Mattsters of the Mattiverse Session 5

10 Days Until the Auction

The Dragonpriest

• The party goes into the room that Jot came from, Gokar jumping, the rest climbing the pit
• Under the illumination of a green-tinged Everburning Torch rests a giant sarcophagus of Marble. It is held firmly shut by iron clasps that, though rusted, remain intact after millenia
• Russ and Gokar get to work opening things. Edi and Apt look around
  • There's a secret door! We leave it for now
• Russ anticipates danger and shields himself. Gokar shoves off the top of the sarcophagus
  • There is a flash of light! Halfling luck keeps Gokar unaffected, but Russ succumbs to blindness
  • Left where the light came from is a gruesome troll, a bit smaller than normal. It immediately attacks, mindlessly
  • Russ gets big, troll gets a hit or two on Edi before he can run behind Large Russ, and the two Alchemists do what they do
  • Russ's sight returns, he becomes noticeably deadly
  • Edi notices that burning stops the regeneration, and the bastard dies in fairly short order, with Edi to seal the deal.
• The grave is lootenated:
  • 1 MW dagger (becoming a MW shortsword for Edi)
  • a fancy ring (5gp)
  • a fancy amulet (10gp)
  • 2 silver bracelets with dragons (15 gp each)
  • 220 sp (split, on individual sheets)
  • 50 gp (split, on individual sheets)
  • Scrolls:
    • command
    • cure light wounds
    • inflict light wounds
    • magic stone
• That done, the party checks out the secret door. It turns out to go back to the room with statues, so they can skip jumping the pit.
• The party decides to head back Goblinward. Everyone manages to jump the dart trap

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So. Many. Goblins.

• The come back to find a door heavily barricaded. It is dealt with.
• Continue on, through the smoky corridor. Find entrances to a large room, and one to a tower.
• In what ends up being the worst tactical choice of his career so far, Apt readies an action to shoot an arrow into the large room.
• Gokar opens the door. It ends up being ALL of the Goblins (with their Hobgoblin friends), who have hunkered down here to make their stand.

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• Chaos ensues. Russ lobs in a bomb to soften some people, he and Gokar retreat slowly to cover the squishier people
• The Goblins move to flank. Edi breaks free and continues running, all the way to the Kobolds. A Goblin half-heartedly gives chase, then runs back
• Everyone else is hemmed in, and a brutal slugfest ensues. Gokar beats things to a pulp. Russ throws bombs, and begins rending things with his... claws(??)
• Apt makes incredibly good use of Intimidate
  • The chieftain, Durnn, and Grenl, an Oracle, make an appearance. The Oracle has a rod, the chieftain, a sword.
• The party manages to get a reasonable chokepoint, but is still vastly outnumbered. Erky pulls his weight, and the party manages to barely hang out

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• A brilliant placement of the Feather Token partially blocks off one side with a tree. The Goblins end up having to waste time heading back the other direction

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• Erky pulls his weight, channeling when appropriate, getting the odd hit or two, and holding the tree door fast
• Some great hits, a steady stream of heals, and the tide starts to turn. Russ manages to scare off Grenl.
• Gokar, Durnn, and Russ all engage at the top. Russ maneuvers in to flank and brutalizes Durnn, who is left disabled with an enormous chunk taken out of his throat
• Apt finishes him off with an acid splatter.
• Erky is critted very nearly into oblivion (-11 out of -12). Apt saves him with a potion, and he is out the rest of the battle
• Russ fills the gap. He disables a hobgoblin, who manages, with his last blow, to bring Russ into negatives.
• Another potion, and Russ comes up to 1. He is not put under again, making this two sessions in a row where he's missed out on the Cat Napper achievement.
• The last Goblins are put down.
• This entire time, Edi has been supplicating the Kobolds, but his pleas fall on deaf ears. Yusdrayl refuses to send a posse

Aftermath

• Limping, tapped out, and low on items, the group heads back to their favorite room. Gokar carries Durnn, Russ carries Erky
  • (Durnn is looted. He has a bunch of Medium masterwork items, and Talgren's signet ring)
  • Chain Mail, Heavy Steel Shield, Longsword. Gokar takes them all
• Edi wanders in. He is overjoyed to see them alive.
• Russ, infuriated, slams Edi against a wall, screaming into his face
• He vents every ounce of the pain in his battered hide into Edi's face. Edi sobs and tries to explain himself. Russ ignores the tiny person and makes his feelings known.
• Apt interjects with reasonable statements
• In his rage, he accidentally deactivates the Lesser Hat of Disguise he has been wearing the entire time. The party, including a very suprised and confused Edi, get to see Ressalssithalifthel'Keear's true form--a towering Lizardfolk, with dark green scales and a bright blue dorsal ridge poking out from his loose clothing.
• The party reacts to this development. Russ notices the others noticing him, then immediately drops Edi and goes on the defensive.
• He looks frantically for a way out, but doesn't see anything. When he notices at the rest of the party isn't setting upon him, he untenses into a slump
• Gokar, more than anything else, is curious. He asks if it's a mutagen. Russ tells the group that he is actually a Lizardfolk. The party takes it in remarkable stride, all things considered.
• Russ, spent and evidently not in the immediate danger he thought he was in, makes one final threat/promise to Edi, then moves to tend to camp and his extracts in silence. Erky wakes up just in time for Russ to be disguised, again.
• The party does an eight-hour rest and regains spells, but not hitpoints/stat points

9 and a half days to the auction

A Great Kobold Victory

• The party goes back to the large room. When they get there, it is swarming with Kobolds.
• Yusdrayl is there
• Yusdrayl, after not getting counterattacked, sent scouts, who confirmed that the Goblins were beaten. She returned with a force and mopped up.
• They say they are very grateful to the PCs. They, of course, don't back this up materially
• Next game will find the players wrapping up that dialogue, and then heading through the hole in the room to the second floor of the dungeon.

Awards

• Achievements:
  • Slitherrr: Two Birds (25xp) (bombs, baby!)
  • Apt: Not to Put Too Fine a Point On It (5xp) (arrows are useful)
  • Slitherrr and Gokar: Pincushion (15 xp)
  • Gokar: Bastard! (25 xp)
  • Apt: Charades (5 xp) (magic rod??)
• The Dragonpriest troll thing: 100 xp
• Seven Hobgoblins, 3 civilian Goblins, Seven Goblins, Durnn: 660 xp for all non-Edi, 300 for Edi (no battle contribution, but running away was still a good idea)
• The Sneaky Lizard Reveal: 125xp to Slitherrr for keeping his identity secret for five sessions
• The Oak Tree Token: 25xp to Mattie
• Downarrow use: 25 xp to all for being diligent