Dungeons & Drogans: Session XIII
Session XIII Summary
With Nick away, Dave agrees to control Coltaine.
Autumn dings to level 2 after XP is awarded.
The Drogans find a coin-filled chest, then take an extended rest in Balgron's bedchamber. They realize, six hours later, that they left Splug by himself in the dark closet.
The party progress beyond the secret door and finds a room that has been excavated. Here and there, remnants of the original floor stand like towers protruding from a 10-foot depression. Massed in one corner of the room are Balgron, the torture-room goblin, three other goblins, and two drakes.
A tactical battle breaks out, with the Drogans taking cover and exchanging hurled javelins with the goblins. Despite suffering some minor damage, the party is faring well.
After a few rounds, John falls asleep, and Dave takes control of Zacsarrd.
Coltaine, in an uncharacteristically merciless act, kills the torture room goblin.
Zacsarrd, at 11/27 HP, refuses to heal himself.
As round 7 begins, the goblins and drakes retreat onto a single platform.
Rekoj decides to press their advantage and engage the goblins in melee. Zacsarrd still refuses to heal himself.
On round 10, Rekoj climbs onto the platform and collapses under a hail of javelins and crossbow bolts.
Coltaine bolsters his allies, granting Zacsarrd and Autumn temporary HP. Dave forgets to give Zacsarrd the HP.
By round 12, the situation is dismal. After an onslaught of attacks, Zacsarrd stands at 1 HP, Autumn at 6, Coltaine at 14, and Rekoj can only fail one more death save. The tides of the battle changed over the course of a couple rounds with the simple act of closing to melee.
Zacsarrd prays for a Beacon of Hope, provoking an attack of opportunity. A drake lands a critical hit on Zacsarrd and bites completely through his leg, tearing it off at the knee. Zacsarrd collapses.
The gamers realize Zacsarrd is dead--that single blow outright killed him.
By round 13, Balgron offers the Drogans the chance to surrender--they grudgingly agree.
Session XIII - Part 1 Summary
With Nick still a week from returning, Dave agrees to control Coltaine.
The DM awards XP from the previous session's battle, and Autumn dings to level 2.
Session XIII - Part 2 Summary
The Drogans turn their attention to looting.
Autumn picks the lock on a chest filled with hundreds of gold pieces and a wand.
Session XIII - Part 3 Summary
The Drogans take an extended rest in Balgron's bedchamber and watch as the numerous lanterns wink out, one by one. Rekoj pulls out his torches.
The party realizes, six hours later, that it left Splug by himself in the closet, in the dark.
Rekoj heads over to check on Splug and finds him in a corner, curled up in a ball. The pathetic goblin hugs Rekoj's legs before the goliath brings Splug back to the other Drogans.
Session XIII - Part 4 Summary
The Drogans contemplate selling Splug as a slave as they make ready to head out.
Zacsarrd charges through the secret door and tumbles down a flight of stairs into darkness. As his companions approach, their torchlight reveals that the staircase leads to a dead end--but Zacsarrd spots another secret door in the dead-end wall.
The dragonborn, not having learned his lesson, charges through the second secret door and nearly rams into a wall as he finds himself in a 10-foot wide corridor. He spots a lantern and immediately moves to grab it. But as he nears the lantern, he sees a room that appears to be a disaster area. Here and there, remnants of the original floor stand like short towers protruding from a depression. Narrow wooden planks connect the patches of original floor, and a few goblins are massed in one corner of the room. Among them is Balgron and the torture-room goblin.
A goblin hurls a javelin at Zacsarrd, and other Drogans see it strike the far wall.
Autumn advances and is shocked by number of foes in the room.
Session XIII - Part 5 Summary
A goblin wearing a bandolier that holds three flasks grabs one and hurls it at Zacsarrd. The flask shatters on the dragonborn, producing a fiery explosion that engulfs Zacsarrd and Autumn for 1 damage.
Rekoj draws a javelin and advances, spotting the enemies: Balgron, the torture-room goblin, three goblins with bandoliers across their chest, and two of the dragonlike creatures they previously encountered the dragon burial site.
Coltaine advances with a javelin and hurls it at a drake, impaling it.
Zacsarrd tries to cross a plank to get from one island to another, but he falls and takes 5 damage.
Round 1 ends.
Session XIII - Part 6 Summary
Balgron fires his crossbow and nails Rekoj for 9 damage.
A bandoliered goblin hurls a flask at the goliath and burns him, Autumn, and Coltaine for 1 damage.
Another bandoliered goblin launches another flask at Rekoj, burning the goliath and Coltaine for 4 damage, and Autumn for 2 damage.
Autumn, down to 20/24 HP, moves down a ramp into the pit and approaches Zacsarrd.
The third bandoliered goblin tosses a flask and burns Rekoj and Coltaine for another 1 damage.
The warden and the warlord head down the ramp.
Session XIII - Part 7 Summary
Zacsarrd, at 21/27 HP, tries to hurl his lantern at Balgron, but it strikes a wall in a fiery explosion.
A bandoliered goblin hurls a flask at Zacsarrd and burns him for 4 damage.
Autumn shouts to her companions, for all the goblins to hear, "What's our plan of attack?" Rekoj wisely refuses to shout back his answer.
The closest bandoliered goblin throws his last flask at Zacsarrd and burns him down to 11/27 HP.
Rekoj, at 30/45 HP, sneaks closer to the goblins. Coltaine, at 24/30 HP, follows.
Session XIII - Part 8 Summary
Zacsarrd tries to grab a nearby ladder, but it falls on top of him.
Round 4 starts. Autumn approaches Rekoj and Coltaine, then the trio have a whispered chat about their plan of attack.
Autumn tries to sneak back toward Zacsarrd, but the goblins fire at her. Balgron nails Autumn in the ribs for 12 damage. A bandoliered goblin throws his last flask at Autumn, and though she dodges, she is still burned down to 5 HP. Another goblin launches a javelin and strikes her down to 1 HP.
Session XIII - Part 9 Summary
Rekoj hurls a javelin at the torture room goblin and impales him.
Coltaine mimics Rekoj and nails the same goblin with a javelin.
The players realize that John has fallen asleep. Not wishing to wake him, it is agreed that Dave will take control of Zacsarrd.
The dragonborn frees himself from the ladder and heals Autumn up to 11/24 HP.
Session XIII - Part 10 Summary
A bandoliered goblin misses Rekoj with a flask but still chars him down to 28/45 HP.
Autumn calls upon her second wind and heals.
Rekoj hurls a javelin at the torture room goblin and bloodies him.
Coltaine, in an uncharacteristically merciless act, impales the torture room goblin in the throat with a javelin, killing it.
Session XIII - Part 11 Summary
A bandoliered goblin bombards the ground at Rekoj's feet and burns him down to 27/45 HP.
Balgron whistles a sharp, single note. The dragonlike creatures scuttle their way over the plank and onto Balgron's platform.
Rekoj impales the bandoliered goblin with another javelin, and once again, Coltaine follows suit and bloodies the goblin.
Session
XIII - Part 12 Summary
Zacsarrd, still at 11/27 HP, refuses to heal himself.
Round 7 begins.
The goblins and drakes fall back, retreating away from the edges of their platform, out of sight of the Drogans who stand ten feet below.
Rekoj, deciding it's time to engage the goblins in melee, tries to grab a ladder, but gets a splinter and recoils, leaving the ladder in place.
Round 8 begins.
Autumn rejoins Rekoj and Coltaine.
Session XIII - Part 13 Summary
Rekoj, with Coltaine's aid, grabs hold of a ladder and, in the hopes of intimidating the goblins, uses it to knock down the wooden plank that serves as a bridge between the goblins' platform and the others, severing the connection and Balgron's means of escape.
Rekoj and Zacsarrd then plant their ladders on the goblins' platform, and the Drogans make ready to storm up.
Session
XIII - Part 14 Summary
Zacsarrd still refuses to heal himself and simply moves behind Rekoj, ready to head up the ladder.
Round 10 begins.
Rekoj climbs up the ladder and comes face to face with his enemies, who were lying in wait. All six creatures on the platform attack him.
The first drake tears into Rekoj's calf, snapping bone and dropping him to 8 HP.
A bandoliered goblin hurls a javelin at Rekoj and impales him down to 1 HP.
Balgron takes aim and pegs Rekoj in the chest. The goliath collapses.
Coltaine climbs onto the platform to find Rekoj lying prone. He slashes into the wounded drake with his halberd and bloodies it.
Session
XIII - Part 15 Summary
Coltaine calls upon his Bastion of Defense to bolster his allies, granting Zacsarrd and Autumn 9 temporary HP. Dave says "whatever" and forgets to give Zacsarrd the HP. Coltaine uses his action point and slashes into the drake again.
Zacsarrd climbs the ladder and stands above Rekoj's body, then calls upon his second wind to bring himself back to 17/27 HP.
Round 11 starts.
Coltaine dodges a series of javelins and crossbow bolts, but he cannot dodge the drake that bites into his thigh, tearing him down to 7/30 HP.
Rekoj fails his first death save.
Coltaine calls upon his second wind and is restored to14/30 HP.
Session
XIII - Part 16 Summary
Round 12 begins.
Autumn climbs up onto the platform and impales the wounded drake with both her katars, leaving the creature on the brink of death.
Zacsarrd dodges a javelin, then a bolt, but a drake tears into his calf, nearly breaking the bone and dropping him to 1 HP.
A javelin impales Autumn in the thigh for 7 damage. To make matters worse, while she's distracted by the javelin in her thigh, the drake bites her for 13 damage.
The situation is dismal. Zacsarrd stands at 1 HP, Autumn at 6, Coltaine at 14, and Rekoj can only fail two more death saves.
Rekoj fails his second death save.
Just a couple rounds ago, this battle was going superbly--the Drogans kept their distance and made tactical strikes on the goblins. Yet all along, they wanted to close into melee, but that was clearly the wrong idea.
Zacsarrd, at 1 HP, swings his scythe in a
flourish and pikes it through the wounded drake's head, killing it.
Session
XIII - Part 17 Summary
Zacsarrd uses an action point, and thanks to Coltaine's Inspiring Presence, is bolstered to 5 HP. Then the cleric prays for a Beacon of Hope, provoking an attack of opportunity. The drake lands a critical hit on Zacsarrd and bites completely through his leg, tearing it off at the knee. Zacsarrd collapses under the massive 19 points of damage.
A moment of mixed shock, hilarity, and despair ensues as the gamers realize Zacsarrd is dead--that single blow outright killed him by reducing him to his bloodied HP value expressed as a negative number. The dragonborn's body tumbles backwards off the platform with a sickening crack.
Round 12 ends.
The Drogans decide it's too late to fall back. As Stephen mentions the 9 temp HP that Autumn has from Coltaine's Bastion of Defense, Dave realizes he forgot to give Zacsarrd the 9 temp HP. And everyone realizes that those 9 HP would have saved Zacsarrd.
Autumn decides to attack, despite the fact that there are five enemies and only two Drogans remaining. Stephen convinces Dave to make the party go down in a blaze of glory.
Balgron aims his crossbow at Coltaine and says, "Surrender now and you'll be spared. If you don't lay down your weapons, you'll be killed." He whistles, and the remaining drake backs off. The other goblins stop attacking, but are poised to strike.
Balgron allows Coltaine to tend to Rekoj, and the warlord stabilizes the goliath.
Dave urges Stephen to keep fighting. Stephen debates what's worse: capture or death? He decides to surrender.
The session ends.
