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Story Hour
The Dark Squad in the Secrets of Saltmarsh #135 Sorry For The (Attempted) Genocide.
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<blockquote data-quote="Goonalan" data-source="post: 8570429" data-attributes="member: 16069"><p style="text-align: center"><strong>Dark Squad in the Secrets of Saltmarsh</strong></p><p></p><p><strong>Session #082: St. Newt and the Gnoll-GRIND.</strong></p><p><strong></strong></p><p><strong>Dark Squad (in alphabetical order, no egos here).</strong></p><p><strong>Daktari (played by Haggis) Male Human Uthgardt Sky Pony Barbarian Lvl 8</strong></p><p><strong>New Tricks (played by Bear) Male Tabaxi Warlock Lvl 8</strong></p><p><strong>Ramshambo (played by Kev) Male Half-Elf Rogue/Fighter Lvl 7/1</strong></p><p><strong>Vincenzo (played by Haggis) Male Shifter (Wildhunt) Druid Lvl 8</strong></p><p><strong></strong></p><p><strong>NPCs</strong></p><p><strong>Inverna Nightbreeze (played by George) Female Wood Elf Fighter Lvl 8 (Sidekick)</strong></p><p><strong><s>Garumn Male Mountain Dwarf Paladin of Moradin Lvl 5 </s>RIP*</strong></p><p><strong><s>Tarbin Tul (played by goonalan) Male Human Bard </s>RETIRED</strong></p><p><strong>Ubmo (played by Goonalan) Supreme Being Lvl 1 </strong></p><p><strong>*Trapped in the Land of the Bad Dead Ancestors.</strong></p><p><strong></strong></p><p><strong>Servants/Familiars</strong></p><p><strong>Gerald (Bat/Giant Bat) servant/mount of New Tricks</strong></p><p><strong>Owly (Owl) Vinnie’s familiar</strong></p><p><strong></strong></p><p><strong>The Dark Squad’s to-do list-</strong></p><p></p><ol> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">Clear and/or re-consecrate the Shrine of Savras in the Old Wood, then return to the Moon Pool to glimpse the future.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">Remember, we've got to find the other four Symbols of Ub, one was left in Deepbridge (Duergar fortress in the Underdark). The others need to be found, they belonged to- Rambles 'Shambles' Bowspirit (halfling killer), Antonio De La Crane (posh kid druid alchemist) & Giggles (crazy wood elf). All of these folk lived in the Saltmarsh region, the Dark Squad have found the De La Crane Manse (in the Dreadwood) and the De La Crane Crypt (in Saltmarsh Cemetary).</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">Return to Fallowstone Holy, church of Oghma, pick up info (Witch's Tor & Pact of the Flame, although the Dark Squad probably know all about this stuff already). What else do you need to find out about? See above, and below.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">Warn Ashby- the Soggy's (Sahuagin) are coming!</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">Vinnie needs to be back for the next Saltmarsh Council meeting on the 1st Kythorn (June).</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">Nightshade is in the Deep Dreadwood?</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">Blackedge and the Goblin Stair?</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">To join the Pact of the Wild Flame you need to find the hidden weapons left to fight Ashardalon.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">To join the Pact of the Wild Flame prepare the Witch's Tor for the coming of the starfall.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">To join the Pact of the Wild Flame track down the last member of the Pact, a wild elf adventurer called Giggles- and finally put her spirit to rest, and also recover her maze button. SEE 2. ABOVE.</li> </ol><p>This is session 82, and another cracker, although- exactly as I predicted at the end of the last session.</p><p></p><p>Grrrrind.</p><p></p><p>So, the Shrine of Savras in the Old Woods and the gnolls have been awoken from their slumber, we start the session with a variety of chatter- the players are making plans, and lots of options are mooted but the overriding feeling is the Dark Squad are going to have to tough it out. Their plans only really kick in if the Dark Squad get ousted from the crumbling tower that they are at present defending.</p><p></p><p>Just to let you know- there are/were fifty-five gnolls & hyenas sprawled and mostly snoozing, and camped around the ruined shrine building. Within the shrine itself are the gnoll leaders (just two of them) and less than half-a-dozen guards. The PCs by the end are kicking themselves for not checking this place out earlier.</p><p></p><p>[ATTACH=full]153216[/ATTACH]</p><p><strong>The Dark Squad in their tower bottom left, and already there are a few gnolls in there with them.</strong></p><p></p><p>This then is all fighting, a four hour session of D&D that in game time equates to forty-eight seconds of action, that's it. Four hours = eight turns.</p><p></p><p>One more thing to make clear, and I didn't spot this until the end, the PCs initiative rolls really helped them here, Ram = 26, Vinnie 23, Inverna 21, Newt 21 & Daktari 18.</p><p></p><p>[ATTACH=full]153218[/ATTACH]</p><p><strong>The Dark Squad, actually very mostly Ram, clear out all of the gnolls that had made it into the tower. Note, I am deleting the bodies of the fallen every turn just to speed up FGU and to keep the map clear.</strong></p><p></p><p>Newt keeps concentrating on his sickening radiance- effectively blocking one entrance to the tower, and in the meantime keeps on blasting which also has the advantage of pushing the enemies back.</p><p></p><p>Vinnie keeps peppering the gnolls with bolts from his Call Lightning spell, this while hovering way above the action- he's wild-shaped into Vincen-Whoo (a giant owl) atm.</p><p></p><p>Ram keeps everyone safe within the tower, pretty much taking down any and all gnolls and hyenas that get into the ruin.</p><p></p><p>Inverna holds the line, while Daktari in a frenzied rage is out and about, and mixing it up with anyone that will fight him. Although this doesn't last-</p><p></p><p>“Excuse me! I am sorry, I will be back to kill you later...”</p><p></p><p>Do it in cod-Russian (I hesitate to write the word, and then tremble a little as a wave of anger washes over me).</p><p></p><p>Soon after Daktari has to cut his way back to his friends in the tower, even the crazy barbarian figures out that he wont last long stuck out in the open. At one point Dak is being attacked by six gnolls (three of them with four attacks each) and also being shot at by four more gnoll archers.</p><p></p><p>[ATTACH=full]153219[/ATTACH]</p><p><strong>Oh, and strange looking hyenas keep on rocking up (I think there were three of them in the encounter, from memory) and they're pretty tough- leucrotta's.</strong></p><p></p><p>A little later Inverna tells her comrades, in passing (and after a successful monster knowledge check), how leucrotta's are born- the offspring of gnolls & hyenas... Daktari is particularly repulsed.</p><p></p><p>“They are very dirty ponys!” Or something similar.</p><p></p><p>Then, much grinding follows, if you'll pardon the expression.</p><p></p><p>[ATTACH=full]153220[/ATTACH]</p><p><strong>That is until the Supreme Being, Ubmo, saves the day- Lightning Bolt.</strong></p><p></p><p>Just to note Ubmo, like Vinnie, has been flying high and keeping out of trouble, each turn however the happy modron does one of the following (roll 1d6) 1-2 throws a javelin, 3-4 fires a Witchbolt, 5-6 hits the Lightning Bolt button.</p><p></p><p>Lots of gnolls et al fail their saves and Ubmo rolls high for damage.</p><p></p><p>There's a ragged cheer as a bunch of enemies succumb to the blast, but this ain't over by a long chalk.</p><p></p><p>You'll note on the picture above, there's a gnoll climbing up the ruined tower, they're trying to get in from above now.</p><p></p><p>[ATTACH=full]153221[/ATTACH]</p><p><strong>Vincen-Whoo convinces the DM to allow him to shift his Call Lightning storm, spending both of his inspiration points to do so. Why not- I want them to win (the PCs). Besides the lightning bolts produced are only just chipping away at the enemies.</strong></p><p></p><p>But there are no end of gnolls, seemingly...</p><p></p><p>Then, a miracle- and not just one, a little later the miraculous act described below gets repeated.</p><p></p><p>Newt slithers over to Daktari, and while whispering in his ear-</p><p></p><p>“Hold still you raging hunk of love with great hair.”</p><p></p><p>The tabaxi warlock begins massaging Keoghtom's Ointment into the Sky Pony barbarian.</p><p></p><p>“A little lower if you please Newt- that's the spot!” Dak replies while squirming.</p><p></p><p>As I say a short while later he repeats the trick-</p><p></p><p>“Hold still my dear, you wont feel a thing, or else perhaps a little tingling and then a spreading warmth inside you...”</p><p></p><p>The tabaxi repeats the Keoghtom's treatment on Inverna, don't worry Ram has HR on speed-dial, trying to stay ahead of any future sexual harassment cases.</p><p></p><p>Two things.</p><p></p><p>One, Newt healing someone is... well, and let's be clear- I mean healing someone that isn't Newt. Well, that's just. Unheard of.</p><p></p><p>Two, we have a stat counter thing on the FGU, Ram takes a peak- one of the columns on it counts healing distributed to others. Newt just tripled his total score, although no-one (not even Newt) can remember him healing anyone previously.</p><p></p><p>The players conclude, correctly, that the tabaxi is smart enough to see that the only thing keeping him safe right now (he's still out of spells) are the meat shields plugging the gap.</p><p></p><p>Note, it's about now that the gnoll bosses and their meagre gnoll guards begin to exit the shrine, heading for the action.</p><p></p><p>But these are gnolls- the hunger is upon them, and while there are a few gnoll warriors (marked 'Tough Bastard Gnoll') on the map who are directing traffic. The rest of them just want to slaughter and eat the PCs. Their tactic is- get 'em!</p><p></p><p>[ATTACH=full]153222[/ATTACH]</p><p><strong>But the enemies keep on getting in to the tower, note the two leucrottas in action here, soon after Inverna gets hoofed and clawed repeatedly.</strong></p><p></p><p>And here's the leader-types on their way, spotted from above by Vinnie, who hoots furiously to let his colleagues know. Know what? He's not Lassie.</p><p></p><p>[ATTACH=full]153223[/ATTACH]</p><p><strong>But hang on... Vinnie ('20' Insight) recognises the crazy gnoll with the staff, it's the gnoll shaman that escaped from the De La Crane Manse back in session #52. The gnoll spellcaster (and the rest of the gnolls) were seemingly working for the Talos worshippers there (maybe).</strong></p><p></p><p>Note, when I write maybe I mean that's what the PCs think- I'm not confirming or denying.</p><p></p><p>Back to the here and now...</p><p></p><p>The other leader type moves at full speed directly for the Dark Squad, and all around her the gnolls come alive, or else are gathered up in a frenzied bloodlust.</p><p></p><p>All of the gnolls now do extra damage on their hits.</p><p></p><p>You'll note in the picture above that the tower is getting overrun.</p><p></p><p>But not for long.</p><p></p><p>[ATTACH=full]153224[/ATTACH]</p><p><strong>The Dark Squad, once again, clear the tower of enemies- mostly Ram and Newt- both of them never missing.</strong></p><p></p><p>Note there are now three gnolls up above on the crumbling tower, either firing arrows, flinging bolas, or else throwing spears.</p><p></p><p>Still busy.</p><p></p><p>More grind.</p><p></p><p>But now Vinnie has seen enough, the giant owl is gone, and straddling the tower the druid launches an Ice Storm into the thickest knot of gnolls, and then rolls something like 30-damage, there are many casualties- including four of the archers.</p><p></p><p>[ATTACH=full]153225[/ATTACH]</p><p><strong>Before...</strong></p><p></p><p>[ATTACH=full]153226[/ATTACH]</p><p><strong>After.</strong></p><p></p><p>Note the gnoll archers don't do a lot of damage but they keep on hitting because they have a Precise Aim bonus action, giving them a +1d8 to hit if they don't move on their turn.</p><p></p><p>But the gnolls are still not giving up, mainly because the gnoll clanmother (marked 'Ferocious Gnoll' on the map) is amongst them, driving them into a bloodlust frenzy.</p><p></p><p>I got the gnolls from a splatbook, and then added a few extras powers (to some) for good measure.</p><p></p><p>The gnolls break into the tower, again.</p><p></p><p>[ATTACH=full]153227[/ATTACH]</p><p><strong>This time there are dire consequences- Newt falls after being savaged by a tough bastard gnoll.</strong></p><p></p><p>But Vinnie, now the Moon Boar enters the fray- spider-climbing down the inside wall of the tower, and gets a potion of greater healing into the warlock.</p><p></p><p>Inverna and Daktari are also running out of hit points fast, and at this point Inverna has already sunk a potion of greater healing of her own.</p><p></p><p>[ATTACH=full]153228[/ATTACH]</p><p><strong>It's all kicking off.</strong></p><p></p><p>Newt's back on his feet, but alas Inverna's has just been smashed down by the gnoll clanmother, and an even-weirder looking (big) hyena has just been summoned into the middle of the tower by the crazy gnoll shaman. A little later the Dark Squad divine that this beast is a crocotta (a tougher version of a leucrotta).</p><p></p><p>The crocotta has a big bag of hit points.</p><p></p><p>As did the gnoll clanmother, but she's only got one hit point left atm.</p><p></p><p>Remarkably she survives until the end.</p><p></p><p>But the gnoll assault is almost spent- the clanmother is not giving up but several gnoll archers, all of them already reduced to very low hit points, flee the battle. The gnolls shaman is also just about to ship out, he's a born survivor that one.</p><p></p><p>Note, the shaman did other things- twice Daktari has successfully saved against the crazy gnoll's Hold Person spell, and Dak is not bless with wisdom. Spell save DC 14, and he rolls- '14' exactly, both times.</p><p></p><p>[ATTACH=full]153229[/ATTACH]</p><p><strong>The last picture of the evening, although we went on a little beyond this.</strong></p><p></p><p>Note, Inverna's back on her feet- thanks to a potion delivery from Ram, I think. But, well... that doesn't last long, seconds later and the gnoll clanmother in full fury mode cuts the elven sidekick fighter down again. Then, for good measure, reduces to Daktari to less than ten hit points.</p><p></p><p>The crocotta also squeezes back into the tower and gets back to chomping and clawing on the Squad.</p><p></p><p>But that's where we end it.</p><p></p><p>Grind, but fun with it- some cool moves, some daft stuff- note Ubmo was also destroyed twice during the fight, each time (on the next turn) blinking back into existence at Vinnie's side.</p><p></p><p>And yelling “Yay!” a lot, in binary (sounds like a Spectrum uploading a game from a tape) which only Vinnie understands.</p><p></p><p>So, we're not out of it, but... they're through it. Only four badly wounded enemies left- the shaman has legged it.</p><p></p><p>Last bit, I made a lot of attack rolls this evening- the PCs/players will attest to this. I rolled seventeen fumbles by the end, my bloody electronic Fantasy Grounds dice!</p><p></p><p>Oh, but a word about blood drops on the enemies/PCs on the map, we discussed it in the session, here's how it works-</p><p></p><p>One blood drop = taken at least one hit point of damage. Lightly Wounded.</p><p>Two blood drops = taken more than 25% of total hit points damage. Wounded.</p><p>Three blood drops = taken more than 50% of total hit points damage, bloodied. Heavily Wounded.</p><p>Four blood drops = taken more than 75% of total hit points damage. Critically Wounded.</p><p></p><p>Less of this kind of thing next time, fingers-crossed. Lolz.</p><p></p><p>Stay safe and well you lovely people.</p><p></p><p>Cheers the Dark Squad and goonalan.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Goonalan, post: 8570429, member: 16069"] [CENTER][B]Dark Squad in the Secrets of Saltmarsh[/B][/CENTER] [B]Session #082: St. Newt and the Gnoll-GRIND. Dark Squad (in alphabetical order, no egos here). Daktari (played by Haggis) Male Human Uthgardt Sky Pony Barbarian Lvl 8 New Tricks (played by Bear) Male Tabaxi Warlock Lvl 8 Ramshambo (played by Kev) Male Half-Elf Rogue/Fighter Lvl 7/1 Vincenzo (played by Haggis) Male Shifter (Wildhunt) Druid Lvl 8 NPCs Inverna Nightbreeze (played by George) Female Wood Elf Fighter Lvl 8 (Sidekick) [S]Garumn Male Mountain Dwarf Paladin of Moradin Lvl 5 [/S]RIP* [S]Tarbin Tul (played by goonalan) Male Human Bard [/S]RETIRED Ubmo (played by Goonalan) Supreme Being Lvl 1 *Trapped in the Land of the Bad Dead Ancestors. Servants/Familiars Gerald (Bat/Giant Bat) servant/mount of New Tricks Owly (Owl) Vinnie’s familiar The Dark Squad’s to-do list-[/B] [LIST=1] [*]Clear and/or re-consecrate the Shrine of Savras in the Old Wood, then return to the Moon Pool to glimpse the future. [*]Remember, we've got to find the other four Symbols of Ub, one was left in Deepbridge (Duergar fortress in the Underdark). The others need to be found, they belonged to- Rambles 'Shambles' Bowspirit (halfling killer), Antonio De La Crane (posh kid druid alchemist) & Giggles (crazy wood elf). All of these folk lived in the Saltmarsh region, the Dark Squad have found the De La Crane Manse (in the Dreadwood) and the De La Crane Crypt (in Saltmarsh Cemetary). [*]Return to Fallowstone Holy, church of Oghma, pick up info (Witch's Tor & Pact of the Flame, although the Dark Squad probably know all about this stuff already). What else do you need to find out about? See above, and below. [*]Warn Ashby- the Soggy's (Sahuagin) are coming! [*]Vinnie needs to be back for the next Saltmarsh Council meeting on the 1st Kythorn (June). [*]Nightshade is in the Deep Dreadwood? [*]Blackedge and the Goblin Stair? [*]To join the Pact of the Wild Flame you need to find the hidden weapons left to fight Ashardalon. [*]To join the Pact of the Wild Flame prepare the Witch's Tor for the coming of the starfall. [*]To join the Pact of the Wild Flame track down the last member of the Pact, a wild elf adventurer called Giggles- and finally put her spirit to rest, and also recover her maze button. SEE 2. ABOVE. [/LIST] This is session 82, and another cracker, although- exactly as I predicted at the end of the last session. Grrrrind. So, the Shrine of Savras in the Old Woods and the gnolls have been awoken from their slumber, we start the session with a variety of chatter- the players are making plans, and lots of options are mooted but the overriding feeling is the Dark Squad are going to have to tough it out. Their plans only really kick in if the Dark Squad get ousted from the crumbling tower that they are at present defending. Just to let you know- there are/were fifty-five gnolls & hyenas sprawled and mostly snoozing, and camped around the ruined shrine building. Within the shrine itself are the gnoll leaders (just two of them) and less than half-a-dozen guards. The PCs by the end are kicking themselves for not checking this place out earlier. [ATTACH type="full"]153216[/ATTACH] [B]The Dark Squad in their tower bottom left, and already there are a few gnolls in there with them.[/B] This then is all fighting, a four hour session of D&D that in game time equates to forty-eight seconds of action, that's it. Four hours = eight turns. One more thing to make clear, and I didn't spot this until the end, the PCs initiative rolls really helped them here, Ram = 26, Vinnie 23, Inverna 21, Newt 21 & Daktari 18. [ATTACH type="full"]153218[/ATTACH] [B]The Dark Squad, actually very mostly Ram, clear out all of the gnolls that had made it into the tower. Note, I am deleting the bodies of the fallen every turn just to speed up FGU and to keep the map clear.[/B] Newt keeps concentrating on his sickening radiance- effectively blocking one entrance to the tower, and in the meantime keeps on blasting which also has the advantage of pushing the enemies back. Vinnie keeps peppering the gnolls with bolts from his Call Lightning spell, this while hovering way above the action- he's wild-shaped into Vincen-Whoo (a giant owl) atm. Ram keeps everyone safe within the tower, pretty much taking down any and all gnolls and hyenas that get into the ruin. Inverna holds the line, while Daktari in a frenzied rage is out and about, and mixing it up with anyone that will fight him. Although this doesn't last- “Excuse me! I am sorry, I will be back to kill you later...” Do it in cod-Russian (I hesitate to write the word, and then tremble a little as a wave of anger washes over me). Soon after Daktari has to cut his way back to his friends in the tower, even the crazy barbarian figures out that he wont last long stuck out in the open. At one point Dak is being attacked by six gnolls (three of them with four attacks each) and also being shot at by four more gnoll archers. [ATTACH type="full"]153219[/ATTACH] [B]Oh, and strange looking hyenas keep on rocking up (I think there were three of them in the encounter, from memory) and they're pretty tough- leucrotta's.[/B] A little later Inverna tells her comrades, in passing (and after a successful monster knowledge check), how leucrotta's are born- the offspring of gnolls & hyenas... Daktari is particularly repulsed. “They are very dirty ponys!” Or something similar. Then, much grinding follows, if you'll pardon the expression. [ATTACH type="full"]153220[/ATTACH] [B]That is until the Supreme Being, Ubmo, saves the day- Lightning Bolt.[/B] Just to note Ubmo, like Vinnie, has been flying high and keeping out of trouble, each turn however the happy modron does one of the following (roll 1d6) 1-2 throws a javelin, 3-4 fires a Witchbolt, 5-6 hits the Lightning Bolt button. Lots of gnolls et al fail their saves and Ubmo rolls high for damage. There's a ragged cheer as a bunch of enemies succumb to the blast, but this ain't over by a long chalk. You'll note on the picture above, there's a gnoll climbing up the ruined tower, they're trying to get in from above now. [ATTACH type="full"]153221[/ATTACH] [B]Vincen-Whoo convinces the DM to allow him to shift his Call Lightning storm, spending both of his inspiration points to do so. Why not- I want them to win (the PCs). Besides the lightning bolts produced are only just chipping away at the enemies.[/B] But there are no end of gnolls, seemingly... Then, a miracle- and not just one, a little later the miraculous act described below gets repeated. Newt slithers over to Daktari, and while whispering in his ear- “Hold still you raging hunk of love with great hair.” The tabaxi warlock begins massaging Keoghtom's Ointment into the Sky Pony barbarian. “A little lower if you please Newt- that's the spot!” Dak replies while squirming. As I say a short while later he repeats the trick- “Hold still my dear, you wont feel a thing, or else perhaps a little tingling and then a spreading warmth inside you...” The tabaxi repeats the Keoghtom's treatment on Inverna, don't worry Ram has HR on speed-dial, trying to stay ahead of any future sexual harassment cases. Two things. One, Newt healing someone is... well, and let's be clear- I mean healing someone that isn't Newt. Well, that's just. Unheard of. Two, we have a stat counter thing on the FGU, Ram takes a peak- one of the columns on it counts healing distributed to others. Newt just tripled his total score, although no-one (not even Newt) can remember him healing anyone previously. The players conclude, correctly, that the tabaxi is smart enough to see that the only thing keeping him safe right now (he's still out of spells) are the meat shields plugging the gap. Note, it's about now that the gnoll bosses and their meagre gnoll guards begin to exit the shrine, heading for the action. But these are gnolls- the hunger is upon them, and while there are a few gnoll warriors (marked 'Tough Bastard Gnoll') on the map who are directing traffic. The rest of them just want to slaughter and eat the PCs. Their tactic is- get 'em! [ATTACH type="full"]153222[/ATTACH] [B]But the enemies keep on getting in to the tower, note the two leucrottas in action here, soon after Inverna gets hoofed and clawed repeatedly.[/B] And here's the leader-types on their way, spotted from above by Vinnie, who hoots furiously to let his colleagues know. Know what? He's not Lassie. [ATTACH type="full"]153223[/ATTACH] [B]But hang on... Vinnie ('20' Insight) recognises the crazy gnoll with the staff, it's the gnoll shaman that escaped from the De La Crane Manse back in session #52. The gnoll spellcaster (and the rest of the gnolls) were seemingly working for the Talos worshippers there (maybe).[/B] Note, when I write maybe I mean that's what the PCs think- I'm not confirming or denying. Back to the here and now... The other leader type moves at full speed directly for the Dark Squad, and all around her the gnolls come alive, or else are gathered up in a frenzied bloodlust. All of the gnolls now do extra damage on their hits. You'll note in the picture above that the tower is getting overrun. But not for long. [ATTACH type="full"]153224[/ATTACH] [B]The Dark Squad, once again, clear the tower of enemies- mostly Ram and Newt- both of them never missing.[/B] Note there are now three gnolls up above on the crumbling tower, either firing arrows, flinging bolas, or else throwing spears. Still busy. More grind. But now Vinnie has seen enough, the giant owl is gone, and straddling the tower the druid launches an Ice Storm into the thickest knot of gnolls, and then rolls something like 30-damage, there are many casualties- including four of the archers. [ATTACH type="full"]153225[/ATTACH] [B]Before...[/B] [ATTACH type="full"]153226[/ATTACH] [B]After.[/B] Note the gnoll archers don't do a lot of damage but they keep on hitting because they have a Precise Aim bonus action, giving them a +1d8 to hit if they don't move on their turn. But the gnolls are still not giving up, mainly because the gnoll clanmother (marked 'Ferocious Gnoll' on the map) is amongst them, driving them into a bloodlust frenzy. I got the gnolls from a splatbook, and then added a few extras powers (to some) for good measure. The gnolls break into the tower, again. [ATTACH type="full"]153227[/ATTACH] [B]This time there are dire consequences- Newt falls after being savaged by a tough bastard gnoll.[/B] But Vinnie, now the Moon Boar enters the fray- spider-climbing down the inside wall of the tower, and gets a potion of greater healing into the warlock. Inverna and Daktari are also running out of hit points fast, and at this point Inverna has already sunk a potion of greater healing of her own. [ATTACH type="full"]153228[/ATTACH] [B]It's all kicking off.[/B] Newt's back on his feet, but alas Inverna's has just been smashed down by the gnoll clanmother, and an even-weirder looking (big) hyena has just been summoned into the middle of the tower by the crazy gnoll shaman. A little later the Dark Squad divine that this beast is a crocotta (a tougher version of a leucrotta). The crocotta has a big bag of hit points. As did the gnoll clanmother, but she's only got one hit point left atm. Remarkably she survives until the end. But the gnoll assault is almost spent- the clanmother is not giving up but several gnoll archers, all of them already reduced to very low hit points, flee the battle. The gnolls shaman is also just about to ship out, he's a born survivor that one. Note, the shaman did other things- twice Daktari has successfully saved against the crazy gnoll's Hold Person spell, and Dak is not bless with wisdom. Spell save DC 14, and he rolls- '14' exactly, both times. [ATTACH type="full"]153229[/ATTACH] [B]The last picture of the evening, although we went on a little beyond this.[/B] Note, Inverna's back on her feet- thanks to a potion delivery from Ram, I think. But, well... that doesn't last long, seconds later and the gnoll clanmother in full fury mode cuts the elven sidekick fighter down again. Then, for good measure, reduces to Daktari to less than ten hit points. The crocotta also squeezes back into the tower and gets back to chomping and clawing on the Squad. But that's where we end it. Grind, but fun with it- some cool moves, some daft stuff- note Ubmo was also destroyed twice during the fight, each time (on the next turn) blinking back into existence at Vinnie's side. And yelling “Yay!” a lot, in binary (sounds like a Spectrum uploading a game from a tape) which only Vinnie understands. So, we're not out of it, but... they're through it. Only four badly wounded enemies left- the shaman has legged it. Last bit, I made a lot of attack rolls this evening- the PCs/players will attest to this. I rolled seventeen fumbles by the end, my bloody electronic Fantasy Grounds dice! Oh, but a word about blood drops on the enemies/PCs on the map, we discussed it in the session, here's how it works- One blood drop = taken at least one hit point of damage. Lightly Wounded. Two blood drops = taken more than 25% of total hit points damage. Wounded. Three blood drops = taken more than 50% of total hit points damage, bloodied. Heavily Wounded. Four blood drops = taken more than 75% of total hit points damage. Critically Wounded. Less of this kind of thing next time, fingers-crossed. Lolz. Stay safe and well you lovely people. Cheers the Dark Squad and goonalan. [/QUOTE]
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The Dark Squad in the Secrets of Saltmarsh #135 Sorry For The (Attempted) Genocide.
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