GM Sappy's Rise of the Runelords - Little Heroes

Game Master Sapiens

init: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (12) + 4 = 16

Continuining on
Free step 5ft straight down. Move: Engage Tactic: Aggressive Flanking, 10ft radius on James.

Plan underway he comments to Vorin "Get ready to jink left when the first one comes, we'll take him from the sides."

Initiative: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (17) + 3 = 20

Vorin hurries into the room after Isaac but then stops in his tracks, his rapier tilting towards the floor as he stares in shock. Whatever he was expecting to find, it was not this horrible.

Thankfully, James is there to snap him out of his shock by giving them a strategy. Bringing his rapier back up again, Vorin nods and steps into the position to help fill out the defensive formation. "Got it!"

Readied attack if a goblin gets into melee range: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (14) + 4 = 18

Damage: 1d6 ⇒ 4

I forgot to roll this.

Initiative: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (14) + 4 = 18

Initiative Order:
Vorin
Goblins
All the others

The goblin targeted by Quiin, Isaac and Empheria falls to the ground, overcome by drowsiness. Its sudden downwards movement causes Isaac's punch to hit only air, but Empheria's blast is luckily accurate, and wakes the pest up, scorching skin and makeshift armor, too weathered by use to catch fire.

Vorin is the only one who got a better initiative than the goblins, so he can act. The red goblin is prone.

Standing in a straight line just isn't Vorin's style, so seconds after starting to follow the orders — in which his sword glows momentarily as he enchants it — Vorin changes his mind.

Instead, he scrambles up onto the worktable, where he can stab down at any goblins running past towards James.

Speaking out in his best 'hero' voice, Vorin calls as he holds his arm ready for the attack, "Your reign of terror is over! Surrender or face the wrath of… um…" He falters for just a moment as he realizes they haven't picked a name for their little group, before continuing, "The Sandpoint Saviours! Unless we pick a different name."

Swift action to enchant my rapier with a spell point. Move action to climb onto the table. Then, readying an attack as soon as any goblin gets in melee range.

Readied attack: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (5) + 5 = 10 +1 if I get the high ground bonus

Well, there goes my momentary luck.

For the future, I'd say that you can climb on the tables by using 20 ft. of movement.

The prone goblin rises to its feet and takes a swing at Isaac with tongs holding molten glass. Meanwhile, one holding a makeshift blade that you recognize as a dogslicer rushes at Vorin, cackling maniacally. If the young drow's attack doesn't strike home, it catches the weapon and throws the attack widely off mark.
A third one cocks an arrow and fires it at Isaac, but having to aim up he only manages to snag a few wild hair. The remaining one rush towards you, attempting to swarm you.

Isaac, you have an AoO. If this AoO hits AC 16 and does at least 3 damage you don't take damage from the goblin's attack, otherwise it's 3 bludgeoning + 1 fire.
Everybody up!

"Licorice! You know what time it is! Go!"

Licorice runs forward and burst apart into 300 black cats! They meow and hiss and claw the green and red goblin. A few of them lick their own butts.

damage: 1d6 ⇒ 3

Am I supposed to roll for each goblin or just once for both?

Before the goblin could bring its glob of hot glass against him properly, Isaac's fist lashed out with bone crushing force into the balloon-like head of the creature.

His attempts to strike the goblin between him and Vorin were considerably less effective

Quiin pushes into the room and tries his trick again on the yellow goblin.

Greater Sleep Charm on the yellow goblin, DC 13 Will

Prodigy Sequence: 2 if goblin fails save

Empheria looks around to make sure there's no adult who sees her about to wreak destruction on the building. She then has a giant flame burn as many of them as she can reach.

Damage: 1d6 + 2 ⇒ (2) + 2 = 4

Spending a spell point for explosive orb centered halfway between orange and blue goblin. Reflex DC 15 half, and another Reflex DC 15 save to avoid being set on fire for 1d6 more damage per round (I'm not sure if this is one damage roll for all of them or for each one).
This hits all goblins except the purple one. I will use selective blast to exclude the yellow one if Quiin's charm succeeds.

Vorin keeps his attack on the goblin with the dogslicer for the moment. He leans forward, stabbing his rapier at the goblin.

Including high ground bonus, -1 if not

Attack with flanking from James' ability: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (19) + 8 = 27

Crit confirm: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (8) + 8 = 16

Damage: 1d6 + 1 ⇒ (5) + 1 = 6

Crit Damage: 1d6 + 1 ⇒ (4) + 1 = 5

@Andi, Empheria: Just one roll for damage is ok.
@James: The central table is a heavy stone slab, but there's a number of chairs tools that can work just as well. Your calculations look good.

Isaac's punch at the goblin who tried to rise up sends it rolling against the furnace, laying motionless against the ground. Meanwhile, James makes short work of the goblin wielding the dogslicer, smashing a wooden stool against the side of its head, making it drop like a sack of potatoes. With that threat removed, Vorin points his smallsword against a third goblin, who was rushing at him holding a cast iron crockpot. The magic that was channeled inside the blade helps it strike true and deep, and the goblin's own momentum conspires to have it impale on the rapier, looking at Vorin with surprised, stupid eyes before slumping on the ground.
The bow-armed goblin cocks an arrow and points it at Quiin before an imperious psychic command by the boy overwhelms its mind, and it slumps on the floor in a deep slumber. On the other side of the room, another pest rushes into melee, his head large and toothy even by goblin standards, before being met by an onslaught of cats with a terrible attitude. Submerged by fur, the goblin emerges for a moment, covered in scratches, just in time to see a fireball rocking towards it. A stench of burned hair fills the environment as Licorice is struck as collateral damage: the burned creature tries to run away, rolling on the ground to put off the fire, but the pain from the flames make it pass away.
The last remaining goblin, who had the luck to be the one furthest away, lets out a horrified scream, clutching its lance-like weapon. "Shortshanks!" it yells, before running away at full speed towards the opposite end of the room.

That was a complete and utter massacre.
Licorice takes 6 points of fire damage from Empheria's blast. There aren't precise rules for what happens when the swarm breaks up, so I'd go with the idea that when Licorice loses all the temporary HP he gains from swarming he reverts to a single full-health familiar in a square of your choice among those that he was occupying as a swarm.

Free Action: Berserking
Full-Round Action: Double Move
I think I have enough movement to get to where I want to the other side of the goblin if I take an AoO. I left a copy of Isaac's token where he started if you want to verify.

Isaac sprints after the goblin, his newly lengthened legs eating up the ground.

"EMMY! Do not throw fire at Licorice. EVER AGAIN!" Andi whirls on her, hands on hips.

Gotcha, GM. So at this level swarm Licorice will have 4 temporary HP because that is half of my max).

"Ah, Andi! Empheria cries. "I'm so sorry! I was just trying to help, but it always goes wrong. Sorry Licorice!"

Licorice takes 6 points of fire damage from Empheria's blast. There aren't precise rules for what happens when the swarm breaks up, so I'd go with the idea that when Licorice loses all the temporary HP he gains from swarming he reverts to a single full-health familiar in a square of your choice among those that he was occupying as a swarm.

Would it have been possible to exclude Licorice from the range (even though he was a swarm)? I can exclude one creature, but I excluded the sleeping goblin because I didn't know Licorice was there.

Vorin, too — after a moment to make sure his friends are safe — seems intent on not letting the goblin escape. But, instead of running after it he starts casting again. A moment later, he's appearing next to the goblin in a shower of lights, stabbing with his sword. "You're not calling your friends!"

Spending one spell point for medium-range teleport. Then, using spell combat to attack at -2.

Attack: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (4) + 4 = 8

As when it's in swarm form Licorice occupies the squares of other creatures, I'd say that you can exclude him only if you also exclude the creatures occupying those spaces.

Finding itself cornered by Isaac and Vorin, the goblin throws down the weapons and drops on its knees, babbling incoherently.

Quiin tentatively creeps up to the sleeping goblin and relieves it of its weapons, before looking around for something to tie it up with.

The adults should have some idea of what to do with it...

Vorin pulled up short with his sword, so he doesn't hurt the surrendering goblin. Then, he pauses. "Um, yeah, James is right, gotta buy some rope. Isaac, can you hold him until we find something to tie him up with?"

Empheria rummages in her backpack for rope until she finds her spare set of clothes from Mr. Foxglove. She holds them up to Quiin and Vorin. "Is this okay in the meantime?" she asks. "But I'm not sure if it's big enough."

Luck does not favor you, and there is no rope to be found in this particular room, so you manage what you can with Empheria's clothes. But what is easy to find, amidst the carnage, is the ghastly sight of an elderly man, entombed in amorphous glass. Frozen in a slack-jawed visage of horror, Lonjiku Kaijitsu's remains are propped in his own workshop as a grim trophy.

How do you bind the surrendering goblin? Hands and feet? Just hands? Or a leash?

Instead of actively grabbing the sole conscious goblin, Isaac simply looms over it. His fists balled and waiting. When it becomes clear there is nothing around to bind the goblin, he reaches down and grabs it by the front of its filthy tunic, lifts the tiny creature with his new strength and...

Expending martial focus to perform a Brutal Strike
Unarmed Brutal Strike (Power Attack, Nonlethal): 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (17) + 3 = 20
Damage (Brutal Strike, Power Attack, Nonlethal): 1d6 + 3 + 2 + 4 ⇒ (2) + 3 + 2 + 4 = 11
Again, nonlethal, but Isaac is still coming to grips with his new strength.

...backhands the goblin across the face with the sort of force that could have probably laid out most of the grown-ups in town.

The goblin goes out like a candle, the large head bobbing inertly.

Two more points of damage and it would have started dying. If you loot them, you find a Small dogslicer, a Small horsechopper, a Small shortbow, 24 Small arrows, six Small sets of dirty leather armor, some moldy food that a pig would have second thoughts about, and two flasks of lamp oil.

Once the goblins are secured, Vorin wanders over towards the entombed man. He looks scared of even approaching, but he asks, "Do you think he's still alive in there?"

"Maybe I can... Find out... "

Quiin attemtps to reach out with his powers to the entombed man.

Lesser Read Mind on the man

James stands silent for a moment in the aftermath of the battle, contrasting it with those that went before. 'Yeah, we're a stronger group, but a decent play really made a difference.' he reflected, doing his best to avoid thinking about the difference between a goal and the ruin around him.

Stepping gingerly to avoid the dead - goblin and human - that littered the room he made his way to the others.

"Hey!" he yelled "Good play! Match's not over but! Let Quiin poke the guy. The rest of us need to keep an eye out and get ready to move! We came here for Tsuto or Ameiko, so keep your head in the game!"

There is no response from Lonjiku's mind, not even the background thoughts that are normally present in an unconscious person. He is dead.

"I think we need to go back out and tell someone right away! There might be even more goblins downstairs, and worse, they might even think we did all this," Empheria warns.

"Mrs. Ameiko is definitely in danger," Isaac noted, putting a hand on the glass covered dead body, "Nobody hurts my friends." With that he turned and started walking for the other door out of this room.

Vorin smiles again at James'encouraging words, nodding quickly, and he turns back and moves to follow Isaac. "Yeah. We can't wait for grown-ups. We've got this."

"Ms Tsuto didn't want anyone to know, and Ameiko didn't tell no-one. I'm with Vorin. We can always run away, right?" James pipes up, walking with Isaac.

"Lets go..." says Quiin, obviouly shaken, following the others.

A wheelbarrow sits against a wall in the room you just entered, and shelves on the walls contain swveral jars filled with powders, marked "tin", "manganese", "cobalt" and "burnt waste - use for blackening". A safe on the floor hangs open, empty. Two doors open on the right side, one on the left, and one in front of you. Judging from what you see in a tiny window, the last door leads outside.

Unseen by any of you, the goblin that Quiin had tied up wakes up, and unable to free his limbs starts scooting away like a worm.

You are in area A16. We are not in a tactical encounter, so there's no need to move your portrait.

Vorin takes a look around the room, and then looks between the doors to the left and right, and asks, "Which way?"

"Right." James answers, starting to take the lead as he moves to the left hand door.

Empheria makes an L shape with the thumb and index finger of her left hand just to make sure she was remembering her directions correctly.

"James, I think right is this way," she says, pointing to the other door.

James closes his eyes for a second, and turns his head as if reading a book. "Yeah."
Cheeks red he crosses the room to open the other door.

The first of the doors opens into a corridor that bifurcates, with two more doors opening further inwards. The second reveals a room containing several large jars filled with sand, ash and a white powder labeled "lime".

"Ooh!" James grabs the large jar labelled 'lime' and tosses it casually from hand to hand. "They're out of season! We can use this to make lime-cordial after!"
He goes suddenly serious, apparently shamed by his childish outburst. "Alright, let's keep going. Next door." Even as he says this he pushes through the east door.

"I don't think those are fruit James..." says Quiin.

The door to the east opens to reveal stairs going down to a basement.

Vorin follows after the others, and looks curiously towards the jar of lime. "What else could it be? Maybe it's just dried and crushed. But… Maybe don't taste it."

The stairs leading down piques his curiosity, and he leans out to look down. "I bet they're down there."

James grabs hold of Vorin's coat. "Hey! Watch out - we don't have good luck with stairs right now." James thought "I think we leav them until we know up here is empty. I don't want to have some goblin block up the stairs and lock us in."

Reason for Andi to leave
"I think we should send someone outside and make sure someone knows we're here in case something happens. Not the Sheriff though. Or the Mayor." he brightens "Hey Andi, you've got good ears. Can we put you outside, and if you hear the signal whistle run off and get the Sherrif? If we're not out in, uh, an hour then go tell as well."

Empheria trudges slowly down the stair — she was not in the mood for her usual bounding after having seen that frozen dead body. She stops every few steps to check for monsters ahead.

"Alright!" James huffed "Come on Isaac."

Vorin pauses, and nods to James in agreement, starting to say something when Empheria begins down the stairs anyway. "I think we should do James' idea. Finish checking up here first." But, he'll follow in any case.

"Ah, alright" says Andi, somehow frowning. "Just stay safe even if I'm not there to help you!"

The room you at the end of the stairs is used to store sand and other raw materials. Two wheelbarrows sit against the wall. Just east of the stairs, a brick wall has been dismantled to reveal an older passageway leading south.

Map updated.