Battle Journal of Kain Gaa'zaith - Spider Ambush

Since my last entry the cadre has had another opportunity to enter battle. This combat more closely resembled the kind of encounter the battle plan was developed for, with some minor exceptions. It was a medium range engagement, but the humanoids possessed some strange abilities and were augmented with bestial companions.

Tactical Analysis - Spider Ambush on the Road

Description
As we approached a deep ravine near the side of the road, three spider-people emerged with two scorpions and a large spider and attacked.

The cadre reacted swiftly, forming a front line while slinging dazing magic at one of the spider-people so Hobb could deal a devastating strike with his throwing dagger. I readied my spear to strike a charging scorpion, but missed and it grabbed the cleric. The spider sailed past the front line with a prodigious leap to attack the wizard.

With the cleric in imminent danger, we focused all attacks on the scorpion and killed it swiftly. Hobb managed to get the spider away from the wizard, but it leapt again and landed on the warlock, knocking him to the ground and biting him fiercely. Meanwhile, the second scorpion raced forward to grab the cleric. I'm not sure why these beasts found him to be such a tempting target. Two of the spider-people surrounded Hobb and dealt him vicious blows with their axes.

Hobb slid clear and shoved one of his foes away from us with a tricky maneuver. The wizard blasted the scorpion off the cleric and hurled it into the cluster of spider-people, then unleashed a larger blast that caught them all in its flashing colors. While they stood dazed, Marun and the cleric broke off to rush to the warlock's aid and killed the troublesome spider. The remaining dazed and wounded hostiles were then easily dealt with.

Analysis
The scorpions were worrisome, but the cadre performed admirably by destroying them before they could inflict serious harm on Calibraxis. The spider was far more troublesome. Its mobility allowed it to strike isolated members of the cadre almost at will until Marun shut it down with her martial skills. In fact, the spider's abilities seemed to play directly into the warlock's weaknesses, allowing it to cause him serious grief. Adincari likes to stay clear of the melee fighting, but that made it difficult to get him aid when the spider leaped upon him.

The spider-people, aside from the two lucky strikes on Hobb, are almost not worth dignifying with a comment, so I will not comment on them.

Addendum
My research into the walking dead continues. They are apparently very vulnerable to damage from bright radiance such as that often called down by divine casters such as the cleric. I hope Calibraxis is up to the challenge.

Battle Journal of Kain Gaa'zaith - The River Town

Since my last entry the cadre has had two more opportunities to enter battle. These were markedly different kinds of encounters than those for which the battle plan was developed, though some elements of the plan were still of use.

Tactical Analysis - Kobolds and Gnomes in the River Town

Differences
As we approached the riverside town which is unnamed on our map, we spotted a group of gnomes and kobolds standing in a large ruined building arguing. Another group was at the river's edge harassing a ferry with slung stones. The arguing group spotted us and they all attacked. Tactically, the balance of foes between melee and ranged combatants was inverted compared to the groups the battle plan was designed for. Instead of multiple melee fighters supported by a small number of spellcasters and/or archers, we faced a single shortsword-wielding kobold, two guard lizards, three kobold slingers, a kobold priest, three gnome crossbowmen, and a gnome spellcaster.

Outcome
The multiple ranged attackers were able to target different cadre members almost at will. At one point Hobb was dazed and unable to easily focus his attacks for maximum effect while Calibraxis was glued to the ground out of reach of any enemies, thus rendering a third of the cadre almost completely ineffective. The warlock and wizard, as our ranged attackers, took up some of the slack by focusing their most devastating attacks on the enemy spellcasters. Marun and I focused on taking down the dangerous guard lizards as quickly as possible. Once the lizards were killed we focused as a group on each of the other attackers, working from the most dangerous (the gnome spellcaster) to the least (the gnome crossbowmen).

Analysis
The cadre is definitely weaker at long range than in melee. More thought will be required to find a solution (or to even determine whether it is truly a problem, as the group acquitted itself admirably).

Tactical Analysis - Wolf Hunt

The villagers on the ferry were grateful that we dispatched the kobold raiders, and expressed the same surprise we had that the gnomes were working with them. They also provided another opportunity to test the cadre as it turned out that in addition to kobold raiders they were having problems with a small pack of marauding wolves.

Engagement
We tracked the wolves back to a cave den in a hillside. Adincari crept ahead to scout and climbed part way up the hill to peer into one of the cave entrances. The next thing we heard was a chorus of howling and snarling as four wolves emerged and tried to climb up to him.

Outcome
Adincari's position on the hillside was fortuitous, giving him the option of targeting any of the wolves through most of the battle. The rest of the cadre formed a solid line around the cave mouth, even leaving small holes where the wizard could reach through and blast multiple targets. Other than a worrisome moment where two wolves surrounded Marun and tripped her to the ground, the pack posed little threat to the cadre.

Addendum
The villagers also mentioned that Weaversburg, our destination, is reportedly overrun with zombies. The walking dead will require a whole new battle plan if we are to deal with them. I may need to consult the writings of the great gith avenger Bru'us Kam'bl.

Battle Journal of Kain Gaa'zaith - Tactical Field Test

Since my last entry the cadre has had two opportunities to enter battle. While neither battle was exactly the kind of encounter for which the battle plan was developed, it proved invaluable for allowing a quick and orderly response to these similar attacks.

Tactical Analysis - Kobolds Attack the Town of Risus

Differences
Instead of a medium range engagement in the open, a squad of kobolds invaded the town we stopped in as we were preparing to depart. We were left alone in the streets as the townspeople fled indoors. The kobolds came at us from two directions around a large building.

Outcome
The two fronts made it impossible for Marun and V to use the blast and withdraw maneuver, as they spent most of the battle at opposite ends of the street. The careful usage of clever maneuvers and dazing spells, however, was hugely successful in providing a vulnerable target for the rogue every time he threw his dagger. The warlock got up on a roof and concentrated his fire on a slinger no one else could reach, quickly bringing it down.

Tactical Analysis - Kobold/Gnome Ambush

The kobolds, who seem somehow able to stay two steps ahead of us at all times, laid an ambush along our route using a disabled wagon and disguised gnome spellcaster as bait.

Differences
This engagement was closer to the sort for which the battle plan was drawn, though the nature of the ambush (with the kobold melee fighters hidden in the wagon) meant that we started at close range instead of medium.

Outcome
Again, the cadre was successful in providing Hobb with suitable targets and less so at forming a coherent front line. The battle shifted around somewhat chaotically due to the interference of the spellcaster and the late discovery of her crossbow-wielding ally hiding in the trees. The warlock was again effective at targeting a ranged attacker no one else could reach. That could easily become his standard role.

Battle Journal of Kain Gaa'zaith - Tactics

It has become too cumbersome to direct the cadre's various capabilities in an ad hoc manner. I will instead endeavor to draft a coherent battle plan based on our recent encounters.

Tactical Analysis - Recent Observations

Close Blast
I have written of the wizard's problematic close range blast spell before. In recent battles an improvised tactic of leaving a small gap in the front line through which he can project the blasts was working well. I shall endeavor to formalize this.

Hobb
Different cadre members possess the means to leave enemies dazed or otherwise vulnerable to Hobb's precision attacks. It has become tricky to coordinate these so as to take maximum advantage of the rogue's devastating strikes. I shall lay out a plan for alternating these dazing attacks with Hobb's strikes.

Tactical Analysis - Battle Plan

The following is intended to serve as a general purpose battle plan for the types of battles we have engaged in recently (medium-range engagements with hostile humanoids).

Initial goal
Form a front line with a small gap for the wizard. Enable Hobb and Adincari to strike hard from range.
Specifics: Marun, Calibraxis and I form a front line with Marun in the center, striking as the opportunity presents itself (including dragon breath if the enemy is clustered). The wizard opens with his frigid energy blast on the most dangerous-looking target and the others attack it while it is vulnerable.

Second goal
Hold the line while the wizard blasts and withdraws. Continue to provide a vulnerable foe for Hobb and Adincari.
Specifics: Calibraxis brands a target I can reach and looks for an opportunity to use dragon breath if he hasn't already. I use a calculated blow to expose that enemy to Adincari. Adincari lights up the target with dark and white flame, then Hobb strikes. Finally, the wizard moves into a gap and blasts. Marun covers his retreat. Calibraxis follows up with a thunderclap and the strikers attack that target. The wizard and Marun repeat the blast and withdraw maneuver.

Third goal
Once all our tricks for making opponents vulnerable are exhausted, get Hobb into an advantageous position.
Specifics: Calibraxis continues to brand every round to set up Marun. Marun continues to strike with my support, making sure to keep the enemy distracted. I fly Hobb behind the enemy line. V drops back and switches to his cloud of daggers spell. Adincari continues to blast. Hobb takes advantage of his position to deal damage while Marun keeps the enemy from attacking him.

Field Notes of V - The Interrogation

The interrogation of the kobold we captured might have raised more questions than it answered. We still do not know the identity of this Marishra, though we now have suspicions that she is a dragon of some sort. The kobold evidently worships her blindly, even becoming offended at our interrogator's speaking of the name.

The band that attacked us was dispatched to acquire some item they believe we possess, but were not even granted a description. They were simply to retrieve all of our possessions, a grossly inefficient means of procurement.

He also appeared to know something about the scorched altar, but Hobb was unable to extract any specifics. He denied that Marishra herself destroyed the altar, but it was obvious to me that he knew more than he was revealing.

Hobb crafted a clever lie about our group proceeding to the southern city of Palda, the one place we were certain we had no intention of going. Then we let him go. Adincari followed him discreetly to gather further information. The drow returned hours later and reported that the prisoner met with another group and passed on Hobb's misinformation. We now continue our journey to Weaversburg, hopefully in peace.

Battle Journal of Kain Gaa'zaith - More Kobolds

Campaign Day 5

After a few days of rest and re-equipping, the cadre moved out of the village of Darak. Guided by the wizard's map, we struck out for Weaversburg. It was expected to be a simple two or three day journey. However, at midday on the first day we were ambushed by a gang of kobolds.

We defeated the group quite thoroughly, aided by some inspired sniping by Hobb and a well-placed burst of dragon breath from Calibraxis. Some members of the cadre were visibly tiring, but they had acquitted themselves well. Calibraxis was trading insults with the last of the slippery vermin in draconic when a second group rushed onto the field. This second group brought a large drake. Fearing its deadly bite, we focused our efforts on bringing the drake down first. Calibraxis, apparently overconfident after his performance in the first half of the battle, overextended himself and was laid low by a heavily-armored kobold.

Fortunately one of the purchases we made in Darak was a healing potion. As I moved to administer it to the dragonborn, the rest of the cadre drew the attackers away from us. In the time it took me to get Calibraxis back on his feet Marun and the others had defeated most of our remaining foes. Adincari and Hobb chased the last two down like dogs as they attempted to flee. The battle finally ended, Calibraxis informed us that the last kobold of the first group said that the tribe of Marishra would hunt us down.

It would not do for my cadre to be hunted, especially by such lowly creatures, so I determined to turn the tables on this tribe. We followed the tracks of the second group to see where they had come from. Curiously, it appeared that they had come from the direction of Darak. Hobb suggested that if we encountered any more kobolds we should attempt to take a prisoner for interrogation. Shortly thereafter we were met on the trail by more of the armored creatures, this time with wolves and a drake. Adincari became separated from the group and surrounded by the wolves, but he kept calm and soon defeated them with assistance from Hobb. The battle was long and frustrating, and the cadre was not operating as smoothly as before. I must find a way to keep them sharp during an extended campaign.

In the end we captured the last kobold alive. My offer of surrender was refused, but the warlock cut him down as he tried to flee and Marun's healing expertise kept him alive. Hobb and Calibraxis are attempting a full interrogation as I write this. I wish to know who sent these kobolds after us, but I suspect none of us will like the answer. I also wish to know who this Marishra is, and I suspect we won't like that answer either.

The Stony Black Heart of the Fetid Swamp, Part 2

After defeating the gnolls at the crossroads, the girls camped and got a good night's rest. The next day passed uneventfully and around nightfall they came to a farmhouse by the side of the road. They decided to stop and ask for a place to stay the night and were greeted warmly by a halfling farmer and his wife. I think I named her Maude right off the top of my head and was horrified when I heard myself call him Harold. I think that movie scarred me and I haven't even seen it in years.

Anyway, the paladin sensed unease in the couple and over dinner the party found out that their crops had been ravaged by some unknown creature that came in the night. The girls offered to stand sentry duty over the last remaining plants overnight. The elves kept watch from up in some trees while the others slept on the ground beneath. Sure enough, two large bugs with three mouths appeared in the middle of the night and tried to eat more of the farmer's crops. The eladrin woke everyone, the wizard threw a scorching burst at them, and the fight was on.

2 trimandibular praying mantelopes (level 3 brute, 300 xp)
2 saeggan dreamcasters (level 3 controller, 300 xp)
3 saeggan genesi (level 1 soldier, 300 xp)
Map: Farmhouse, road and some fields built using D&D Dungeon Tiles IV: Ruins of the Wild
You might notice that this is simply the sample encounter group from my trimandibular praying mantelope writeup.

As the fight started, the saeggans were using their vanish abilities to stay invisible. That didn't stop the wizard's area spells from charring them a bit anyway. The monsters' high fly speed let them close quickly and the mantelopes started biting the wizard while the dreamcasters tried to daze everyone with whispers of dreams and bite at the wizard to give the mantelopes extra attacks with their combined attack. The eladrin resisted the effects of the whispers and managed to make out the phrase "the stony black heart of the fetid swamp" in the babbling. The three genesi all flew at the ranger, who was still up in a tree.

The warlord managed to extricate the wizard with a steel monsoon attack, then she and the paladin concentrated on keeping the mantelopes and dreamcasters busy while the wizard blasted away. Up in the tree, the ranger and the three genesi were having no luck hitting each other. Both the warlord and the paladin were rolling way better on their attacks than usual and the wizard managed to set both mantelopes and a dreamcaster on fire with a fire shroud, so the fight on the ground was wrapped up in short order. Once that was finished, the wizard quickly eliminated the genesi with a couple of scorching bursts (one of which also hit the ranger, but she's getting used to that).

Analysis:
The saeggan dreamcaster's ability to daze everybody isn't all that useful because none of their allies can really take advantage of it. I should probably add a level 2 skirmisher build to the saeggan writeup that gets extra damage when it has combat advantage against the target.

The Stony Black Heart of the Fetid Swamp, Part 1

When we last saw our intrepid band, they had just awakened by the side of the road in town, near the library. Their friend the head librarian was shaking them and asking if they were all right. Mungo Sandybanks was looking on with concern. The girls quickly determined that neither they, the librarian, nor Mungo knew how they had gotten there. Once the girls filled the librarian in on what had happened, he guessed that the tiny glowing pixies had taken them from the forest back to town.

After a couple days of rest, the librarian informed them that another shard had been located. He and Mungo directed them toward a swamp three days' hike from town. Near the end of the first day's travel they came to a small abandoned-looking structure next to a crossroads. They heard a cackling laugh which the ranger identified as a hyena. She then proceeded to rattle off the complete lore entries from the Monster Manual on both hyenas and gnolls thanks to some ridiculous Nature checks. After she noted that "gnolls often decorate their armor and encampments with the bones of their victims", the paladin noted some crude decorations made of bones near the structure.

2 gnoll claw fighters (level 6 skirmisher, 500 xp)
2 gnoll marauders (level 6 brute, 500 xp)
2 hyenas (level 2 skirmisher, 250 xp)
Map: The Crossroads from the D&D Miniatures Starter Set

Having spotted the signs that the gnolls were about, the girls tried to go around one of the big boulder piles to get the drop on the structure. However, the gnolls had already had the same idea and the paladin wound up startling one of the claw fighters who was lying in wait behind the rocks. The gnolls won initiative - as the claw fighter swung at the paladin and moved away, one of the marauders came out from behind the other rocks and the rest of the monsters came out of the structure. Somehow they managed to cluster themselves perfectly to all eat a fireball from the wizard.

For a couple of rounds the paladin and the warlord formed the front line, holding off about half the enemies each while the ranger took opportunistic stabs and the wizard blasted away with fire shroud and scorching bursts from the rear. Then as the warlord got too damaged some slick shifting allowed her to swap places with the ranger. The ranger bit off a bit more than she could chew, even going down at one point, but a stand the fallen followed by an inspiring word from the warlord got her up and she took out two gnolls and a hyena with a massively well-rolled dire wolverine strike. After that, the rest was just cleanup.

Analysis:
I kept trying to single someone out for the gnolls' pack tactics, but the girls stayed tightly clustered near the rocks and kept shifting around whenever anyone (except the paladin) got too many enemies on them. The paladin I just couldn't hit reliably due to her AC. Still, since this was a level+2 fight for four 5th-level characters it was pretty tough.

Into the Demonweb Forest, Part 8

As mentioned last time, the girls had arrived at the great tree - the adventure hook I gave them almost four real-time months ago, and I was using the Caves of Chaos battle map to represent it. They defeated my home grown narleth conversion and headed into the tree itself. As they approached they saw a soft glow coming from inside and heard the growling of large felines.

2 displacer beasts (level 9 skirmisher, 800 xp)
2 fey panthers (level 4 skirmisher, 350 xp)
Map: The outdoor 1/2 of Caves of Chaos from Fantastic Locations: The Frostfell Rift

This was the big character-level+3 climactic encounter for the Demonweb Forest (I built the encounters in the forest straight off the table on page 104 of the DMG). Unfortunately for the girls, they had already blown through most of their daily powers on the narleth or the ettercaps. Fortunately for them, my choice of map didn't give my group of skirmishers any room to move at all. The party stood in the entrance of the "cave" and slugged it out toe to toe with the four big cats for what I think felt like an eternity to everyone. They focused on the panthers first while the wizard's repeated scorching bursts damaged the displacer beasts, then ganged up on one beast at a time until they fell.

Analysis:
For a fight with four skirmishers, this was way too static. I really should have considered the map more carefully. It's probably best I hadn't, though, because everyone was pretty tapped when the fight started and all four party members were bloodied by the time it was over anyway.

After defeating the big fey cats, the girls noticed a small glowing face watching them from deeper inside the tree, in the area from which the soft glow was emanating. When the warlord called out to it, it flew up, revealing that it was attached to a small glowing pixie. After a few more encouraging words from the eladrin, the pixie and a couple dozen of its friends emerged to flit and dance around the group.

The ranger asked the first one where she should take the shards they came to destroy and got a quizzical look. Then she pulled out a shard to show them and all the dancing stopped. The two dozen pixies lined up in two rows and pointed in unison toward the glowing area they had come from. As the ranger carried the shards toward that cave, more pixies flew out and fled out of the tree, followed closely by the two dozen dancers.

When the shards were dropped in the middle of the glowing cave, all hell broke loose. The ground shook, the tree shuddered, and black dust rose from everywhere. The girls fled as fast as they could, escaping just in time to see the tree sink twenty feet straight down with a thunderous crash. The great gout of black dust stirred up by the cataclysm swirled around them, choking them until they lost consciousness.

They awoke back in town, lying on the side of the road they had followed out of town days before. Their friend the head librarian was shaking them awake as Mungo Sandybanks looked on with a concerned look on his face...

Into the Demonweb Forest, Part 7

At long last, the girls arrived at the great tree - the adventure hook I gave them almost four real-time months ago. I used the Caves of Chaos battle map to represent it - the walls of the caves stood in nicely for the overgrown roots of a monstrous tree. I had one more encounter planned as they approached, using another of my own converted spider monsters.

1 narleth webspitter (level 6 elite brute, 500 xp)
1 deathjump spider (level 4 skirmisher, 175 xp)
3 crab spiders (level 4 minion, 130 xp)
Map: The outdoor 1/2 of Caves of Chaos from Fantastic Locations: The Frostfell Rift

The ranger spotted the crab spiders, but not the narleth or the deathjump spider. She shot one in the surprise round, won initiative, and shot the other two. So much for the minions. The deathjump spider leaped out at the paladin and the warlord moved to engage it as well.

I've been looking forward to trying out the narleth for a long time, so it was unfortunate that I opened with a tactical blunder when it jumped out of the trees. It came up from behind and attacked the ranger, but neglected to use its minor action to spit webs on her. I just noticed in my writeup that I have the powers in the wrong order with spit web at the bottom (it should be above the burst effects). That might have contributed to me missing it. The narleth did a pretty good job of beating on the ranger, but she did an even better job of beating on it with lots of fire support (literally) from the wizard's flaming sphere. Since only the ranger was within its reach it never used blade frenzy before getting bloodied, and then when it got bloodied she was the only one affected by its bloodied frenzy.

Analysis:
The fight was pretty challenging, but I think it would have been better if the narleth could have webbed the ranger and then either brutalized her or bypassed her and attacked the wizard. At some point I should go back and rearrange the powers on the narleth stat block.

Into the Demonweb Forest, Part 6

Wow, has it really been a month and a half since I last met with the girls and their characters who continue to press through the spider-filled forest? I guess so.

Yesterday we managed to get started with the game at around 2 PM instead of our usual 4 or 5, so I was hopeful we could complete the trek I planned out months ago and finally do something else. I knew there were four encounters I wanted to get through. I was tempted to jettison the first two to make sure we finished, but going from their extended rest directly to "and now you stand nearly at the base of the great tree" seemed really weak. So we opened with an ambush by ettercaps. It wasn't much of an ambush thanks to the ranger's ridiculous perception modifier, so it quickly devolved into a pretty straight fight.

2 ettercap fang guards (level 4 soldier, 350 xp)
2 deathjump spiders (level 4 skirmisher, 350 xp)
Map: Custom forest map described here.

The girls won initiative, and the paladin charged the nearest ettercap while the rest of the party concentrated on the spiders. This turned out to be the best tactic they could have chosen, since the ettercaps' plan was to web up one isolated party member and carry her off. Both ettercaps focused on the dwarf, but discovered that tying down and then carrying off a dwarf paladin is no easy task (especially when she makes her saves against their webbing every single round). Meanwhile the rest of the party took out the spiders while taking minimal damage. Once that was taken care of they made short work of the fang guards.

I went ahead and sprung the second encounter on them immediately. The rest of the ettercaps from the nearby lair (I had a map picked out and everything for the rescue mission that would be mounted when they succeeded in absconding with a party member) showed up to investigate the sounds of battle.

1 ettercap webspinner (level 5 controller, 200 xp)
2 ettercap fang guards (level 4 soldier, 350 xp)
1 deathjump spider (level 4 skirmisher, 175 xp)
Map: Same.

This time the webspinner managed to web up the ranger, and he and one of the fang guards started to drag her away. The rest of the party panicked and charged after them. The ranger managed to get free of the webs, but was badly hurt. Just as things looked grimmest the webspinner decided to risk the opportunity attacks from the ranger and paladin (who NEVER hits with her basic attack) to try and re-web the ranger so the fang guard could run off with her. Two opportunity attacks, two hits, and near-max-damage later the webspinner was dead as a doornail. After that the fight was pretty well over.

Analysis:
I thought this was a really tense, exciting fight. When it became clear that the ettercaps were trying to drag one party member away, leaving the rest floundering in web-covered terrain, it got pretty intense. Having the whole thing turn around on two lucky opportunity attacks was actually a nice heroic moment. It's not like I intended to throw the fight or anything with that move - I really thought the webspinner was perfectly safe.

Field Notes of V - The Crystals

Further exploration has uncovered additional strange details. In addition to the base humanoids, another unexpected feature of the dungeon was its overall architecture as a large edifice located within a huge natural cavern. We emerged on two occasions into what can only be described as underground courtyards. Each one contained a well and seven dead oak trees. Hob scampered over the rooftops but accomplished nothing except collapsing part of one. We also ascertained that all urns we had located were empty.

In the first courtyard, in addition, we discovered a single living plant. I was unable to identify it in the field, but research since returning to town has revealed that it was a marshmallow plant. It may have been kept for its medicinal properties. Another possibility is suggested by one particular 800-year-old book which I uncovered during my studies.

Particularly rare specimens have been found growing in moderately low light to almost no light. Popular lore purports that this phenomenon occurs only upon the graves of great heroes or upon sites of great battles, but evidence suggests that the plant has some fungal properties that explain this anomaly.

We also located the altar alluded to by the old woman. Its surface was blackened, burned and cracked. Both the alleged crystal and the alleged angel were missing, and the floor in front of the altar was melted. In light of this disturbing find, we brought in the old woman, who was surprised and dismayed at the state of the altar. She said there should be a large crystal on the ceiling of the large cavern. We used a light spell to verify the presence of this large crystal.

The old woman then told us what little she knew. According to her, the crystals are repositories of the power of a now-dead elven or fey deity, whose name is unknown to her. She stated that her associate, the elven scholar Targos Grisha, told her that the crystals glowed. Note: the crystal on the ceiling was not glowing.

The old woman paid us 420 gp for our securing of the urns, and provided us with a letter of reference with which to go see the scholar in Weaversburg.

Into the Demonweb Forest, Part 5

And so the girls continued their trek through the spider-haunted forest. We got through one more fight last Sunday, and this time I pulled out another of my homebrew spiders. I again used the Ruins of the Wild dungeon tile set with my homebrew forest map, placing a couple of 10' x 40' chasms just off the path. This group of spiders just leaped from the trees with no subtlety or strategy.

1 tarantella (level 5 controller, 200 xp)
2 deathjump spiders (level 4 skirmisher, 350 xp)
5 crab spiders (level 4 minion, 214 xp)

I still haven't updated the tarantella to incorporate Mike Mearls' excellent slow/slide suggestion, so I couldn't take full advantage of the chasms. It didn't matter anyway because the tarantella got locked down by the paladin in round one and wound up hitting with its bite once in the entire combat, then missing the secondary (poison) attack. All in all, a very disappointing performance.

The girls are getting really good at killing spiders, especially the crab spider minions. The tiefling fire wizard unleashes fire shroud on them with great glee.

After the fight I again used Mike Mearls' "fancy" wandering monster skill challenge rules. This time even though the girls failed most of their rolls, I rolled a 6 on the encounter check and there was no encounter anyway. They decided to cover part of one chasm with leaves and branches, then rappel down into it and hide there for a long rest. This time they rolled much higher on their "don't attract wandering monsters" checks, and none of my multiple rolls during the night resulted in an encounter.

Analysis:
I wish I'd updated the tarantella and then actually affected someone with its poison, but oh well.
I'm actually glad I didn't roll any encounters during their rest - it's always easier to start a session with everyone at full strength and one action point than having to write all the numbers down and then find the correct scraps of paper at the beginning of the next session.

Into the Demonweb Forest, Part 4

It's been a while since the girls were over to continue their slog through the spider-haunted forest, but this past Sunday we met again. I said last time that I should try the giant webby spider again with one instead of two and more other spiders, so this time that's what I did. I also recently picked up the Ruins of the Wild dungeon tile set from WotC to see what the tiles are like, so I used all the stream ones to make a creek across the same homemade forest battle map, with a log across where the path crossed it.

1 giant webby spiders (level 5 controller, 200 xp)
2 deathjump spiders (level 4 skirmisher, 350 xp)
4 crab spiders (level 4 minion, 175 xp)

One of the crab spiders blew a Stealth check and earned a charging smackdown from the dwarf before the battle was actually joined. The webby spider waited until the ranger crossed the log (first there was a lengthy discussion about finding a way to not use the log), then used webbed terrain, hitting the dwarf and clogging the path with webs. The ranger was free to close on the webby spider and began to make its life miserable while its friends came out of the woods all around the party.

The girls made pretty short work of the spiders, though the deathjump spiders gave them a few tense moments by using death from above to shift long distances and come down on party members isolated across difficult terrain. The memorable moment in this fight was the end, when the last deathjump spider was taken out by a charging flaming sphere (can a flaming sphere charge? I'm still not sure...).

After the fight I used Mike Mearls' "fancy" wandering monster skill challenge rules. I started at a base 15+ on d20 chance for an encounter and let the girls roll Stealth, Nature, or whatever against DC15 to increase the number. They got it up to 18... and I rolled a 19. Another deathjump spider and two more crab spiders attacked. It wasn't a tough fight, but it happened when they were already low on encounter powers so it packed a little extra punch. I thought it conveyed the "crawling with spiders" nature of the forest nicely.

Analysis:
The single webby spider with more allies worked a lot better, and the creek with the log was a nice extra touch. The tiles worked pretty well as spice, though I'm not sure trying to make a big outdoor map with just them would work all that well.

Battle Journal of Kain Gaa'zaith - Tactical Analysis

So far the drawn-out narrative of the Battle Journal bores even me. I think I want to try boiling it down to what Kain really cares about: optimizing his weird little cadre. So this post will be in-character notes on effective combos, areas for improvement and synergies that warrant further evaluation and/or modification...

Tactical Analysis - First Foray

Close Blasts
Both the wizard and the dragonborn have short-range area-effect blasting attacks. It has been difficult to get them in position to use these effectively without either catching other cadre members (typically Marun) in the area or isolating them too completely, thus allowing the enemy to surround them. Further evaluation is required. Perhaps the fighter's expertise at covering her allies' retreats could be of use here.

Hobb
The rogue's knack for catching foes off balance and pushing them around the field shows great promise. In one battle in particular he shoved a kobold slinger across the entire room, leaving it in a position where it was too threatened to fire upon us and within reach of Marun's falchion. I need to find a way to combine this ability with one or two of the others in the cadre to maximize its potential.

Adincari
The warlock is tricky to manage. Some of his powers are most effective when he is close to the enemy, but out of all the members of the cadre he is the most effective at long range. This dichotomy is exacerbated by certain of his other abilities which are most effective if he keeps moving around. It seems that no matter what he does on the battlefield, he is performing suboptimally in some area.

Telekinetic Leap
My own racial power is slightly problematic. I am simply unable to use it as often as I would like. In many battles there are two or even three allies in a position to quickly turn the tide if I could get both or all of them behind the enemy's front line. So far I have been making quick appraisals of the situation and attempting to select the cadre member who will strike the most decisive blow against our opponents, but this approach feels too haphazard. I need a system or methodology to guide my choice.

Battle Journal of Kain Gaa'zaith - Blasts

Campaign Day 2 continued

From the second courtyard cavern, there was a single door back into what we had come to think of as "inside". When Marun opened it, there was a small square room full of fire beetles. The spellcasters loosed their spells into the room, injuring some of the beetles, then Marun quickly closed the door. We listened for a moment to the sounds of scuttling and scratching as the brainless vermin tried to escape. When they quieted down Marun opened the door and we did it again. We continued in this manner until most of the insects were destroyed, then I ordered the cadre into the room to mop up the last one.

With that room cleared, we proceeded to the final available avenue of exploration: the door on the other side of the T that the kobold had been running toward. Reasoning that he had intended to warn some large force beyond the door, everyone readied their most potent attacks and we approached the door quietly. After Hobb checked for traps, Marun threw the door open and charged.

We were confronted by two more large scorpions and nearly a dozen kobolds. The kobolds arrayed themselves to employ their usual tactic of hiding behind the scorpions and throwing sling bullets at us. I decided to attempt to break this tactic quickly. I ordered the wizard to use his thundering blast to force the enemy back and make some room, then I myself leaped into the breach.

My fervor nearly cost me. One of the scorpions lashed out and got a tight grip on me. Fortunately I remained calm and threw Hobb over it. Together we quickly pulverized the thing. Behind me the rest of the cadre did the same to the other. Without their clawed guardians, the kobolds were no match for us.

The dungeon cleared, Hobb and the wizard departed, returning an hour later with the old woman who hired us. She and the elf became very interested in the blackened ruin of an altar in the last room, and talked about it in anxious tones for quite a while. They even went back out into one of the courtyard areas to examine something else. Finally the elf announced that we needed to seek out an elven scholar who might know something about something dangerous about this altar. I wasn't paying much attention, as I was busy sketching notes for the important part of this journal, my tactical analysis of the performance of my cadre.

Battle Journal of Kain Gaa'zaith - Violence and Vines

Campaign Day 2 continued

With no other way to proceed, we returned to the room where we had camped and tried the other door. Hobb discovered and disabled a similar trap behind this door involving two urns. This time we successfully and silently managed to move them out of the hallway into the room. Adincari, the only one of us who can see in the dark, then crept ahead into the passage.

When he returned, the drow reported a T in the corridor with a closed door in one direction and an open room full of kobolds in the other. As we spoke we heard a kobold run past the T, headed for the door. The wizard raced into the passage and conjured a cloud of flying daggers in the kobold's path. The rest of the cadre charged toward the room full of foes. The kobolds fell before our assault like wheat before the scythe. Hobb in particular performed commendably, tripping and shoving a slinger into range of Marun's falchion.

The single door out of this room opened into another courtyard area. This one also contained dead trees, but two of them were wrapped with huge vines. There were also a half dozen enormous rats in the area, which charged us. Calibraxis slew a number of them with fire breath, and the halfling used the same maneuver on one that he had just used on the slinger, but shoved it toward one of the vine-wrapped trees.

The vine immediately reached out and attacked the rat, which barely managed to escape. Apparently the elf was amused by this, as he proceeded to use his blast spell to force the hapless creature back again. This time the vine strangled the rat to death. The battle appeared to be over, but the drow got too close to the vines while chasing a straggling rat. The vines uncoiled themselves from around the trees and moved to surround and grab him. It required a coordinated attack from the entire cadre, along with a carefully planned use of his own power to turn into mist, to free him.

to be continued...

Battle Journal of Kain Gaa'zaith - Bugs and Bats

Campaign Day 2 continued

Marun opened the single door out of the room, which led into a strange underground courtyard. Walls of worked stone surrounded it to a height of around 15 feet, but above the walls was nothing but open darkness. We had little time to study the area, as eight of the bloodsucking batlike creatures that had attacked us before we even entered the dungeon flew at us. Calibraxis killed a few with a blast of his fiery breath while I covered Marun's retreat back into the room before they could surround her. Once we were back inside, using the door as a choke point, we made short work of the beasts.

The courtyard was a peculiar area, containing seven dead oak trees, a well, and a single living plant. Hobb discovered a secret door in one wall, but wanted to investigate the well before proceeding. Marun champed at the delay, but I stalled her long enough for the others to determine that neither the well nor the plant posed any threat.

The secret door opened into some kind of storeroom. The ancient shelves had been mostly demolished and the only inhabitants were a pair of fire beetles. Not wanting to contend with their fiery breath I ordered a quick, highly coordinated attack. The cadre performed admirably, slaying both insects before they could attack.

In the rubble Hobb discovered an old bag full of gold, a belt, a dagger and some kind of potion. This find raised morale noticeably, as it appeared to be a larger sum than has been lost due to the kobolds breaking the urns we are charged with safeguarding for the old woman.

to be continued...

Battle Journal of Kain Gaa'zaith - Slingers and Stingers

Campaign Day 2

Our rest was, surprisingly, uninterrupted, though the elf reported hearing some scraping sounds during his watch. Hobb examined both doors leading out of the large room in which we camped and reported that they had been trapped. When we opened the door to the left, we discovered that an urn had been moved to block the passage behind it. A thin rope (which Hobb cut before opening the door more than a crack) had been tied around the top of the urn and affixed to the knob. The intent was obviously that we would topple the urn, and the sound of it breaking would serve as an alarm.

Unfortunately, we had to move the urn out of the way to proceed, and discovered that the cursed things truly are ridiculously fragile. When Marun tried to move it she slipped and the clumsy efforts of the entire cadre could not keep it from shattering on the stone floor. Assuming the element of surprise was lost, I ordered the cadre quickly down the hallway. My suspicions were confirmed when a glue-filled missile was hurled at us from the room ahead.

Hobb raced ahead to take the fight to the enemy, but was set upon and grabbed by three more of the bothersome scorpions. I spied the kobold that was slinging projectiles at us and threw Calibraxis at him. I tried to encourage Hobb while the elf tried to get the scorpions away from him with a thunderous blast. The blast also opened enough room for Marun to enter, and she and Hobb made short work of the stinging things.

Once the scorpions were defeated we turned our attention to the three kobolds, all of whom were by this time trying to surround and carve up the dragonborn. Hobb and Marun charged to his rescue, crushing the enemy in a flurry of slashing, stabbing and goring.

There was one door out of the room.

to be continued...

Field Notes of V - The Urns

I will start with the old woman, because she is where this started. She hired our motley crew to enter an underground reliquary and remove the dangerous vermin therein. She claimed that she required this service so that her team of experts could then remove several fragile urns from the premises.

She described some strange things, including a crystal on an altar deep in the dungeon. She also alleged that contact with the gemstone would result in the summoning of an angry archangel. I am uncertain as to the veracity of this claim, but am interested to see this crystal for myself. Perhaps I can convince Hobb to touch it. While I am at a safe distance, of course.

The dank excavation into which she directed us has so far been singularly unpleasant. It is infested with oversized arthropods and other distasteful vermin. Few of them are fit even for grinding into reagents or other experimentation. My sole encouraging find was two glowing glands from a fire breathing beetle, which I crafted into torches.

We have also encountered some members of one of the baser humanoid races here, which leads me to suspect the possibility of affairs more sinister than the old woman's simple vermin infestation. One of them shattered one of the old woman's urns, and we found another urn already shattered. Apparently the lowly creatures have no regard for the antiquities they are dwelling among. So why are they here? Could it have something to do with the crystal?