Mutemath covers it:
To be honest, I'd forgotten that this version even existed.
Tuesday, April 30, 2019
Monday, April 29, 2019
DnD: Once Again Safe... ish.
The quick, epic version of this week's events:
The party decided that it was time to return to lord Aldenmier, sell off their looted equipment, and restock supplies (especially healing potions). Lord Aldenmier was waiting outside the dungeon when they emerged; he looked approving when they all emerged alive, and even more approving at the pile of loot. "A successful first expedition, I see." He turned to the serving boy beside him. "Please inform the Seneschal that the Ivory Scimitars have emerged from the dungeon."
He then led them back out of the inner keep and onto the streets, surrounded by a small group of servants and guards. People stared and gaped and whispered as they passed. They went to the local Adventuring Supply store, which is run by a young-seeming half elf (nice coat, white shirt, breeches, boots) who looked over the group and the looted equipment and raised an eyebrow. "We have a new Banner Company, I see."
The dragonborn stepped forward, and the haggling began.
By the time they were done, they got a pretty fair price for their haul. They took it back outside, combined it with the gold they'd taken from the hobgoblins and ghouls, and divided it with Lord Aldenmier. Then they went back inside, and bought a couple of things: another healing potion, and studded leather armor for the halfling rogue. That left them with a decent amount of gold and no real expenses, so after checking over the local mage's tower (which doesn't really sell magic items, as such) they returned to House Aldenmier. By now it was mid-afternoon: time to bathe, eat, relax, and eventually go to sleep.
The Dragonborn Sorcerer was the first one awake. He stepped out into the garden, yawned, stretched, and wondered why there was a crossbow bolt sticking out of his leg. Looking up, he saw a figure on the garden wall, heard guards yelling, and started cursing at the top of his lungs in Draconic. As everybody else spilled into the yard, the figure vanished over the wall.
Barrith (Ghostwise Halfling Rogue) immediately gave chase, scaling the wall and slipping past the guards to follow the assassin into the streets. Kaz (human monk, raised by wolves) followed him to the top of the wall, but stopped there to call directions for Barrith. ("Keep going! Now left! LEFT!")
Barrith skidded to a halt, having caught a glimpse of something strange to his left. There was a narrow alley there, too narrow for a human to stand comfortably; the assassin had slid into it sideways, and was now... not quite wedged in, but not in a position to fully face his pursuer. He'd intended to hide there while Barrith ran by.
Too narrow for a human, but not for a halfling. Barrith drew his short sword and stepped right in. The assassin drew a dagger, but kept backing away, side-stepping down the alley. Kaz arrived a moment later, took in the situation, and went running off again.
The assassin was just nearing the far end of the alley, with Barrith following him but not attacking, when he realized the monk was waiting for him there. And that was when Shadow arrived as well, crossbow out.
With enemies on either side and no room to maneuver, the assassin elected to climb. This may not have been the worst escape plan in the history of escape plans, but it was probably in the top ten somewhere. Barrith shot him in the leg with a bow, Kaz put a pair of darts in his other leg, and Shadow put a crossbow bolt in his arm. He didn't so much fall as scrape his way back down to the bottom of the alley.
The group tied him up and brought him back to House Aldenmier; a pair of the city guard caught up with them along the way. When they reached the garden gate, Lord Aldenmier was standing inside and the cleric was over at the far end of the garden, healing the sorcerer. Lord Aldenmier acknowledged the guards with a brief nod. "Inform Sherrif Mourn that we will hold this man until he brings the wagon around." He looked at the other guard. "You may remain to observe until he arrives."
Barrith had already begun looting the assassin's equipment. (Ahem. "Checking for hidden weapons.") So the assassin was laying there in his smallclothes when the Dragonborn stalked over and asked, "Why did you try to kill me?"
"Do as you will," said the assassin. "I tell you nothing."
Lord Aldenmier sniffed and gestured to his own guards, who removed the assassin to a cell. The city guard followed along with them. The other guards went back to their patrols, and Aldenmier muttered something about having the wards on the house renewed.
It was about twenty minutes later that Sheriff Mourn showed up: a solidly-built human wearing a leather coat that was probably fashionably cut armor, with a sword at his side. With him was the cart: a small, enclosed carriage pulled by a single horse, with bars over all the windows. He and his men loaded the assassin into the cart, and he left after promising to deliver Lord Aldenmier a full report.
Lord Aldenmier then called the adventurers in for breakfast. "My apologies," he said once everyone was seated. "I did not expect the other Houses to move against us so soon. I thought that you would be able to enter the dungeon several times before anyone reacted. I advise you all to be exceedingly careful, and not leave House Aldenmier alone."
Everyone agreed that this was sound advice, so they finished breakfast and then split up to spend a day within the manor: reading, resting, practicing, cleaning equipment. Tomorrow, they would try their luck with the dungeon again.
OOC Notes:
The Mousefolk Cleric's player wasn't here today (Avengers: Endgame is a very long movie) so I was playing him; but that's also why he doesn't have a larger role in the action.
Trying to roleplay the interaction with the shopkeeper didn't go terribly well; everybody was very excited and they kept talking over each other.
Money: The party currently has 135 GP, plus leather armor that they can sell off. The monk is keeping the light crossbow, and the halfling thief is keeping the two daggers.
Advancement: I've told everybody to go ahead and level up. Now I just need to remember to make time to do it with the boys.
Other stuff:
We're still having some issues with the monk's player and myself being much more familiar with 3e than we are with 5e. The monk was making suggestions about buying some minor magic items to help us along, and that... apparently really doesn't happen in 5e. At least, I can't find anything resembling a table with GP values for magic items, and I'm getting the impression that such items are much more rare than they were back in 3e.
The assassination attempt was completely off-the-cuff. It's not part of the pre-published campaign. We'd finished selling things off and buying new equipment, and I felt like the group wasn't going to be really satisfied unless they had a chance to defeat something. So... I introduced a bit more intrigue. Plus, now they have to wait until next session to find out more about the assassin.
On a related note: I can't believe they caught him. He had a good head start, Barrith's perception checks for trying to spot him aren't so great, and he really should have escaped. But Barrith's player rolled a natural 20 on perception, and saw him hiding in the alley. The rest of that setup was just to give everybody else a chance to feel like they did something to bring him down. And they were into it.
This is an awesome little group.
The party decided that it was time to return to lord Aldenmier, sell off their looted equipment, and restock supplies (especially healing potions). Lord Aldenmier was waiting outside the dungeon when they emerged; he looked approving when they all emerged alive, and even more approving at the pile of loot. "A successful first expedition, I see." He turned to the serving boy beside him. "Please inform the Seneschal that the Ivory Scimitars have emerged from the dungeon."
He then led them back out of the inner keep and onto the streets, surrounded by a small group of servants and guards. People stared and gaped and whispered as they passed. They went to the local Adventuring Supply store, which is run by a young-seeming half elf (nice coat, white shirt, breeches, boots) who looked over the group and the looted equipment and raised an eyebrow. "We have a new Banner Company, I see."
The dragonborn stepped forward, and the haggling began.
By the time they were done, they got a pretty fair price for their haul. They took it back outside, combined it with the gold they'd taken from the hobgoblins and ghouls, and divided it with Lord Aldenmier. Then they went back inside, and bought a couple of things: another healing potion, and studded leather armor for the halfling rogue. That left them with a decent amount of gold and no real expenses, so after checking over the local mage's tower (which doesn't really sell magic items, as such) they returned to House Aldenmier. By now it was mid-afternoon: time to bathe, eat, relax, and eventually go to sleep.
The Dragonborn Sorcerer was the first one awake. He stepped out into the garden, yawned, stretched, and wondered why there was a crossbow bolt sticking out of his leg. Looking up, he saw a figure on the garden wall, heard guards yelling, and started cursing at the top of his lungs in Draconic. As everybody else spilled into the yard, the figure vanished over the wall.
Barrith (Ghostwise Halfling Rogue) immediately gave chase, scaling the wall and slipping past the guards to follow the assassin into the streets. Kaz (human monk, raised by wolves) followed him to the top of the wall, but stopped there to call directions for Barrith. ("Keep going! Now left! LEFT!")
Barrith skidded to a halt, having caught a glimpse of something strange to his left. There was a narrow alley there, too narrow for a human to stand comfortably; the assassin had slid into it sideways, and was now... not quite wedged in, but not in a position to fully face his pursuer. He'd intended to hide there while Barrith ran by.
Too narrow for a human, but not for a halfling. Barrith drew his short sword and stepped right in. The assassin drew a dagger, but kept backing away, side-stepping down the alley. Kaz arrived a moment later, took in the situation, and went running off again.
The assassin was just nearing the far end of the alley, with Barrith following him but not attacking, when he realized the monk was waiting for him there. And that was when Shadow arrived as well, crossbow out.
With enemies on either side and no room to maneuver, the assassin elected to climb. This may not have been the worst escape plan in the history of escape plans, but it was probably in the top ten somewhere. Barrith shot him in the leg with a bow, Kaz put a pair of darts in his other leg, and Shadow put a crossbow bolt in his arm. He didn't so much fall as scrape his way back down to the bottom of the alley.
The group tied him up and brought him back to House Aldenmier; a pair of the city guard caught up with them along the way. When they reached the garden gate, Lord Aldenmier was standing inside and the cleric was over at the far end of the garden, healing the sorcerer. Lord Aldenmier acknowledged the guards with a brief nod. "Inform Sherrif Mourn that we will hold this man until he brings the wagon around." He looked at the other guard. "You may remain to observe until he arrives."
Barrith had already begun looting the assassin's equipment. (Ahem. "Checking for hidden weapons.") So the assassin was laying there in his smallclothes when the Dragonborn stalked over and asked, "Why did you try to kill me?"
"Do as you will," said the assassin. "I tell you nothing."
Lord Aldenmier sniffed and gestured to his own guards, who removed the assassin to a cell. The city guard followed along with them. The other guards went back to their patrols, and Aldenmier muttered something about having the wards on the house renewed.
It was about twenty minutes later that Sheriff Mourn showed up: a solidly-built human wearing a leather coat that was probably fashionably cut armor, with a sword at his side. With him was the cart: a small, enclosed carriage pulled by a single horse, with bars over all the windows. He and his men loaded the assassin into the cart, and he left after promising to deliver Lord Aldenmier a full report.
Lord Aldenmier then called the adventurers in for breakfast. "My apologies," he said once everyone was seated. "I did not expect the other Houses to move against us so soon. I thought that you would be able to enter the dungeon several times before anyone reacted. I advise you all to be exceedingly careful, and not leave House Aldenmier alone."
Everyone agreed that this was sound advice, so they finished breakfast and then split up to spend a day within the manor: reading, resting, practicing, cleaning equipment. Tomorrow, they would try their luck with the dungeon again.
OOC Notes:
The Mousefolk Cleric's player wasn't here today (Avengers: Endgame is a very long movie) so I was playing him; but that's also why he doesn't have a larger role in the action.
Trying to roleplay the interaction with the shopkeeper didn't go terribly well; everybody was very excited and they kept talking over each other.
Money: The party currently has 135 GP, plus leather armor that they can sell off. The monk is keeping the light crossbow, and the halfling thief is keeping the two daggers.
Advancement: I've told everybody to go ahead and level up. Now I just need to remember to make time to do it with the boys.
Other stuff:
We're still having some issues with the monk's player and myself being much more familiar with 3e than we are with 5e. The monk was making suggestions about buying some minor magic items to help us along, and that... apparently really doesn't happen in 5e. At least, I can't find anything resembling a table with GP values for magic items, and I'm getting the impression that such items are much more rare than they were back in 3e.
The assassination attempt was completely off-the-cuff. It's not part of the pre-published campaign. We'd finished selling things off and buying new equipment, and I felt like the group wasn't going to be really satisfied unless they had a chance to defeat something. So... I introduced a bit more intrigue. Plus, now they have to wait until next session to find out more about the assassin.
On a related note: I can't believe they caught him. He had a good head start, Barrith's perception checks for trying to spot him aren't so great, and he really should have escaped. But Barrith's player rolled a natural 20 on perception, and saw him hiding in the alley. The rest of that setup was just to give everybody else a chance to feel like they did something to bring him down. And they were into it.
This is an awesome little group.
Friday, April 26, 2019
Must... Sleep...
Tired. So, so very tired. "If I can just get through the day," I told myself, "I can go home and go straight to bed." So I held on, finished my work, and went home.
Beautiful Wife was already asleep, leaving me to fix Secondborn's medicine. (He's on a regular dose of laxative following his hernia surgery last summer, and will be until the doctor thinks his digestive tract will stop trying to be constipated.) This also left me to feed the boys. (I ordered pizza. No energy to cook.) This also left me to get Firstborn to practice his bass. (He did.) This left me to put the boys into bed. (With their mother; she was sleeping on the lower bunk in Firstborn's room.)
The boys were actually very good about all of this, including getting into bed in the most ninja-quiet way possible.
"Thank God," said I. "Now I can read for a little bit, and then go to bed myself."
That was when I heard the voices.
Yes, they were all three awake. Yes, Secondborn needed water and a bit of Melatonin to help him sleep. Yes, of course yes, Firstborn had suddenly remembered that he needed to assemble the materials he'd brought home into something he could present to his class tomorrow. Yes, this was going to take at least another hour. Yes, I was so tired that it hurt.
Fortunately, Beautiful Wife was rested enough to take over. Unfortunately, there's essentially no way I can go to sleep if everybody else is still awake in the kitchen.
By the time they finished (an hour later) I'd passed my window. Still tired, mind you, but not at all sleepy. Of course.
I'd have been a lot more irritated, except that I clearly remember having one of those last minute, just-as-I-was-going-to-bed "Oh no!" moments when I was around Firstborn's age. Possibly more than once. So I did an admirable (I think - I admired it, anyway) job of holding onto my patience through this whole thing, and I did eventually go to sleep. I even managed to wake up for work.
But somehow I have *got* to find a way to be less tired.
Beautiful Wife was already asleep, leaving me to fix Secondborn's medicine. (He's on a regular dose of laxative following his hernia surgery last summer, and will be until the doctor thinks his digestive tract will stop trying to be constipated.) This also left me to feed the boys. (I ordered pizza. No energy to cook.) This also left me to get Firstborn to practice his bass. (He did.) This left me to put the boys into bed. (With their mother; she was sleeping on the lower bunk in Firstborn's room.)
The boys were actually very good about all of this, including getting into bed in the most ninja-quiet way possible.
"Thank God," said I. "Now I can read for a little bit, and then go to bed myself."
That was when I heard the voices.
Yes, they were all three awake. Yes, Secondborn needed water and a bit of Melatonin to help him sleep. Yes, of course yes, Firstborn had suddenly remembered that he needed to assemble the materials he'd brought home into something he could present to his class tomorrow. Yes, this was going to take at least another hour. Yes, I was so tired that it hurt.
Fortunately, Beautiful Wife was rested enough to take over. Unfortunately, there's essentially no way I can go to sleep if everybody else is still awake in the kitchen.
By the time they finished (an hour later) I'd passed my window. Still tired, mind you, but not at all sleepy. Of course.
I'd have been a lot more irritated, except that I clearly remember having one of those last minute, just-as-I-was-going-to-bed "Oh no!" moments when I was around Firstborn's age. Possibly more than once. So I did an admirable (I think - I admired it, anyway) job of holding onto my patience through this whole thing, and I did eventually go to sleep. I even managed to wake up for work.
But somehow I have *got* to find a way to be less tired.
Thursday, April 25, 2019
Random Pictures
Kitty and the Ink Machine:
And they say dinosaurs are extinct:
Crush your enemies, see them driven before you...
And they say dinosaurs are extinct:
Crush your enemies, see them driven before you...
Wednesday, April 24, 2019
Challenge: Books I Discovered On Social Media
This is part of the weekly Wednesday Blogging Challenge over at Long and Short Reviews. This week's topic is Books I Discovered On Social Media.
Which... I don't even know where to start. There's a bunch.
All right, let's start with the one I'm reading now:
1. The City Stained Red, by Sam Sykes. I wound up following Sam Sykes on Twitter a few years back, I think mainly because of his interactions with Chuck Wendig (whom I'd already read and enjoyed) and Myke Cole (whom I hadn't, yet). So... this book. All right. You know what High Fantasy is? Grand themes, great heroes, inescapable destinies, and the ultimate war between Good and Evil? Yeah. This book... isn't that. This is more... Low Fantasy. Yes, it has a lot of the fantasy tropes, but it's also got a lot of crude humor, heroes who aren't particularly heroic (they've actually arrived on the scene because they're chasing someone who owes them money), and despite all that it has a lot very enjoyable adventure.
2. The Iron Wyrm Affair by Lilith Saintcrow. An intriguing, richly-imagined mix of steampunk and sorcery, which I believe I originally learned about from an article on John Scalzi's blog Whatever. (I wouldn't absolutely swear to that, but I distinctly remember the article and its discussion of how the romance elements within the book play out, and it isn't between the two title characters.) Anyway, after I finished that one I read the next in the series, and the one after that, and somewhere in there I basically started working my way through all of Lilith Saintcrow's back catalogue.
3. Space Opera by Catherynne M. Valente. Oh my God, y'all, I love this book so much. And I wouldn't have known it existed except that the author was talking about how it grew out of her deep, strong love of Eurovision -- either on Twitter, or somebody linked to the discussion from Twitter. This is a story about some deeply broken, very remarkable people who have to save humanity from extermination through the power of Rock'n'Roll.
4. Rolling in the Deep by Myra Grant. I'm pretty sure I picked this one up because somebody on Twitter said, "It has murder mermaids." I do not regret that choice. It's a bit campy (there's a bit of Found Footage approach to the way it's set up) but it does exactly what it sets out to do, and the end result is a fun little horror book set in the middle of the ocean. With mermaids.
5. Space Unicorn Blues by TJ Berry. This is another one that I can basically chalk up to, "I follow a lot of authors and aspiring authors on Twitter." I'm pretty sure that in this case somebody said, "Unicorns! In! Space!" and I thought, "I'm there for that." A misfit crew, an unlikely mission, a pretty fair amount of violence and explosions, and some actual personal growth in the characters. It's not going to be to everyone's taste (in fact, that's probably true of anything I like) but I enjoyed it and I'm looking forward to the sequel.
There are others, probably a lot of others, but those are the ones that come to mind off the top of my head.
Which... I don't even know where to start. There's a bunch.
All right, let's start with the one I'm reading now:
1. The City Stained Red, by Sam Sykes. I wound up following Sam Sykes on Twitter a few years back, I think mainly because of his interactions with Chuck Wendig (whom I'd already read and enjoyed) and Myke Cole (whom I hadn't, yet). So... this book. All right. You know what High Fantasy is? Grand themes, great heroes, inescapable destinies, and the ultimate war between Good and Evil? Yeah. This book... isn't that. This is more... Low Fantasy. Yes, it has a lot of the fantasy tropes, but it's also got a lot of crude humor, heroes who aren't particularly heroic (they've actually arrived on the scene because they're chasing someone who owes them money), and despite all that it has a lot very enjoyable adventure.
2. The Iron Wyrm Affair by Lilith Saintcrow. An intriguing, richly-imagined mix of steampunk and sorcery, which I believe I originally learned about from an article on John Scalzi's blog Whatever. (I wouldn't absolutely swear to that, but I distinctly remember the article and its discussion of how the romance elements within the book play out, and it isn't between the two title characters.) Anyway, after I finished that one I read the next in the series, and the one after that, and somewhere in there I basically started working my way through all of Lilith Saintcrow's back catalogue.
3. Space Opera by Catherynne M. Valente. Oh my God, y'all, I love this book so much. And I wouldn't have known it existed except that the author was talking about how it grew out of her deep, strong love of Eurovision -- either on Twitter, or somebody linked to the discussion from Twitter. This is a story about some deeply broken, very remarkable people who have to save humanity from extermination through the power of Rock'n'Roll.
4. Rolling in the Deep by Myra Grant. I'm pretty sure I picked this one up because somebody on Twitter said, "It has murder mermaids." I do not regret that choice. It's a bit campy (there's a bit of Found Footage approach to the way it's set up) but it does exactly what it sets out to do, and the end result is a fun little horror book set in the middle of the ocean. With mermaids.
5. Space Unicorn Blues by TJ Berry. This is another one that I can basically chalk up to, "I follow a lot of authors and aspiring authors on Twitter." I'm pretty sure that in this case somebody said, "Unicorns! In! Space!" and I thought, "I'm there for that." A misfit crew, an unlikely mission, a pretty fair amount of violence and explosions, and some actual personal growth in the characters. It's not going to be to everyone's taste (in fact, that's probably true of anything I like) but I enjoyed it and I'm looking forward to the sequel.
There are others, probably a lot of others, but those are the ones that come to mind off the top of my head.
Tuesday, April 23, 2019
Monday, April 22, 2019
DnD: The Hobgoblins Next Door!
When last we left our heroes, they were on the first level of the arcane dungeon beneath Roslof Keep, and had just defeated a group of three ghouls.
They began this session by making a thorough check of the rooms - both the small room behind the concealed door where the ghouls has been hiding, and the larger room outside. They didn't discover any secret doors or other points of interest, but they did take a few minutes to examine the glyphs that decorate the walls and ceiling. They have determined by now that the glyphs seem to be scattered at random and don't appear to be any sort of message; their current theory is that the glyphs are part of whatever process allows the Infernal Machine to regenerate and rearrange the dungeon.
Having failed to turn up anything interesting, the monk suggested that they should go back to where they came in and see if they could disarm the trapped door. They managed fairly handily, and were then able to open the door. Behind it they discovered a small space housing a pair of large crossbows or small ballistae, each ready to fire a full-size spear when the door was opened. The group claimed the two spears (the drow assassin is keeping one of them, and they plan to sell the other). Then they checked the room over, found nothing, and moved on.
After a brief group consultation, they decided to go back to the door across the hall from the room that held the ghouls. This was the one they'd started to open last week, except that the cleric thought she heard something moving behind it so they went the other way instead.
This time, they marched up to the door, flung it open, and found themselves face to face with six hobgoblins: three in front with longswords, three in back with longbows. The front-and-center hobgoblin in the first row was tapping the flat of his sword on the palm of his hand. (Like this.) The melee hobgoblins charged up but stopped short of attack range, forcing the party to enter the room if they wanted to fight. The archers loosed, but... badly.
One of the hobgoblins rolled a critical failure, and shot his buddy in the back; I then ruled that not only was that melee hobgoblin injured, he also had disadvantage because he'd turned his head to glare balefully back at the guy behind him. The halfling rogue moved to get an angle on him and took a shot, but missed. The drow rogue, who also had a decent line on the guy, took his hand crossbow and put a bolt in his neck, finishing him. The monk stepped into the room and attacked, doing some damage. The sorcerer tried a firebolt but missed.
(Firstborn's Dragonborn Sorcerer is actually an attempt to copy an entirely different character class from an entirely different game. That particular class does everything with fire. So at this point, all his attack spells are fire-based, except for Magic Missile. This is going to become a problem later, as fire resistance becomes more common -- but I figure, that can be part of the character growth. Firstborn has definitely built for concept rather than optimization.)
The cleric moved in past the monk and around one of the remaining melee hobgoblins, so she and the monk were flanking him. The melee hobgoblins attacked again, missing the cleric but injuring the monk. One of the arrows from the archers hit the cleric, damaging him but not enough to take him down; everything else missed. The halfling rogue decided to make a support run; he slipped in beside the cleric, took a healing potion off her belt, and tipped it into her mouth. The drow rogue took another shot with his crossbow but missed. The sorcerer tried another Firebolt and missed again. (The Hobgoblins didn't have all that much in the way of hit points, but they had pretty good armor.) The cleric, I think, attacked a hobgoblin and damaged it.
This was about the point where the rogues realized that trying to fight with missile weapons at close range just wasn't working for them.
The hobgoblins attacked again, this time taking down the monk. (They had a decent, though not spectacular, chance to hit him; but what really did him in was that they rolled high on damage.) Barrith, the halfling rogue, had dropped his bow and whipped out his short sword. He now attacked, and scored some damage on one of the two remaining melee hobgoblins. Shadow, the drow rogue, dropped his crossbow, drew his rapier, and stepped into the room; flanking the hobgoblins, he attacked and did some damage. The sorcerer tried another firebolt and connected with one of the archers, and Aspen the cleric cast a healing spell on the monk.
That was when the battle turned.
The hobgoblins made fairly ineffective attacks, and the archer who had previously shot his buddy in the back -- remember him? Yeah, well, he snapped the string on his bow, gave up, and pulled out a longsword. Between the monk, the rogues, and the advantage and extra damage (for the rogues) provided by flanking, the two melee hobgoblins went down. The archers dropped their bows and drew swords, but they only lasted another round; Shadow, the drow rogue, one-shotted one of them, and I'm not sure exactly who took down everybody else, but it was short and sweet and we were running out of time anyway.
So, with the group victorious but also running low on spells and healing potions, the cleric declared that it was time for them to leave the dungeon. She planned to search the hobgoblins, take their equipment, and sell it; but mainly, she intended to live to fight another day. Barrith argued; the halfling felt that having cleared this room, they could just stay there while they recovered -- and he didn't want the dungeon to reset when they left. The cleric explained about the possibility of wandering monsters (which, as DM, was definitely a possibility), and nobody else expressed an opinion -- but I need to check with them at the beginning of next session. To my mind, the big argument for leaving now is the loot: if they're planning to sell the stuff they took off the hobgoblins, then we're talking about rather more equipment than you want to lug around the dungeon.
Current party acquisitions:
1. Six gold pieces, found in the concealed room with the ghouls last week.
2. One spear. (Shadow is keeping the other one.) (worth 5 SP)
3. Six longswords. (worth 45 gp)
4. Three longbows. (worth 75 gp)
5. Six chain shirts, which reek of unwashed hobgoblin. (worth 150 GP)
6. Six shields. (worth 25 gp) (Aspen is keeping one.)
7. One hundred and forty-four gold pieces, taken from the hobgoblins.
Advancement:
I have no idea how to calculate the Experience Points so far in Fifth Edition, and I'm not sure I care; that seems too much like work. I'm thinking that I may have them level up on more of a benchmark basis: they survived the practice dungeon and their first foray into the real dungeon, so now they move to level 2. When they find the stairs down to the next level of the dungeon, they advance to level 3. Like that.
Next Week:
This *might* be a good time to introduce them to the shops and other resources inside the keep. (That'll mean reading over the descriptions again, preferably right before the game.) Even inside the Keep walls, things will have changed: people will know that the Ivory Scimitars have reformed, and will start to recognize them. Some may scoff; some may praise; some may scorn; some may not care. But the Banner Companies are kind of like sports teams, and there's a big social element to being part of one.
On a related note: dear god, I have to get skills and proficiencies outlined for the sorcerer. He's the highest charisma, he needs to be able to be the face of the party, and his character sheet is a half-formed mess.
Notes:
-The two rogues definitely started pulling their weight this game: disarming traps, fighting effectively, and working with the rest of the group.
-The mousefolk cleric is both the best tank and the most strategic thinker in the group, partly because his player knows the system better than anyone else at the table (including me) and partly just because.
-The monk, as expected, can do a lot of damage but can't take that much damage. We haven't had a combat yet where he hasn't been knocked unconscious; we also haven't had a combat yet where he hasn't killed at least two enemies. "I'm a glass cannon," the player told his father at the end of the game. That shouldn't be quite as much the case as it is; the monk isn't that easy to hit, it's just that when he does get hit, he doesn't have a lot of hit points to soak it up with. And the bad guys did just get some lucky rolls in there.
-So, last week we discovered the joys of the Help action and how much oomph it adds to skill rolls. This week, we discovered flanking and Sneak Attack damage, and how coordinating positions with your fellow party members can really work to your advantage. We'll make a team out of these characters yet! ...I hope.
They began this session by making a thorough check of the rooms - both the small room behind the concealed door where the ghouls has been hiding, and the larger room outside. They didn't discover any secret doors or other points of interest, but they did take a few minutes to examine the glyphs that decorate the walls and ceiling. They have determined by now that the glyphs seem to be scattered at random and don't appear to be any sort of message; their current theory is that the glyphs are part of whatever process allows the Infernal Machine to regenerate and rearrange the dungeon.
Having failed to turn up anything interesting, the monk suggested that they should go back to where they came in and see if they could disarm the trapped door. They managed fairly handily, and were then able to open the door. Behind it they discovered a small space housing a pair of large crossbows or small ballistae, each ready to fire a full-size spear when the door was opened. The group claimed the two spears (the drow assassin is keeping one of them, and they plan to sell the other). Then they checked the room over, found nothing, and moved on.
After a brief group consultation, they decided to go back to the door across the hall from the room that held the ghouls. This was the one they'd started to open last week, except that the cleric thought she heard something moving behind it so they went the other way instead.
This time, they marched up to the door, flung it open, and found themselves face to face with six hobgoblins: three in front with longswords, three in back with longbows. The front-and-center hobgoblin in the first row was tapping the flat of his sword on the palm of his hand. (Like this.) The melee hobgoblins charged up but stopped short of attack range, forcing the party to enter the room if they wanted to fight. The archers loosed, but... badly.
One of the hobgoblins rolled a critical failure, and shot his buddy in the back; I then ruled that not only was that melee hobgoblin injured, he also had disadvantage because he'd turned his head to glare balefully back at the guy behind him. The halfling rogue moved to get an angle on him and took a shot, but missed. The drow rogue, who also had a decent line on the guy, took his hand crossbow and put a bolt in his neck, finishing him. The monk stepped into the room and attacked, doing some damage. The sorcerer tried a firebolt but missed.
(Firstborn's Dragonborn Sorcerer is actually an attempt to copy an entirely different character class from an entirely different game. That particular class does everything with fire. So at this point, all his attack spells are fire-based, except for Magic Missile. This is going to become a problem later, as fire resistance becomes more common -- but I figure, that can be part of the character growth. Firstborn has definitely built for concept rather than optimization.)
The cleric moved in past the monk and around one of the remaining melee hobgoblins, so she and the monk were flanking him. The melee hobgoblins attacked again, missing the cleric but injuring the monk. One of the arrows from the archers hit the cleric, damaging him but not enough to take him down; everything else missed. The halfling rogue decided to make a support run; he slipped in beside the cleric, took a healing potion off her belt, and tipped it into her mouth. The drow rogue took another shot with his crossbow but missed. The sorcerer tried another Firebolt and missed again. (The Hobgoblins didn't have all that much in the way of hit points, but they had pretty good armor.) The cleric, I think, attacked a hobgoblin and damaged it.
This was about the point where the rogues realized that trying to fight with missile weapons at close range just wasn't working for them.
The hobgoblins attacked again, this time taking down the monk. (They had a decent, though not spectacular, chance to hit him; but what really did him in was that they rolled high on damage.) Barrith, the halfling rogue, had dropped his bow and whipped out his short sword. He now attacked, and scored some damage on one of the two remaining melee hobgoblins. Shadow, the drow rogue, dropped his crossbow, drew his rapier, and stepped into the room; flanking the hobgoblins, he attacked and did some damage. The sorcerer tried another firebolt and connected with one of the archers, and Aspen the cleric cast a healing spell on the monk.
That was when the battle turned.
The hobgoblins made fairly ineffective attacks, and the archer who had previously shot his buddy in the back -- remember him? Yeah, well, he snapped the string on his bow, gave up, and pulled out a longsword. Between the monk, the rogues, and the advantage and extra damage (for the rogues) provided by flanking, the two melee hobgoblins went down. The archers dropped their bows and drew swords, but they only lasted another round; Shadow, the drow rogue, one-shotted one of them, and I'm not sure exactly who took down everybody else, but it was short and sweet and we were running out of time anyway.
So, with the group victorious but also running low on spells and healing potions, the cleric declared that it was time for them to leave the dungeon. She planned to search the hobgoblins, take their equipment, and sell it; but mainly, she intended to live to fight another day. Barrith argued; the halfling felt that having cleared this room, they could just stay there while they recovered -- and he didn't want the dungeon to reset when they left. The cleric explained about the possibility of wandering monsters (which, as DM, was definitely a possibility), and nobody else expressed an opinion -- but I need to check with them at the beginning of next session. To my mind, the big argument for leaving now is the loot: if they're planning to sell the stuff they took off the hobgoblins, then we're talking about rather more equipment than you want to lug around the dungeon.
Current party acquisitions:
1. Six gold pieces, found in the concealed room with the ghouls last week.
2. One spear. (Shadow is keeping the other one.) (worth 5 SP)
3. Six longswords. (worth 45 gp)
4. Three longbows. (worth 75 gp)
5. Six chain shirts, which reek of unwashed hobgoblin. (worth 150 GP)
6. Six shields. (worth 25 gp) (Aspen is keeping one.)
7. One hundred and forty-four gold pieces, taken from the hobgoblins.
Advancement:
I have no idea how to calculate the Experience Points so far in Fifth Edition, and I'm not sure I care; that seems too much like work. I'm thinking that I may have them level up on more of a benchmark basis: they survived the practice dungeon and their first foray into the real dungeon, so now they move to level 2. When they find the stairs down to the next level of the dungeon, they advance to level 3. Like that.
Next Week:
This *might* be a good time to introduce them to the shops and other resources inside the keep. (That'll mean reading over the descriptions again, preferably right before the game.) Even inside the Keep walls, things will have changed: people will know that the Ivory Scimitars have reformed, and will start to recognize them. Some may scoff; some may praise; some may scorn; some may not care. But the Banner Companies are kind of like sports teams, and there's a big social element to being part of one.
On a related note: dear god, I have to get skills and proficiencies outlined for the sorcerer. He's the highest charisma, he needs to be able to be the face of the party, and his character sheet is a half-formed mess.
Notes:
-The two rogues definitely started pulling their weight this game: disarming traps, fighting effectively, and working with the rest of the group.
-The mousefolk cleric is both the best tank and the most strategic thinker in the group, partly because his player knows the system better than anyone else at the table (including me) and partly just because.
-The monk, as expected, can do a lot of damage but can't take that much damage. We haven't had a combat yet where he hasn't been knocked unconscious; we also haven't had a combat yet where he hasn't killed at least two enemies. "I'm a glass cannon," the player told his father at the end of the game. That shouldn't be quite as much the case as it is; the monk isn't that easy to hit, it's just that when he does get hit, he doesn't have a lot of hit points to soak it up with. And the bad guys did just get some lucky rolls in there.
-So, last week we discovered the joys of the Help action and how much oomph it adds to skill rolls. This week, we discovered flanking and Sneak Attack damage, and how coordinating positions with your fellow party members can really work to your advantage. We'll make a team out of these characters yet! ...I hope.
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