(078) A Second Expedition

[acodispo]

Unspeaking, grim-faced, with a disturbing light in his eyes beneath his Hobgoblin helm, Wetzel changes forth with spear & shield. He attacks ferociously. His aim is to kill as many of the enemy as he can as quickly as possible, while keeping them from flanking the party. If three or more comrades fall he will call for others to form a shield wall (or join any already established) & make a fighting retreat back down the passageway.

[mgtremaine]

Zem would remember all the tricks he was thought about fighting underground, he would do his best not to expose his flank and keep a line of retreat ready. Shield and Axe ready he would look to strike.

[waysoftheearth]

The players creep as near as they dare to the entry before charging in with weapons high to fall upon their startled enemy!

Fried, Leudigar, The Herald, Dopey, Wetzel, Karl, and Zem scarcely notice the broad chamber--a 60ft x 40ft mess-hall occupied by long benches--all they see is a gaggle of goblin-kind bunched intently over raucous game of chance.

The goblins look up a moment before the Men (ahem) crash down upon them, blades hewing and chopping. The almighty clatter is punctuated by blood-curdling crunches and squeals. Black goblin blood is flung wide, splattering the walls. Our heroes run over them in a tide; the bench is over-ended; dice, coin, and rat-skulls scatter wildly as goblins scream and turn to flee without even drawing their weapons. Alas for them the ambush is near-perfect and almost all of them are cut down before they make more than a few strides. Only two of the quickest goblins manage to escape the carnage; each hollering and belting down a separate passage at full tilt...

The Refectory Ambush
The ref dices for the number of hobgoblins present: 10 players would draw 3-18 hobgoblins 3d6 → 11. The ref rules these are off-duty regulars, so there's no leader-type accompanying them.

The hobgoblins are preoccupied with their game, so the ref deems the players have twice the usual chances to surprise: d6 → 4, so it's a surprise attack!

Fried, Leudigar, The Herald, Dopey, Wetzel, Karl, and Zem rush in and come to blows immediately, precluding any use of missiles or spells prior to melee.

The surprise segment is therefore a melee segment; a round of blows struck at +2 due to surprise, and +2 due to flanking positions:

Fried, Dopey, Wetzel, Karl, Zem (Man+1): 5 # d20+5 → [10, 10, 15, 10, 25], two hits.
The Herald (Man): 1 # d20 + 4 → [8], no hits.
Leudigar (2 Men-1): 2 # d20 + 2 → [18, 21], two hits.
Four hits all told: 4d6 → 20 hp damage (equivilent to almost six normal hits).

The ref dices some hp for the hobgoblins: 11 # d6 + 1 → [6, 2, 4, 3, 6, 2, 6, 6, 5, 4, 6]

So the first four are slain, and the fifth is dropped to 1 hp.

Four casualties of eleven is over one-third losses. Moreover, they have been attacked by surprise, so a morale check is called two ways: Hobgoblins are normally hard-nosed sorts (+1 morale), but two morale triggers (a surprise attack, and one-third losses) will cancel this adjustment: 2d6 → 3, so it's flee!

The surprise segment is concluded; the hobgoblins will attempt to flee in the first round.

It is traditional that fleeing figures be subject to a round of attacks at their backs if they cannot break off swiftly enough. The ref makes a note to research the particulars of this tradition, but meanwhile rules that initiative dice will determine how cleanly the routed hobgoblins will break off:

Initiative is diced: players: 1d6 → 6, non-players: 1d6 → 4, so the players will attack before the hobgoblins can break off the melee.

Fried, Dopey, Wetzel, Karl, Zem (Man+1): 5 # d20+3 → [14, 16, 14, 14, 12], four hits.
The Herald (Man): 1 # d20+2 → [5], no hits.
Leudigar (2 Men-1): 2 # d20 + 0 → [12, 20], one hit.
Five hits all told: 5d6 → 21 hp damage.
Five more hobgoblins are cut down!
So only two survive long enough to flee.

The quickest/farthest hobgoblins complete their 90ft move.
The ref assumes that the players have pressed forward 30ft during the preceding combat round, and therefore that the fleeing hobgoblins have a 60ft break.

The Refectory Ambush is concluded; it is a stunning victory for the players.

The two escapees have each vanished down separate passages. The players may choose to pursue, or not.

If the players do not pursue, we will switch back to dungeon exploration time, with the remainder of the turn being taken up with post combat tidy up.

What now?

[heartless]

Kianna following the others into the hall for battle, and seeing the fleeing hobgoblins Kianna drops her sword to pull out her bow and fire at the escaping fiends. "Don't let them get away!" Kianna cries.

[mgtremaine]

Zem grins "Dead goblins, the best kind of goblin. Chase'em or lay a trap when they come back?"

[ehiker133]

"If possible, our fastest should try and catch them so they can't warn any others!" Leudigar says, casting a look at the fleet-of-foot elf. "This mail I've picked up hampers me too much to effectively chase them..."

Leudigar then immediate goes about searching the dead goblins for anything of value, making a pile of arms and armour and then a separate pile of valuables, if any are found.

[acodispo]

Covered in blood of Goblinkind and eager to prevent an escapee from alerting others, Wetzel will venture forth after one of the fleeing Hobgoblins as far as the first turning of the passage, where he will stop. If he can see the enemy and is within range, he will throw his spear. Else, he will take note of as much of the passage as he can see, then retreat back to join the main party in the room of ambush.

[doctorx]

Arian takes in the carnage in her normal, half-dreamlike way.

"They're getting away," she adds utterly unhelpfully as the two hobgoblins clatter squealing into the darkness.

If she has a clear shot she hurls her spear at the nearest one.

[sully]

The Herald watches impassively as the hobs retreat. I don't want to repeat myself yet again but perhaps now is the time to set a trap? Reinforcements surely must be coming soon.

[riftstone]

Faengol watches the fleeing goblins impassively.

"We cannot long stay in this location, even with a trap, to be set upon on two sides...we must move and in our mobility be hard to vanquish. We face superior numbers, I think, but we still have a chance to move through part of this stronghold unnoticed. If we can inflict sufficient casualties, we might have an easier time retreating or perhaps even take this fortification. This is my counsel, take it as you wish."