MortalPlague
Adventurer
You can read about the previous foray here.
We played 5th Edition once again tonight. We had three players (one new to the game), and then a fourth showed up halfway through. The characters:
Red the Fisher - Male halfling rogue
Kerrigan - Female elf wizard
Angus McFee - Male dwarf cleric
Pandergast - Male human cleric (showed up halfway through)
We'd run two playtests prior to this with two separate groups. One group cleared out the goblin cave, including the ogre. The other group fell victim to the kobolds; you can read their tale at the link above. The lone survivor put in an appearance in the tavern as a trembling, nervous wreck.
We started with about 1000 xp, since previous groups had hit that total, and each character had 50 sp to buy some equipment with. And I gave the group a free healer's kit, since they didn't have the cleric of Pelor in the group yet.
Heading out, the group decided to investigate the kobold lair, and see what remained of the tribe. After all, they decided, maybe the adventurers who were killed there left some stuff behind?
(Disclaimer: I was running a slightly modified kobold lair, involving a second pit and a more complicated room near the leader).
After a fight with some centipedes hiding in a barrel, the party seized a now-empty barrel, doused it in oil, and the mage carried it along with mage hand. As they approached the second pit (the same place the last party near-TPK'ed), they heard the sound of kobolds preparing to attack. With a bit of cleverness, mage hand was used to float a coin with 'light' cast upon it into the room, provoking the kobolds to attack.
Led by their leader, a band of kobolds charged into the room to find that they were about to attack a lit coin? Then the PCs sprung their trap. They easily won initiative against the surprised kobolds. Red lit the barrel (Angus was holding it), and as it caught flame, the dwarf cleric charged into the room to throw it at the kobolds! At least, he tried to. But the pit (undiscovered till just now) got in the way.
He was forced to roll a DEX save! Success! I asked if he wanted to be safe on the far side, or make a strength check to jump the pit. Since he was jumping from a position where the floor was falling from beneath him, I felt a check was necessary. He opted for bravery, and rolled a natural 20 on his check, easily vaulting the pit. I gave him advantage on the attack roll, and he crit that too. In a horrible blast of flame, the leader was seriously wounded, and one of his bodyguards went down in a charred heap. Another unfortunate kobold was caught in the blast and also incinerated.
On top of that, the barrel had created a wall of burning oil and wood, which meant the kobolds had to go around to flank the adventurers.
The fight was pitched, with the kobold leader landing several vicious hits (and nearly dropping the mage with two max-damage rolls). The brutish kobold was clearly wearing four skulls, dangling from his belt; one elf, two dwarves, and a human, each one carved with draconic runes. He gave as hard as he got, but he got a lot; Red managed to fell him with a well placed dagger.
On the other side of the pit, Kerrigan had limited the kobolds coming to the rescue with a well-aimed sleep spell. Three of seven fell asleep, and the others were slowed, which allowed the wizard to cross the pit at her leisure to rejoin her fellows. They blasted the kobolds at range, ducking in and out of cover, and soon the kobolds retreated.
Deciding not to press on, the adventurers returned to town. They picked up some loot, including the skulls (quite clearly the previous victims). On a whim, the wizard cast 'Comprehend Languages' and read the draconic runes.
The Elf Skull - Tasty, delicious, scrumptious
The Dwarf Skulls - Tough, stringy. And on one; high fibre
The Human Skull - Tastes like chicken
Kerrigan managed to pawn the skulls and the belt to an eccentric merchant for four silver pieces.
The others sold various pieces of loot, acquired some new weapons and gear, and met with the head of the Merchant's Guild, who wanted them to seek out a merchant named Finn and his wife, who had been lost in a raid a few days ago. He decided to offer up 100 gp for their safe return. Pleased with the idea of a benefactor and the possible money, the adventurers accepted the quest.
Pandergast showed up, and the party gladly recruited him. And off they went, back to the caves!
This time, they checked out the goblin cave, but found that it was still empty. Scavengers had picked over most of the bones. They briefly considered kicking open the hobgoblins' door (which, coincidentally, would have put them on the right track for their prisoner rescue), but they decided they'd rather not make noise and alert the hobgoblins. They instead looked around at the various copses of trees, found the ogre's cave (where a bear had taken up residence, following the ogre's demise), slayed the bear, then went to check out the upper caves. They wound up at cave B, the domain of the orcs.
The party was more tactically-minded, this time. They approached carefully, and a skillful perception check spotted the orc watcher; they hit her in the face, but not before she had a chance to shout a warning. Mobilizing, the orcs attacked!
The party effectively bottlenecked the orcs at the entrance, so they only had to face them a few at a time. The horde of orcs fought valiantly for a few rounds before they retreated back, and there was a period of waiting. The orcs were preparing in the dark of their cave, while the PCs used the Pandergast's staff to pull corpses out and loot them. Neither side wanted to make a move.
Eventually, the orcs began to chant a name; Throk'a. They chanted it in unison as booted feet drew near; the Chieftan, a brute named Throk'a and his mates were coming to end this threat. And so initiative was rolled again.
The mates charged in first, and they just about dropped Angus with a couple of excellent attack rolls. Throk'a was just behind them; he threw a dagger, but missed. And then Kerrigan hit Throk'a with ray of frost, immobilizing the melee-heavy warlord. He bellowed in fury as his mates were cut down, and all he could do was ready an action to attack (I deliberately didn't give him a ranged attack, aside from one dagger to throw). The rest of the orcs joined the attack, pressing at the PCs through the bottleneck once more, while Throk'a struggled in vain against the ice. Three rounds he was kept rooted in place, while the PCs cut down orc after orc, but they were being whittled down too. Finally, with Throk'a badly wounded, they decided they would have to flee. They made their escape, and most of the orcs (who had been hit by sleep) were simply not fast enough to catch up.
The adventurers returned back to town with some treasure, but with Throk'a the Orc Chief plotting his revenge.
We played 5th Edition once again tonight. We had three players (one new to the game), and then a fourth showed up halfway through. The characters:
Red the Fisher - Male halfling rogue
Kerrigan - Female elf wizard
Angus McFee - Male dwarf cleric
Pandergast - Male human cleric (showed up halfway through)
We'd run two playtests prior to this with two separate groups. One group cleared out the goblin cave, including the ogre. The other group fell victim to the kobolds; you can read their tale at the link above. The lone survivor put in an appearance in the tavern as a trembling, nervous wreck.
We started with about 1000 xp, since previous groups had hit that total, and each character had 50 sp to buy some equipment with. And I gave the group a free healer's kit, since they didn't have the cleric of Pelor in the group yet.
Heading out, the group decided to investigate the kobold lair, and see what remained of the tribe. After all, they decided, maybe the adventurers who were killed there left some stuff behind?
(Disclaimer: I was running a slightly modified kobold lair, involving a second pit and a more complicated room near the leader).
After a fight with some centipedes hiding in a barrel, the party seized a now-empty barrel, doused it in oil, and the mage carried it along with mage hand. As they approached the second pit (the same place the last party near-TPK'ed), they heard the sound of kobolds preparing to attack. With a bit of cleverness, mage hand was used to float a coin with 'light' cast upon it into the room, provoking the kobolds to attack.
Led by their leader, a band of kobolds charged into the room to find that they were about to attack a lit coin? Then the PCs sprung their trap. They easily won initiative against the surprised kobolds. Red lit the barrel (Angus was holding it), and as it caught flame, the dwarf cleric charged into the room to throw it at the kobolds! At least, he tried to. But the pit (undiscovered till just now) got in the way.
He was forced to roll a DEX save! Success! I asked if he wanted to be safe on the far side, or make a strength check to jump the pit. Since he was jumping from a position where the floor was falling from beneath him, I felt a check was necessary. He opted for bravery, and rolled a natural 20 on his check, easily vaulting the pit. I gave him advantage on the attack roll, and he crit that too. In a horrible blast of flame, the leader was seriously wounded, and one of his bodyguards went down in a charred heap. Another unfortunate kobold was caught in the blast and also incinerated.
On top of that, the barrel had created a wall of burning oil and wood, which meant the kobolds had to go around to flank the adventurers.
The fight was pitched, with the kobold leader landing several vicious hits (and nearly dropping the mage with two max-damage rolls). The brutish kobold was clearly wearing four skulls, dangling from his belt; one elf, two dwarves, and a human, each one carved with draconic runes. He gave as hard as he got, but he got a lot; Red managed to fell him with a well placed dagger.
On the other side of the pit, Kerrigan had limited the kobolds coming to the rescue with a well-aimed sleep spell. Three of seven fell asleep, and the others were slowed, which allowed the wizard to cross the pit at her leisure to rejoin her fellows. They blasted the kobolds at range, ducking in and out of cover, and soon the kobolds retreated.
Deciding not to press on, the adventurers returned to town. They picked up some loot, including the skulls (quite clearly the previous victims). On a whim, the wizard cast 'Comprehend Languages' and read the draconic runes.
The Elf Skull - Tasty, delicious, scrumptious
The Dwarf Skulls - Tough, stringy. And on one; high fibre
The Human Skull - Tastes like chicken
Kerrigan managed to pawn the skulls and the belt to an eccentric merchant for four silver pieces.
The others sold various pieces of loot, acquired some new weapons and gear, and met with the head of the Merchant's Guild, who wanted them to seek out a merchant named Finn and his wife, who had been lost in a raid a few days ago. He decided to offer up 100 gp for their safe return. Pleased with the idea of a benefactor and the possible money, the adventurers accepted the quest.
Pandergast showed up, and the party gladly recruited him. And off they went, back to the caves!
This time, they checked out the goblin cave, but found that it was still empty. Scavengers had picked over most of the bones. They briefly considered kicking open the hobgoblins' door (which, coincidentally, would have put them on the right track for their prisoner rescue), but they decided they'd rather not make noise and alert the hobgoblins. They instead looked around at the various copses of trees, found the ogre's cave (where a bear had taken up residence, following the ogre's demise), slayed the bear, then went to check out the upper caves. They wound up at cave B, the domain of the orcs.
The party was more tactically-minded, this time. They approached carefully, and a skillful perception check spotted the orc watcher; they hit her in the face, but not before she had a chance to shout a warning. Mobilizing, the orcs attacked!
The party effectively bottlenecked the orcs at the entrance, so they only had to face them a few at a time. The horde of orcs fought valiantly for a few rounds before they retreated back, and there was a period of waiting. The orcs were preparing in the dark of their cave, while the PCs used the Pandergast's staff to pull corpses out and loot them. Neither side wanted to make a move.
Eventually, the orcs began to chant a name; Throk'a. They chanted it in unison as booted feet drew near; the Chieftan, a brute named Throk'a and his mates were coming to end this threat. And so initiative was rolled again.
The mates charged in first, and they just about dropped Angus with a couple of excellent attack rolls. Throk'a was just behind them; he threw a dagger, but missed. And then Kerrigan hit Throk'a with ray of frost, immobilizing the melee-heavy warlord. He bellowed in fury as his mates were cut down, and all he could do was ready an action to attack (I deliberately didn't give him a ranged attack, aside from one dagger to throw). The rest of the orcs joined the attack, pressing at the PCs through the bottleneck once more, while Throk'a struggled in vain against the ice. Three rounds he was kept rooted in place, while the PCs cut down orc after orc, but they were being whittled down too. Finally, with Throk'a badly wounded, they decided they would have to flee. They made their escape, and most of the orcs (who had been hit by sleep) were simply not fast enough to catch up.
The adventurers returned back to town with some treasure, but with Throk'a the Orc Chief plotting his revenge.
