Your night passes uneventfully but odorously in the troll-hold and you feel somewhat better for the rest.
Character Status
Ahran (24 damage)
Piotr (12 damage)
Alister (23 damage)
Aristu (13 damage)
Mikhail (33 damage)
Alister rises early, unable to stand the troll stench much longer. "Ok, let's do a round of the place again. Look for anything that indicates someone was here during the night. Look for hidden doors and passages too. I want to check out that barrel Hargulka had. There could be something inside. If we don't find anything, then let's head back to Stagfell. The trolls could be attacking soon." He silently prays his people aren't being slaughtered as they speak.
The Medyved bastard heals Mikhail again, wanting his warriors to be in better shape if they run into any surprises.
"Now that I have rested, I can take another look at the necklace that Hargulka was wearing," states Piotr.
"Once we have checked the place again, we should start heading back to Stagfell. The question is, should we head directly there or check the places marked on Hargulka's map?"
Among the magical items taken from Hargulka was a ring of pure crystal in which were set several strands of a lustrous green fiber. This also radiates magic. It is identical to the one taken from the Stag Lord.
Magical investigations reveal it to be a +1 ring of protection, but also that there is more to the ring than that, but you can't say what, exactly.
Piotr studies Hargulka's necklace and realizes that it is a necklace of fireballs, Type IV with two 4d6 and two 2d6 missiles left.
Meanwhile, Alister intones an old prayer to Erastil and Gozreh for the health of his companion.
Character Status
Ahran (24 damage)
Piotr (12 damage)
Alister (23 damage)
Aristu (13 damage)
Mikhail (23 damage)
Mikhail channels several times to heal the group.
"Ah-ha. That at least provides a possible answer to the mystery of the disappearing fireball thrower....he's dead."
Aristu thanks Mikhail and gives praise to Abadar's grace, then prepares himself to help search the lair. He waits for the others to ready themselves, then calls up his arcane sight.
Aristu finds nothing else of value within the troll lair.
Character Status
Ahran (5 damage)
Piotr
Alister (4 damage)
Aristu
Mikhail (4 damage)
"Huh! We're lucky that this thing didn't go off while I was casting fireballs at Hargulka!," exclaims Piotr.
"Let's head directly back to Stagfell, as quickly as possible."
The Mercenaries (ACR 2)
Medium army of humans (100 x warrior 3)
Combat
hp 16; DV 12; OM +2
Special: +2 DV for fortifications
Speed 2; Consumption 1
Commander: Kesten Garres (Morale Bonus +3; Hold the Line)
The Militia (ACR 1)
Medium army of humans (100 x commoner 2)
Combat
hp 8; DV 11; OM +1 (melee and ranged)
Special Abilities: Fragile (Flees at first damage unless behind fortifications)
Special: +2 DV for fortifications
Speed 2; Consumption 1
Commander: Akiros Ismort (Morale Bonus +2; Hold the Line)
The Trolls (ACR 3)
Small Army of Trolls (50 Trolls) (that's right, 50!)
Combat
HP: 23; DV: 13; OV: +3
Special Abilities: Ferocity, Regeneration 1
Speed: 2; Consumption: 1
Commander: Caractacus (Morale Bonus +3; Merciless)
_____________________________________________________
Boons
Hold the Line: The commander is skilled at convincing the army to maintain morale against dangerous opponents. If the army fails a Morale check to avoid a rout, it may reroll that check. It must accept the results of the second check, even if it is worse.
Merciless: The commander encourages the army to be ruthless in its tactics and spare no wounded enemies. The army gains a +1 bonus on opposed Morale checks to prevent another army from withdrawing and on the last Offense check against a routed army or one using the withdraw tactic.
(in brief)
There are three phases to each round of battle: Tactics, Ranged, Melee. None of our armies are trained, so I'm going to ignore the tactics phase!
ATTACKING AND TAKING DAMAGE
In mass combat, the hundreds of individual attacks that take place in one battle phase overlap each other enough that who actually attacks first is irrelevant. When armies attack, each army attempts an Offense check (1d20 + the attacking army’s OM) and compares the result to the target army’s DV. If the Offense check is equal to or less than the target army’s DV, the army deals no damage that phase.
If the Offense check is greater than defender’s DV, the defending army takes damage equal to the result of the attacker’s Offense check minus the defender’s DV. For example, if the attacker’s Offense check is 11 and the defender’s DV is 7, the defending army takes 4 points of damage. Because these attacks are resolved simultaneously, it is possible that both armies may damage or even destroy each other in the same phase. If the Offense check is a natural 20, but that check is lower than the enemy army’s DV, the attacking army still deals 1 point of damage. If the Offense check is a natural 1, that army can’t attempt an Offense Check in the next phase, due to some setback: a misheard order, getting stuck in mud, and so on.
More Than Two Armies
These rules can also serve in battles where more than two armies clash. In such battles, when your army attempts an Offense check, you choose which enemy army (or armies, if you have multiple armies in the field) it is attacking and apply damage appropriately. On each phase, you may change which army you are targeting. If your kingdom fields multiple armies in a battle, you may want to divide responsibility for these armies among the other players to speed up play.
STRATEGY TRACK
On the first Melee phase, the commander selects a strategy from one of five options on the strategy track. Strategies adjust the army’s DV, OM, and damage modifier. Once each Melee phase after the first, the commander can alter the army’s strategy. Adjusting the strategy 1 step up or down does is automatically successful and doesn’t require a
check. If the commander wants to adjust strategy more than 1 step, the army attempts a DC 20 Morale check. Success means the strategy changes to the desired level. Otherwise, the army’s current strategy doesn’t change.
STRATEGY DV OM DAMAGE DEALT
Defensive +4 –4 -6
Cautious +2 –2 –3
Standard +0 +0 +0
Aggressive –2 +2 +3
Reckless –4 +4 +6
Rout: If an army’s hit points are reduced to equal or less than its ACR, its commander must attempt a DC 15 Morale check. If the check fails, the army scatters and retreats from battle.
So somebody go ahead and confirm that your forces are fighting from behind the walls and then choose a Strategy for each of your two armies.
Let's go!
I'd say that fighting from behind the walls is a no brainer. I think you can consider that confirmed.
As for strategies, it makes sense to me that they'd be playing it Cautious at first, if not outright Defensive. But I guess I'd lean towards starting at Cautious.
What do the rest of you think?
I think we should test it out and do Defensive for the peasant army and Standard for the mercs.
Ranged
Melee
End Status
Militia: 8/8 hp.
Mercenaries: 8/16 hp.
Trolls: 20/23 hp.
The terrified militia fires its bows early and the bulk of the missiles fall down well short of the onrushing trolls, who then slam crude ladders up against the walls of Stagfell! The mercenaries step up to push off the ladders, but it is the militia that startles the aggressive trolls by hurling boulders down onto their heads!
Next Round
Damn, really wished I had remembered to stock the kingdom up on acid and fire.
But yeah, fight from behind the walls with a Cautious strategy.
Ninja'ed by the GM. I saw we move the mercs to standard and keep the militia at cautious.
Special Abilities
The trolls recover 1 hp, bringing them to 21.
Events
Allies appear! Kobolds reveal tiny tunnels under the walls and attack the trolls from below (this tactic works only once). The lizardfolk attack from the flank, then retreat behind the walls.
MIXED LIZARDFOLK/KOBOLD ARMY
Medium army of kobolds and lizardfolk
hp 9; DV 11; OM +1
Tactics dirty fighters
Special: darkvision, light sensitivity/aquatic
Speed 2; Consumption 1
Melee
End Status
Militia: 8/8 hp.
Mercenaries: Defeated
Kobolds/Lizardfolk: 9/9
Trolls: 9/23 hp.
The fight is going poorly for the beleaguered men of Stagfell. With a furious push up and onto the walls, Caractacus's trolls slaughter and scatter the Brevic mercenaries, leaving only the shaky militia between the populace and total destruction. Then, with a cry, Chief Sootscale and his kobolds emerge from tiny tunnels, blinking at the sunlight, to harry the trolls, slash at their ankles and set fire to their ladders. At the same time a band of lizardfolk warriors rises up from the frigid waves of the Tuskwater and cuts into the trolls' flank, sending them back from the walls in dismay at the moment of their victory. Using the trolls' momentary disorder, kobolds and Lizardfolk slip back around (and under) the walls to safety.
Next Round
Melee
End Status
Militia: 8/8 hp.
Mercenaries: Defeated
Kobolds/Lizardfolk: Defeated
Trolls: 6/23 hp.
The trolls wreak their bloody revenge on Stagfell's allies, slaughtering and scattering the lizardfolk and kobolds like chaff before a storm, hurling them from the parapets and crushing them with brutal blows. Meanwhile, militia under Akiros Ismort fights with memorable ferocity, struggling to save their homes and family just behind them.
Melee
End Status
Militia: 8/8 hp.
Mercenaries: Defeated
Kobolds/Lizardfolk: Defeated
Trolls: 1/23 hp.
Throwing caution to the wind, Akiros Ismort orders his militia to the walls to fight for their homes and families. No one is more surprised than the peasant farmers and shopkeepers who hurl back the trolls from the parapets with their spears and bill hooks.
Special EventThe truly unexpected happens! An immense owlbear, bigger than anything ever seen in the Stolen Lands since the ancient days, appears over the horizon on the east, fording the Shrike river like a mountain in the waves. Driven by some unknown fury, it smashes its way through the northern wall, shattering it like a child's sandcastle and begins ravaging the town!
Melee
The last trolls seize the heights of the walls, slaying and scattering the folk of Stagfell and bursting into the town for rapine and arson when the owlbear hits their ranks from the front, slaughtering and scattering the trolls before it like a maddened god.
Ruin and horror descend on Stagfell...
I see some pensions and other honors coming from the grateful rulers.
Then the giant owlbear, after a day of rampage, simply leaves, wandering back across the Shrike river.
Several days later, the heroes of Stagfell ride home to find their capital in ruins, their fields burned and their people and allies slaughtered.
It was the morning of 5 Kuthona (December) when you set out to destroy Hargulka's kingdom. It is now a week later, on the evening of 12 Kuthona, 4711 when you have returned to see a field of the dead before and atop the ruined walls of Stagfell. The body of brave Akiros Ismort is impaled upon the shattered gateposts of the city, his lifeless eyes long since pecked away by the crows.
Here and there a troll hunts amid the ruins while the greater part of the troll horde seems to have departed for points unknown. Nearer to the river, buildings still stand. A few people move furtively through the streets taking no notice of the return of their leaders. Anya Mitchell, the miller's daughter, wails in the street while a small trickle of peasants moves north out of the other ruined gate of the city seeking safety in the north.
You stand now before the ruined shell of the Hart's Rest, its walls burst asunder and its high roof fallen in the wake of some catastrophe far beyond what the trolls could have caused.
"Where were you?" asks a man so covered in dirt and blood it takes a moment to recognize him as Vali the Tailor, one of the militia. "They're gone. All gone." His voice is without hope or accusation. "We fought them as long as we could... We couldn't stop them. Or it."
Mikhail rides towards the town to see what remains.
Alister rides into town and tears fill his eyes. "I...We should have been here." He sees Anya and rides to her, dismounting and running to her. He scoops her up and holds her close. "Anya, we're here. It's...it's going to be..." He can't finish the sentence and simply sighs.
He walks over to Vali and hugs the man. "I'm sorry, Vali. I'm sorry we weren't here. We killed the troll king, but you all paid the price." He looks around at the destruction seeing the bodies of kobold and lizardfolk. "Who's still left? Kesten? Any of the kobolds?...Lily?"
Vali looks past Alister at something only he can see while Anya clutches onto Alister' neck.
"Dead," says the tailor. "All dead. Captain Garres, he lives. He's lost his arm, but the priestess saved his life. They're at the mill. Lily... I ain't seen her since... that thing." He waves vaguely toward the enormous prints in the earth, wider than an ox-cart.
Mikhail, looking around, can see no signs of living kobolds or lizardfolk, but dozens of humans banding together in the eastern part of the town, away from the site of the battle and the destruction of the creature. Although he can't spot any right at the second, he saw at least one troll loping through the ruins of the western part of the town.
The bodies of men, kobolds and lizardfolk still litter the battlefield and the remains of the defensive western wall. The survivors have stayed away from the battlefield. Only the crows are left to partake of the dead who lie frozen to the cold ground they died to defend.
Mikhail moves to begin healing the survivors to ensure that those who have lived this long will continue to survive before turning to put the fallen into a worthy grave.
Seeing that everyone who can be helped has been Mikhail turns to aiding the dead by collecting them from the field and preparing them for their final rest.
Piotr will keep a tight rein on his familiar. These people died in defence of Stagfell and he won't add to the despair of their survivors.
The wizard will aid where he can with caring for the survivors, organizing parties to make repairs to the least damaged buildings so that people can shelter from the cold. Of course, he will also search the ruins of the Hart's Rest to find the account books of the kingdom and the accumulated wealth.
Alister nods solemnly. "I'll go see them." He pauses, touching Vali on the arm. "We will avenge them, Vali. We will see their deaths were not in vain."
Alister leads the group to the mill to see Kesten Garess.
The solitary trolls leave the powerful party alone as they make their mournful way through the streets of Stagfell. East of the path of...whatever it was... the town seems relatively intact. But the streets are empty and quiet.
Perhaps fifty people are gathered around the mill, guarded by less than a dozen exhausted-looking men, some from the former militia and a few armed mercenaries. They look with curiosity on the arrival of Alister and his court, giving way silently as the new arrivals dismount and enter the mill.
Inside, Roslin and Kesten Garress are directing the rationing of food. Kesten reclines on a bed of linen thrown over several grain sacks. His right arm is missing below the elbow, bandaged but horrifying. They look up to see you as you come in out of the cold.
Kesten tries to rise, but Roslin gently but firmly forces him to remain seated.
"I'm healed," he says. "I can stand."
"You've just lost your arm, Kesten," says Roslin. "Lie down or I'll have someone tie you down."
She turns to face Alister, her face an exhausted canvas of ash, dirt and dried tears. The two face each other for long seconds as her eyes seem to weigh him. At last she nods, a gesture of uncertain meaning, and looks around at Aristu, Ahran, Mikhail and Piotr. "The Order of Alexius. I hope you fared better than we did," she says at last.
Aristu follows Alister through the ruins of Stagfell in a daze. He appears totally overwhelmed by the devastation around him. As they reach the mill, he stares mutely at Kesten's right arm. Roslin's voice finally breaks through his daze and brings his surroundings into focus.
"That...is a matter of perspective," he replies to her, "Hargulka is dead, certainly, but...." he shakes his head, "But the point of killing him was to prevent this. So ultimately, we failed."
Piotr hangs back while Aristu and Alister speak with Kesten Garres and Roslin. While he might be able to to detemrine the monetary cost of this war against the trolls, there will be no accounting of the human cost.
"Would this have gone any differently with you here?" asks Kesten from his enforced confinement to the makeshift couch. "Possibly you could have led us better than Akiros and I did. But could you have stopped an army of trolls? I think not. And could you have stopped the great beast that actually did all this damage? Again, possibly, but not while you were also fighting an army of trolls."
"This way at least there is no one to reunite the trolls. It was at a terrible cost, but we won and you struck the killing blow. Stagfell is still here, if you can revive it in time. Hargulka's kingdom is not. We have taken a terrible blow, but it need not be a death blow."