Mgtremaine's Grey Council Bout #2

[waysoftheearth]

The Grey Council again find themselves in the dim, circular chamber of imposing stone arches. Over each arch are graven runes denoting "Dungeon Level 1", "Dungeon Level 2", "Dungeon Level 3", and so on, all the way thru "Dungeon Level 12".

@mgtremaine which archway does the Grey Council take?

[mgtremaine]

The Company goes through the Dungeon Level 2 archway.

[waysoftheearth]

The Grey Council boldly march through the Dungeon Level 2 arch and into the unknown...

This is where I roll up the monster side for this fight using the dungeon gen tables in the V5 (wip).

Being DL2 means there is a possibility of monster level tables 1 thru 4.
1d6=2, so it's MLT1.
1d12=6, so it's zombies!
2 HD baddies on DL 2, means the basic number is 1-4 for 2-3 players, 2-8 for 4-6 players, and 3-12 for 7-10 players.
3d4=8.

Let me prepare a map...

@mgtremaine Please confirm your preferred deployment/formation going in... You can assume at least 40ft of width.

[mgtremaine]

Marching Order still


Il....Ph <-- Melee Sword/Two-handed Swords
Kl....Ab <--- Lantern carried by Kitelark
Br....Sp
...El <--- Short Bow ready

Plan:
Illithur Yeufold and Philanna Feyre will stand their ground and be ready defend against a rush of Zombies.
Kitelark will quickly hand oil flasks to Albert and Bertram while Spinderella lights a Candle off Kitelark Lantern.
Elan Eladril will move to the Right and fire his bow at the lead Zombie.

Once the layout and the battle lines are more obvious the Oils will be thrown to try and catch some zombies and provide some defense.

Formation Should end up like this:


..Il....Ph
.Ab..Sp..Br
......Kl......El

[waysoftheearth]

Here is the situation at the outset:

  Code:

 ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___  
|   |   |   |  #|   |   #   |   |   |   | 
|___|__#########|___|___#########___|___| 
|   |  #|   |   |Z7 | Z8|   |   #   |   | 
|___|__#|___Z1_Z2_Z3|Z4_Z5_Z6___#___|___| 
|   |  #|   |   |   |   |   |   #   |   | 
|___|__#|___|___XX__|___|___|___#___|___| 
|   |  #|   |   XX  |   |   |   #   |   | 
|___|__#|___|___|___|___|___|___#___|___| 
|  #####|   |   |   |   |   |   #####   | 
|__#|___|___|___|___|___|___|___|___#___| 
|  #|   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   #   | 
|__#####|___|___|___|___|___|___#####___| 
|   |  #|   |   |   |   |   |   #   |   | 
|___|__#|___|___|___|__XX___|___#___|___| 
|   |  #|   |  Il   |GhXX   |   #   |   | 
|___|__#|___|__Kl___|Ab_|___|___#___|___| 
|   |  #|   |  Br   |Sp |   |   #   |   | 
|___|__#|___|___|_El|___|___|___|___|___| 
|   |  #########|   |   #########   |   | 
|___|___|___|__#|___|___#___|___|___|___| 

Encounter set up...

Each map square is 10ft across, so this bout happens in a 60x80 ft chamber.
The ## represent dungeon walls; the squares of Xs represent columns in the middle of the chamber.
Up on the screen in nominally "north".

Z1 thru Z8 are our awful zombies.
The player initials show our player positions.


Surprise
Per Fight Club rules, there is no surprise, and the entire area has ambient torchlight.

Distance
Sighting/encounter distance dice 2d6=5 want 50ft, so there we have it.
(Side note for the ref: the Ref's Quickstarter (and U&WA) have 2d4 for the encounter distance. DD5 WiP says 2d6 (consistent with outdoor encounter distance). 50ft is legal either way).

First round is about to kick off...
Grey Council be warned that zombies have a move stat of 6" so they can stagger up to 60ft...

[mgtremaine]

Illithur shouts out the orders.... "Burn anything to left of me to keep them from flanking us! Ghilanna on my right we will hold them here."

So if the bottom left corner is 1,1 I want to to hit 3,1 and 3,2 with oil to prevent Zombies from getting around on that side. Elan will fire from the left side trying to down any zombies coming around the pillar. After they have used the oil, Albert and Bertram will try to help stop anything getting through the front line or the right side. The mages have their daggers and not much else.

[waysoftheearth]

It would reasonably take at least one round to dig oil flasks out of packs, unstop, and ignite them. By that time, it could easily be too late to use them as you intend.

On the other hand, I checked out the pre-gen's equipment list. Elan has a lantern. Ghilanna and Kitelark each have a lamp. While preparing over in the Locker Room topic you said that Kitelark is carrying a lantern, so let's assume he has Elan's lantern burning, and can immediately throw it as an oil-lantern bomb. So the players have one make-shift fire-bomb at the ready. Throwing your lantern won't affect visibility, since the area is torch lit already.

So, I'll change it up so that Kitelark throws his lantern into the target area, while the others form up a line as you ordered.

Remember that missiles will hit at the halfway point of movement.

One more. I note that Illthur carries three silver arrows but has no bow.
Given zombies are unaffected by normal missiles but are subject to silver arrows, I will help the players out and assume that Elan has "borrowed" Illthur's 3 silver arrows.

[waysoftheearth]

Ding!
The second bout begins!

The zombies lurch forward with terrible moans and groans.

Kitelark drops his oils flasks, then steps left to hurl his lantern, which shatters into a fiery conflagration in the west side of the room.
Albert and Bertram form up behind Ghillana who, with her enormous sword, occupies a wide arc.
Spinderella grabs Kitelark's oil flasks, and begins to ignite them with her magic zippo finger.

Elan steps right and fires a silver arrow past Albert, drilling it right into a zombie forehead, but it keeps coming!

At this point we have:

  Code:

 ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___  
|   |   |   |  #|   |   #   |   |   |   | 
|___|__#########|___|___#########___|___| 
|   |  #|   |   |   |   |   |   #   |   | 
|___|__#|___|___|___|___|___|___#___|___| 
|   |  #|   |   |   |   |   |   #   |   | 
|___|__#|___|___XX__|___|___|___#___|___| 
|   |  #|   |   XX  |   |   |   #   |   | 
|___|__#|___|___|__Z7___|___|___#___|___| 
|  #####|   | Z2|   |  Z8   |   #####   | 
|__#|___|___|Z1_|__Z3_Z4_Z5_Z6__|___#___| 
|  #|   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   #   | 
|__#####|\\\\___|___|___|___|___#####___| 
|   |  #|  //// |   |   |   |   #   |   | 
|___|__#|___|___|___|__XX___|___#___|___| 
|   |  #|   |  Il  -Gh-XX   |   #   |   | 
|___|__#|___|___|Br_|___|Al_|___#___|___| 
|   |  #|   |   |   |Sp |   |   #   |   | 
|___|__#|___|___Kl__|___|__El___|___|___| 
|   |  #########|   |   #########   |   | 
|___|___|___|__#|___|___#___|___|___|___| 

And then the zombies crash right into the players, in an awful wave of flailing, snapping, and tearing, desperate to get their black teeth into those soft braaaaains.

Illithur faces two of them on the left flank, and elegantly cuts one down.
Ghilana and Bertram are hard-pressed in the center; Bertram takes an evil blow and staggers back as more of them push for the gap!
Out on the right, Albert drops a scrawny one with his axe, but immediately finds himself dealing with another (with an arrow in it).

And the situation report looks like this:
___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ | | | | #| | # | | | | |___|__#########|___|___#########___|___| | | #| | | | | | # | | |___|__#|___|___|___|___|___|___#___|___| | | #| | | | | | # | | |___|__#|___|___XX__|___|___|___#___|___| | | #| | XX | | | # | | |___|__#|___|___|___|___|___|___#___|___| | #####| | | | | | ##### | |__#|___|___|___|___|___|___|___|___#___| | #| | | | | | | | # | |__#####|\\\\___|___|___|___|___#####___| | | #| //// | Z7Z8 | | # | | |___|__#|___|_xxZ2__|Z4XX___|___#___|___| | | #| | IlZ3-Gh-XX xZ6 # | | |___|__#|___|___|Br_|___|Al_|___#___|___| | | #| | | |Sp | | # | | |___|__#|___|___Kl__|___|__El___|___|___| | | #########| | ######### | | |___|___|___|__#|___|___#___|___|___|___|

Round One

Missiles/Spells
Kitelark tosses his lantern relatively easily (something any normal man could do).
Elan fires the first silver arrow at Z6. d20=13; it's a hit. d6=5 hp damage. Z6 has 2d6=10 hp; Z6 is down to 5/10.

(Ref notes that Ghillana could also have hurled her handaxe...)
(Ref notes that Illithur could have used his protection from evil spell...)

Melee
There are no fantastic opponents, so this is normal combat. Despite having 2 HD the zombies have FC of 1 man each.

While the zombies are the nominal attackers, they have only rocks, bones, and claws for weapons. The players are equipped with longer reach weapons and so gain the (crucial) first blow position.

First blow
Illithur (FC 2 men) faces down Z1 and Z2 with sword and shield: 2d20=18,2. Z1 is hit for d6=6! Z1 has 2d6=4 hp. First kill to Illithur.
Ghillana faces Z3 and Z4 with her two-handed sword (FC man+1). d20=3+1, a miss.
Bertram (FC man+1) supports Ghilana with axe and shield. d20=5+1, a miss.
Albert (FC man+1) faces Z5 and Z6 with axe and shield. d20=11+1 (versus AC 9) a hit. Z5 takes d6=6 (again!). Z5 has 2d6=5 hp and is slain.

Return blow
Z2 attacks Illithur (AC2) d20=14, miss. Illithur retains the first blow position next round.
Z3 attacks Bertram (AC4) d20=15, hit! d6=4. Bertram has 1+1 HD and 5 hp. Down to 1/5. Z3 gains the first blow position next round.
Z4 attacks Ghilana (AC3) d20=15, miss. Ghilana retains the first blow position.
Z6 attacks Albert (AC4) d20=9, miss. Albert retains the first blow position.

Morale
The zombies lost 2 of 8, under the 33% morale trigger. Besides, zombies need never check morale!

On the other hand, Bertram took an awful hit. Will he stick around for more?
2d6=8-1, so uncertain. He'll check again next time...

@mgtremaine what do you wish the Grey Council to do?
Kitelark, Spinderella, and Elan are unengaged, so they can move (more or less) freely. The others are already in toe to toe.

[mgtremaine]

Elan shouts "Albert step back"

Orders:
Illithur Yeufold and Ghilanna Feyre will fight on in the front rank.
Kitelark will spend the turn getting out his flasks of oil
Spinderella will try to save Bertram by attacking the Zombie that looks like it's about to finish him.
Albert will attack the zombie (Z6) in front of him.
Elan Eladril will shout warning at Albert and fire his bow at (Z6)

Notes:
I considered the Pro Evil but figured the attack was worth more.
I did not remember that normal missile do not affect Zombies.
I sort of hope there is a clean shot for Elan but I understand I'm dangerously close to "firing into melee" with Albert.

[waysoftheearth]

Note, from the previous round:

Kitelark drops his oils flasks, then steps left to hurl his lantern, ...
...
Spinderella grabs Kitelark's oil flasks, and begins to ignite them with her magic zippo finger.

So currently, you have Kitelark unoccupied... and Spinderella already has Kitelark's oil flasks lit--I thought it plausible (and expeditious!) that a M-U can produce a magic zippo flame to ignite oil flasks

This probably means you'll want to switch Kitelark and Spinderella's order?
I.e., have Spinderella throw an oil bomb this turn, while Kitelark attacks Z3?