Why Can't Fighters Have Nice Hobgoblins? Ironfang Invasion

Game Master Stalwart

Reflex 1: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (17) + 7 = 24
Reflex 2: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (3) + 7 = 10

Currently 62/113

CSW Potion: 3d8 + 5 ⇒ (2, 7, 2) + 5 = 16

Up to 78

Amkarang pulls a potion of healing out of his pack, quaffing it down to stem the injuries inflicted on him by the minotaurs.

The troop moves forward while throwing more javelins at the party. Four lines of javelins are flung in the direction of each.

Piercing, reflex DC 19 for half, Grum: 4d6 ⇒ (3, 3, 4, 5) = 15

Piercing, reflex DC 19 for half, Amkarang and Aerel: 4d6 ⇒ (3, 3, 3, 2) = 11

Piercing, reflex DC 19 for half, Benedict: 4d6 ⇒ (5, 2, 3, 5) = 15

Piercing, reflex DC 19 for half, William: 4d6 ⇒ (6, 3, 5, 1) = 15

Everyone's up!!

Reflex DC 19, Heroism: 1d20 + 8 + 2 ⇒ (11) + 8 + 2 = 21
Benedict dodges some of the javelins, but not all.
Down to 54/84.

"Charge!"
He sprints at the troop swinging his flail.
Charge Attack, Heroism, PA: 1d20 + 14 + 2 + 2 - 3 ⇒ (6) + 14 + 2 + 2 - 3 = 21
Damage: 1d8 + 5 + 1d6 + 9 ⇒ (7) + 5 + (4) + 9 = 25

Reflect DC 19, Heroism: 1d20 + 9 + 2 ⇒ (3) + 9 + 2 = 14

38/74

Aerel slides toward the hole where the heroes emerged and takes a single shot.

Using Deadly Aim, Manyshot, Clustered Shots, and Heroism

Attack: 1d20 + 15 + 2 ⇒ (20) + 15 + 2 = 37
Damage: 2d8 + 24 ⇒ (2, 5) + 24 = 31

Confirmation: 1d20 + 15 + 2 ⇒ (14) + 15 + 2 = 31
Critical Damage: 2d8 + 24 ⇒ (8, 1) + 24 = 33

Wow, nearly dead, but I put at least one arrow where it hurt!

Hit: 1d20 + 19 ⇒ (19) + 19 = 38
Damage with electricity and fire: 1d10 + 1d6 + 1d4 + 23 ⇒ (6) + (6) + (2) + 23 = 37

Confirm: 1d20 + 19 ⇒ (11) + 19 = 30
Crit: 1d10 + 23 ⇒ (9) + 23 = 32

Total: 37 + 32 = 69

Grinning, Grum went in with his sword raised. Leaping at a minotaur, he plunged his sword down, directly into it's chest. Hanging off of it, he planted his feet and tried to push away, to free himself and the blade from the foe.

Reflex: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (19) + 7 = 26

Currently at 72 HP

Amkarang follows Grum's lead. Though his twin hammer blows aren't quite as devastating as Grum's greatsword, he manages to get a few good hits in on the crowd of minotaurs.

Attack 1: 1d20 + 15 - 2 ⇒ (18) + 15 - 2 = 31
Damage: 1d8 + 7 + 6 ⇒ (5) + 7 + 6 = 18

Attack 2: 1d20 + 15 - 2 ⇒ (16) + 15 - 2 = 29
Damage: 1d8 + 7 + 6 ⇒ (3) + 7 + 6 = 16

The heroes successfully baited the minotaur troop close enough for a frontal assault. Then Aerel unleased a devastating barrage of arrows followed by Grum and Amkarang smashing into the front lines. Already injured by the fireballs, the minotaur soldiers fall to the vicious attacks.

Combat over! (For now)

Were those javelins of lightning or similar magic? Are they usable by our medium selves?

Aerel falls back into what cover he can for a moment while he checks and consumes his supply of potions.

May I claim some potions of healing from party loot? Is the list current? May I claim another necklace of fireballs? It’s good to have multiple area effects available in the party and I see we have two more.

@Aerel, yes the sheet is up to date - I have been marking off potions as I use them and adding new ones as we find them.

"Well done!" Seriously two big crits there!

"We should heal up before progressing - and try to find hard cover if there are more troops."

Benedict will give Grum his handcrafted Circlet of Persuasion to help the UMD checks. That should make it a +19 so auto-succeed on wands.

Benedict drinks a couple of potions.
CSW: 3d8 + 5 ⇒ (2, 2, 8) + 5 = 17
CMW: 2d8 + 3 ⇒ (2, 6) + 3 = 11

Up to 82/84.

I could definitely use some healing, but wands might be better in this case than potions.

Ref which I Forgot to do[/ooc: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (2) + 7 = 9
I deserve that. The only wand that is still working is cure serious wounds

Wand, heals 15: 1d20 + 19 ⇒ (10) + 19 = 29
Wand, heals 15: 1d20 + 19 ⇒ (1) + 19 = 20
Stops working, no wands left for the day. Thanks for the circlet...but it's truly my thought. Because I thought "hey, that means it works on a 2+!"

Wounds: 68 - 15 = 53

Grum took the circlet and put it on. Grunting as he removed his blade from the minotaur's chest, he took out a wand. It was his last functioning one. His wounds began to heal...and then the wand sputtered out and died. With a shake of his head he put it away.

"Well, that was something. Let's push on while we still can." He said, putting on a brave face despite his wounds.

@Grum - it works on anything including a 1. Because wands are DC 20, and skill checks do not auto-fail on a 1. So the wand is still working.

@Aerel, yes the sheet is up to date - I have been marking off potions as I use them and adding new ones as we find them.

I thought so, but wanted to confirm. I don’t know why.

Aerel consumes a pair of potions. One closes his wounds while he seems to fade into the shadows.

CSW: 3d8 + 5 ⇒ (1, 8, 4) + 5 = 18

56/74

”Which way should I scout?”

As best as I can tell: Grum has 53 damage, Aerel has 18, Amkarang has 41, William has either 29 or 37 depending on his save, and Benedict has 2 damage. We have a Wand of CSW with 3 charges left that Grum can auto-activate. We also have 1 potion of CMW and 4 potions of CSW (and a wand of CLW with 22 charges that Grum is locked out of, plus a wand of CMW (10 charges) that Grum may or may not be locked out of.
And I think Grum may have 2 uses of Barroom Brawler left, since it resets each day and has has only used it once today (for Compulsion Mastery). That can provide healing in a pinch.

"Heal up first. But I would suggest that you scout north and see if there is a way into that tower. Let's avoid any more unnecessary fights and try to take out their commanders.
William, we need your magic."
William should probably cast everything he can before we move out, because we don't want him spending a standard action during a combat.
@GM, how would Resist Energy interact with the detonation of a full Necklace of Fireballs? Would its resistance apply against each sphere separately?

Aerel will nod, pulls a second healing potion from his belt, and quaffs it.

CSW: 3d8 + 5 ⇒ (8, 2, 4) + 5 = 19

Full up.

Aerel begins sneaking north to see what there is to see.

Moving half-speed for maximum Stealth: 1d20 + 33 ⇒ (1) + 33 = 34

And that's why I still drank the elixir of hiding.

Thanks to the circlet given by Benedict, Grum could ‘see’ how the wands worked. It was no more just waving them around, he could see the magic swirling inside. A look of wonder on his face, he took the wand which he feared would stop working and touched it to himself. Without struggle or effort the magic just flowed out. When it was all dried up he took out another.

45 healed, wand of curse serious is empty. 3 taps of cure light wounds and he is full

”Anyone else need to be patched up?”

If so look at wands in equipment and tell me how many charges

”Aye, bastards did a number on me.”

Assuming CMW is not locked out for today and has 10 charges left, then let's do 4 to Amkarang (who was down 41) and 3 to William (who was down either 29 or 37), leaving CMW at 3 charges.

"Those javelins HURT!" William says as he moves to Grum for healing. When the group is ready to head out he casts resist energy to fire on himself and says "This will last 100 minutes, my other spells will only last for ten minutes. We'll need to be inside and know we have someone to face before I cast them."

Reflex Save: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (3) + 9 = 12

The javelins were mundane, but as a feature of the troop they acted like a line weapon that required a reflex save instead of an attack roll, to reflect the fact that a bunch were thrown in tandem.

Aerel returns to the rest of the party after a scouting pass.

Pointing north, he shares, "Northeast of the tower, about a dozen tents. I saw the red-and-black symbol of the Ironfang, but two large tents farther north display an axe with a maze for the blade. More minotaurs? The tents I could see into appear to be occupied by wounded hobgoblins."

"I'm concerned about the ballistae being constructed west of the tower. They are on a ridge that would have range on the town."

"The last thing I noticed of interest was a steep stairway winding up around the ebon tower and out of sight."

"I would guess that Kosseruk is in the tower. So that would be my priority target.
And even if Kosseruk isn't in there, we could use the tower as cover in case they have more Troops.
I would suggest we cast any spells and drink any potions we wish, then try to get into that tower as quickly as possible."

What impediments did I see to such a plan, GM?

"I suppose if we fail, the ballistae won't matter..."

I just don't know if we have the ability to do many more encounters. As much as I want to do all the combats and rack up the XP, we are running low on healing resources.

No argument here. But Aerel had in mind to nibble around the fringes and keep causing that sort of havoc. It's what he does. but you are calling the shots and he will follow your lead.

”If we don’t push now they will react and reinforce. This is our best chance at ripping the heart out of their army.” Grum said. ”We aren’t a bunch of weak wizards, are we? Or cowering clerics? We fight! It is who we are and it is what we do.” Grum said, hyping himself up.

Aerel nods, understanding the wisdom of that point of view. Aerel will scout ahead again when the rest of the party is ready.

Let me know when you do your push. Aerel sees that there's a new troop of hobgoblins marching out of the tower (from the other side, which is where the entrance must be) ever three or four minutes.

Can we see that the stairs wrap around to our side higher up? If there are forces on the ground on the other side of the tower, we might want to use Grum's Dimension Door trick to put us up on the stairs on this side, just so that we are not exposed to more troop volleys on our way around the tower.

The troops are being sent to assault the city. At the moment, the rest of the camp hasn't been alerted to you, but you're not sure how long that'll last.

The stairs wrap around the tower and go up.
We know there are enemy troops on the far side of the tower.
I really do not want them to spot us on the stairs and unload their auto-hit ranged attack.
So, if possible, I'd want to teleport onto the part of the stairs above us on our side.
It's possible that we could make our way around and up without being spotted from the ground, but it's a risk. We are running low on healing resources.

Its a risk? Good! They’ll never see it coming :)

"Okay, let's do it. Up the stairs and around, hoping for the best. We'll stay close together so that if we do get spotted we can use the Dimensional Door option at that point."

Benedict leads the way up the stairs around the tower.

”Yes.” Grum said, his voice heavy with anticipation. ”I have a good feeling about this!”

”Drink those elixirs of hiding if you haven’t already.”

He will try to advise his allies if there is some way he can aid their checks.

Stealth with elixir up the stairs: 1d20 + 33 ⇒ (3) + 33 = 36

Good idea. Between distance, distraction (the battle), and the elixirs we may avoid their notice.

Benedict drinks an elixir and follows Aerel.
Stealth with elixir and ACP: 1d20 + 3 + 10 - 2 ⇒ (18) + 3 + 10 - 2 = 29

William casts expeditious retreat and then bulls strength on himself and then drinks the elixir and follows the group up.

Stealth: 1d20 + 5 + 10 - 1 ⇒ (10) + 5 + 10 - 1 = 24

Stealth, elixir: 1d20 + 3 - 3 + 10 ⇒ (17) + 3 - 3 + 10 = 27

Amkarang creeps along with the party, the elixir of hiding rendering him surprisingly stealthy.

Well that's not good. Plate is -6 ACP. Goes to -5 with masterwork, and -4 with comfort.

Sir Kingston Aid: 1d20 + 19 ⇒ (7) + 19 = 26

Stealth with dex, aid and acp: 1d20 + 1 + 2 - 4 ⇒ (16) + 1 + 2 - 4 = 15
I'm missing something. How many elixirs do we have? If Grum has one, then it becomes 25

Sir Kingston was Grum's ever-brave and ever-present companion. As stealthy as any hedgehog, Sir Kingston was much more suited in sneaking than the heavily armored half-orc that was Grum. Sitting on his shoulder, the little hedgehog nudged and nipped at him, directing each of this steps and stopping him from making any great blunders. It was surprisingly effective.

@Grum - Party Loot shows five Elixirs of Hiding, so go ahead and use one for a 25. If nobody has already reduced the Party Loot tracker for their own consumption then this uses up all of our Elixirs, but I would say it is a good use.

The team creeps through the camp, aided by their elixers of stealth that help them magically blend into the terrain and muffle their footsteps. Some of the mobile wounded had managed to sound the alarm after the troop of minotaurs didn't return. Those versed in the Goblin tongue hear the calls for the camp to be searched. But even as the hobgoblins move past them, seeing the dead behir and devastated troop, the Heroes of Phaendar reach the stairs that wind up the black tower.

The steps are steep, winding up the jagged black stone. When they reach the top, they see a wide room of rune-etched black walls. A wooden desk has a map and figurines depicting the battle plan from the Ironfang Legion's perspective, with enormous windows looking out over the battlefield below -- and Longshadow beyond.

A large well-armored minotaur looks up from the desk, snorting, when the heroes appear. "At last. I finally meet the infamous calves who fled Phaendar. You are fools, and you have come here to die. All your preparations, all your fighting, does nothing but whet the endless appetite of the Ironfang Legion. General Azaersi cannot be stopped, though you won't live long enough to find out since I'll grind you beneath my hooves right now. Perhaps her witch-snake can reanimate your broken corpses into something useful. Scullery maids would be fitting."

She bellows a resounding battle call that echoes across the war camp, and raises her warhammer!

Kosseruk: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (3) + 3 = 6
Priests: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (19) + 2 = 21
Grum: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (17) + 1 = 18
Benedict: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (1) + 5 = 6
William: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (10) + 5 = 15
Amkarang: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (10) + 3 = 13
Aerel: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (3) + 4 = 7
Rounds: 1d4 ⇒ 2

The two priests shout prayers to Hadregash, causing glowing mystical flails to appear and streak out to attack Benedict!

Spiritual Weapon vs. Benedict: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (1) + 8 = 9
Damage: 1d8 + 3 ⇒ (4) + 3 = 7
Spiritual Weapon vs. Benedict: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (17) + 8 = 25
Damage: 1d8 + 3 ⇒ (5) + 3 = 8

One of the mystical flails hits Benedict.
Stupid flat-footed rule.

Benedict takes a step into the room to give Aerel and William some space to reposition if they should need to. 5' step

He gives the team advice on some of the best fighting tactics to come out of Lastwall. "Stick together." - he says this knowing that Grum might well have a different plan, but that's okay.

Standard action to use Tactician to share Lastwall Phalanx; +1 sacred bonus to AC and all saving throws per adjacent ally with the feat. So right now that means +2 for everyone except Amkarang who gets a +3. It will change as we move around of course.

Then he prepares to fight minotaurs.
Barroom Brawler into Dedicated Adversary (Minotaur) as a move action.

And finally he looks at the commander. "Do your worst."
Swift action to SMITE EVIL on the minotaur.

"William, Aerel - take down the casters. Focus fire."

Benedict's AC is 31 against the minotaur with Smite Evil and Lastwall Phalanx, and 28 against any further attacks from the casters or their Spiritual Weapons.

Grum gave Benedict a slight nod as he turned back towards the priests, albeit too slowly to act before them. As much as he wanted to charge in, he was still disciplined enough to listen to the group’s de-facto leader.

Aerel moves farther into the room, leaving a space for William to step in and fire. "Got it, boss. Firing at the one on the right standing by himself."

Throwing the kitchen sink at him: Rapid Shot, Manyshot, Clustered Shots, Deadly Aim

Attack 1, two hours: 1d20 + 15 ⇒ (7) + 15 = 22
Damage 1: 2d8 + 22 ⇒ (2, 5) + 22 = 29

Rapid Shot: 1d20 + 15 ⇒ (4) + 15 = 19
Rapid Damage: 1d8 + 11 ⇒ (4) + 11 = 15

Attack 2: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (15) + 10 = 25
Damage 2: 1d8 + 11 ⇒ (2) + 11 = 13

William takes a step forward and unleashes a rain of arrows on the lone priest.

+1 Adaptive. Comp. Longbow MS RS DA AS 1: 1d20 + 18 - 2 - 3 ⇒ (16) + 18 - 2 - 3 = 29 Damage 1: 1d8 + 3 + 2 + 2 + 6 + 3 ⇒ (6) + 3 + 2 + 2 + 6 + 3 = 22 Damage 2: 1d8 + 3 + 2 + 2 + 6 + 3 ⇒ (4) + 3 + 2 + 2 + 6 + 3 = 20
+1 Adaptive. Comp. Longbow RS DA AS 2: 1d20 + 18 - 2 - 3 ⇒ (12) + 18 - 2 - 3 = 25 Damage: 1d8 + 3 + 2 + 2 + 6 + 3 ⇒ (3) + 3 + 2 + 2 + 6 + 3 = 19
+1 Adaptive. Comp. Longbow RS DA AS 3: 1d20 + 13 - 2 - 3 ⇒ (5) + 13 - 2 - 3 = 13 Damage: 1d8 + 3 + 2 + 2 + 6 + 3 ⇒ (7) + 3 + 2 + 2 + 6 + 3 = 23

I was hoping for some feedback as to those arrow volleys before posting this, but maybe the GM is waiting on all of us?

"Grum, strike at range! Javelins or magic!"
Barroom Brawler for Item Mastery (Energy Mastery) would let you hit the lone priest (if he is still up) and the minotaur with a Lightning Bolt. I believe you have only used Barroom Brawler once today, for Compulsion Mastery. Your MW javelin would also be an option and you can charge it with Arcane Strike.

If the lone priest is still up after that,

"Amkarang, move up and strike with reach!"

Amkarang heads towards the lone priest, putting his all into a mighty wallop just out of melee range of the priest. It wouldn't do him much good if the minotaur pounced on him, but he'd cross that bridge when he came to it.

Attack, Power Attack: 1d20 + 18 - 3 ⇒ (17) + 18 - 3 = 32
Damage, Power Attack: 1d8 + 8 + 9 ⇒ (4) + 8 + 9 = 21

Dazzling Display: 1d20 + 16 ⇒ (16) + 16 = 32

Grum strode forward and roared out a challenge, holding his sword aloft. "Your forces have broken at every turn. We slaughtered your champion in the forest and cut down all who chased after us. We ripped your men to pieces in the caverns. We have killed them in the streets, on the walls...we come to you on a road paved with the broken bodies of your fallen. Come, join them! Pave the way!"

The hobgoblin spellcaster is a mass of wounds and looks just about to fall after the arrows and Amkarang's strike, but it woozily stands. Had 2 hp after all that!

The foes look uncertain after Grum's challenge and boast, but the minotaur snorts and steps forward regardless toward Grum, the flimsy table buckling to the monstrous humanoid's strength. She raises an oversized thrumming warhammer and brings it down repeatedly on the half-orc, battering upon his defenses.

Warhammer: 1d20 + 23 - 4 - 2 ⇒ (4) + 23 - 4 - 2 = 21
Damage: 2d6 + 9 ⇒ (3, 5) + 9 = 17

Warhammer: 1d20 + 18 - 4 - 2 ⇒ (9) + 18 - 4 - 2 = 21
Damage: 2d6 + 9 ⇒ (2, 6) + 9 = 17

Warhammer: 1d20 + 13 - 4 - 2 ⇒ (18) + 13 - 4 - 2 = 25
Damage: 2d6 + 9 ⇒ (1, 4) + 9 = 14

Gore: 1d20 + 16 - 4 - 2 ⇒ (8) + 16 - 4 - 2 = 18
Damage: 1d6 + 3 ⇒ (5) + 3 = 8

The hobgoblins move next to each other, and each cast spells of healing on the injured one.
CCW: 4d8 + 9 ⇒ (8, 8, 4, 5) + 9 = 34
CCW: 4d8 + 9 ⇒ (2, 5, 3, 6) + 9 = 25

The spiritual weapons continue to lash out at Benedict.
Attack: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (5) + 8 = 13
Damage: 1d8 + 3 ⇒ (4) + 3 = 7

Attack: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (8) + 8 = 16
Damage: 1d8 + 3 ⇒ (2) + 3 = 5

The heroes are unscathed against the attacks!

Everyone's up!

Hit: 1d20 + 19 ⇒ (14) + 19 = 33
Damage with electricity and fire: 1d10 + 1d6 + 1d4 + 23 ⇒ (4) + (3) + (4) + 23 = 34

Iterative: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (7) + 11 = 18
Damage with electricity and fire: 1d10 + 1d6 + 1d4 + 23 ⇒ (1) + (1) + (1) + 23 = 26

Grum grinned as the attacks came down upon him. A flash of parries, dodges and ripostes followed, as he swung his own blade in a shower of sparks. Here and there it got through the minotaur's defenses, cutting where it landed. It was not enough to bring down the massive foe, but it was a good start.