”Xanathar’s Guild” Mardak sighs just before the commotion starts. As he stands up while the situation escalates and the crowd closes around the commotion. “Oh by the beard of Moradin” he mumbles under his breath.
Mardak climbs up the table and tries to oversee what is happening while Morgan pushes himself through the crowd. “De-escalate” Mardak shouts while the crowd closes back around Morgan
Rashar stands tense as the crowd forms a circle around him. He’s glad to see he’s joined by Morgan, a tall, hulking human. More people to even the odds.
“You’re an Amacathra, right? Good family, I did a few jobs for your folk.” He turns his attention back to Yagra. ”You want us to give you a hand, or do you think you can take them yourself?”
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
DMing:
Solo Hoard of the Dragon Queen
Playing:
Baral-Coliseum of Conquest, Lazarus Vernon- Tale of Mercenaries;Bernard Lionsbane- Solo Curse of Strahd
"Some free legal advice!" Krivnaar shouts over to the thugs and Yshra. "Assaulting a citizen's liable for up to ten days in prison, or a thousand gold fine. And there's a lot of witnesses here!" He taps the table, then rushes over to catch a look at the brawl and make notes on what transpires. "Defense'll be easier for the ones acting in self defense, Yshra, so wisest to pull back now."
Rashar is able to draw his dagger and conceal it within the palm of his hand without anyone noticing as everyone's attention is fixated on the brawl. Mardak's and Krivnaar's attempt to halt the physical altercation is unsuccessful as the tension is too thick between the two rivals. Bonnie looks nervous as she briefly glances down upon her feet knowing she doesn't have the authority to intervene. Durnan remains behind the bar, cleaning out his flagons as he doesn't care about tavern brawls; just another Tuesday for him.
From what you can gather Krentz won't be able to defeat Yagra on his own. Yagra's quite an adept fighter in comparison to this thug. The other four men sense that Krentz is struggling in this fist fight, so they inevitably jump in and start flanking Yagra; becoming a five-on-one fight. Yagra is now getting pummeled in all directions, struggling to maintain balance and her tenacity is dwindling.
This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
Per discussion in Discord, we're going to be implementing the Side Initiative rule for combat encounters. If you have any questions regarding this, please feel free to continue the discussion on Discord or PM me.
Side Initiative
Recording initiative for each PC and monster, arranging everyone in the correct order, and remembering where you are in the list can bog the game down. If you want quicker combats, at the risk of those combats becoming unbalanced, try using the side initiative rule.
Under this variant, the players roll a d20 for their initiative as a group, or side. You also roll a d20. Neither roll receives any modifiers. Whoever rolls highest wins initiative. In case of a tie, keep rerolling until the tie is broken.
When it’s a side’s turn, the members of that side can act in any order they choose. Once everyone on the side has taken a turn, the other side goes. A round ends when both sides have completed their turns.
If more than two sides take part in a battle, each side rolls for initiative. Sides act from the highest roll to lowest. Combat continues in the initiative order until the battle is complete.
This variant encourages teamwork and makes your life as a DM easier, since you can more easily coordinate monsters. On the downside, the side that wins initiative can gang up on enemies and take them out before they have a chance to act.
Side Initiative: Party: 5 Yagra: 23 Xanathar's Guild: 120 (I goofed, reroll): 13
Initiative Order: Yagra Party Xanathar's Bandits
Yagra will continue to assault Krentz, her main enemy. Throwing her fists of fury, grunting from the damage she's endured thus far.
Yagra's First Attack: Attack: 8 Damage: 4
Yagra's Second Attack: Attack: 23 Damage: 5
Yagra lays a vicious assault onto the tattooed bandit known as Krentz. His face bloodied and bruised severely.
This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
Mardak watches the situation escalate but does not want to worsen the situation any further by outright attacking someone at that moment. He keeps standing on the table and shouts the word "Halt"hoping that someone in the goon squad listens and follows through.
-OOC- Initiative: 16 Mardak casts Command directed at Krentz (the Eyeball Tattoo guy) (i assume i can see him) at one of the Goons as per Discord discussion that Krentz fell unconscious before my 'action' DC 13 Wisdom Save
Refreshing went wrong so didn't see the initiative rule. Ignore that part :)
Krivnaar adjusts his monocle and quickly waves his hand in the air in an odd pattern. From the gaping hole in the middle of the tavern, an otherwordly roar and the sound of smacking teeth emerges, along with a scraping sound. "Those adventurers've roused something from the portal!" Krivnaar implores the goons. "We should run while we have the chance!" Krivnaar himself begins making for the door.
-OOC-
Casting Minor Illusion a little ways down the portal, a sound as described. If the goons won't make an OA, Krivnaar will retreat towards the nearest door, and prop it open, urging the goons out.
Cath, seeing that Durnan doesn't seem to concerned over another brawl in his tavern, sits back in his chair and watches. He'll keep an eye on things and if one of his friends looks to be in trouble he'll get involved but until then he just watches.
This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
The intense battle enrages as the Xanathar's Guild bandits gang up on the mercenary, Yagra Stonefist. Rasher swiftly maneuver's behind Krentz to take his opportunity to bring him down the size as he's being pummeled by Yagra. He strikes Krentz with the pommel of his dagger to the side of his head to render him unconscious.
Jarret and Cath both decide to hang up, as they assess the situation and deem it unnecessary to get involved at this time. Partly as others have come to Yagra's aid.
Mardak brazenly shouts "Halt!" as he casts Command on B1. (Rolled the spell save on Discord, he failed.) The bandit now finds himself magically held in place, unable to move.
Morgan moves around the brawl to get behind B4 and will strike him from behind. The powerful blow hurts the man tremendously, but is insufficient to knock him out.
The bandits aren't paying well enough attention from the growling noise emitting from the well, courtesy of Krivnaar. The spectators around the brawl do notice, and crowd disperses quite a bit as they fall back encase something actually does pop out from the well. Durnan and Jalester do perk up, readying their weapons. Threestrings continues to play intense battle music on his lute. Meloon Wardragon appears to be too drunk to notice his surroundings, and Obaya is observing the well, peering down to see if she can find anything dwelling inside.
It now goes to the Bandits.
Due to Mardak's Command, B1 is unable to take an action. Both B2 and B3 will continue attacking Yagra.
B2's attack on Yagra Attack: 14 Damage: 3
B3's attack on Yagra Attack: 5 Damage: 3
B4 will turn around and make an attack against Morgan.
B4's attack on Morgan Attack: 17 Damage: 4
B2 swings wildly, perhaps a little too wildly. The momentum generated into his punch was more than his body could handle, and he falls Prone.
B3 manages to land a soft blow on Yagra. She barely grunts, and she stays in the fight.
Morgan shrugs off B4's attack in anticipation.
Going to Yagra's turn now, she'll see that Krentz is down for the count, so she'll turn around and make her attacks on now prone B2.
Yagra's first attack on B2 Attack: 8 Damage: 6
Yagra's second attack on B2 Attack: 21 Damage: 5
Yagra beats B2 to a bloody pulp, he's barely surviving at this point. He's barely awake and he's gasping for air just to breathe.
This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
Rashar hears the roaring sound emitting from the well. "Those adventurers must have awoken something...I don't want to stay around for that." However, Yagra is still facing down the bandits, so he can't leave yet.
Rashar swings over to Bandit 4 and smacks him as well with his dagger's pommel.
Attack: 11 Damage: 5
He also yells, "Your leader, Krentz, is down. End this fight!"
Krivnaar looks at Rashar, and the half-elf hears a message in his mind: it's just an illusion to cool things off. He then makes another gesture, and the sound strange sound from the portal appears to be getting closer. "This is a fool's errand, it will come up any moment, run while you still can!"
If B4 is still up Morgan will give him a cool glare and slam his fist into his head, trying to knock him out. If B4 is down he will eye B3 and not act, thinking the battle well and truly over, with only the one bandit up. "Walk away." Morgan informs the remaining bandit if there is just the one left up.
Cath, hearing the noise from the pit, but not knowing Krivnaar had created it, stands up. He removes his round shield from his back and straps it to his arm. He then draws his warhammer. He eyes the pit but makes no other action.
This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
Jarett remains hanging back, not feeling the need to interfere. Cath does seem concerned about the noise from the well that Krivnaar is generating. Rashar and Morgan both strike down another bandit. At the point, the remaining bandits deem it best to flee, so B2 will grab Krentz and and B3 will grab B4 and drag them away. B1 is now free from the Command and will aid his thug brethren in fleeing.
This will provoke an opportunity attack from Yagra, who is determined to send them a message they won't ever forget. Yagra sends a flurry of strikes to B1.
Yagra's first attack on B1 Attack: 15 Damage: 5
Yagra's second attack on B1 Attack: 8 Damage: 4
Yagra manages to land a blow, but not enough to halt their progress in running.
This will also provoke an opportunity attack from the party. Is anyone going to strike?
Morgan had B4 in front of him, as we as B3 diagonally on his left. Upon moving, Morgan would get an opportunity attack on B3. So will Rashar. Kriv and Mardak will be able to take an opportunity attack against any of them. Jarett and Cath are free to get a shot in if they feel so inclined.
”Xanathar’s Guild” Mardak sighs just before the commotion starts. As he stands up while the situation escalates and the crowd closes around the commotion. “Oh by the beard of Moradin” he mumbles under his breath.
Mardak climbs up the table and tries to oversee what is happening while Morgan pushes himself through the crowd. “De-escalate” Mardak shouts while the crowd closes back around Morgan
Rashar stands tense as the crowd forms a circle around him. He’s glad to see he’s joined by Morgan, a tall, hulking human. More people to even the odds.
“You’re an Amacathra, right? Good family, I did a few jobs for your folk.” He turns his attention back to Yagra. ”You want us to give you a hand, or do you think you can take them yourself?”
DMing:
Solo Hoard of the Dragon Queen
Playing:
Baral- Coliseum of Conquest, Lazarus Vernon- Tale of Mercenaries; Bernard Lionsbane- Solo Curse of Strahd
"Yep, I recognized you." Morgan says, giving Rashar a nod of greeting. He waits to see what happens next in the brawl.
"Some free legal advice!" Krivnaar shouts over to the thugs and Yshra. "Assaulting a citizen's liable for up to ten days in prison, or a thousand gold fine. And there's a lot of witnesses here!" He taps the table, then rushes over to catch a look at the brawl and make notes on what transpires. "Defense'll be easier for the ones acting in self defense, Yshra, so wisest to pull back now."
Rashar is able to draw his dagger and conceal it within the palm of his hand without anyone noticing as everyone's attention is fixated on the brawl. Mardak's and Krivnaar's attempt to halt the physical altercation is unsuccessful as the tension is too thick between the two rivals. Bonnie looks nervous as she briefly glances down upon her feet knowing she doesn't have the authority to intervene. Durnan remains behind the bar, cleaning out his flagons as he doesn't care about tavern brawls; just another Tuesday for him.
From what you can gather Krentz won't be able to defeat Yagra on his own. Yagra's quite an adept fighter in comparison to this thug. The other four men sense that Krentz is struggling in this fist fight, so they inevitably jump in and start flanking Yagra; becoming a five-on-one fight. Yagra is now getting pummeled in all directions, struggling to maintain balance and her tenacity is dwindling.
What does the patty do now?
Let's go ahead and roll Initiative as well.
Yagra: 10
Krentz: 11
Bandits: 12
DM: Waterdeep: Dragon Heist
Rashar Initiative: 21
When it is his turn, he will join the fight.
DMing:
Solo Hoard of the Dragon Queen
Playing:
Baral- Coliseum of Conquest, Lazarus Vernon- Tale of Mercenaries; Bernard Lionsbane- Solo Curse of Strahd
Per discussion in Discord, we're going to be implementing the Side Initiative rule for combat encounters. If you have any questions regarding this, please feel free to continue the discussion on Discord or PM me.
Side Initiative
Recording initiative for each PC and monster, arranging everyone in the correct order, and remembering where you are in the list can bog the game down. If you want quicker combats, at the risk of those combats becoming unbalanced, try using the side initiative rule.
Under this variant, the players roll a d20 for their initiative as a group, or side. You also roll a d20. Neither roll receives any modifiers. Whoever rolls highest wins initiative. In case of a tie, keep rerolling until the tie is broken.
When it’s a side’s turn, the members of that side can act in any order they choose. Once everyone on the side has taken a turn, the other side goes. A round ends when both sides have completed their turns.
If more than two sides take part in a battle, each side rolls for initiative. Sides act from the highest roll to lowest. Combat continues in the initiative order until the battle is complete.
This variant encourages teamwork and makes your life as a DM easier, since you can more easily coordinate monsters. On the downside, the side that wins initiative can gang up on enemies and take them out before they have a chance to act.
Side Initiative:
Party: 5
Yagra: 23
Xanathar's Guild: 120
(I goofed, reroll): 13
Initiative Order:
Yagra
Party
Xanathar's Bandits
Yagra will continue to assault Krentz, her main enemy. Throwing her fists of fury, grunting from the damage she's endured thus far.
Yagra lays a vicious assault onto the tattooed bandit known as Krentz. His face bloodied and bruised severely.
It now goes to the Party.
DM: Waterdeep: Dragon Heist
Rashar moves to flank Krentz from behind. He uses the handle of his knife to smack him on the head(non-lethal).
Attack: 21 Damage: 12
DMing:
Solo Hoard of the Dragon Queen
Playing:
Baral- Coliseum of Conquest, Lazarus Vernon- Tale of Mercenaries; Bernard Lionsbane- Solo Curse of Strahd
Mardak watches the situation escalate but does not want to worsen the situation any further by outright attacking someone at that moment. He keeps standing on the table and shouts the word "Halt" hoping that someone in the goon squad listens and follows through.
-OOC-
Initiative:16Mardak casts Command directed at
Krentz (the Eyeball Tattoo guy) (i assume i can see him)at one of the Goons as per Discord discussion that Krentz fell unconscious before my 'action' DC 13 Wisdom SaveRefreshing went wrong so didn't see the initiative rule. Ignore that part :)
Jarret will wait to see how things play out next turn. Doing nothing, but preparing magic missile if things go south.
Alton Thorngage- (Klein’s One Shot String Adventure)
Holden Stonefist-(A Tale of Mercenaries)
Fenrick Wolfsbane- (Icewind Dale: Rime of the Frostmaiden)
DMing-Ctleath13’s Lost Mines of Phandelver and Ctleath13’s Out of the Abyss
Krivnaar adjusts his monocle and quickly waves his hand in the air in an odd pattern. From the gaping hole in the middle of the tavern, an otherwordly roar and the sound of smacking teeth emerges, along with a scraping sound. "Those adventurers've roused something from the portal!" Krivnaar implores the goons. "We should run while we have the chance!" Krivnaar himself begins making for the door.
-OOC-
Casting Minor Illusion a little ways down the portal, a sound as described. If the goons won't make an OA, Krivnaar will retreat towards the nearest door, and prop it open, urging the goons out.
Morgan moves forward ready to join the combat as well...
initiative: 14
He strides up and drives a fist into one of the thugs ganging up on Yagra...
Attack: 13 Damage: 4
Cath, seeing that Durnan doesn't seem to concerned over another brawl in his tavern, sits back in his chair and watches. He'll keep an eye on things and if one of his friends looks to be in trouble he'll get involved but until then he just watches.
The intense battle enrages as the Xanathar's Guild bandits gang up on the mercenary, Yagra Stonefist. Rasher swiftly maneuver's behind Krentz to take his opportunity to bring him down the size as he's being pummeled by Yagra. He strikes Krentz with the pommel of his dagger to the side of his head to render him unconscious.
Jarret and Cath both decide to hang up, as they assess the situation and deem it unnecessary to get involved at this time. Partly as others have come to Yagra's aid.
Mardak brazenly shouts "Halt!" as he casts Command on B1. (Rolled the spell save on Discord, he failed.) The bandit now finds himself magically held in place, unable to move.
Morgan moves around the brawl to get behind B4 and will strike him from behind. The powerful blow hurts the man tremendously, but is insufficient to knock him out.
The bandits aren't paying well enough attention from the growling noise emitting from the well, courtesy of Krivnaar. The spectators around the brawl do notice, and crowd disperses quite a bit as they fall back encase something actually does pop out from the well. Durnan and Jalester do perk up, readying their weapons. Threestrings continues to play intense battle music on his lute. Meloon Wardragon appears to be too drunk to notice his surroundings, and Obaya is observing the well, peering down to see if she can find anything dwelling inside.
It now goes to the Bandits.
Due to Mardak's Command, B1 is unable to take an action.
Both B2 and B3 will continue attacking Yagra.
B4 will turn around and make an attack against Morgan.
B2 swings wildly, perhaps a little too wildly. The momentum generated into his punch was more than his body could handle, and he falls Prone.
B3 manages to land a soft blow on Yagra. She barely grunts, and she stays in the fight.
Morgan shrugs off B4's attack in anticipation.
Going to Yagra's turn now, she'll see that Krentz is down for the count, so she'll turn around and make her attacks on now prone B2.
Yagra beats B2 to a bloody pulp, he's barely surviving at this point. He's barely awake and he's gasping for air just to breathe.
It now goes to the Party.
DM: Waterdeep: Dragon Heist
Rashar hears the roaring sound emitting from the well. "Those adventurers must have awoken something...I don't want to stay around for that." However, Yagra is still facing down the bandits, so he can't leave yet.
Rashar swings over to Bandit 4 and smacks him as well with his dagger's pommel.
Attack: 11 Damage: 5
He also yells, "Your leader, Krentz, is down. End this fight!"
Persuasion: 10
DMing:
Solo Hoard of the Dragon Queen
Playing:
Baral- Coliseum of Conquest, Lazarus Vernon- Tale of Mercenaries; Bernard Lionsbane- Solo Curse of Strahd
Krivnaar looks at Rashar, and the half-elf hears a message in his mind: it's just an illusion to cool things off. He then makes another gesture, and the sound strange sound from the portal appears to be getting closer. "This is a fool's errand, it will come up any moment, run while you still can!"
-OOC-
Another Minor Illusion
If B4 is still up Morgan will give him a cool glare and slam his fist into his head, trying to knock him out. If B4 is down he will eye B3 and not act, thinking the battle well and truly over, with only the one bandit up. "Walk away." Morgan informs the remaining bandit if there is just the one left up.
attack if needed...
Attack: 25 Damage: 4
Cath, hearing the noise from the pit, but not knowing Krivnaar had created it, stands up. He removes his round shield from his back and straps it to his arm. He then draws his warhammer. He eyes the pit but makes no other action.
As Mardak his spell holds a goon on its place he can see that the battle seems under control. He stays put though.
”If anyone needs medical assistance let me know” he says with a smile looking on the thugs that are beat up.
Jarett remains hanging back, not feeling the need to interfere. Cath does seem concerned about the noise from the well that Krivnaar is generating. Rashar and Morgan both strike down another bandit. At the point, the remaining bandits deem it best to flee, so B2 will grab Krentz and and B3 will grab B4 and drag them away. B1 is now free from the Command and will aid his thug brethren in fleeing.
This will provoke an opportunity attack from Yagra, who is determined to send them a message they won't ever forget. Yagra sends a flurry of strikes to B1.
Yagra manages to land a blow, but not enough to halt their progress in running.
This will also provoke an opportunity attack from the party. Is anyone going to strike?
Morgan had B4 in front of him, as we as B3 diagonally on his left. Upon moving, Morgan would get an opportunity attack on B3. So will Rashar. Kriv and Mardak will be able to take an opportunity attack against any of them. Jarett and Cath are free to get a shot in if they feel so inclined.
Finished editing.
DM: Waterdeep: Dragon Heist