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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Ellington" data-source="post: 5950975" data-attributes="member: 6692166">Well, we FINALLY managed to get together for another run, this time the players were level 2! The leveling process naturally took a very short time, and we got straight into the game.The session began by the players reading the scroll they had found during the last run, which said something along the lines that the writer had dropped the chest into the well of a nearby town, and they should pick it up once things are safe. The party smelled adventure and rode back to town. They cashed in on their gnoll bounty and bought a sword for the stableboy who they'd taken a liking to. They bartered with his father to take him on as a squire, and sure enough it didn't take more than 20gp to get them to part ways. So much for family values. I decided to give the new squire the stats of a regular human commoner as described in the bestiary, and the players equipped him with studded leather, a short sword and a sling, none of which he was proficient in. He didn't lack in arrogance, though, which I guess is the main ingredient for a good hero.They rode off to the next town, each of them trying to instill their own values onto the squire. The cleric of Moradin told him there was nothing better than the just life of a knight, the rogue told him to seek opportunities whenever they arise and the cleric of Pelor tried his best to speak to his conscience, with little avail. At evening, they reached the edge of a forest and decided that it was time to take a rest. They discovered that they didn't have any bedrolls or tents (d'oh!), so they made due with a campfire. They arranged some shifts, and while the first shift was uneventful, the cleric of Pelor and the human archer became aware of something approaching from the forest. They woke up the gang and prepared themselves as something came crashing through the branches. Naturally, it was an owlbear. Such a classic monster. The two lurkers had hidden behind some rocks and got a few hits in, while the fighter and cleric of Moradin charged straight at the owlbear. The fighter was creative and used his surge ability to dodge AND make an attack, while the cleric stood behind him to be able to block some attacks with his shield. The owlbear only got one hit off on the dwarf, and the cleric of pelor and wizard bolted it with magic missiles and radiant lances. The fight went rather smoothly and the owlbear went down in about three rounds, with no thanks to the slinging squire. We were all rather impressed by how flexible the fighter surge ability was, being able to give an impressive boost to offense or defense in a pinch.They grilled up the poor creature, finished their rest and headed off for the village. As they came there, they saw that the situation of the town was a bit grim. Orcs had been raiding it for the last weeks and the attacks had been growing bigger. They told the villagers that they'd help them out in the case of an attack, but of course they first had to attend the treasure mentioned in the scroll they found. They went up to the well, tied the rogue to a rope and let him descend into the well, hoping that he could dive down deep enough to find the chest. As he reached the water, the clocktower rang and the villagers readied themselves for battle. The party had a brief discussion on whether or not they should just tie the halfling and come back for him later, or heave him up. They decided that they'd need all the help they could get (and wouldn't want to listen to the rogue player whining for all the battle!), pulled him up and headed off to one of the town gates at the command of the village guard. There, they came upon a miniscule version of the battle of Helm's Deep. There was a small wooden rampart and some barricades, as well as three villagers armed with short bows and spears. This particular gate wasn't expected to be heavily attacked, but it turns out that the orcs had a different plan. 12 orcs, lead by an orc warlord charged for the wall as the militia rained down arrows and magic on them, managing to take down a couple. The orcs that made it to the wall either charged for the gate to be met by the two dwarves and the casters, or tried to scale the walls which were guarded by the rogue, the archer and the squire.The rogue absolutely LOVED the battle. Whenever an orc used its charge ability, the rogue could get off a sneak attack on that particular orc which is pretty much a death sentence when fired from a halfling sling. 1d8+2d6+3 damage isn't shabby at all, especially when you're doing it almost every round. It wasn't all good, however, as the heavy damage took its toll on the fighter. The cleric tried his best to heal him, but had to take his place on the front line eventually, but not before casting Shield of Faith on himself which turned him into a formidable tank. Possibly too good, if you ask me. When the attack on the gate grew thickest, the wizard sprung into action and threw in a burning hands, grilling three orcs, which turned the tide of the battle. They began focusing down the orc warlord which ordered the retreat, and as they were almost off the cleric of pelor used his ion cannon ability/searing ray and sniped him down from afar. Everyone cheered and the village rejoiced. Apart from that one villager that died. Poor guy.We ended the session after the battle. I was happy with it for the most part. Every single character got a chance to shine, which is exactly how I like it. The fighter surge ability is what we were hoping for and boy did it deliver. An active ability like that allows for creativity on the fighter's behalf and he loved it. We'd definitely like more stuff like that, even something a bit weaker available on demand. Otherwise, the characters function as we'd like them to and everyone is content.If there's any interest, I'll do a review of further runs but it won't be for a while as I'm going abroad. Any questions are welcome!</blockquote>

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