Fight Notes

So, I almost didn't get a post up this week, after a wasted weekend and then meetings out of town mid-week. But it was important for me to get something up, and I'm feeling very satisfied that I did.

And I even ran a combat simulation to inform the writing!

Some notes: I used the same d20 to roll for all characters and "monsters," and I was rolling really high. I'm not sure this had a huge impact, given the way the fight went--most of the attacks would have hit even if I wasn't rolling 17s all the time.

Still, I was surprised, again, by this two-round knockout. The baddies added up to 1150xp, which is above my target of 1050xp for a hard encounter for a second level party. I figured it would be okay to add that seventh ninja, because the characters had a tactical advantage. I think I needed to fully double the number of monsters before it would have forced the characters in this party to break a sweat--one, so there would be enough guys to survive the first round, and two, so they could keep the party pinned with ready actions as they try to bust through a wall to facilitate a pincher-maneuver.

My friend Rich has learned with his group to massively overwhelm his players with level-approriate monsters. 4th ed is so generous to players, I think he's right.

Anyway, my fight notes:

         A.        Crew:

                 1.       Elf Rogue: Lurker 4, Rogue

                        a.        Loot: Amulet of Health +1 (L3), 2 potions of healing (actually 1, cuz drank 1 in combat), gold ring set with pearl (250gp), 20gp.

                        b.        Xp: 350

                 2.       Elf Archer: Artillery 4

                        a.        Loot: Bracers of the Perfect Shot (L3), 2 potions, 20gp.

                        b.        Xp: 175

                 3.       Elf Ninjas: 5 Skirmisher 2s

                        a.        Loot: healing potion, 20gp.

                        b.        Xp: 125 each

         B.        FIGHT!

                 1.       Round 1: (initiative determined by circumstances)

                        a.        Previously, all players set up with ready actions as follows:

                                    i       Mairrethid: Force Burst on whoever opens the door.

                               ii       Mez: Sly Flourish (dagger) on closest enemy he can see.

                          iii       Fisk: Vampiric Embrace on closest enemy he can see.

                               iv       Schlobrock: Righteous-brand on first enemy in melee range; if successful, attack bonus goes to Gherota.

                                    v       Gherota: Reaping Strike at first target in melee range

                        b.        N2: Opens Door, interrupted by readied actions.

                                    i       Mairrethid: Force Orb against N2 hits (attack 24 vs Ref 16, damage 18, N2 hp 14 bloodied). Secondary attacks against N1 hits (attack 24 vs Ref 16, damage 12, N1 hp 20), ER hits (attack crit, damage 15, ER hp 28), EA hits (attack 22 vs Ref 18, damage 12, EA hp 26), N5 hits (attack 22 vs Ref 16 damage 12, N1 hp 20), N3 hits (attack 18 vs Ref 16 damage 12, N1 hp 20). 71 hp of damage, total, to 6 targets.

                               ii       Fisk: Curse on N2; Vampiric Embrace against N2 (attack 15 vs Will 14, damage 18 +5 curse, Fisk thp 9, EA hp -7 dying).

                          iii       Mez: Sly Flourish against ER (attack 27 vs Ac 18, damage 12, ER hp 26).

                        c.        EA: Longbow against Gherota hits (attack 23 vs Ac 20, damage 10, G hp 22).

                        d.        ER: Deft Strike against Gherota--move interrupted by readied actions of Schlobrock (attack 26 vs Ac 20, damage 11, ER hp 15 bloodied) and Gherota (attack crit, damage 14, ER hp 1 bloodied)--continued (attack 22 vs Ac 20, damage 12, Ma hp 10 bloodied); move action shifts back out of room; drink healing potion (heal 10, ER hp 11 bloodied).

                        e.        N1: Chain and Sickle against Gherota hits (chain 24 vs Ac 20, damage 4 & grabbed, G hp 6 bloodied; sickle 13 vs Ac 20, miss).

                        f.        N2: dying.

                        g.        N3: Move into room, movement interrupted by opportunity attacks--Gherota miss (attack fail), Schlob hits (attack 19 vs Ac 16, damage 10, N3 hp 10 bloodied), Mez miss (attack 15 vs Ac 16)--then Chain and Sickle against Gherota (chain 26 vs Ac 20, damage 5, G hp 1 bloodied; sickle 25 vs Ac 20, damage 7, G hp -6 unconscious).

                        h.        N4: Move into room, Chain and Sickle against Mez (chain 12 vs Ac 19, miss; sickle 24 vs 19, damage 4, Mz hp 24).

                        i.        N5: Move forward, Sickle against Schlob miss (attack 15 vs Ac 17 +cover).

                 2.       Round 2

                        a.        Mairrethid: Flaming Sphere in ER’s square, misses ER (attack 10 vs Ref 18). Action Point Scorching Burst in ER’s square (ER: attack 26 vs Ref 18, damage 7, ER hp 4 bloodied) (EA: attack 23 vs Ref 16, damage 7, EA hp 19 bloodied) (N1: attack 21 vs Ref 16, damage 7, N1 hp 13 bloodied) (N3: attack 26 vs Ref 16 +cover, damage 7, N3 hp 3 bloodied) (N4: attack 26 vs Ref 16 +cover, miss) (N5: attack 17 vs Ref 16, damage 7, N5 hp 13 bloodied).

                        b.        Fisk: Delays action.

                        c.        Gherota: makes Death Save (roll 10), delays turn.

                        d.        Schlobrock: Healing Word on Gherota (heal 8+5, G hp 7), Righteous Brand vs N1 (attack 17 vs Ac 16, damage 14 and attack bonus given to Mez vs N1, N1 hp 6 bloodied).

                        e.        Gherota: Cleave against N4 (attack 17 vs Ac 16, damage 12 and cleave 5 to N3, N3 hp -2 dying, N4 hp 8 bloodied).

                        f.        Mez: Sly Flourish vs N1 (attack 23 +5 brand vs Ac 16, damage 15, N1 hp -9 dying).

                        g.        Fisk: Warlock’s Curse on ER, Flames of Phlegartharos against ER (attack crit, 35 damage, F thp 11, ER hp -29 dead).

                        h.        Morale checks, triggered by losing 50% of force and by leader’s collapse. This is an old school Wisdom check (roll Wisdom score or less to pass check), with success resulting in retreat (because these characters aren’t fantatics and they will lose). Factors: +2 bloodied, +2 leader down. Rolls: EA succeeds (roll 23 vs Wis 15), E4 fails (roll 13 vs Wis 15), E5 fails (roll 16 vs Wis 15). Yes, I am house-ruling, and yes, I'm still experimenting with it. All modifiers are ad hoc circumstance bonuses that just happen to make sense. Players can always argue for or against these.

                        i.        EA: Burned by Flaming Sphere (damage 5, EA hp 14 bloodied). Double move, running, to get 18 squares, clear out of the bathhouse and off the map.

                        j.        N4: Burned by Flaming Sphere (damage 5, N4 hp 3 bloodied). Chain and Sickle against Gherota (chain 10 vs Ac 20, miss; sickle 24 vs Ac 20, damage 6, G hp 5).

                        k.        N5: Burned by Flaming Sphere (damage 5, N5 hp 8 bloodied). Double move, running, to get 18 squares, clear out of the bathhouse and off the map.

                 3.       Round 3:

                        a.        Mairrethid: Cancels Flaming Sphere, Readies Magic Missile in case N4 moves or attacks.

                        b.        Schlobrock: Healing word on Gherota (heal 14, G hp 19), Moves to block N4’s exit, Readies Righteous Brand in case N4 moves or attacks.

                        c.        Gherota: Intimidate check against N4 to force surrender (check 17 vs Will 14, success; note that no bonus for N4 being Unfriendly or Hostile because N4 is a disinterested mercenary, also not a psycho with a death wish, also offended that his surviving allies ditched him).

                 4.       Note: None of the wounded (N1, N2 and N3) could have failed three death saves in this time, so I don’t need to roll them. Schlob and Gherota apply first aid, with Healing checks:

                        a.        Gherota stabilizes N1 (roll 15 vs DC 15)

                        b.        Schlobrock stabilizes N2 (roll 25)

                        c.        Gherota stabilizes N3 (crit)