied.Neb fires off a Force Orb- he misses, he has still never hit with this attack. Let's just visualise that moment- the Ghoul is surrounded on all sides, backed up against a wall, and being held in place by Resolute- Neb fires off his spell from ten feet away and... misses. Oh well.The Ghoul frees itself from Resolute's grasp and lashes out at Jeb, who has the creature Marked, and connects- the Githyanki is hurt, not yet bloodied, but Immobilised again. The Ghoul spends an Action Point (there's a clue- and the PCs didn't like that) and attempts to Bite Jeb's throat out- '3', that's a miss then- wasted bloody Action Point.Actually at this point it was me doing the swearing over Skype.Maldor decides to fire off his Radiant Vengeance, while stood next to the Ghoul, the creature is quicker to the draw and claws the Elf, however the Avenger's attack connects again and blasts a smouldering hole in the creature's torso.And still it's not bloodied.Jeb however shakes of his paralysis, he's no longer Immobilised.Resolute grabs the last Ghoul again, inflicting a little more damage but significantly still not enough to bloody the beast.Jeb doesn't stay free for long, he's swiftly clawed again, although for only a little damage.The Ghoul is burnt again by Maldor's Radiant Vengeance, and again Jeb manages to shake off the Immobilised state.Rogar is no where with his Steel Wind, Drake's Sacred Flame manages to blast radiant light in to the ceiling of the corridor. However Jeb's Booming Blade, Resolute's Grappling Strike and Neb's Magic Missile all hit home- the creature is grabbed again and... Bloodied, at last.I'd like to say it's all plain sailing from here, but it's not- the Ghoul escapes again, and is now making two claw attacks per round, and again Resolute is quickly bloodied and Immobilised.Maldor's Overwhelming Strike hits home, followed by Rogar's Steel Wind with Ironsoul Flurry and the creature is staggering, but still not down.Jeb lands his Booming Blade again, while Resolute re-establishes his hold with a '20' Grappling Strike, and the (Elite) Ghoul Champion is on 1 HP.Neb's Magic Missile hits it- it sinks to its knees, thinks about things for a short while- mortality etc. and then falls forward dead- cue rejoicing.Although none of the PCs bit the dirt that was a tough one. The PCs take a Short Rest and then clear the remainder of the place out, in a pile of ancient bones they find a still glowing Holy Symbol dedicated to Pelor- a sign, a sign from Drake's wish list to be absolutely accurate- a +1 Symbol of the Holy Nimbus. Drake preys a while, while the other PCs make themselves scarce, the young lads faith unnerves them a little. The symbol is taken, the place is cleared out, and the PCs retreat to the cellars of the Blue Moon Alehouse.The stone wall will be bricked back up, Farkill and the PCs negotiate their reward- which turns out to be a weeks food and board and one free drink per day- done.As Jeb said on chat-“Deal!”And Neb-“Good for me.”That was a level 5 Encounter (PC Level +3)- Skeleton, Decrepit (Level 1 Minion) x4; Zombie, Rotter (Level 3 Minion) x4; Ghoul (Level 5 Soldier) x3 & Ghoul Champion (Level 5 Elite Soldier).   A bit of a rumble, I tried to stagger the entrance of the bad guys to generate the feeling that the PCs were trapped in and needed to break through to escape, I was constantly blocking off their retreat. That said they just held their ground and dished out the hits- eventually.It was also an offering to the Avenger (and to a lesser extent Drake), Bob (Maldor the Elven Avenger) was hankering after an Undead encounter, wanting to see how some of his powers faired against his nemesi (is that nemesis', or nemesis's, or whatever).The encounter played okay, I'm just conscious at times that I need to provide a little violence to go along with the role-play, a fight in the session tends to concentrate thei PCs minds- role-play is generally better after a fracas, the group seems to be a little better co-ordinated.Part of the problem of being on Maptools is players sometimes suddenly have to dash off for nature breaks, another coffee/beer, or crying daughters, phone calls from wives etc. During combat some of the everyday things tend to get ignored, particularly if a PC has a power he wants to try out, or is struggling to stay on his feet.Anyway, the PCs head back upstairs, sort out who's having which room, put Kiris Hoyt to bed- they lock him in his room, and then head off out in to the city of Fallcrest for some role-playing.Next Time... the Wholesome Threesome and the Odd Trio.Funny people players, you'll see.</blockquote>

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