The man gulps. Well, my name is Gret. I, uh, guess I made some bad choices in life. And now I am, like, a bandit. So I thought I would head south and live in these here woods. Nice pleasant place, I thought. Met a fellow named Rohkar, who you could say is kind of our gang leader. You know. He plans the raids and such.
Another gulp
So I guess there's 10 of us or so. Never that good at numbers. Supposed to be nice and warm and now theres THIS he spreads his arms wide, gesturing at the snow It's like, summer, right? Snow? I mean, seriously? How crappy can my luck be that it worked out that it is snowing and freezing in summer and I am sick and probably going to die in a bad way.
I'm not very brave.
"If you wish to live, then I suggest you wait in that outhouse keeping still and silent. Then head back to the town and get an honest job assisting the good people of the village Gret. The life of banditry will only end in your death, do you understand?"
Nast keeps an eye on the house and surroundings while the rest interrogate the bandit.
He, of course, sees nothing ....
Gret nods frantically at the thought of hiding in the outhouse and saving his miserable life.
Though, truth be told, Athromar isn't so sure Gret could give up the bandit life since he is not very skilled at much. However, he is probably a poor bandit to boot, so maybe he won't rob many folk.
Oliver eyes the fellow warily, concerned that the sick man may not even make it back to town in his condition. All the same, he's equally concerned that the man may betray them if things start to go rough for them. Regardless, he has no better suggestion, so continues to follow the lead of the others.
"Lets leave him in the crapper and get to rescuing the lady." Nast suggests to the rest of the group.
He makes a few mystical symbols with his fingers and mutters to himself, casting Mage Armor
Wraxus pulls out a length of rope from his pack and cuts off a small portion. "Put your hands together" he commands the bandit. Tying his wrists, he opens the outhouse door and shoves him in. "Now, let's do this." he declares while heading toward the building.
As he walks, he pulls out a strange vial and drinks the mysterious liquid within, causing his body to twist and grow as he does.
"Should we draw them out? It seems dangerous to raid the house if they do indeed outnumber us".
Pausing just as he is about to break the tree line, Wraxus to Athromar. "We could draw them out. It's possible a couple come out and we pick them off, or its possible they come to investigate en masse, thus can attack from multiple directions, likely bringing their full force to bear and surrounding us. Kicking down the door we at least catch them by surprise and unorganized, though I agree it makes our retreat if necessary far more difficult. You are a servant of Iomedae, Goddess of Valor and Crusades, which makes more tactical sense?"
"Considering we have ranged capability with our newfound weaponry they may be disoriented if we come at them unseen from the tree lines, perhaps one of us can even get on the roof from a vantage point that will be difficult for them to reach. Though kicking down the front door does itself have merit, perhaps one or two of us can do so then retreat drawing them out into the waiting quarrels and bolts of our allies".
Oliver finally speaks to the plan. "Did you know, that historically, many battles of smaller numbers against greater have fared better when maintaining a minimized front? That said, would it be best for us to hold the door. If two of you can keep the front, I can heal from the back, allowing only two of them to face off against us at once." He thinks for a bit, "Even better, if we can funnel them into a single file line, our odds increase by a fair amount."
"A fair point Oliver, my concern is that if they themselves have a wizard or can bring ranged weapons to bear on us, we would quickly lose that ground. Thoughts Nastarok?"
He thinks for a little, then continues, "Well, did you know, that armies often employ their ranged weapons before any melee is closed, due to the high rate of casulties from one's own arrows? Firing into a tussle is very difficult, and if we only present a small front, they have too much interference. Besides, if they have a spellcaster on their side capable of vollying multiple spells into our ranks from behind their own lines, without complications presented by the narrow avenue, then we have greater issues than how we want to direct the flow of battle to better control it."
Nast ponders the problem then says "If more of 'em are sick like that one" he gestures to the outhouse "and if we take them by surprise then I think we'll have an advantage."
"What if we try to draw them out of the house and they decide to sit inside where it's warm and watch us freeze out here in this weather?" he shivers dramatically.
"I think we should strike now."
(Just waiting on a final plan - feel free to move icons when you have a plan)
"It would seem then the majority are ready to move on the house. I understand your hesitation Athromar, but I fear we will end up outflanked and surrounded if we try to draw them out. Best to use surprise while we can. Now, will you stand at the fore with me?" He looks resolutely at the paladin, ready for them to make their move on the house together.
Oliver nods, "I agree. As long as the two of you stand blocking that doorway, we can fight them on our terms. Do not let them lure you into a position where you can get surrounded." He bites his lower lip, looking pensive, before asking, "Um, Nast. Could I perhaps borrow your longspear? I have no real capacity at a distance besides this here crossbow, and in all honesty, I'm a terrible shot."
"Sure, you can borrow my spear." Nast replies, [b]"Just stick 'em with the pointy bit on the end!" he says as he hands the weapon over to Oliver.
"I've got my lucky falchion, left over from my time with the tribe." the half-orc grins as he draws a curved blade.
He heads for the door, looking for the others to follow.
"Once we get inside I'll follow your lead if you want to call on them to surrender." he says to the paladin, "but we'd probably ought to be ready for trouble because I doubt they'll hand over the lady after killing her guards and kidnapping her."
Over by the door, waiting for backup.
Seeing the heavy blade in Nastarok's hand and the spear held firmly by Oliver, he smiles at Athromar and says, "Shall we?" Then strides up to the door, drinking his extract of shield along the way. He stands at the ready, awaiting the young paladin to start the party off right.
You walk up to the door without a problem. I moved Athromar and Oliver on the map. You guys can adjust them as necessary.
No one comes out and you hear no obvious noises from within.
What next?
Athromar will slowly try the door handle first, with his sword hand, after all they are expecting someone to return to the house.
Athromar pushes the door open gently .... and 5 bandits look at him wondering who the heck he is. Then, with a shout, they draw weapons and attack.
Players have initiative.
(Map up in a moment)
Wraxus stands alongside the noble paladin Athromar, and seeing his enemies at a distance, hurls an alchemical bomb at the bandit at the far end of the table.
Holding his ground in the doorway, Athromar draws his blade and swings at the nearest target.
Masterwork Longsword Attack
Damage
Nastarok moves up through the doorway into the room (move action) and then swings his falchion two-handed at a bandit.
"Haaa!!!" he exclaims as he double-hand cross slices.
The blow lands! (presumably) and cuts a bloody swathe through the bandits midsection!
"Just like we used to do it back in the tribe!"
Athromar misses with his swing as the bandit leans back out of the range of the slice.
The bandit's move, however, puts him in line for the half orc sorcerer who cuts him badly. With a gasp and a white face, the bandit falls.
Wraxus, however, puts a bomb right on target, and the bandit falls to the floor, shrieking and on fire.
His two compatriots try to avoid the splash damage
, taking 3 points of damage
, taking 2 points of damage
@Wraxus - refresh my memory - are the splash targets actually on fire, or do they just take fire damage?
I removed the dead bandits.
Whoever put the spot on the map to represent the bomb, good job! Very handy for area of effect determination.
Waiting on Oliver.
OK. Oliver is paralyzed by fear and won't do anything.
The bandits move and attack, wielding shortswords
at Athromar
, hitting for
at Nastarok
but missing.
The last bandit moves closer, climbing up on the table and shouting Hah! You won't take what we have, knave! and looking fierce.
Players turn. In any order.
Wraxus steps in alongside his companions and swings his mighty flail at the bandit standing before him.
---
Nast ducks the bandit's shortsword and swings at the bandit in front on him and Athromar.
and slices him with the cut (I think?) for
Oliver stumps into the room on his bad leg, coming in out of the cold.
Athromar strikes back at the bandit that hit him.
Masterwork Longsword
Sword Damage
Oliver's speech on holding formation at a choke point went unheeded. He waits ready for the enemy to close so he can use the longspear at a distance, and instead the others rush in, blowing all notion of small force tactics out of the water. He has no choice but to move in behind them, otherwise, they can get surrounded... just like he warned against. Moving up behind Nast, he jabs the spear at the enemy on the other side of Athromar, who seems to have suffered from the cold, as it hinders his movements. Oliver also suffers from the cold as his spear jabs are jerky at best, hopefully, the fight will warm them enough to stay strong in this fight.
The bandit in front of Athromar goes down, as does the one smashed by Wraxus.
The bandit on the table jumps down to attack Nastarok Oliver gets an attack of opportunity with his reach weapon; if he kills the bandit we will ignore the attack
, missing.
Another pair of bandits rush out of a side room on the first floor, one attacking Wraxus
, and missing. (I am rolling as well as Athromar!)
Finally, the door on the balcony above the great hall opens, and two skeletons come out and begin moving down the stairs to engage in combat
Wraxus winds up and swings at the bandit who tried to take him by surprise, striking him viciously!
Wraxus looks at the bandit behind the falling corpse and yells, "ON THE GROUND IF YOU WANT TO LIVE!"
Nast swings his falchion at the bandit in front of Athromar.
he looks over to Athromar and says "Time for a little holy wrath on those undead?" and nods towards the walking bones.
Athromar goes and then the bad guys go.
Barring any enemies close enough to not reject his own warnings, Oliver decides to try and offer assistance to Athromar, "Do not let your confidence wane. A few missed swings can cause some to grow morose, therefore hindering the ones to follow."
Athromar unleashes on the o other bandit attacking Wraxus
Masterwork Long Sword
Damage
I am somewhat confused. There is no other bandit attacking Wraxus. And no one Athromar is next to.
Who are you attacking?
I think he didn't know who was alive and who was a deader.
Athromar rushes up and kills a skeleton. It bursts into snow; Athromar takes damage unless he makes a DC11 reflex save from the burst of cold
The second skeleton attacks Athromar.
, hitting for damage and radiates cold causing another damage.
The bandit near Wraxus retreats into his room and slams the door.
Players are up.
Reflex save
Overcome by the freezing temperatures spawned by the undead, Athromar begins to sink to the floor.
Oliver sees the blast of cold hit the man, and then he gets struck by the other skeleton. Cursing himself for not healing Athromar right after he got struck earlier, Oliver hobbles up as fast as he can toward him, and asks for the blessing of healing to wash over him.
Nast sees Athromar take damage from the cold and fall.
Gritting his teeth he moves forward, dodging past Wraxus to strike at the remaining skeleton with his falchion.
and misses ....
Wraxus grins as the terrified bandit dives for cover behind the door. I will deal with him later...
Utilizing his impressive strength, Wraxus moves up and grabs Athromar, pulling him back from the icy skeleton before him.