FC0 - CH 4: Ambushes!

[JadedDM]

"Ut, well no...you're different," Barl says, wringing his hands. "You can fight. You don't scream and shriek at little things, like bugs and mice. You don't get all mad and huffy for no reason, or because you get a little dirty. You're more like one of the guys, really," he says absently.

[HorizonsDream]

"Oh, now don't start charming me too much now. I'm not sure I can handle it," Tavi says in a monotone voice. "Not all girls are like that, you know. I don't think I remember the last time little Sparrow screamed at a mouse or even Hallie for that matter."

[JadedDM]

"Really?" Barlemus says, hopefully. "Well, that's good. Maybe it won't be too hard to talk to 'em after all then," he reflects.

[HorizonsDream]

"We were raised on a farm, so it was common place to see a little field mouse or something," Tavi explains with a shrug. "I guess we farm girls are raised a little bit...tougher than city girls."

Tavi continues walking beside Barlemus, making sure to stay out of Arvin's range. She didn't want to mess up the ranger during his tracking process. "You know, if you need help with girls, you could always practice with me," she offers. "I am a girl after all."

[JadedDM]

"I'll keep that in mind," Barlemus answers with a smile.

It takes another couple of hours before Arvin can find another lead and track it down. The elf returns to them, asks Tavi to turn off her lantern, and gestures for them to follow him quietly.

He leads them to a small clearing in some sparse woods. He gets down on his hands and knees, approaching a fallen log for cover. Up ahead, Tavi can see the flickering light of a large fire and smell the succulent odor of roast pork.

Once she and Barlemus crawl up to the log and peek over, she can see that about ten goblins are sitting around a large bonfire, roasting up a boar. They are joking, laughing, and drinking to their victory.

"Looks like they decided to take their share before dragging the food home," Barlemus notes.

Arvin nods. "Their guard is down, but unlike the previous group, they aren't distracted with their prey. We'll need to take them down fast before they can organize against us."

======================

Tavi earns a +1 reaction to Barlemus.

[HorizonsDream]

Tavi looks over the terrain for a few moments, but it is kind of hard to see as she didn't have any light besides the moon and the bonfire. "These two trees here should be good enough for Arvin and myself," Tavi suggests softly, motioning to the two trees that were slightly off to her right and in front of them. "If possible, Barlemus should probably take to the bushes closest to the bonfire."

[JadedDM]

"All right," Arvin says. "Get into position. We attack on my signal."

"What's your signal?" asks Barlemus.

"Trust me. You'll know it when you see it," the elf says cryptically, pulling out a flask.

[HorizonsDream]

Tavi quickly climbs up the first tree to the right of her, and awaits Arvin's signal. ~What is he up to?~ she thinks to herself curiously as she readies her crossbow.

[JadedDM]

Tavi climbs up a nearby tree and waits. A few moments later, the same flask is tossed out of a tree closer toward the fire. It lands right in the middle of the bonfire, exploding. Small gobs of burning oil splash in all directions, hitting all of the goblins. At least three are hit in the face with the burning oil, and fall over, no longer moving. The others all wildly attempt to put themselves out, not sure what is happening.

=======================

Surprise Roll (1d10): 1, goblins are surprised.

Arvin chucks a flask of lantern oil into the fire. It explodes. All goblins around the fire take (1d3): 3 splash damage. Goblin 02 falls, Goblin 05 falls, Goblin 08 falls.

(Tavi's turn.)

(You get a +1 for being on higher ground and a +1 for them being surprised. Also, you don't suffer the darkness penalty, because the bonfire easily illuminates them all. If you target one of the two that have their backs toward you--they're all facing the fire currently--you get another +3 to hit.)

[HorizonsDream]

Tavi's eyes widen from the explosion. ~Yeah, that was a signal all right,~" she thinks to herself. She fires a crossbow bolt at one of the goblins that isn't facing her.

Roll to Hit(20, hit)
Damage(1)

[JadedDM]

The bolt glances off the shoulder of one of the goblins. Before he can react to this, Barlemus comes charging in. He slams the hilt of his blade into the forehead of a goblin, knocking it out cold. The other goblins quickly organize and all surround Barlemus, but none of them are able to pierce through the defenses of his armor and shield.

===============

Tavi fires her crossbow at Goblin 06 (22, hit) for 1 damage.
Barlemus attacks Goblin 07 with his long sword (1d20+3): 12, hit for (1d8+6): 8 damage. Goblin 07 falls.

Round 1!

Party's Initiative (1d10): 8
Enemy's Initiative (1d10): 4

(Enemy wins!)

Goblin Leader attacks Barlemus with his short sword (1d20): 9, miss.
Goblin 01 attacks Barlemus with his short sword (1d20): 10, miss.
Goblin 03 attacks Barlemus with his short sword (1d20+1): 13, miss.
Goblin 04 attacks Barlemus with his short sword (1d20+3): 5, miss.
Goblin 06 attacks Barlemus with his short sword (1d20+1): 4, miss.
Goblin 09 attacks Barlemus with his short sword (1d20+1): 7, miss.

(Party's turn.)

(Tavi gets a +1 to hit due to higher ground, but if she attacks any of the goblins behind Barlemus, she gets an additional +3 to hit.)

[HorizonsDream]

Tavi quickly loads up another bolt, and fires it at the goblin in the middle with its back towards her. Sadly, due to her haste, the bolt ends up falling short of hitting the goblin.

Roll to Hit(9,miss)

[JadedDM]

Tavi misses, but Arvin has better luck. He fires two arrows into a goblin's backside, dropping it. Barlemus, meanwhile, cuts down two goblins easily, then turns to face the remaining three. The goblins look frightened, as if they are about ready to bolt.

=====================

Tavi fires her crossbow into melee (9, miss). She has a chance of hitting an ally! (1d4): 3, she misses Barlemus.
Arvin fires his long bow at Goblin 09 (1d20+7): 19, hit for (1d8): 2 damage. he fires again (1d20+7): 24, hit for (1d8): 8 damage. Goblin 09 falls.
Barlemus attacks Goblin Leader with his long sword (1d20+3): 15, hit for (1d8+6): 12 damage. Goblin Leader falls. He then attacks Goblin 01 with his long sword (1d20+3): 17, hit for (1d8+6): 8 damage. Goblin 01 falls.

Round 2!

Party's Initiative (1d10): 4
Enemy's Initiative (1d10): 9

(Party wins!)

[HorizonsDream]

Tavi loads up another bolt, more carefully this time and lets the sucker fly. She has the same problem as last time. It goes a little further than the last bolt, but it still hits the ground instead of the goblin she was aiming for.

Roll to Hit.(10,miss)

[JadedDM]

Tavi misses once again, but Arvin does not. He takes down two more goblins with well-placed shots. Before the final goblin can even consider running, Barlemus cuts him down easily.

Arvin leaps down from the tree gracefully and begins collecting his arrows. Barlemus wipes off his sword, then uses it to cut off a leg from the big boar. "Whoo, we get some free dinner tonight!"

==================

Tavi fires her crossbow at Goblin 05 (10, miss).
Arvin fires his long bow at Goblin 06 (1d20+4): 19, hit for (1d8): 3 damage. Goblin 06 falls. He fires again at Goblin 05 (1d20+4): 18, hit for (1d8): 6 damage. Goblin 05 falls.
Barlemus attacks Goblin 03 with his long sword (1d20+3): 21, hit for (1d8+6): 9 damage. Goblin 03 falls.

Melee ends.