Immersive Ink

Cameron DuBeers wrote:
Dram will make a fighting withdrawal toward the stairs, calling for the others to do the same. If the rest of the party drops swords and flees he will attempt to protect their rear flank.

"C'mon you apes!" he taunts, "wanna live forever?" He laughs boisterously as he swings his bloody sword at the next kobold. "Hold ... the ... LINE! Ha ha ha ha ha ha!"

verhaden wrote:
Gaspard

Gaspard will attempt to secure a weapon of sorts from one of the fallen kobolds, and make a fighting withdrawal to Dram's position.

aergraith wrote:
Vangelis will intercede between Gaspard and the horde, protecting him while he grabs a weapon and then retreating toward the entrance.

TheLeadershipGeek (SMKSensei) wrote:
Jaras, now seeing the others in a fighting withdrawal, also backs toward the others and the exit. He'll take any swipe he can get, but sees the opportunity to live and fight on another day.

rleduc wrote:
Meanwhile at the top of the stairs, Malaveque takes a sidelong glance at his boon companion, and then quietly and carefully begins his trip down the stairs, hugging the right wall. He wishes to get a better look surreptitiously before committing himself to the fray.

Zenopus wrote:
Mot is amazed that he, a humble spellcaster, has killed two foes and avoided being hit. He thinks his luck is about to run out, so he makes for the stairs. Avoiding the underwater crack in the floor, of course.

doctorx wrote:
"Oh, dear; what a dreary place," observes †delwynn the Guileful with a disdainful sniff as he takes in the crumbling, ominous ruin looming out of the dank mists before him; "Certainly not worth skipping breakfast for."

"And all beneath is chaos and swordplay already, I do declare!" he adds with an " I told you so" sort-of-smirk as the sound of the unfolding massacre below reaches his ears; "How terribly unfortunate." (He begins silently re-calculating possible treasure splits in the light of there probably being one or two less companions to divide the booty with).

He watches Malaveque proceeding toward the stairs and considers mentioning the possibility of ambush and archers lurking in the shadows to his unsightly elvish chum, but ultimately decides against it. Why spoil the dear chap's reckless urge to plunge heroically forward? Particularly as by doing so he is most helpfully providing †delwynn with plenty of cover...

He bows Malaveque onwards and then falls quietly into step behind him, loosening his dagger in its sheath as he does so...

O.O.C: Do we have enough light to see, ways? If not †delwynn will take a moment to light his lantern before he proceeds.

waysoftheearth wrote:

doctorx wrote: O.O.C: Do we have enough light to see, ways? If not †delwynn will take a moment to light his lantern before he proceeds.

Outside, there is still an hour or more of grey daylight, and this penetrates some way down the stair, and inside there is already the orange yellow glow of torchlight outlining a doorway at the bottom of the stair. you can proceed within lighting a lantern...

waysoftheearth wrote:
The company are shocked as Dishmab and Firas go down, and the fighting sorts attempt to enact a stategic withdrawal, splashing through the mist and cold water toward the stair. Mot the Magicien simply makes a beeline for the safety of the stair, where Tirandir holds an arrow on the string, ready to drop any foe that might think to flee the melee.

But the insidious lizard-men are not running for it; they rather liked the brutal crunching of Dishmab and Firas, and they squwark and snap and beat at the troubled company yet...

Dram takes another one down with his deadly sword, but Javas is too busy dodging trouble to do them any hurt in return. The enemy litterally swarm Mot as he tries to flee the melee, coming at him from every which way, but by some magic the magicien slips past it all unharmed! The rest of them, it seems, turn upon Vangelis, but he solidly fends off their attacks, and cracks one a blow to the noggin in return.

Meanwhile, Gaspard has grabbed a cudgel out of the water, but can't whack anything with it, and Spaz the guard dog tears into the dying kobold at Dram's feet with a growl.

All this while Tirandir looks here and there for a taget, but judiciously holds his fire. †delwynn follows Malaveque down the stair, and the pair of them arrive to see all this unfolding; Tirandir almost jumps out of his skin as they arrive behind him!



Mechanics:

6 of the 15 koblods have been slain or incapacitated (along with 2 of the PCs). Though they still outnumber the PCs, victory is not assured. Any of them could recieve a fatal blow at any moment, and thus their courage hangs by a thread...

The referee fristly determines their loyalty level (3d6=10, so these kobolds have ordinary loyalty and no moral adjustment), and then makes a morale check (2d6=8, an uncertain result, so they will hold their ground... for now).

Initiative is rolled (1d6; dram=5, spaz=1, javas=6, vangelis=2, gaspard will attack last after picking up a weapon, mot=2, kobolds=3).

Dram's attack (1d20=19) damage (1d6=4) slays a kobold.
Javas' attack (1d20=1) misses.

8 kobolds remain in the melee. Mot lost the initiative, so he is an available target. Tirandir withdrew last round, so he is not a target. 8 attacks are therefore targetted against (1=dram, 2=spaz, 3=javas, 4=vangelis, 5=gaspard, 6=mot; 8d6=3, 4, 4, 6, 6, 6, 6, 4). Javas attracts one attack, Vangelis three, and poor Mot is subjected to four attacks!

Attack rolls versus Javas (1d20=5), Vangelis (3d20=14, 3, 1), Mot (4d20=3, 3, 8, 10).

By some miracle Mot is not hit (1/2 HD monsters requiring a roll of 11+ to hit his AC 9). Javas dodges is way out of trouble, and Vangelis defends himself admirably (1/2 HD monsters needing a roll of 16+ to hit his AC4).

Mot's movement rate (12") is greater than the kobolds' rate (6") so he has broken away from the general melee to relative safety. Talk about running the gauntlet!

Vangelis, spaz and gaspard make their attack rolls (3d20=18, 11, 7).

Vangelis scores a hit. The referee rolls to determine the target's hit points (1d6=4, so the kobold has 2 hit points), and Vangelis rolls for damage (1d6=1) and causes 1 hit point, so the kobold is wounded. Spaz and Gaspard both miss.

waysoftheearth wrote:
What next, gentlemen?