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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Goonalan" data-source="post: 9649488" data-attributes="member: 16069">Not KotSSession #005b: Goblin Patrol. (Enc#7)The Adventurers.Chromium Malifax aka C-Fax (Rob), Male Silver Dragonborn (Noble) Paladin of Bahamut Level 1Mavis Golightly aka Mave (Sandy), Female Half-Elf (Acolyte) Cleric of Chauntea Level 1Arbuthnot McGow aka McGow (Al), Male Mountain Dwarf (Soldier) Fighter Level 1Snakebite (Kenji), Female Half-Orc (Outlander) Monk Level 1Travis Pickle (Yui), Male Lightfoot Halfling (Criminal) Rogue Level 1Dead PCsThe Inspector aka Spek (Kenji), Male Rock Gnome (Charlatan) Sorcerer Level 1- Killed in Session #2 by Eggnog the Kobold Dragon Priest.To-do list/Quests-#001 Save Dicky Bird aka The Fat Pidgin, and bring him home safely to Edna Gingster, keep in mind Dicky could be travelling incognito. Reward: 2000 XP & 1000gp each.<s>#002 Find and investigate the ancient dragon burial site Dicky was looking for, he might be there. Reward: 250 XP.</s> COMPLETE<s>#003 Destroy the kobold menace, including their leader- ‘Chopper.’ Reward: 250 XP & 75gp, with 1gp paid for every kobold tail handed in.</s> COMPLETE#004 Stop Orcus-worshipping Karl’s ritual to bring an undead army to Kirkgate. Basically, save the village, begs (eventually) Lord Crumble. 1000 XP & 250gp reward.#005 Find/Save Cheggers. That's it really, the PCs just need to find/save Cheggers, for Fionulla. Reward 100 XP.#006 Find and kill/capture the Bloody Heck- including any leaders. Recover any prisoners they have kidnapped. Find out where Karl is based. Reward: 400 XP & 100gp, with 1gp paid for every member of the Bloody Heck confirmed dead or captured.From last time-Snakebite and C-Fax have the answer.“Goblins!” They both state in chorus, and then both point towards the main entrance to Dragon Castle.The horn blast comes again, and in the background another noise, snarls and barks.“Wolves!” The pair, again, chorus and point to the same spot.There’s a sudden flurry of activity- Mavis grabs the bloody and tearful Fionulla and half-drags her into the tower, Travis is already in there- having just sunk his 60gp healing potion, the halfling feels much healthier but still- very angry. Someone is going to pay.McGow grabs up Tybo, the unconscious goblin warrior, throws him over his shoulder and scuttles into a small empty chamber on the opposite side of the castle yard to the tower. C-Fax grabs up the body of the other fallen goblin here and follows the dwarf into cover. The pair, very quickly, do the best they can to tie up the ko’d Tybo- just in case.Although I keep calling the unconscious goblin Tybo- we, by which I mean you, have not met this fellow yet. That’s the problem with writing up session five having just DMed session nine, I sometimes forget that I know what comes next.Lastly, as the horn blast comes again- much closer now, Snakebite lopes into the guard chamber at the entrance to the castle, and there drags the dead goblin- and herself, out of sight.The last thing Snakebite sees before dipping into the dark of the ruin is a trio of goblins mounted on wolves charging out of the undergrowth less then a hundred feet away, and heading- of course- directly for Dragon Castle’s main entrance- at speed.Let’s see how this plays out.[ATTACH=full]404172[/ATTACH]Here’s everyone in hiding, and the PCs managed to get everything cleared up in just two turns- so, they’re ready.[ATTACH=full]404173[/ATTACH]The goblin wolf riders come thundering in.[spoiler= The Bad Guys]Enc#7 The Goblin Patrol 375 XP CR 3 Deadly.3 x Wolves (50xp each) As per MM Wolf except better HP spread = 2d5+8.3 x Goblin Scouts (75xp each) As per MM Goblin except Dex 16 (+5 To Hit), Con 12, 3 HD & better HP spread = 3d4+9.Tactics- Goblin Scouts- attack the intruders, get below to warn the rest of the Bloody Heck if things go awry; Wolves- kill the intruders, run away if critically wounded.[/spoiler]And just to say ahead of time- I thought it would get nasty, but I was feeling quite good about making my mark with these six bad guys, the wolves had all got 15 or so hit points each, and two of the three goblin scouts had 20+ hit points too (good random rolls from Fantasy Grounds).How was I to know.Travis steps out of the shadows within the tower, just as the lead rider draws up it’s snarling mount- the halfling grins and from the hip fires his crossbow into the lead wolf, the bolt trepanes/trepans (is that the right word- trepanates?) the beast. Dead. That was a crit.The goblin scout thrown by the newly expired wolf somehow manages to skitter back to its feet.Travis cranks hard and then slams another bolt into the tiller (IP) and then fires again.The second wolf slews, stumbles and then skids to its knees (down to one hit point), the goblin scout aboard is left clinging onto the beast’s neck. That was a ‘19’ plus bonuses, and with added sneak attack because the little bugger (Travis) forgot to apply the extra damage to his first attack.[ATTACH=full]404174[/ATTACH]Travis sinks back into the shadows of the tower.Visible to Mavis and Fionulla, who are also within the structure, are the whites of the halfling’s saucer eyes and the glint of his teeth. Travis it is clear to both is grinning like a loon.Somewhat ruining the cool/killer scene, moments later, Travis delivers a hearty “Woo hoo! Yeah!”Yui is back to loving life.Mavis tries to repeat Travis’ success, but her Sacred Flames are way off target.But enough of a distraction, seconds later McGow rushes out of his hiding place and with two meaty slams of his warhammer (IP used) the first goblin scout is down and bleeding out, head smashed open like a ripe melon. That second hit was a crit too.C-Fax rushes after the dwarf. Enroute to the second goblin scout the paladin stabs the badly injured wolf through its throat- ending it and then strides forward and brings his longsword down again (IP) almost decapitating the second goblin rider here. That was another crit, and C-Fax rolled ‘8’ + ‘8’ + 3 = 19 for his damage.[ATTACH=full]404175[/ATTACH]Somebody, I think it was Rob (playing C-Fax) but it sounded more like Yui (playing Travis), screamed at this point.There’s a lot of laughter.In the meantime.[ATTACH=full]404176[/ATTACH]Snakebite dashes from her hiding place, running hard to catch up with the last wolf and goblin rider, her shortsword slices into the flank of the mount, which howls in surprise.Alas the half-orc’s follow-up sweep the legs is way off target, therefore she settles for burying her blade again (IP) in the wolf’s rump, the beast howls long and loud and then sinks to its knees (on one hit point), wrenching the goblin rider out of its seat in the process.Well, that’s the surprise round done.Three crits.Bugger!I don’t fancy my chances.The goblin warrior to the north scrambles free of its dead wolf mount and looks up- just in time- to see McGow, or else the flat end of his warhammer.Dead.“I ‘ates ‘em.” The dwarf declares and then spits on the corpse.C-Fax having forgotten entirely to shout “Surrender!” at anyone for ages, does so- his enquiry sent in the direction of the only goblin warrior still standing.The paladin must run a good way south just to make the call.However, the last goblin warrior isn’t for hanging around, particularly as seconds later one of C-Fax’s javelins thuds into the skull of his mount, stapling the now dead canis to the overgrown cobbled yard.That was another crit.Although the wolf only had one hit point left.[ATTACH=full]404177[/ATTACH]“YAAARK!”The goblin flees back the way it came (sans ride).Snakebite lopes after it and then flings a metal-tipped, feather-fletched, wooden dart. The small missile thunks into the goblin warrior’s back, it stumbles but then gets its feet in order and… runs on.[ATTACH=full]404178[/ATTACH]Snakebite is in pursuit.[ATTACH=full]404179[/ATTACH]The rest of the PCs (Travis and Mavis are only a little way off the top of this picture) come rushing- and spending any spare inspiration points as they go, all in a vain attempt to catch up with the fleeing goblin, or else to bring it down.Mavis burns it with her Sacred Flames and then Snakebite lands a second dart in the fleeing goblin’s back, it’s still not enough- the little green bastard ducks into the dense woods and soon after is gone from sight.Nobody is happy with this outcome.Note, this encounter lasted just four turns, one turn spent fighting and three more spent fleeing/being chased. Not my finest hour.[ATTACH=full]404180[/ATTACH]The grumbling PCs police up their spent missiles, hide away the dead goblins and wolf corpses, and then retire to the tower with the dragon portrait on the wall, which is- Travis has discovered- also the way down. A set of spiral stairs twist down and into darkness.C-Fax and Snakebite go and look around the rest of the ruins, this while the other PCs are on watch.The paladin has discovered two mysteries here, or else one mystery with perhaps a greater span. Let me explain. There are three images of Bahamut etched into ruined walls of the castle- one in the tower (see above) another on the rear wall of the guard house by the main entrance, and a third found on a seemingly random ruined wall.C-Fax is certain that the dragon depicted in all these carvings is Bahamut, the god he worships.That’s the first mystery- what is this place? Or rather, what was this place?We move on.To this…[ATTACH=full]404181[/ATTACH]Travis, while ‘checking’ the bodies of the fallen (i.e. robbing them) discovers a broach, or else an emblem- but no, C-Fax puts the halfling rogue right. The item is a magical holy symbol of Bahamut, the dragon lord in battle form.This is…C-Fax has been blessed.He’s certain.He expounds upon this theory at (great) length.The paladin lays claim to the magical holy symbol and then very quickly persuades his colleagues to take a short rest here, so that they can ‘fortify their position’, or some such nonsense. Note the dragonborn paladin was insisting that the party swiftly descend into the dungeons, right up until the DM revealed that the magical holy symbol of Bahamut will take an hour to attune.Funny that.At which point (after an hour) C-Fax will discover the items powers.So, he’s now keen to slow things down.Time to interview Tybo, and to learn the goblin warrior’s name.It’s Mavis, mostly, with the chatter- at least initially, the priestess persuades Tybo to tell all- offering the goblin its freedom (eventually) when the Inspectors are satisfied that all threats to Kirkgate have been taken care of.Mavis rolls the fifth crit of this encounter.Tybo tells all, although ‘all’ isn’t very much. Here’s what the PCs discover-The rest of the Bloody Heck are below, there are about another twenty or so of them.Bloody heck.There are two groups down in the dungeon- a bunch of goblins including Sgt Groan (the hobgoblin) who are up to no good in the torture chamber.And on the lowest level of the dungeon (there are four levels) there’s Big Fat Ron and the rest of the tribe, probably sleeping and relaxing, taking things easy.There are no other enemies present in the lair.There are no prisoners in the lair either.The prisoners (any locals and the like captured) are sent back to the Bloody Heck’s lair, ‘in the Labyrinth’.In the Labyrinth? This requires further explanation.As it turns out the Bloody Heck are laired in a place called the Narthex, which is situated in a labyrinth/the Labyrinth, near a place called the Hall of Pillars. All of these locations are in the Underdark.Bugger.Tybo, of course, has no idea who, or else, where Dicky Bird is. Never seen him, never heard of him.He’s also never heard of Cheggers.Note, the PCs obviously describe the two missing people but, Tybo is unmoved- he doesn’t know where they are. That kind of info is above his pay grade.Bugger.He’s never heard of Karl either, not even Ka-Ah-Ar-Ah-Ul-La!That’s everything.However, let’s skip back a moment- Fionulla, you’ll remember isn’t happy- with lots of things, being an adventurer, her missing Cheggers, and… she’s refusing to go on. She doesn’t want to do any more fighting. She will guard the PCs back here, but she’s not heading down into a dungeon full of goblins.Fionulla is very teary.Eventually, after a lot more chatter, it’s agreed- Fionulla will stay up above, with the tied-up Tybo. If she sees more bad guys (goblins?) then she’ll try and warn the PCs, but she’s not (NOT) going into the dungeon.The PCs chat for the last ten minutes of the session, the topic, where are we at with the plot etc.-This place- Dragon Castle, used to be a fortress occupied by worshippers of Bahamut, there may be more things to find below. C-Fax is keen to find out.Dicky Bird’s health and location is still unknown- he could be wherever Karl is, or else he could be… in the Labyrinth. Same goes for Cheggers.Karl’s location is also still unknown.The PCs therefore conclude that they desperately need to have a chat with (most likely) Big Fat Ron, Sgt Groan- according to Tybo, is a maniac who loves to inflict pain- he’s not a deep thinker. Big Fat Ron- again according to Tybo- is the brains of the outfit.Tybo was very helpful.That was 75 XP each for the encounter with the goblin patrol.With a little XP distributed (in 10 XP ticks on my sheet) for various investigations here- Mavis 50 XP, C-Fax & Travis 40 XP each, McGow & Snakebite 30 XP each. Cheers goonalan and the Tokyo Massive.</blockquote>

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