Having removed the dead bodies, you reset your positions and Nivek attempts his best impersonation of a goblin. It’s difficult to tell how convincing Nivek is; vocabulary is one thing, pronunciation is another. In particular, Nivek struggles to raise the pitch of his deep dwarven voice to a typical goblin level.
[
Rolls]
Following the attempted bluff, you once again hear the sound of approaching footsteps from the cave mouth. However, this time they sound more cautious and considered, different from the carefree pursuit of dinner the first time around. You sense that the goblins suspect that something is not quite right, even if they don’t know exactly why. Two more goblins, equipped in the same manner as their dead comrades, appear at the cave entrance.
[
This time, as the goblins are suspicious, I’ll revert to a regular 1-2 chance of being surprised. I roll a 4 - no surprise].
The fight resumes …
Round 1
Initiative
Hiker: 6 + 1 (dexterity) = 7.
Doughbert: 4 + 1 (dexterity) + 1 (halfling) = 6.
Nivek: 6.
Goblin 3: 6.
Tannen: 5.
Paladin: 1 + 2 (dexterity) + 1 (halfling) = 4.
Goblin 4: 4.
Karl: 2.
Buoyed by his recent success, Hiker is the first to react. Following the same routine as before, he steps away from the cliff face and fires at Goblin 3 [
17 (again!) + 1 (attack bonus) + 1 (dexterity) + 1 (short range) = 20: hit! for 4 (again!) damage]. The goblin drops to the floor.
Goblin 4, is beyond the range of Doughbert’s dagger, so Nivek steps across in front of the halfling to engage it with his mace [
10 + 1 (attack bonus) + 1 (strength) = 12: miss]. Nivek delivers a glancing blow, but it’s deflected by the goblin’s leather armour.
The responsibility of silencing the remaining goblin before it can raise the alarm rests with Tannen and his longsword [
natural 1 - something of reversal of fortune!]. Tannen blows it big time, catching his longsword on the cliff edge as he swings and dropping it in the process.
Paladin decides that shooting into the melee is too risky, and so holds his fire for now. Goblin 4 meanwhile yells something (Nivek understands the cry to be “INTRUDERS!!!”) whilst taking a swipe at Tannen with his shortsword [
19: hit! for 1 damage]. It’s just a nick, but it depletes Tannen’s hit points still further.
Karl comes round from behind his sergeant and swings with his longsword [
8 + 1 (attack bonus) + 1 (strength) = 10: miss]. The former soldier fails to make contact with his adversary.
Meanwhile, Barnaby looks on impassively, as if men impersonating chickens and dwarves impersonating goblins are everyday occurrences and all just part of The Coastwood's rich tapestry.
That completes the round. What are your plans for the next?
[
Updated tactical map available at https://sites.google.com/site/marketstonecampaign/]
Nivek: No ‘0’ level spells remaining today
Tannen: HP 5/9
3 pm, 27th day of Harvestide