Let's Play #4 Goodman Games DCC54
Forges of the Mountain King (Level 1)
Session 1.
Encounter #2 The Gates of Iron and Flesh (Area 1-4)
[sblock=The Map]
The Gates of Iron and Flesh are to be found in area 1-4 on the map (see below).
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Berend, again, is sent a little way ahead of the group- he's edging his way along a ten foot wide pathway, to his left high rock walls, to his right an almost vertical drop, a ravine at the bottom of which is a fast flowing river- and lots of rocks. Anyone falling in to the ravine would be... destroyed, it's certainly over seventy feet down, and then there's the fast flowing river and the rocks to contend with. This is why Berend is pressed up against the cliff wall, as far as he can get from the edge of the pathway. The dwarf sneaks on.
And spots a pair of scruffy-looking dwarves ahead, armoured and armed- even now the pair are readying crossbows- the bolters scream and call to something or someone behind them. The noise of the river- and a little further ahead a huge waterfall makes hearing things difficult for the ranger. Berend is about to parley, the dwarf bolters however have other ideas…
Bad Guys 350 XP Level 1 Encounter.
Dwarf Bolter Level 4 Artillery x2
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THUNG! x2
Berend looks a little confused as both bolts whiz past him.
And smash in to Morgran who’s following up behind him, ostensibly sneaking, badly as it turns out.
The first bolt pierces Morgran’s shoulder and shoots on through- smashing bone en route, the second thuds in to his leg, and these guys are at long range. Morgran thumps hard against the wall; he’s lost a lot of blood already and is left staggering, bloodied.
The dwarf barbarian screams- a lot.
Morgran is down to 7 hit points; the first attack was a critical hit.
The barbarian sucks up the pain and gets his Second Wind, then runs screaming at the bolters- he has quite a way to go… but revenge is a great motivator.
The other adventurers follow suit, shouting and cursing they trundle forward rushing towards their missile firing enemies, Adrik mutters a prayer and Morgran is back to full health again.
The dwarven bolters were only aware of Morgran up until this point; all of the other adventurers were sneaking successfully. The bolters therefore head back the way they came- at pace, and shouting all the way. Around a corner and through a massive pair of ancient looking copper doors- clearly this is the entrance to the supposedly abandoned Clan Hold.
The adventurers have them on the run- they continue to charge forward in the hope that they can catch up with the bolters and teach them some manners.
“Raaarrgghh”
An Ogre suddenly lurches around the corner, and stomps forward along the narrow pathway- heading straight for our intrepid adventurers, the players suddenly stop gabbling as I place the mini on the board, an impressive mini, almost unworthy of the name- 'mini', particularly in comparison to the players 'mini's'.
Bad Guys 700 XP Level 2 Encounter.
Dwarf Bolter Level 4 Artillery x2
Ogre Savage Level 8 Brute
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The adventurers curtail their charge.
The great beast smashes what looks to be half a tree trunk in to Morgran, the dwarf barbarian staggers, bloodied again.
Morgarn however is made of sterner stuff; he swings his greatsword but misses by a mile. Not content he tries again (Action Point) with a Desperate Fury- smashing his great blade in to the monster (a Crit for 27 damage), the Ogre staggers back circling its arms trying to maintain its balance, it teeters on the edge for a brief moment but then regains its balance. Morgran Rampages and cuts at the thing again.
Berend closes on the beast and delivers his Twin Strike- both of his longswords cutting in to the Ogre, it’s bloodied. The dwarf ranger swings again (Action Point) his Jaws of the Wolf attack, a partial success, the Ogre is spiked some more, and once again staggers and sways but somehow remains on the narrow ledge.
Note the Ogre has to make a DC 18 Acrobatics checks every time it is hit for 10 or more points of damage in a single attack. This rule applies to all creatures fighting on the ledge, although the DC is only 15 for medium size creatures. Note the Ogre has +4 on its Acrobatic skill, and has made four checks so far- that’s four rolls of ‘14’+, not bad.
Travok barges his way in to the action, hits with his Divine Pursuit and sends the great beast staggering back to the very edge of the… well, ledge. It teeters for a moment and then falls…
Forward, flat on its face- and still on the ledge.
I actually rolled twice for the Ogre here, once for the forced movement from the Divine Pursuit and the second roll because the attack also did more than 10 points of damage to the creature- it saved both times, although I knocked it Prone because, well- I’m a good guy and I’ve DMed this scenario before, and it’s tough.
Travok is not done- he steps up to the Ogre- who looks up at the crunchy dwarf towering over him (an odd change of perspective). Travok winks and slices at the creature’s hands with his Valiant Strike (Action Point).
“AaaaaaarrrrrggggggghhhhhhhhhCRUNCH!”
The Ogre goes over the ledge- and smashes in to the rocks below.
DEAD!
Travok is still not done, the paladin of Kord wanders over to Morgran, slaps the barbarian on the shoulder, Laying on Hands, and states-
“Pansies”
He elaborates-
“Ogres are pansies.”
Adrik meantime whizzes past the three warriors.
“Come on…”
He urges. Dumphart holding his robes in his hand- revealing wire thin incredibly hairy legs also rushes by.
The pair get to the great copper doors- the two crossbow toting varmints are in the process of shutting the great portal.
Dumphart’s Blazing Starfall hits both of them.
Both of the bolters continue however to swing the doors shut, one of them even has the nous to fire its crossbow- the bolt misses Adrik by inches.
Clang!
The doors close.
CLANG!
Morgran rushes past Adrik and Dumphart and charges in to the doors- pushing them back open- slightly.
We move to opposing Strength Checks, a skill challenge (if you like), the guys need to get four opposed successes before three failures.
Berend arrives on the scene and slams in to the portal, Travok follows- as it turns out too close to Berend, the paladin only succeeds in pushing his fellow adventurer over, although the ranger is quickly to his feet, after using his body briefly as a wedge come doorstop.
Adrik clangs in to the portal and… the doors suddenly fly open.
There are a set of stairs beyond- which means everybody gets to make an Acrobatics check or else fall down them, luckily there are only six or so steps, so no damage accrues, only the prospect of being left prone- and red-faced.
One of the bolters ends up on the floor in a heap with Adrik, the other bolter and the remaining adventurers (save Dumphart who’s not in the push and shove) manage to keep their feet.
The adventurers are standing, or lying, in a smooth wide passage, they barely have time to look around, if they did this is what they'd see- to their left is a huge iron grate (on the wall), to their right the corridor continues off in to the darkness. Opposite is another set of steps leading up in to a short passage- there are lights up there.
[sblock=The Map]
The guys are in area 1-6, the grate is at 1-6A, and the lights up the stairs are in area 1-8.
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The first dwarven bolter shuffles back a little, towards the stairs opposite and the light- screaming all the while-
“INTRUDERS!”
THUNG!
The dwarf’s crossbow sings and buries six inches of steel in Travok’s right leg, the bolter backs up some more, spilling the crossbow and unleashing its warhammer.
The second dwarf staggers to its feet, crossbow already abandoned and warhammer in hand- it smashes the weapon in to Travok, again- the paladin sags, and staggers back a little, bloodied- almost unconscious.
Morgran is swiftly in to the battle- his Pressing Strike slashes at the closest dwarf cutting the creature badly (another critical hit), he swings again on the Rampage, but the dwarf somehow brings its warhammer up just in time to parry Morgran’s blade.
Berend charges in to the same dwarf, a Marauder’s Rush, but again the attack is thwarted.
Travok calls out to the first dwarf- the one retreating to the stairs, he issues a Divine Challenge and then with his warhammer shimmering with radiant light smashes the squat humanoid with his Holy Smite, his enemy staggers- bloodied. Travok sucks in air, grimaces and gets his Second Wind.
The paladin however is still suffering; Adrik the cleric is quick to his feet- muttering Healing Words, Travok’s wounds all but disappear.
Dumphart moves forward and motions and points with his staff- great Tearing Dragon Claws suddenly shape and form in the air, rip at the second dwarf shredding its armour and scouring its flesh, but the effect soon fades- the other dwarf is left unharmed.
The bolters come again- still screaming back up the stair, still trying to edge back when they can. The first hammers at Travok but the paladin easily defends, the second slams in to Dumphart, the sorcerer grimaces.
Morgran tries again with his Pressing Attack- manoeuvring deftly around his opponent to get an advantage, clearly not enough of an advantage- the barbarian’s aim is off.
Morgran has only 10 hit points and he's already used his 2nd Wind.
Berend slices with his Twin Strike longswords, and the second dwarf is at last bloodied also.
Travok delivers a Valiant Strike to the first dwarf, the humanoid’s head rocks back as the paladin’s warhammer connects, it slumps to the floor- dead.
Adrik manoeuvres behind the remaining dwarf and smashes the creature while muttering prayers to Kord- his Healing Strike, his enemy staggers- almost falls but somehow manages just to stay on its feet. At the same moment many of Morgran’s wounds instantly heal over.
Dumphart chokes out dark phrases and a Burning Spray ignites all before him- although there’s only one dwarf bolter left standing, the squat humanoid becomes a living torch, although not for long, the smoking remains of the dwarf flop to the floor.
The adventurers take a very brief moment to grin at each other.
CLANG!
Up the stairs ahead a portcullis suddenly crashes down- the passage is blocked.
“What the…” Adrik exclaims.
At this point I ask the first PC what he’s going to do, we’re sticking to initiative order- so it’s Morgran, he has ten seconds to decide- I begin to count. I tell all of the other players that they will also get ten seconds when it comes to their turn. This is how it played out-
Morgran scans his surrounding, looks up and points-
“There…”
The barbarian is pointing at an arrow slit high above the grate, there’s someone or something moving beyond the opening, and what’s that?
“Water!”
Morgran declares, and points at the grate, which is indeed dripping liquid.
“The portcullis.”
The barbarian concludes and rushes in to the passage.
Berend, the ranger, takes a moment to look around.
Actually Paul who plays Berend said something like- ‘Dungeoneering check, it’s a trap- loads of water comes out of the grate and washes us away…” Then he rolled a ‘20’.
Berend thinks aloud- “Water. Grate. Smooth passage…”, and then looks down the passage in to darkness.
“Trap!” The ranger yelps and takes the stairs three at a time, to the portcullis in the blink of an eye, he reaches down and…
WHUNG!
Lifts up the portcullis, no bother, and slams it back in to its up and open position.
And that was Paul/Berend’s follow up Strength Check, he needed a ‘20’, which is incidentally exactly what he rolled- another natural.
'Through here', Berend screams and points the way.
Travok obeys and rushes up the stairs at full speed, the paladin of Kord skids to a halt at the top of the stairs.
“
!” He whispers, and then screams back- “ORCS!”
This kind of thing seems to happen a lot in Goodman Games scenarios; personally I love it, although my players may have varying opinions.
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Travok is in a huge chamber, the ceiling must be easily sixty feet overhead, to his left is some sort of temporary encampment, a trio of grunting Orcs sprawl at rest. Ahead a set of ancient, but once ornate, stone stairs that twist and turn up to a balcony at least thirty feet above.
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The guys are in area 1-8, the stairs lead up to area 1-8A, the balcony above.
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Bad Guys 1225 XP Level 5 Encounter.
Dwarf Bolter Level 4 Artillery x2
Ogre Savage Level 8 Brute
Orc Berserker Level 4 Brute x3
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The Orcs are quickly to their feet and grabbing for weapons- greataxes as it happens, although they’re still a little bewildered by Travok’s sudden appearance.
Adrik follows on, rushes up the stairs and straight past Travok- “For KORD!” The cleric swings hard with his warhammer but the Orc simply steps aside, and grunts at the flailing dwarf for good measure.
Dumphart is next up the stair, although he hangs back a way, takes in the situation and then launches his Blazing Starfall, alas only one of the Orcs is burnt by the power’s radiant beams.
Back down the stairs, in the corridor, there’s a great CLANKing sound followed by a wheezing shuddering, juddering continuous growl- things are happening, bad things.
Water begins to pour from the grate.
Back up the stair the three Orcs suddenly begins shouting and screaming, a face appears from just around a corner, near the encampment- another dwarf, the squat humanoid stops for a moment- temporarily dumbfounded.
A chugging, juddering, shuddering sound suddenly starts up from the dwarf’s direction.
The three Orcs charge at Adrik, in seconds (two hits) the cleric of Kord is smashed and cut to the ground.
Boy do greataxes hurt, Adrik is reduced from 27 hit points to 11 and then down to -6, he’s dying.
Morgran, Berend and Travok all rush up the stairs and in to the action- the trio smash in to the closest Orc; Morgran cuts, Berend slices and Travok brings his Blood of the Mighty (Daily power), all three are on target- the foul humanoid is left staggering, bloodied and battered.
The guys dish out 51 points of damage, including 27 from Travok’s daily- it’s not enough.
Dumphart steps up to the plate- the sorcerer’s Blazing Starfall lances out radiant light- two of the Orcs are singed, but not alas the fellow left staggering by Morgran, Berend and Travok.
“Damn!” Dumphart hisses, and closes the distance.
The sorcerer breathes in, and then out again- a ragged wreath of lightening, Dumphart’s Lightning Breath, and again only two of the Orcs are in the storm but now all three are bloodied and staggering.
Dumphart’s daily there with a Critical hit- 30 points of damage on one of the Orcs, and 25 on the other.
Suddenly, from below comes a horrendous smashing, crashing sound- the sound of water, much too much water in a very confined environment.
Back down the stairs in the smooth passageway a tidal wave surges and scourges, the bodies of the dwarven bolters are sent spinning away with the wave.
The adventurers take a moment to thank their lucky stars that they're inside and in the warm, and being savaged by a bunch of nasty Orcs.
The noise silences all other sounds, and when it’s gone- nothing.
Friend and foe stand around, momentarily brought to a standstill by the stone shattering roar of the trap below.
The spell however is soon broken, and by a new voice.
A screaming, jabbering, screeching, yelping sound- a goblin, high up on the balcony ahead, capering and pointing down at our friends the adventurers.
Berend looks up, spies the miscreant, the creature seems to be in excited conversation with someone or something out of sight.
“Look UP!” Berend screams to his friends.
Just as a pair of mean looking dwarves, formerly operating the water trap, stomp around the corner to join the fracas
Bad Guys 2225 XP Level 9 Encounter.
Dwarf Bolter Level 4 Artillery x2
Ogre Savage Level 8 Brute
Water Trap Level 8 Elite Warder Trap
Orc Berserker Level 4 Brute x3
Dwarf Guard Level 3 Soldier x2
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While it's not looking good for the PCs, I want you to know that the guys are at this point screaming for joy- absolutely loving it. I know, and I think they do too, that if they can pull this one off then... well, they'll probably never have to play D&D again- they will have beaten the game.
It gets worse, the closest Orc’s wound seem to heal over, or at least some of them, the Warrior Surges and slashes at Morgran- the barbarian, thankfully is too quick.
The second Orc lashes out with its greataxe, only this time the victim is Dumphart who is… decapitated.
Yep, you read that right, Dumphart was on something like 12 hit points, the Orc Berserker crits for 29 points of damage, that’s down to -17 hit points, which is greater than his negative bloodied value- Dumphart, played by Dave, is dead.
And the room holds its breath, however Dave takes the news remarkably calmly, grins a lot and goes and makes a soothing cup of tea- he’s soon back to hear the rest of the action.
The third Orc smashes its greataxe in to Travok.
To give the PCs a chance I elect to allow only one of the Orcs to use their Warrior's Surge per turn- that's the kind of nice guy I am.
The two dwarven guards, previously operating the water trap, draw their warhammers and smash in to Morgran, the barbarian keeps them both at bay, and then… goes crazy. Morgran enters the Rage Drake’s Frenzy and smashes in to the closest, very wounded, Orc- he smashes the creature down, not as he intended but by somehow contriving to trip and fall head first in to his enemy.
Morgran rebounds, somewhat out of sorts- dizzy from the collision, he swipes at the next badly wounded Orc and misses by a mile.
Sorry, just to explain- Morgran rolls a ‘1’ on his first attack, I allow him to inflict half-damage anyway but in a comedy style, he attacks the second Orc and rolls a ‘2’. When the dice are against you…
Berend and Travok take on the two remaining Orcs, desperate to get rid of the wounded terrors; one of the creatures is left staggering- only just alive the other fends off the paladin.
Adrik meantime lies still and bleeds profusely, having failed his first Death Save.
To make matters worse a pair of Goblins leer over the balcony above and make ready to hurl Javelins down at the three adventurers still standing.
Bad Guys 2475 XP Level 9 Encounter.
Dwarf Bolter Level 4 Artillery x2
Ogre Savage Level 8 Brute
Water Trap Level 8 Elite Warder Trap
Orc Berserker Level 4 Brute x3
Dwarf Guard Level 3 Soldier x2
Goblin Javelintossers Level 2 Artillery x2
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A pair of javelins are flung down in to the mix- Berend is wounded, and then hit again as the Orc facing him connects with its greataxe, the ranger staggers- bloodied.
The second Orc left standing screams and with a Warrior’s Surge smashes Travok down.
And that was another Critical Hit with a greataxe for 23 points of damage to Travok, he’s on -9 hit points and dying.
The two dwarven guards concentrate their efforts on Morgran, the barbarian is bashed, but only a little. Morgran however is still intent on ending the Orcs, his Pressing Strike cuts one badly- Berend finishes the creature off and then gets his Second Wind.
There are more screams and shouts from above, the two adventurers left standing don’t have time to look up- if they did they’d see that the balcony is now home to three javelin flinging Goblins and a burly Hobgoblin similarly armed.
The latter is in charge- he co-ordinates the next volley.
Bad Guys 2800 XP Level 10 Encounter.
Dwarf Bolter Level 4 Artillery x2
Ogre Savage Level 8 Brute
Water Trap Level 8 Elite Warder Trap
Orc Berserker Level 4 Brute x3
Dwarf Guard Level 3 Soldier x2
Goblin Javelintossers Level 2 Artillery x3
Hobgoblin Lieutenant Level 5 Soldier
[sblock=The Monster Manual]
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And we've just hit the magical Level 10 Encounter, that's PC Level +9.
Just to let you know that I've been ruling the adventurers have partial concealment from the Javelin throwing artillery- it hasn't made a sod of difference, I keep rolling high.
The javelins rain down, well- four of them anyway.
Berend stops three of the missiles, doing a very brief impression of a pin-cushion, the ranger flops to the floor- dying.
Morgran helps out with the last missile, the barbarian is very bloodied.
All four of the goblin artillery rolled 17-19 on the dice, and the rolls were made out in the open for the players to see- Dave is laughing so hard...
Just the Raging Morgran who, let's face it, is not going to surrender now.
The last Orc strides up to Morgran, swings, and cuts the dwarf barbarian in two- at the waist.
That’s another critical hit for 28 points of damage, reducing Morgran to -21 hit points.
TPK.
Comment: And the players loved it... that's not right, they... I'm going to have to think about the word/sentence, they were so involved in events that their characters deaths were- appropriate perhaps, glorious certainly. Months later, writing this up, I can still see them sitting about grinning like chimps- glorious is the right word.
Hurried phone calls are made- significant others are told lies, this has just turned in to an extended session of D&D, someone orders pizza, someone else orders chinese food- it gets multi-cultural, cuisine wise. Someone else goes for beer- it just got serious.
The story goes a little like this- the first group of dwarfs, see above for their curtailed adventures, was just a reconnaissance patrol (although no one told them this), the real heroes are on their way. The players are given an hour, that's approx. twelve minutes each to create new characters- more dwarves.
This new group knows that a reconnaissance patrol has been sent in to the lost Clan Hold; their job is to join with them, if possible, and then to explore the ancient abandoned dwarf hold (basically the same task as the first lot).
Out of game your friendly DM states that the three dwarfs still alive- Travok, Adrik & Berend are to be sacrificed, one per day, for every extended rest the new group takes another dwarf (chosen at random) is killed. I, of course, neglect to say who will be doing the sacrificing, or where the killings will take place.
The players are heading straight back in.
Also, Goodman Games, I've said it before, I'll say it again- I wuv you. I realise a Level 10 Encounter is just a terrible thing to do; we talked about it afterwards- while others built their characters. It came down to this- the PCs clear out of the room with the huge water trap in it if they back up a bit then they're okay, but if they head on- well, see above.
Through no fault of their own, and we've made a pact to play these scenarios as RAW as we can, the PCs triggered four encounters in a row-
Enc#1 Ogre Savage & 2 Dwarf Bolters 700 XP Level 2
Enc#2 Water Trap & 2 Dwarf Guards 1000 XP Level 5
Enc#3 3 Orcs Berserkers 525 XP Level 1
Enc#4 3 Goblin Javelintossers & Hobgoblin Lieutenant 575 XP Level 1
That's the way it happens sometimes, I could have... but I didn't, and they didn't want me too, and nor did I. This has been by far the happiest TPK I have ever experienced, and for the players- seemingly, a joy to be part of.
In truth there was no way out for them (except retreat, of course)- a Level 10 Encounter, that's PC Level +9- that was just so unfair of me, and yet, it was glorious. One of the most funny and enlightening (and motivating) moments of D&D I have ever experienced. The players, and me, are charged.
