The eager young halfling was all too happy to comply, and he disappeared into the mists. As soon as he peaked his head through the other side of the torrent, Paget saw more than a dozen kobolds scurrying in and out of sight throughout the cave. Screams, shouts, and cries of alarm reverberated throughout the torchlit hollow the moment he came into view. "So much for stealth," the rogue muttered to himself as he dashed back outside to where his friends were waiting. Paget, dripping wet and shaking with nervous energy drew both daggers, and yelled "Yep, they're in there, and they're ready for us!" With that, he plunged back through the waterfall, straight towards the nearest waiting minion, and slashed the creature's throat with a quick slice of his blade. The reptile's cohorts reacted immediately, and before the first of Paget's companions had a chance to enter the cave, the halfling was already wincing in pain, with a kobold javelin protruding from his shoulder.FGII Meta: This encounter, as written, occurs in two phases. For the first three rounds, the PCs faced ten minions and three skirmishers. After three rounds, Irontooth himself joined in, along with a pair of wyrmpriests, and a pair of dragonshields. I had already loaded all of the combatants into the Combat Tracker in Fantasy Grounds II, prior to beginning the encounter. So, as I was scrolling through the initiative order, my players could see the names of the phase 2 attackers, even though they were out of sight, and weren't taking any actions yet. In the future, for a multi-phase encounter, I think I'll load them up as separate encounters in FGII. At the appropriate moment, I'll drag incoming reinforcements onto the Combat Tracker. That way, the PCs won't get a sneak peak of what's to come!Raxil came splashing enthusiastically through the waterfall, quickly assessed the situation, and launched a Scorching Burst at the nearest group of kobolds. The cocky young wizard wiggled his fingers towards his enemy, in an appropriately theatrical and "arcane" manner, and made explosion noises with his lips as the ignition spark flew into their midst. Raxil's ego was only slightly deflated with the blast completely missed all but one hapless minion, who disintegrated into a smoldering pile of ash. The surviving lizardmen launched spears and javelins at the cloth-wearing mage, and Raxil grunted in pain one of them managed to hit home. Kobold javelins were flying in every direction across the cavernous chamber when Phoebe and Gildras entered the fray. Most bounced harmlessly off of walls, or disappeared into the thundering waterfall, but at least one managed to cut Raxil deeply. The cleric fired off a Lance of Faith, and the warlord invoked his Wolf Pack Tactics on the minions closest to them, but both failed in their efforts. Just then, a breathless, wet, and angry Bakbuk came charging into view. Grunting and panting, he swung his maul at a spear-wielding skirmisher, as a kobold's javelin bounced harmlessly off of the dwarf's armored back. The fighter's heavy weapon missed its mark and sunk into the damp dirt floor with a dull, wet "thud," and Bakbuk growled with frustration.
These are the tokens I used for Kobold Minions
& Kobold Skirmishers, in FG II.
DM Note: Oops! The only reason that Bakbuk acted dead last is because, it seems, I forgot to roll initiative for him! I didn't notice the mistake until I reviewed the combat log to start typing this Story Hour.Paget cut down another minion with a Deft Strike, as javelins continued to fly throughout the chamber. Several minions bunched up near their superiors, the skirmishers, in order to gain the advantage of mob tactics. A fatal mistake in the company of a war wizard! With childlike mirth painted all over his face, Raxil stretched out his arms and issued forth a wicked blast of Burning Hands. The searing flames washed over six kobolds in all--three minions, and three skirmishers. When the fire vanished, only the angry skirmishers remained. There was no sign that the minions had ever existed, apart from a few wisps of smoke. Raxil clapped and cheered at his success, and his friends were uplifted by his good fortune until two well-aimed javelins clipped Gildras and the wizard, and brought their moods crashing back down to the reality of the very real danger that they were facing.
Phoebe, hoping to finish what Raxil started, lit a Divine Glow at the feet of one of the skirmishers. It flared up into burning brilliance, but when the light faded, all three kobolds remained on their feet. Only one seemed to have been affected by the holy light. Bakbuk and Gildras began herding the remaining minions into a cluster, and both of them took javelin jabs to the ribs for their efforts, and Raxil also got caught in the crossfire. Phoebe blessed the warlord with a Healing Word as he deftly swapped positions with a nimble kobold, just in time for Bakbuk's maul to splatter the unfortunate creature into oblivion.
The halfling rogue plunged back into the fracas before the skirmishers' eyes had time to readjust to the gloom, after Phoebe's divine assault, and bloodied one of them with a vicious Sly Flourish sneak attack. The creature reversed its spear and plunged it into Paget's gut, in response, spilling more of the halfling's blood in the dirt. The other two skirmishers turned on the rogue as well, but Phoebe intervened with a hastily tossed Lance of Faith, while brushing aside a sloppy thrust from a minion javelin. Her attack went wide and missed its mark, but she managed to divert the kobolds' attention from their prey, and Paget was spared the worst of their assault. With a nod of thanks towards the cleric, the rogue shrugged through his pain and quipped, "I'm not trying to get myself killed. Really, I swear!"
In the confusion, nobody noticed the ignition spark of another one of Raxil's Scorching Bursts floating amongst them, and everyone was surprised when it went off. Perhaps it was the dampness of the cave, or the wizard's aim and timing may have been slightly off, but though the flames enveloped three kobolds, only one skirmisher ended up slightly singed. The injured reptile knocked aside a blow from Gildras' longsword, only to meet its doom at the end of Bakbuk's heavy maul, which crushed the creature with such fury that its adjacent minion also succumbed to the blunt force impact. A collective cheer went up among the friends, as the enemy ranks were thinning out rapidly. A quick victory seemed to be at hand.
At that moment, a harsh, bleating horn heralded the appearance of a burly, battle-scarred goblin. Around him, kobolds scurried as if afraid to get too close. A great tattoo depicting a skeletal ram’s head marked the goblin’s face. He wore a wolf fur cloak and a chain shirt, and he held a battle-axe in each hand.
The companions all turned to face this new threat, and their shoulders slumped. "Well that can't be good," Raxil observed, as the kobolds resumed their advance with renewed determination. Irontooth himself had joined the battle!
Irontooth
DM Note: This was a long battle (3+ hour session). I'll break it into two posts, so the reading (and the writing) doesn't get too be too much. More to come!
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