Giantslayer, The Expendables

Game Master Corsario

Yver rushes up the stairs and seeing the orcs, lunges toward the drummer, almost using the spiked hammer as a lance as he rushes at him.

Lucerne Hammer: 1d20 + 6 + 2 ⇒ (15) + 6 + 2 = 23 for 1d12 + 6 + 2 ⇒ (12) + 6 + 2 = 20

Gesturing quickly, Grod tells Cera to attack the other nearby orc while Yver handles the drummer.

Attack: 1d20 + 6 + 1 ⇒ (5) + 6 + 1 = 12
Damage: 2d6 + 10 ⇒ (5, 1) + 10 = 16

Cera:
Attack: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (17) + 3 = 20
Damage: 1d8 + 6 ⇒ (6) + 6 = 12

I don't think I've got them set up right to flank, but if they are considered to be flanking, they get each +4 to attack from my Pack Tactics class feature.
At 2nd level, a mad dog and her war beast gain a +4 bonus on attack rolls while flanking the same opponent (instead of the normal +2 bonus).

Malthu goes for the drummer if the drummer is still standing. Otherwise he just moves by the drums and prepares to attack other enemies who dare approach him.

Longsword: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (2) + 6 = 8; Damage: 1d8 + 6 ⇒ (2) + 6 = 8

When a d20 and a d8 get the same result. :(

Once she has line of sight, Shivarra hexes one of the uninjured orcs' strength of arms.

Evil Eye, -2 attack for 8 rounds, will DC16 to reduce to 1

Sam gives a little cry of alarm and then dashes inside the tower and out of range of the javelins.

I can't target the drummer unless I climb the stairs, correct?

Correct.

Will save: 1d20 - 1 + 1 ⇒ (20) - 1 + 1 = 20

Yverstrix makes a very strong hit on the drummer, almost crushing his chest. But the drummer continues on, grabbing a potion in one hand and quickly downing it. Draws AoO from Grod, Yver, and Malthu if you want it.

Cera manages to clip the green one as Shivarra puts an evil eye on it.

Green swings at Cera.

Attack, inspired, hexed: 1d20 + 5 + 1 - 2 ⇒ (19) + 5 + 1 - 2 = 23
Crit confirm?: 1d20 + 5 + 1 - 2 ⇒ (8) + 5 + 1 - 2 = 12
Damage: 2d4 + 5 ⇒ (2, 4) + 5 = 11

Mortoth succeeds in distracting the javelin throwers, but only for an instant. Purple swings his falcion at Mortoth, swinging wide, but orange uses the attack to get into flanking position, and cuts Mortoth deeply. The orc howls in glee.

Purple Attack, raged: 1d20 + 5 + 1 ⇒ (5) + 5 + 1 = 11

Orange Attack, raged, flanking: 1d20 + 5 + 1 + 2 ⇒ (18) + 5 + 1 + 2 = 26
Crit confirm?: 1d20 + 5 + 1 + 2 ⇒ (17) + 5 + 1 + 2 = 25

Damage: 4d4 + 10 ⇒ (4, 2, 2, 3) + 10 = 21

Blood everywhere, it looks like Mortoth will not survive without immediate aid.

Round 30: (Bold may act)
Malthu
Mortoth - roll to stabilize (+4 AC until round 37, 27 dmg, unconscious, bleeding, at -9/12)
Shivarra (6 dmg)
Sam
Yverstrix (5 dmg)
Grod (7 dmg)
Cera (17 dmg)
Purple Orc:
Orange Orc:
Green Orc: (12 dmg, staggered, evil eye -2 attack)
Red Drummer: (13 dmg)

Active Spells/Effects: Shield on Mortoth

Shortbow, Orange, Luck: 1d20 + 5 + 1 + 2 ⇒ (20) + 5 + 1 + 2 = 28
Damage: 1d6 + 3 ⇒ (2) + 3 = 5
Confirm: 1d20 + 5 + 1 + 2 ⇒ (4) + 5 + 1 + 2 = 12
Additional damage: 2d6 + 2 ⇒ (2, 6) + 2 = 10

Same rushes up the stairs and, seeing the orc looming over Mortoth, snaps off a shot that luckily, strikes home.

Move action to get up there, swift to activate Archaelogist's Luck, free action to cancel it.

AL will last this round and the next 2

"Mortoth! I'm out of magics, we're gonna need to use the wand to save him!"

Malthu moves and attacks the guy that Sam has just shot.
Longsword: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (14) + 6 = 20; Damage: 1d8 + 6 ⇒ (5) + 6 = 11

Well that sucked.

It really did, dude :(

I think if the worst happens you have 2 hero points to avoid death at least

What's with the critfest from this bunch? >_>

Please make sure at least one of the two is fully incapacitated so that I can rush in and use the wand.

Stablization: 1d20 + 1 - 9 ⇒ (16) + 1 - 9 = 8

Mortoth continues to bleed.

Drop to -10.

Sam comes up the stairs and shoots an arrow straight into the orc's shoulder. Sorry, you just missed the crit by 1! Malthu follows it up with a sword cut to the other side, mortally wounding the orc, which refuses to drop.

Round 30: (Bold may act)
Malthu
Mortoth - roll to stabilize (+4 AC until round 37, 27 dmg, unconscious, bleeding, at -10/12)
Shivarra (6 dmg)
Sam (luck thru rnd 32)
Yverstrix (5 dmg)
Grod (7 dmg)
Cera (17 dmg)
Purple Orc:
Orange Orc: 15 dmg, staggered
Green Orc: (12 dmg, staggered, evil eye -2 attack)
Red Drummer: (13 dmg)

Active Spells/Effects: Shield on Mortoth

AoO

Attack: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (1) + 6 = 7
Damage: 2d6 + 10 ⇒ (5, 4) + 10 = 19

Welp.

Round 30
Angry that he missed the distracted drummer, Grod swings at him again, connecting this time. Cera continues to attack her prior target. green

Attack: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (20) + 6 = 26
Damage: 2d6 + 10 ⇒ (5, 4) + 10 = 19
Crit?
Attack: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (17) + 6 = 23
Damage: 2d6 + 10 ⇒ (6, 5) + 10 = 21
Well, that makes up for the 1 earlier.

Cera:
Attack: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (3) + 3 = 6
Damage: 1d8 + 6 ⇒ (5) + 6 = 11
Someone finish green before he kills my fuzzy friend, please.

Your rhino is fuzzy?

Grod cuts the drummer in half, with the legs dropping next to the war drum, and the torso flying off the roof of the tower.

Cera, unfortunately, is having difficulty getting her attacks to hit.

Round 30: (Bold may act)
Malthu
Mortoth - roll to stabilize (+4 AC until round 37, 27 dmg, unconscious, bleeding, at -10/12)
Shivarra (6 dmg)
Sam (luck thru rnd 32)
Yverstrix (5 dmg)
Grod (7 dmg)
Cera (17 dmg)
Purple Orc:
Orange Orc: 15 dmg, staggered
Green Orc: (12 dmg, staggered, evil eye -2 attack)

Active Spells/Effects: Shield on Mortoth

Woolly Rhino. I couldn't find a separate statblock for a wooly rhino companion*, so it's just a fluff difference.

*There are separate bestiary entries, but not for companions, for whatever reason.

Shot on Green: 1d20 + 5 + 1 + 2 ⇒ (10) + 5 + 1 + 2 = 18
Damage: 1d6 + 1 + 2 ⇒ (4) + 1 + 2 = 7

Sam's hand almost fumbles when drawing an arrow but by hook or by crook he nocks it and lets fly at the orc threatening Cera.

Sam is trying to sneak an extra turn in there...

AoO: 1d20 + 6 + 2 ⇒ (8) + 6 + 2 = 16 for 1d12 + 6 + 2 ⇒ (2) + 6 + 2 = 10

Seeing his companion goes down causes Yverstrix to snarl, and this time, he doesn't fight against the rising anger... The rage filling him with strength as his snarl grows in volume until it is wordless shout.

Lucerne Hammer (raging): 1d20 + 8 + 2 ⇒ (10) + 8 + 2 = 20 for 1d12 + 9 + 2 ⇒ (3) + 9 + 2 = 14

He's pretty lucky...

Sorry, I thought we had moved on to the next round :/

Who was that against? Green?

Apologies. Green, yes. And I need to take a 5' step away to hit him.

Impeded by the still standing orcs, the witch retreats behind the fighters and hexes the uninjured orc with misfortune.

I'm assuming the green one is as dead as a doornail at this point, with another 14 heaped on top of him. Sorry, Mototh, but if I approach with two ragers still capable of taking actions right next to you, odds are I'll be joining you on the floor next turn.

Your assumption is correct.

Yver steps back and strikes green with such force that he splatters into pieces which all fly off the roof of the tower.

Will Save: 1d20 - 1 ⇒ (20) - 1 = 19

Purple rushes Sam, the only human target available, as Orange takes another swing at Malthu.

Attack: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (15) + 5 = 20
Damage to Sam: 2d4 + 4 ⇒ (1, 2) + 4 = 7

Attack: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (2) + 5 = 7

Round 31: (Bold may act)
Malthu
Mortoth - roll to stabilize (+4 AC until round 37, 27 dmg, unconscious, bleeding, at -10/12)
Shivarra (6 dmg)
Sam (7 dmg, luck thru rnd 32)
Yverstrix (5 dmg)
Grod (7 dmg)
Cera (17 dmg)
Purple Orc:
Orange Orc: 16 dmg, staggered

Not wanting to expose his companion to greater danger in her weakened state, Grod directs her to defend Shivarra. He then turns and moves to finish the orc who struck down Mortoth.

Grod:
Attack: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (14) + 6 = 20
Damage: 2d6 + 10 ⇒ (6, 2) + 10 = 18

Handle Animal: 1d20 + 3 + 4 ⇒ (15) + 3 + 4 = 22 In discussion on another game I'm in, I realized that I should've been making HA checks when I give Cera commands. It's only DC 10, so in a couple of levels I'll auto-succeed, but until then...

I'm assuming Orange is dead after Grod dealt with him. If not, you can redirect this to orange.

Hurrying over toward Sam, Malthu tries to stab the orc that had hurt him.

Longsword, Flank vs Purple Orc: 1d20 + 6 + 2 ⇒ (17) + 6 + 2 = 25; Damage: 1d8 + 6 ⇒ (2) + 6 = 8

Yah, I usually forget those too - so many people make sure they are automatic anyway, that I don't worry too much unless it is something unusual.

Since Malthu is first in init order, he finishes off Orange. Therefore I assume Grod would hit Purple, killing him outright. Out of combat.

The war drummer's gear consists of scrolls of cause fear (2), scroll of charm person, scrolls of grease (2), scroll of remove fear, scrolls of summon monster I (2), wand of cure light wounds (24 charges), thunderstone; Other Gear mwk chainmail, mwk light steel shield, mwk battleaxe, throwing axes (5), antitoxin, war drums.
Added to loot sheet.

From atop the eastern lookout, you can see lower Trunau and the craggy hills beyond the town’s walls. To the northwest, just on the other side of the Barterstones (area N), a group of orcs is operating a catapult, bombarding the guard tower above the Hopespring (area O) with flaming boulders. To the west, another massive boulder smashes into one of the town’s guard towers, which collapses into a heap of rubble (see area L13). In addition, small groups of orc raiders can still be seen charging toward the town’s main gate.

Sam grimaces as his hand moves to the wound caused by the orc. It comes away bloody and suddenly he feels very unsteady on his feet but he shakes the feeling away and checks on Mortoth.

Shivarra can you help him? he asks. Or otherwise let me have that wand, I think I can use one of those.

Are we claiming gear now?

"Already on it," the witch calls back. "We're really lucky that noisy bastard had another healing wand, or we'd have run out. Someone get it and start casting, we need to treat everyone as soon as we can."

CLW: 1d8 + 1 ⇒ (2) + 1 = 3
CLW: 1d8 + 1 ⇒ (4) + 1 = 5
CLW: 1d8 + 1 ⇒ (3) + 1 = 4
CLW: 1d8 + 1 ⇒ (7) + 1 = 8
CLW: 1d8 + 1 ⇒ (2) + 1 = 3

+20 HP to Mortoth, +3 to me. Using my remaining move actions to follow the group as needed. Dibs on one Cause Feat scroll, I can learn that later.

Perception: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (7) + 7 = 14

"Awesome, just what the doctor ordered!" Malthu grabs the other wand without waiting and starts healing alongside Shivarra, getting moving as the party does.

CLW on Sam: 1d8 + 1 ⇒ (2) + 1 = 3
CLW on Sam: 1d8 + 1 ⇒ (3) + 1 = 4
CLW on Yverstrix: 1d8 + 1 ⇒ (5) + 1 = 6
CLW on Grod: 1d8 + 1 ⇒ (8) + 1 = 9
CLW on Cera: 1d8 + 1 ⇒ (2) + 1 = 3
CLW on Cera: 1d8 + 1 ⇒ (6) + 1 = 7
CLW on Cera: 1d8 + 1 ⇒ (6) + 1 = 7

17 charges remaining. Sam, Yverstrix, Grod and Cera are back at full HP.

"That catapult's doin' some real damage. Soon as we get down there, we're gonna take it out!" Malthu knew there were a lot of orcs between here and there, but it definitely seemed like the highest priority target.

After healing everyone, he hands the wand to the Doc. "Here, just wanted ta get started quick, but it's in good hands with ya if ya want it."

Perception: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (15) + 5 = 20

"Let's handle bag gear and go deal with that catapult." Grod says, then begins collecting items. Coming upon the finely-wrought chainmail, he smiles and holds it up for a moment. "This, I like."

Dibs on the chainmail. Anybody want something specific? Just say so. If no one says anything, Grod will probably grab the weapons first (never hurts to have a spare in case my sword gets sundered or something), while leaving the scrolls and stuff for others.

Yverstrix releases the rage as the orcs fall, feeling the strength leave him... and the fatigue that replaces it. He slides the hammer back into the sling on his back, adjusts the handle for his greataxe, then straightens up and looks over the edge at the attack below, muttering, "This is being far more organized an attack than I'd expect of an orcish warlord..."

He takes a breath, turning to the others, then nods, "I'm after agreeing that it needs to go... Though I do be wondering if there's anyone in that wrecked tower that be needing saving.".

He shrugs at the gear, "We can be working that out when the attack is over. For now, I'd be thinking grab what you can use.. Like the throwing axes."

Used 1 round of rage, which I regained for splattering Green, so with the healing, Yverstrix is fully ready to go...

I have Mortoth down 7 and Shivarra down 3. I suggest you use a few more charges to finish healing. Running this, I have gained a huge appreciation for orc and there ability to overwhelm. Also, Mortoth's shield spell expires.

CLW Shivarra: 1d8 + 1 ⇒ (4) + 1 = 5
CLW Mortoth: 1d8 + 1 ⇒ (5) + 1 = 6
15 charges remain.

Malthu takes a scroll of Cause Fear and a scroll of Remove Fear. He will at least collect the masterwork items for later sale if nobody wants them.

I'll take it Malthu, I may be more help with it than with this. he gestures to his bow. These orcs are fearsome, monsters even! They have nothing but bloodlust, such a load of brutes...!

The doctor realises the company he is keeping then and tries to correct himself.

I mean, these full orcs. And not even because they are orcs actually, just this tribe, or warband, or whathaveyou. They are just beastly people.

I don't like the idea of taking on that catapult but if we don't the rest of them and that giant too will pour in here. Come on then...

There is nothing there Sam can use currently aside from the wand so he won't be claiming anything but can carry some of the smaller items if needbe.

Is this a good time to pause for people to change armour etc? It takes a minute or so normally, especially for chainmail, but seems like we need the boost.

Yes, this is as good a time as any, and a safe place to do so.

Malthu nods, handing over the wand to Doc. While Grod puts on his new armor, Malthu looks at what he's taking off. "Hey Grod, that's scale armor? Mind if I get that one from ya?" It's an upgrade of my Hide armor.

"Hey, maybe while we're suitin' up, you guys dig through some of those carts o' loot we passed up for somethin' useful!"

@GM Fuzzfoot - while we're changing armor, can some of us double back to get some of the masterwork items we left behind previously?

"Yeah, sure. I can't wear them both. Just help me out of it."

Wait, I'm an idiot. Malthu has scale mail already. I think I'm confusing him with another character?

Malthu helps Grod out of his armor, then decides it's not actually any better than the one he already has, and gives it back.

Yverstrix chuckles as Sam backpedals,"I'm thinking most of us here are after surviving some of the worst that orcs can dish out. I'm after thinking we're understanding your meaning, though, I'm also thinking you just had a good reminder to not paint your mental pictures with too broad a brush." He finishes with a louder laugh and a friendly clap to the doctor's back.

Yes, anything on the loot sheet you can grab.

Sam will take the Tangleburn bag if that's ok.

Just FYI, I am simply waiting for someone to do something or pick a place to go to once you have had your breather.

Yverstrix waits as the others don the plundered armour, trying to watch the collapsed tower for any signs of life.. As they finish, he checks his weapons again, happy that the fatigue seems to have passed as he rested, "Aye, let's be getting at it... We should strike before that lot can do any more damage and the whole of the town are after using their special knives."

Malthu considers their next move, aided by the height of the tower. "Who do you think's manning those barricades up ahead?"

@GM Fuzzfoot - can we tell if the folks in Area 11 of the map are friend or foe?

I don't know, can't see from here... Sam says straining his eyes. There's so much smoke. But isn't that the only way out to the catapult anyway? he asks furtively, wondering if they might have to fight their way through.

I suggest skirting around the huge plume of fire by going through the buildings at L9

Sounds like a plan to me.

"The catapult's a long ways away. Fer know, we can go 'round the fires if we stay by the moat. Head to the walls then cut south."

L11 is the area just on your side of a gate that you can at least see is down. Other than that, it is hard to tell from here whether friend or foe.

You hear the guttural voices of orcs threatening someone down this dark alleyway. In contrast to the dim light in the rest of the district, the narrow alley is obstructed by debris and shrouded in almost complete darkness.

Someone is speaking in rough Common, and though their exact words are hard to make out, the seething hatred in their voices is clear. At one point, a voice says, “Move an inch and five of my best come to
join us. They won’t be as friendly as we are.”

Maybe someone is in trouble! Sam whispers urgently. Shouldn't we go and help them? he adds hopefully.

Unless no one objects he will move up along the alley, preferably in support of someone bigger and tougher!

Shivarra hushes the scholar and tries to get a peek at what they're dealing with, taking cever behind the debris and exposing as little of her head as possible.

Well, 15 Stealth it is. Let's hope I get enough circumstances bonuses for cover and background noise. Or, alternatively, that they're not very perceptive.

Malthu gives Shivarra a chance to sneak in and perhaps work her magics.