This session was played on Monday, December 6, 2010.
Featuring the PCs:
Vith and his man-at-arms Werford and the wardog Fenrir.
Binford and his man-at-arms Murgar.
Finnigan and his man-at-arms Halwyn and the torch-bearer Parwick.
the henchman Bryton of Mystral, and his man-at-arms Gilthanus and the torch-bearer Gomar the Gozarian.
and introducing the recently promoted henchman Hillgax
During this session the party (they really need a name, don't they?) continued their exploration of the lower crypts beneath the ruined Citadel of the iron God.
Just outside of Threshold, on their way to the Citadel, the adventurers were surprized by a group of ruffians and bandits just north of the Withering Wood. This group was led by the infamous Renata the Robber. After encircling the party she demanded tribute, to which Finnigan replied "I'd sooner spill ur blood on the ground than my coin!" It was go time!
The bandits encircled the party, and for a moment things looked like things might take a turn for the worse. Vith threw a red globe amongst the bandits, taken from the previous adventure, and a large fireball-like explosion gravely wounded the majority of the bandits. Renata offered some yells of encouragement and the bandits decided to continue the fight. However, after losing a couple more comrades they bugged-out and fled back to the Withering Wood. Renata wagged her first at Vith and told him that they hadn't seen the last of her.
Here's a sample of the encounter with Renata:
Beyond the run-in with the bandits, the entire session was really devoted to one room/encounter (with two parts) within the Iron God's crypts.
You can see from the first video that the party elected to search several alcoves before encountering a something(s) they did not expect.
Ol' Finnigan Ramshackle encountered a massive force of skeletons "stored" here by the corrupt priests of the Iron God. They animated and chased Finnegan who screamed "Skeletons! Skeletons!" and ran as fast as his dwarf legs would carry him to the location of the party (sorry about the small pics, I'll get on that for next time).
Finnegan attracted the attention of a undead horde of 50 skeletons!!! (Mental Note to Dan: The next time you animate 50 skeletons, please don't run back to the party. Maybe just jump in a pit? Just sayin')
Although you can watch the two videos below that show all the teeth-gnashing action, the following two pictures note the most important events.
Finnigan foolishly bravely stood against the skeletal onslaught but was killed by the skeletons! Gilthanus, the man-at-arms, was also killed by a skeleton with a halberd.
With the death of finnegan, the men-at-arms started looking sidelong at each other. Murgar, who was guarding the rear of the party and who had stood by the PCs from their very first expedition to the crypts, didn't like the look of this. So he took the wardog, lifted-fricken-tail and - bravely ran away!
Que the Mood Music!:
The Ballad of the Brave Sir Murgar (click to enlisten):
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The overview videos of the first battle with the Undead Horde (in two parts):
PART I:
PART II:
Having dropped about 15 skeletons through the wise use of a choke-point, ranged attacks, successful turn attempts, and flaming oil. With a lull in the combat the group decided they were outmatched and needed to flee. A wise move.
(Note from Vith: Throwing a grey demon summoning orb to distract the horde while we fleed turned out to be a good idea. However, I would have liked to see what the demons looked like. I believe Binford still has one so maybe next time…)
They limped home to Threshold and recuited new followers from the League of Ordinary Gentlemen the hireling guild in the city. They loaded up on the necture of life flaming oil, which, fortunately for them, was cheap as the party was low on coin.
Considering their map, Vith suggested they draw the skeletons into a side room from their previous battle. There they could funnel the undead into a closed space. That combined with flaming oil on the floor, they believed, would allow them to destroy some of the skeletons without actually engaging in direct combat.
This strategy worked to perfection on the mindless undead. They killed wave, upon wave, upon wave of the gastly creatures. With only a dozen or so remaining the party mopped up and seached for loot finding a magical dagger, shield, wand and potion. Not much gold though. Perhaps next time.
As you can see, their strategy worked well:
I've played D&D on and off all my life, and this had to be one of the most hazardous first level rooms I can recall. This room was a TPK waiting to happen. Nonetheless, I tip my cap to the party. I think they did a better job than I would have done if the roles were reversed.
Totals to Date:
PCs Killed: 1
Hirelings Killed: 6
PCs/Hirelings Reduced to Zero HP: 6
Goblins Put to the Sword: 26
Skeletons Destroyed: 65
Zombies Destroyed: 15
Ghouls Killed: 7
Giant Spiders Killed: 2
Giant Centipedes Exterminated: 3
Gray Ooze De-Slimed: 1
Brigands Killed: 8
Plundered Goods: 5191 gps of value
Days in Campaign: 43
