Now, discussion prior to this session had the party planning to send the monk across first, then have the dwarf and fighter cross, and lastly the cleric. In other words, they were going to avoid the "3 medium creature" trap. As well, I'd had it start raining (I roll up weather in advance, so the Ranger can use his Survival skill), so the goblins commandos in the tower were facing a -4 penalty to ranged fire. Aside from having the 4 goblins and goblin dogs hiding in the thorny underbrush near the stockade front doors, I figured the PCs had this beat.
Come play time, though, the plan apparently went out the window. The monk started across, the ranger came out after him and then the fighter as well. At which point the bridge collapsed! The monk and ranger make their saves, but the fighter plunges into the surging sea below.
The Monk makes an Acrobatics roll, flips up onto the remaining rope and is able to balance his way most of the way across. Better yet, the commandos roll a hit with an arrow - but he deflects that away. The ranger tries to use Climb to hand over hand it, but he blows the roll and joins the fighter in the surf below. The cleric also tries to hand to hand, and makes it part of the way out, but then blows his rolls and falls into the ocean.
So now the monk is all alone on the top of Thistletop. The goblins and goblin dogs spring out of the undergrowth and attack. Somehow, despite being nicked and whittled for 1 or 2 points at a hit, the Monk manages to slowly kill each goblin dog first, then each goblin. The goblins all end up with broken dog slicers, they're fumbling, they're falling on the ground when their dogs are killed... the monk uses Fighting Defensively and his kama to good effect, as well.
Down in the water, the dwarf gets to the rocky edge of the island, while the fighter (nearly drowning in the process) and the cleric pull themselves up onto the sandy shore. The dwarf opts to start trying to make his way around the island, looking for a hidden way up in the stone. The cleric and fighter doff their armor (scale and chain mail) and proceed to try and climb the cliff wall.
Meanwhile, the monk now jumps up to the top of the stockade wall and heads over to the commando tower. He pulls out his hammer and starts trying to dismantle the tower! The commandos grab their horsechoppers and try to head down to stop him, leading to a rooftop chase. Eventually, the monk ends up over by the rowboat (at the north end of the map). At this point, I rule that the goblins pull the boat (and whatever else they loot... like horses) up from below using long ropes secured to the stockade wall.
The monk kicks this rope down, intending to use it as a last resort escape ... only the dwarf ranger happens to be where it ends up. Now the ranger is climbing up to the top of Thistletop! Meanwhile, the fighter and cleric are having a tough time getting up the cliff - the fighter having fallen a few times now.
The monk now starts tossing Erylium's +1 returning dagger at the goblin commandos, which is pretty deadly, since the monk has a Str 16, and does 5-6 damage with each hit. As we ended the session, the commandos are retreating back from the roof edge, wounded and scared.
It wasn't intentional, but I think we ended up using every Monk special ability or skill he had. Given that the previous few sessions, he'd been feeling second class compared to the Ranger (who kicked goblin butt with the Favored enemy bonuses) and the Fighter (who rocks a falchion and Overhand chop), this was an unexpectedly cool session.
Of course, I have no idea how they're going to get the cleric and fighter across to the top of Thistletop, considering they're trapped on the mainland, 80' below...
