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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Goonalan" data-source="post: 9406403" data-attributes="member: 16069">Catch The Pidgin: The Genocide SquadEncounter #002: The Ancient Dragon Burial Site aka Hagrid’s LamentTriple Supernova!The Genocide Squad (in alphabetical order).Maggie 'O (played by Jim), Female Half-Elf (Entertainer) Cleric of Umberlee Level 1Sadistica Ashdaughter, Spawn of the Demon Dragon aka Sadie (played by George), Female Drow (Acolyte) Sorcerer Level 1Thrunorus Garn aka Thugg (played by Bear), Male Half-Orc (Soldier) Barbarian Level 1Yen Stonefinger (played by Kev), Male Lightfoot Halfling (Hermit) Monk Level 1DEAD PCsWaiting.To-do list/Quests-Find Dicky Bird aka The Fat Pidgin, and bring him home safely to Edna Gingster, keep in mind Dicky could be travelling incognito.Find and investigate the ancient dragon burial site Dicky was looking for, he might be there.Find the lair of the kobold bandits and kill ‘em all.And so, as per the Intro to the Encounter above.[ATTACH=full]373070[/ATTACH]The Genocide Squad start at the door, this is for the sneaky skill challenge, and…[ATTACH=full]373071[/ATTACH]Sneak about a bit.[ATTACH=full]373072[/ATTACH]There are no enemies on the maps here, this is just the exploration phase- to get the lie of the land, as it were.[ATTACH=full]373073[/ATTACH]And that’s the end of the exploring bit.[ATTACH=full]373074[/ATTACH]The Genocide Squad were also making perception checks as part of the skill challenge, from which they get an idea of numbers of enemies, and to make some Monster Knowledge checks.Which are remarkably successful, I think all of the PCs rolled 20+ and they identified pretty much all of the bad guys in advance and got access to their stat cards- a few of them.Shown above is the stat card (some of it) for the Human Mercenary Rabble (with only 1d8+3 HP each). They’re the mooks, it seems, in this encounter- there are four groups of mercenaries in the lair, each group consisting of four Human Mercenary Rabble members and a Snapping Drake (with 6d6+12 HP and a nasty bite).Also present is Hagrid (6d4 + 30 HP, and with a few tricks), the boss here. And his two Halfling Bastard cronies (3d6 HP each, and with a nice AC, and a multi-shot sling attack).So, the Genocide Squad have snuck into the lair.Then to the cut scene-[ATTACH=full]373075[/ATTACH]It begins, and the text is in the chat window on the left, it goes a little like this-Ahead of you see within the cavern, three small figures, all cloaked and ready for adventure.Their hoods are down- two of the small fellows are halflings, the last is a very odd-looking gnome.The gnome turns in anger to one of the halflings-"Who am I?"The first halfling sings-"You are Hagrid!"The other halfling sings, but aside-"At school you were the mad kid, the bad kid."Hagrid snarls again-"Who am I?"The first halfling sings again-"You are Hagrid!"The other halfling sings, but aside (again)-"The bloody mad kid, the one with his own naughty word in his hair."Then in the far side of the chamber something comes alive- a light shines.And a voice calls out from that spot."Eek Calling. Eek Calling Hagrid. Come in Hagrid... where the bloody hell are you?"The voice and the light seem to be coming from a mirror in the cavern, the mirror is leant up against the stone wall. Most odd.Hagrid quickly moves to the mirror, bows before it- then down on one knee."Master, I am here."The voice from the mirror comes again."Good, that is... My plan continues as... well, planned. The portal is befouled, it is almost ready, the ceremonies and sacrifices continue apace. I shall be ready to proceed at midnight in a tenday from now."Hagrid beams, gets up to do a jolly dance."Oh, master! Joyous news master, the dead will come to Kirkgate to dance."Hagrid capers and dances, he's not very good at it."Yes, yes- stop that blithering nonsense. The Dark Lord will send his servants, and they will be mine to command. MINE Hagrid. All mine. DO YOU HEAR ME!"Hagrid stutters to reply, fawning all the while- "Yes, master. YES!""Listen!" The voice from the mirror comes again."The Bloody Heck are sending more of their number; they should be here before my rituals are complete. Send a message to the lunatic goblin when they arrive. That is all.""Yes master, yes master." Hagrid fawns some more but already the light from the mirror has gone out, and then...The Genocide Squad, with surprise, launch their attacks.Yen first, and the halfling monk starts by going SUPERNOVA, he now has advantage on pretty much everything- while all enemies have disadvantage on attacks against him, he’s also resistant to all forms of damage and is regenerating 1HP/turn. So, he’s tanked. I think this lasts about 5 turns.The monk deftly, silently runs into the cavern to the north, and then spins his staff twice in quick succession, his weapon a magnificent thrumming blur in his hands. Both attacks however are misses- he rolls (with advantage)- ‘3’ and a ‘3’- so, ‘3’ then; followed by a ‘5’ and a ‘5’, so ‘5’ then.The halfling bastards, the subjects of Yen’s attacks, don’t even notice he’s there.Somewhat annoyed the monk kicks the nearest halfling bastard and more by luck than judgement manages to connect- the now hoping screeching crony is not amused.That’s the end of Yen’s turn- so much for the SUPERNOVA.Maggie ‘O dashes into the chamber to the east and blasts the enemies there with a Thunderwave, alas her damage rolls are rubbish and most of the enemies make their saves- therefore three members of the mercenary rabble are left wounded, as is their snapping drake. But only a very little.Maggie grabs out her warhammer and does it the hard way- caving in the skulls of the three wounded mercenary rabble- one-after-another, and in quick succession. She then clocks the fourth mercenary here in the side of his head- leaving the poor fellow staggering and spitting out teeth (and on one hit point).Thugg enters his Rage, sings his battle song, and rushes past the two halfling bastards (one still hoping), one of the halfling bastards reacts in time and stabs at the half-orc- but, just a scratch.Thugg runs on and smashes his greataxe into Hagrid.Note, this is Thugg’s big plan, or else Bear’s big plan. Thugg is going to take out the main guy- get all of the kill points, go SUPERNOVA and then clear up the rest. It’s not a bad plan, as it goes.Alas, the moment after Thugg’s greataxe strikes Hagrid- causing the gnome to scream out in pain (and fright), the fey creature suddenly shimmers and shifts. Thugg can barely make out where the odd-looking gnome is standing.Hagrid is Blurred.But Thugg is out of actions already, he had to double move to get to Hagrid.Note, I’m not going to be telling you every time a PC burns an Action Point, or else they forfeit their Minor or Move to get some bonuses to hit. I did all that in the first instalment, you get the idea.Sadie spins into action- Firebolts fly- two of them.They both fly into the ceiling.George playing Sadie rolls (with advantage still)- ‘1’ and ‘6’- only just a miss, the ‘6’ with Sadie’s bonuses, and- ‘1’ and a ‘1’. Nice grouping- in the ceiling though.There is swearing- that’s the end of the Genocide Squad’s surprise turn- three mooks lie dead thanks to Maggie, otherwise... well, not a blinder.Here’s a picture-[ATTACH=full]373080[/ATTACH]From top to bottom- Thugg confronts Hagrid. Yen gets to know the halfling bastards. Sadie blasts, and then hides- she’s spotted another group of enemies to the south. Maggie ‘O gets into ‘em.Here we go again-Yen spins up his staff and caves the first halfling bastard’s head in, the hoping guy- it sucks to be him. Then, with the backswing, the monk oof’s the other bastard in the ribs. One moment of chop-socky goodness later and the second halfling bastard, neck broken, flops to the floor.Yen runs on, ducking a swing of Thugg’s circling greataxe, the monk dashes in and attempts to side-swipe club Hagrid with his staff, only… Hagrid’s not there.[ATTACH=full]373082[/ATTACH]But he is for Yen’s return pass, the monk’s staff thunks hard into the back of Hagrid’s head, the odd-looking gnome curses.Maggie, meantime, can hear screams and shouts- the rest of the mercenaries (another twelve of them), with their snapping drakes (three of ‘em), are heading in the Genocide Squad’s direction, and fast.Maggie ‘O goes SUPERNOVA.Note, Maggie ‘O has two SUPERNOVAs atm, the most a PC can have is… two. So, she’s burning one to make room for another when she wins this fight.Remember the SUPERNOVA goes to the PC who earns the most XP in the encounter- which translates to, the PC that kills the most stuff- or else the stuff with the most Kill Points.Maggie bludgeons the last member of the human mercenary rabble in the room into jellied paste (well, almost- good hit). She then starts in on the already (but only slightly) wounded snapping drake- two big hits later and the beast is heavily wounded, but still in the fight (6d6+12 hit points for the drakes, they hang around).And then… or else, while all of this is going on- Thugg’s plan comes to fruition.Big time.It goes a little like this…Thugg swings wildly with his greataxe- singing all the while, and only just misses braining Yen (again).He therefore swings even more wildly, spinning- briefly, like a top.And when he opens his eyes and stops spinning.Hagrid has been cut clean in two.That was a Crit for 29 damage, and after the previous hit from Thugg, and the follow up from Yen- both big hits. Hagrid is dead, and he started with 48 hit points (from memory).Bloody heck, that was quick.Thugg goes SUPERNOVA (for free- for killing a named boss).That’s everyone except Sadie.A Triple Supernova!However, more enemies are arriving- over the course of the next few seconds five more mercenary rabble members burst into the chamber with Maggie ‘O and bringing with them another snapping drake.Sadie instantly dodges into the chamber and with a wave of her hands sends three of the newly arrived mercenaries to Sleep, the trio fall to the floor and begin snoring heartily.The ex-Demon Dragon adherent then starts up with her Fire Bolts- the first (a Crit) explodes a human mercenary’s head. The second thumps into another and leaves him critically wounded.That, however, is the end of the second turn of action.There are twelve (I think) mercenaries still alive- although three of these are slumbering, with all four snapping drakes still in play, although one is very badly wounded.[ATTACH=full]373087[/ATTACH]Top to bottom, as usual. Thugg and Yen with dead Hagrid, and a pair of dead halfling bastards. Maggie and Sadie playing with mercs and drakes.[ATTACH=full]373092[/ATTACH]Note, there’s another group of mercs with a drake coming up from the south, and now all four snapping drakes are in the fight.Yen starts moving south, flinging a trio of darts as he goes- aiming at the mercenaries arriving from the same direction, all three missiles fly true, and the forerunner of the mercenary rabble is killed outright, while the second in line slews to the side and staggers- critically wounded.Maggie meantime unleashes another Thunderwave- this one shakes the room, and in its wake three more members of the mercenary rabble lie unmoving- deceased. Maggie then gets to work with her warhammer again, leaving the nearest wounded snapping drake now critically so.However, there are more mercenaries, and yet another drake fast approaching from the east.Thug charges screaming into the fast-approaching snapping drake and starts pounding on it- two monster hits later and the drake is critically wounded, too.[ATTACH=full]373094[/ATTACH]Sadie shapes her hands, screams profane curses and sends a sea of flame spewing from her splayed fingers- Burning Hands. Her damage roll, as usual, is terrible, two snapping drakes are left slightly singed.The drow sorcerer is also being threatened by a club-wielding mercenary, she backs herself into a corner, avoiding a flailing strike, and slams another Fire Bolt directly into the ceiling of the chamber.That was another ‘1’.The mercenary closes the gap immediately and swings hard again at Sadie, she ducks at the very last instant.A snapping drake bites and tears into Maggie, the priestesses blood flows- she unleashes the Wrath of the Storm and lightning blasts the drake right back, leaving it too critically wounded.A few more human mercenaries make it to the fight and start swinging- but no hits to report, initially.Although the drake Thugg is beating on manages to bite the half-orc.While, moments later, Sadie takes a critical hit (from another member of the rabble) but then burns an Action Point and it’s a miss on the re-roll.That’s the third turn over- and still all four of the snapping drakes are in the fight- although three of them are much the worse for wear. The drakes have five human mercenaries for company- and two more lying down snoozing. Note, the third snoozer got blasted to smithereens in Maggie’s second Thunderwave- sweet dreams.Here we go again…Yen & Thugg are now facing off against two human mercenaries and a badly wounded snapping drake; Yen makes them all go away- forever. In quick succession the halfling monk smashes one, then the other, mercenary down with his whirling staff. A follow up lancing prod almost breaks the neck of the snapping drake, seconds later his roundhouse kick hits the same spot and… its dead.Yen runs on.Simultaneously the warhammer wielding Maggie ‘O brains one of the three drakes that she (and Sadie) are fighting, seconds later she accounts for another. These two were both already badly wounded.Only one, just arrived and therefore uninjured, drake left in the fight.[ATTACH=full]373095[/ATTACH]Yen and then Maggie rampage.Not content Maggie steps to the side and thumps her warhammer into the back of the human mercenary flailing at Sadie, the poor fool dies screaming.“Away with yer.” Maggie winks at Sadie, the sorceress screams and then ululates her reply, as Maggie quickly hefts her warhammer and moves forward to meet the second to last mercenary still standing.She caves the poor fool’s chest in- the fellow dies huffing.She steps forward again and closes in on the last (uninjured) drake and starts swinging- two big hits later and the creature is left critically wounded.Thugg comes running, flinging javelins as he goes- the first missile locates and then lodges in the throat/neck of the last human mercenary rabble in the fight. Dead.Thugg’s second javelin flies high and wide of the last enemy- the snapping drake menacing Maggie.[ATTACH=full]373096[/ATTACH]Thugg makes an entrance.Note, there are still two members of the human mercenary rabble asleep.Sadie hits the drake with a Fire Bolt, and then rolls ‘1’ for the damage.The last drake survives.That’s the end of the fourth turn.Yen arrives at a canter and smashes the last drake’s head in.Then…[ATTACH=full]373097[/ATTACH]Well, that should be the end of the fight but, oh no- Thugg is not surrendering his initiative- it seems, and so moments later the half-orc barbarian charges over and buries his greataxe in the skull of one of the two remaining sleeping human mercenaries.It kicks off- and now all of the PCs are back in initiative.Sadie misses Thugg (natch) with a Fire Bolt.Then the rest of the party combine to rugby tackle the half-orc and… there’s a lot of swearing and shouting, in and out of character, but… y’know- not too much.Soon after-There’s one snoozing member of human mercenary rabble left alive, and the members of the Genocide Squad are back to playing nicely.And that’s the end of the fracas.The PCs barely took a hit- note there were lots of attacks on them in game but I’m only going to report the hits here. It certainly helped that three of the four PCs went SUPERNOVA.The last human mercenary is awoken, a little later- after a bit of a search and a look around, there’s nothing much else to find. Alas the poor fellow is not able to add much to the picture- he was only hired (by the halflings) three days previous; this is his first outing into mercenary work- he, of course, has a sob story to tell.The one bit of info he knows, and is quickly persuaded to tell, is-“Hagrid’s boss, the voice from the mirror, he’s called- [wait for it]- Evil Kenneth!”The Genocide Squad remember the start of the encounter-"Eek Calling. Eek Calling Hagrid. Come in Hagrid... where the bloody hell are you?"Eek = Evil Kenneth.Nemesis attained!Thugg, while others argue about what to do with their prisoner, let’s the mercenary fellow with the sob story go… he’s all heart.The adventurers also discover a beautiful gold amulet- shaped like a fat pigeon, this used to belong to Dicky Bird, several PCs remember seeing him wearing it.The Fat Pidgin Amulet turns out to be a magic item (+1 to all saves & resistance to poison), after a furious dice-off Thugg sets about attuning his new magic item.The mirror through which Evil Kenneth communicated with Hagrid is investigated, but it’s not magical- it is however ancient and valuable. Thugg agrees to carry it safely home to Kirkgate, note it’s a full-length mirror and unwieldy.Then… a brief chat about the plot/story-So, Dicky has been here- and, perhaps, he’s been captured- taken prisoner. Worse case scenario- Dicky has been killed. But by who- and where’s the body, and… But there’s no one left alive to tell the rest of the story here.Also, who the bloody heck are the Bloody Heck?Bugger.Therefore, after a Medium Rest (with accompanying Meal) the PCs head on back to Kirkgate.Next time.Stay safe and well you lovely people.Cheers- The Genocide Squad and goonalan.</blockquote>

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