[DnD] Of Kobolds and Castles - D&D Learning Adventure I

The four remaining adventurers proceed to look for some new equipment, but they don't find much of consequence. Certainly nothing better than one could find at an apprentice blacksmith's at any rate. The shields the larger kobolds were carrying didn't seem to be any more or less effective than the shield Truckbus was currently carrying, but they were made of dragon's scales, so they certainly looked cooler.

Feel free to use healing surges, do whatever else you feel like doing whilst we wait to see if any other newbies want to jump in.

There's nowhere I can't reach.

1 Die Roll religion check

Daituk examines the amulet. It doesn't seem to be magical in any way, but he feels like he's seen the symbol carved on the bottom of the pendant somewhere before.

Daituk recognizes the carving as a representation of Orcus, lord of the undead. Perhaps the rumors of a death cult operating in the area were more true than the villagers believed.

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

The group of adventurers doesn't react much to Prime's arrival, but instead continues down the road, leaving the alien to wonder exactly how his entrance could possibly be any flashier. You'd think meteorite-from-space would get people's attention, but apparently this group had other things to do. Optimus would just have to follow them if he wanted to find out what it was.

The group follows the instructions given to them by the elf and soon find themselves not far from a large waterfall. The adventurers hear voices coming from near the waterfall as they approach.

How ya doing, buddy?

9 Dice Rolls slinger init

As Truckbus executes his perfect backflip from Prime's shoulders into a tree, he thinks he spots a considerable number of kobolds standing around the clearing on the other side of the line of trees. They don't appear to have noticed the adventurers just yet.

Daituk moves forward, hiding himself behind a particularly large tree next to the one Truckbus jumped into. Zeno quietly calls forward that he counts about a dozen kobolds scattered around the area. A sneak attack might actually be possible for a change.

Possible, that is, until Prime's voice bellows forth, sending birds scattering from the trees and causing everyone, kobold or otherwise, to jump in surprise. Truckbus almost falls out of his tree, but hangs on and manages to steady himself.

The kobolds turn to the source of the voice, and immediately draw their weapons. Daituk winces and rolls his eyes. So much for the element of surprise. This was going to be wonderful.

Zeno 24, Slink 22, Thia 22, Truck 21, Daituk 17, Dragonshield 16, Slinger, 14, Minions 8, Prime 7

Defenses:

Minions - AC 15, Fortitude 11, Reflex 13, Will 11

Slink - AC 15, Fortitude 12, Reflex 14, Will 13
Note - Slink cannot be targeted by melee or ranged attack unless it is the nearest enemy.

Slinger - AC 13, Fortitude 12, Reflex 14, Will 12

Dragonshield - AC 18, Fortitude 14, Reflex 13, Will 13

Dragonshield and Slink will delay until after the minions, so everyone except Prime can go ahead.

I was speaking idiomatically.

16 Dice Rolls gluepot damage

aaagggghhhh, sorry i'm so slow everyone, it's been a busy last couple of days

Zeno moves forward, but isn't really sure what to do. He wants to jump over the trees and kick the kobold dragonshield in the face, but not even Zeno's that good. He settles for throwing a shining energy ball at the thing instead. The kobold puts up with the fireball better than one would expect, but it still looks pretty painful.

Zeno uses Energy Strobe since it's the only thing that'll reach. Attack roll (13) + Attack bonus (+3) - Cover penalty (-2) = 14 = 14 reflex defense, so hit. Kobold takes 10 fire damage. It's not very effective...

Truckbus executes a perfect leap into the next tree, and launches spectral vines from his blade. The kobold is captured by the vines and hauled toward the tree, despite its best efforts to stay in the circle. The dragonshield is quickly strung up, helpless to do anything about the rest of its attackers.

Dragonshield and Slinger bloodied by Daituk's attack.

Daituk examines the glowing runes on the other side of the trees. They appear to give those nearby some sort of power, making their attacks just a little bit more ferocious.

Magic Circle - attacks made from within the circle of runes (anywhere in the circle, not just the middle) get a +1 attack bonus

The kobolds are not happy about their colleague being strung up like a party favor. They immediately converge on the adventurers, javelins flying everywhere. One of the kobolds runs up to Truckbus' tree and thrusts his spear into the foliage. He is rewarded with a loud yell, and the dwarf falls out of the tree like a rock. The fall doesn't hurt Truckbus nearly as much as it hurts the kobold he falls on top of. 220 pounds of heavily armored dwarf crush the dragonshield's ribs as though they were made of styrofoam.

Minions attack. 4 damage to Zeno and Optimus, and 8 damage to Daituk. Truckbus takes only 7 damage from stabbing and falling - dragonshield is not so fortunate. it dies. Truckbus is prone.

The slink moves quickly toward the fray, staying out of the heat of the battle for the moment. The slinger throws a curious orb towards Thia - the glue it contains holds her misty form in place, not allowing her to move without leaving a fair chunk of herself behind.

slinger deals 4 damage to Thia. She is immobilized (save ends).

Prime, Zeno, Thia, Truck, Daituk, Minions, Slink, Slinger

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?

12 Dice Rolls gluepot damage

Zeno and Prime each knock out a koblold, but the rest of the group proves woefully ineffective at removing more of the little menaces from the battle. Thia says something about grog, which distracts Truckbus long enough for him to find himself almost entirely surrounded. The kobolds set to work, poking a considerable number of holes into Truckbus with their spears.

Truckbus takes 12 damage from kobold horde, Thia takes 4 (assuming retained shade form). Both are bloodied.

The sneaky looking kobold takes a jab at Truckbus, but the blow bounces off his shield. The slink immediately backs away, another kobold moving forward to protect it. The slinger has a good deal more luck with its attack, catching Truckbus square in the chest with another of the strange orbs that hit Thia, holding him in place.

Slink misses, uses special ability to move back and switch with the kobold that moved after its attack. Slinger hits Truckbus - 8 damage and immobilized (save ends)

Prime, Zeno, Thia, Truck, Daituk, Minions, Slink, Slinger

FELIPE NO

8 Dice Rolls slinger vs. Zeno

4 damage to Truck (bloodied again), 2 damage to Thia. Will add flavor later, have class shortly. They stabbed a lot, Truck was a tank, etc. etc.

Prime, Zeno, Thia, Truck, Daituk, Minions, Slink, Slinger

What, you don't want my bikini-clad body?

6 Dice Rolls slinger damage

The adventurers get their collective act together and start busting kobold skulls. Everyone but Zeno knocks out another one of the reptiles, reducing their numbers considerably. The remaining kobolds surround Truckbus, and while he barely manages to fend off the minion's attack, the sneaky one stabs him in the rear. As if Truckbus' behind hadn't already sustained enough punishment after falling out of that tree.

7 damage to Truckbus.

The slinger becomes rather agitated at the loss of so many of his meatshields. As he rushes across the stream, he shouts to his allies.

Hold them off! Irontooth must be warned!"

His eyes bulge a little as the kobold realizes what he had just done. He hurriedly fires an object at Zeno, hoping to distract the group long enough for them to forget what he said. Zeno braces himself for a sticky situation, but instead of bursting upon hitting him, the thrown rock simply bounces off his head and lands in front of him. Blood trickles down Zeno's face as he tries to piece together why he isn't covered in goop.

8 damage to Zeno. Bloodied.

Prime, Zeno, Thia, Truck, Daituk, Minions, Slink, Slinger

Jam it back in, in the dark.

2 Dice Rolls damage

The slink suddenly finds itself very alone on a very dangerous battlefield. It decides that a tactical retreat is in order. Slipping away from Truckbus, and giving Daituk a wide berth, the slink slips around and gives Zeno a well-placed jab. The sorceror/monk holds up to the punishment, but it's clear he can't afford to take too much more.

Zeno takes 8 damage from the Slink's attack. One final hurrah before my last munchkin gets chopped into bite-sized pieces.

Prime, Zeno, Thia, Truck, Daituk, Slink

There's nowhere I can't reach.

The final kobold falls to furious assault of the group, and the area becomes still. The mess of bodies and blood everywhere, including the fact that all of the bodies belong to their enemies, is an encouraging thing.

Victory! 115 XP each. Presumed Zeno did what he was talking about doing so that i don't have to try to kill him.

The roaring of the waterfall continues as if nothing had ever happened. Now that they have a moment to themselves, the adventurers take a moment to look at their surroundings. There are two caves next to the waterfall, one on each side. The kobold which had made a break for it had been heading for the southern entrance.

Take time to heal, do whatever else you want to do, etc. you guys are in control, so do whatever. Cave will be revealed as you go inside.

Most amazing jew boots

The group finds nothing more interesting than the last two times they fought the kobolds, just the dragonshield's sword (the shield had some major cracks running through it from when Truckbus had so graciously landed on its owner), the slinger's empty orb-holder, and a whole lot of pointed sticks. These guys were going to need some more advanced weaponry if they wanted to be effective combatants against anything other than fat merchants. The kobolds have some money on them. 5 gold coins might get one a nice brew, if one was very, very lucky, but hey, it's something.

5gp found. also spears and javelins, but nobody actually cares about those.

As the group goes about the business of tending to their wounds, Daituk gives Optimus what-for, and Thia looks for anything terribly interesting in the vicinity. The goop which had entrapped her was already starting to solidify, and as such it wasn't going to be of much use to anyone anymore. As she searches the area, Thia comes across some interesting rocks, and a neat looking bug, but nothing actually useful.


Prime chops off a kobold head and puts it on one of the spears. He can make its mouth open and close when he shakes the stick up and down! what fun.

Prime creates kobold head-on-a-stick. In related news, children everywhere are pretending to chop off each other's heads. Transformers is canceled by producers in concessions to angry mobs in exchange for their lives and the show never returns.

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Truckbus discovers that the areas around both cave mouths is thoroughly trampled down, though the one to the north is less so. considering how much closer this entrance was, why didn't the kobold just use it instead of trying to dash across the stream? A mystery.

Prime pokes his head around the north cave entrance, and pulls it back immediately - he spots three kobolds in the area he could see alone, and there were a lot of places out of his range of vision. If the group wants to get any more information about the cave's layout without alerting its inhabitants, they're going to have to be pretty quiet about it. Prime thinks he spots something moving in his glance through the southern cave entrance, though he can't tell what it is.

Zeno looks closely at the waterfall. He can see faint light reaching through from the other side, but he can't tell much more than that. The waterfall could provide a way for the adventurers to surprise anyone in the cave, presuming they could get through without being crushed by the water.

Option for entry - moving through the waterfall takes three moves and requires a DC15 endurance check to avoid being knocked prone.

Most amazing jew boots

Thia's misty form leaps towards the waterfall... and is instantly pulled down into the pool. That form just didn't have enough substance to make it through the watery curtain. Thia's misty self swirls below the water for a moment before being pushed out into the stream. As she collects herself (as much literally as figuratively) downstream, she scowls inwardly at the gods who had created this world. Stupid physics, always ruining her fun.

How ya doing, buddy?

7 Dice Rolls skirmishers init

Optimus waves his head-on-a-stick through the cave mouth. As soon as he sees the scaly foot around the corner, Prime jumps out and decapitates the unfortunate kobold on the spot. Alas, none of the others had noticed the poor imitation, but they did notice the scream of their ally just before it was cut short. Unfortunately for them, the kobolds weren't prepared for battle. The sounds of the battle outside were nothing compared to the roar of the waterfall echoing about the cavern. Prime, Thia, and Zeno rush into the cavern entrance, further startling the kobolds within.

Daituk and Truckbus power their way through the waterfall to find a group of four playing cards on the stone floor of the cavern. The jaw of the kobold facing them drops, and then he throws down his cards and starts shouting. The rest of the players are rather offended until they spot the reason for his destruction of their good time. The entire group scrambles about, grabbing for weapons and shouting warnings. Chaos reigns in the cavern for a few seconds.

Surprise round! Everyone gets one standard action, and then the rotation begins as normal. Surprised opponents grant Combat Advantage.

Daituk 23, Skirmishers 21 (surprised), Truckbus 21, Thia 19, minions 18 (surprised), Prime 12, Zeno 7

FELIPE NO

As battle breaks out, the adventurers race in. All except Thia, anyway, who opts to instead resume her less substantial form. Prime crushes a kobold skull, and Daituk drives two of the less powerful kobolds insane will little more than a glare. Now, however, the fight begins in earnest.

As Truckbus rushes forward, he spots large pile of what appears to be gold in the far corner, along with a particularly large goblin sitting back and dozing away.

3 minions down. Enemies are no longer surprised.

ROUND 1 Daituk 23, Skirmishers 21, Truckbus 21, Thia 19, minions 18, Prime 12, Zeno 7

How ya doing, buddy?

6 Dice Rolls CA bonus

Daituk moves forward and crushes another kobold, trusting the dwarf to watch his back. These kobolds were certainly a lot less irritating when you got the jump on them, instead of the other way around.

Truckbus gets terribly excited at the sight of shiny objects, but finds himself unable to move due to a strange power.


Three kobolds armed with spears and shields move towards Truckbus and Optimus. Prime can't quite block the incoming attack from his opponent. Truckbus easily dodges his first attacker, but doesn't see the second one coming and gets a spear in his already rather sore rear as a result.

4 damage to Prime, 10 damage to Truckbus.


new - colors! this might help identify different enemies, instead of using clunky coordinates all of the time. There's generally too many minions to do it for them, though, so.

Truckbus 21, Thia 19, minions 18, Prime 12, Zeno 7, ROUND 2, Daituk 23, Skirmishers 21

also just realized i never put the defenses up - come on Hawk, get with it.

Minions - AC 15; Fortitude 11, Reflex 13, Will 11
Skirmishers - AC 15; Fortitude 11, Reflex 14, Will 13

Jam it back in, in the dark.

6 Dice Rolls AH23 vs. Truck

Zeno rushes around the corner, taking a spear in the ribs as he turns away from the kobold next to him. As he rounds the corner, he fells a kobold which is as surprised to see him as he is to see it. Zeno does nothing of the sort. Zeno waits patiently until the gods of the universe say that it's his turn.

Zeno takes an OA for moving out of a square next to an enemy. Takes 6 damage, is bloodied. Ignore those dice rolls.

Over half of the wimpy looking kobolds are already dead, but those still standing fight with desperation. But the stress is clearly getting to them, and they fumble about uselessly.

All minion miss.

Prime 12, Zeno 7, ROUND 2, Daituk 23, Skirmishers 21, Truckbus 21, Thia 19, Minions 18

Most amazing jew boots

6 Dice Rolls damage Truck

Prime and Zeno both take a swing at the kobold in front of them, but they both miss. Prime gives the kobold a glare, as if daring it to try something. It responds by stabbing him in the face. They're kind of jerks that way, really. Both of the kobolds in the other room strike true at their opponents as well.

Zeno gets a critical! ... 4 damage.

6 damage to Prime, 5 damage to Truckbus, 4 damage to Daituk. Skills, Prime's current HP should be at 17 including the hit from earlier.

Truckbus 21, Thia 19, Minions 18, Prime 12, Zeno 7, ROUND 3, Daituk 23, Skirmishers 21

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

3 Dice Rolls AK27 vs. Daituk

Truckbus gives his sword a hefty swing, but the kobold target he had in mind easily sidesteps the attack and sticks its tongue out at him. Now they were just getting cocky.

Thia has more luck, leaving a considerable gash in her opponent.

Thia does 16 damage to the Skirmisher. Your math was perfect Philia, you just forgot about Shadow Storm's special effect which is +1 damage for each creature adjacent to the target. Skirmisher bloodied up good.

The three remaining runty looking kobolds attempt to do some further damage, despite the fact that most of their kind are lying about in varying numbers of large pieces. The kobold next to Truckbus gets through his armor, but the javelin thrown at him bounces harmlessly away. The kobold aiming at Daituk misses entirely, his javelin landing in a nearby corpse with a squishy thunk.

4 damage to Truckbus.

Prime 12, Zeno 7, ROUND 3, Daituk 23, Skirmishers 21, Truckbus 21, Thia 19, Minions 18

I am a dolphin, do you want me on your body?

2 Dice Rolls yellow vs. Daituk

Prime finishes off another Kobold in spectacular fashion, and suddenly starts hearing cheers come from all around him. Apparently it wasn't just his optical sensors having issues.

Zeno rounds the corner and just misses his target with a flashing ball of energy. Daituk has more luck, giving the kobold yet another thing to worry about. First cards, now this. Today just wasn't going well.

The skirmishers lash out in retaliation. One takes advantage of Truckbus' distraction at being surrounded and makes a spirited thrust, but the dwarf's shield comes around just in time. Daituk parries the attack sent at him.

Both Skirmishers miss. That's the best chance to hit Truck i've had yet

An angry shout comes from the north end of the cave. Zeno can see the speaker clearly - it's a goblin, clearly bigger and tougher than your average goblin. He's sitting in the corner with his eyes closed. "HEY! What's going on over there! If you guys are fighting over your stupid card games again, i swear i'll come over there and fix the problem. And you won't like my solution!"

Truckbus 21, Thia 19, Minions 18, Prime 12, Zeno 7, ROUND 4, Daituk 23, Skirmishers 21

I was speaking idiomatically.

2 Dice Rolls minion vs. Thia

Truckbus crushes the kobold behind him a quickly moves out of the way of the other two. Thia comes around the corner and stabs a very confused opponent in the back.

Thia does 11 damage, since Truck had already moved away. Skrimisher is bloodied. No assassin's shroud because Thia lacks line of sight to her target.

The two remaining runty kobolds, out of sticks to throw, move forward. they turn out not to be very good at stabbing people right next to them either.

Both minions miss.

Prime 12, Zeno 7, ROUND 4, Daituk 23, Skirmishers 21, Truckbus 21, Thia 19, Minions 18

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?