SESSION 48: THE DARK BEFORE THE DAWN
It starts to rain. Hard.
Leaning forward into the pelting rain the small party march faster now, eager to reach the caves not so much for the loot but just for the shelter.
Leaving the road, they enter the woods. The dark clouds and pounding rain dampen any sound and make the woods even more gloomy than normal. They push through the woods and come upon the valley of the caves of chaos.
As they draw near to the kobold cave they decide to divert to the copse of trees just to the north of the cave where they can rest for a moment and coordinate their attack.
Hiding in the trees, waiting in ambush for anyone approaching their cave, is a kobold hunting party.
The monsters are in hiding and roll a Stealth roll of d20 = 11 + 5 Stealth skill = 16.
Both Lothar and Trone have a total Perception check of +1. Luki and Luther attempt to provide assistance and roll a 6 + 8 Perception = 14. Luki and Luther start barking at the woods, Trone and Lothar roll a 15 + 1 Wis modifier + 2 assistance = 18 and notice the kobolds.
HOUSE RULE #9: Monster Reactions and Diplomacy. Reinterpreting the D&D Basic Monster Reaction table for Pathfinder, the outcomes have been converted into Pathfinder Starting Attitudes as defined on page 94 of the Pathfinder Core Rulebook as follows: 2 is Hostile with an immediate attack, 3-5 is Hostile but no immediate attack, 6-8 is Unfriendly, 9-11 is Indifferent and 12 is Friendly. The following initial modifiers are used: -2 for entering someone's home uninvited, -2 previous hostility, current enemies, +2 current alliance, +2 have had previous positive encounters, trading partners etc. You can only make a monster Helpful by shifting their Attitude through using Diplomacy.
The kobolds squint down their long thin noses, disappointed that they were denied the opportunity to surprise the humans. They roll 2d6 = 8 2 for entering someone's home territory uninvited, -2 for previous hostility (they were attacked 2 days ago and so anyone is considered to be hostile at this point) = 4. They are openly hostile and will attack with little provocation.
HOUSE RULE #6: Monsters understanding Common. In a bid to enable more discussion between intelligent monsters and the party, any intelligent monster will have a 1 in 6 chance of understanding Common. Rolling eight d6's, three of the kobolds speak broken common.
The kobolds start yipping and yapping amongst themselves and then one steps forward and boldly shouts "What you want here humee? Yip…yip, yap."
[Kobold Accent: Swap L's for R's and vice versa. Omit the following words "the", "this", "that" and "it". Add "ee" to the end of nouns or replace the final constant with "ee". Drop the leading "a" from words that start with an "a". Remove random verbs to truncate sentences. Add in the odd "yip' or yap".]
Signaling to the others to slowly back off a bit Lothar slowly approaches the kobolds by himself. Using all his diplomacy to try to not goad the kobolds into attacking he responds "We've come to trade. Who is your king? We want to buy from him." Lothar is attempting to Bluff the kobold and thus get a better chance at a Diplomacy check.
He doesn't have the Bluff skill but does have a Chr modifier of +2 and so rolls an 18 + 2 Chr modifier for a Bluff total of 20 (the lie is reasonably believable and hence there are no other modifiers). The kobolds don't have Sense Motive and have a Wis modifier of -1 and so can only succeed if they roll a 20 which they don't (they roll a 2).
This will give Lothar a +5 to his Diplomacy check. To keep the status quo he'll need a base roll of DC 25 for being hostile, -1 Cha (for the kobolds), -5 situational modifier for the Bluff, – 6 for his Diplomacy skill = 12 or better. If he is under this by 5 or worse he'll make their attitude change to Hostile: Attack. If its 5 or more above this he'll improve their attitude to Unfriendly. He rolls a 12 and the status quo is maintained.
Lothar continues to walk towards the kobolds with his hands held out by his side, open and with the palms facing up, a gesture of conciliation.
"Why you want to tlade with Kingee Yip Irontoothee?" asks the little kobold.
Lothar's voice lowers as he answers "I don't" as he Channels Negative Energy. The kobolds need to make a DC 13 Will save -1 for their Will save modifier = 14 or suffer full damage each. They roll 5, 5, 4, 8, 20, 13, 18, 4. Two save and six fail and they take 4 or 2pts of damage respectively.
ROUND 1A REVENGE
Initiative: Kobolds d20 = 6 + 1 Int = 7. Party d20 = 6 + 0 Int = 6.
Incensed by the assault the kobolds rush Lothar and attempt to kill him.
The first kobold who is directly in front of Lothar 5ft steps to the south and stabs at the evil cleric with his spear but he misses the warrior of Asmodeus.
The western most kobold cannot charge Lothar but he can move behind him, flank the human warrior and attack. He stabs at Lothar's back but he cannot penetrate his new chain mail armour.
The next western most kobold moves 10ft to the south east and also attacks Lothar from the rear. He digs the spear deeply into Lothar's back but just cannot quite penetrate the armour.
The next western most kobold moves up and attacks Lothar, although this isn't a flanking attack at this time he stabs wildly at the tricky human and hits him in the chest for 2pts of damage.
The kobold at the rear of the pack rushes forward and stabs at Lothar. He's moved into a flanking position because of the kobolds at the rear of Lothar but it does help and he misses.
The eastern most kobold sees that he has a clear chance to charge and flank the lying human. Yipping as he attacks he stabs at Lothar and he wounds Lothar in the chest dealing 3pts of damage.
The second last kobold bypasses its remaining hunting party member and moves up to a flanking position and attacks but he cannot hit Lothar.
The last kobold circles around and finds the last spot to attack. It stabs at Lothar but also misses the dark cleric.
ROUND 1B ANNIHILATION
Before anyone can act Lothar raises his arms and calls upon the power of Asmodeus once more, releasing another wave of Channel Negative Energy. The kobolds need a 14 to save and they roll 5, 1, 4, 10, 17, 16, 18 and 5 taking 6 or 3pts of damage respectively. It is a devastating attack, annihilating the kobolds, killing every single one of them.
Trone laughs as he runs up to Lothar. He promptly stands to attention and salutes Lothar by thumping his right hand against his left breast. Luki and Luther show no such constraint and enthusiastically jump up on their master licking him incessantly.
The three guards just look at each other stunned that Lothar was able to destroy the kobolds in 12 seconds.
"Are you hurt badly brother?" Trone asks.
Lothar pulls a scroll and casts Cure Light Wounds healing back 2pts of damage. He repeats the treatment and heals another 6pts and is fully healed.
A broad smile emerges on Lothar's face as he responds "Hahaha, no."
Trone and Lothar can feel the power of Asmodeus coursing through their veins, their strength is increasing.
"Let's get out of the rain and into the cave and finish these little dragons' as pathetic as they are" commands Lothar.
"Can you believe people are afraid of these little lizards?" ponders Trone and as he turns and looks directly at Lothar he adds, "Most people are so weak, so pathetic. They need our protection."
Lothar adds "They need to serve us to enjoy our protection my brother."
Quickly looting the bodies, they find a paltry 2gp and cut the ears from the kobolds. The monsters' arms and armour are worthless. They then form up and start toward the cave opening.
DEW
