Aubrey's Rise of the Runelords campaign (Inactive)

Game Master Aubrey the Malformed

Dravite ushers Larken ahead of him and brings up the rear, keeping an eye out for danger.
move silently-1d20+4=8

Larken creeps silently across the bridge ahead of Dravite. The party assembles by the gate. So far, no alarm has been raised.

(Ok, what now?)

We coul' be climbin' up ta da tower if'n ye want ta, or we just try ta open da gates.

The gate is already open if I recall.

The gate is already open if I recall.

Well then, that should make them REAL easy to open.;P

(The guards, with the exception of those out of sight around the back of the pallisade playing with the seagull, are on platforms about 10' in the air, built atop the pallisade wall and with rope ladders on the inside of the enclosure. It is far from impossible to climb up and get at them from the outside, but it isn't just a case of walking up and killing them from where you are standing by the gate.)

Aha! My bad - I somehow imagined that the platforms were free-standing structures a bit outside the walls.

"Good, good..." Alwyn peers inside the gate at the noisome goblin runts. "Nail the dogs with missiles, then we quickly scale the rope ladders and kill the sleepers before turning on the guards in the back. What do you think their pups will do once we barge in? And what do we do with them once we're done in here?"

“As distasteful as it is, we should take care of the sleeping guards,” whispers Elisile, lisping slightly so that the "s" sounds do not carry. “If anyone objects, we may attempt to subdue instead of killing them, but it will be more difficult to do without raising the alarm, and consider this; were they to awaken, we would kill them in combat regardless. I am willing to climb up there and do the deed, with whoever else will accompany me.”

I'll be fer helpin' wit de grown gobbos, lass, but the kiddies be a bit more o' a problem fer me. I dinnae think I can be slaughterin' dem. After we be killin' deir parents dey be orphans, and likely as not to be dyin' all alone. Be dere an orphanage in town we can be taken dem to?

(There's probably an orphanage or something similar in Sandpoint.)

"I'll take out the sleepers."

Elisile nods. “I’ll not kill children, even goblin ones. We’ll discuss later what to do with them. For now, let us do this.”

She looks to ensure that Dravite and Hudak are ready, then preapres to climb up to the platform, intending to stay very low and stealthy and take advantage of any cover available so as not to be seen.

Climb: 10+1 = 11. Move Silently: 8+7 = 15. Hide: 18+7 = 25.

I presume that Elisile, Dravite and Hudak will do one each.

climb r11+9=20 hide r1 move silently r2

Elisile climbs up silently. Hudak's books scrape loudly on the wood as he hauls himself up. Both arrive at the top, to find three bleary-eyed goblins looking right at them.

Roll initiative.

init r6+2=8

Init:12+3 = 15

"They're awake. It's okay to killem."

Heh. Good call.
I think Dravite was going to climb too, but he might not be up yet. I’m trying to think of a way that Elisile might be able to take out two of them in one round, but I don’t see it. Hudak got anything?

cleave.

Init: 9 in case this blows up

Init 1d20+7=10

Init: 18 + 2 = 20. Waste of a perfectly good roll on something that probably won't even matter...

Initiative = 17

I'm back, by the way.

Good thing you told me ;).
Hey--how do I know it's you?

Dopplegangers can never have hair this good.

It could be a mimic.

Initiative 9+1=10, in case it is needed.

OK, those who are climbing (Elisile, Hudak and Dravite, if I am not mistaken) are almost, but not quite, on the platform - to get up on the platform and stand up is a move action whicgh provokes and attack of opportuntity, and you are counted as flat-footed. Of course, while climbing, you are flat-footed anyway. Those climbing on the platform can see what is going on and are not surprised, and neither are the goblins, though they are flat-footed until their action. Those on the ground will be surprised unless they make either a DC 15 Spot or Listen check, and shooting at the reclining goblins is a -6 penalty from the ground as they are lying down and 10' in the air.

The gobbos init is 8.

Listen 15+5 = 20
I'm not going to attempt to shoot up there. I'd like to down my potion of mage armor this round. That will bump me to AC 20 for an hour.
EDIT: I finally realized why this doesn't work. Mage armor's ac bonus is an 'armor bonus' and can't stack with my chain shirt. So I won't drink that potion after all.

On his initiative Dravite climbs onto the platform. We only get a partial action for the surprise round, correct?

Listen: 16 + 1 = 17. Since my init was 20, I'll just go ahead and act now...

Seeing no better time to strike, Vethran takes aim and looses a crossbow bolt at one of the goblins perched atop the platform.

Attack: 12 + 3 - 6 = 9.

On his initiative Dravite climbs onto the platform. We only get a partial action for the surprise round, correct?

Correct.

Vethran's bolt thuds into the underside of the platform.

Can someone rustle up an initiative chart, showing who is surprised and who is not?

Init:
Vethran: 20 (not surprised)
Larken: 17 (?)
Elisile: 15 (not surprised)
Dravite: 10 (not surprised)
Alwyn: 10 (?)
Illes: 9 (not surprised)
Hudak: 8 (not surprised)
Goblins: 8 (not surprised)
Loj: ?

Listen check 4+2=6. Blah.

As Dragonmann is still out, I'll run L'oj. Listen 12+6=15, initiative 11+1=12.

Updated init:
Vethran: 20 (not surprised)
Larken: 17 (?)
Elisile: 15 (not surprised)
L'oj: 12 (not surprised)
Dravite: 10 (not surprised)
Alwyn: 10 (most definitely surprised)
Illes: 9 (not surprised)
Hudak: 8 (not surprised)
Goblins: 8 (not surprised)

Listen: 15r + 4 = 19. Not Surprised.
Larken gets his crossbow ready, takes a shot and reloads.

Attack: 18r +7 +1(point blank) -6 = 20
Damage: 7 + 9 (sneak attack) +1 (point blank) = 17

Larken skewers a goblin through the head. It collapses, twitching spastically.

Elisile continues her climb to the top of the platform, drawing her rapier as she reaches the top.
With a partial action I believe that’s it.

NPCing L'oj:

L'oj activates his Master of tactics and Motivate urgency auras. Then, drawing his longsword, he assumes a ready position by the gate.

While he can't ready an action, he can look he part...

Back and caught up

Now Dravite.

Still the surprise round? If so Dravite climbs onto the platform.

Still the surprise round? If so Dravite climbs onto the platform.

Yeah, sorry, you posted that before. My mistake.

Now Alwyn.

Alwyn spends the surprise round scratching his beard, wondering how we can get quickly and quietly to the goblins on the platforms.

Oh yeah, surprised....

Illes.

Illes draws another arrow and waits to see how this unfolds...

Ready action to step out and fire on the other tower if I can hear that they have spotted us.

Hudak'll climb up there also. Pull battleaxe.

The two remaining goblins yell in horror and dive off the platform. (AoO's from those on the platform as they jump.) The goblin children look up in surprise but cannot miss the three figures looming on the platform and begin shrieking, the few adults in the yard outside the hall giving the alarm and rushing for their weapons. On the far side of the pallisade, a gull flutters away with what appears to be a length of string on its foot.

(Resolve the AoO's and then back to the top of the order.)

Distance to the gull?

I'll let you know - I feel a bit of mapping coming on.

The goblins jumping off the platform takes Elisile somewhat by surprise, and she is slow at lashing out with her blade as one leaps past her.

6+5=11.