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  • OoC
DANgerous Kalamar 4

S1-E4

DM Declassified → Session Notes → Game Session 1 → Event 4
Session 1: Event 4
“Rescue Mission”

(EDIT) To begin game session, read/paraphrase the following:

Our game camera returns momentarily to the dimly lit study of the opening intro and we see our author still writing in the candlelight. The stack of written pages beside him has grown, but many more blank pages remain. He dips his quill and resumes his writing. “As I approached their company, I recall being more than a little astonished that they had arrived first. Certainly, I myself had expected to find Clond Delren and his team. It was, in some ways a plesant enough surprise – as Headmaster it was always my wish to see every student triumph – but, in others I must admit to being fearful for the Academy’s reputation. A more ramshackle lot than theirs was that day I cannot presently bring to mind – and certainly a great deal of importance would come to rest on the shoulders of whomever was victorious.”

Our view returns to Pelsday, the 2nd of Declarations, 1044 Y.K., to the Academy’s training yards in sight of the structure known as “The Fort”. The party stands with Zelaena Onaeriel and Jiffar as Headmaster Glandal Volren makes his way to the group. He pauses momentarily (OLD MAN VOICE) as if to make a mental note of something (END OLD MAN VOICE), then proceeds onward.

The Headmaster arrives and addresses the party: “Welcome to the final challenge. As you may have surmised, your goal is to liberate the student being held hostage within ‘The Fort’. The specifics as to how you will accomplish this I leave to you, BUT – as this is an exercise, all weapons are to be replaced with wooden replicas. Any damaging spells are to be replaced with non-leathal wands. See Instructor Rolcon at the side table. Good luck.”

Martially inclined characters will know Frenid Rolcon well, having likely been insructed by him many times. The Academy’s instructor of arms is a battle-hardened veteran with many years experience training military recruits. He is seated at a small bench with a large selection of wooden practice weaponry on a table beside him. He also has a selection of tip-less arrows, as well as a few single charge wands to act in place of spell-casting. The PCs are able to trade completely for weapons before working on their battle strategy.

“The Fort” itself is a secured encampment surrounded by a wooden palisade at the top of a large earthen “mound” that is the result of a gap in the ground from the creation of a crude moat surrounding the complex. The section of wall that serves as the ‘drawbridge’ is withdrawn and set skyward, acting as another section of wall instead of its normal function. The moat contains some water, but is not completely filled. Wooden spears can be seen from posted guards, even at this far distance.

There are a total of 10 defenders in “The Fort”, 8 guardsmen, 1 captain and 1 medic (healer). They have stats as follows:

Wall Guardsman: (6)
CR: 1/2
AC: 13 (+2 Leather Armor, +1 Dex Bonus) (+4 when behind wall – COVER)
HP: 10
Fort/Ref/Will: +3/+1/+1 (+2 Ref when behind wall – COVER)
Skills: +4 Spot, +1 All Others
Attacks: (+1 Melee from higher ground)
(1) Longspear (10’ Reach) +2, 1d8+1/x3
(2) Shortsword +2, 1d6+1/19-20/x2
(3) Shortbow (60’ Increment) +2, 1d6/x3

Prisoner Guards: (2)
CR: 1/2
AC: 14 (+2 Leather Armor, +1 Dex Bonus, +1 Lt Wooden Shield)
HP: 10
Fort/Ref/Will: +3/+1/+1
Skills: +4 Spot, +1 All Others
Attacks:
(1) Longsword +2, 1d8+1/19-20/x2

Captain: (1)
CR: 1
AC: 18 (+6 Splint Mail, +2 Hvy Wooden Shield)
HP: 12
Fort/Ref/Will: +4/+1/+1
Skills: Intimidate +3, Spot +3
Feats: Dodge (+1 AC vs selected target), Power Attack (trade Atk Roll for Dmg, max +1)
Attacks:
(1) Longsword +4, 1d8+2/19-20/x2
(2) Intimidate +3 vs DC of 1d20 + Foe’s Lvl + Foe’s WIS Mod + Foe’s Mod vs Fear saves – Success means Foe is shaken (-2 on attacks, saves, ability checks) for 1 round.

Medic: (1)
CR:1
AC: 17 (+6 Splint Mail, +2 Hvy Wooden Shield, -1 Dex Mod)
HP: 13
Fort/Ref/Will: +4/-1/+4
Skills: Concentration +6, Heal +6
Feats: Combat Casting (+4 Concentration for defensive casting), Toughness (+3 HP)
Attacks:
(1) Hvy Wooden Mace +2, 1d8+1/x2
Spells:
(0) Guidance x3 (+1 to an Atk roll, Save or Skill check; can drop for Cure Minor – 1 point)
(1) Bane (-1 to enemy Atk rolls and saves vs Fear; counters Bless), Doom (target is SHAKEN), Entropic Shield (ranged attacks have 20% miss chance).
(1D) Bless (allies get +1 to Atk rolls, and saves vs Fear)

The party may attempt to convince Jiffar to accompany them if they would like. Zelaena Onaeriel will inform them that it is not against the rules if he goes willingly. Getting him to willingly join the group in the attack will require a DIPLOMACY skill check [PHB-71] of DC 20 to turn him from Friendly into Helpful. If he joins the party, he will be considered to have identical stats to the Prisoner Guards in “The Fort”.

Scouting will reveal a total of 6 guards manning the walls, with a captain sort checking the lines every half hour or so. Players wishing to get a closer look will need to use their HIDE skill checks [PHB-76] opposed by the SPOT skill checks [PHB-83] of the defenders. Any player who makes a successful SPOT DC 15 will notice the top of a drainage pipe sticking out from the surface of the water alongside the wall of the mound down in the moat.

The drainage pipe is too narrow for a medium size character to go into, however a small size character (such as Stoat) could fit inside, albeit with a bit of effort. The pipe is largely filled with water, which will require anyone crawling through it to hold their breath until they reach the other side.

  • Characters may hold their breath for a number of rounds equal to double their Constitution score, after which they must make DC 10 Constitution check, with the check increasing by 1 each round.
  • When the character finally fails her Constitution check, she begins to drown. In the first round, she falls unconscious (0 hp). In the following round, she drops to –1 hit points and is dying. In the third round, she drowns.

Normally a character can crawl 10’ in a round, but squeezing reduces this to 5’ per round. The crawl to the other side is only 40’, but there is a 25% chance (per 5’ square of movement) that the character will get stuck, requiring an ESCAPE ARTIST skill check DC 12 [PHB-76]. Once at the other end of the pipe, the character comes up in the lower level of the dungeon building inside “The Fort”. The two Prisoner Guards are here and could potentially spot the character.

The scenario will play out with the Wall Guardsmen as one encounter, and the Prisoner Guards, the Captain and the Medic as another. The Wall Guardsmen encounter will be an EL 1, while the remainder of the personnel will be EL 2. Pertinent stats for the walls are as follows (per 10’ section): Break DC 20, Hardness 5, HP 60, Climb DC 21. The PCs can use any means they wish to win the day. Once they have succeeded, it’s time to move on.

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