DF Novices, Session 17 - A new Party Member and a Goblin Ambush

     In this session we introduced a new player, the party walked into an ambush, and the new PC nearly died.

Session Date:    Tuesday 14 February 2023

Party roster:

Agis Keylar, wood elf cleric, 94 points (PC)
Borgergorg, half-ogre barbarian, 91 points (PC)

Doran Longbeard, dwarf knight, 86 points (PC)

Eleanor Bayley, human thief, 92 points (PC)

Erizax Ofaris, human wizard, 90 points (PC)

Cynric the Wild, human berserker, 62 points (NPC)
Randall, human warrior, 123 points (NPC)
Renaud Aymon, human holy warrior, 65 points (PC)

    Following the previous session's fight with goblins, Agis was able, with the assist of a Lend Energy spell from Erizax, to fully heal the injured companions Randall and Cynric. Luckily none of the PCs had been injured in the fight.

    In one corner of the goblin cave, the group found three large sacks containing human bodies. Two were dead pilgrims; the third person wasn't dead but was tied up and unconscious. After releasing and healing him, the man awoke. He identified himself as Renaud Aymon, a holy warrior of Ishtanna. He had been travelling with the pilgrims when they were attacked by goblins, and during the fight he was knocked out. The party explained that his companions were dead, and that they were in the cave of the same goblins who had attacked them. Renaud agreed to join the party in their mission to deal with the goblins.

    The door out of the cave was neither locked nor trapped. They proceeded through it, and into another rough-hewn tunnel, The ceiling of the corridor was barely 7ft high; Borgergorg had to crouch in order to avoid bumping his head. After a few yards the tunnel turned to the right, and there was a door opposite. After the bend the corridor had another door on the opposite side. They checked out the first door, while Agis kept watch down the corridor.

    This door was also not trapped. Inside they found a squarish cave containing some long tables and benches, remains of food, a horrid stench of rotten meat, and some cauldrons and a barrel at the back. There were no other exits. No-one elected to try the food or taste the beer. They returned to the tunnel, and proceeded to the next door.

    Renaud looked beyond the second door to see that the tunnel ahead came to a rough stop. The ceiling sloped down at the end and he had to crouch to inspect the wall. He found nothing but earth and rock. Meanwhile Eleanor checked the second door, found it unlocked, and opened it. The door swung open and Eleanor saw a rodent of unusual size staring out at her. She stepped back. We rolled initiative.

    Due to the placement around the door, and the initiative order, it ended up that Cyrnic and Randall went through first. In front of them were two giant rats, behind which was a goblin with an axe. The goblin shouted in alarm. It was dark inside the room, and Cynric and Randall were reliant upon the PCs behind them to provide illumination. There wasn't enough light for the NPCs to move away from the door, to make room for the PCs to enter. Furthermore the fight did not get off to a good start for the NPCs, and the rats got some bites in. Renaud ran back from the dead-end of the tunnel.

    While the PCs were positioning outside the room, Borgergorg was watching the rear and spotted a goblin looking round the corner of the wall. He shouted a warning. Moments later four goblins with crossbows jumped out and took shots. They missed Doran and Eleanor, but poor Borgergorg fell over and took an arrow in front and behind. Eleanor charged the goblin archers, which discouraged them from reloading. They instead dropped their crossbows, and drew their blades. 

    A secret door opened in the wall of the tunnel, and seven goblins armed with little swords came out and swarmed Renaud and Agis. With the group facing an intense battle on three fronts, Erizax conjured a 7-hex conflagration with Create Fire. With Borgergorg still picking himself off the floor, Doran closed his eyes and charged through the fire to assist Eleanor; his dwarvish thick skin enabled him to shrug off the low amount burning damage.

    Here is a screenshot from around that time. The trap is sprung*

    The fight proceeded on three fronts. Doran and Eleanor held off the archers and, assisted by Erizax using Shape Fire to move his 7-hex fire up and around, pushed those goblins back to the tunnel entrance.

    Here is an updated screenshot.

Agis and especially Renaud, were mobbed by the goblins from the secret door. They held them off until relief could arrive. However Renaud took a number of hits, and he was whittled down, eventually capped by a critical strike from one of the goblins, which dropped him from 1 HP to negative max HP. Thankfully the newest party member made his save vs death, and will live until the next session at least. Agis with a critical block was able to break the blade of one of the goblins.

    Randall and Cynric eventually emerged, again wounded from their battle. Cynric had lost another sword in the process, which explained his difficulties.

    Three of the goblin archers would escape. Erizax shaped the fire to block off their exit.

    With the three fronts reduced to one, the PCs were able to concentrate on the sword-wielding goblins, and the tide of that battle turned. Two of those goblins fled back through the secret door, leaving their unarmed comrade to face several violent PCs alone.

    Below is the final screenshot.

    We paused the fight there, as some players had to go. The remaining goblin would very much like to run away, however the players were not prepared to let that happen. So we will resolve the goblin's fate next session.

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* The wizard player called out "Murphy Orc Trap!" which was both amusing to me and flattering by association. Jim Murphy's encounter design is certainly an inspiration. However I was not expecting this encounter to be as lethal as an actual MOT. That said, one of the PCs did go down, so the challenge was probably about perfect for my group.