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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Goonalan" data-source="post: 8281576" data-attributes="member: 16069">Dark Squad in the Secrets of SaltmarshSession #048 Total Dark Squad.Dark Squad (in alphabetical order, no egos here).New Tricks (played by Bear) Male Tabaxi Warlock Lvl 6Ramshambo (played by Kev) Male Half-Elf Rogue Lvl 6Vincenzo (played by Haggis) Male Shifter (Wildhunt) Druid Lvl 6NPCsDaktari Male Human Uthgardt Sky Pony Barbarian Lvl 6<s>Garumn Male Mountain Dwarf Paladin of Moradin Lvl 5 </s>RIP**Trapped in the Land of the Bad Dead Ancestors.Servants/FamiliarsGerald (Bat/Giant Bat) servant/mount of New TricksOwly (Owl) Vinnie’s familiarThis is session 48, and I’m calling it Total Dark Squad, because, well...The Dark Squad murderised my bad guys, it was a massacre.But just to remind you, the Dark Squad plan is/was-1) Take Don Jon to Goxhill.2) Head to Umber Hill, meet with Adabra (witch/priestess of Chauntea) for a chat.3) Check out Butterskull Ranch, home of the ‘missing’ Big Al Kalhoon.4) To Ravendale, a dragon attack?5) To Burle, meet with the Falcon.6) Goblins in the Dreadwood.7) To Blackedge, find the Goblin Stair.Well, points 1) and 2) are done, and 3) is in action- the Butterskull Ranch is full of gnolls (and hyenas) but the Dark Squad are about to get busy with it.Just to say ahead of time, I was fretting a little about this fight- I built this encounter back when Buggles was on board, I’d revisited it and thinned the enemies a little, but I still believed it was going to be a very tough outing for the Dark Squad.I warned the players about this before we started the session, and told them I was prepared to let them get away with a few things- using an inspiration point to call up a healing surge, that kind of thing. But only if it became obvious to all concerned that I had made the encounter too nasty. I further explained that I’m still calibrating encounters now that the Dark Squad are without the terrifying damage dealing wood elf, Buggles.On the online 5e D&D Encounter Calculator (which I often use) this encounter weighed in at an adjusted 15,500 XP, a horde- a CR 13 level encounter (from memory).You see I have bought myself a splatbook, or else a new Monster Manual- Nord Games, Revenge of the Horde. So, I have specialist gnolls coming out of my wazoo. Nice!So, distributed around the various buildings in Big Al’s farm are the following enemies- six spotted hyenas, one giant hyena, three gnoll hunters, two gnoll flesh gnawers, six gnoll plains runners, one gnoll plains archer, two gnoll plains spearmen, a gnoll fang of Yeenoghu, and a gnoll packlord (in charge).Oh, and three maw demons.The gnoll plains spearmen are pretty tough- four attacks a turn, a majority of the others gnolls have two or three attacks/turn- and again, even for the low level mooks I’ve made sure their HPs are high, all set at a minimum of 75% of max HP.[ATTACH=full]137257[/ATTACH]The start of it all, I remember it like it was yesterday (actually, it was Tuesday last gone)- I was so hopeful, a young DM- well, maybe not young physically, but... you know, young at heart- idealistic. Full of dreams and ideas- I really thought I was going to mess up the Dark Squad big time. But it's the hope that kills you, that and the Dark Squad, of course.So, the fight kicks off with a surprise attack by the Dark Squad on the giant hyena that is at present gorging on a human arm. Also in the courtyard with the beast are two other gnolls- one talking to others within one of the buildings, and the second (a tough spearman) eating Big Al’s fish from his ornamental pond.The giant hyena is slaughtered quickly- in the surprise round, but keep in mind that Vinnie opens up with his Call Lightning- so it also gets very loud very quickly- a bolt stabs down and frazzles the beast.[ATTACH=full]137258[/ATTACH]As Bear (playing Newt) said at the time- "[Sweet whistling sound] Nice, area of effect!" Vinnie's Call Lightning is open for business, just waiting more customers. Note, this is right at the beginning.The gnolls however get into their stride slowly- mainly because they are spread about, but by the third turn of the combat they are rushing to the scene in mobs. Oh, and I’ve maxed the HP of the leader types (the fang of Yeenhoghu & packlord), and also the maw demons.By the sixth turn of the combat all of the bad guys have been unleashed and are in action, the trio of maw demons are the finale- let out by the packlord on his way out of the farm.The PCs (actually just Newt) have two or three frights during what follows but, they just hardly ever miss, whereas I…Ram is on the roof of one of the farm buildings, mostly staying hidden behind a chimney stack- the rogue scuttles forward every turn to shoot his bow- kill an enemy, and then scuttle back to hide. Ten turns, twelve attacks in total (he switched to rapier and dagger briefly)- eleven hits, and all but one of them with plenty of extra sneak attack.Vinnie Calls Lightning, and every turn he takes a look at the enemies present in the courtyard ahead- calls down the storm at the densest bunch of foes- blasts a few, and then retires back around the corner and out of sight of the gnolls. Obviously (half damage on a successful save) he’s devastating.Newt does something very similar, except mostly with his Hex and Belphegor Fiery Blast combo- the warlock tabaxi dodges out of cover, fires two fiery missiles- rants a little (‘Belphegor this… Belphegor that…), and then ducks back into cover. He makes exactly twenty attack rolls in the fight- he misses only three times.But Daktari, Daktari is the bastard.He’s being played by Jim (Vinnie) tonight.The barbarian stands out in the courtyard and screams various things at the gnolls as they arrive to the fracas, and keep in mind for much of the fight he’s the only PC visible.Try screaming a few of these out in cod-Russian for full affect-“I am your worst not-friend!”“Come hairy-man-dog-face, I make I make for your end!”By around the sixth turn of the action Daktari has eleven dead gnolls and/or hyenas sprawled around him. He didn’t kill them all, but they were all in the process of trying to kill him.“I am making cover for myself! Yes/No? Do I have bonus for hidey-hide?”[ATTACH=full]137259[/ATTACH]The gnolls wonder what the DM was thinking. Is that all there is to the plan? Run at the daft sounding barbarian (with the great hair). Is that really it?Note the barbarian is positioned so that the gnolls have to get through him (and take an AoO) in order to get to the out of sight Newt & Vinnie. Ram, on the roof, is making (bonus action) hide checks all the while- the gnolls can see the roof that the arrows are coming from- and Ram, every now and then- but only briefly. However, because of the angle, and the fact that the rogue is good to great at hiding, the gnolls just can’t target him.Eventually a gnoll flesh gnawer climbs up on to the roof, spots the rogue and charges at Ram screaming its fury- seconds later, and… a ‘20’, and the gnoll (with approx. 35-40 HP when it went up there) is dead. Moments later Ram grabs his bow out again, and does the same again (i.e. another ‘20’) and destroys another nasty gnoll with just one shot.This kind of thing seemed to happen quite often.But back to Daktari, who gets into his frenzy (extra attack = 3/turn) in the fifth turn of the fight- and he’s been raging from the very start. Daktari makes twenty-nine attacks in total (including a bunch of AoOs) and misses only four times.Don’t get me wrong- I was trying, I got maybe three gnolls past Daktari in total, I stabbed Newt up several times, but every time I got one of my bad guys past the barbarian either Ram would shoot the newly advanced enemy dead, or else Newt would step away (suffer an AoO) and then blast it down.As you can tell, I’ve been reading through the Chat file from Fantasy Grounds- trying to understand where and when I went so wrong, so here’s a few more stats-In the entire fight I made exactly zero attacks on Vinnie- the druid barely entered the compound.I made six attacks against Ram, all of them when the gnoll got on the roof- two of them were hits.I made thirteen attacks against Newt- five of them hits, but he just kept blasting gnolls/hyenas dead and thereby topping up his temporary hit points.I made, wait for it… seventy three attacks against Daktari (he’s AC 18, or maybe 19- the gnolls are +3 to +5 to hit, average +4). I hit the barbarian just ten times, and for six of these I rolled minimum damage- ‘1’, and keep in mind the raging bastard has resist for all of the damage that the gnolls/hyenas/maw demons are putting out.In one turn alone I made nineteen attacks against Daktari, a quarter of these with advantage- I hit four times- two of ‘em for minimum damage, it was my best turn (for hits).Daktari ended the encounter bloodied, just.Newt and Ram were injured, the former almost bloodied, Vinnie- obviously, had not a scratch on him.He’d only used the one spell.It wasn’t that my tactics were particularly bad- the gnolls with bows and bolas kept back a bit and did their missile thing, the hyena and the melee gnolls tried to swamp the barbarian (initially), surround him and then get around him. But the PCs just kept on hitting and therefore thinning the crowd, for several turns I had ten+ enemies at the PCs (Daktari), or else in the courtyard and making missile attacks. Then, after the PCs attacks I’d be down to just five enemies left, but with another five bad guys arriving- but all of them still too far away to get past Daktari without having to double move and forfeit their attacks.The few times I got passed the barbarian, and to Newt, were mostly with the plains gnolls, these guys get a bonus action to run on half their speed, it was the only way I could make it work. The PCs just kept killing my guys as soon as they got close.And it all seemed to happen so quickly.I’d be scheming in my DM chair- ‘just get these guys closer to the action, get the artillery sorted- more attacks on the barbarian, sheesh- he’s the only PC the gnolls can actually see! Again!’Then, ten seconds (in game) later, and twenty minutes later (in real life), and all the gnolls I had got positioned for their touchdown runs- to get to Newt and/or Vinnie, well- they’re dead Jim, think again Mr DM sir, what’s your next big/clever idea?So, I concentrated my efforts and tried to take down Daktari- every gnoll, every hyena- attack Daktari, but that really didn’t work.They bloody massacred me.[ATTACH=full]137260[/ATTACH]The gnoll packlord (boss) orders his minions to the slaughter before heading off to unleash the maw demons, and then... runs away. Best tactical move I made all night... it didn't work.Apologies for all of the stats, but I’m still looking back at the Chat file from Fantasy Grounds, even now- trying to figure out where I went wrong with this one. Here’s another- at one point I went eighteen consecutive to hit rolls without managing to break a ‘10’, and with five ‘1’s in there. Another? Try this- the two gnoll plains spearmen got into Daktari and managed to stay in the fight for six turns (not each, in total), that’s twenty four attacks on Daktari between the pair- they landed just two hits I total, for ‘1’ and ‘2’ damage (plus strength bonuses).The only time I did any real damage to Daktari was with a hyena with a ‘20’, and then with the maw demons- and that was in the final few seconds of the fight.[ATTACH=full]137261[/ATTACH]Some different gnolls than the ones in the picture above. Where are the previous gnolls depicted? They're dead, okay- can we move on?So, there will be consequence.[ATTACH=full]137262[/ATTACH]The maw demons arriving, a flesh gnawer gnoll climbs up on the roof to get to Ram. But, don't worry folks, all of the bad guys will be dead pretty much by the end of this turn. Gah!I wouldn’t have minded as much if this was a run-of-the-mill encounter, it was supposed to be a toughie- Newt was the only PC to use an inspiration point, and even then that was out of frustration rather than anything threatening the warlock.Butterskull Ranch is clear of enemies, the operation to do so took exactly sixty seconds.Gah![ATTACH=full]137263[/ATTACH]Look at them! Their faces haunt my dreams! So full of life- of joy, of hope... All they wanted to do was to mess up (big-style) the Dark Squad, is that too much to ask! Is it! Is it! Oh Gnigel! Oh Gnorma! Oh Gneil! OH Gno!Although… the gnoll packlord, after releasing the maw demons into action, has fled the ranch- the DM could see where this encounter was heading pretty early, truth be told.By about the sixth turn I had figured that this one was going to end very badly for the gnolls- they just kept on dying.Ram’s not keen to let the packlord get away, but the gnoll has had five rounds to get some distance, therefore the rogue needs to either spot the beast or find its trail- and roll very high indeed. So, one ‘20’ later and the Dark Squad are on the packlord’s trail.Actually Vinnie and Daktari are on the trail of Ram, because the rogue’s not stopping to let his comrades catch up- only shouting back at them to let them know what’s going on. But what about Newt I hear you ask.Newt combs Gerald from his hair- you read that right, the tiny bat hides in the tabaxi’s hair/fur. He orders Gerald to ‘get big’ and then climbs aboard. Newt and Gerald take to the skies, actually he doesn’t go much above the treeline, but you get my drift.The flying scouts soon catch up with Ram, and even spots the gnoll packlord- the creature is heading for a copse of trees through a wheat field, the tabaxi even manages to communicate this to Ram. But, that’s the last good roll that Newt makes for a while- over the next fifteen or so minutes Newt’s perception checks… well, the best one is a three- but that was with advantage. A little later he spends an inspiration point to re-roll a ‘1’, and he does- perfecto, he rolls a second ‘1’, soon after Newt and Gerald, lost and confused, give up the chase. They only just manage to find their way back to Butterskull Ranch.But Ram’s still in pursuit, but only just- to make clear- the gnoll is fast, but Ram with his triple move is faster, then again the gnoll is already over 500ft ahead of the rogue, and so there’s still only a very slim chance that Ram can spot the foe. Remember, it’s a fine spring day- the chase is over farmers fields, a few hedge rows, stone walls and the like.So, Ram rolls okay- and he’s still chasing, then a not so good perception check and the DM cautions him, you need a really high roll to keep on the trail, and so- ‘20’. Off we go again, and this happened three times- ‘20’, ‘19’, ‘20’.The chase is about to end… but oh no its not- off we go again.Repeat x 3.He’s not giving up, and he keeps on rolling high.But where’s Vinnie and Daktari in all of this, so- while the barbarian is fast he cannot keep up with Vinnie, particularly as the druid wildshapes into Vince D(ire) Wolf, and the beast has the gnoll’s scent. Soon after Daktari drops out of the race, or else wanders around shouting “Vinnie?” for a while.And the pursuit has been going on for nearly a mile now- across a farmer’s field, through a copse of trees, over a hill and then along an overgrown track, and all the way into a series of ruined farm buildings. However, at this point the two remaining chasers, Ram and Vincen D, are still over 200 feet behind the gnoll packlord.But they keep on rolling high and spotting where their last enemy is at.However, that’s when the hobgoblin patrol shows itself, and by shows itself I mean throws a clutch of javelins into the much distracted gnoll packlord. The fight in the farm buildings is over in seconds, specifically when a tough-looking SOB hobgoblin steps up to slaughter the escaping gnoll, although the packlord manages to take down two other hobgoblin mooks before its end.[ATTACH=full]137264[/ATTACH]That's right, I wasted an entire encounter just to kill my own gnoll packlord- I wasn't going to give them (the selfish Dark Squad) the satisfaction. Petulent, you betcha. Vincen D Wolf and Ram hold position, and watch the hobgoblin’s martial display, they also spot at least half-a-dozen more heavily armoured hobgoblins in the ruined farm buildings. Ram stays in hiding, he’s seen enough. However, Vincen D Wolf presses forward, but is quickly spotted- and the call goes out, more hobgoblins emerge and make clear that they’re about to head in the dire wolf’s direction.Vincen D has therefore also seen enough, the two adventurers flee the scene- all the way back to Butterskull Ranch, and as Ram tells it-“As long as the bastard’s dead, I don’t care who or what killed him.”Keep in mind this was the same gnoll packlord that attacked the guys back at the ruined Temple of Abbathor, he’s not on the Dark Squad’s Christmas card list.Then- rest, the PCs barricade themselves inside one of the buildings (a well-appointed smithy) in Big Al Kalhoon’s compound and get a rest, this after first securing the gates. Then the search begins, and very obviously the first thing (actually person) they’re looking for is Big Al Kalhoon- but there’s no-one left here.[ATTACH=full]137265[/ATTACH]Big Al's big farm.So, the next thirty or so minutes (real time) are spent searching and checking, and in an around-about-way trying to figure out exactly what went on here, and when. Here’s what the Dark Squad discover-1) A well-hidden suit of mariner’s studded leather armour- Ram takes this.2) Some, but not a lot, of coin on the dead gnolls.3) A very well-hidden chest full of money (maybe 150gp in total) and Big Al’s accounts- but nothing incriminating/untoward.4) The remains, mostly bones, gnawed digits and viscera, of at least two humans- likely the rest eaten by the gnolls/hyenas/demons. Note there are clear signs that there were three people inhabiting the ranch (including Big Al) when it was attacked.And… not much else- except for blood trails, signs here and there of violent confrontation, and the fact that the place has been pulled apart, the gnolls had very obviously been searching- for something specific? Or else just for treasure? The Dark Squad don’t know the answer to this question.Ram and Vinnie however are certain that the gnolls have been here for a while, and that many more gnolls (some of them riding on giant hyena’s- at least four of them) have also visited this place recently. It has been used as a base, perhaps…Note, that was another ‘20’ from Ram there.Just a reminder, Elainder Fireborn, the present Saltmarsh Watch Captain, informed the Dark Squad earlier that his predecessor- Big Al Kalhoon, was rumoured to be a man with his fingers in many pies. The Dark Squad were expecting to find some evidence of this, maybe… but nothing.The thing is however, and it’s Vinnie that brings this to his comrades attention, this ‘farm house’ is a fortress- and new (approx. only 2-3 years old) and it would have been very expensive.But the gnolls are dead, and the mystery of Big Al Kalhoon’s disappearance is very probably solved, the gnolls ate him.Owly, Vinnie’s owl familiar (that makes sense) is given a note and instructions- he is to fly to Adabra in Umber Hill, the note explains all that has befallen here, and further asks Adabra to contact the authorities (Eliander) in Saltmarsh.Newt, while this is going on, persuades Daktari to help him make a pile of the dead gnolls and hyenas, and then he sets it alight- a funeral pyre, he explains as he dances around the conflagration. The bonfire, with help from a few Control Flames spells, produces a huge black roiling cloud of smoke that signals to all that can see it (for miles and miles) that something is amiss at Butterskull Ranch.Vinnie, of course, isn’t happy about the tabaxi’s work- but only briefly, it’s time to move on. The ranch is secured, the Dark Squad’s horses (and Big Al’s three mounts) are reclaimed, and then ridden hard to Fallowstone.Fallowstone, if you remember, is home to Fallowstone Holy- a temple/library dedicated to the worship of Deneir (God of Writing) and Oghma (God of Knowledge), however its late by the time the PCs get to the village. Also the Dark Squad, or else the players, are a little excited-it’s level up time, and a long time coming. Therefore the PCs find an inn for the night- the Red Fox, it’s rather expensive but the food and choice of ales, and private rooms, are great- and besides, they deserve it.[ATTACH=full]137266[/ATTACH]Fallowstone! It's holier than you think.Afterall, they just kicked the DMs arse.The rest of the session is spent levelling up the PCs, and just to say we started late- so this was a shortish one, my bro has got himself a new PC and it took a good long while to load all of the Fantasy Grounds data, so we chatted for a good while at the start.The new list of Dark Squad to-do list reads a little like this-1) Visit Fallowstone Holy, search for an old map showing the Witch’s Tor, and anything else we can think of that needs investigating.2) To Ravendale, a dragon attack?3) To Burle, meet with the Falcon.4) Goblins in the Dreadwood.5) To Blackedge, find the Goblin Stair.Some/all/any of this next time, possibly.Stay safe and well you lovely people.Cheers the Dark Squad and goonalan.</blockquote>

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