DM Stormwind's Legacy of Fire - The Heavens aligned against us.

Game Master LastNameOnEarth

"Those fools? Not much. They didn't come up here. I didn't spot 'em until the fighting started, but it looked like they'd tried the frontal assault. There was about 4 of 'em, maybe five. Got taken down in minutes. If they survived, the gnolls no doubt have some nasty sport intended for them. The gnolls have a few beasts down there, like I said, and walking in the front and getting the whole place riled up was a foolish thing to do. Good way to bring the whole town down on you."

"You may want to think about that before you decide what approach to take yourselves."

"Thank you for the information." Muqaq says with a smile and a slight bow. Backing away several paces out of earshot of the priest he waves the others over. "Seems like guerrilla tactics are in order here. We need to divide the 'dogs' into smaller groups, and then conquer them with ambush attacks. Any ideas on a good way to draw some of the gnolls away from the town into an ambush?"

"We already saw a small group some out to investigate the noise in the pesh fields. Maybe we could arrange something similar again, and be lying in wait for them..."

Akhom nods at this suggestion. "Particularly if we can strike at range. From what I've seen, the dogs prefer hand-to-hand combat. If we could draw some out, having prepared a killing ground for them..."

"A narrow gorge close to town would be perfect, at least for the initial ambush. It's too bad we don't have an illusionist in our group. We'll need some form of live bait."

"We could have Sati summon a creature to draw them in, no?"

I like the canyon idea.

"Good idea. What do you think Sati?"

"It could be done, but in order to summon such a creature, I would have to dismiss Mohgwier. I would not be able to summon her again quickly enough to take part in the conflict. I dislike going into a conflict without her..."

"I'll be the bait. It'll take more than a few dogs to put me down before Akhom finishes them off."

Akhom jerks to attention at Gruthic's words. "But...!" He pulls himself up short, concern dominating his features.

Mohgwier nudges Sati's hand with her muzzle. The silver haired girl looks down and smiles at her brave companion.

"Better than Mohgwier does it. Should the worst come about, she can still be saved. We have no way to bring you back, Gruthic."

How would you like to proceed?

"Gruthic, can you find us a likely canyon nearby? Mohgwier acting as bait is probably our best option. We can all hide in the canyon, and then Mohgwier can go out and draw in some gnolls."

Area Map

Unfortunately, the town lies on an old flood plain from the river, and the area is quite flat until you enter the foothills and small mountains on the other side of the plains, or across the river. You would have to lure the gnolls a good mile from the village before encountering a suitable valley. It might be difficult to get them to go that far...

In addition, an Eidolon can only go 100 ft from her summoner before she starts to loose cohesion (and HP), so while she could be stationary bait, going out and luring anyone would require Sati go with her.

"Certainly. Do you want to set up the ambush here, or west of the river in the hills over there?"

Gruthic will attempt to locate an ideal ambush location.

Survival: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (3) + 8 = 11

"The flood plain around the town is quite flat, no good valleys. We'd have better luck setting up an ambush in the old pesh fields with the plans for camouflage. We already saw that the gnolls were willing to go out in there a ways."

"I suppose that will have to work. What time of day are gnolls least active?"

Gnoll Experts: Gnolls are primary active at night and early morning. Bedtime is probably coming up fairly soon.

"If we do make our ambush in the pesh we'll need to make sure there aren't more of those diggers. Or if there are we lead the gnolls into some."

"We could just make a fire in the pesh fields. Even gnolls must keep some sort of watch. If they see the smoke they'll likely send a few 'men' to investigate."

"We should be careful not to create too large a blaze - we don't want to attract too many, nor raise too big an alarm," Akhom cautions.

"I meant a campfire, sorry, I should have been more specific. A false camp as it were to draw their attention."

The cold sweat on Xanyon's brow cools at the explanation.

"A controlled fire would be much better. What is pesh, anyway?"

"It's a fun, but rather addictive drug. Made from these cacti."

I'll need to make up the map for the encounter, so let me know what kind of environment you are looking for, and perhaps a few of the features you would like to see on the map. If it is plausible that you could find such features in the area, I will include them on the map.

We just need a place with cover to hide in, and where it would be possible to lure them into a central area where we can hit them with ranged attacks.

Maybe also have the central area be in a small hollow, allowing us to get a higher ground bonus if possible? Or are the fields uniformly flat?

Xanyon would be looking for a spot relatively close, his effective range tops at 100 and he's better within about 40.

Here is you hollow, located within the pesh fields. I think this is something like what you were going for, but in either event, it is likely the best site you can find. Any questions about features, etc. Please let me know. As you are setting up an ambush, I am allowing you to see the site before combat to plan your attack, and anything you might wish to do to use, or even alter the terrain.

The map is alterable, so feel free to place yourselves were you would like to appear. The village is to the north, and so that is the most likely angle of approach of any patrol.

Pesh Hollow

I've placed Xanyon, I assume those are rocks?

Yup.

Placed myself as well. Muqaq will bury himself in sand when the time comes. Not a lot, but he will lay flat and scoop enough sand to cover himself. He'll lay a cloth over his face and barely cover that bit, so he can breathe.

If I go to O7 am I going to run into any LoS difficulties from the small cacti as I aim into the hollow? Also, I'm travelling with an ipad, so if anyone could be so kind as to shift Akhom to O7 on the map, I'd be mighty grateful :)

The large cacti there are spaced out enough that you should be able to move through or around them relatively easily. The space containing the main trunk will be considered blocked, so you will have to move around them, but otherwise you will not loose much speed moving, and you can look around the cacti trunk and receive partial cover for it as well. Climbing out of the hollow will be considered difficult terrain in dark shaded spaces, but wont require a climb check.

Edit: As soon as everyone has checked in and placed themselves we can light the fire and lie in wait.

Gruthic takes cover behind some boulders near the north end of the hollow. He crouches down and leans his shield on the rock. Knowing his own incompetence at stealth, he simply hopes the gnolls will not notice his hunched form, and will not smell him over the smoke.

Looks like Sati is placed, so we are just waiting for Seif.

Seif crouches down behind one of the smaller boulders, his blade across his lap, and a prayer to the Everlight on his lips.

The fire is built high and laden with pieces of moss, bracken, and cactus in order to get it good and smokey. It burns high and hot for a time, but after a while begins to die down and the smoke falter.

It is nearly an hour before Akhom is able to make out the group of figures leaving the village, and making their way slowly towards the smoke. As before, their pattern is slow; lazy even. As they draw close, they begin to approach more directly, coming in from the Northwest. As they draw close, Akhom can see two armed with spears, one with a longbow, and a third armed with an oversized flail. Suddenly, Akhom realizes that they are coming right towards his position! He holds still, trying to remain relatively unseen. They come to the large boulder, and he holds his breath as they determine which way to walk around it. 1 Left|2 Right: Around Boulder: 1d2 ⇒ 1. He almost lets loose his breath when he sees them turn east and walk around the north side of the rock.

When they get to the lip of the hollow, they stop and look intently for a while. Mohgwier lies at the bottom of the hollow by the fire; seemingly wounded.

The commander, the one with the flail, gestures to either side says something in Gnoll to the two carrying spears. They begin to spread out around the edge of the hollow, scouting.

The gnoll with the bow draws an arrow and fits it to the string as two of his pack mates start walking the edge of the pit. The archer draws fletching to muzzle and takes aim.

Intervene, or continue the ruse?

I'd say intervene, but Muqaq can only hear what's going on. He's also too far away to do anything immediately if he revealed himself.

For one thing, I don't think Akhom knows anything about eidolons, but in any case he'd want to avert Mohgweir copping an injury. If possible he'll snap off a shot at the archer - surprise round I assume, so no rapid shot?

PBS+gnoll killer : 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (5) + 9 = 14
Damage: 1d8 + 3 ⇒ (2) + 3 = 5

Sati cannot speak Gnoll, and so does not know what they are talking about, though she can likely hear the voices. She is trying to remain hidden, her crossbow at the ready.

Akhom hears the command, and sees the figure of the gnoll fitting knock to string. He stands, bow in hand, draws and looses in one smooth motion. Akhom's release is not as steady as he'd of liked, and the arrow sails just left of center as a result. Had the gnoll seen the attack coming, he'd probably have been able to avoid it. However, caught flatfooted as he was, the arrow takes him in the right shoulder. He yelps in pain and surprise. Their leader barks a command, sharp and harsh.

Initiative Order: Muqaq, Akhom, Seif, Gruthic, Mohgwier, Xanyon, Sati, Gnolls.

Round 1

I put the whole team before the gnolls for simplicity. They will be flatfooted until their initiative.

Akhom frowns in annoyance at his poor shot. Resolving to make up for his weak effort, he speeds up the cadence of his routine.

Aiming at the same gnoll, if the first shot happens to kill him I'll aim at the leader with the second.

Rapid Shot: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (12) + 7 = 19
Rapid Shot: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (14) + 7 = 21

Damage: 1d8 + 2 ⇒ (5) + 2 = 7
Damage: 1d8 + 2 ⇒ (7) + 2 = 9

Muqaq stands up and casts mage armor on himself. "Akhom to me! You're going to get surrounded!"

Seif-al-Din stands, and rushes forward, adopting a defensive position directly in front of the Gnolls.

Double move to K15.

Round 1

Xanyon fires at one of the gnolls. He takes careful aim and does his best to end the fighter quickly.

@J12, using grit to make it a touch attack. I calculate him at 70 feet, so -6.

Pistol Deadly Aim Touch: 1d20 + 6 - 6 ⇒ (14) + 6 - 6 = 141d8 + 2 ⇒ (8) + 2 = 10

Sati rises from her crouched hiding place, still using the rock for cover. She takes aim with her crossbow and looses her bolt at the archer (or if he's dead, at the leader).

1d20 + 3 ⇒ (11) + 3 = 141d8 ⇒ 4

Mohgwier charges at the far right gnoll, finishing her dash with a pounce.

1d20 + 4 ⇒ (2) + 4 = 61d6 + 2 ⇒ (2) + 2 = 4
1d20 + 4 ⇒ (16) + 4 = 201d6 + 2 ⇒ (3) + 2 = 5
1d20 + 4 ⇒ (19) + 4 = 231d6 + 2 ⇒ (2) + 2 = 4

I'm afraid Mohgwier can't charge as the lip leading up out of the hollow is considered difficult terrain. She could double move to his current location, or stop short at L18 with a single move, but in either case, she would not be able to attack this round.

Likewise for Seif; the boulders in his path make the requested movement impossible. L14 is as close as you could get.

Sorry GM, forgot my trait bonus to dmg to gnolls - +1 for those rolls.

Heeding Muqaq's order, Akhom slides into cover, before reappearing at the lip of the hollow and raising his bow to fire once more.

Moving to U8. Preferably aiming for the most wounded gnoll that isn't in melee - and I'll take an unwounded one over an engaged one. If I get closed with before my turn I'll use Withdraw to move around to Y10 or thereabouts (13 squares of movement).

Comp Bow: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (5) + 8 = 13
Damage: 1d8 + 3 ⇒ (5) + 3 = 8

She'll double move and get into position.