Keep on the Borderlands - The Path of Evil - Session 18c

SESSION 18c: DAY 8 – THE CAVES OF CHAOS 

“Ohh” Malandir thinks to himself, “Ohh I’m going to get myself some hobgoblin ears before this is over.”

Kord offers "If two of the men at arms accompany me and act as shield bearers and if Talmark comes for close protection, I'm willing to go down there and break through the darkness and Channel Negative Energy till we draw them out and then you rush forward to back us up once we can see them. I'll take a few scrolls of cure light wounds and we'll get the men at arms to go Total Defense (standard action, +4 to armour class). If I'm going I'm going to want to take Per with me, as he is the bravest, and Clois, as he isn't wounded yet."

Clovis sighs and thinks “I hate Kord, he cannot even remember my name. Why am I risking my life for that black hearted cleric?” he asks himself. 

"Kord, my faithful friend, allow me to cast Shield of Faith upon you first, that the might of Asmodeus may further turn aside their blades and darts," Lucien turns more to the group, "Kord can protect three from the channel, I think Talmark and two of the men should be in the thick. The rest of us hang out of reach, of the energy until called for, with Malandir sniping all the while... that is my vote."

“Agreed,” responds Malandir, “they’ll learn to fear us, but never get to profit from the lesion. Steel is the answer!”

"Woa now, hold on a second", Talmark says. "I'll be voice of caution here for a moment. Let's not just go charging down into who knows what. Hobgoblins are a bit tougher than the little buggers we've been slaying, and we don't know how many of them there are. So far they seem to be willing to talk, despite your wounds Malandir that was just a warning. As we didn't see any hobgoblin sign outside of this cave we may assume that these caves may be all interconnected, which means we may blunder into that ogre. And if he has Hobgoblin backup we would be in trouble. Let's see if we can talk first. Gain some intel on the caves, who and what lives where, and maybe some allies. If it fails, we've lost nothing but a little time and can then charge in and collect some ears. You want to put them down, that's fine, but remember that revenge is sweetest when you're alive to savor it."

 

Then Lucien hears something from the north west. He quietens the party down with a palm down waving motion. Then they all hear it. Big heavy foot prints approaching. As they turn to face the danger a massive humanoid appears from the inky darkness in the north western corridor. 

ROUND 1A

Initiative Party: Roll 4 + 0 = 4

Monsters: Roll 11 -1 = 10

·        The ogre 5ft steps to the south east and swings its mighty club at Clovis. It’s got a 10ft reach with the massive weapon and so it is able to stand off in the corridor and smash at the man at arms. Bringing the club down he just misses the horrified soldier.

·        From behind the ogre some goblins emerge. They are jeering on the beast. They’re armed with missile and hand to hand weapons but cannot get an effective shot off given the size of the monster to their fore. 

DM’S Note: Trying to use squares on diagonal passage ways coupled with the new graphics in which the squares overlap with the walls of the caves is a bit problematic so sometimes you’ll see the tokens encroach on the walls of the caves and sometimes the tokens will go over the squares a bit. We have to just go with the vibe and remember that the squares are largely just representative to help us to judge distances etc (and for any Aussies out there you’ll know exactly what I mean about just going with the vibe). 

ROUND 1B

·        Clovis 5ft steps to the north west and attacks the giant but his spear thrust doesn’t have enough power to penetrate the ogres tough skin. [DM’s Note: No attack of opportunity for advancing within the reach of the ogre using a 5ft step, a normal move into its threat area however will promote an attack of opportunity.]

·        Barret drops his torch and advances on the monster. The ogre lashes out with its massive club and smashes the man at arms in the left leg. It’s a terrible blow and Barret’s leg is crushed by the mighty weapon as he suffers 14pts of damage and goes unconscious.

·        As he has gone unconscious, all of the men at arms must make an immediate morale check. Fortunately, due to Lucien’s Leadership they all only need a 1 (Barret is the cautious one and would have needed a 3. Perhaps he was right to be cautious after all). The roll 17, 1, 6, 3 and 10 and working from left to right and up to down it’s Stein who breaks and runs.

·        Stein looks on with horror as his comrade is smashed by the ogre. He turns, a grimace on his face, and runs through the party towards the safety of the southern corridor. It’s a double move (he’s got a movement of 30ft and so can double move up to 60ft) and the only thing that stops him is that he doesn’t have a light source so he stops at the extent of the light provided by Fremont’s torch. 

·        Kord moves 20ft to the west and stretching out his hand casts Fire Bolt at the brute but in his haste he misses.

·        Lucien casts Murderous Command upon the Ogre. It’s a Will save against a DC of 10 + 1 for level of spell + 4 for Lucien’s Wis = 15. The ogre has a Will save of +3 and will need to roll a 12 or better. It rolls a 17 and saves.

·        Malandir moves 20ft to the west to get a clearer shot and fires his bow at the monster. The arrow flies true and hits the brute in the left shoulder for 7pts of damage.

·        Talmark moves up behind Barret. He knows that the ogre probably will only get one attack of opportunity per round and that he doesn’t have enough movement to get into contact and attack the ogre so he uses his second action to drag Barret back a ½ move, ie 10ft, into relative safety.

·        Freemont doesn’t have the movement to get into combat against the ogre and attack so he decides to hand off the torch to Per and to move 30ft towards the ogre. He’ll get close enough so that next round he’ll be able to 5ft step in and attack the ogre.

·        Per moves up 30ft to the left flank of Freemont. Taking the torch with him, he lights up more of the north western passages and reveals more goblins. Their evil, beady red eyes stair back at him. Stein is left in the darkness. He starts to lose his mind in fear.

ROUND 2A

·        The ogre winds up the big club and lashes out at Clovis. Swinging the club wide and high he hits Clovis in the side of the head. He blow is deadly and Clovis is thrown to the ground with his head partially caved in as he suffers 16pts of damage.

·        The remaining men at arms must make a morale check and roll 15 and 1 and checking from left to right Fremont passes and Per fails.

·        The goblins in the background cheer on the carnage.

·        The usually brave Per immediately flees a double move away from danger and as he runs he takes the torch with him. The room is now lite by the torch on the ground (15ft radius only and will go out if picked up), the fire (30ft radius) and the light spell upon Kord (30ft radius).

·        Stein is relieved to see that one of his comrades is coming to help him but then Per just runs past him.

·        Four arrows streak out of the inky blackness from the western room in the southern corridor. Two are aimed at Per and two at Stein. The first arrow penetrates Per’s armour and does 1pt of damage as he his hit in the stomach. The second arrow bounces off his shield. Stein is hit in the left shoulder for 3pts. He slumps to the ground and begins to bleed out as the second arrow misses him narrowly, sliding just over his head. 

ROUND 2B

·        Clovis needs to roll a DC14 – 1 for Con = 13 to stop bleeding. He rolls a 16 and the wound doesn’t cause him any more harm. Barret will need to roll a 14 and rolls a 7 and bleeds out a point.  Stein will need to roll a 10 and rolls a 17 and stops bleeding.

·        Per doesn’t know what to do. He runs back around the corner and hides. Keeping watch for the hobgoblins but too scared to go back to the room with the ogre.

·        Seeing that the ogre is not in combat, Malandir takes his chance and draws and fires another arrow at the beast. His Point Blank Shot Feat just gives him the edge that he needs and he hits the monster in the right leg for 9pts of damage.

·        Kord follows and sends another Fire Bolt at the ogre. He hits the monster in the right shoulder for 6pts of damage.

·        Fremont 5ft steps towards the ogre and stabs at it with his spear but he misses.

·        Lucien knows that Talmark and Felldrac have more than enough power to drop the ogre with one hit but they cannot afford to lose their best warrior. He 5ft steps to the west, pulls a scroll of Shield of Faith and casts it upon Talmark.

·        Not wanting to provide an attack of opportunity, Talmark moves 10ft to the north and west and then takes a defensive posture. He’ll 5ft step into range next round and engage his foe.

ROUND 3A

·        Howling with pain and rage the ogre swings his club at Fremont. The blow strikes Fremont in the stomach. He takes massive internal organ injuries as he suffers 19pts of damage. Sliding to the ground he starts to bleed out.

·        The goblins cheer with glee as their champion smashes another of the intruders.

ROUND 3B

·        Fremont needs to roll a 16 to stop bleeding and rolls a 1 and bleeds out another point. Barret needs to roll a 15 and rolls a 6 and bleeds out another point.

·        Per continues to cower.

·        Kord stretches out his hand and fires his last Fire Bolt for the day at the ogre but he misses.

·        With the ogre not in combat again, Malandir takes his opportunity to seek revenge with his bow. He 5ft steps to the north west to get a line of fire clear of Talmark and fires another arrow and hits it again. This time he strikes the ogre in the stomach but the arrow doesn’t penetrate too deeply and the ogre only takes 4pts of damage.

·        Lucien 5ft steps to the west and casts Guidance upon Talmark, giving him +1 for his next roll.

·        Talmark 5ft steps to the north and swings Felldrac. To maximise his chances of hitting the now badly wounded ogre he doesn’t use Power Attack. He swings a mighty blow but just falls short of the mark and misses the ogre (he needs a 17 and rolled a 9 with total bonuses of +7).

ROUND 4A

·        The ogre smashes the club down on Talmark striking him in the head and dealing 17pts of damage. It’s a sickening blow and Talmark drops to the ground and starts to bleed out.

ROUND 4B

·        Fremont needs to roll a 17 to stabilise and rolls a 1 and bleeds out a point. Talmark needs to roll a 17 and rolls a 7 and bleeds out a point. Barret needs to roll a 16 and rolls a 2 and bleeds out a point.

·        Per continues to cower in the south west.

·        With a clear zone of fire, Malandir draws down again on the ogre and releases another arrow and once again he hits it. This time in the left shoulder for 9pts of damage. The ogre slumps to the ground dead. The goblins will need to take a morale check next round as they have taken their first casualty.

·        Kord advances 15ft to the north, steps over Fremont’s body and casts Burning Hands in an attempt to damage as many of the goblins as he can. He catches 5 of the little monsters in the flames and rolls 3pts of damage. It’s a DC 12 Reflex save for ½ damage and the goblins have a Reflex save of +2 so they’ll need to roll a 10 or better. They roll 6, 8, 20, 1 and 12 and take 3 and 1pts of damage respectively. At the back of the pack, Kord can swear that he can see the sneaky little goblin that survived wounded from the first encounter.

·        Lucien 5ft steps to the north, pulls a cure light wounds scroll and heals Talmark back 3pts of damage and stops his bleeding in the process.

ROUND 5A

·        The goblins need to take a check of 2d6 against a morale of 7. They roll 9 and run.

ROUND 5B

·        Freemont needs to roll an 18 to stop bleeding, he rolls a 15 and bleeds out another point to -10. Barret needs to roll 17 to stop bleeding. He rolls an 8 and bleeds out another point to -9. If they bleed out to their Con (ie to -12) they’ll die.

·        Kord and Lucien use Stablise to stop the bleeding on Freemont and Barret.

They cut the ears from the ogre and search its body but it has no treasure.

RECAP ON CURRENT POSITION

Current condition of party members:

·        Lucien, 9 hit points out of a total of 9. Has 2 Channel Negative Energy, Sun Metal and Disguise Self left. Has Alchemy Lab (back at the Burg), Alchemical Fire (3), Antitoxin (1) and the following scrolls: Doom (2), Cure Light Wounds (2), Cause Fear (2) and Shield of Faith (1)

·        Talmark, unconscious on -6 hit point out of a total of 12. Has 2 potions of Cure Light Rounds left and Oil of the Magic Weapon (1).

·        Kord, 9 hit points out of a total of 10. Has no Fire Bolts left, has 5 Channel Negative Energy, 4 Copy Cat, Cause Fear and 2 scrolls of Cure Light Wounds left.

·        Malandir has 4 out of a total of 10 hit points.

·        Freemont is unconscious and has -10 out of a total of 12 hit points.

·        Clovis is unconscious and has -4 out of 12.

·        Barret is unconscious and has -9 out of 12.

·        Per has 8 out of 12 hit points but is broken for another 2 hours.

·        Stein is unconscious sand has -1 out of 12 hit points but is in an exposed position in the south east corner. 

·        Community consumables: Torches (6)

The ogre was worth 800xp.

The party has collected 9 sets of goblin ears, 1 set of ogre ears, 9 small short swords, 9 small short bows and 4gp.

DEW