RED OAK: Return to the Pass of the Hounds

[Longman]

It's +3 damage. (There is no +3 to hit for favored enemy.)

They swap places again.
But during this time the goblin turns around, and starts looking straight at the tower. He's going to see you.

Freya shoots him in the stomach through the arrow hole and kills him instantly. (I figure she'd have to do this.)

I gave her a roll to see if she could somehow manage this quietly and it didn't work. The snap of the bowstring was pretty loud and he groaned a bit.

The torch keeps moving at the same speed and is now within within range of Kilian's darksight as it approaches area 17.

There is a very small goblin holding the torch, looking very nervous. Kilian can hear more humanoids behind it, to either side, still in the dark. He's not sure how many, but definitely more than one.

(Bear in mind the torch ruins the best effects of his darksight so really all he can see is roughly how big the creature is. That's all).

[Woe]

We'll wait until they're closer, or until they spot us.

[Longman]

They get closer.

Through his periscope, Kilian can now see 2 goblins with bows and 2 bugbears with maces move forward fast and climb up into area 17 and into the grounds (16). 2 more goblins with bows are about 20' behind those. The torch itself is a way back from that. Behind the torch is another mid-sized goblin.

They are being surprisingly quiet and well organized.

[Woe]

So five goblins and two bugbears? Also, you neglected to mention what is carrying the torch (but you did mention what is behind it).

Stay tight, let's see whether they get into good firing lanes.

[Longman]

There is a very small goblin holding the torch, looking very nervous

(I did mention it.)

They all move up into area 16 and start talking. One of the bugbears calls out a few words and a goblin voice answers from the south. Then it calls out again and two more voices answer from the north. It calls again and there is no answer.

No prize for guessing its calling for the one you just shot. This seems to be some kind of organized attempt to scout and then take over the compound.

As far as you know they still do not know you are there although the bugbear is getting suspicious.

There are 2 goblins in the north, one in the south, and 4 goblins and 2 bugbears in area 16 who have now gotten out of Kilian's line of sight. The torch and the other goblin behind it are slowly crossing the moat and climbing the hill.

If you move, they could hear you. But it seems likely you are going to get discovered sooner or later anyway.

[Woe]

Is there a place to hide? How far is it from the bottom of the tower to the magically locked door? These may be important facts I need later.

When giving locations or creatures, can you tell me approximately how far it is? I want that in case I decide to engage in missile fire, which means sooner or later I'll want it.


They will stay out of sight and wait for more opportunities to fire. It's not easy sniping with a group of six, but I'll do it anyway. Attacking a patrol of goblins /and/ two bugbears is even less of a good idea.

How stable is the third floor, even for one individual? Nobody is going up there yet, but possibly soon.

[Longman]

will get back to this.

In he meantime here's a few things to think about -

From the ground floor to the entrance to the stairs is only about 30'
Kilian made some barricades to the ground floor door holes but they are not that strong.

There is no place to hide inside the tower at all. If you got outside, the best place to hide would definitely be down in the dungeon. You may have to fight some critters to get there.

When you say the 3rd floor, do you mean up on the roof? It is made of logs and does not look stable at all, even worse than the floor of the upper level Kilian is on. This roof is not shown in the picture.

[Woe]

Assaulting a tower is never a good idea. The PCs should have lots of open areas to fire into as the baddies charge the castle. Then there are no ladders, making it hard to get up especially under fire. And finally, there is the sword from Nore. Hopefully they lose interest after some more casualties.

[Longman]

OK I think I might have got this sussed finally.

Here is an actual from above picture of the whole castle. (The view makes it looks as though the sides are very steep. They are not).

COOFE marked1.JPG (551.93 KiB) Viewed 1530 times

Each square is ten feet. (That means the tower is only about 15 foot wide.)
- Walls marked in red dots are the full 3 levels high - that means about 25-30 feet.
- All other walls are assumed to be first level walls only - 3 to about 10 feet.
- The tower is in H08 and I08, with the funny wooden roof. It is the only building that actually has any floors.
- Blue arrows indicate access points you might not otherwise be able to see clearly.
- The ground floor has no windows. The ONLY main door to the tower is on the east side of the ground floor and faces directly into the old castle area, with the stairs. That means the tower is actually only 10' from the stairs (not 30' like I said above).
- There are other holes in the walls of the ground floor, barricaded by Kilian.
- The first floor has two windows on the south and west sides, but nothing on the east side. On the north side there is an arch leading onto the curtain wall. Half the party is near there. You can see Abigall coming back.
- The second floor (where Kilian is) has a small window to the east, and two windows on the south and west sides, but still nothing from the north side.
- No one has ever gone on the roof.
- Remember the compound is full of small trees so there is lots of cover.
- Right now there are bugbears and goblins in range (E11-F9). They have stopped moving while they communicate with the others.
- You are not exactly sure where the others are. You just know they are north and south, somewhere.

Basically your options are either to run for the stairs - which might involve a hand to hand fight - or to stay in the tower and defend it.

At this point I'll give each character - including Abigall - a full round to act. Go for it. If you want to shoot things or cast spells you need to tell me which part of the tower you are shooting from.

[Woe]

It looks like all baddies are in close range?