Day 30 Goblin Caves
Arden and Company move to the west. They see an empty guard chamber. No sign of the Ogre’s secret door. [The goblins are rallying with the chieftain in room 19]
Thane moves forward with Arden following and Catamont holding the lantern. The archers follow and then Corwin and Martin.
As Thane rounds the corner of a long passage, he is attacked by javelin throwers.
The goblins have the initiative, but I rule that Thane was moving down the hall with his shield up and ready for cover. His combat move is COVER and the javelins are ineffective against him. Thane retreats back around the corner and Arden and Martin come up close.
The chieftain rallies the troops to charge. As they run around the corner, Arden and Martin are waiting for them.
PCs win initiative.
Arden crits one, it dies. Martin spends a luck point and crits another one. It dies. Thane waits in the second rank to relieve one of the men.
Three goblins attack. 2 on Arden. 1 hits. [Goblins are smaller, so I figure 3 per 10′ square. Arden and Martin are both using two-handed weapons, 10′ is probably pushing it, but I have them stand side by side in their rank.]
Round 2
Arden hits, 2pts.
One goblin hits with a crit, but Arden spends his last luck point to reduce it to a regular hit. Arden takes 1 point. Martin is hit for 1 point.
Round 3
Arden kills one goblin and sweeps through cutting another goblin for 2 points. [Arden took the SWEEP combat move when he gained 3rd level. I’m probably not playing it correctly since it says he needs 20′ of room to use this. Any readers have a comment regarding this?]
Martin misses.
One goblin gets Martin for 1pt.
Round 4
Arden kills the wounded goblin and cuts into the other for 1 point.
All three goblins hit Arden and Martin.
Goblins from east area move to join the battle, will be here in 3 more rounds.
Round 5
Arden and Martin miss. One goblin drops his weapon. The other two hit Arden and Martin.
Round 6
Arden and Martin miss.
Two goblins hit the heroes.
Round 7
Martin hits a goblin, wounding him.
Martin is hit with a critical but spends a luck point to reduce it to a normal hit.
Round 8
Thane exchanges with Martin. No hits.
Goblins get 2 hits on Arden. Archer fire on goblins to the east. One archer hit for 2 dmg.
Goblins from the east attack with clubs and handaxes against Meklin and Yardley. Yardley takes 2 hits, one is a crit damaging his weapon hand. He takes 2pts dmg.
Round 9 Arden and Thane both attack the middle goblin, Thane hits it for 1 pt dmg.
Arden is hit in the leg with a crit and another goblin hits him. Arden has 3 hp left. Thane is hit for 1pt.
Meklin takes 1 pt of damage.
Round10
Corwin casts FEAR! at the goblins to the west. They trip over themselves to get away. The chieftain and some of his guards are in the back and are not affected, but the sight of their men running causes them to make a morale check. Result=9 they will fight!
Catamont gets a flask of oil ready for next roud, The goblins to the east have the numbers yets and will fight on.
Yardley breaks morale and flees to the middle of the group. Goblin attacks him but misses. Meklin takes another hit.
Round 11
Corwin casts FEAR on the east goblins. All of them flee in terror! Corwin has 2 spells left.
Arden, Martin, and Thane move back and Arden tells the archers to ready to fire to the west.
Yardley cowers near the wall. Surprising the other two archers hold morale. Three goblin bodyguards and the chief come around the corner. The archers fire, Thane rushes to attack and Martin. Arden steps back to assist.
Archers miss. Thane and Martin concentrate on one bodyguard. Both hit! They do a total of 3 points on the bodyguard. Bodyguards will have 3, 2, and 1 hp plus chain armor and shield (+3). Thane is hit by a bodyguard. It is a crit but he uses a Luck point to reduce it to 1pt dmg.
Round12
Thane wounds the bodyguard once again.
One bodyguard swings wild sundering his weapon! Martin is hit for 1pt.
Round13
Martin hits the wounded bodyguard, killing him.
Chieftain and one bodyguard attack. The other bodyguard looks for another weapon. The bodyguard hits Thane for one point.
Round 14
Martin and Thane attack the chief
Thane hits for 1pt.
Other bodyguard jumps in to attack Thane. Thane takes 2 hits. Chief misses.
Round 15
Thane hits the chief for 1pt.
Chief hits Martin for 1pt.
Round 16 Corwin casts FEAR!
all the goblins flee.
The battle is over for now. Many of the Company are severely injured. Arden makes the call to retreat to the camp. As the Company makes their way out of the Caves area, they encounter a patrol of hobgoblins. Several arrows are fired, but they do not pursue the Company.
Handsome and Egg are relieved to see the Company return. They are alive but it was a bitter fight. No treasure is returned.
Healing tea is brewed in copious amounts and the dwarven brandy is passes around. [3 belts of brandy–one for Arden, one for Martin, and one for Thane….he didn’t need it but he really needed a drink!] Martin gave Arden and himself each two doses of healing tea. They both made their saves, so no adverse affects.
Day 31
Martin also uses healing spells on himself and Arden the next morning. Healing Arden for 4 points and himself for 2points.
Question? Does the goblin chief ask the hobgoblins for help? d10 no, d6 yes. Yes!
He will also send his goblins into the ogre’s cave to collect the treasure. Do they find it all? Yes! They take the entire horde into the chief’s quarters.
He is one rich goblin. He has offered the hobgoblins much silver to guard the goblin’s cave entrance.
Will the hobgoblins invade instead? d10 yes, d8 no. Result=no. They will bide their time and see what is going on. The hobgoblin’s will station sentries (4) along the Cave entrance and have 8 hobgoblins stationed in the trees above the goblin’s cave entrance.
In the morning, Arden will take all the company to the Caves. They have staked out the horses in a secluded area east of the road and hope for the best.
Yardley Muggins had failed morale yesterday, and he isn’t too keen to go back, but volunteers to hold a lantern. Arden definitely does not want him to watch the horses.
As they walk towards the Caves, Martin uses his hunting skills to move with stealth and keep an eye for any ambush. Corwin has Nicodemus scout ahead as well. Neither of them see the hidden sentries. They sentry can’t help but seeing the Company as it moves into the valley.
Does Martin notices the ‘bird’ call the sentries use to alert the others? Result=no.
The hobgoblins ambush the Company. Three use heavy crossbows (+2 to hit, +1 damage)
Arden, Martin, Thane, Catamont, and Egg are all hit. The archers fire back wounding two hobgoblins.
Round 2
The hobgoblins charge down the slope. The Company’s archers hit two more hobgoblins, wounding them.
Round 3
Meklin takes a crit, head graze, loses next action. takes 2 dmg. Arden hit for 1pt, Jacob Scoggins takes a crit and his wpn hand is damaged, -1 to dmg for rest of battle.
Corwin casts FEAR and the hobgoblins flee, except for 3 sentries in the overlooking hills. They make a morale check. One flees the other two shoot crossbows from cover, both miss.
Round 4 the archers fire on one of the sentries. -2 due to cover, but one still hits.
Arden and Company retreat under fire. Thane takes another hit and Yardley is struck by a crossbow bolt. The Company makes it back to the camp. Dilemma die=1 Oh no! Did something attack the horses? FU die=no. PC encounter something else? Yes!
Brigands have been following them and now they attack!
11 of them. Ambush? Yes! They have been waiting near the road.
The bowmen shoot as the bandits leap from the forest.
Bowmen miss. Spearmen attack. Catamont and Arden each take a hit.
Arden misses the leader, Catamont and Meklin both hit a bandit.
Chief misses, two others hit, Catamont injured and Jacob Scoggins is killed!
Corwin casts FEAR and the bandits flee.
Are any of the groups horses gone?
Yes but not all of them. The bandits made off with 5 of them!
Some of the Company’s horses were gathered up when the bandits got ready to attack. When the FEAR spell hit them they ran for their horses and fled.
Five riding horses were stolen. Using the remaining mounts, 7 of them, and riding most the day, the PCs make it back to the Keep. Jacob Scoggins is the only casualty. He was the one wanting to deal with the evil priest so it was a blessing in disguise.
[This was one tough slog. The goblins wore the Company down and then the Hobgoblin’s ambush was the last straw. Defeated, but thankful for their lives, the Company will return to the Keep and plan for another day. So much treasure slipped through their hands. Needless to say, it will be more difficult to gain it next time.]
Damn Elf Press 