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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: 8436213" data-attributes="member: 16069"><p style="text-align: center"><strong>Lappoy (& co-workers) in the Caves of Chaos.</strong></p><p></p><p><strong>Session #007: Bear left for the Goblins.</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 1.</p><p><strong>Lappoy the Unexpected </strong>(Rob) Male High Elf Wizard (Sage) Level 2.</p><p><strong>Mohag the Wanderer</strong> (Pete) Male Human Barbarian (Outlander) Level 1.</p><p><strong>Sho-Rembo</strong> (Dave) Female Stout Halfling Druid (Hermit) Level 1.</p><p><strong>Sir Glen</strong> (Dave) Male Human Paladin of Lathander (Noble) Level 1.</p><p><strong>Sosspan </strong>(Dave) Male Dragonborn Wizard (Spy) Level 1.</p><p><strong>Yor</strong> (Pete) Male Dragonborn Fighter (Folk Hero) Level 1.</p><p></p><p><strong>NPC's (employed by Lappoy)</strong></p><p><strong>Wormwood</strong> Male Human Guard.</p><p><strong>Scrubs</strong> Male Human Guard.</p><p></p><p><strong>Captured by the goblins-</strong></p><p><strong>Trebbelos</strong> (Pete) Male Tiefling Sorcerer (Charlatan) Level 2.</p><p></p><p><strong>Dead PCs (in alphabetical order)</strong></p><p><strong>Afton Barr</strong> (played Dave) Male Half-Elf Bard (Entertainer) Level 1.</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>(played by Dave) Female Human Monk (Hermit) Level 1.</p><p><strong>The Mystical One</strong> (played by Pete) Female Human Warlock (Outlander) Level 1.</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 9: Being the 9th Day of Mirtul, in the year 1493 by Dale Reckoning, known as the Year of the Purple Dragons, just after tea-time.</strong></p><p></p><p>In the Traveller's Rest, and here's the gang.</p><p></p><p>Top table is Lappoy, of course, with Wormwood & Scrubs either side of the High Master, but let's take a moment to make the acquaintance (no matter how brief) of the new guys-</p><p></p><p><strong>Krago of the Mountains</strong> (played by Pete) is a (pre-gen) male mountain dwarf ranger, an expert hunter (and exterminator) of the humanoid scum that dog his home lands. Krago has been travelling for a while with Sho-Rembo, she's trying to mellow the dwarf. Krago's goal is to do maybe three things- hunt and kill goblins and orcs, number one; stand up to bullies, number two; and lastly (but by no means least), he really likes to drink and shoot off his mouth.</p><p></p><p><strong>Mohag the Wanderer</strong> (played by Pete) is a (pre-gen) male human barbarian, from the northern steppes. A dumb monosyllabic brute with a wanderlust. At six feet four and weighing just short of 250lbs, Mohag is a force to be reckoned with. Particularly as all he knows, and all he likes, is (directed) violence. Note the application of the word directed, Mohag is not (yet) unhinged.</p><p></p><p><strong>Sho-Rembo</strong> (played by Dave) is a (pre-gen) female halfling druid, with a cosmic plan- she believes that she will become a great druid and that she is feted to save the world. Obviously, she doesn't tell this kind of thing to everyone, but she's not adverse to constantly hinting at it. She further believes that her fate is entwined somehow with Krago of the Mountains. Sho-Rembo is also fond of the bottle, she climbed inside soon after her family and friends were slaughtered on the trail (by Orcs), she was the lone survivor.</p><p></p><p><strong>Sir Glen</strong> (played by Dave) is a (pre-gen) male human paladin of Lathander, and he's a local- although not quite, he has been in the Keep at the Church of the Morning Lord for maybe three months now. Sir Glen, a noble from Waterdeep by birth, is trying his best to be a man of the people, but everyone and everywhere here is just so... filthy. Sir Glen's butler, Humdinger, stays safely ensconced within the noble Lord's rooms (and out of sight). This will be Sir Glen's first combat action, he's keen to make his mark.</p><p></p><p><strong>Sosspan</strong> (played by Dave) is a male dragonborn wizard who has been travelling the lands looking for work with his brother Yor for the last six or so months. The pair have made some dubious choices during this time, and been on the wrong side of the law more than once. They need money, and they need experience, before the pair can head home to slaughter their tyrannical father.</p><p></p><p><strong>Yor</strong> (played by Pete) is a (pre-gen) male dragonborn fighter who has been travelling the lands looking for work with his brother Sosspan for the last six or so months. The pair have made some dubious choices during this time, and been on the wrong side of the law more than once. They need money, and they need experience, before the pair can head home to slaughter their tyrannical father.</p><p></p><p>You'll note that several of the PCs are linked, and that each PC in the pair bond is played by a different player. Rob with Lappoy is well in the lead here (with the XP et al) so Pete and Dave have (at last, some would say) decided to try working together a bit more.</p><p></p><p>Hence the dragonborn brothers, and the druid and ranger combo.</p><p></p><p>Also, we're not short of tanks for this iteration of the Unexpected, note Sosspan is the first non-pre-gen PC rolled up. It was a random roll for his class and race, as it turned he also (randomly) rolled the same draconic ancestry as Yor, so... brothers.</p><p></p><p>But let's get through this...</p><p></p><p>Lots of chatter, a trip around the town for several of the PCs/players- just to check out what's available here, until... the meeting in the Traveller's Rest.</p><p></p><p>[ATTACH=full]145643[/ATTACH]</p><p><strong>That's nice, but how many of them will make it to the end (of this session)?</strong></p><p></p><p>The job, as dictated by Lappoy is-</p><p></p><p>Go to the Caves of Chaos, enter the goblin cave- kill goblins, lots of goblins, and rescue Trebbelos. Fee for the return of Trebbelos to the Keep = 50gp, shared between the six PCs. Five minutes of hard negotiations later and the prize money goes up to 60gp (=10gp each) for the win.</p><p></p><p>Next Lappoy rules- all treasure is divided equally, except he wants a third of the value off the top, basically nine shares- Lappoy gets three, all of the other PCs get one.</p><p></p><p>Go get a drink, this chat goes on for a remarkably long time (over twenty minutes) which in itself seems excessive as the PCs have so far had their arses kicked by pretty much everything in the Caves of Chaos.</p><p></p><p>But eventually we get there, Lappoy gets two shares of the treasure, all the other PCs one- note this only got agreed because Lappoy went on to say that one share of his treasure will be going to Wormwood & Scrubs.</p><p></p><p>Note, at this point the other PCs think that Wormwood and Scrubs will be doing their fair share of the fighting, they will not. Wormwood and Scrubs job is solely to protect Lappoy, but the PCs don't figure this out until much later.</p><p></p><p>Next, and Rob (playing Lappoy) has been thinking about things, and so- Lappoy knows that there are a bunch of rumours floating around about various things in the region (all of the PCs start with a few of these). So, the High Magicman is of the opinion that everyone should just share what they know, because there's no benefit to PCs just hoarding their information. Remarkably everyone at the table agrees to this.</p><p></p><p>So, the list goes-</p><p> </p><p>(3) Tribes of different creatures live in different caves.</p><p>(6) All of the cave entrances are trapped.</p><p>(8) Altars are very dangerous.</p><p>(9) A fair maiden is imprisoned within the caves.</p><p>(13) There are hordes of tiny dragon-men in the lower caves.</p><p>(14) Piles of magic armour are hoarded in the southern caves.</p><p>(16) Lizardmen live in the marshes. </p><p>(17) An elf once disappeared across the marshes.</p><p>(20) There is more than one tribe of ores within the caves.</p><p></p><p>There follows much off-topic discussion, which Lappoy manages to cajole back around.</p><p></p><p>The job at hand is to rescue Trebbelos, then the Unexpected can start making plans for trips into the marshes etc.</p><p></p><p>So, we're agreed.</p><p></p><p>Caves of Chaos, early rise and off- tomorrow morning.</p><p></p><p>But just to say that the DM lets the players know- there are twenty rumours in total to collect, if one PC gets them all then something else will happen. Rumours can be garnered in a variety of ways, like by spending time and money in a bar asking questions (or similar). So, collect all twenty and there's a reward- not for the individual PC but for the adventurers in general.</p><p></p><p>Note, Lappoy also pays for everyone's meal.</p><p></p><p>It is notable, to this DM, that Lappoy is being a little more generous, and sociable, it's not just that Dave & Pete are working in concert more often, and agreeing with each other a lot. It's also that the PCs they have atm seem to be pretty tough looking fellows, there are a lot of tanks on display.</p><p></p><p><strong>Day 10: Being the 10th Day of Mirtul, in the year 1493 by Dale Reckoning, known as the Year of the Purple Dragons, about ten-ish.</strong></p><p></p><p>The trip to the Caves of Chaos is uneventful, that is until they get towards Lappoy's favourite foliage-enhanced hiding spot at the head of the ravine.</p><p></p><p>Only there's something different about the place this time, someone or something has been digging here, the excavation is both crude and new, and as Sho-Rembo (druid) and Krago (ranger) are heading forward to investigate, well.. a ferocious grizzly bear leaps out of a tree and attempts to bite through Sir Glen's helm and head.</p><p></p><p>[ATTACH=full]145644[/ATTACH]</p><p><strong>Sir Glen doesn't last long...</strong></p><p></p><p>It gets close- Glen is down and dying seconds later, Scrubs is clawed down to three hit points and starts screaming.</p><p></p><p>[ATTACH=full]145645[/ATTACH]</p><p><strong>So much for the plan.</strong></p><p></p><p>Guess what?</p><p></p><p>I rolled a '1' for my random encounters, ain't that neat?</p><p></p><p>Throughout what follows Sho-Rembo is mostly screaming for her colleagues not to kill the 'magnificent beast'.</p><p></p><p>There follows however a fair amount of confusion, Yor rushes in to try and slice the bear, the dragonborn fighter however is off target. Meantime the dwarf ranger, Krago of the Mountains, flings a handaxe into the ursine's face. Both Lappoy and Sosspan pepper the thing with Magic Missiles, the brown bear is bloodied.</p><p></p><p>But then it claws Yor, and now the dragonborn fighter is also unconscious and bleeding out.</p><p></p><p>[ATTACH=full]145646[/ATTACH]</p><p><strong>Two of the tanks grab a dirt nap.</strong></p><p></p><p>Sosspan goes ape (but it's not his initiative).</p><p></p><p>The brown bear rushes forward to savage Mohag, the barbarian, next.</p><p></p><p>Mohag rages and slams his greataxe into the brute, the beast staggers...</p><p></p><p>At which point Sho-Rembo, the halfling druid, attempts to use her skills to shout and frighten the badly wounded bear away, while it still lives.</p><p></p><p>The bear ignores the druid, she rolled a '3'.</p><p></p><p>Sir Glen passes his first Death Save- there is cheering, while Krago, the dwarf ranger, swears a lot and then throws another handaxe in the ursine's face.</p><p></p><p>Yor passes his first Death Save.</p><p></p><p>Note at this point the brown bear is stood on/over this pair.</p><p></p><p>At which point Lappoy fires a Fire Bolt into the bear and kills it dead.</p><p></p><p>You'll note, and not for the first time, that it's Lappoy (again) who ends the fight.</p><p></p><p>[Brown Bear 200 XP]</p><p></p><p>[ATTACH=full]145647[/ATTACH]</p><p><strong>I don't think the DM is on any of the player's Christmas card list this year.</strong></p><p></p><p>The High Master is quickly giving orders, the fallen duo are pulled out from beneath the beast and get this- each given a Potion of Healing by the wizard.</p><p></p><p>I know, shocked me- that's all of Lappoy's Healing Potions spent.</p><p></p><p>The Unexpected then spend an hour or more in the woods here, being very quiet, and very careful, so that the pair of tanks can recuperate. Note Sho-Rembo is less than happy, but mollified somewhat by the fact that circumstances dictated behaviour in this instance- her colleagues were fighting for their lives.</p><p></p><p>The druid applies a little healing to the badly wounded Scrubs.</p><p></p><p>There's a brief chat, should they return to the Keep, make the attempt to rescue Trebbelos tomorrow, when everyone has healed, but no- they're going in, and keep in mind all the players are keen to get going.</p><p></p><p>[ATTACH=full]145648[/ATTACH]</p><p><strong>The cave of the Goblins.</strong></p><p></p><p>Alas, as it turns out, none of the PCs are particularly stealthy, eventually the druid, Sho-Rembo and the ranger, Krago, are persuaded to check the place out.</p><p></p><p>More remarkably the pair are great at the job.</p><p></p><p>There are two batches of goblins, in chambers to either side of the passage, and they seem to be paying attention, the guards are not lax here.</p><p></p><p>[ATTACH=full]145649[/ATTACH]</p><p><strong>Lots of Goblins.</strong></p><p></p><p>The pair make it back their friends to share their info.</p><p></p><p>But there's no backing down, the plan is- they hit the goblins to the west first, but ready for the eastern mob to come calling.</p><p></p><p>The second part of the plan, the Unexpected do all they can to make sure that the exit to the cavern doesn't get 'blocked', they don't want to get cut off, just in case they need to retreat fast.</p><p></p><p>Odd, they've started to work together.</p><p></p><p>The Unexpected even manage to work their way quietly forward into the lair, after some good checks.</p><p></p><p>The PCs without darkvision, and there are plenty of them, are relived to see that the goblins are using torches in here.</p><p></p><p>Here's the set up-</p><p></p><p>[ATTACH=full]145650[/ATTACH]</p><p><strong>3... 2... 1!</strong></p><p></p><p>Cross your fingers, here goes, and around the VTT the players know it.</p><p></p><p>Sho-Rembo dashes out and conjures Entangling plants which burst through the dirt of the cavern, ensnaring three of the goblins in the spells compass.</p><p></p><p>[ATTACH=full]145651[/ATTACH]</p><p><strong>Entangle!</strong></p><p></p><p>Yor, the dragonborn fighter, rushes out and blasts the nearest three goblins with his poisonous breath, and then rolls 2d6 = '3' poison damage.</p><p></p><p>But then Lappoy steps up and sends three of the goblins to sleep, all the badly wounded ones.</p><p></p><p>Sosspan follows the High Master in and blasts the only non-sleeping, or else non-entangled, goblin dead.</p><p></p><p>There's a tingle in the air, this may turn out to be a success, but keep in mind the goblins here are screaming and shouting all the while.</p><p></p><p>[ATTACH=full]145652[/ATTACH]</p><p><strong>Note the Entangle spell has been replaced by a box, easier to see through, I'll get the hang of FGU one day.</strong></p><p></p><p>Then Krago and Mohag rush in and smash a pair of goblins dead- one of them was prone and sleeping, the other was entangled.</p><p></p><p>Then several things happen at once, Sho-Rembo beans an entangled goblin with her sling- and yet it lives, while the second entangled goblin manages to free itself from the grasping plants, and then run screaming down the western passage, it doesn't get far.</p><p></p><p>The DM warns the players, if this guy gets away...</p><p></p><p>Yor scrambles into the entangling plants and then throws a dagger in the fleeing goblin's back, and still it runs...</p><p></p><p>Oh, and Scrubs lets Lappoy know- there are more goblins coming from the east.</p><p></p><p>Lappoy also wades into the entangling plants and attempts to shoot the fleeing goblin down with a Fire Bolt, he misses, but then uses and inspiration point to repeat, and now the little bastard is dead.</p><p></p><p>“Goblins from the east!” The High Master confirms.</p><p></p><p>[ATTACH=full]145653[/ATTACH]</p><p><strong>Incoming!</strong></p><p></p><p>Sosspan Fire Bolts the last entangled goblin dead, there's only one enemy left in the chamber, and the little bastard is still snoozing.</p><p></p><p>Mohag chops it's head off, while Sir Glen and Krago step in to cover and ready actions for the coming goblins.</p><p></p><p>The first goblin from the east into the chamber is met by a charging Sir Glen, who is high wide and handsome with his longsword, the paladin hasn't landed a hit so far.</p><p></p><p>Then the holy warriors has to dodge a clutch of spears (three) as the rushing goblins skid to a halt and unleash a barrage.</p><p></p><p>Sir Glen misses again, his highest attack roll so far has been a '4'.</p><p></p><p>The goblin hassling Sir Glen is hit by two Fire Bolts (Lappoy & Sosspan) it survives (damage rolls are low), but the creature gets too close to the High Master and Wormwood stabs it in the gut- dead.</p><p></p><p>More spears come skittering down the corridor towards Sir Glen, the paladin dodges and grins back at the greenskins.</p><p></p><p>“The Morning Lord shall take thy black souls!” He rolls a '19' plus bonuses for his Intimidate, the goblins are having doubts- one rushes off back the way it came, gibbering to itself.</p><p></p><p>“That's not ideal!” Lappoy shouts over to Sir Glen.</p><p></p><p>Krago and Mohag rush the goblins, the ranger is way off target, but the barbarian enters his rage and almost cuts two of the goblins down.</p><p></p><p>The remainder look terrified.</p><p></p><p>[ATTACH=full]145654[/ATTACH]</p><p><strong>Mohag is swinging hard, and raging again.</strong></p><p></p><p>The Unexpected attempt a pile on, rushing to attack, but there as many hits as misses, eventually Sir Glen- with his first hit, takes down another goblin, there's only one more of the little bastards in the fight. Although at least two of the little buggers have fled back to their previous chamber.</p><p></p><p>Lappoy orders an all out attack, the Unexpected chase the goblins back to their lair, meantime Sosspan Fire Bolts the last goblin in the fight dead.</p><p></p><p>[ATTACH=full]145655[/ATTACH]</p><p><strong>Get after them!</strong></p><p></p><p>There's just the two fleeing goblins to chase down.</p><p></p><p>They went east.</p><p></p><p>But just to say, there are a quartet of wandering goblins (armed with shortbows) in the lair, they're actually the guys that invaded the kobold lair earlier in the Unexpected's adventures here. Well, these guys have just heard the call... they're coming.</p><p></p><p>Yor, the dragonborn fighter, leads the charge.</p><p></p><p>Note all of the PCs are now going super tactical, move and then ready an attack with whatever missile weapon they have to hand...</p><p></p><p>This is getting serious.</p><p></p><p>So, Yor leads the charge, which triggers the two goblins that retreated to this chamber, and grabbed new spears, to launch their weapons at the dragonborn- Yor takes a glancing hit.</p><p></p><p>Sir Glen rushes in and slices the first goblin, and rolls '1' damage. The fourth PC in a row to do so.</p><p></p><p>At which point the first of the goblin wandering patrol enters the chamber from the opposite side, starts shouting the odds, and then shoots at Sir Glen, the paladin has suffered more attacks than all of his colleagues combined.</p><p></p><p>Another miss.</p><p></p><p>[ATTACH=full]145656[/ATTACH]</p><p><strong>More Goblins, and the Unexpected are pretty strung-out.</strong></p><p></p><p>Another three goblin wanderers scamper into the chamber and shoot at Sir Glen, all misses...</p><p></p><p>You should hear the players at this point.</p><p></p><p>OOOOOAAAAAAAaaaaaaaaaaaaa-AH!</p><p></p><p>Then, it had to happen, the goblin standing next to Sir Glen stabs the paladin with its spear- the paladin yet lives.</p><p></p><p>Krago charges in and smashes the nearest goblin dead.</p><p></p><p>[ATTACH=full]145657[/ATTACH]</p><p><strong>And once again we're back to this... it could go either way.</strong></p><p></p><p>The raging Mohag makes it to the party and buries his greataxe in a goblin's head- dead.</p><p></p><p>Although seconds later the barbarian gets stabbed.</p><p></p><p>Yor rushes in and cuts a goblin dead, and then gets his second wind. There are three goblins left in the fight.</p><p></p><p>Sir Glen, playing the hero, rushes past the goblins in an attempt to cut off their retreat, then he cuts a goblin (for very little damage) and shouts at the three remaining creatures.</p><p></p><p>“Surrender to the Sun Lord, or meet your dark-death!”</p><p></p><p>Dark-death?</p><p></p><p>What's that about?</p><p></p><p>Lappoy next strides forward, shoots a different goblin with a Fire Bolt, and then repeats Sir Glen's call for surrender, only without the religion and dark-death, and this time in the goblin tongue. Furthermore, the wizard explains, should they surrender he will allow the goblins to flee with their lives.</p><p></p><p>[ATTACH=full]145658[/ATTACH]</p><p><strong>Watch out for Dark-Death!</strong></p><p></p><p>The goblins however are not buying it, the first attempts to cut and run.</p><p></p><p>Oddly the dumb creature attempts to run west- through the adventurers, alas Sosspan and Wormwood bringing up the rear fill the entire passage, there's nowhere for the little bastard to go.</p><p></p><p>Sosspan hits it with a Fire Bolt, and rolls '1' damage for the third time in a row, while Wormwood fails to stab it with his spear.</p><p></p><p>A second goblin drops its bow and grabs out its scimitar, and tries to cut down the badly wounded Sir Glen, yet another miss on the paladin, however the little bastard then dodges past the paladin and rushes for a set of stairs heading up to the south.</p><p></p><p>“Stop him!” Lappoy shouts.</p><p></p><p>The second goblin follows suit...</p><p></p><p>The Unexpected have two more goblins to chase down.</p><p></p><p>[ATTACH=full]145659[/ATTACH]</p><p><strong>Fleeing Goblins made visible by FGU magic- see below.</strong></p><p></p><p>But the thing about the stairs that the goblins are running up is... there are no lights up here, and so Mohag and Sir Glen can't see what's going on up there. But the barbarian isn't stopping- he's raging.</p><p></p><p>But there's no target where he's swinging...</p><p></p><p>But then Sho-Rembo, smart halfling lady, grabs a torch from the wall and goes rushing to the foot of the stairs, and now the goblins can be seen.</p><p></p><p>Yor rushes on and cuts the first fleeing goblin down.</p><p></p><p>Then Sir Glen, with a sudden burst of speed, and right at the edge of the light catches up with the second fleeing goblin, and with a Crit, ends the bugger.</p><p></p><p>There's just one goblin left in the chamber, and it's surrounded.</p><p></p><p>Lappoy easily convinces the horrible little fellow to give up the fight.</p><p></p><p>Victory, and save for the counting of XP (and possibly coin) the session is at an end.</p><p></p><p>[ATTACH=full]145660[/ATTACH]</p><p><strong>The Halfling brings a light, and saves the day.</strong></p><p></p><p>[Lots of Goblins 800 XP]</p><p></p><p>All the PCs have enough XP for level 2, three of them (Pete's guys) have 300 XP exactly.</p><p></p><p>But the Unexpected are not going home, and they're moving quickly- clearing away the bodies while looting them, tying up their goblin prisoner and... but that's for next time.</p><p></p><p>The pot is up to £39.</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: 8436213, member: 16069"] [CENTER][B]Lappoy (& co-workers) in the Caves of Chaos.[/B][/CENTER] [B]Session #007: Bear left for the Goblins. PCs (in alphabetical order) Krago of the Mountains [/B](Pete) Male Mountain Dwarf Ranger (Folk Hero) Level 1. [B]Lappoy the Unexpected [/B](Rob) Male High Elf Wizard (Sage) Level 2. [B]Mohag the Wanderer[/B] (Pete) Male Human Barbarian (Outlander) Level 1. [B]Sho-Rembo[/B] (Dave) Female Stout Halfling Druid (Hermit) Level 1. [B]Sir Glen[/B] (Dave) Male Human Paladin of Lathander (Noble) Level 1. [B]Sosspan [/B](Dave) Male Dragonborn Wizard (Spy) Level 1. [B]Yor[/B] (Pete) Male Dragonborn Fighter (Folk Hero) Level 1. [B]NPC's (employed by Lappoy) Wormwood[/B] Male Human Guard. [B]Scrubs[/B] Male Human Guard. [B]Captured by the goblins- Trebbelos[/B] (Pete) Male Tiefling Sorcerer (Charlatan) Level 2. [B]Dead PCs (in alphabetical order) Afton Barr[/B] (played Dave) Male Half-Elf Bard (Entertainer) Level 1. [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](played by Dave) Female Human Monk (Hermit) Level 1. [B]The Mystical One[/B] (played by Pete) Female Human Warlock (Outlander) Level 1. [B]Note, you can click on the pictures here to make them bigger (if you didn't know this already). Day 9: Being the 9th Day of Mirtul, in the year 1493 by Dale Reckoning, known as the Year of the Purple Dragons, just after tea-time.[/B] In the Traveller's Rest, and here's the gang. Top table is Lappoy, of course, with Wormwood & Scrubs either side of the High Master, but let's take a moment to make the acquaintance (no matter how brief) of the new guys- [B]Krago of the Mountains[/B] (played by Pete) is a (pre-gen) male mountain dwarf ranger, an expert hunter (and exterminator) of the humanoid scum that dog his home lands. Krago has been travelling for a while with Sho-Rembo, she's trying to mellow the dwarf. Krago's goal is to do maybe three things- hunt and kill goblins and orcs, number one; stand up to bullies, number two; and lastly (but by no means least), he really likes to drink and shoot off his mouth. [B]Mohag the Wanderer[/B] (played by Pete) is a (pre-gen) male human barbarian, from the northern steppes. A dumb monosyllabic brute with a wanderlust. At six feet four and weighing just short of 250lbs, Mohag is a force to be reckoned with. Particularly as all he knows, and all he likes, is (directed) violence. Note the application of the word directed, Mohag is not (yet) unhinged. [B]Sho-Rembo[/B] (played by Dave) is a (pre-gen) female halfling druid, with a cosmic plan- she believes that she will become a great druid and that she is feted to save the world. Obviously, she doesn't tell this kind of thing to everyone, but she's not adverse to constantly hinting at it. She further believes that her fate is entwined somehow with Krago of the Mountains. Sho-Rembo is also fond of the bottle, she climbed inside soon after her family and friends were slaughtered on the trail (by Orcs), she was the lone survivor. [B]Sir Glen[/B] (played by Dave) is a (pre-gen) male human paladin of Lathander, and he's a local- although not quite, he has been in the Keep at the Church of the Morning Lord for maybe three months now. Sir Glen, a noble from Waterdeep by birth, is trying his best to be a man of the people, but everyone and everywhere here is just so... filthy. Sir Glen's butler, Humdinger, stays safely ensconced within the noble Lord's rooms (and out of sight). This will be Sir Glen's first combat action, he's keen to make his mark. [B]Sosspan[/B] (played by Dave) is a male dragonborn wizard who has been travelling the lands looking for work with his brother Yor for the last six or so months. The pair have made some dubious choices during this time, and been on the wrong side of the law more than once. They need money, and they need experience, before the pair can head home to slaughter their tyrannical father. [B]Yor[/B] (played by Pete) is a (pre-gen) male dragonborn fighter who has been travelling the lands looking for work with his brother Sosspan for the last six or so months. The pair have made some dubious choices during this time, and been on the wrong side of the law more than once. They need money, and they need experience, before the pair can head home to slaughter their tyrannical father. You'll note that several of the PCs are linked, and that each PC in the pair bond is played by a different player. Rob with Lappoy is well in the lead here (with the XP et al) so Pete and Dave have (at last, some would say) decided to try working together a bit more. Hence the dragonborn brothers, and the druid and ranger combo. Also, we're not short of tanks for this iteration of the Unexpected, note Sosspan is the first non-pre-gen PC rolled up. It was a random roll for his class and race, as it turned he also (randomly) rolled the same draconic ancestry as Yor, so... brothers. But let's get through this... Lots of chatter, a trip around the town for several of the PCs/players- just to check out what's available here, until... the meeting in the Traveller's Rest. [ATTACH type="full"]145643[/ATTACH] [B]That's nice, but how many of them will make it to the end (of this session)?[/B] The job, as dictated by Lappoy is- Go to the Caves of Chaos, enter the goblin cave- kill goblins, lots of goblins, and rescue Trebbelos. Fee for the return of Trebbelos to the Keep = 50gp, shared between the six PCs. Five minutes of hard negotiations later and the prize money goes up to 60gp (=10gp each) for the win. Next Lappoy rules- all treasure is divided equally, except he wants a third of the value off the top, basically nine shares- Lappoy gets three, all of the other PCs get one. Go get a drink, this chat goes on for a remarkably long time (over twenty minutes) which in itself seems excessive as the PCs have so far had their arses kicked by pretty much everything in the Caves of Chaos. But eventually we get there, Lappoy gets two shares of the treasure, all the other PCs one- note this only got agreed because Lappoy went on to say that one share of his treasure will be going to Wormwood & Scrubs. Note, at this point the other PCs think that Wormwood and Scrubs will be doing their fair share of the fighting, they will not. Wormwood and Scrubs job is solely to protect Lappoy, but the PCs don't figure this out until much later. Next, and Rob (playing Lappoy) has been thinking about things, and so- Lappoy knows that there are a bunch of rumours floating around about various things in the region (all of the PCs start with a few of these). So, the High Magicman is of the opinion that everyone should just share what they know, because there's no benefit to PCs just hoarding their information. Remarkably everyone at the table agrees to this. So, the list goes- (3) Tribes of different creatures live in different caves. (6) All of the cave entrances are trapped. (8) Altars are very dangerous. (9) A fair maiden is imprisoned within the caves. (13) There are hordes of tiny dragon-men in the lower caves. (14) Piles of magic armour are hoarded in the southern caves. (16) Lizardmen live in the marshes. (17) An elf once disappeared across the marshes. (20) There is more than one tribe of ores within the caves. There follows much off-topic discussion, which Lappoy manages to cajole back around. The job at hand is to rescue Trebbelos, then the Unexpected can start making plans for trips into the marshes etc. So, we're agreed. Caves of Chaos, early rise and off- tomorrow morning. But just to say that the DM lets the players know- there are twenty rumours in total to collect, if one PC gets them all then something else will happen. Rumours can be garnered in a variety of ways, like by spending time and money in a bar asking questions (or similar). So, collect all twenty and there's a reward- not for the individual PC but for the adventurers in general. Note, Lappoy also pays for everyone's meal. It is notable, to this DM, that Lappoy is being a little more generous, and sociable, it's not just that Dave & Pete are working in concert more often, and agreeing with each other a lot. It's also that the PCs they have atm seem to be pretty tough looking fellows, there are a lot of tanks on display. [B]Day 10: Being the 10th Day of Mirtul, in the year 1493 by Dale Reckoning, known as the Year of the Purple Dragons, about ten-ish.[/B] The trip to the Caves of Chaos is uneventful, that is until they get towards Lappoy's favourite foliage-enhanced hiding spot at the head of the ravine. Only there's something different about the place this time, someone or something has been digging here, the excavation is both crude and new, and as Sho-Rembo (druid) and Krago (ranger) are heading forward to investigate, well.. a ferocious grizzly bear leaps out of a tree and attempts to bite through Sir Glen's helm and head. [ATTACH type="full"]145644[/ATTACH] [B]Sir Glen doesn't last long...[/B] It gets close- Glen is down and dying seconds later, Scrubs is clawed down to three hit points and starts screaming. [ATTACH type="full"]145645[/ATTACH] [B]So much for the plan.[/B] Guess what? I rolled a '1' for my random encounters, ain't that neat? Throughout what follows Sho-Rembo is mostly screaming for her colleagues not to kill the 'magnificent beast'. There follows however a fair amount of confusion, Yor rushes in to try and slice the bear, the dragonborn fighter however is off target. Meantime the dwarf ranger, Krago of the Mountains, flings a handaxe into the ursine's face. Both Lappoy and Sosspan pepper the thing with Magic Missiles, the brown bear is bloodied. But then it claws Yor, and now the dragonborn fighter is also unconscious and bleeding out. [ATTACH type="full"]145646[/ATTACH] [B]Two of the tanks grab a dirt nap.[/B] Sosspan goes ape (but it's not his initiative). The brown bear rushes forward to savage Mohag, the barbarian, next. Mohag rages and slams his greataxe into the brute, the beast staggers... At which point Sho-Rembo, the halfling druid, attempts to use her skills to shout and frighten the badly wounded bear away, while it still lives. The bear ignores the druid, she rolled a '3'. Sir Glen passes his first Death Save- there is cheering, while Krago, the dwarf ranger, swears a lot and then throws another handaxe in the ursine's face. Yor passes his first Death Save. Note at this point the brown bear is stood on/over this pair. At which point Lappoy fires a Fire Bolt into the bear and kills it dead. You'll note, and not for the first time, that it's Lappoy (again) who ends the fight. [Brown Bear 200 XP] [ATTACH type="full"]145647[/ATTACH] [B]I don't think the DM is on any of the player's Christmas card list this year.[/B] The High Master is quickly giving orders, the fallen duo are pulled out from beneath the beast and get this- each given a Potion of Healing by the wizard. I know, shocked me- that's all of Lappoy's Healing Potions spent. The Unexpected then spend an hour or more in the woods here, being very quiet, and very careful, so that the pair of tanks can recuperate. Note Sho-Rembo is less than happy, but mollified somewhat by the fact that circumstances dictated behaviour in this instance- her colleagues were fighting for their lives. The druid applies a little healing to the badly wounded Scrubs. There's a brief chat, should they return to the Keep, make the attempt to rescue Trebbelos tomorrow, when everyone has healed, but no- they're going in, and keep in mind all the players are keen to get going. [ATTACH type="full"]145648[/ATTACH] [B]The cave of the Goblins.[/B] Alas, as it turns out, none of the PCs are particularly stealthy, eventually the druid, Sho-Rembo and the ranger, Krago, are persuaded to check the place out. More remarkably the pair are great at the job. There are two batches of goblins, in chambers to either side of the passage, and they seem to be paying attention, the guards are not lax here. [ATTACH type="full"]145649[/ATTACH] [B]Lots of Goblins.[/B] The pair make it back their friends to share their info. But there's no backing down, the plan is- they hit the goblins to the west first, but ready for the eastern mob to come calling. The second part of the plan, the Unexpected do all they can to make sure that the exit to the cavern doesn't get 'blocked', they don't want to get cut off, just in case they need to retreat fast. Odd, they've started to work together. The Unexpected even manage to work their way quietly forward into the lair, after some good checks. The PCs without darkvision, and there are plenty of them, are relived to see that the goblins are using torches in here. Here's the set up- [ATTACH type="full"]145650[/ATTACH] [B]3... 2... 1![/B] Cross your fingers, here goes, and around the VTT the players know it. Sho-Rembo dashes out and conjures Entangling plants which burst through the dirt of the cavern, ensnaring three of the goblins in the spells compass. [ATTACH type="full"]145651[/ATTACH] [B]Entangle![/B] Yor, the dragonborn fighter, rushes out and blasts the nearest three goblins with his poisonous breath, and then rolls 2d6 = '3' poison damage. But then Lappoy steps up and sends three of the goblins to sleep, all the badly wounded ones. Sosspan follows the High Master in and blasts the only non-sleeping, or else non-entangled, goblin dead. There's a tingle in the air, this may turn out to be a success, but keep in mind the goblins here are screaming and shouting all the while. [ATTACH type="full"]145652[/ATTACH] [B]Note the Entangle spell has been replaced by a box, easier to see through, I'll get the hang of FGU one day.[/B] Then Krago and Mohag rush in and smash a pair of goblins dead- one of them was prone and sleeping, the other was entangled. Then several things happen at once, Sho-Rembo beans an entangled goblin with her sling- and yet it lives, while the second entangled goblin manages to free itself from the grasping plants, and then run screaming down the western passage, it doesn't get far. The DM warns the players, if this guy gets away... Yor scrambles into the entangling plants and then throws a dagger in the fleeing goblin's back, and still it runs... Oh, and Scrubs lets Lappoy know- there are more goblins coming from the east. Lappoy also wades into the entangling plants and attempts to shoot the fleeing goblin down with a Fire Bolt, he misses, but then uses and inspiration point to repeat, and now the little bastard is dead. “Goblins from the east!” The High Master confirms. [ATTACH type="full"]145653[/ATTACH] [B]Incoming![/B] Sosspan Fire Bolts the last entangled goblin dead, there's only one enemy left in the chamber, and the little bastard is still snoozing. Mohag chops it's head off, while Sir Glen and Krago step in to cover and ready actions for the coming goblins. The first goblin from the east into the chamber is met by a charging Sir Glen, who is high wide and handsome with his longsword, the paladin hasn't landed a hit so far. Then the holy warriors has to dodge a clutch of spears (three) as the rushing goblins skid to a halt and unleash a barrage. Sir Glen misses again, his highest attack roll so far has been a '4'. The goblin hassling Sir Glen is hit by two Fire Bolts (Lappoy & Sosspan) it survives (damage rolls are low), but the creature gets too close to the High Master and Wormwood stabs it in the gut- dead. More spears come skittering down the corridor towards Sir Glen, the paladin dodges and grins back at the greenskins. “The Morning Lord shall take thy black souls!” He rolls a '19' plus bonuses for his Intimidate, the goblins are having doubts- one rushes off back the way it came, gibbering to itself. “That's not ideal!” Lappoy shouts over to Sir Glen. Krago and Mohag rush the goblins, the ranger is way off target, but the barbarian enters his rage and almost cuts two of the goblins down. The remainder look terrified. [ATTACH type="full"]145654[/ATTACH] [B]Mohag is swinging hard, and raging again.[/B] The Unexpected attempt a pile on, rushing to attack, but there as many hits as misses, eventually Sir Glen- with his first hit, takes down another goblin, there's only one more of the little bastards in the fight. Although at least two of the little buggers have fled back to their previous chamber. Lappoy orders an all out attack, the Unexpected chase the goblins back to their lair, meantime Sosspan Fire Bolts the last goblin in the fight dead. [ATTACH type="full"]145655[/ATTACH] [B]Get after them![/B] There's just the two fleeing goblins to chase down. They went east. But just to say, there are a quartet of wandering goblins (armed with shortbows) in the lair, they're actually the guys that invaded the kobold lair earlier in the Unexpected's adventures here. Well, these guys have just heard the call... they're coming. Yor, the dragonborn fighter, leads the charge. Note all of the PCs are now going super tactical, move and then ready an attack with whatever missile weapon they have to hand... This is getting serious. So, Yor leads the charge, which triggers the two goblins that retreated to this chamber, and grabbed new spears, to launch their weapons at the dragonborn- Yor takes a glancing hit. Sir Glen rushes in and slices the first goblin, and rolls '1' damage. The fourth PC in a row to do so. At which point the first of the goblin wandering patrol enters the chamber from the opposite side, starts shouting the odds, and then shoots at Sir Glen, the paladin has suffered more attacks than all of his colleagues combined. Another miss. [ATTACH type="full"]145656[/ATTACH] [B]More Goblins, and the Unexpected are pretty strung-out.[/B] Another three goblin wanderers scamper into the chamber and shoot at Sir Glen, all misses... You should hear the players at this point. OOOOOAAAAAAAaaaaaaaaaaaaa-AH! Then, it had to happen, the goblin standing next to Sir Glen stabs the paladin with its spear- the paladin yet lives. Krago charges in and smashes the nearest goblin dead. [ATTACH type="full"]145657[/ATTACH] [B]And once again we're back to this... it could go either way.[/B] The raging Mohag makes it to the party and buries his greataxe in a goblin's head- dead. Although seconds later the barbarian gets stabbed. Yor rushes in and cuts a goblin dead, and then gets his second wind. There are three goblins left in the fight. Sir Glen, playing the hero, rushes past the goblins in an attempt to cut off their retreat, then he cuts a goblin (for very little damage) and shouts at the three remaining creatures. “Surrender to the Sun Lord, or meet your dark-death!” Dark-death? What's that about? Lappoy next strides forward, shoots a different goblin with a Fire Bolt, and then repeats Sir Glen's call for surrender, only without the religion and dark-death, and this time in the goblin tongue. Furthermore, the wizard explains, should they surrender he will allow the goblins to flee with their lives. [ATTACH type="full"]145658[/ATTACH] [B]Watch out for Dark-Death![/B] The goblins however are not buying it, the first attempts to cut and run. Oddly the dumb creature attempts to run west- through the adventurers, alas Sosspan and Wormwood bringing up the rear fill the entire passage, there's nowhere for the little bastard to go. Sosspan hits it with a Fire Bolt, and rolls '1' damage for the third time in a row, while Wormwood fails to stab it with his spear. A second goblin drops its bow and grabs out its scimitar, and tries to cut down the badly wounded Sir Glen, yet another miss on the paladin, however the little bastard then dodges past the paladin and rushes for a set of stairs heading up to the south. “Stop him!” Lappoy shouts. The second goblin follows suit... The Unexpected have two more goblins to chase down. [ATTACH type="full"]145659[/ATTACH] [B]Fleeing Goblins made visible by FGU magic- see below.[/B] But the thing about the stairs that the goblins are running up is... there are no lights up here, and so Mohag and Sir Glen can't see what's going on up there. But the barbarian isn't stopping- he's raging. But there's no target where he's swinging... But then Sho-Rembo, smart halfling lady, grabs a torch from the wall and goes rushing to the foot of the stairs, and now the goblins can be seen. Yor rushes on and cuts the first fleeing goblin down. Then Sir Glen, with a sudden burst of speed, and right at the edge of the light catches up with the second fleeing goblin, and with a Crit, ends the bugger. There's just one goblin left in the chamber, and it's surrounded. Lappoy easily convinces the horrible little fellow to give up the fight. Victory, and save for the counting of XP (and possibly coin) the session is at an end. [ATTACH type="full"]145660[/ATTACH] [B]The Halfling brings a light, and saves the day.[/B] [Lots of Goblins 800 XP] All the PCs have enough XP for level 2, three of them (Pete's guys) have 300 XP exactly. But the Unexpected are not going home, and they're moving quickly- clearing away the bodies while looting them, tying up their goblin prisoner and... but that's for next time. The pot is up to £39. 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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