Rhenny
Adventurer
~~Travensburg Campaign – Part 14 – 2/22/2014
"Taking the Fight to The Skulls"
We played for 2 hours…2 players –– 5th level PCs – Continuing our Campaign
T’rissril Eilsndar the Drow Bard
Fid (the Dwarven Fighter who transformed into a Warforge Fighter)
Fawnsworth the Gnome Illusionist ex-jester
Nalcon the Noble Cleric of Pelor
Darhgel the Tiefling Evoker
The party was recovering from the attack in the palace prison area. Tris and Fawnsworth both bound their wounds. As they planned their next move, they spoke with the Duke a little more and both Nalcon and Darhgel (two companions who had gone off on their own for a while) entered the hall. To help them a bit, the Duke dug into his own pockets and gave the group 4 small bottles – healing potions. Then, in order to get more information about where the Skull lair was, Fid interrogated the Skull prisoner. Since the prisoner was barely conscious, Fid was able to get him to draw a map to the Skull lair. With that, the group set out to take the fight to the Skulls and try to find Lucinda, the Duke’s daughter. Fawnsworth reamained with the Duke to help the Duke check to make sure no other Skulls had disguised themselves as the Royal Guards.
The party traversed the city and found the grate in the courtyard that the Skull described. Then Fid noticed that the grate could be easily lifted, so he did so and climbed down a ladder into the darkness. After traveling a few hundred feet to the east, the group came to an old set of double doors. Fid, took out the head of the Skull priest that Fawnsworth had severed a day ago, and he knocked on the doors. A voice from the other rang out, “who’s there?” Fid replied, “we have a present…the head of one of your priests.” The group could tell that the voice on the other side was puzzled. Fid readied an action to attack as soon as he had a chance. Low and behold, the door cracked open a bit and Fid smashed into it with all his force wielding his battle axe in bloody vengeance.
On the other side of the door, the group could see that about 30’ inside a drawbridge mechanism was in the full up position and 2 elite warriors stood against them with 6 other Skull thugs running from other areas. As the party took on these foes, one of the elite warriors disengaged and ran to a wheel. As he started turning it, the drawbridge began to lower. Soon the passage would open up and more Skulls would be able to enter the fray. Tris, Darhgel, Fid and Nalcon fought bravely, both Fid and Nalcon taking damage from sling bullets and sword strokes. Although the Skull warrior who was lowering the draw bridge was put down, another moved over to finish the job. As the fight spilled onto the draw bridge, the party could see a yawning cavern below. Darhgel scorched a number of foes with burning hands. Fid hacked a number of the Skulls down. Triss used her rapier with deadly results and Nalcon smashed a few of the foe with his mace to crumple them beneath Pelor’s might. At one point, Fid tried to push one of the Skulls who was closest to the edge of the bridge off into the cavern below, but alas the roguish thug was too dexterous, and he avoided Fid’s maneuver.
With only 3 of the original Skulls still alive, 3 new ones joined the fight. These were priests and acolytes. One of the priests moved closer and did an incantation. Fid’s armor began to burn and Fid wailed in pain. Since a number of the original foes were wounded, Triss sang a song of sleeping. One of the Skulls dropped to the ground, but the other (a tough warrior with breast plate and shield, who Fid noticed wielded a silvered longsword) remained on his feet. That warrior hacked at Fid and with two direct hits knocked Fid down, unconscious and bleeding out. This prompted Darhgel to step up and let loose a lightning bolt which injured a few Skull foes, and decimated another. Tris sang her battle song and Nalcon stepped forward to heal the fallen Warforged Dwarf (Fid). The Skull priest and 2 acolytes all inflicted wounds on Nalcon causing him distress even though he was able to shrug off the worst of those spells. Both Nalcon and Fid were bloodied and in trouble. Seeing that Fid was still quite wounded, Nalcon healed him once again. This gave Fid a fighting chance. After a number of rounds of battle, the tide eventually turned as Darhgel fired another lightning bolt towards the foes. The last remaining Skull disengaged from the fight and ran toward the south door. Fid stepped up and threw two throwing axes squarely into the foes back, dropping him before he could get to the doors and raise an alarm.
After looting the corpses finding 45 silver and 25 gold (along with the armor and weapons), Fid took the silvered longsword. Then the party checked the guard rooms on the other side of the drawbridge, set up a secure position by pulling up the bridge again, and set watch for a short rest that was uneventful. After binding some wounds, Darhgel studied his spells once more and recovered another lightning bolt. Then Fid decided that if they could draw others out of that fortress on to the bridge, they would have a very good chance to take them down.
The party opened the drawbridge once again and Fid went into the inside torch-lit room. He saw a number of old statues, the double doors to the south and single doors to the east and west. Then Fid started banging on metal and raised a racket. He called out to the other Skulls trying to get others to come out and “play.” One Skull entered from the east door, but when he saw the carnage, he ran directly to the double doors in the south. He knocked on the door, uttered something through the door, and when the door opened he disappeared within. Hoping that would draw more Skulls out, Fid and the party waited. Nothing happened. They waited some more. Nothing happened. Perhaps the Skull had run to escape, or perhaps other Skulls were setting up defenses on the other side of the double doors.
Realizing that no other Skulls would be coming out, Fid stepped up to the double doors and smashed on them with his hammer. With a few mighty blows, the doors splintered and burst in. Looking through the opened doorway, about 60’ down the hallway, the party could see a group of 4 Skulls. One was the Skull who ran. One was a robed priest. The other seemed to be a devilish caster of sorts. The fourth was an elite warrior who held a leash in his hand. The leash was attached to two large hounds that had smoke and fire belching from their nostrils and mouth.
That’s where we ended the session…..a cliffhanger.
Comments
I finally managed to put Fid in danger. The heat metal spell and a number of attacks that hit took him down. Luckily Nalcon could heal him to get him back up.
Again, I’m creating NPC type monsters using class levels. The priests are quite dangerous, and the elite warriors (5th level) are also a better challenge because they can attack 2x per round (and action surge 1 per combat). That helped put Fid in danger.
Inflict wounds is also quite nasty, especially if multiple priests or acolytes can cast them in a round. Lucky for Nalcon, he was able to make his Con save on 3 different inflict wound spells. That saved his bacon.
Still enjoying the gaming experience with D&D Next.
"Taking the Fight to The Skulls"
We played for 2 hours…2 players –– 5th level PCs – Continuing our Campaign
T’rissril Eilsndar the Drow Bard
Fid (the Dwarven Fighter who transformed into a Warforge Fighter)
Fawnsworth the Gnome Illusionist ex-jester
Nalcon the Noble Cleric of Pelor
Darhgel the Tiefling Evoker
The party was recovering from the attack in the palace prison area. Tris and Fawnsworth both bound their wounds. As they planned their next move, they spoke with the Duke a little more and both Nalcon and Darhgel (two companions who had gone off on their own for a while) entered the hall. To help them a bit, the Duke dug into his own pockets and gave the group 4 small bottles – healing potions. Then, in order to get more information about where the Skull lair was, Fid interrogated the Skull prisoner. Since the prisoner was barely conscious, Fid was able to get him to draw a map to the Skull lair. With that, the group set out to take the fight to the Skulls and try to find Lucinda, the Duke’s daughter. Fawnsworth reamained with the Duke to help the Duke check to make sure no other Skulls had disguised themselves as the Royal Guards.
The party traversed the city and found the grate in the courtyard that the Skull described. Then Fid noticed that the grate could be easily lifted, so he did so and climbed down a ladder into the darkness. After traveling a few hundred feet to the east, the group came to an old set of double doors. Fid, took out the head of the Skull priest that Fawnsworth had severed a day ago, and he knocked on the doors. A voice from the other rang out, “who’s there?” Fid replied, “we have a present…the head of one of your priests.” The group could tell that the voice on the other side was puzzled. Fid readied an action to attack as soon as he had a chance. Low and behold, the door cracked open a bit and Fid smashed into it with all his force wielding his battle axe in bloody vengeance.
On the other side of the door, the group could see that about 30’ inside a drawbridge mechanism was in the full up position and 2 elite warriors stood against them with 6 other Skull thugs running from other areas. As the party took on these foes, one of the elite warriors disengaged and ran to a wheel. As he started turning it, the drawbridge began to lower. Soon the passage would open up and more Skulls would be able to enter the fray. Tris, Darhgel, Fid and Nalcon fought bravely, both Fid and Nalcon taking damage from sling bullets and sword strokes. Although the Skull warrior who was lowering the draw bridge was put down, another moved over to finish the job. As the fight spilled onto the draw bridge, the party could see a yawning cavern below. Darhgel scorched a number of foes with burning hands. Fid hacked a number of the Skulls down. Triss used her rapier with deadly results and Nalcon smashed a few of the foe with his mace to crumple them beneath Pelor’s might. At one point, Fid tried to push one of the Skulls who was closest to the edge of the bridge off into the cavern below, but alas the roguish thug was too dexterous, and he avoided Fid’s maneuver.
With only 3 of the original Skulls still alive, 3 new ones joined the fight. These were priests and acolytes. One of the priests moved closer and did an incantation. Fid’s armor began to burn and Fid wailed in pain. Since a number of the original foes were wounded, Triss sang a song of sleeping. One of the Skulls dropped to the ground, but the other (a tough warrior with breast plate and shield, who Fid noticed wielded a silvered longsword) remained on his feet. That warrior hacked at Fid and with two direct hits knocked Fid down, unconscious and bleeding out. This prompted Darhgel to step up and let loose a lightning bolt which injured a few Skull foes, and decimated another. Tris sang her battle song and Nalcon stepped forward to heal the fallen Warforged Dwarf (Fid). The Skull priest and 2 acolytes all inflicted wounds on Nalcon causing him distress even though he was able to shrug off the worst of those spells. Both Nalcon and Fid were bloodied and in trouble. Seeing that Fid was still quite wounded, Nalcon healed him once again. This gave Fid a fighting chance. After a number of rounds of battle, the tide eventually turned as Darhgel fired another lightning bolt towards the foes. The last remaining Skull disengaged from the fight and ran toward the south door. Fid stepped up and threw two throwing axes squarely into the foes back, dropping him before he could get to the doors and raise an alarm.
After looting the corpses finding 45 silver and 25 gold (along with the armor and weapons), Fid took the silvered longsword. Then the party checked the guard rooms on the other side of the drawbridge, set up a secure position by pulling up the bridge again, and set watch for a short rest that was uneventful. After binding some wounds, Darhgel studied his spells once more and recovered another lightning bolt. Then Fid decided that if they could draw others out of that fortress on to the bridge, they would have a very good chance to take them down.
The party opened the drawbridge once again and Fid went into the inside torch-lit room. He saw a number of old statues, the double doors to the south and single doors to the east and west. Then Fid started banging on metal and raised a racket. He called out to the other Skulls trying to get others to come out and “play.” One Skull entered from the east door, but when he saw the carnage, he ran directly to the double doors in the south. He knocked on the door, uttered something through the door, and when the door opened he disappeared within. Hoping that would draw more Skulls out, Fid and the party waited. Nothing happened. They waited some more. Nothing happened. Perhaps the Skull had run to escape, or perhaps other Skulls were setting up defenses on the other side of the double doors.
Realizing that no other Skulls would be coming out, Fid stepped up to the double doors and smashed on them with his hammer. With a few mighty blows, the doors splintered and burst in. Looking through the opened doorway, about 60’ down the hallway, the party could see a group of 4 Skulls. One was the Skull who ran. One was a robed priest. The other seemed to be a devilish caster of sorts. The fourth was an elite warrior who held a leash in his hand. The leash was attached to two large hounds that had smoke and fire belching from their nostrils and mouth.
That’s where we ended the session…..a cliffhanger.
Comments
I finally managed to put Fid in danger. The heat metal spell and a number of attacks that hit took him down. Luckily Nalcon could heal him to get him back up.
Again, I’m creating NPC type monsters using class levels. The priests are quite dangerous, and the elite warriors (5th level) are also a better challenge because they can attack 2x per round (and action surge 1 per combat). That helped put Fid in danger.
Inflict wounds is also quite nasty, especially if multiple priests or acolytes can cast them in a round. Lucky for Nalcon, he was able to make his Con save on 3 different inflict wound spells. That saved his bacon.
Still enjoying the gaming experience with D&D Next.
