Battle of the Hill Giants Note: This story contains graphic descriptions of violence. It therefore may not be suitable for younger readers. To give you the feeling of the actuall session, I have kept the dice rolls and hit points in these transcripts. Transcript March 26, 2006. Traveling order: DM: The wagons do have room for a passenger on the seat next to the driver. DM: So the party decides to keep moving until two days later when they reach the hills and CloudStorm's falcon detects three giants waiting up ahead. transcript from April 30, 2006 CloudStorm and Lyden had run off in attempt to approach the giants from the rear going up the hill. Round 1 initiative: Lyden is about 25 to 30 yards away, medium range. Giant #1 scratches his arm picks up a rock and throws it generally in the direction of the knot of people around Sarlon. Gabriella pops off a few magic missiles and gives the bolder thrower, Giant #1, a few DM: By Sarlon and Gabriella running all around, they make nice targets for the rock thrower, giant #1. SpringRite has been riding around looking for a giant to hit in the back with his sword. Round 3 initiative: Klak and Brin will continue fighting the Giant. DM: OK, here's where everyone is, centered on the top of the hill. At the top of the hill, in the middle of a three-foot high ring of North of him, behind the wall of rocks and about 5 yards from giant #1, Further down the north side of the hill, having retreated in the face of a pursuing giant and thus now about 175 yards away from the top of the hill, is CloudStorm. Somewhere else on the hill is NightShade. On the south side of the hill, about 50 yards down and slightly up the Further down the road to the east is SpringRite, who is still on Back to the west, about 75 yards from giant #2, giant #3 is standing in Further west, about 100 yards further along, are Keladryn and Ed, who Mace is approximately midway between giants #2 and 3, standing in the CloudStorm: Can CloudStorm see any cover? CloudStorm: I am assuming that you realize that he is wearing his cloke of elven kind, and his mask. CloudStorm: Now that he has had a chance to see these guys up close and personal, what DM: They're big, they're ugly, they don't use deodorant, they CloudStorm would look for some cover to blend into. He would also CloudStorm: Where is his falcon? Round 3, Segment 1 Giant #1 shouts something, and Giant #3 looks toward him and shouts Sildar rises to his feet and looks around for his sword, spotting it SpringRite wheels his horse around, ready to make another pass while Lyden begins creeping slowly up the hill toward Giant #1. CloudStorm's falcon takes to the air, flying off toward the north, as Segment 2 Giant #3, apparently in response to Giant #1's bellow, moves away from Segment 3 Lyden, nearly up to the rock wall, silently pulls a dagger from its sheath. Keladryn spots Giant #3 turning away from him and begins to walk his Also, Sildar takes this opportunity to dash across the road and snatch Mace begins chanting something while Giant #3 comes toward him from Segment 4 Lyden pulls himself up against the rock wall and takes a breath, ready The falcon, having flown a decent distance away, begins making loud A small fire is now burning among the grass about halfway up the hill,
Sarlon's plan, now that Sildar is not in the way, is to hit (I think) Klak noticing Brin running towards him out of the corner of his eye, will scream at the giant, Sarlon: Ice Storm (from Wand) Mace: Hopefully this'll make the giants hair stand on end
Segment 5 Sildar, having retrieved his sword, surveys the area, watching the giant Keladryn, slowly closing in on his horse, begins to prepare his bow. Mace completes his chant, and a small spark shoots forth from his Segment 6 Mace, his spidey-sense tingling, jumps and turns around quickly to find Lyden, sensing an opportunity, tosses the dagger he'd drawn, but giant #1 is still thrashing around and the dagger flies between his legs Brin, finally in combat, yells "Take this, yer barmy rock-throwin' Segment 7 Sarlon pokes his head up briefly from the grass and says "Stupid Mace in Giant #1, angered by the lightning bolt, reaches down to pick up another CloudStorm moves up to about 30 yards below the rock he used previously Segment 8 Klak takes a swing with his hammer, causing 10 HP damage and a loud explosion. After swinging his hammer and smashing the knee of the giant, he raises his shield up to try to fight off the blow. Lyden curses his bad luck, having panicked into tossing his two best Sildar appears to come to a decision, and charges toward Giant #3, sword Sarlon mutters something under his breath about stupid white boys Keladryn has his bow at the ready now, and reaches into his quiver for Sarlon hears a morose voice behind him say "Stay, down, chief...I, need, to, As Mace takes in the threat posed by Giant #3, a boulder comes sailing Segment 10 Sarlon lets fly another swarm of missiles, hitting Giant #3 for 15 Giant #3, in some amount of pain, swings his club in a mighty arc and Mace d100 roll for system shock check, and Mace's Armor spell has now Mace, knocked a bit loopy by the giant's club, staggers backward a Giant #2 swings his club at Klak, but Klak's raised shield turns the Gabriella, seeing Mace stumble, tosses a volley of missiles at Giant #3, Segment 12 Keladryn lets fly one of his arrows, but it falls well short of the mark. Another arrow flies up from somewhere on the east side of the hill, Segment 13 Giant #3, having clocked Mace, turns around to face the charging Sildar... Segment 14 Sildar, his sword emitting a golden glow now, plunges the sword deeply Segment 15 SpringRite shoots into the air at Giant #2 as he passes it, but he Giant #3 completes his topple. Mace just barely rolls out of the way as Segment 16 SpringRite continues to ride forward. He spots Gabriella in the tall Segment 17 The boulder-thrower, Giant #1, seeing one of his comrades fall, steps over the Segment 18 Sildar, seeing the threat coming, rounds on the new threat, yelling Segment 19 A second arrow from the eastern hillside sails over the charging giant's head. Segment 20 In a hasty attempt to get his shot off at the retreating giant, End of round 3! Round 4 initiative: Segment 1 Lyden stands up and clambers over the rock wall, looking for his dagger. Ed begins moving back toward the group, sticking close to the right-hand Klak takes a couple steps backwards, preparing to throw his hammer. As Sildar looks over his fallen foe, then runs to meet the one charging Segment 2 Sarlon reaches back into his robe and draws out his wand once more. Lyden, having retrieved his dagger, glances around to see a very large Keladryn, seeing no immediate danger, continues riding toward the prone CloudStorm calls his falcon back to him and continues his climb up the hill. Segment 3 Ed calls out "Chief, does you or the dwarf need my help?" Lyden takes his dagger and pokes at the huge sack in front of him. It Segment 4 Keladryn reaches Mace's side. He asks Mace if he needs assistance, but Sarlon points his wand in the general direction of giant #1. A stream Transcript May 7, 2006 SILDAR seeing Giant #1 pinwheel at him, decides to try and get out of the way by turning around and running in the opposite direction. SpringRite picks out his next target. He selects the closest giant. He will keep moving to confuse the giants and to prevent being hit. Giant #1 slides to a stop at the feet of giant #3. Gillex slowly makes his way out of the grass. To condense the rest of the session in breaf, Klak's caltrops given to gillek Battle Experience Points for killing the three giants earns each player 818 points.
by Phil Vlasak and others.
This Dungeons and Dragons adventure is in the public Gamer's room
on Audio-Tips, Sunday night at nine o'clock Eastern time.
Audio-Tips is at:
www.audio-tips.com
List of characters:
Dungeon Master: John Proulx
DM-played characters:
Gabriella, Female High Elf Magic User
Nightshade, Female High Elf Thief
Brin, male dwarf fighter
Gillek, Dwarf fighter guard for Sarlon
Mylo, Human personal assistant to Sarlon
Ed, Human priest of Morelen
Human Drivers, Blade, Barf, , Lucille Slash and Harold.
Scangis, lizard man driver.
Characters played by others:
CloudStorm, High Elf Ranger
Keladryn, half elf priest of sedric, god of travelers
Lyden, Halfling thief
Mace, Human Magic User/ fighter
Sarlon, Half Elf Alchemist
Sildar, Human Fighter
SpringRite, High Elf fighter
Thunderklak, Sundered Dwarf Warrior
DM: After settleing up the Red Dragon Inn tabs you head out to the stables.
Parked next to SpringRite's horse is a Yak.
Molbo's Edam.
Lyden will look this thing over not having seen one before.
What's that thing?
SpringRite: That's Molbo's transportation when he's up to it again.
Edam: Bahahahahahaha
Lyden will walk over to it, Kind of wide!
I bet I could sit on top of it!
Edam tries to eat Lyden's hair.
Lyden: Or not!
Sarlon: Shit I didn't know you guys had a Yak too!
Hope someone knows how to care for dat thing!
I ain't takin' care of it!
Mylo: ha,ha, reminds me of dat story ou told me one time of dat fellow you
used to go wit dat rode one of dem things.
What was his name anyway?
Sarlon: Mylo, Dat would be him over dare!
He points to the dead guy.
Mylo: You tell me you know dat guy?
Oah, come on now, you, don't know dat guy!
You ain't never known dat guy!
You know dat dead guy?
Oh, come on , guy.
Oh, now you, now,
Now you gonna make be ride wit him, I know it!
Sarlon: Shut up an get your ass in dat cart!
He ain't gonna ride wit us!
Sometin tells me dough, he's gonna need a lot a room!
Think he could be sprawled across de Yak
and someone could just lead em?
Den we could lay dat one to rest!
An move on out!
I'm on a schedule.
Gillek with a morose voice says: Oh, it's, Molbo.
I, should, have, known.
As, soon, as, I, herd, Yak.
Come, on, lets, get, him, up, there.
Klak: I know of da old dwarf story about da dead guy who was strapped to his pony and leads da whole army into da battle.
Gillek starts to look around in the stalls.
So, where's, Nevin, Where's, Alysten?
I, know, there, here, somewhere.
Sarlon: I hope not!
Stories I've heard about Nevin, Nope,
If he comes, da mission is doomed for sure!
No way!
SpringRite: They were traveling with us for a bit, but they went their own way.
Gillek: I, knew, there, was, something, I, didn't, know, yet.
This, just, keeps, getting, better, and , better.
OK, lets, go.
DM: Off you drive!
But lets get a layout of how you're traveling.
SpringRite will ride point on the left side.
Lyden in one of the carts.
Keladryn would lay back near Mace.
Klak would want to be in one of the front wagons.
SpringRite: We need a driver for our wagon.
Slash: Ah, so you have a wagon of your own. Good.
That means we can leave one of ours behind.
SpringRite: Fair enough.
Slash starts handing out the assignments for the drivers.
Harold the first wagon.
Lucille the second,
Barf the third,
Blade the forth,
Skaundish the fifth
Slash the last or sixth.
to Sarlon You pick a spot where you want to go.
Sarlon: I always like the middle.
I'll put my crew in the middle.
He puts his cart third right after lucille's.
Klak looks at the first driver and determines that there would not be room for him, so he asks Lucy, Lucille can I sit in your wagon?
Lucille: OK.
DM: So Mylo and, Ed are riding in Sarlon's cart.
Gillek: How, fast, are, we, going?
Shall, I bother, to bring, the pony, or should, I, ride, in the cart, with, Sarlon?
Sarlon: Well, wit all these carts we won't be going too fast but I know your pony is kinda slow.
You just might want to ride in a cart.
Gillek: Right.
he gets up into the driver's seat next to Sarlon.
Slash goes over to Mace and says, So, which cart do you want Molbo in?
That is the dead man's name, isn't it?
Or is he going to be up on his yak?
Mace: Put him in the middle cart.
Harold and Skaundish grab Molbo and heave him into the cart driven by Barf.
Barf: Ha ha, , I got a dead guy in my cart! Cool!
Lyden: How about tying the yak to that cart?
Lyden jumps onto the backboard of Sarlon's cart.
Sarlon: Now, don't you be touching stuff back their, boy!
Lyden waggles his fingers in the air and says "I wouldn't touch anything!" He then proceeds to take out his dagger and starts carving into the wood of the cart.
Sildar laughs at what Lyden did.
Sarlon sees Lyden and it does not bother him as he notes it is on the cart
and not on any of his cargo.
Lucille calls up to Harold: Now, Harold, don't drive too fast!
We need to make sure these wagons stay in good condition!
Harold: OK, Lucille.
Brin climbs up on the first wagon, If we're gonna be fighting I want a good view of them.
SpringRite on horse left point
Sildar on horse right point
Wagon 1 Harold with Brin
Wagon 2 Lucille with Klak
Wagon 3 Sarlon covered wagon with Ed, mylo, Gillek and Lyden
Gabriella on horse left side middle, between Sarlon and Barf
NightShade on horse right side middle between Sarlon and Barf
Wagon 4 Barf on parties covered cart with body of Molbo
Edam yak tied to forth cart
Wagon 5 Blade
Wagon 6 Skaundish
Wagon 7 Slash the last wagon
Mace on horse rear guard
Keladryn on horse rear guard
The group begins to travel, on a fairly decent road.
It's well maintained.
Moving at a decent pace, the group notices clouds begin to roll in.
After a couple of hours,
SpringRite spots CloudStorm's falcon circling a bit overhead.
It circles the caravan a couple of times and then flies off to the east, in
the direction the group is traveling.
SpringRite turns to Sildar and points up in the air, Looks like
CloudStorm's friend is up there.
He must be not too far ahead.
Sildar nods.
The party spots the stand of trees.
It's a few acres of trees, not huge, but its there.
DM: to CloudStorm, when the falcon returns to you, what do you do?
CloudStorm would then send him out ahead of the group, or ahead of myself
for a search.
Once he circles back from that circuit, I would send him back to the group again.
to circle the group several times and then come back to me.
That way I can gage the way they are traveling, how far and I could
estimate where the group would end up for the evening so that I could keep a look out for a good defensible camp site.
DM: OK, you notice that around is mostly open road.
As you go along there hasn't been much as far as good sites for that kind of thing.
But that may change.
So as the day goes on you periodically spot the falcon in the sky.
coming back and forth from up ahead.
DM: Is the party attempting to move at any kind of speed or or are they just kind of moving at a walking pace?
SpringRite: I would hope at a pace a little faster than walking.
Since everybody is in wagons and horses probably a couple times walking
speed.
DM: Fortunately for you the caravan is not hauling anything heavy so you can probably go at least one and a half times. Twice would be hard to keep up for that length of time.
When I say walking, I mean walking for the horses not for the humans.
So eventually assuming CloudStorm is walking the party chances up to him after maybe four or five hours
depending on if the party stops for lunch.
So it might be 2 or 3 o'clock.
DM: Does the party stop for lunch?
CloudStorm would stop for lunch.
Sarlon would have no problem eating rations in the saddle.
Keladryn Since we are early on our travel probably eat as we go.
dm: So the party would catch up toCloudStorm when he stopped for lunch.
So you've gone past the stand of trees, about ten or twelve miles, and you
spot CloudStorm sitting on a rock off to the side of the road.
He is munching on some trail rations.
SpringRite notices him and points him out to Sildar.
He rides back to the first wagon and says Looks like CloudStorm is ahead. I
think we should stop there for a break and to rest the horses.
Harold: Oh yeah, I could use some lunch.
Lucille: Just don't eat too much, Harold!
You know you need to loose weight!
Harold rolls his eyes.
Seeing SpringRite, CloudStorm would stand up and
would walk over to him and say Hello SpringRite.
How are you doing today?
SpringRite: Very well. Well, met.
CloudStorm: Has the trail been well for you today?
You seem to be making relatively good time.
DM: With the carts stopped the elvin sisters would ride up to join
springRite.
NightShade: Yeah, been quiet so far.
Looks like we may have some rain coming in though.
CloudStorm Yeah, looks like we are in for some storming.
A cleansing rain might be kind of nice.
NightShade: Yeah, hope the bunch back there don't mind getting wet!
CloudStorm looks back, Looks like you got a motley crew.
NightShade: Yeah, tell me about it!
Let me tell Mace what's going on.
She turns her horse around and rides back to the back of the caravan.
Mace: What's going on?
NightShade: Looks quiet, but we might get some stormy weather.
Late summer, you know how that goes.
Mace: so I guess we will make camp here?
NightShade: I don't think it matters where we make camp.
It's not like we're going to find any cover.
Not this close to the city.
Might as well ride through it if we can.
At the mention of weather, Keladryn
would observe the weather.
DM: He definitely can see some storm clouds coming in from the south.
He would guess that they would get in sometime this afternoon.
Maybe 4 o'clockish.
Keladryn Ah, yes we certainly will be getting rain.
And possibly quite heavy.
I'd say in a few hours.
Mace: I think NightShade is right. I think we should ride through as much as
we can.
At this point, time is money.
CloudStorm joins the conversation: Up ahead of us is the possibility that we'll come across some shelters.
I'm not sure exactly where there at.
But it is possible that before the rain comes we will find one.
That would give some protection to those who are not quite as prepared to be in the elements.
NightShade: Oh yeah that's right. I remember those shelters.
They've kind of fallen into disrepair lately since Duke Merdial kind of
stopped keeping them up.
I don't know what kind of shape they're in.
CloudStorm It wouldn't be to difficult
to make some temporary cover on it.
We could cut some pine bowls to keep a little of the moisture off.
However, if you guys want to keep going, that's fine with me as well.
Gabriella: It doesn't bother me one way or the other.
I just know we want to get to Hanmer as soon as possible.
But I know also that if this road gets muddy, we won't be able to go at too great of a speed.
I suppose we should let the rest of the group know.
I'll go talk to Sarlon.
She rides over to Sarlon's wagon.
Sarlon: So, what's goin' on?
Gabriella: It looks like we're in for some heavy weather.
I came over to find out if you want to ride on through it or to stop before
it hits.
DM: both Klak and Lyden can here this conversation.
Sarlon: Well, I think my cart can make it, how about the rest of them?
Gabriella: Well, our cart is in good shape. It came through some nasty
weather up north.
I don't know about the ones that we hired, though.
I suppose I'll have to ask Slash.
Sarlon: Sounds good to me!
Mind you, if it gets too wet, I got stuff here I don't want to take any
chance with. Any moisture gets in to them, their a waste!
Klak hearing the conversation, looks around, Is dare any tarps to cover
dis stuff?
Sarlon: Yeah, there's tarps over there in the corner.
But, hey, even that's not gonna water proof dem.
Gabriella: it's a good thing Molbo is in one of the covered carts as well. We don't need him to smell worse than he already does.
She grins, Probably best that we move forward you think otherwise.
I'll let them know.
She rides back towards Mace.
CloudStorm hearing this turns to SpringRite, Would you like to ride with me
out front or should I scout ahead of you?
SpringRite: It looks like your friend has been doing the scouting. You
could certainly stay with Sildar and myself and have your friend do the
advanced scouting.
CloudStorm: Yes, I will stay with you.
I've already sent my companion out ahead to make sure the way looks clear.
The road looks like its in good repair.
And is a well traveled route, so even if we get substantial rain its
possible that the road unless we get some washouts will be stable enough for
us to travel without getting bogged down too severely.
SpringRite: I wonder if all the party knows that some creatures that would
be hostile in other places could be friendly around here such as Orcs. So
we've got to think before we attack.
Gabriella rides up to SpringRite and says, Sarlon vouches for the integrity
of his cart as fars as keeping rolling in the rain.
Slash said something like, I don't know anything about this cart, I am just driving it.
Do you know anyone in the group that can gage the condition of these wagons?
SpringRite: I'm afraid I'm no help.
I can look at it but maybe we should ask the others.
CloudStorm: I am not familiar with those devices.
They make an auffle lot of noise and to me they squeak and rumble a little too much for my self.
They do not look comfortable at all.
And I'd prefer my feet than to be on one of those.
Gabriella: Well, I'll ask around then.
She asks all the party members and it is a unanimous negative.
SpringRite rides back to Mace, Where did we get these carts?
The drivers don't seem to know anything about them.
Mace: Ooh. I, don't, know.
I didn't ask. I just needed a caravan to hide our activities and drivers and there they are.
CloudStorm: This is rather disappointing. It doesn't bode well for
the competency of the people operating these things
Gabriella: Perhaps we should have a talk with Slash then.
SpringRite nods and rides over to Slash, Where did these wagons come from?
It doesn't seem that your drivers are fimular with them.
Gabriella Mace and CloudStorm would also have gone over.
Slash is sitting in his drivers seat with his boots up on the front,
munching some bread, says, I... They were... well, I got them from, ah, they were second hand.
On short notice, I didn't have a lot of chances to ask too many questions.
If I had a few more days to get things together, we might have had better knowledge of these things.
CloudStorm: Yes, but can't you look at them and make a determination?
Slash: Well, I can see that they're rollin'.
I don't see anything broken. But, then, I ain't no carpenter!
CloudStorm: Will they make it through a muddy road?
Slash, Huh, ya got, me, friend.
He grins and you notice he's got a gold tooth.
Like I said, I didn't have time to ask too many questions.
CloudStorm would turn and walk up to the front of the caravan.
Then he would head towards the rock where his horse was.
He would collect his pack and get ready to go.
Keladryn would come over to CloudStorm and ask Have you had a chance to
check any of the terrain ahead?
CloudStorm: Not really, I've been going down the road and and from the view
so far I can see it looks mainly like farmland and fields.
There are not that many trees. There is just that grove of trees that I
spent the night in about five to ten miles back there. From what I
understand, this is going to be the terrain probably for the next day or so.
DM: Keladryn knows that the terrain in this area is pretty much flat at
least for the next couple of days.
After that there's some hills for a day or two, which is the home of some Giants.
And then it gets flat again for a couple of more days until you reach the crossroads.
At which point you would turn south towards Hanmer.
This whole section of the country is pretty flat.
Keladryn: Well it's been quite a while since I've been this way. But my
memory of it is that we'll probably hit some hilly area in a couple of days
or so.
This is all we have to look forward to.
I suppose we might as well keep going until it starts raining because if we camp here or farther up we will be in the same terrain.
CloudStorm: My falcon should return when he encounters a shelter. That way I
can get a gage on how far a distance we shall have to travel.
When that occurs, I will let the group know.
So we will have an idea of the distance we need to go.
Keladryn That sounds good.
I suppose we should get ready and move on because the rain is coming.
CloudStorm: Yes, I'm prepared.
How about yourself?
Keladryn I'm a follower of Sedric, I'm always prepared to travel!
CloudStorm: Your deity, it sounds like he's akin to me.
Keladryn If you enjoy the art of traveling, I would say so.
You apparently like the open air, and being out in the weather, which he is
also very fond of.
CloudStorm: Ah, yes, there's nothing like the open air and the wide open spaces.
Keladryn Let me head back to the others and suggest we get moving.
At least until it starts raining and then we can determine if the carts can take it.
CloudStorm will pull out his poncho since he knows it will soon be raining.
He will not put it on but have it at hand so he can put it on quickly
The party decides to park the caravan and head up on foot or horseback to battle the giants.
Two of the Dwarves, Brin and Klak, had jogged out ahead of the party, a distance and and were 200 yards away from the bottom of the hill that the giants were on and the rest of the party was about maybe 100 to 150 yards behind them.
CloudStorm says to Lyden, You go in that direction , I'll go in this direction, so we
can attack from two spots.
CloudStorm is making for a medium sized rocky outcropping underwhich he's going to take cover.
CloudStorm is now positioned to the North East, about 70 yards away from the giants.
Lyden can crouch down and be covered by the grass.
He would be closer to the party more to the North West of them.
Lyden looks for a bolder or something to take cover behind, and spots a tree stump.
He activates his ring of Chameleon Power.
DM: Sarlon handed CloudStorm a case with several explosive arrows in it, but you do not know how many.
CloudStorm is going to hold his attack until he sees other
party members coming up the road before he starts his diversion.
The Dwarves can make out the giants a bit at the top of the hill, with the top of the hill being 100 feet off the ground.
So it is a decent hill.
And it is a fairly steep hill as well so you're probably 350 to 400 yards away from the giants in a straight line.
Lyden is about half way down the hill, so when he finds his stump he is
about 50 yards down the North face from them.
Lyden rolls 1d100 for move silently, gets 22,
so not even CloudStorm can hear him.
CloudStorm is behind Lyden and to his left, about 30 yards away from him, behind a rock.
Lyden rolls 1d12 for hearing giants, gets 12.
so he only hears an occasional grunt.
But he can tell that they are not looking in his direction.
He decides to take the Chameleon Power ring off because he doesn't want the other properties to come into play.
After He takes it off he moves up 25 yards and finds another place to
hunker down again.
Lyden rolls a 1d100 and gets 8,
so no one hears him, his dice are hot.
While he does that, the Dwarves move forward since they are jogging to 75 yards from the base of the hill.
The rest of the party is moving at about the same speed, they're keeping the same distance between them and the Dwarves.
CloudStorm seeing what's happening, and seeing the Dwarves approaching, is getting his bow prepared.
Klak realizes that if he goes along the road the side of the hill facing the road is a little steeper. And if he goes right below one of the giants, and he throws the weapon straight up, that would be just about the maximum limit
he could throw which is 60 yards.
He realizes that going up the hill would be more difficult than going along the road so he says to Brin,
"Ah, "What da ya have for long range? I'm
thinkin' I'll be goin' along the road tossin' my weapon at them. I think day might be close enough to just bairly get em."
He looks over and says, "Is dat a cross bow?"
Brin pats the cross bow he's carrying.
"Yeah, I bought dis back in town. Ta replace da one I lost back in dat place where I was fighten' da trolls."
Klak replies, "Yeah, since dare up on dat hill, it would be kinda stupid ta go up and hand to hand fight wit dem cause day would just trow rocks down on
us as we were tryin' ta get to dem."
Brin: "Deaz guys trow rocks? We ain't got guys like deaz back in Korium yah know. I'm just gonna shoot dem, dare big enough."
Klak: "I'm hopen my weapon is good enough , ah, its designed for hittin'
giants, so ta speak. Its sort of a giant killer, but I just wish I could get a little closer to dem."
Brin: "Yeah, I hear ya."
DM: So Lyden is creeping up on the giants, and one of them turns to face in the direction of the Dwarves and indeed, just as they get to the bottom of
the hill, on the West side, he throws a rock in their general direction.
Meanwhile, CloudStorm is also shooting.
Klak sees a giant raise a rock over its head, he says, "Ah lets
split apart so he got two targets ta aim at. It looks like he's throwin' one!"
Brin: "Ah, you go on ahead, I can probably hit him from here."
Klak speeds up to put some distance between him and Brin.
CloudStorm fires first at the giants, and as it flies through the air the arrow bursts into flame and the giant roars as it hits him in the left thigh.
The arrow does hit the giant nearest to him, Giant #3, which is the giant on the opposite side of the hill from the one throwing the rock at the Dwarves, Giant #2, and
the one nearest Lyden, Giant #1.
(not stated but probably a good hit point damage.)
After his shot CloudStorm moves so that it looks like there's more archers on the hillside than just the two."
CloudStorm will take one shot per round not two.
Brin stops 90 yards from the rock throwing giant, Giant #2, while Klak is running to get closer.
Klak rolls a 1d20 to check if he knows how far a giant can throw a rock and gets a9. So he would be sure that the giant can hit him at this range and probably a bit further than that.
DM: Giant #2, seeing the two Dwarves split up aims at Brin.
Brin is getting his cross bow prepared for a shot, and the rock comes
whistling down and slams him right in the chest.
Knocks him off his feet rolls him over a couple of times, and he ends up on his hands and knees.
He is not looking too good and obviously the party would see this happen.
After hitting Brin the rock would bounce a few times in the direction of the party.
Klak following the path of the rock would say, "Oh Dazhak's Divine Thunder Hammer of Smithereens will get you for that!"
Sarlon: "You shore dis is a good idea? Damn, Dat just slammed him pretty hard!"
Mace: "Well, I didn't want to hang around here too much but somebody was a little worried about their wagons. We're gonna have to do what we have to do
then get out of here"
Mace noting that Klak who is now about 80 yards away from the giants, knows to do what he wants to do he would have to pass him and go up the hill a bit to get into range of his spell.
At this point the rest of the party still is keeping 100 yards between
themselves and the Dwarves, so if they had kept moving they would be about 50 yards behind Brin.
At the end of the round Klak would be directly below the giants.
Mace can clearly see the giant who through the rock. He is standing on kind of a ledge at the top of the hill.
There is a little bit of hillside between the giant and Mace.
So the Giant has a small amount of cover.
But that is not too much since he is 16 feet tall.
The other two giants are behind that giant in Mace's perspective.
From this point Mace could not judge the distance the three giants were together, could be between 2 and 20 feet.
Keladryn casts his bless spell on the group around him.
Lyden, 1
Sildar, 3
Mace, 3
Sarlon, 3
SpringRite, 3
Keladryn, 8
Klak, 9
He throws his magical Dart of Homing once and 2 regular darts, aiming at the one throwing the rocks.
1d20 roll of 6, plus 5 for 11 but he needs a 13 to hit.
Because the dart doesn't hit it looses its magical properties.
does a 1d12 for placement, and gets 7 so it lands a little short.
Rolls 1d20 for the regular darts, gets 4, and 8 for two misses.
SpringRite gets his long bow and Sheaf arrows ready for 2 medium range
shots, but he has to ride up 20 yards to where Brin is laying.
He rolls a 1d20 and gets a 1, critical fumble.
Rolls another and Gets a 6
As SpringRite is moving forward, he is attempting to get his bow in order, and the horse's reigns slip out of his grasp and he jerks over to the right because he almost rode Brin down as he was fiddling with the bow and he looses both of his attacks.
SpringRite looks at Brin and he is getting up very slowly,
and it looks like he got the wind knocked out of him pretty good.
The breast plate of his armor looks very dented, and caved in.
CloudStorm has moved about 30 yards off but slips on a rock that gets a
giant's attention.
He will still be able to get his next shot off anyway.
He shoots a fire arrow and hits Giant #3 a second time. The giant roars and spots his attacker, snatches up a club and starts down the hill toward CloudStorm.
There are now a couple of scorch marks on that giant's leg.
Sildar runs forward 30 yards to get into medium range for his cross bow.
Mace plans to run up towards Klak to be in range for his spell, he notices
the far giant #3 has broken formation, he turned his back and is going
down the hill moving from right to left.
Sarlon is going to cast magic missile on the closest giant, so he moves
right up behind Sildar.
Sarlon 4 rolls 4 spells, 1d4 plus 1, and gets 1, 1, 1, 2 total 5 plus 4
total 9 hp directed to the rock thrower, giant #1, who has not been hit.
The giant reacts like he has been bitten by four mosquitoes.
Sarlon: "Shit, What the hell is up wit my spells today?"
Gillek turns to Sarlon right before he moves and says: "What, do, you, want, me, to, do, chief?"
Sarlon: "Well, ya got something to throw at it? I don't think ya want to go running up dat hill!"
Gillek: "Right." and he gets his cross bow out and takes a position next to Sildar saying "Just, stay, behind, us."
Ed: "Yes, we will."
Giants being not to bright is targeting Sildar.
At the beginning of the round Keladryn was about 10 yards behind Mace and 160 yards from the giants.
Sildar moved up 30 yards, Sarlon behind Sildar and Keladryn is 50 yards from Brin.
Keladryn is 120 yards from where Klak and SpringRite are.
Keladryn addresses the group: "Remember, they get confused easily, so now is the time to split up and give them different targets to concentrate on."
Keladryn moves off to his right onto the tall grass away from the others and
will not take any action at the moment.
Sildar aims his cross bow at the nearest giant and fires.
He rolls a 1d20 and gets 13 for a hit.
A 1d4 damage gets a 1.
Giant #1, in his language says,
"Another one of those mosquitoes!"
Klak notices the giant in the middle, Giant #2, looking down at him. It looks like he aims to throw a rock as well.
NightShade is going off to the left through the tall grass.
Gabriella is going to move off the road as well and needs to close a bit to do what she wants to do.
The middle giant throws a rock at Klak who dodges slightly and it misses
him and it bounces down the hill to his right.
Klak judges that he is within the 60 yards and as he swings his hammer in a circle he says the command word, then throws it at the giant who attacked him.
Klak rolls a 1d20 and gets 15 for a hit.
The party is momentarily deafened by a double clap of what sounds like
thunder that echoes off the hills.
Klak rolls a 1d4 for damage gets a 1 with 19 bonus points for a 20 points of damage on the giant.
Giant #2 lets out a loud bellow, and picks up his club then runs straight down the hill towards Klak.
Klak stands there and watches the hammer return to his hand like a
boomerang which takes about six seconds.
As mace rushes towards Klak he notices the giant running down the hill, so he pulls up since he only needs to be within 80 yards of the target.
He is 30 yards from Klak and realizes that Klak may be able to handle the oncoming giant and judges that he is also about 80 yards from the other bolder throwing giant.
Giant #1 takes aim at Sildar and hits him a glancing shot
off his shoulder for 14 hit points damage.
Sildar is knocked back a step or two.
Sarlon seeing the rock head right for him says: "Dats headin' right for me!"
So he runs off away from Sildar.
Gillek shoots his cross bow but misses wide right.
Round 2 initiative:
Klak 4
Keladryn 6
Sildar 7
Lyden 8
SpringRite 9
Sarlon 9
Mace 10
more of those Mosquito bites.
Giant #2 reaches Klak and swings his club at the same time Klak swings his hammer.
Klak rolls 1d20 and gets 19 for a hit.
Rolls 1d4 for damage and gets 2 plus 9 for a total of 11 points damage.
The hammer smashes into the chest of the giant and the party hears a loud boom!
The group hears the other bolder thrower, giant #1 shout something and the giant who
is pursuing CloudStorm, giant #3 stops and then starts running towards where the rest of the party is.
giant #2 attacking Klak hits him on the head with the club for 14 points of damage.
(Klak's Ioun Stone absourbes 9 hit points so he is down 5, his total is now 57 )
Klak exclaims" Ouch! Grar!"
Brin now on his feet seeing Klak in trouble charges in.
Keladryn is hanging back observing, the giant attacking Klak, is 100 yards away within medium bow range.
He pulls out a flite arrow
Sildar is about 80 yards from the giant fighting Klak, he readies his cross bow for another shot.
Sarlon is looking for cover, he heads left and goes onto the grass.
But he notices giant #3 running towards him.
Sarlon: "I ain't goin' dat way!."
Sarlon wants to keep the giant in sight and within range but get away enough
so that he doesn't get trampled.
Then he will stop and try to get his magic missiles off.
Gabriella after firing her magic missile decides to dash across the road
towards Keladryn away from the oncoming giant #3.
He lifts a bolder and has to pick from four targets.
He picks Sarlon.
Sarlon seeing the rock heading his way, "Oh shit! He don't like black boys?"
Sarlon runs off and gets nicked in the back by the rock and gets 7 points of damage.
It still sends him sprawling.
Sarlon: "Oh that Mother is goin' down!"
He spits out dirt and says, "He's goin' down good!"
The running giant is heading directly towards Keladryn and Gillek and ed.
Ed seeing it heading towards him says, "Uh?"
Mace is aiming his flash spell at the bolder thrower, giant #1.
The giant's eyes light up surrounded by a flash and it roars a bit but it saves and is not blinded.
Giant #1 is dazed and blinks a few times before it can see his targets
again.
Lyden looks up at giant #1 still on the hill and it is behind a ridge of rocks from the knees down.
Lyden tosses 3 darts at giant #1,
rolls 1d20 and gets, 12, 5, 6 for 1 hit.
rolls 1d2 and gets 2 plus 3 for 5 hit points damage.
Lyden glues himself down to the ground and tries to make himself very small and activates his ring of Chameleon Power.
Keladryn sees giant #3 bearing straight at the group in front of him about 40 yards away.
Ed starts to run back towards the carts.
Keladryn aims his bow at giant #3 heading towards Sildar and intends to back off so that Sildar is between him and the giant.
rolls 1d20 and gets 18 for a hit
rolls 1d6 and gets 5 hit points damage.
To get to the one fighting Klak he would have to ride his horse up the hil, a little tricky but it could be done.
He decides to wait for the battle to unfold differently.
He uses his bow and readies a Sheaf arrow
aims at the bolder thrower, Giant #1.
rolls a 1d20 and gets 9 for a hit.
rolls 1d8 and gets 8.
Giant #1 roars with the arrow in its chest and looks a little woozy.
SpringRite has a smug smile on his face from his great shot.
Sildar sees the running giant heading directly to him.
But giant #3 takes a big golf swing at Gillek knocks him up out and over Keladryn and into the grass.
Gillek: "Oh, that, really, hurt."
Sildar swings his magic sword at the giant near him.
rolls a 1d20 and gets 1.
then rolls 1d20 and gets10 for a critical fumble.
Sildar gets caught up in watching the dwarf fly over his head, giant #3
barrels into him knocks the sword out of his hand.
The sword goes skittering across the road and lands next to Keladryn's
horse.
Keladryn sees that the giant is 15 yards away and no one between them.
He decides to forgo his arrow shot and splits with the horse away from giant #3 going back down the road towards the caravan.
SpringRite gets his second shot, aiming at the bolder throwing giant, Giant #1.
rolls 1d20 and gets 18 for a hit.
rolls 1d8 and gets 4.
A flaming arrow from CloudStorm comes flying into the hill over giant #1 and lands between the two halves of the party on the grass between the bolder thrower and Mace.
The party sees a small puff of smoke and the grass starts burning.
Klak's between-rounds attack:
1d20 is 7 1d4 is 4
That is a miss, bouncing off the giant's leg without
causing any damage.
Lyden 3
Keladryn 3
Mace 4
Klak 5
Sarlon 8
Sildar 9
SpringRite 10
SpringRite will still use his bow on his horse.
Keladryn and Ed have run back towards the caravan.
Ed stops about 100 yards off turns aroundand is watching things.
Lyden will head up the hill towards the ring of stones about 15 yards away
to get close enough for a dagger throw on Giant #1.
Mace plans on casting lightning on the bolder thrower.
The giant that hit Sildar is about 30 yards from him.
Sarlon plans on casting an acid cloud on that giant if Sildar is not close
to him.
Sildar plans to head for his sword the giant is 5 yards away while the sword
is 10.
Gabriella is hiding in the tall grass.
NightShade is sneaking up the hill.
stones, is the boulder-throwing giant, Giant #1, who is currently dazed by Mace's Nystul's Flash spell.
is Lyden.
hillside from the road, giant #2 is engaged in melee with Klak and
Brin.
horseback and is riding around, trying to present a moving target to the boulder thrower. He still has his bow out.
about the middle of the road, having essentially run through Sildar.
Sildar himself is down on one knee, recovering from the blow, about 5
yards north of the giant. Sarlon is about 15 yards south of the giant,
crouching in the tall grass off the side of the road. Off to Sarlon's
right, about 10 yards away, Gabriella is also crouching in the grass.
Somewhere behind Sarlon is where Gillek landed.
are trying their best to stay out of the combat.
middle of the road as well.
DM: Not a whole lot beyond the tall grass itself. A couple hills
to the north there are some trees.
DM: I assumed the cloak, yes. That's part of why the giant
couldn't find him.
does he see.
don't brush their teeth, and their clubs are bigger than he is.
get ready to take a shot at the giant that is up on the top of the hill if he is within range.
DM: Yes, he is. For the moment, he's still in the position from which he took his last shot (the one that went past the giant and over the hill).
Mind you, he's on the border between medium and long range, but the
giant is a nice big target.
DM: His falcon is with him. I figured he wouldn't want to risk
sending him anywhere near the giants for fear of them playing baseball with him.
CloudStorm would send the falcon into the air, telling him to stay clear of there projectile weapons. However attempt to caus a disturbance in a direction
that there is currently noone is at right now. CloudStorm would move in the direction where he sees the nearest cover. He would stop short at the point where his initiative would allow him to take a shot this round. He would attempt
to do this without being seen.
something back.
just on the other side of Giant #3.
firing his bow.
CloudStorm moves back toward the rock he abandoned earlier.
Sildar and starts moving down the road toward the rest of the party.
horse back toward the rest of the party.
up his sword from where it was lying in the grass.
behind. Mace, absorbed in his spell, does not notice this.
to cast his dagger.
squawking noises and beating its wings around in the grass. The
boulder-thrower briefly looks in its direction, but then brings its
attention.
directly behind Giant #2, generating a fair amount of smoke.
giant #3 with Ice Storm from wand... I may have to pursue him tho to do
this and that's ok.
"I blow my nose at you, you empty headed stink pot!"
Holding his shield in one hand Klak will swing his hammer and say,
"May Dazhak's Hammer smash your balls into pancakes!"
3d10 is 8
5d6 is 16
SpringRite targets the giant he has been shooting at before. He shoots his arrow, but keeps moving on his horse to provide a difficult target. SpringRite then takes a minute to ensure Gabriella is still okay.
1d20 is 3
1d8 is 2
move away from him toward Mace.
fingertips. Just before it reaches the giant at the top of the hill, it
flares into a full-fledged bolt of lightning. The giant barely has time
to move, but part of the damage is turned aside by the giant's thick
hide (ST: 9, saved), and the giant takes only 8 points of damage from
the strike.
himself standing nose-to-kneecap with Giant #3, who is bellowing at him
and bringing his club to bear.
and clanks against the stone wall in front of him, landing inside the ring.
Lyden's rolls
move silently 1d100 gets 6
1d20 gets5 so no hit.
reject from Acheron!" and swings his hammer, but it misses wildly
(1d20 roll of 3).
my way now...shit, he better get outta there afore I hit him too!"
mini-boulder.
for cover and ducks down into the grass to prepare for another bow shot.
Klak's rolls
1d20 gets 11 a hit
1d4 gets 1 plus 9 bonus for 10
weapons at the giant, and ponders his next move.
in hand.
getting in his way and tucks the wand back into one of his robe pockets.
Segment 9
an arrow.
find, my, crossbow..."
down from the top of the hill, just glancing off his right hip (d20: 15)
for 4 points of damage.
points of damage.
clubs Mace atop the head (d20: 19) for 16 points of damage.
expired.
Mace rolls 69
Segment 11
couple steps, then falls on his rear end.
blow aside (d20: 6).
causing 9 points of damage.
causing 3 points of damage to the boulder-thrower, Giant #1.
into the giant's right thigh. A gout of blood rushes from it, and the
giant starts to topple backward...
overcompensates in his attempt to avoid hitting the combatants, and the
arrow lands on the hillside.
the giant lands sprawled out on the road. However, Mace is now covered
in giant blood.
grass next to Sarlon, and waves to her, smiling. Gabriella shouts "One
down, two to go!"
stone wall and charges down the hill toward Sildar.
"Come on, giant! I'll take you down, too!"
CloudStorm fumbles the arrow out of his hand uselessly as the top of the
giant's head disappears beyond the hilltop...
between-rounds attack
Brin swings his hammer at the giant's calf, and it connects (d20: 13)
for 3 HP
(1d4) of damage.
Sarlon 1
SpringRite 4
Klak 9
side of the road.
he retreats, the giant takes a mighty swing, and Klak just BARELY ducks
under the swinging club!
down the hillside, who is quickly closing in on him.
sack sitting on the back edge of the ring of stones.
giant.
Gillek replies "No, I, found, my, crossbow, already, thanks."
doesn't move.
Mace shushes him, saying "I'm. Not. Here."
of small bits of ice shoots forth from it, hitting the giant and
covering the ground beneath him. The giant flails about with his arms
for a moment, then slips and falls...
...and starts sliding down the hill RIGHT AT SILDAR...
The ice storm also puts out the burning grass.
He is right on the edge of the ice field.
SILDAR dexterity check roll 1d20 gets4
SILDAR easily gets a good running start in an arc off to the side out of the way of the slyding giant.
But SILDAR looses his attack for the round.
The sliding giant #1 will miss Keladryn, but it will be a close miss.
The easiest way for Keladryn to miss would be to ride closer to Mace.
Brin takes a swing at giant #2
rolls 15 and gives the giant 4 points of damage.
Mace lying behind the unconscious and bleading giant #3 hears giant #1 fall and scream,
"Ah!, Thud! Roar ah!
Mace to Keladryn Padre, I don't think this is a place you should be."
He gets to his knees, and surveys the situation.
I don't know what you're here for but do what you got to do and get out of here!
Keladryn observing the giant sliding down the hill would let Mace know about it.
Giant #2 turns to face Brin, and SpringRites arrow thunks him dead center of the chest.
1d20 is 20
1d8 is 7
A critical hit for 14 points of damage on giant #2
This guy looks really bad, like you could blow him over with a stiff wind, but he's still standing.
The giant wavers just a little bit, then starts to bring his club down on Brin and pounds him into the ground.
14 points of damage kills Brin.
He is now negative 12 so joins his brother Fren.
SpringRite seeing this, is in great dismay because he feels he might have caused Brin's demise.
A moment later NightShade's arrow comes flying at giant #2 from off on the hill side, hitting him right in the back.
The giant falls backwards, and fortunately there is no one back there.
He crashes to the ground, dead.
SpringRite seeing the second giant down, turns his horse around and heads in the direction of the sliding giant.
Gillek: "Well, there, goes, my, target, again.
Sarlon to Gillek, "Well, if ya want another target, ya can go over and get the one I just knocked over! Just don't get stepped on"
Klak about to throw his hammer at Giant #2 watches his Dwarf friend get pounded and the giant dispatched, turns to see giant #1 sliding down the hill on his back about 40 to 50 yards away.
He yells, "You damn giants! Killed my friend! Now you get it!"
He says the command word Thos" and throws his hammer at giant #1.
1d20 is 5 1d4 is 3
With the giant being prone, the roll turned into a hit for 26 points of damage.
The party hears a loud Boom as the hammer smaks into the side of the giant's head.
That's enough to take giant #1 out as well.
SpringRite yells out, "Do these giants have and gold or anything of value with them?"
He rides over to the closest giant to check him out.
Keladryn to Mace, "Well it appears the giants are done. Although we should probably make sure"
Sarlon comes out from the grass and comes slowly over to the fallen giants now that folks are gathering around.
Sarlon: "Hey, you find any gold? That's fine but I'm gonna get somethin' dat may be more valuable!
Show me where one of dem wounds are."
Mace: "Well, weht we really need to do here is get these giants off the road, and get those caravans through here. We shouldn't be hanging around here too long."
Keladryn: "That is wise. We do not know if there are any others within range."
Looking at Mace he says, "How are you feeling, do you need some healing right now?"
Liden in a piping voice calls out from the top of the hill, " They don't have any gold, but they have silver!"
SpringRite yells out, "Did you find the silver on them?"
Lyden,"Big sack!"
SpringRite, "Good stuff!"
By now NightShade will have risen from the grass, "Ah, everything allright down there?"
Klack will yell up to Lyden, "Can you carry it down or do you need help?"
Lyden, "Me? I can't carry all that!"
Ed comes over to Sarlon, who is filling up a bottle with the giant's blood.
"Ya need me to heal you chief?"
Klack seeing what Sarlon is doing says, "wow, giant blood is valuable, you're gonna need a barrel! I'm gonna go up the hill and help the little one."
Sarlon: "I ain't takin' it all. Depends on if dare any impurities."
But it can always be useful for sumtin'."
Looking at Ed he says, "Well, I got bonked a little bit, but I think I'll be OK."
Ed: "Well I'll go look after the Dwarf then, he looks quite beaten up."
SpringRite calls over to Mace, "It's all fine and good to get out of here as fast as we can but we should collect any silver and gold!"
Remember, we still need to bring Molbo around and it's not gonning to come cheep."
Keladryn seeing that Mace looks horrible, casts a cure moderate on him.
rolls 1d10 plus 1 for a total of 7
Mace looks a good deal better now.
Keladryn goes over to Brin to see if there is anything he can do for him.
Mace: Well I'll go back and get the caravan. Sarlon I don't know what you're gonna do about your cart, but I'm going back to get the rest."
"You guys gets these, tings, off the road!"
SpringRite: "Mace, these giants are several tons in weight! Do you have any idea how we can move them?"
DM: Giant #2 is on the hill side, so he's off the road.
The other two make an upside down T in the middle of the road.
Giant #3 is parallel to the road right
in the middle of it.
Giant #1 slid to a stop right at the other Giant's feet.
SpringRite: "I think we better get some ropes and horses and see if we can haul them off the road."
Sarlon: "Well, you guys are gonna have ta do dat,I'm gonna go back wit Mace and make sure things are in order."
Lyden is up on the rock wall scanning the cuntry side looking out for anything that might be coming.
He sees CloudStorm coming up the back of the hill.
He also sees the falcon circling overhead.
They use four draft horses and a rope to drag the giants off the road, taking a few hours.
Klack brings the sack of the giants down after getting help from Lyden's spell.
They burry Brin at the top of the hill with his weapons, after taking his money pouch and backpack.
There is 20 gold in the pouch which Klak will share with the others who fought the giants.
Klak puts the giant's sack into the party's cart and they count it at the next rest stop.
They divide 180 silver pieces to each of the 10 fighters.
So each person gets a total of 20 gold in value and 20 xp points.
At the bottom of the sack Sildar discovers a gem encrusted dagger.
Klak guesses 750 gp
mylo checks dagger for magic 3 gp from Sildar
no magic detected.
We pass through the hills and at the last hill find a camp site at the top of the hill.
We stop for the night with the caravan at the bottom of the hill.
adjusted watches
lyden, Sildar, and Gabriella first watch
mace, spring, slash second
klak, nightshade, gillek third
cloudstorm, kaladrin, and sirloin forth
Keladryn heals Mace and Sildar.
klak down 5 gets healing 3
2 for sleep night to get back to max.
In the morning everyone is at max hit points.
falcon checks out bridge 3 miles away
sees bulky creatures with large mouths and weapons.
With this increase, SpringRite and Gabriella go up a level.
web page by Louis Scrivani and Phil Vlasak,
August 7, 2006