Unfortunately, my hotel's Internet connection crapped out mid-sentence during the beginning of our last session. I cannot apologize deeply enough, nor express how disappointed I am that we didn't get to play. I am impressed that the chat log showed you all waited two and a half hours! That shows some great dedication and I appreciate that. However, Chris, our Knight, and Carn (Archie), our Scout, returned later and we had a good time. As we were only at half our number, instead of playing the dungeon, we just had a one-room combat encounter. The terrible twosome slaughtered three goblin archers and an orc warrior without taking much damage. Perhaps two hit points of injury apiece, maybe. Chris's rolls were on fire while Archie's were on ice. Poor Archie couldn't make a darn attack roll. It happens. Unfortunately, it can skew a balanced encounter, turning moderate difficulty into a lethal threat. All Archie's luck went into (superfluous) Fast-Draw (Arrow) and Bow rolls to ready in no time, but he has tremendous skill there and no need to roll super low for them. As it were, Chris scored three kills while Archie killed one. Had the rolls been more typical, it would have been either's game. Up to this point, the big lessen here was that a monster who must defend against two attacks is much less likely to succeed. Why? Because one defense is often much higher than the other. Also, ranged attacks such as arrows shot from Scout's bows can't be parried and a monster who has already blocked an arrow must parry a melee attack such as a Knight's sword. Worse, a monster who has already blocked a melee attack must dodge a ranged attack, and that often results in a hit. However, parry and block are often the same, so three attacks in one round is even better than two. Extra attacks from the Extra Attack advantage (p. B53), dual-weapon attacks (p. B417) and Rapid Strikes (p. B370) can really chew away defenses. Before the last goblin archer was hacked down, the arena's "boss" appeared—a fearsome, fire-breathing gargodemon . A reddish gargoyle with broad, bat-like wings and chitinous plates. They also brandish a long, bony tail ending in a spear-like tip. While gargodemons are monstrous and frightening in appearance, they are small (SM -1) making them insidiously powerful. They "only" have DR 4 and 12 hit points. One shot from a Scout's bodkin and they're likely done. However, they have incredible dodge scores (13) and they, like all characters, can dodge an infinite number of times per turn at no penalty. Add to the fact that they are fliers and can only be attacked at range and "Huston, we have a problem." Chris was a sitting duck; he had three goblin archers surrounding him. Two of them dropped their bows and drew axes—a prelude to their quick, bloody demise. The other didn't last to shoot again. Unfortunately, Chris attracted the gargodemon's flaming wrath. His first defense roll was morbidly bad. It was like a 15 or 16. I rolled huge damage, 12 I think. Add that to the minor damage he had already taken, and Chris was on the ropes. During that time, Archie had loosed a barrage of arrows, but none met the mark. Smelling a charbroiled victory, the gargodemon turned to Archie. Archie's rolls didn't help the situation, but my fantastic defense rolls really put the lid on the crematory urn. Suffice it to say, the gargodemon managed to reduce Archie to ashes and that meant Chris was next. With no way to attack . . . We ended it there. The important lesson here is that (gargodemons are badass and) flying enemies with high dodges and a ranged attack are scary. I couldn't award character points nor treasure for the "short" session that lasted from about 9:30 p.m. until like 2 a.m., my time, but we did have fun. I know Chris and Archie learned a whole lot and I knocked a bunch of dust off my rules knowledge as well. So, in the end, the day wasn't a total loss. We're scheduled for the same time, same day next week: Saturday at 5 p.m., CDT. Hope to see everyone there! If you can't make it, let us know in this thread. Thanks again!
