LostSoul
Adventurer
It was Canada Day so we played a little longer than normal - about 5 hours or so. Lendil's player moved away so we are down to three! Next time we'll get some new blood in.
We had two new PCs - a half-elf Bard named Shamon Moonwalker and a human Warden named Umal. We threw around a few ideas about how they would join up with the group while we waited for two_fishes to show up; once he got there, we jumped right into the role-playing.
I had Bairwin Wildarson approach Hekubus. He had asked them to escort his carvan back to Winterhaven the previous day, but was told to wait. Now only Hekubus had returned. He asked Hekubus if he'd like to accompany the bard and the mysterious guy in the corner of bar with them to Winterhaven, as he had hired them on as muscle.
Hekubus must have wanted revenge on draconic creatures and the Umal the Warden was hunting down the same, so they decided to clear out Kobold Hall for the rewards promised (a bounty on kobold ears and the cured dragonscale lost somewhere within). The PCs bid Bairwin farewell and went into the ruins of an ancient castle now known only as Kobold Hall.
We ran through the first encounter and it was a breeze for them. 3rd-level PCs, even 3 of them, made short work of the encounter. One slinger escaped to warn his companions in the next room; the PCs debated if they should take 5 to catch their breath or not. In the end they waited.
They moved onto the trap room and Umal got nailed with a couple darts. Shamon spotted the kobolds lurking around the ancient coffins after lighting up the room with a torch. Once a target presented itself, Hekubus chopped his head off his shoulders with a single blow.
Another cakewalk for the PCs. Umal triggered three dart traps and lost a few healing surges, but nothing major. The slinger who fled into this room fled into the next along with a bloodied skirmisher.
They moved into the skull-skull room and started off well. The slinger who kept running killed himself out of shame after Shamon spoke a word of power (killed him with that one Bard at-will power, I forget the name). The skull-skull bomb came after Hekubus but he dodged it easily.
Umal opened the doors and was at once set upon by the two guard drakes who tore into him, dealing 27 points of damage. I think Hekubus got hit twice by the skull-skull and was pushed into the pit. (We forgot about the "catch yourself" saving throw.) But Shamon did some fancy dance moves and brought Umal back to life.
Umal went down once again after getting flanked by a skirmisher, Shamon was thrown into the pit by the skull-skull, and when Umal got back up he got knocked down at its edge (when we remembered the saving throw). Then the PCs turned things around and started dishing out the damage to the bunched-up bad guys and soon won the day.
Two kobold minions fled into the next room; the PCs decided to take a short rest, slamming the doors shut.
After a few minutes those same minions came back into the room to parlay. They said that the PCs could leave with their lives if they would pay tribute or something. Shamon easily fooled the kobolds into thinking he was going to go along with this plan, giving them a statue of tiamat they had picked up and promising to give them some gold.
The kobold minions led them into the next room (the one with the boulder) and the wyrmpriest started questioning them. Once he came into sight Umal charged him in a surprise round. (Shamon had done such a good job of making them listen to him that they were unprepared for Umal's attack.)
Umal missed the wyrmpriest and the PCs rolled crap for initiative. Umal got blasted by the wyrmpriest who shifted back to the dragonshields for safety; the dragonshields moved down the stairs and readied attacks.
The boulder came rolling out but didn't hit anyone.
Umal moved into the dragonshields, hoping to bull rush them so he'd be past the boulder; this triggered their shifty movement powers and they stepped back. He was forced to spend an AP to move out of the boulder's path, and then the dragonshield's readied actions triggered and they nailed him.
Umal was bloodied at this point.
Hekubus and Shamon were dealing with the slingers in the middle of the room, attacking them from range, when they launched their glue pots. Shamon was immobilized, I think, and the boulder was coming. Hekubus leapt up onto the top of the middle area and started smacking the slingers around, pushing the ladder one was standing on. It fell and he broke his neck.
Umal took some more punishment and dropped. The boulder rolled over Shamon. Shamon brought Umal back to life, but once again the kobolds dropped him. Things were not looking good.
Did I mention Umal was out of Healing Surges at this point? Yeah, he was.
Hekubus tried to leap across from the middle of the room to the ledge the wyrmpriest was on - his fingers grabbed the ledge - but not enough and he fell. A few blasts from the wyrmpriest, an attack from a shifty dragonshield, and he was down as well.
Shamon moonwalked around the room and brought the other PCs back up (Umal with 1 hp now). They made a mad dash for the exit and the DM's hot dice failed him, just making it.
Here is where things got tense.
The wyrmpriest shouted out, "Wake the master!" The PCs knew they were going to be chased.
We ran a quick skill challenge. I described the area and the PCs decided they were going to try and find a place to hide. They spotted a rotted-out log which they all climbed into. They felt a chill in the air, their hearts started pounding in their chest, and Hekubus recognized this as the presence of a dragon.
The kobolds started scouring the area; the dragon was sniffing round. The spiretop drake landed on the log as Shamon was quietly singing a ritual to make them run as fast as horses; he played the tune to mimic a bird and the drake scurried off into the forest to find it.
Then they ran. Hekubus called his boar (in the woods rooting out truffles) and rode it. Shamon and Umal ran. It was only about 15 miles to Fallcrest; they could make it in about two hours.
The dragon spotted them on the road and the chase was on.
The dragon was gaining on them, but they had enough distance if they could keep up the pace. Hekubus pushed his boar on. Shamon was panting with exertion, but he was going to make it.
Umal, battered by his wounds, couldn't keep up the pace and the dragon closed in on him.
Hekubus and Shamon saw that Umal was going to be overtaken and they turned around. Umal had one last chance to catch his breath and outpace the dragon but it closed in on them.
Hekubus was overcome by the awesome presence of the dragon (the second he was facing in as many days) and was shaken. He decided to flee after the dragon swatted down Umal.
Facing the dragon alone, Shamon feigned death after suffering a vicious claw attack. The dragon searched his body for gems; finding none, he searched Umal's body and, taking a magic sword, flew after Hekubus in a rage, leaving the others for dead.
Hekubus made it to Fallcrest before the dragon could close in.
Hekubus went back to the inn to sulk, alone again. An hour later Shamon and Umal arrived and they vowed revenge.
They bought some potions, healed up, and struck back out for Kobold Hall the next day. They met the kobolds and challenged their leader; the dragon obliged.
This time the fight went much better for the PCs; the kobolds, watching the PCs in action, decided that they had new masters now and cut their ears off in tribute. This endeared them to Hekubus and he ordered them to take care of Kobold Hall in his name. The PCs gathered the loot, cashed in on the gp and xp bounty, and rested.
That's where we left it.
I wasn't sure if I should have had the dragon go after them, but I asked myself: what would they do? It made sense; they could go after the wounded PCs now or wait for them to come back the next day, rested and ready for action. I'm trying not to care about what happens to the PCs, just playing the monsters in a logical way.
A skill challenge seemed like a fair way to resolve getting away from the dragon, considering that I already felt like I was being a hard-ass by having him chase them down. I didn't give them much breathing room, and it was a tense challenge, but in retrospect I should have called for at least two more rolls from Umal after the dragon caught up to him - though what would have made sense, I have no idea.
I did give them the option of sacrificing the boar, but Hekubus was against the idea.
I felt like I went too easy on Umal after they went down. I had them roll a d20 to see who the dragon would eat, if anyone, lower roll = dragon food; Umal lost that roll, so he made a saving throw to see if it would eat him. He made the save so the dragon went after Hekubus.
Maybe that makes up for the mistake with the skill challenge! Next time we'll have to be a bit tighter about things.
Hekubus did gain a level, and the kobolds left in Kobold Hall will start up some kind of crazy temple to the Raven Queen, and that might be interesting. They could make some good allies against the kobolds in the Cairngorms if things come to that.
We had two new PCs - a half-elf Bard named Shamon Moonwalker and a human Warden named Umal. We threw around a few ideas about how they would join up with the group while we waited for two_fishes to show up; once he got there, we jumped right into the role-playing.
I had Bairwin Wildarson approach Hekubus. He had asked them to escort his carvan back to Winterhaven the previous day, but was told to wait. Now only Hekubus had returned. He asked Hekubus if he'd like to accompany the bard and the mysterious guy in the corner of bar with them to Winterhaven, as he had hired them on as muscle.
I ad-libbed that on the spot, and made sure to tell the players that they could overrule it, but they seemed okay with it once I told them about Kobold Hall.
Hekubus must have wanted revenge on draconic creatures and the Umal the Warden was hunting down the same, so they decided to clear out Kobold Hall for the rewards promised (a bounty on kobold ears and the cured dragonscale lost somewhere within). The PCs bid Bairwin farewell and went into the ruins of an ancient castle now known only as Kobold Hall.
We ran through the first encounter and it was a breeze for them. 3rd-level PCs, even 3 of them, made short work of the encounter. One slinger escaped to warn his companions in the next room; the PCs debated if they should take 5 to catch their breath or not. In the end they waited.
They moved onto the trap room and Umal got nailed with a couple darts. Shamon spotted the kobolds lurking around the ancient coffins after lighting up the room with a torch. Once a target presented itself, Hekubus chopped his head off his shoulders with a single blow.
Hekubus declared that he would cut the kobold's head off with a "stunt" before he made the roll; it turned out to be a crit and did enough damage to kill him anyways.
Another cakewalk for the PCs. Umal triggered three dart traps and lost a few healing surges, but nothing major. The slinger who fled into this room fled into the next along with a bloodied skirmisher.
They moved into the skull-skull room and started off well. The slinger who kept running killed himself out of shame after Shamon spoke a word of power (killed him with that one Bard at-will power, I forget the name). The skull-skull bomb came after Hekubus but he dodged it easily.
Once again, Hekubus declared he would dodge it before the roll came and he predicted the outcome.
Umal opened the doors and was at once set upon by the two guard drakes who tore into him, dealing 27 points of damage. I think Hekubus got hit twice by the skull-skull and was pushed into the pit. (We forgot about the "catch yourself" saving throw.) But Shamon did some fancy dance moves and brought Umal back to life.
Umal went down once again after getting flanked by a skirmisher, Shamon was thrown into the pit by the skull-skull, and when Umal got back up he got knocked down at its edge (when we remembered the saving throw). Then the PCs turned things around and started dishing out the damage to the bunched-up bad guys and soon won the day.
Two kobold minions fled into the next room; the PCs decided to take a short rest, slamming the doors shut.
After a few minutes those same minions came back into the room to parlay. They said that the PCs could leave with their lives if they would pay tribute or something. Shamon easily fooled the kobolds into thinking he was going to go along with this plan, giving them a statue of tiamat they had picked up and promising to give them some gold.
The kobold minions led them into the next room (the one with the boulder) and the wyrmpriest started questioning them. Once he came into sight Umal charged him in a surprise round. (Shamon had done such a good job of making them listen to him that they were unprepared for Umal's attack.)
Umal missed the wyrmpriest and the PCs rolled crap for initiative. Umal got blasted by the wyrmpriest who shifted back to the dragonshields for safety; the dragonshields moved down the stairs and readied attacks.
The boulder came rolling out but didn't hit anyone.
Umal moved into the dragonshields, hoping to bull rush them so he'd be past the boulder; this triggered their shifty movement powers and they stepped back. He was forced to spend an AP to move out of the boulder's path, and then the dragonshield's readied actions triggered and they nailed him.
Umal was bloodied at this point.
Hekubus and Shamon were dealing with the slingers in the middle of the room, attacking them from range, when they launched their glue pots. Shamon was immobilized, I think, and the boulder was coming. Hekubus leapt up onto the top of the middle area and started smacking the slingers around, pushing the ladder one was standing on. It fell and he broke his neck.
Umal took some more punishment and dropped. The boulder rolled over Shamon. Shamon brought Umal back to life, but once again the kobolds dropped him. Things were not looking good.
Did I mention Umal was out of Healing Surges at this point? Yeah, he was.
Hekubus tried to leap across from the middle of the room to the ledge the wyrmpriest was on - his fingers grabbed the ledge - but not enough and he fell. A few blasts from the wyrmpriest, an attack from a shifty dragonshield, and he was down as well.
Shamon moonwalked around the room and brought the other PCs back up (Umal with 1 hp now). They made a mad dash for the exit and the DM's hot dice failed him, just making it.
Here is where things got tense.
The wyrmpriest shouted out, "Wake the master!" The PCs knew they were going to be chased.
We ran a quick skill challenge. I described the area and the PCs decided they were going to try and find a place to hide. They spotted a rotted-out log which they all climbed into. They felt a chill in the air, their hearts started pounding in their chest, and Hekubus recognized this as the presence of a dragon.
The kobolds started scouring the area; the dragon was sniffing round. The spiretop drake landed on the log as Shamon was quietly singing a ritual to make them run as fast as horses; he played the tune to mimic a bird and the drake scurried off into the forest to find it.
Then they ran. Hekubus called his boar (in the woods rooting out truffles) and rode it. Shamon and Umal ran. It was only about 15 miles to Fallcrest; they could make it in about two hours.
The dragon spotted them on the road and the chase was on.
The dragon was gaining on them, but they had enough distance if they could keep up the pace. Hekubus pushed his boar on. Shamon was panting with exertion, but he was going to make it.
Umal, battered by his wounds, couldn't keep up the pace and the dragon closed in on him.
Now that I think about it, that was only 1 failure in the skill challenge - Umal's Endurance failure. The way I proposed it was that they all had to make Endurance checks, and whoever failed would be caught by the dragon. I guess that makes it a "partial success" kind of skill challenge. I probably should have given them more chances to do something. Oh well. I was in the flow.
Hekubus and Shamon saw that Umal was going to be overtaken and they turned around. Umal had one last chance to catch his breath and outpace the dragon but it closed in on them.
Hekubus was overcome by the awesome presence of the dragon (the second he was facing in as many days) and was shaken. He decided to flee after the dragon swatted down Umal.
Facing the dragon alone, Shamon feigned death after suffering a vicious claw attack. The dragon searched his body for gems; finding none, he searched Umal's body and, taking a magic sword, flew after Hekubus in a rage, leaving the others for dead.
Hekubus made it to Fallcrest before the dragon could close in.
Hekubus went back to the inn to sulk, alone again. An hour later Shamon and Umal arrived and they vowed revenge.
They bought some potions, healed up, and struck back out for Kobold Hall the next day. They met the kobolds and challenged their leader; the dragon obliged.
This time the fight went much better for the PCs; the kobolds, watching the PCs in action, decided that they had new masters now and cut their ears off in tribute. This endeared them to Hekubus and he ordered them to take care of Kobold Hall in his name. The PCs gathered the loot, cashed in on the gp and xp bounty, and rested.
That's where we left it.
I wasn't sure if I should have had the dragon go after them, but I asked myself: what would they do? It made sense; they could go after the wounded PCs now or wait for them to come back the next day, rested and ready for action. I'm trying not to care about what happens to the PCs, just playing the monsters in a logical way.
A skill challenge seemed like a fair way to resolve getting away from the dragon, considering that I already felt like I was being a hard-ass by having him chase them down. I didn't give them much breathing room, and it was a tense challenge, but in retrospect I should have called for at least two more rolls from Umal after the dragon caught up to him - though what would have made sense, I have no idea.
I did give them the option of sacrificing the boar, but Hekubus was against the idea.
I felt like I went too easy on Umal after they went down. I had them roll a d20 to see who the dragon would eat, if anyone, lower roll = dragon food; Umal lost that roll, so he made a saving throw to see if it would eat him. He made the save so the dragon went after Hekubus.
Maybe that makes up for the mistake with the skill challenge! Next time we'll have to be a bit tighter about things.
Hekubus did gain a level, and the kobolds left in Kobold Hall will start up some kind of crazy temple to the Raven Queen, and that might be interesting. They could make some good allies against the kobolds in the Cairngorms if things come to that.