Hoard of the Dragon Queen [IC. 2014 rules]

Cultist 1 Init 11

Cultist 2 Init 4

Kobold 1 Init 20

Kobold 2 Init 20

Kobold 3 Init 13

Kobold 4 Init 16

Initiative Order

Thistlewick - 21

Kobold 3  (K3) - 20 

Tam - 19

Montar - 14

Kobold 4  (K4) - 12 

Cultist 1 (C1) - 11

Kobold 1  (K1) - 10 

Kobold 2  (K2) - 10 

Draylin - 9

Cultist 2 (C2) - 2

Round 1.

The enemy is ambushed and surprised within 30 feet of the party. You all can take a turn to try and hit them before they can even react.

Thistlewick moves forward to engage a kobold (K3)...    

Shield up and club firmly gripped, he invokes Shillelagh just to be certain it is fully 'engaged.  (( Bonus Action))   

He also engages Symbiotic Entity to supercharge his spores - giving him a better chance of slowing this hunting party down.  (( Action ))

Thistlewick stands face to face with his foe, "Come on, Pip Squeek.  Let's see what you've got."   

As he moved within 10 ft of the kobold, the druid's Halo of Spores begins filling the air between his foe and himself.  Halo of Spores infiltrates the kobold's personal space -- inhaled thru mouth and nose -- blanketing his face and skin with a fine dusting of spores charged to do as spore do.

  (( Reaction ))   Spore dmg -  7 hp necrotic

Tam shoots at Kobold 4 but her crossbow bolt goes wide [9 to hit unless we get advantage]. 

Draylin

Draylin digs his foot into the soft soil, body dropping down low.  He skids to a stop, popping back up in perfect balance, a wicked grin on his face.  "Gottcha!" he says as his friends begin to pour out from the gate, right behind the enemy.  His right hand drops to his belt, pulling and throwing a dagger in the blink of an eye.  ***dagger throw at C1 attack 12 damage 8 piercing ***

Montar strides out of hiding, his enormous stone maul already spinning in his hand. A kobold (K1) starts turning his head toward the dwarf, but he is slow--too slow--and that head catches the full force of the blunt stone head of the weapon. There is a sickening crunch, and the kobold collapses to the earth, dead. **Atk: 18, Damage: 14**

K3 con save 5

While Tam's bolt goes wide, Montar dispatches one of the kobolds to the other world and Draylin almost sends the first cultist scrambling after it. 

Round 2

Thistlewick - 21

Kobold 3  (K3) - 20 

Tam - 19

Montar - 14

Kobold 4  (K4) - 12 

Cultist 1 (C1) - 11 -- very bloody

Kobold 1  (K1) - 10 

Kobold 2  (K2) - 10 

Draylin - 9

Cultist 2 (C2) - 2

Over to Thistlewick.

Thistlewick takes a swing with his shillelagh at kobold 3...    

To Hit:  17       Dmg:  6 bludgeoning + 3 necrotic = 9 

and, again, being within range, 'Wick's Halo of Spores continues to inflict necrotic damage to the kobold as the spores get into it's lungs, eyes, and skin. 
(( CON save vs DC 13 ))

Enhanced Halo of Spores:  5 pt necrotic

Thistlewick shifts; waiting for the kobold to counterattack.

The kobold  lets out a strangled scream, clawing at its face, but the necrotic rot is too fast. It collapses into the dirt, its body suddenly still.

Over to Tam and Montar.

Montar advances on another kobold, aiming to replicate his blow. Unfortunately, he slips on the blood of the kobold he had downed and barely avoids faceplanting in the dirt nearby. The kobold s******s at him, earning a look from the dwarf that is equal parts embarrassed and angry. (Atk: Nat 1)

Time fires her crossbow at the cultist, hoping to take him out of the fight.

[12 to hit. If that hits, 2 damage, if i can apply sneak attack, 5 more]

Tam's crossbolt hits the cultist square in the chest. He falls heavily on his back and doesn't move again. C1 dead.

Kobold 4 tries to take advantage of Montar's temporary lack of balance. The creature pulls out a dagger and attempts to stab the dwarf. Attack: 14 Damage: 5

Meanwhile, Kobold 2 keeps its distance from Thistlewick, whipping a sling stone towards the druid to try and keep the magic at bay. Attack: 18 Damage: 6

Over to Draylin

Draylin

The monk offers Tam a nod, now that's teamwork! he thinks to himself.  Happy thoughts vanish like smoke in the wind as the enemy begins to return the favor.

Draylin again targets the cultist.  He drifts through the smoke swirled battlefield like a wraith, eyes locked on his quarry.  He leads with a lightning fast straight thrust of his short sword.  As expected, the man brought up his guard to defend his vitals.  At the last moment, the monk eased off of the strike, snapping a viscious low kick into his knee.  The sickening CRACK of snapping bones normally proceeds a blood curdling scream, but not this time.  As the cultist opened his mouth Draylin's short sword drove forward, severing his throat.  A grotesque gurgling sound was all he could produce.

***mechanically the sword strikes first then B/A unarmed strike.  Rule of cool for the post flopped the order.  Short sword attack 15 Damage 9 piercing - unarmed strike 21 damage 8  bludgeoning***

In a flurry of attacks, Draylin snatches the life of the second cultist before the raider has even had a chance to react properly to the ambush. The bloody body drops into the dust with only a gurgling sound coming out of it.

Round 3

Thistlewick - 21

Tam - 19

Montar - 14

Kobold 4  (K4) - 12  

Kobold 2  (K2) - 10 

Draylin - 9

Over to Thislewick, Tam and Montar.

Meanwhile, Kobold 2 keeps its distance from Thistlewick, whipping a sling stone towards the druid to try and keep the magic at bay. Attack: 24 Damage: 4

Thislewick watched as his first opponent succumb to their injuries and spore decay; crumpeling to the ground at his feet. 
Not a second passed before Thistlewick was jolted by a thump to his side.  Another kobold had hurled a stone at him, but Wick's enhanced shroud of spores had slowed the missile and taken the brunt of the attack.  Turning, Thistlewick confront this new attacker.

Chill Touch        To Hit:  22     Dmg:  3 necrotic   

A ghostly, skeletal hand clamped onto the kobold's shoulder and sent the chill of the grave into it's body.

Moving forward, Thistlewick closed the distance to the kobold and prepared to bring his shillelagh into the encounter. 

(( unless 30 ft was not enough movement to close... ))
(( AND if Thistlewick got within 10 ft of the kobold (K2)... ))

Thistlewick's enhanced Halo of Spores touched K2 as they face off.     >>> HoS - 6 pt necrotic damage as the spores began to burrow into the kobold's flesh.

Montar slides along the slick earth, scrambling to get to his feet after an embarrassingly poor swing. Not for the first time he wonders if the martial training he received from clan members grateful for his craftsmanship will be sufficient to carry him forward on his present path. He looks up to see a dagger stabbing toward his eye, and it is only that same training that allows him to evade by the barest of margins. Breathing a sigh of relief, Montar attempts an attack of his own. This time, his maul arcs gracefully through the air, coming down square on top of the kobold's head, and driving him nearly a foot into the ground. The kobold might even be impressed, were he still alive. (Atk: 16, Dmg: 15)

Tam lines up a shot on the kobold that attacked Thistlewick, trying to hit it in a sensitive area. In the dark, she can't be sure if she hit well or not.

[Attack K2 14 to hit, 2 damage + 7 sneak attack damage]

The remaining kobolds are quickly dispatched by the party, their bodies strewn about. End of combat.

The silence of the night returns, broken only by the crackle of distant fires and the steady rush of the water. From what the Governor and Escobert mentioned earlier, you can reach the temple by following the stream east.

The glowing embers of the town reflect off the surface of the water, lighting a path through the smoke.

Draylin 

Draylin quickly begins to retrieve his dagger and to drag the bodies into a less obvious place.  He stops to throw some debris over them, maybe not perfect, but certainly less obvious than a pile of bloody corpses by the tunnel enterance!

When all are ready, Draylin says, "Well done!  I'll slip ahead a bit to scout for more trouble." Barring objections, or other ideas, the half elf slips off into the haze; drifting across the landscape like a ghost.

***OoC: stealth 26 (nat 20)***