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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Rhenny" data-source="post: 5730066" data-attributes="member: 18333">Before this session, I added a house rule that gave PCs an action point every encounter...but I also warned them that monster leaders, elites, etc would also have action points.    I did this to help me with bookkeeping and to speed up combats.   I think I like how it worked.  Without using action points, I think our adventurers might not have made it through this encounter.  As it was, the Cleric used all of his healing and every PC took his 2nd wind.  Even though nobody went down, it was a tense fight.  Here it is:9th SessionAs the party waited at the closed portcullis, Karyak decided to cut off the Necromancer’s Orcus Skull Tattoo to keep as a token or for possible use later if the group would need to impersonate worshipers of Orcus.  Then he and Xaxis experimented with the Rune Box Karayk had in his bag of holding.  They took the box out and observed it close to the fallen zombies and then further away, near the entrance to the underground sewer and closer to the portcullis.  The box glowed slightly brighter and hotter than it did the night before, but it did not change when they brought it to new locations near and far from the zombies.  To continue into the sewers, Karyak went back to the portcullis lever and pushed it up.  The sound of gears and iron chains echoed through the dungeon and the portcullis raised into the ceiling.  Before stepping into the sewer, Geyorg scanned the area and with encouragement from the others, he took the lifeless Skeleton Soldier’s longsword and used it to jam the portcullis open, successfully manipulating the mechanism to keep the iron gate open.  Then, Geyorg looked ahead with the entire group, and saw the back of a huge humanoid statue in the middle of the passage ahead.  The statue rose 8 feet high and takes up about 5’ from side to side in the middle of a 15’ passageway.  Grimgold noticed that the statue was carved from stone as an ornament within the sewerway.  On the statue, Xaxis felt the fleeting, dissipated aura of magical energy, elemental in nature, but nobody else could find anything else extraordinary about the statue. Slipping past the statue, Geyorg went into the larger sewer way.  Then the others followed.  From out of the darkness to the north, two arrows wizzed into the group, hitting both Geyorg and Xaxis, doing considerable damage.  The group ran back to the original statue and entrance tunnel to gain cover and plan their strategy.   Before ducking around the corner, Xaxis through his light spell 50’ to the north, and he illuminated the area to reveal a phalanx of Hobgoblins (3 grunts, 1 trapsmith and a Hobgoblin soldier blocking the 25’ wide passage way.  Grimgold came up with the tactical idea to wait them out, and try to badger or vex them enough so that they come to the party.  Geyorg took the next two rounds to make pop-out attacks against two grunts, killing both with his hand crossbow.  Luckily he avoided one of the archer’s arrows, but another arrow hit him and injured him badly.   The others helped Geyorg back into cover and Karyak used his healing word to sooth the deep puncture wounds.  In a few rounds, Karyak saw another figure come out behind the phalanx, and Grimgold also popped out  to throw his hammer and down another grunt.  While everyone waited to see the Hobgoblins’ reactions, the Hobgoblin soldier barked orders.  Then the Hobgoblin Trapsmith sneaked forward to get cover behind another statue 50’ up the sewer.  Xaxis and Geyorg saw him, make this maneuver and then they both heard some tinkering, the sound of tools on stone and metal.After a few rounds of tension, waiting, the Hobgoblins began to advance with the Soldier and a War Mage moving toward the hidden party with cover from two archers further to the north in the dark.  The trapsmith stayed behind statue and tinkered more, as the War Mage casted a larger version of Scorching Burst into the corridor where the party hid.  The blast damaged Karyak, Xaxis and Grim, so Karyak casted Healing Word to bring Xaxis near to full health.The party heard more orders or communication from the Hobgoblin Soldier and a huge chain wielding Hobgoblin Chief, turned the corner behind the other Hobgoblins, and rushed up to face the party. Back where the party fortified their position, Karayk and Grim attacked the Soldier, and Xaxis took him down with a Scorching Burst.  Then the chain wielding Hob stepped up, tripped and bloodied Grimgold.  Grim was able to stand, step back and use his second wind to regain his footing and continue the battle, but soon after, the Hobgoblin War Mage shot another Scorching Burst into the crowd injuring the group and bloodying Karyak badly.   Karyak took his action to step back and use his second wind, and then Xaxis did the same.Going toe to toe, in the small area between the large humanoid statue and the small corridor, Grim attacked and marked the Hobgoblin Chief, while Geyorg moved around the statue on the other side to flank the Chief, and deliver a devastating Piercing Strike with sneak attack damage.  This enraged the Chief so he turned and lashed out at Geyorg with his deadly chains, tripping Geyorg and sending him to the ground.  Once Geyorg was down, the chief laughed and raised his steel shod boot, and smashed it down on Geyorg’s face, further bloodying the prone Eladrin rogue.   Fortunately for Geyorg, the archers who were firing at him, missed.Standing the next round, and attacking the Chief, flanking him with Grimgold,  Geyorg and Grimgold were able to injure and bloody the mighty Chief.  Over the next few rounds, Xaxis kept behind a wall to protect himself, while using magic missle to damage the Chief only 1 out of 3 rounds.The battle continued as the War Mage tried to Lure Grimgold out into the larger hallway with a spell.  Grim resisted.   Then, in the next round, the War Mage used a Force spell that damaged Grim, Geyorg and Karayk, while knocking Karayk back 10’ to his knees.   Bloodied and in bad shape, Karyak stood and used his Healer’s Mercy to refresh himself and his comrades.Fighting the Chief, Grim attacked with Villian’s Menace missing but still granting +1 attack/+2 damage against the Chief for the rest of the encounter.  Exhausted and bloodied again, Grim needed to use a Healing potion as insurance against the Hobgoblin Chief’s wicked chains. Using his scorching burst again, Xaxis targeted the Chief and the War Mage, scoring a hit on the Chief, but the War Mage dodged at the last split second to avoid the raging flames.  Geyorg kept the sneak attacks up, while Karyak charged to attack the trapsmith with his Righteous Brand, connecting to kill the Hobgoblin and grant Grimgold divine pursuance on his next attack. Geyorg’s next attack hobbled the Chief, so Grimgold set up to take the killing blow, chopping the Chief down for good. Just then, the War Mage backed off and scorched the party once again.   Geyorg ran over to attack and tried to get cover behind a statue on the other side of the larger sewerway; unfortunately he was hit by another arrow.  Bloodied but still fighting, Geyorg slashed the War Mage with his longsword and drew more blood.  Then Karayk charged the War Mage, slashing into it with his blade to grant Grimgold another divine benefit on his next attack.  Grim moved into the larger sewer, but he could not close on the caster, so he took a hammer from his belt and tossed it at the casters unguarded face,  smashing it to the ground with a critical hit.   At this point, the party heard longbows drop to ground and footsteps recede…then splashing in water.  It seemed as if the archers ran away.  Soon after, the party heard a grate of steel in the distance, and their suspicions seemed to be confirmed.After searching the bodies of the fallen Hobgoblins, the group found that they too wore Orcus Skull tattoos on their necks.  Karyak sliced three of the tattoos, with flesh attached to save for later use.  As the group rested and healed a bit, Geyorg and Grimgold realized that the Hobgoblin trapsmith was actually disabling a fire trap so that the Hobgoblins could advance down the sewer to attack the adventurers.  The adventurers were quite fortunate that Grimgold decided to wait the Hobgoblins out thus avoiding the trapped area of the sewer.  In addition, the party found the following:The War Mage used a +1 Staff of the War Mage, which Xaxis could use.In a box in an alcove of the sewer, the group found 200 gp, 200 sp, 2 healing potions (Healing Surge +15), and a large set of +1 Exalted Chainmail that Karyak could use.Finally, on the Chief, the party found a scrap of paper with Hobgoblin scrawl on it.  Xaxis asked to see the paper.  Then he performed an arcane ritual and within 15 minutes, he could read the message:    “Find the Mage Trust Rep…..and the box.”It was an unsigned message, but ominous just the same.****This was a very dangerous encounter.  Great tactics gang…350 xp each and you are now 3rd level.  You feel slightly more powerful, but very tired nonetheless.</blockquote>

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