Greetings. Welcome to the first session of /mlpol/'s first running of the classic third edition d&d campaign Red Hand Of Doom.
On this adventure, our heroes, currently three strong, will encounter dozens of trials that will test their strength, cunning, and friendship as they face an army of goblins.
If you'd like to join, there's still room for more in the party. Don't be shy to ask.
Our story begins in Elsir Vale, with our three heroes on the road to the town of Drellin’s Ferry. The three are seasoned adventurers, and exated heroes to boot. Having fought many battles together before, they are confident in their strength. Legend has it of a vast treasure in the Vault of Vraath Keep, hidden deep in the Witchwood; our heroes, have journeyed all this way to seize the vault for their own.
Despite that, they all have their own motivations to travel to Drellin's Ferry:
Sir Whiskers, a cunning and charismatic Tibbet Jester, is travelling to meet up with an old friend of his: Princess Princess Bagel Jennifurr Fluffykinz the fourth. He hasn't met his old friend since he was a kitten, and he's eager to meet with her again. She has arranged to meet up with him in Drellin's Ferry, and to accompany him on his adventure.
Sir Brozal, a mighty Orc Crusader of Pelor, has received a mission from a high-ranking Cleric of his order has received a powerful vision of war descending on Elsir Vale under the banner of a clawed red hand, and has sent Brolaz to the far reaches of Elsir Vale to avert impending disaster... Brozal isn't exactly sure if the vision was real, or if his master just wanted to get rid of him for the year, but he never turns down a good crusade.
Brother Chad, a wise and powerful Druid, has chosen to accompany his companions on their hunt for the lost treasure in the Witchwood. Sir Whiskers requested his aid because Chad is the most experienced woodsman he knows. Chad is wary of this region, for he's heard that it is ruled by a fierce and territorial Druid, but he embarks upon this jouney nonetheless, the secrets of the Witchwood too tempting to ignore.
...So tempting that he seems to have drifted off somewhere with his horse; probably fucking it again or something. Stupid hippie.
And so, let's begin:
>The afternoon sun beats down on you; the air is hot and still. The sparsely settled lands of Elsir Vale are starting to grow monotonous, with a seemingly endless line of dusty flyspecks of towns. The town of Drellin’s Ferry lies a few miles ahead of you. It’s a settlement hard on the borders of the Witchwood, and the best place from which to begin exploring the nearby forest.
This is the part where the players ask obvious questions that I thoughtlessly ignored in the first post, as well as implore about their surroundings.
1970 replies and 83 files omitted.
...I really don't want to kill Misty...
>>135792Brozal is moving a boulder to the door
My favorite stories of war are gritty and feature death and sacrifice, so I’m cool with this.
Why did you guys barricade yourselves inside a tower instead of attacking the other one?
>>135796Far as I understand, they couldn't see it, so that's not possible.
Oh wait, I could have had her take the total defense action.
.... But, she loses her dex/dodge AC because it's an unseen attacker...
>>135797I mean, you know it's there, and you can hear it. It's just that you'd have to be in the courtyard to get a clear shot.
>>135797But the DM said multiple times that it came from the other tower.
Couldn't you have stormed the other one?
>>135796Chokepoint to limit the effectiveness of melee units when the next wave comes in.
>>135800that's alright but you probably still could have saved me and i could have come into the tower with you.
>>135801I didn’t want to take 36 damage from arrows and you should have immediately came with us instead of healing.
>>135798>>135799Whiskers ain't a combat character and Brozal's suffered heavy damage and debuffs. Anymore and the entire party would've been wiped anyways.
>>135802I had no idea i was gonna get one shot as my fist turn.
With the first spine, she would have dropped down to 1 HP.
With the second spine, she drops down to -9 and passes out, falling prone on top of Chad. She is now dying, but she'll stabilize on Chad's turn.
Chad takes 2 nonlethal crushing damage. This doesn't impact his recovery, which should take another 5 rounds to regain consciousness.
The third and fourth spines are saved, despite both of them being crits, because the enemy is saving ammo.
Also, I felt sorry for the horse.A triumphant roar echoes from the top of the tower.
It is Whisker's turn.
>>135804Yeah, sorry about that, but somebody had to get shot.
You're not dead yet though.
>>135805Yeah i know that but it could have been prevented.
>>135805Ready crossbow and fire whenever enemy appears. Not much else.
>>135807Alright.
Chad goes to negative -4 HP, Misty is at -8 and is now stabilized.
Jorr is helping Brozal do whatever he's doing.
It is Brozal's turn.
>>135808I start moving another boulder over to the door
>>135809Got it.
I'm going to roll some dice to see how hungry this thing is.
... Very hungry.
Alright, a creature descends from the tower. You hear flapping, but it's not visible from the hole in the barracks, circling across the other side of the courtyard.
...
I'm going to put on my merciful DM hat and determine that since Misty weighs more than 800 pounds, and that the beast explicitly prefers its privacy, the it merely snatches up two of the sizzled hobgoblins instead of coup-de-grace-ing the fat, juicy horse right in front of it.
The creature may or may not have returned to the tower. None of you are in any position to see it.
Whisker's turn.
>>135812By this point, this now kitty-like humanoid is practically glued to his cover, aiming his crossbow at any openings the building may have.
Okay, Whiskers doesn't appear to be online atm, so I'm going to assume he holds his readied action.
Jorr is going to help Bro move various furniture to the hole in the wall.
Nothing happens for the next 10 rounds. Combat is effectively over, for now. Chad eventually wakes up, at 6 HP, with Misty's unconscious flank on top of him. She wakes up 30 seconds later, at about 3 HP. Lesser Vigor has worn off.
The courtyard is silent. Too silent...
"... Ye reckon it's gone?" Jorr asks, in a hushed tone.
"I thouht there'd be more o' them..."
Chad, you can move now. Your HP is still very low though.
>>135814>>135815Taking advantage of her natural invisibility, Bagel peeks out of cover before silently walking towards the edge of the building, hoping to peek outside and see what's going on.
Anyone can move now. Initiative is over for the time being.
“Come on, you damn cowards! You can’t kill us if you don’t come closer!” Brozal says as an attempt to issue a challenge to the goblin forces.
>>135819Let me rephrase that: Just go in such a way the invisible cat could see the courtyard.
>>135820You're still behind the barricade, right?
>>135821Bagel squeezes through the barricade and sees Chad beginning to stand up, the monster evidently having lost interest in him.
Brozal leans over to the cat and takes a knee. “If you’re not careful, the monster from a while ago will swallow you before the fire does.” He jests while chuckling to himself.
>>135822Yes I am behind the barricade
>>135823I doubt you can see an invisible cat, my guy.
>>135822Bagel scans the surrounding area, feeling a spine chill of danger still lingering.
>>135816I use the wand again on Misty and on myself, i stand behind the entrance and wait.
>>135825Brozal is spaced the fuck out like he always is and is barely paying attention to his surroundings. It’s likely that he’s just talking to what he imagines is Whiskers.
>>135824Nothing happens, for now.
>>135825Roll a listen check.
>>135828[1d20+5 = 24]<Listen
>>135827Alright. I'll take that comment as directed to the cat-looking humanoid currently hiding behind a bed instead of the actual cat trying to investigate her surroundings.
>>135826Alright. With one charge from the wand, you both heal 11 HP, putting you at 17, and Misty at 13.
>>135829You hear what might be footsteps descending the stairs.
“Maybe that’s Father Graydin.” Brozal wanders aloud while searching the surroundings of the fire place for something to drink or eat.
The footsteps pick up.
Faster, louder, heavier, before eventually.
BOOM
Alright, I'm going to need Misty and Brozal to roll reflex saves as the Barricade explodes in front of you.
Initiative will be back in order shortly.
>>135834Sorry. I meant Bagel.
You see movement across the courtyard to the west, but it's beyond the range of your low-light vision.
Whatever came through the door, Brozal thinks it’s a high ranking member of the temple he came from. Father Graydin specifically.
Alright, Brozal takes 1 damage, which triggers furious counterstrike.
Bagel takes none as the her damage reduction negates the damage she takes.
Pick related charges through the barricade, right towards Brozal.
Brozal is impaled by the assailant's horns, taking 17 damage.
>>135838Whiskers, I'm going to treat that as the save for the Flash of lightning that flashes past the Big cao.
Electricity shoots towards you, dealing 10 damage.