[D&D 5e] There Might Be Giants 010: Kill Zone!

[Goonalan]

There Might Be Giants​

PCs
DCI Bawg Race: Unknown Class: Rogue Level: 11 Background: City Watch Investigator
Phreakalus Nevrospastos Race: Human Class: Artificer Level: 11 Background: Courtier
Thrunorus "Thugg" Garn Race: Half-Orc Class: Barbarian Zealot of Bradlust & Fighter Level: 8 & 3 Background: Mercenary Veteran
Yen Stonefist Race: Stout Halfling Class: Monk Level: 11 Background: Hermit

NPCs
Piniccarus, Phreakalus' animated puppet 'son'. Just weird.

Session 006: Fight! Fight! Fight!
Mission Time: 01:44 to 01:46.

Fighting, fighting, fighting.

It's a double-webbing, and yet there are more bugbears streaming from the eastern corridor, a majority exiting to the south.

The PCs need to press their point.

However...

Suddenly from the rear comes- well, big monkey sounds.

All the way to the north, a giant ape is knuckling towards the fight.

And we're on turn seven here.

Thugg and Yen are on the charge, and the monk has caught up with the bugbear chief, also trying to escape south. Thugg is keen for Yen to hold the chief up a while so he can go 1:1 with the hefty bugbear, it's part of his contract- Thugg has first dibs (he says) on the big bad guys.

None of the other PCs have any objections to this.

But then...

The Keeper, a very tough hill giant- well armed and armoured (and with the stats of a Stone Giant, and near max HP), comes out to play- with both of his giant apes.

Meantime...

Thugg is in a slugfest, and heavily wounded- keep in mind he's not raging, he's only got one instance of rage left- so, he's waiting for the big fight (his words).

They may be his last words.

Alas, my poor poor Keeper...

My big bad hill giant has been webbed (DC 17 to escape) and is being shot- repeatedly. DCI Bawg keeps dodging back into the doorway and letting loose with his pistol, while Phreakalus (flying up towards the ceiling) is ignoring the giant apes attacking his boy Piniccarus, and is also shooting the Keeper full of arrows.

It's not looking great for the Keeper.

Or Thugg for that matter.

However...

The bugbears that exited south have run around the outside of the complex of chambers and... are now also attacking from the north, or else they're closing in.

Also, and unbeknownst to the PCs, there's another gang of bugbears that have been hiding down the eastern passage, just waiting for their chance, well- here it is.

Basically this is the second wave, and for info there are/were (from memory) just over 40 bugbears, including five bosses- four lieutenants (better HP) and a (max HP) bugbear chief.

So, plenty to go at- what with the addition of the Keeper and his two giant apes.

But Thugg doesn't understand the concept of retreat. Saved by his relentless endurance.

To the north meanwhile...

The Keeper's head is shot off, the poor bastard never escaped the web.

Oh, and more bugbears are on the way.

And yet more of them coming from the east.

DCI Bawg is yelling for his friends, although in a gravelly New Orleans (southern gen-l-man) style.

And to the south...

Thugg does a little dance and praises Bradlust a while.

Although...

The bugbears are in da 'ouse.

The PCs are shouting- some of them.

And then the giant apes get in too.

And then Piniccarus is smashed to flinders.

And even Yen has started taking hits.

Although...

Thugg has just arrived- "if'n yud lik ta form an order-lee qew. Cum'un den- line-up!"

Thugg is of course on one hit point, there is no discernable difference.

In fact.

Thugg puts his axe away and starts beating the bugbears to death with his fists.

He's not even grandstanding, this is just who (or what) he is.

Bawg meantime has attracted a lot of interest.

And so in a southern drawl- "If you gen'l'men wud jus exkuse me!"

DCI Bawg blinks and...

Reappears over the far side of the chamber. Thugg however, you will note, has been cut down.

Bugbears continue to die in great numbers.

This is the 12th turn of combat.

Thugg's back up- thanks to the artificer and his arcane jolt (I think that's what it was called), but the bugbears are not giving up yet...

But there are suddenly very few enemies left to fight.

Clear? Nearly, just one bugbear left in the fight.

The PCs are breathing hard.

But not quite out of combat...

And yet more bugbears to the south- mostly shouting in goblin and flinging javelins at DCI Bawg (and anyone else they can see) and then retreating into cover.

It ain't over.

Although the session is.

That's what we did this week.

Fight.

Thugg has maybe three hit points, all the other PCs are just the right side of bloodied (even Yen) while Piniccarus is firewood.

Book of the Dead.
The Keeper, Hill Giant x 1 [actually Stone Giant stats].
Ape, Giant x 2 (high HP).
Bugbear x 18 (plus 14 from the last session = 32, so far).
Bugbear Lt. x 4 (as bugbear except much better HP).
Bugbear Chief x 1 (max HP = 100, I think).

Until next time.

 

[Goonalan]

There Might Be Giants​

PCs
DCI Bawg Race: Unknown Class: Rogue Level: 11 Background: City Watch Investigator
Phreakalus Nevrospastos Race: Human Class: Artificer Level: 11 Background: Courtier
Thrunorus "Thugg" Garn Race: Half-Orc Class: Barbarian Zealot of Bradlust & Fighter Level: 8 & 3 Background: Mercenary Veteran
Yen Stonefist Race: Stout Halfling Class: Monk Level: 11 Background: Hermit

NPCs
Piniccarus, Phreakalus' animated puppet 'son'. Just weird.

Session 007: Short Rest.
Mission Time: 01:46 to 02:47.

And we're still fighting, and the PCs are heading south- that's where the enemies are, mostly bugbears flinging javelins and then retreating.

Yen heading around the outside of the bugbear guard complex.

And this is the 15th turn of combat, although in truth there are not too many bad guys on show, less than half-a-dozen bugbears with javelins.

That is until...

Fat Stan (Hill Giant torturer) comes waddling around the corner, making straight for Yen.

The monk almost loses his cool- it's not the sight of Fat Stan, it's the squeaks and groans the rubber suit makes as the hill giant wobble-lurches forward.

And so...

Strap in, here we go again- round three, sorta.

But Fat Stan has a friend.

The Gimp. The second hill giant torturer.

In fact there's plenty of gimp to go around...

Thugg & Bawg put a crimp in the Gimp's day, but then the big feller rubber-stomps Thugg down.

We're in the 17th turn.

But you can't keep a good berserker down. Thugg finishes of the Gimp and then rushes around the corner and with a javelin to the back also kills Fat Stan, this after Yen dished out another monk-style mega-beating.

And the PCs are...

Bloody hell!

Shouting and screaming to get the PCs attention (not really needed) comes a platemail wearing fire giant.

But the PCs are in a flow-state atm.

It is what it is.

It's the 22nd turn of combat, some of the edges have come off my dice.

And of course there are two fire giants.

And a few more bugbears. Thugg gets whacked again, actually Critted back into unconsciousness.

But the last fire giant doesn't last, and soon after the PCs are in quick time retreat.

All the way back to here-

Which is a guard room just off the main marshalling yard, and the door has been shut, and locked- there are five cells in here but the PCs don't even want to take a look through the window slots- just in case they trigger another encounter. They're wrecked.

And rest... and the DM let's the PCs know that if they can survive another wandering monster roll then they can get an interruption free short rest in.

Although the chance of an encounter atm is 4 in 6.

That's right, they rolled a '5'.

But the pissed DM makes a second check (5 in 6) and just as the PCs short rest concludes there's a knock at the door.

"Wot goes in der?" Only in the giant tongue.

And so, and refreshed, the PCs leap out on...

Four ogres on the clean-up crew found the bodies a few moments past, and swiftly fetched a wandering ogre guard patrol- five of 'em, armed and armoured.

But the PCs send the ogres screaming back towards the stairs up (west).

The DM lets the PC's know, the ogres are off to tell the kitchen/steading about the PCs home invasion.

The ogres suffer, and get webbed- some of them. The plan is to unleash Yen, the monk goes fast.

And we get to here by turn 3.

Four dead ogres, one alive but webbed, and four more trying to figure which direction to run.

But that's the end of the session.

Book of the Dead.
Bugbear x 5.
Hill Giant Torturer x 2 [Fat Stan & the Gimp] (both high HP).
Fire Giant Smith x 2 [Vesta & Vindaloo] (both high HP and plate with big swords).
Ogre Servant x 2.
Ogre Guard x 2 (high HP and armour).

Until next time.

 

[Goonalan]

There Might Be Giants​

PCs
DCI Bawg Race: Unknown Class: Rogue Level: 11 Background: City Watch Investigator
Phreakalus Nevrospastos Race: Human Class: Artificer Level: 11 Background: Courtier
Thrunorus "Thugg" Garn Race: Half-Orc Class: Barbarian Zealot of Bradlust & Fighter Level: 8 & 3 Background: Mercenary Veteran
Yen Stonefist Race: Stout Halfling Class: Monk Level: 11 Background: Hermit

NPCs
Piniccarus, Phreakalus' animated puppet 'son'. Just weird.

Session 008: Army 'o' Nun!
Mission Time: 02:47 to 03:14.

Short rest is over and the PCs have been discovered, alas only by four ogre servants- who went for reinforcements rather than investigate themselves, and so there's also five heavily armed and armoured ogre guards in the fracas.

The ogres don't last, in the image above- there are two servants and three guards left, and they're all heading as fast as they can for elsewhere- and screaming. Yen is in hot pursuit of an ogre servant (off screen) heading upstairs and into the kitchens.

But it's Thugg that gets to the kill first.

Before...

And after.

Then, after the rest of the ogres are hunted down and killed, we get on...

The cell block is investigated, and the cells opened-

Orcs, rebel orcs at that. The revolution is alive and well it seems.

The PCs now know where the revolting orcs are located, next stop...

Thugg makes a new friend, he's called Trevor.

This guy turns out to be an engineer, kept alive by Nosnra because of his talents, the hill giant chief is having an extension built.

An ex-merchant, latterly much abused and tortured- at present quite mad.

And...

Lauralea Moongem, an elven knight- badly wounded but keen on extacting revenge on the giants.

Welcome aboard Miss Moongem.

We break for a town meeting-

Or else Thugg finds another opportunity to make a speech.

Oh yes, Thugg makes speeches- it's mostly shouting, and nothing very complicated gets said- there's nothing to cogitate upon after the half-orc has finished his tirade, he's like the big bad boss feller out of the first Mad Max movie, only not as smart.

There's one more cell to be investigated but from the description it is obvious that it's a trap.

And so it proves, although the wights don't last very long.

Then, the PCs go on the rob- by which I mean they pick clean every dead body, scourge every chamber- all in the pursuit of shiny things, hidden or otherwise.

KERCHING!

The bugbears payout.

Then...

The PCs investigate briefly, but mostly rob the treasures left behind by the hill giant torturers.

Then a visit to the smith, former home of the fire giants, and there are a bunch of dwarves down here in the process of setting themselves free.

There's a bit of chatter and eventually one of the dwarves- the tough guy- signs on to fight the giants, the rest will be set free as soon as the steading is taken.

That's where we are at by the way, the PCs are heading upstairs to put an end to Nosnra and his crew.

So they say.

They're going to need an army.

And here it is, or at least some of it. Over the course of the next ten minutes or so the PCs go on a whistlestop tour of the area- releasing orcs and then convincing them to fight the giants, arming said orcs, and then eventually- when the army is fully gathered, agreeing to pay the orcs (or at least give them a little treasure).

Then, the army marches, next stop- upstairs.

But that's the end of the session.

Book of the Dead.
Ogre Servant x 2.
Ogre Guard x 3 (high HP and armour).

Until next time.

 

[Goonalan]

There Might Be Giants​

PCs
DCI Bawg Race: Unknown Class: Rogue Level: 11 Background: City Watch Investigator
Phreakalus Nevrospastos Race: Human Class: Artificer Level: 11 Background: Courtier
Thrunorus "Thugg" Garn Race: Half-Orc Class: Barbarian Zealot of Bradlust & Fighter Level: 8 & 3 Background: Mercenary Veteran
Yen Stonefist Race: Stout Halfling Class: Monk Level: 11 Background: Hermit

NPCs
Piniccarus, Phreakalus' animated puppet 'son'. Just weird.

Session 009: Food Fight!
Mission Time: 03:14 to 03:22.

Here we go again...

The PCs sneak up into the pantry, there's a plan.

DCI Bawg, using his Hat of Disguise, now appears (again) to be an orc slave, and very specifically kitchen/wait staff. Here goes...

Oh, but the orc army.

On a PCs turn, when the combat starts, they can as a Free Action on their turn call forth (or attempt to) a member of the orc slave army. It's a DC 11 Persuasion check to do so, DC 13 for an orc with a crossbow (there are only seven of these in the army), or DC 15 to call forth an Orog (only two of these guys).

The orc called forth is named by the PC that called it forth, and also controlled by them in-game, the orc starts on the map next to or in line with the PC that is furthest away from the front-line.

Keep in mind orcs get a bonus action charge at enemy, so- they get around.

But, we're not fighting yet, so relax.

Oh, but Thugg gets advantage on Persuasion check because he's a half-orc ex-mercenary general (hard to believe), he's also the boss of the army.

Back to the plan.

Bawg goes for a wander in the giant's kitchen, their are a pair of hill giant servants (ogre tokens) and lots of orcs, all scurrying around- busy, and there's lots of noise and shouting. Therefore Bawg just grabs something up and scurries off to scope out the kitchen.

He makes his checks.

And around the other side of the kitchen there's a stack of great big stinky cheeses being loaded on a giant-sized shield, and a hill giant servant screaming for an orc slave to join the other three orcs that are trying to move the cheese course into Nosnra's great hall.

DCI Bawg gives a hand.

Bawg in the great hall. That's a lot of giants.

Bawg can see (keep in mind he's got some sort of telepathic coms going on with his buddies atm)- Chief Nosnra & his hill giant harridan wife, a massive cave bear eating scraps beneath the top table, a twenty foot tall (unidentified- bad roll) oddly-dressed (in comparison) giant with vampire-like fangs (scary), a stone giant, two armoured and tough looking hill giants, six regular hill giants (there are more), and eight well-dressed (and armoured/armed) ogres, and a bunch more hill giant servants.

There is plenty for everyone.

Oh, and a majority of the giants are in their best bib & tucker, and their garments adorned with all sorts of jewelry.

Twenty plus feet tall, wtf?

Note, at this point the great hall hushes- Nosnra orders silence, it's his favourite part of the evening.

Then, while Bawg and his co-workers struggle to settle the giant cheese platter on the top table (in silence remember), it begins.

"One big Ducky-Ducky!" One of the armoured hill giants declares.

They are playing bingo.

Bawg has seen enough, time for extraction.

However, the DM has also got a plan.

An orc slave heads into the pantry to get... well, doesn't matter- because the pantry is otherwise occupied, keep in mind not depicted in the image above are the thirty or so orcs that are ready to be called into battle. The orc slave exits the pantry screaming.

And then...

Phreakalus heads after the orc slave and... shoots her dead. Which causes a little consternation in the kitchen.

The PCs have gone early.

DCI Bawg has only just exited the great hall.

And here we are maybe an hour or so later...

That's DCI Bawg in the corridor, still rushing back to his comrades, meantime the rest of the PCs are in a fight, although the orc slaves have figured it out- after Thugg rushed into action declaring that the reb-ooo-loo-shun is go!

And this is the last picture from the session, and keep in mind we played for over three hours...

The hill giant servants (ogre tokens) are fighting back, as are the ogre servants (half-ogre medium tokens), while the orc kitchen slaves are cheering, throwing things at the aforementioned or else just keeping out of the way.

But we have barely started, strap in for lots more of this. The encounter lasted over ten hours (real time) I seem to remember.

But that's the end of the session.

Book of the Dead.
Hill Giant Servant x 2.
Ogre Servant x 2.
Orc Slave x 2.

Until next time.

 

[Goonalan]

There Might Be Giants​

PCs
DCI Bawg Race: Unknown Class: Rogue Level: 11 Background: City Watch Investigator
Phreakalus Nevrospastos Race: Human Class: Artificer Level: 11 Background: Courtier
Thrunorus "Thugg" Garn Race: Half-Orc Class: Barbarian Zealot of Bradlust & Fighter Level: 8 & 3 Background: Mercenary Veteran
Yen Stonefist Race: Stout Halfling Class: Monk Level: 11 Background: Hermit

NPCs
Piniccarus, Phreakalus' animated puppet 'son'. Just weird.

Session 010: Kill Zone!
Mission Time: 03:22 to 03:24.

Here we go again...

The orc rebellion is in full flow, although the PCs have gone early and are now having to fight their way through the hill giant's kitchen just to get to Nosnra and his buddies in the great hall.

Each PC, on their turn- as a free action, can attempt to call another orc out to the fight, DC 11 to call an orc warrior (vanilla orc only with no armour and limited weapons, mostly battleaxes taken from the dead bugbears down below), DC 13 to call forth an orc with a crossbow (there are only seven of these, I think), and DC 15 to call up an Orog (only two). The PC must say which DC he is going for before he makes his roll, and failure is failure- no orc is called.

Note, the PCs need to be close to the pantry initially- as the orcs are coming up from below, as the PCs press forward- this imaginary space moves with the front line. New orcs called forth start their actio alongside the PC furthest away from the front line. Although for this fight, as you'll see, there are the attackers- Thugg and Yen, and the artillery- Phreaklaus and Bawg. Two distinct groups.

Orcs called forth are named by the Player (same first letter as their PC) and dropped into initiative, and thereafter controlled by the Player/PC that called them.

We're about five or six turns into the fracas here, and as seen on the image above, there are a fair few orcs on the rampage, including- Pigbag, Pedro & Peltharr (controlled by Phreakalus = George); Yippity & Yogi (Yen = Kev); Thrakgarr, Trogdarr, Trevor & an an Orog- Tormakk (all Thugg's boyz = Bear). DCI Bawg at this point has only just made it back to the gang, he hasn't been close enough to call any orcs forth as he was mid-recon in the great hall when it all kicked off in the kitchen.

Thugg has advantage on his checks to call up orcs, he's the veritable McDaddy of the gang.

So, the PCs are just limbering up in the kitchen, because the enemies are fairly light-weight here- hill giant and ogre servants, not a massive threat to the heroes.

Although...

All the giants, and giant servants, have been given a couple of extra attacks on their monster sheets in Fantasy Grounds- Throw Anything, and for melee- Beefy Slap. The servants mostly don't have weapons, and so in the image above the young ogre servant has just critted Thugg with a skewer loaded with kebab meat.

Thugg is delighted, tearing the skewer from his body and consuming the kebab meat soon after.

But in truth...

Yen and Thug are leaving a broad swathe of destruction, obviously it helps that the orcs can (more or less) keep up with the ferocious pair. Although not Yen, at least not later...

It really is a race trying to keep up with the destructive duo.

But the rest of the inhabitants of the kitchen (to the south) have already departed, they've rushed over into the great hall (right in the middle of Bingo, Nosnra is furious) to let the assembled giants know that terror and destruction is fast approaching, or else- "Dem Orcs, bad 'uns an udder litul 'uns, dem are cumin wid dem axes 'n dat."

Hill giant sub-chief Grok (well-armed & armoured, and with a massive bag of hit points) goes to see what the problem is...

You'll note in the image above, at the top of the corridor DCI Bawg and Phreakalus have been calling forth orcs with crossbows, the artillery in place.

But Grok is too quick for them, and soon after he's shouting for reinforcements.

Pickles the hill giant is the first to respond, he gets shot quite a lot on his way to the kitchen.

Yen presses the button- the monk is soon after Hasted and using his once/day Eldritch Claw Tattoo, which gives him 15' reach, and yet he's mostly missing. Keep in mind sub-chief Grok is the best armoured hill giant in the steading.

Meantime there's target practice in the corridor, note DCI Bawg has started using his musket, Phreakalus has a magical longbow, and the orcs are using crossbows (mostly badly) but there are hits- hill giants don't have a great AC/Dex.

And about a turn or so later and...

Grok is still in fine fettle and the (smart) ogres are coming to join the party, note the ogres are dressed in their finery (with jewelry)- they're all ogre bosses with a few extra hit points, and well armed.

Grok is proving very difficult to hit, although his to hit rolls are alas garbage.

Yen has an idea.

He flings one of his (necklace of) fireball beads into the corridor.

The inhabitants of the corridor, albeit briefly, burn...

You'll note Yen also takes the time to lay into sub-chief Grok- while running through the hill giant's legs.

And then Thugg arrives and burns his last Rage for the day.

Grok is left staggering.

And then after a monstrous Crit- 60 plus damage.

Grok is dead! You'll note hill giant Pickles has also taken a beating, while out in the corridor Bumstead is suffering.

Oh, and Thugg has called forth Thunderpants, the dwarven smith and former prisoner of the hill/fire giants, who offered to lend his blade to the battle (for hard cash).

Here he is, and Pickles isn't long for this world.

The PCs are winning, although there's still a long way to go- believe me.

The PCs and their orc army et al are surging- pushing the hill giants back into the corridor, the killing zone.

But, I have a few more hill giants yet to get into combat, and they're not bright folk, and so here they come- streaming into the corridor.

The giants are also trying to get to the orcs (and Phreakalus & DCI Bawg) to the north, this pair are now trying to call up orc warriors to slow the giant's approach. The giants are also using missile weapons (mostly boulders) to try and disrupt the artillery.

And...

The orc army is taking a beating, but soaking up lots of attacks that would otherwise be targeting PCs.

We're in the grind.

Piniccarus is ordered to slow the giants down, the puppet son of the artificer drops a web into the hallway.

Meanwhile, to the north-

The orcs (& the artillery) are keeping the giants at bay. Orcs with an X after their name have a crossbow.

But then, back down south, Yen goes bonkers again.

Here he is, the little halfling monk, just before it all kicks off. Keep in mind he's Hasted and has a 15 foot reach for his attacks (six/turn = 2 normal, 3 open hand (with ki point) plus 1 more for haste). The monk is also judiciously spending IP points to do even more things.

And so...

Yen kicks a hill giant servant (lowly hill giant) and an ogre boss to death, and then tosses his last fireball bead into the corridor- the web doesn't last but it has already done its job.

And...

The hill giant's saving throws are... terrible, they all burn.

And yet they're not giving up.

The hill giants are not tactical geniuses, and behind them Nosnra and a few others are kicking them into the fight, and so no-one is giving this up. Tormakk, the orog, dies. Thugg is (momentarily) distraught.

And to make matters worse...

Thugg gets hit in the face by a giant sized gravy boat, the skill is called 'Throw Anything' after all.

And so here we all are...

It's the end of the session, three-and-a-half hours (minus breaks) of fighting later and we're maybe 12 or so turns into it- there are a lot of combatants in play. The PCs are all in fine fettle still, but nearly half the orcs they called up are dead.

It goes on...

But the PCs are also aware that they've only killed three hill giants (proper) so far in this fight, although one of them was the sub-chief (Grok), they remember seeing plenty more hill giants (and other giants) in the great hall. The point being- there's lots of enemies (probably) still to come, including chief Nosnra, his wife, the great big twenty foot vampire giant, a stone giant, another named hill giant and a few more plain old hill giants- and others, who have yet to make it to the party.

The PCs think, the DM asked, that they're somewhere between a third and halfway through their enemies. In truth, and from an XP POV, I think they're less than 20% of the way through this fight. There are a lot of big guns still to come.

But that's the end of the session.

Book of the Dead.
Sub-Chief Grok, Hill Giant x 1 (Very tough, stats as per Stone Giant- armed and armoured and with near max HP).
Hill Giant x2 (Pickles & Bumstead).
Ogre Boss x3 (Armed and good HP).
Hill Giant Servant x 7 (stats as ogre).
Ogre Servant x 6.

Until next time.