Sellswords of Punjar- Stats Analysis all encounters

[Harley Stroh]

Watching with baited breath ...

//H

[goonalan]

Watching with baited breath ...

//H

I may have over-sold it a little, here goes...


DCC53 Sellswords of Punjar
Encounter #3 Area 1-4 Bazaar of the Bizarre.

Round #18.

Skamos- DEAD.

Riardon- Shift back. Careful Attack OB8; Hit 8 damage- DEAD.

Time to play 1 minute.
Total time to play 2 hours 28 minutes.

End of Combat (but not out of the woods yet)-

The Good Guys...
Corrin Reedson, Male Halfling Paladin of Tymora 1 (HP-6/27)
Riardon Brightvale, Male Eladrin Ranger 1 (HP5/23)
Erais the Sunlord, Male Human Cleric of Amaunator 1 (HP-8/24)
Scurvy Dyk, Male Dwarf Rogue 1 (HP-6/24)
Skamos Redmoon, Male Tiefling Wizard 1 (HP0/20) DEAD

NEW NEW NEW Bad Guys... 1525XP Level 7 Encounter.
Human Tough Level 2 Brute [HT] (x2) (HP45) 2 DEAD
Human Rogue, Arthuro the Fence Level 4 Skirmisher [Arthuro] (HP34/54) FLED
Old Otyugh, Timmy! Level 4 Soldier [Timmy] (HP56) DEAD
Human Dog Brothers Level 1 Skirmisher [DB] (x5) (HP29) 5 DEAD
Otyugh Grub Level 1 Minion [OG] (x10) (HP1) 10 DEAD
Human, Fighter- Irocar Level 4 Soldier [Irocar] (HP54) DEAD

Action Points 0 Total 10
Daily Powers 0 Total 2
Healing Surges 0 Total 6
2nd Winds 0 Total 4
Crits 0 Total 3
PCs Ko'd 0 Total 6
Bad Guys Daily Powers 0 Total 2
Bad Guys Crit 0 Total 1

Comment: However there's still plenty to do- what with Corrin, Erais & Scurvy on the floor and dying; the later pair having already failed two Death Saves each.

And so we stay in Initiative order-

Round #19- Riardon rushes over to Scurvy (closest) and tries to Heal him, and fails.

Scurvy makes his Death Save, and... Fails- DEAD.

Corrin makes his Death Save, and Fails also- he now has two Failures.

Erais makes his Death Save, and Success, he also has two Failures.

Round #20- Riardon rushes over to Corrin, no don't ask me why he didn't try and get the Cleric up straight away- I don't know; I seem to remember there being a lot of confusion at the time, much in the way of wailing and gnashing of teeth. Riardon Heal check on Corrin- Success, the Halfling Paladin is on 6 HP.

Erais makes his Death Save- look away.

Success, still two Failures though.

Round #21- Riardon drags Corrin over to Erais, and... together (just) they revive the Priest. For the record Scurvy and Corrin needed DC15 Heal checks (they'd both used their 2nd Winds), while Erais just needed a DC10 check. Riardon has +2 on his Heal skill, Corrin +3 and... wait for it, Erais +9, as I say- heat of the moment.

And with that we call an end to the first session, certainly the last battle was titanic, it's a shame Skamos and Scurvy were killed but the PCs kinda got lost in the middle of the fracas. Their were opportunities in which they could have edged back to a choke point, they instead seemed content to go toe-to-toe with an ever increasing number of bad guys. In part this was due to the slow feed of Bad Guys into the mix, had the Monsters all come at once then perhaps the PCs would have recognised this problem, as it was- in a compact combat, they were often isolated and left to fend for themselves.

The first session took a little over three-and-a-half hours to play out; two Combat encounters, although the above was a brute, and one Trap encounter. The PCs will address the situation they're in next session- only three of them left and with very limited resources.

As to Dave, well we can only hope.

Stats: Turned the tables on the PCs, they had a 53.66% hit rate, only landing 44 hits from 82 attacks- 82 attacks, what a titanic battle. The bad guys managed to 58.93% hit rate (33 from 56 attacks). The PCs still managed to dish out more damage- 27 HP/turn on average, as opposed to 11.72 from the monsters, but there were many many more monsters. The bad guys also had a grand total of 409 Hit Points, that's quite a stash, three and a half times more than the PCs with 118 Hit Points between them.

And so the PCs were forced to throw everything at the bad guys, 10 Action Points spent (that's all of them), 10 Healing Surges used- and still six times PCs were reduced to 0 Hit Points, Riardon the only one avoiding a lie down.

And two PCs killed- Skamos and Scurvy, both bleeding out.

In the 18 rounds of combat the bad guys did more damage than the PCs on 8 of the turns, on round 10 the PCs damage output dropped to below 10 Hit Points damage/turn, on two turns they even managed to inflict 0 damage.

Tsk! Goodman Games- I wuv you.

Combined Stats: Only two Combat encounters in, not much to say, Skamos had a really good hit rate- 80.77%, and then he died. Scurvy, not so good- 50%, and then he died also.

[Harley Stroh]

And with that we call an end to the first session, certainly the last battle was titanic, it's a shame Skamos and Scurvy were killed but the PCs kinda got lost in the middle of the fracas. Their were opportunities in which they could have edged back to a choke point, they instead seemed content to go toe-to-toe with an ever increasing number of bad guys. In part this was due to the slow feed of Bad Guys into the mix, had the Monsters all come at once then perhaps the PCs would have recognised this problem, as it was- in a compact combat, they were often isolated and left to fend for themselves.

The first session took a little over three-and-a-half hours to play out; two Combat encounters, although the above was a brute, and one Trap encounter. The PCs will address the situation they're in next session- only three of them left and with very limited resources.

As to Dave, well we can only hope.

Interesting. My chief regret with this adventure (and I have regrets about pretty much everything I write) is that the map doesn't allow for more space for the PCs' abilities. But it sounds like in this case – as you called out – a good old fashioned back alley choke out could have improved the PCs' odds.

And for what it is worth, I'm sorry about Dave. The adventures are meaningless without the real risk of PC death, but I hate that one may have ruined a person's day. It will be interesting to see if the PCs decide to pull back, regroup and recruit, or just abandon the adventure altogether.

Thank you for these thorough write ups, Goonalan. Lots of good information and feedback.

//H

[goonalan]

And with that we call an end to the first session, certainly the last battle was titanic, it's a shame Skamos and Scurvy were killed but the PCs kinda got lost in the middle of the fracas. Their were opportunities in which they could have edged back to a choke point, they instead seemed content to go toe-to-toe with an ever increasing number of bad guys. In part this was due to the slow feed of Bad Guys into the mix, had the Monsters all come at once then perhaps the PCs would have recognised this problem, as it was- in a compact combat, they were often isolated and left to fend for themselves.

The first session took a little over three-and-a-half hours to play out; two Combat encounters, although the above was a brute, and one Trap encounter. The PCs will address the situation they're in next session- only three of them left and with very limited resources.

As to Dave, well we can only hope.

Interesting. My chief regret with this adventure (and I have regrets about pretty much everything I write) is that the map doesn't allow for more space for the PCs' abilities. But it sounds like in this case – as you called out – a good old fashioned back alley choke out could have improved the PCs' odds.

And for what it is worth, I'm sorry about Dave. The adventures are meaningless without the real risk of PC death, but I hate that one may have ruined a person's day. It will be interesting to see if the PCs decide to pull back, regroup and recruit, or just abandon the adventure altogether.

Thank you for these thorough write ups, Goonalan. Lots of good information and feedback.

//H

We played this adventure back in April of this year (I think), Dave returned to the fold for the following adventure- looking a little sheepish I may add.

Sellswords is my favourite 4e adventure to DM- I've done it three times and every time had a ball with it, it's been the starting point for my previous two 4e campaigns (although my first campaign was short-lived and ended with a TPK straight after Sellswords at the hands of Irontooth in KOTS). In my 2nd campaign we played through the entire Punjar series and loved every minute of it, infinitely richer than WOTCs offerings.

In the Punjar series I get to play a myriad of characters- with talking parts, in lots of WOTC scenarios it's just another bunch of Kobolds/Goblins/Hobgoblins etc. to bash, followed by some monsters that short of describing what they do- rend, tear, claw et al are harder to evoke- in Punjar every encounter (almost) has a speaking part. In Sellswords (so far) Arthuro, Irocar and even Timmy get to say stuff- curse the PCs, make threats, and generally act up.

I get to stand up to DM- wave a sword (bottle of water) above my head and cooly state- "we're the Dogbrothers and we're going to bleed you dry... you mangy curs!"

As to PC deaths it may not please the Players at the time but to a DM used to taking a beating then it's a testiment to the fact that smart play, over dumb luck with the dice, wins every time.

After Sellswords we moved back to main WOTC campaign and Thunderspire, after that the players were offered free reign- did they want to play the next in the WOTC campaign? Or maybe they'd like to try their hand at another Goodman Games scenario- Forges of the Mountain King? 5-0 to the Mountain King, even when I warned them that it was going to be another killer (which incidently proved to be correct). And so after Thunderspire the players rolled up five Dwarf adventurers sent to take back the Forgotten Forge, and then soon after another five Dwarf adventurers...

Wait till I get round to detailling the fight that took down all five of the players, I'm still laughing about it now- and the players still talk about it to this day.

Every piece of writing is unfinished- the drafting/crafting process is a difficult process, you do the best you can with the time you have. Writing to a deadline is a terrible thing (and bound to leave the writer with regrets, I should have...) ask any of my students.

You are an excellent writer who brings depth to a genre that more often than not relies on the reader (DM) to flesh out the environment; you have characters aplenty (I love that there are lots of could-be recurring antagonists), a plot worthy of the name (no matter how simple- it's well realised- with good subplots- the sleeping girl, the prisoners below, the slavers, and the Beggar King's twisted Shadow- nice fluff), and an appreciation that players like to be challenged not just by beating down the next guy they meet (they need to piece things together at the very least to discern what's going on here).

Thanks for hours and hours of excellent times.

[goonalan]

As to what happens next...

DCC53 Sellswords of Punjar
Session #2

Encounter #4 Area 1-4 Bazaar of the Bizarre (and other places).

And Dave (was Skamos) has not returned, although he may be back some time in the future, I/we hope.

The PCs are down to three living- Corrin, Riardon and Erais, they're also in a precarious situation- basically lodged in the Bazaar of the Bizarre, the front door to the Beggar King's hideout. They have a plan though.

First off, after a little light looting, the PCs hide the bodies of the fallen, then they lock the door to the Bazaar, and board up the windows, placing a crudely written sign “closed due to infection” on the exterior, that should buy them some time. While Riardon and Erais take a short rest Corrin is sent out into the city to gather some fresh blood, I mean adventurers.

In the meantime Erais & Riardon check the Bazaar over and find all manner of good stuff (actually Riardon finds all of it)- a +2 Cloak of Resistance, a set of Masterwork Lockpicks, a Potion Healing & a +1 Magic Wand.

Erais also finds a secret chamber in Arthuro's bedroom. with a very fancy looking chest in it; the pair decide to wait to see if Corrin turns up with a Rogue, or someone capable of opening the thing.

An hour or so later Corrin returns-

Enter Kathra (Scurvy's cousin) a Level 1 Dwarven Fighter, out for revenge; and Tira Duskmeadow a Level 1 Half-Elven Warlock, who dabbles in most things, including Thievery- she's given the Masterwork Lockpicks, and the +1 Wand, although Erais insists these are only on loan until she proves her worth.

Then Erais shoves Tira towards the chest and tells her to 'get on with it.'

The façade of the chest is quickly removed, beneath it are seven drawers, each locked (likely) and trapped (very likely)

Drawer #1 Tira confirms is not trapped- FOOM, a poison needle jets out of the keyhole and lodges in her cloak, it doesn't break the skin- Tira smiles weakly. After a further 30 minutes of trying (6 Thievery Skill Checks) drawer one is abandoned, it simply cannot be opened.

Erais and the others don't look that convinced.

Drawer #2 is not trapped, but is locked- Tira opens it first time- empty, damn.

Drawer #3 is likewise not trapped, and is unlocked ten minutes later- 2 vials of Deathjump Spider Poison, Tira identifies the stuff.

Drawer #4 is also not trapped, Tira's convinced, right up to the point a Spear shoots out and slams into her chest- she takes 9 damage (19 HP)- 2nd Wind (26 HP). After a further 15 minutes she gets the drawer open, a +1 Short Sword within, Corrin takes it.

There follows a short, but sometimes heated, conversation, Tira is not entirely happy with the situation, finally it is agreed that all the PCs will help look for traps on drawers.

Drawer #5 it is agreed by all present is not trapped. Tira opens it first time- money within- all PCs receive their share.

Drawer #6 is 100% not trapped, confirmed by all PCs. Tira goes to open it and a Scything Blade lashes out- she takes 4 damage (22 HP). Tira is not happy- another meeting is called.

The result of which is that Tira is promised the Magic Wand if she will continue and open the remaining drawers- Tira agrees.

Although, after another 30 minutes (and 6 Thievery Skill Checks) she cannot open drawer #6, she moves on.

Drawer #7 everyone agrees is not trapped. Tira opens in ten minutes- more poison and needles.

The Wand is hers, as are the Lockpicks.

The PCs take another short rest, with Tira again trying to open drawers #1 & #6, alas she fails on three further checks for each. During the rest Erais and Riardon catch Kathra and Tira up with what's been happening here.

The PCs head upstairs and into Irocar and the Dog Brothers filthy quarters- a few silvers are found and an abundance of empty bottles of rotgut.

Erais however finds a secret door- he opens it- and a spear shoots out and gets him for 7 damage (17 HP)- Erais decides to check back here later.

Erais also finds something up the chimney, he's a very Perceptive Cleric, he drags the something out of the chimney, which takes a bit of doing, the upshot is the chimney collapses on him for another 7 damage (10 HP bloodied).

However there's lots of good stuff to be had, including- 5 Potions of Healing, some money, 4 silver tipped Javelins & a +1 Holy Symbol of Battle.

There's also still a +1 Bastard Sword, looted from Irocar, to distribute- although no one can use it.

The PCs take it in turns to snooze and take an Extended Rest.

Encounter Complete.

40 minutes to play

Traps on Chest- Poison Needle Trap Level 6 Ward (250 XP)
Traps on Chest- Spear Trap Level 1 Ward (100 XP)
Traps on Chest- Scything Blade Level2 Ward (125 XP)
No XP for the other traps as the PC (Erais) didn't bother checking for traps.
XP 475/5 = 95 XP each.

[goonalan]

DCC53 Sellswords of Punjar

Intro to the two new PCs-

Kathra Ironforge
(Played by... actually James and Iain (mostly) 'bot' Kathra, she's a replacement PC for Dave when (if) he returns)
Female Dwarf Fighter Level 1
HP 33 Surges 13
AC 19 Fort 16 Ref 13 Will 12
Str 16 Con 18 Dex 12 Int 10 Wis 14 Cha 8
Warhammer & Throwing Axe
Trained Skills: Athletics, Heal & Streetwise.
Feats & Class Features: Cast Iron Stomach, Combat Challenge, Combat Superiority, Dwarven Resilience, Dwarven Weapon Training, Stand Your Ground.
Powers:
At Will- Cleave, Tide of Iron.
Encounter- Passing Attack.
Daily- Brute Strike.

Kathra is another Pre-gen character.

Tira Duskmeadow
(Played by Becky after the death of Scurvy)
Female Half-Elf Warlock Level 1
HP 28 Surges 9
AC 15 Fort 13 Ref 13 Will 15
Str 10 Con 16 Dex 11 Int 15 Wis 8 Cha 18
Dagger & +1 Magic Wand.
Trained Skills: Bluff, Insight, Streetwise & Thievery.
Feats & Class Features: Action Surge, Group Diplomacy, Fey Pact- Misty Step, Prime Shot, Shadow Walk, Warlock's Curse.
Powers:
At Will- Eldritch Blast, Eyebite.
Encounter- Ray of Frost, Witchfire.
Daily- Curse of the Dark Dream.

Tira is another Pre-gen character.

[goonalan]

DCC53 Sellswords of Punjar
Encounter #5 Area 1-10 The Store Room.

Fully rested, and with no where else to go, the PCs head back to the secret door that Erais found and head on in- into a grimy storeroom, there's a door on the far side, they shuffle across, midway they are quickly encircled by Swarms of Rats, thousands of them.

The Good Guys...
Corrin Reedson, Male Halfling Paladin of Tymora 1 (HP27)
Riardon Brightvale, Male Eladrin Ranger 1 (HP23)
Erais the Sunlord, Male Human Cleric of Amaunator 1 (HP24)
Kathra Dyk, Male Dwarf Fighter 1 (HP33)
Tira Duskmeadow, Female Half-Elf Warlock 1 (HP28)

The Bad Guys... 250XP Level 1 Encounter.
Rat Swarm Level 2 Skirmisher [RS] (x2) (HP36)

Initiative 23 Riardon 20 Corrin 14 Tira 12 Kathra & Erais 11 Rat Swarms.

Round #1.

Riardon- Quarry RS1. Nimble Strike RS1; Miss.

Corrin- Divine Challenge RS2. Shift in. Holy Strike RS2; Miss.

Tira- Curse RS2. Witchfire RS2; Miss.

Kathra- Move. Tide of Iron RS1; Miss. Marked.

Erais- Lance of Faith RS1; Miss.

You've got to laugh, although at the time I don't remember anyone actually laughing, odd that.

RS1- Bite Kathra; Hit 8 damage (25 HP) & Ongoing 3 damage.

RS2- Bite Corrin; Miss. Shift in closer to PCs.

Time to play 6 minutes, including setting up of minis and map.

End of Turn-

The Good Guys...
Corrin Reedson, Male Halfling Paladin of Tymora 1 (HP27)
Riardon Brightvale, Male Eladrin Ranger 1 (HP23)
Erais the Sunlord, Male Human Cleric of Amaunator 1 (HP24)
Kathra Dyk, Male Dwarf Fighter 1 (HP25/33)
Tira Duskmeadow, Female Half-Elf Warlock 1 (HP28)

The Bad Guys... 250XP Level 1 Encounter.
Rat Swarm Level 2 Skirmisher [RS] (x2) (HP36)

Action Points 0 Total 0
Daily Powers 0 Total 0
Healing Surges 0 Total 0
2nd Winds 0 Total 0
Crits 0 Total 0
PCs Ko'd 0 Total 0
Bad Guys Daily Powers 0 Total 0
Bad Guys Crit 0 Total 0

Comment: Start as you mean to go, that's what I say.

[goonalan]

DCC53 Sellswords of Punjar
Encounter #5 Area 1-10 The Store Room.

Round #2.

Riardon- Careful Attack Quarry RS1; Hit 7 damage (29 HP). Shift back.

Corrin- RS2 Swarm of Teeth Aura Bite Corrin; Hit - 2nd Chance - Miss. Shift. Shielding Smite RS2; Hit 5 damage (31 HP) & Kathra +3 to AC.

Tira- Curse RS1. Eyebite Cursed RS2; Hit 5 Psychic damage (26 HP) & Invisible to RS2. Shift back.

Kathra- 3 Ongoing damage (22 HP). RS1 Swarm of Teeth Aura Bite Kathra; Miss. Passing Attack RS1; Miss. Marked. Save vs Ongoing damage- Success.

Erais- Lance of Faith RS1; Crit 8 Radiant damage (21 HP). Move back.

RS1- Bite Kathra; Hit 7 damage (15 HP bloodied) and Ongoing 3 damage.

RS2- Bite Corrin; Miss. Shift.

Time to play 9 minutes.

End of Turn-

The Good Guys...
Corrin Reedson, Male Halfling Paladin of Tymora 1 (HP27)
Riardon Brightvale, Male Eladrin Ranger 1 (HP23)
Erais the Sunlord, Male Human Cleric of Amaunator 1 (HP24)
Kathra Dyk, Male Dwarf Fighter 1 (HP15/33)
Tira Duskmeadow, Female Half-Elf Warlock 1 (HP28)

The Bad Guys... 250XP Level 1 Encounter.
Rat Swarm Level 2 Skirmisher [RS] (x2) (HP21/36 & 26/36)

Action Points 0 Total 0
Daily Powers 0 Total 0
Healing Surges 0 Total 0
2nd Winds 0 Total 0
Crits 1 Total 1
PCs Ko'd 0 Total 0
Bad Guys Daily Powers 0 Total 0
Bad Guys Crit 0 Total 0

Comment: The players weren't that fond of the Rat Swarm in KOTS, now two of them, and these PCs are short of a bit of fire power, or so it seems.

[goonalan]

DCC53 Sellswords of Punjar
Encounter #5 Area 1-10 The Store Room.

Round #3.

Riardon- Careful Attack Quarry RS1; Hit 10 damage (11 HP bloodied). Move back.

Corrin- RS2 Swarm of Teeth Aura Bite Corrin; Miss. Shift. Holy Strike RS2; Hit 5 Radiant damage (21 HP).

Tira- Eyebite Cursed RS2; Miss. Move back.

Kathra- 3 Ongoing damage (12 HP bloodied). RS1 Swarm of Teeth Aura Bite Kathra; Hit 6 damage (6 HP bloodied). RS2 Swarm of Teeth Aura Bite Kathra; (Immediate Interrupt Divine Challenge Corrin- -2 To Hit & 3 Radiant damage (18 HP bloodied)) Bite Kathra; Hit 5 damage (1 HP bloodied) and 3 Ongoing damage. Cleave RS1 Hit 6 damage (5 HP bloodied) and Marked & RS2; Hit 1 damage (17 HP bloodied). 2nd Wind (9 HP bloodied). Save vs Ongoing damage (x2)- Success (x1).

Erais- Move. Lance of Faith RS2; Hit 5 Radiant damage (12 HP bloodied). Healing Word +10 Hit Points Kathra (27 HP).

RS1- Bite Kathra; Miss.

RS2- Bite Corrin; Crit 9 damage (18 HP) & Ongoing 3 damage.

Time to play 12 minutes, we got a little confused on Kathra's turn.

End of Turn-

The Good Guys...
Corrin Reedson, Male Halfling Paladin of Tymora 1 (HP18/27)
Riardon Brightvale, Male Eladrin Ranger 1 (HP23)
Erais the Sunlord, Male Human Cleric of Amaunator 1 (HP24)
Kathra Dyk, Male Dwarf Fighter 1 (HP27/33)
Tira Duskmeadow, Female Half-Elf Warlock 1 (HP28)

The Bad Guys... 250XP Level 1 Encounter.
Rat Swarm Level 2 Skirmisher [RS] (x2) (HP5/36 & 12/36)

Action Points 0 Total 0
Daily Powers 0 Total 0
Healing Surges 1 Total 1
2nd Winds 1 Total 1
Crits 0 Total 1
PCs Ko'd 0 Total 0
Bad Guys Daily Powers 0 Total 0
Bad Guys Crit 1 Total 1

Comment: The PCs seem to have things a little more under control, although Kathra came very close to being unconscious in her first fracas. Also if the Pcs had focussed fire they may have got one of the Swarms down by now.

[goonalan]

DCC53 Sellswords of Punjar
Encounter #5 Area 1-10 The Store Room.

Round #4.

Riardon- Quarry RS2. Careful Attack Quarry RS2; Hit 6 damage (6 HP bloodied).

Corrin- Ongoing 3 damage (15 HP). RS2 Swarm of Teeth Aura Bite Corrin; Crit 9 damage (6 HP bloodied). Holy Strike RS2; Hit 4 Radiant damage (2 HP bloodied). Save vs Ongoing damage- Success.

Tira- Eyebite Curse RS2; Hit 4 Psychic damage- DEAD & Misty Step- Teleport 3 squares.

Kathra- 3 Ongoing damage (24 HP). RS1 Swarm of Teeth Aura Bite Kathra; Miss. Tide of Iron RS1; Hit 6 damage- DEAD. Save vs Ongoing damage- Success.

Time to play 5 minute.
Total time to play 32 minutes.

End of Encounter-

The Good Guys...
Corrin Reedson, Male Halfling Paladin of Tymora 1 (HP6/27)
Riardon Brightvale, Male Eladrin Ranger 1 (HP23)
Erais the Sunlord, Male Human Cleric of Amaunator 1 (HP24)
Kathra Dyk, Male Dwarf Fighter 1 (HP24/33)
Tira Duskmeadow, Female Half-Elf Warlock 1 (HP28)

The Bad Guys... 250XP Level 1 Encounter.
Rat Swarm Level 2 Skirmisher [RS] (x2) (HP36) 2 DEAD

Action Points 0 Total 0
Daily Powers 0 Total 0
Healing Surges 0 Total 1
2nd Winds 0 Total 1
Crits 0 Total 1
PCs Ko'd 0 Total 0
Bad Guys Daily Powers 0 Total 0
Bad Guys Crit 1 Total 2

Comment: Victory, at last, 32 minutes for 250XP, that's 50XP each.

Stats: 63.16% connection rate from the PCs, only doing 18.75 points of damage, on average, per turn. The bad guys however only connected 46.15% of the time, but managed to keep up, almost, with the PCs- 14 points of damage, on average, per turn.

Nasty things swarms, particularly when none of the PCs have Close or Area attacks, you just have to stand there and take it, keep dishing out half damage till they go away.

Combined Stats: There's not the great divide here that we saw in KOTS, PCs connecting 60.68% of the time, bad guys 56.16% of the time. Damage/turn for the good guys- 28.24, for the bad guys 11.08. Obviously Encounter #3 is having a massive effect, 18 turns of attrition with only one PC left standing for the last three or so turns, and with two deaths. These guys are not getting the big numbers.

[goonalan]

DCC53 Sellswords of Punjar
Encounter #6 Area 1-12 Zeb'oltha the Demon-Bound.

There's a light ahead, after the PCs exit the store room, Riardon creeps forward- he's the stealthiest, through a make shift bunk room to an open doorway- beyond some mad laboratory, a pair of waddling Humans in diapers and an equally fat female Tiefling.

Riardon returns and relays the new info- a shoot first ask questions later policy is decided upon, the PCs close quickly and get in a surprise round.

The Good Guys...
Corrin Reedson, Male Halfling Paladin of Tymora 1 (HP27)
Riardon Brightvale, Male Eladrin Ranger 1 (HP23)
Erais the Sunlord, Male Human Cleric of Amaunator 1 (HP24)
Kathra Dyk, Male Dwarf Fighter 1 (HP33)
Tira Duskmeadow, Female Half-Elf Warlock 1 (HP28)

The Bad Guys... 375XP Level 1 Encounter.
Human Eunuch Bodyguard Level 1 Soldier [EB] (x2) (HP29)
Madam Zeb'oltha, Tiefling Warlock Level 4 Artillery [MZ] (HP46)

Initiative 20 Eunuch Bodyguards 15 Corrin 12 Tira 6 Riardon 4 Mother Zeb 3 Kathra 1 Erais

Surprise Round- shoot first ask questions later.

Corrin- Charge EB2; Hit 7 damage (22 HP). Yells for surrender- Diplomacy 20.

Tira- Eldritch Blast EB2; Hit 15 damage (7 HP bloodied).

Riardon- Careful Attack EB2; Miss.

Kathra- Move in.

Erais- Cause Fear EB2; Hit- Runs- Corrin AoO Combat Advantage EB2; Hit 8 damage- DEAD.

Time to play 5 minute including setting up minis and map.

End of Turn-

The Good Guys...
Corrin Reedson, Male Halfling Paladin of Tymora 1 (HP27)
Riardon Brightvale, Male Eladrin Ranger 1 (HP23)
Erais the Sunlord, Male Human Cleric of Amaunator 1 (HP24)
Kathra Dyk, Male Dwarf Fighter 1 (HP33)
Tira Duskmeadow, Female Half-Elf Warlock 1 (HP28)

The Bad Guys... 375XP Level 1 Encounter.
Human Eunuch Bodyguard Level 1 Soldier [EB] (x2) (HP29) 1 DEAD
Madam Zeb'oltha, Tiefling Warlock Level 4 Artillery [MZ] (HP46)

Action Points 0 Total 0
Daily Powers 0 Total 0
Healing Surges 0 Total 0
2nd Winds 0 Total 0
Crits 0 Total 0
PCs Ko'd 0 Total 0
Bad Guys Daily Powers 0 Total 0
Bad Guys Crit 0 Total 0

Comment: And Dave wasn't even in the room (or the game) when the shoot first ask questions later policy was agreed, I guess they're feeling a little fragile. Corrin, plyed by Iain is convinced that Diplomacy is the answer the other PCs don't even know what the question is- I remind the players that a Diplomacy roll followed by Eldritch Blasts et al is not going to get them in a position to chat...

[goonalan]

DCC53 Sellswords of Punjar
Encounter #6 Area 1-12 Zeb'oltha the Demon-Bound.

Madam/Mother Zeb screams for the Eunuch (singular) to destroy the interlopers- then she gets all angsty herself.

Round #1.

EB1- Move. Tripping Strike (with Spiked Chain) Corrin; Hit 7 damage (17 HP) & kncoked Prone.

EB2- DEAD.

Corrin- Stand. Divine Challenge MZ. Charge MZ; Hit 4 damage (42 HP). Yells again for surrender- Diplomacy 14.

Tira- Move. Curse EB1. Witchfire EB1; Hit 17 Fire damage (12 HP bloodied) & -4 to hit.

Riardon- Quarry EB1. Careful Attack EB1; Miss.

MZ- Shift back. Curse Corrin. Flames of Phlegathos Corrin; Hit 24 Fire damage (-7 HP dying) & ongoing 5 Fire damage & she Heals 3 Hit Points (45 HP).

Kathra- Move. Tide of Iron EB1; Miss. Marked.

Erais- Move. Lance of Faith Hit EB1; Hit with Power of Amaunator 17 Radiant damage- DEAD. Healing Word +6 HP Corrin (12 HP bloodied).

Time to play 8 minutes.

End of Turn-

The Good Guys...
Corrin Reedson, Male Halfling Paladin of Tymora 1 (HP12/27)
Riardon Brightvale, Male Eladrin Ranger 1 (HP23)
Erais the Sunlord, Male Human Cleric of Amaunator 1 (HP24)
Kathra Dyk, Male Dwarf Fighter 1 (HP33)
Tira Duskmeadow, Female Half-Elf Warlock 1 (HP28)

The Bad Guys... 375XP Level 1 Encounter.
Human Eunuch Bodyguard Level 1 Soldier [EB] (x2) (HP29) 2 DEAD
Madam Zeb'oltha, Tiefling Warlock Level 4 Artillery [MZ] (HP45/46)

Action Points 0 Total 0
Daily Powers 0 Total 0
Healing Surges 1 Total 1
2nd Winds 0 Total 0
Crits 0 Total 0
PCs Ko'd 1 Total 1
Bad Guys Daily Powers 1 Total 1
Bad Guys Crit 0 Total 0

Comment: Flames of what? Oh!

[goonalan]

DCC53 Sellswords of Punjar
Encounter #6 Area 1-12 Zeb'oltha the Demon-Bound.

Round #2.

EB1- DEAD.

EB2- DEAD.

Corrin- Ongoing 5 Fire damage (7 HP bloodied). Stand. 2nd Wind (13 HP bloodied). Screams for Madam Zeb to give up- Intimidate 15. Save vs Ongoing Fire damage- Fail.

Tira- Move. Curse MZ. Ray of Frost MZ; Miss.

Riardon- Quarry MZ; Careful Attack MZ; Miss.

MZ- Shift back. Curse Kathra. Diabolic Grasp Cursed Corrin; Miss.

Kathra- Move. Tide of Iron MZ; Miss. Marked.

Erais- Move. Lance of Faith MZ; Miss.

Time to play 7 minutes.

End of Turn-

The Good Guys...
Corrin Reedson, Male Halfling Paladin of Tymora 1 (HP13/27)
Riardon Brightvale, Male Eladrin Ranger 1 (HP23)
Erais the Sunlord, Male Human Cleric of Amaunator 1 (HP24)
Kathra Dyk, Male Dwarf Fighter 1 (HP33)
Tira Duskmeadow, Female Half-Elf Warlock 1 (HP28)

The Bad Guys... 375XP Level 1 Encounter.
Human Eunuch Bodyguard Level 1 Soldier [EB] (x2) (HP29) 2 DEAD
Madam Zeb'oltha, Tiefling Warlock Level 4 Artillery [MZ] (HP45/46)

Action Points 0 Total 0
Daily Powers 0 Total 0
Healing Surges 0 Total 1
2nd Winds 1 Total 1
Crits 0 Total 0
PCs Ko'd 0 Total 1
Bad Guys Daily Powers 0 Total 1
Bad Guys Crit 0 Total 0

Comment: Not a single connection, and these are mostly Pregen characters I got from somewhere else, they're not pimped but neither are they under-powered, all the stats are in the right places.

[goonalan]

DCC53 Sellswords of Punjar
Encounter #6 Area 1-12 Zeb'oltha the Demon-Bound.

Round #3.

EB1- DEAD.

EB2- DEAD.

Corrin- Ongoing 5 Fire damage (8 HP bloodied). Move. Divine Challenge MZ. Holy Strike MZ; Hit 13 Radiant damage (32 HP). Save vs Ongoing Fire damage- Success.

Tira- Eyebite Cursed MZ; Miss.

Riardon- Move. Careful Attack Quarry MZ; Miss.

That's four attacks Riardon has made and not rolled over a '6'.

MZ- Shift back. Curse Riardon. Hellish Rebuke Cursed Corrin; Hit 11 Fire damage (-3 HP dying) & MZ Heals 3 HP (again) (35 HP).

Kathra- Move. Tide of Iron MZ; Hit 9 damage (26 HP) & Hellish Rebuke- Corrin takes a further 10 HP damage (-13 HP)- DEAD.

That's Corrin's bloodied state in negative Hit Points- he's dead.

There follows a brief interlude for the throwing of things- dice, miniatures etc.

The rule is fully explained to Iain, who plays Corrin, it turns out he did know the rule but... he's less than happy.

It should be noted that Iain was 'botting' Kathra for the above, he in effect, killed his own character.

Erais- Move. Lance of Faith MZ; Miss.

Time to play 15 minutes, including tantrum.

End of Turn-

The Good Guys...
Corrin Reedson, Male Halfling Paladin of Tymora 1 (HP27) DEAD
Riardon Brightvale, Male Eladrin Ranger 1 (HP23)
Erais the Sunlord, Male Human Cleric of Amaunator 1 (HP24)
Kathra Dyk, Male Dwarf Fighter 1 (HP33)
Tira Duskmeadow, Female Half-Elf Warlock 1 (HP28)

The Bad Guys... 375XP Level 1 Encounter.
Human Eunuch Bodyguard Level 1 Soldier [EB] (x2) (HP29) 2 DEAD
Madam Zeb'oltha, Tiefling Warlock Level 4 Artillery [MZ] (HP26/46)

Action Points 0 Total 0
Daily Powers 0 Total 0
Healing Surges 0 Total 1
2nd Winds 0 Total 1
Crits 0 Total 0
PCs Ko'd 1 Total 2
Bad Guys Daily Powers 0 Total 1
Bad Guys Crit 0 Total 0

Comment: Another one bites the dust, and another, and another one etc.

Iain is now playing Kathra, and is out for vengeance.

[goonalan]

DCC53 Sellswords of Punjar
Encounter #6 Area 1-12 Zeb'oltha the Demon-Bound.

Corrin, who's dead, declares- 'no prisoners', his last words...

Round #4.

EB1- DEAD.

EB2- DEAD.

Corrin- DEAD.

Tira- Move. Eyebite Cursed MZ; Hit 8 Psychic damage (18 HP bloodied).

Madam Zeb screams for surrender- the PCs are not listening.

Riardon- Move. Careful Attack Quarry MZ; Hit 13 damage (5 HP bloodied).

Riardon hits!

MZ- Screams at Kathra to allow her to surrender- Kathra (Iain) just shakes his head (actually there were a few choice words to accompany the head shaking but none of them repeatable here). Run for the door. Kathra AoO Combat Advantage MZ; Hit 8 damage- DEAD.

Kathra (Iain) dances about on Madam Zeb'oltha's corpse.

Time to play 5 minutes.
Total time to play 40 minutes.

End of Encounter-

The Good Guys...
Corrin Reedson, Male Halfling Paladin of Tymora 1 (HP27) DEAD
Riardon Brightvale, Male Eladrin Ranger 1 (HP23)
Erais the Sunlord, Male Human Cleric of Amaunator 1 (HP24)
Kathra Dyk, Male Dwarf Fighter 1 (HP33)
Tira Duskmeadow, Female Half-Elf Warlock 1 (HP28)

The Bad Guys... 375XP Level 1 Encounter.
Human Eunuch Bodyguard Level 1 Soldier [EB] (x2) (HP29) 2 DEAD
Madam Zeb'oltha, Tiefling Warlock Level 4 Artillery [MZ] (HP46) DEAD

Action Points 0 Total 0
Daily Powers 0 Total 0
Healing Surges 0 Total 1
2nd Winds 0 Total 1
Crits 0 Total 0
PCs Ko'd 0 Total 2
Bad Guys Daily Powers 0 Total 1
Bad Guys Crit 0 Total 0

Comment: And that's the third PC down in only six encounters, only four of which were combat encounters, bad dice- naughty dice, tee-hee-hee.

Corrin's stuff is duly ransacked, his Potion of Healing taken by Kathra, his +1 Short Sword taken as party spoils. We had one extra character in-game already- five PCs with only four players, Dave's not returned to the fold. Therefore Ian (who guided Corrin to an early grave) takes control of Kathra.

The PCs go on to ransack Mother Zeb'oltha's quarters and discover all manner of odd things, including a Scythe made from the fused (partial) skeleton of a Bone Devil, an unhatched, and still warm, (pseudo-dragon) egg, a set of +1 Cloth Armour (covered in all manner of mystical sigils- and blood/food stains), and a skull topped Rod which allows the wielder to re-use already cast Encounter powers (it has a finite number of charges). Quite a haul- oh and don't Goodman Games do interesting treasures (and fluff) much better than Wizards.

Kathra eats the egg- no really, Iain is channelling Dave.

Sated, and ready to move on the PCs head out a door and shamble across a dirty courtyard, it begins to rain- a lot, they head towards a warehouse like structure.

Stats: The monsters hit 75% of the time, which sounds a lot until you realise they only made four attacks, which as it turned out for Corrin, was still too many. It really didn't help that all of the attacks were against our Halfling Paladin, who although he had a good AC, had very few hit points; too few in fact.

The PCs managed to connect 54.55% of the time, 12 hits from 22 attacks, and still managed to dish out (nearly) twice as much damage/round as the bad guys, but when all the bad guys damage is concentrated in one spot, it makes no difference.

Corrin did manage to hit with 100% of his attacks, four from four, for a total of 32 points of damage, only Tira did more damage- 40. Corrin however took 62 hit points damage in five rounds, and as he only started with 27 Hit Points...

He should obviously be a little more careful with his Divine Challenge in future, er... scratch the future remark.

Combined Stats: The PCs are still failing to pull away from the bad guys, PC connection rate overall 59.71% (83 hits from 139 attacks), the bad guys 57.14% (44 hits from 77 attacks). On a round by round basis the PCs are having trouble, although they're still dishing out twice as much damage per turn-PCs- 27.5, bad guys- 11.3; the monsters go into the encounter with quite a few more hit points to play with than the PCs.

Just a brief look at the PCs connection rates with specific attacks to date (minimum 5 attacks made)-

28.57% Scurvy Acrobatic Strike (2 from 7) average 17.5 damage... DEAD though.

40% Kathra Tide of Iron (2 from 5) average 7.5 damage.

50% Erais Lance of Faith (5 from 10) average 10.6 damage.

57.14% Skamos Magic Missile (4 from 7) average 11.25 damage... DEAD, again.

58.82% Corrin Holy Strike (10 from 17) average 10.2 damage... DEAD.

60% Tira Eyebite (3 from 5) average 5.67 damage.

66.67% Riardon's Carefull Attack (18 from 27) average 11.33 damage.

85.71% Skamos Scorching Burst (12 from 14) average 9.33 damage... DEAD.

100% Skamos Force Orb (5 from 5) average 11.6 damage... and DEAD.

And that's the lot, after 30 turns of combat, and if you take away the dead PCs, in particular Skamos, then things are not looking good.

[goonalan]

DCC53 Sellswords of Punjar
Encounter #7 Area 1-13 Courtyard and Warehouse.

There's a noise from within the warehouse structure ahead, the doors are suddenly wrenched open and before the PCs are ten of the mangiest looking miscreants ever to walk the streets of Fallcrest, each one wields an improvised weapon- from table legs to broken bottles. The gang are about to bring a whole new meaning to the term 'aggressive begging.'

As if that wasn't enough Erais cries out, points up and left, a black smudge detaches itself from its inky roost and flutters down to join in the fun- a Shadow Bat Swarm.

The PCs hate swarms, I think I mentioned that.

The Good Guys...
Riardon Brightvale, Male Eladrin Ranger 1 (HP23)
Erais the Sunlord, Male Human Cleric of Amaunator 1 (HP24)
Kathra Dyk, Male Dwarf Fighter 1 (HP33)
Tira Duskmeadow, Female Half-Elf Warlock 1 (HP28)

The Bad Guys... 460XP Level 1 Encounter.
Human Beggar Level 2 Minion [HB] (x10) (HP1)
Shadow Bat Swarm Level 3 Lurker [SBS] (HP38)

Initiative 21 Shadow Bat Swarm & Kathra 20 Human Beggars 18 Tira 14 Riardon 8 Erais.

Round 1.

SBS- Move- swoop down. Bite Riardon; Miss.

Kathra- Move. Cleave HB1; Miss. Action Point. Passing Attack HB1; Hit 11 damage- DEAD & Shift & Secondary Attack HB2; Hit 11 damage- DEAD.

HB1- DEAD.

HB2- DEAD.

HB3- Wooden Plank Kathra; Hit 4 damage (28 HP).

HB4- Rusty Knife Kathra; Hit 4 damage (24 HP).

HB5- Move. Rusty Chain Kathra; Hit 4 damage (20 HP).

HB6- Move. Table Leg Kathra; Hit 4 damage (16 HP bloodied).

HB7- Move. Lead Pipe Kathra; Hit 4 damage (12 HP bloodied).

Just so that you know the Beggars are +6 To Hit and Kathra has 19 AC, that's five rolls of '13' or above in a row.

HB8- Move. Throw Bottle Kathra; Miss.

HB9- Move. Throw Cobblestone Kathra; Miss.

HB10- Move. Throw Turnip Kathra; Miss.

Tira- Curse SBS. Eldritch Blast SBS; Hit 5 damage (33 HP).

Riardon- Start in SBS aura Cloud of Teeth Riardon; Hit 9 damage (14 HP) and Ongoing 2 Cold & Necrotic damage. Shift back. Quarry SBS. Careful Attack Prime Shot SBS; Miss.

Oh bugger!

Erais- Healing Word +5 HP Kathra (25 HP). Sacred Flame SBS; Hit 5 Radiant damage +5 (Vulnerable) = 10 damage (23 HP).

Time to play 11 minutes including setting up map and minis.

End of Turn-

The Good Guys...
Riardon Brightvale, Male Eladrin Ranger 1 (HP14/23)
Erais the Sunlord, Male Human Cleric of Amaunator 1 (HP24)
Kathra Dyk, Male Dwarf Fighter 1 (HP25/33)
Tira Duskmeadow, Female Half-Elf Warlock 1 (HP28)

The Bad Guys... 460XP Level 1 Encounter.
Human Beggar Level 2 Minion [HB] (x10) (HP1) 2 DEAD.
Shadow Bat Swarm Level 3 Lurker [SBS] (HP23/38)

Action Points 1 Total 1
Daily Powers 0 Total 0
Healing Surges 1 Total 1
2nd Winds 0 Total 0
Crits 0 Total 0
PCs Ko'd 0 Total 0
Bad Guys Daily Powers 0 Total 0
Bad Guys Crit 0 Total 0

Comment: With the bad guys getting initiative, save Kathra, and the Swarm being fairly resilient- well this could be a lot tougher than you think.

[goonalan]

DCC53 Sellswords of Punjar
Encounter #7 Area 1-13 Courtyard and Warehouse.

Round 2.

SBS- Regenerate 5 HP (28 HP). Shift. Blinding Wings (Close Burst 2) Erais; Miss & Tira; Miss & Riardon; Hit 8 damage (6 HP bloodied) & Blind.

Kathra- Cleave HB5; Miss. Action Point. Cleave HB5; Hit 12 damage- DEAD & HB3; Hit 3 damage- DEAD.

Action Pointing Minions- that's a sure fire indication of where the PCs are at.

HB1- DEAD.

HB2- DEAD.

HB3- DEAD.

HB4- Shift. Rusty Knife Kathra; Hit 4 damage (21 HP).

HB5- DEAD.

HB6- Table Leg Kathra; Miss.

HB7- Shift. Lead Pipe Combat Advantage Kathra; Miss.

HB8- Move. Broken Bottle Kathra; Miss.

HB9- Move. Punch Kathra; Miss.

HB10- Move. Haunch of Meat Kathra; Hit 4 damage (17 HP).

Kathra attempts to take a bite of the Haunch of Meat he's just been hit with, alas he fails- they're clearly missing Dave.

Tira- Shift back. Witchfire Cursed SBS; Miss. Action Point with Action Surge (+3 To Hit). Eldritch Blast Cursed SBS; Hit 7 damage (21 HP).

Riardon- Blind. Ongoing 2 Cold & Necrotic damage (4 HP bloodied). Start in SBS aura Cloud of Teeth Combat Advantage Riardon; Miss. Shift back. 2nd Wind (9 HP bloodied). Save vs Blindness- Fail. Save vs Ongoing Cold & Necrotic damage- Success.

Erais- Start in SBS aura Cloud of Teeth Erais; Miss. Shift back. Sacred Flame SBS; Miss. Action Point. Daily Cascade of Light SBS; Hit 9 Radiant damage +5 (Vulnerable) = 14 damage (7 HP bloodied). Healing Word +8 HP Riardon (22 HP).

Time to play 13 minutes.

End of Turn-

The Good Guys...
Riardon Brightvale, Male Eladrin Ranger 1 (HP22/23)
Erais the Sunlord, Male Human Cleric of Amaunator 1 (HP24)
Kathra Dyk, Male Dwarf Fighter 1 (HP17/33)
Tira Duskmeadow, Female Half-Elf Warlock 1 (HP28)

The Bad Guys... 460XP Level 1 Encounter.
Human Beggar Level 2 Minion [HB] (x10) (HP1) 4 DEAD.
Shadow Bat Swarm Level 3 Lurker [SBS] (HP7/38)

Action Points 3 Total 4
Daily Powers 1 Total 1
Healing Surges 1 Total 2
2nd Winds 1 Total 1
Crits 0 Total 0
PCs Ko'd 0 Total 0
Bad Guys Daily Powers 0 Total 0
Bad Guys Crit 0 Total 0

Comment: Will the Shadow Bat Swarm survive another round?

Will all of the PCs?

[goonalan]

DCC53 Sellswords of Punjar
Encounter #7 Area 1-13 Courtyard and Warehouse.

Round 3.

SBS- Regenerate 5 HP (12 HP bloodied). Shift. Cloud of Teeth Combat Advantage Riardon; Hit 7 damage (15 HP) & 2 ongoing Cold & Necrotic damage.

Kathra- Cleave HB7; Miss & Marked. 2nd Wind. (25 HP).

HB1- DEAD.

HB2- DEAD.

HB3- DEAD.

HB4- Rusty Knife Combat Advantage Kathra; Hit 4 damage (21 HP).

HB5- DEAD.

HB6- Table Leg Kathra; Miss.

HB7- Lead Pipe Combat Advantage Kathra; Hit 4 damage (17 HP).

HB8- Shift. Broken Bottle Kathra; Miss.

HB9- Punch Kathra; Miss.

HB10- Shift. Haunch of Meat Kathra; Hit 4 damage (13 HP bloodied).

Tira- Start in SBS aura Cloud of Teeth Tira; Hit 6 damage (22 HP) & ongoing 2 Cold & Necrotic damage. Shift back. Eyebite Cursed SBS; Miss. Action Point with Action Surge (+3 To Hit). Eldritch Blast Cursed SBS; Miss.

This is really not going that well.

Riardon- Blind. Ongoing 2 Cold & Necrotic damage (13 HP). Start in SBS aura Cloud of Teeth Combat Advantage Riardon; Hit 7 damage (6 HP bloodied). Fey Step- Random Location. Careful Attack (while Blind) Quarry SBS; Hit 7 damage (5 HP bloodied). Save vs Blindness- Fail. Save vs Ongoing Cold & Necrotic damage- Success.

That's the ticket, get Riardon to -5 To Hit (Blind) and then watch him roll a '19'.

Erais- Sacred Flame SBS; Hit 5 Radiant damage +5 (Vulnerable) = 10 damage- DEAD. Move.

You can stop holding your breath now- phew that was close.

Time to play 11 minutes.

End of Turn-

The Good Guys...
Riardon Brightvale, Male Eladrin Ranger 1 (HP6/23)
Erais the Sunlord, Male Human Cleric of Amaunator 1 (HP24)
Kathra Dyk, Male Dwarf Fighter 1 (HP13/33)
Tira Duskmeadow, Female Half-Elf Warlock 1 (HP22/28)

The Bad Guys... 460XP Level 1 Encounter.
Human Beggar Level 2 Minion [HB] (x10) (HP1) 4 DEAD.
Shadow Bat Swarm Level 3 Lurker [SBS] (HP38) DEAD.

Action Points 1 Total 5
Daily Powers 0 Total 1
Healing Surges 0 Total 2
2nd Winds 1 Total 2
Crits 0 Total 0
PCs Ko'd 0 Total 0
Bad Guys Daily Powers 0 Total 0
Bad Guys Crit 0 Total 0

Comment: Just the Beggars to deal with- shouldn't take long- although I'm bound to say that- 6 Minions, how long could it take? The PCs have never had a problem with Minions in the pas... OH hang on.

Cross your fingers people.

[goonalan]

DCC53 Sellswords of Punjar
Encounter #7 Area 1-13 Courtyard and Warehouse.

Round 4.

SBS- DEAD.

Kathra- Cleave Combat Advantage HB7; Hit 7 damage- DEAD & HB9; Hit 3 damage- DEAD. Shift back.

HB1- DEAD.

HB2- DEAD.

HB3- DEAD.

HB4- Rusty Knife Combat Advantage Kathra; Miss.

HB5- DEAD.

HB6- Shift. Table Leg Erais; Hit 4 damage (20 HP).

HB7- DEAD.

HB8- Shift. Broken Bottle Kathra; Miss.

HB9- DEAD.

HB10- Shift. Haunch of Meat Kathra; Miss.

Tira- Ongoing 2 Cold & Necrotic damage (20 HP). Move. Curse HB8. Eldritch Blast HB8; Hit 10 damage- DEAD. Save vs Ongoing Cold & Necrotic damage- Fail.

Riardon- Drink Potion of Healing (16 HP). Save vs Blindness- Success.

Erais- Shift back. Sacred Flame HB6; Miss.

Time to play 6 minutes.

End of Turn-

The Good Guys...
Riardon Brightvale, Male Eladrin Ranger 1 (HP16/23)
Erais the Sunlord, Male Human Cleric of Amaunator 1 (HP20/24)
Kathra Dyk, Male Dwarf Fighter 1 (HP13/33)
Tira Duskmeadow, Female Half-Elf Warlock 1 (HP20/28)

The Bad Guys... 460XP Level 1 Encounter.
Human Beggar Level 2 Minion [HB] (x10) (HP1) 7 DEAD.
Shadow Bat Swarm Level 3 Lurker [SBS] (HP38) DEAD.

Action Points 0 Total 5
Daily Powers 0 Total 1
Healing Surges 1 Total 3
2nd Winds 0 Total 2
Crits 0 Total 0
PCs Ko'd 0 Total 0
Bad Guys Daily Powers 0 Total 0
Bad Guys Crit 0 Total 0

Comment: Three Beggars left to go.

[goonalan]

DCC53 Sellswords of Punjar
Encounter #7 Area 1-13 Courtyard and Warehouse.

Round 5.

SBS- DEAD.

Kathra- Cleave Combat Advantage HB10; Miss. Marked.

HB1- DEAD.

HB2- DEAD.

HB3- DEAD.

HB4- Shift. Rusty Knife Kathra; Miss.

HB5- DEAD.

HB6- Shift. Table Leg Kathra; Hit 4 damage (9 HP bloodied).

HB7- DEAD.

HB8- DEAD.

HB9- DEAD.

HB10- Haunch of Meat Kathra; Miss.

Tira- Ongoing 2 Cold & Necrotic damage (18 HP). Curse HB6. Eldritch Blast HB6; Crit 22 damage- DEAD. Save vs Ongoing Cold & Necrotic damage- Success.

Riardon- Move. Careful Attack HB4; Hit 12 damage- DEAD.

Erais- Shift back. Lance of Faith HB10; Miss.

HB10 in floods of tears falls to the floor, hammers at the cobblestones, and begs to be spared, he surrenders then.

Time to play 7 minutes.
Total time to play 48 minutes.

End of Encounter-

The Good Guys...
Riardon Brightvale, Male Eladrin Ranger 1 (HP16/23)
Erais the Sunlord, Male Human Cleric of Amaunator 1 (HP20/24)
Kathra Dyk, Male Dwarf Fighter 1 (HP9/33)
Tira Duskmeadow, Female Half-Elf Warlock 1 (HP18/28)

The Bad Guys... 460XP Level 1 Encounter.
Human Beggar Level 2 Minion [HB] (x10) (HP1) 9 DEAD & 1 SURRENDERED.
Shadow Bat Swarm Level 3 Lurker [SBS] (HP38) DEAD.

Action Points 0 Total 5
Daily Powers 0 Total 1
Healing Surges 0 Total 3
2nd Winds 0 Total 2
Crits 1 Total 1
PCs Ko'd 0 Total 0
Bad Guys Daily Powers 0 Total 0
Bad Guys Crit 0 Total 0

Comment: And over the line... at last.

Stats: The four PCs weathered 37 attacks in total in just five rounds, Kathra was targeted 26 times, that's 70% of the attacks on the Defender, the stout Dwarf even managed to do more damage than he sustained, just- damage taken 44, damage done 47.

The gap widened slightly with the PCs landing 54.17% of their overall attacks, the bad guys with 45.95%- still the damage/turn output is not as great as many (if not all) of the KOTS skirmishes. The PCs managed 28.8 hit points damage/turn, the bad guys 18.6, we're not seeing the divide that was apparent in the previous scenario.

Riardon had the best connection rate 66.67% but he only made three attacks (and hit twice) spending the majority of the time otherwise Blind and out of the fight. Tira managed a 57.14% connection rate, Erais and Kathra 50%.

A fair number (five) of Action Points and (five) Healing Surges were however expended.

Overall Stats: Riardon, the Striker, has the best connection rate of the PCs left standing, but he's only hitting 61.76% of the time. As above Tira is next with 56.25%, and Erais and Kathra with 50% overall. These guys are just not connecting as often as the PCs in KOTS, and are not doing the huge amounts of damage.

They're also flying through the Action Points and Healing Surges, averaging 3 Action Points and 4 Healing Surges per Encounter.

The overall connection rate for the PCs is 58.9%, the bad guys 53.51%; damage output/turn now looks slightly healthier PCs 27.69, bad guys 12.34, still not enough however to keep them safe.

Interesting fact, this encounters bad guys had only 48 hit points between them, admittedly the Shadow Bat Swarm, like all swarms, has resistance to melee and ranged attacks, all the more apparent as the PCs have no area, burst or blast attacks- and it regenerated.

[goonalan]

DCC53 Sellswords of Punjar
Encounter #8 Area 1-14 Court of the Beggar-King.

The PCs have an easy time extracting information from the lone surviving Beggar, it seems the Beggar King has not been seen for a while- something bad has happened, although 'Filthy Tony' has no idea what. He's noticed, during fleeting moments of sobriety, an increase in the number of mercenaries hired in to defend his erstwhile master's lair- again he cannot account for this. All he knows is something is wrong.

He also points the PCs in the direction of the Beggar King's court, up a rickety ladder and through and open window, hardly the most dignified way to enter the royal throne room. The PCs, after a short rest, decide to pay a visit.

Soon after the PCs are up the ladder and fully assembled in the Beggar King's throne room, there are two guards over the far side- they've not moved an inch- suspicious, also on the far side of the chamber is a cot-cum-bed, occupied, the inhabitant shaking and moaning in their sleep- the Beggar King is having nightmares.

Other than that... Hang on, Riardon and Erais spot movement, in the rafters above- a weasely looking Human in dark leather armour.

The PCs scream a warning and launch their attacks, the man in the rafters already has a dagger in hand.

The Good Guys...
Riardon Brightvale, Male Eladrin Ranger 1 (HP23)
Erais the Sunlord, Male Human Cleric of Amaunator 1 (HP24)
Kathra Dyk, Male Dwarf Fighter 1 (HP33)
Tira Duskmeadow, Female Half-Elf Warlock 1 (HP28)

The Bad Guys... 300XP Level 1 Encounter.
Camouflaged Pit Trap Level 2 Warder
Human Rogue, Black Shet Level 4 Skirmisher [BS] (HP45)

Initiative 22 Riardon 18 Black Shet 14 Erais 13 Tira 5 Kathra

Round 1.

Riardon- Shift. Quarry BS. Careful Attack Prime Shot BS; Miss. Action Point. Careful Attack Prime Shot BS; Hit 21 damage (24 HP).

BS- First Strike. Daily Easy Strike Combat Advantage Tira; Hit 18 damage (10 HP Bloodied) & Slowed and grants Combat Advantage. Move along rafters.

Erais- Move- floor falls away- Camouflaged Pit Trap; Miss. Haul self back up and away from pit.

More or less the entire floor of the Throne room opens up to reveal a swinging metal cage below, suspended over a fast flowing waterway, an underground river.

Tira- Slowed. Curse BS. Witchfire BS; Miss. Action Point with Action Surge (+3 To Hit). Eldritch Blast BS; Miss. Save vs Slowed and Combat Advantage- Fails.

Never Action Point when you're angry.

Kathra- Move round side of Pit. Smash very still Guard- which turns out to be a wooden dummy.

Time to play 9 minutes including setting up minis and map.

End of Turn-

The Good Guys...
Riardon Brightvale, Male Eladrin Ranger 1 (HP23)
Erais the Sunlord, Male Human Cleric of Amaunator 1 (HP24)
Kathra Dyk, Male Dwarf Fighter 1 (HP33)
Tira Duskmeadow, Female Half-Elf Warlock 1 (HP10/28)

The Bad Guys... 300XP Level 1 Encounter.
Camouflaged Pit Trap Level 2 Warder
Human Rogue, Black Shet Level 4 Skirmisher [BS] (HP24/45)

Action Points 2 Total 2
Daily Powers 0 Total 0
Healing Surges 0 Total 0
2nd Winds 0 Total 0
Crits 0 Total 0
PCs Ko'd 0 Total 0
Bad Guys Daily Powers 1 Total 1
Bad Guys Crit 0 Total 0

Comment: Only one bad guy and he's nearly bloodied, the trap is sprung and without anything untoward occurring- this shouldn't take long.

[goonalan]

DCC53 Sellswords of Punjar
Encounter #8 Area 1-14 Court of the Beggar-King.

Round 2.

Riardon- Careful Attack Quarry BS; Hit 16 damage (8 HP). Action Point. Careful Attack BS: Miss.

Riardon playing catch up with the Action Point usage, there's no other reason for it.

BS- Deft Strike Combat Advantage Tira; Crit 20 damage (-10 HP dying). Move along rafters.

I've no idea why the PCs didn't heal Tira last round, overconfidence?

Erais- Healing Word +7 HP Tira (14 HP). Cause Fear BS; Hit falls from rafters but manages to land cat-like on his feet and without taking any damage.

Tira- Slowed. Stand. Eldritch Blast Cursed BS; Hit 13 damage- DEAD.

Time to play 6 minutes.
Total time to play 15 minutes.

End of Encounter-

The Good Guys...
Riardon Brightvale, Male Eladrin Ranger 1 (HP23)
Erais the Sunlord, Male Human Cleric of Amaunator 1 (HP24)
Kathra Dyk, Male Dwarf Fighter 1 (HP33)
Tira Duskmeadow, Female Half-Elf Warlock 1 (HP14/28)

The Bad Guys... 300XP Level 1 Encounter.
Camouflaged Pit Trap Level 2 Warder
Human Rogue, Black Shet Level 4 Skirmisher [BS] (HP45) DEAD.

Action Points 1 Total 3
Daily Powers 0 Total 0
Healing Surges 1 Total 1
2nd Winds 0 Total 0
Crits 0 Total 0
PCs Ko'd 1 Total 1
Bad Guys Daily Powers 0 Total 1
Bad Guys Crit 1 Total 1

Comment: The PCs, studiously avoiding the massive open pit trap, check out the rest of the Throne Room, in particular they go and wake the slumbering figure, at knife-point- which turns out to be a bad move. The slumbering figure is a bound and gagged twelve year old girl. Reena, wants her mum, she begins to scream and cry, pointing beyond the PCs.

At Arthuro, the Rogue from the Bazaar of the Bizarre- you remember (Encounter #3), he and his two friends climb in to the Beggar King's Throne Room-loyal to the last.

Stats; Two rounds of combat, and only 45 hit points for the bad guy (singular), are hardly worth commenting upon, let's skip to the next encounter, which should be along any second now...

[goonalan]

DCC53 Sellswords of Punjar
Encounter #9 Area 1-14 Arthuro, and friends, in the Court of the Beggar-King.

In truth the PCs are a whisker away from having enough XP to advance to Level 2, therefore I've added this encounter to take them the rest of the way- I need them to be Level 2 before they head below, into the Dungeon of the Beggar King. There's only four of them, without the extra level then they wouldn't stand a chance, particularly if what happened last time I played a group through this scenario happens again. You'll see.

The Good Guys...
Riardon Brightvale, Male Eladrin Ranger 1 (HP23)
Erais the Sunlord, Male Human Cleric of Amaunator 1 (HP24)
Kathra Dyk, Male Dwarf Fighter 1 (HP33)
Tira Duskmeadow, Female Half-Elf Warlock 1 (HP28)

The Bad Guys... 425XP Level 1 Encounter.
Human Tough Level 2 Brute [HT] (x2) (HP45)
Human Rogue, Arthuro the Fence Level 4 Skirmisher [Arthuro] (HP54)

Initiative 22 Arthuro 21 Riardon 15 Erais 13 Kathra 5 Tira & Human Toughs

Round 1.

Arthuro- Move. First Strike. Deft Strike Combat Advantage Riardon; Miss.

Damn! Not a good start.

Riardon- Quarry Arthuro. Careful Attack Arthuro; Crit 22 damage (32 HP). Move.

Damn! As above.

Erais- Move. Lance of Faith Arthuro; Hit 11 Radiant damage (21 HP bloodied) & Tira +2 To Hit.

Kathra- Move Tide of Iron HT1; Hit 11 damage (34 HP) & Pushed back 1 & Shift up. Marked.

Tira- Curse Arthuro. Witchfire Arthuro; Hit 22 Fire damage- DEAD & Misty Step- Teleport 3.

Arthuro didn't last long second time around.

HT1- Knockdown Kathra; Miss.

HT2- Move. Charge Erais; Crit 11 damage (13 HP).

Time to play 8 minutes including setting up minis and map.

End of Turn-

The Good Guys...
Riardon Brightvale, Male Eladrin Ranger 1 (HP23)
Erais the Sunlord, Male Human Cleric of Amaunator 1 (HP13/24)
Kathra Dyk, Male Dwarf Fighter 1 (HP33)
Tira Duskmeadow, Female Half-Elf Warlock 1 (HP28)

The Bad Guys... 425XP Level 1 Encounter.
Human Tough Level 2 Brute [HT] (x2) (HP34/45 & 45/45)
Human Rogue, Arthuro the Fence Level 4 Skirmisher [Arthuro] (HP54) DEAD.

Action Points 0 Total 0
Daily Powers 0 Total 0
Healing Surges 0 Total 0
2nd Winds 0 Total 0
Crits 1 Total 1
PCs Ko'd 0 Total 0
Bad Guys Daily Powers 0 Total 0
Bad Guys Crit 1 Total 1

Comment: One Crit each, but the bad guys are already without their leader.

[goonalan]

DCC53 Sellswords of Punjar
Encounter #9 Area 1-14 Arthuro, and friends, in the Court of the Beggar-King.

Round 2.

Arthuro- DEAD.

Riardon- Quarry HT2. Careful Attack Quarry HT2; Miss. Move.

Erais- Priest's Shield HT2; Miss.

Kathra- Tide of Iron HT1; Hit 14 damage (20 HP bloodied). Marked.

Tira- Curse HT1. Eldritch Blast Cursed HT1; Hit 14 damage (6 HP bloodied).

HT1- Move- Flee. Kathra AoO Combat Advantage HT1; Hit 7 damage- DEAD.

HT2- Fights on! Knockdown Erais; Miss.

Time to play 6 minutes.

End of Turn-

The Good Guys...
Riardon Brightvale, Male Eladrin Ranger 1 (HP23)
Erais the Sunlord, Male Human Cleric of Amaunator 1 (HP13/24)
Kathra Dyk, Male Dwarf Fighter 1 (HP33)
Tira Duskmeadow, Female Half-Elf Warlock 1 (HP28)

The Bad Guys... 425XP Level 1 Encounter.
Human Tough Level 2 Brute [HT] (x2) (HP45/45) 1 DEAD.
Human Rogue, Arthuro the Fence Level 4 Skirmisher [Arthuro] (HP54) DEAD.

Action Points 0 Total 0
Daily Powers 0 Total 0
Healing Surges 0 Total 0
2nd Winds 0 Total 0
Crits 0 Total 1
PCs Ko'd 0 Total 0
Bad Guys Daily Powers 0 Total 0
Bad Guys Crit 0 Total 1

Comment: More XP please, a nice easy encounter.... basically they need the XP and besides I'm going to 'muller' them when they head below- lap it up guys, it's going to get much worse.

[goonalan]

DCC53 Sellswords of Punjar
Encounter #9 Area 1-14 Arthuro, and friends, in the Court of the Beggar-King.

Round 3.

Arthuro- DEAD.

Riardon- Careful Attack Quarry HT2; Hit 12 damage (33 HP).

Erais- Priest's Shield HT2; Hit 6 damage (27 HP).

Kathra- Move. Charge Combat Advantage HT2; Miss.

Tira- Curse HT2. Eldritch Blast Cursed HT2; Miss.

Bloody hell with the misses.

HT1- DEAD.

HT2- And still he refuses to Surrender. Mace Erais; Miss.

Miss- that figures.

Time to play 5 minutes.

End of Turn-

The Good Guys...
Riardon Brightvale, Male Eladrin Ranger 1 (HP23)
Erais the Sunlord, Male Human Cleric of Amaunator 1 (HP13/24)
Kathra Dyk, Male Dwarf Fighter 1 (HP33)
Tira Duskmeadow, Female Half-Elf Warlock 1 (HP28)

The Bad Guys... 425XP Level 1 Encounter.
Human Tough Level 2 Brute [HT] (x2) (HP27/45) 1 DEAD.
Human Rogue, Arthuro the Fence Level 4 Skirmisher [Arthuro] (HP54) DEAD.

Action Points 0 Total 0
Daily Powers 0 Total 0
Healing Surges 0 Total 0
2nd Winds 0 Total 0
Crits 0 Total 1
PCs Ko'd 0 Total 0
Bad Guys Daily Powers 0 Total 0
Bad Guys Crit 0 Total 1

Comment: I just wanted the PCs to kill some stuff and feel good about themselves for a little while... It's not working out.