Session 15 Part 2: Crushing the Cult of Dagon

I wanted something weird for the Bros to fight as part of the Circle of Pelagea Dagon cult, so I broke tradition and picked a Thessalhydra from MM2 instead of pure random rolls. Plus it felt right as a boss monster vs the rando hydras I've been rolling - let's see what happens. I decide the cult's spies have seen the Bros coming and sent the avatar of Father Dagon to deal with the interlopers.

No surprise (4-3) so we proceed to initiative.
Round 1: Thessalhydra wins 3-1

Thessalhydra hits Brogallo for 12hp

Thessalhydra hits Voon deGoon for 8hp

Thessalhydra hits Kleptikos for 8hp

Thessalhydra hits Blastikus for 7hp

Thessalhydra hits Jack Stabby for 5hp

Thessalhydra hits Culrink twice for 10hp, killing her

Thessalhydra hits Yelu Falone twice for 12hp, killing her

Brogallo hits twice for 17hp; -1 head

Voon deGoon hits for 5hp

Kleptikos hits for 8hp

Krall Diacan hits for 8hp

Blastikus casts Charm Monster, but loses the spell due to Thessalhydra hit

Round 2: Thessalhydra wins 6-3

Thessalhydra hits Brogallo for 3hp

Thessalhydra hits Voon deGoon for 4hp

Thessalhydra hits Dejing pan Ark for a total of 30hp (including tail grab+bite and acid). Her leather armor and all potions fail the acid saving throw and are destroyed. She's naked and angry!

Thessalhydra hits Blastikus for 1hp

Thessalhydra hits Jack Stabby for 2hp

Brogallo hits twice for 13hp; -1 head

Kleptikos hits for 4hp

Krall Diacan hits for 11hp

Round 3: Tied 4-4; all actions simultaneous

Brogallo hits twice for 21hp; -1 head

Voon deGoon hits twice for 15hp; -1 head

Kleptikos hits for 8hp; -1 head

Krall Diacan hits for 12hp; -1 head

Blastikus casts Polymorph Other (let's go with "white fluffy bunny" cuz that's hysterical) on the Thessalhydra which fails its save. It fails the mental check and now believes it is a white fluffy bunny. Awesome!

Thessalhydra hits Brogallo for 8hp

Thessalhydra hits Voon deGoon for 6hp

Thessalhydra hits Jack Stabby for 9hp

The Bros give Dejing pan Ark a spare cloak and garments, but this will do little to soothe her ire at losing her hench-bros and armor. The cultists will pay for this humiliation!

Their blood is up as the Bros approach the village. The cultists are waiting for them as the ragged villager cultists form ranks to protect their leaders who are in the middle of a ritual. Blastikus knows that this must be related to the astronomical and metaphysical conjunction he warned the Bros about and tells them as such. Every cultist must die if the Bros are to live!

I roll a d8 and come up with a 6. The Bros have 6 rounds to stop the ritual before the Avatar of Dagon appears (let's go with a reskinned Shoggoth from Deities and Demigods First Printing because I want to flex with my Old Skool collection...)

I've rolled up the Dagon Cult as a group of Pilgrims from the MM. We'll be using the campaign mass rules as described in Campaign Procedures and Generators for the troop battles and the Bros will engage in standard AD&D combat

The Circle of Pelagea cult stats:

• 44 are equipped with Leather armor and club
• 44 are equipped with Leather armor and dagger

Leaders:

• Patriarch L8 Cleric
• Canon L6 Cleric, assistant to the Patriarch
• Curate L4 Cleric, assistant to the Patriarch
• Adept L2 Cleric, assistant to the Patriarch
• L5 Monk, bodyguard to the Patriarch
• L1 Fighter, bodyguard to the Patriarch

The Brocenary stats:

Brogallo's Mercs:

• Brocenary Lancers First Cohort, 10 medium horsemen with Lt and Sgt
• Brocenary Lancers Second Cohort, 24 light horsemen with Capt and 3 Sgts
• Brocenary Crossbowmen, 24 light crossbowmen with Capt and 3 Sgts

Blastikus' Mercs:

• Brocenary Lancers Third Cohort, 17 light horsemen with Capt and 2 Sgts
• Brocenary Cataphracts First Cohort, 15 heavy footmen with Capt and 2 Sgts

No Surprise 6-5

Round 1: Tied 4-4; all actions simultaneous

Brogallo charges and hits Patriarch for 18hp

Voon deGoon charges and hits Canon for 16hp

Kleptikos charges and hits Curate for 6hp

Dejing pan Ark charges and hits Monk for 6hp

Adept hits Krall Diacan for 6hp

Brocenary Lancers First Cohort score 7 kills on Cultist Unit 1

Brocenary Lancers Second Cohort score 14 kills on Cultist Unit 1

Brocenary Crossbowmen score 9 kills on Cultist Unit 1

Brocenary Lancers Third Cohort score 13 kills on Cultist Unit 2

Brocenary Cataphracts First Cohort score 10 kills on Cultist Unit 2

Cultist Unit 1 score 7 kills on Brocenary Lancers First Cohort

Cultist Unit 1 score 8 kills on Brocenary Lancers Second Cohort

Cultist Unit 1 score 8 kills on Brocenary Crossbowmen

Cultist Unit 2 score 6 kills on Brocenary Lancers Third Cohort

Cultist Unit 2 score 5 kills on Brocenary Cataphracts First Cohort

Cultist Unit 1 fail morale and flee; Brocenaries run them down and kill them all

Cultist Unit 2 fail morale and flee; Brocenaries run them down and kill them all

Round 2: Tied 5-5; all actions simultaneous

Brogallo hits Patriarch for 13hp

Voon deGoon hits Canon for 9hp, killing him

Kleptikos hits Curate for 6hp

Dejing pan Ark hits Monk for 5hp

Patriarch hits Brogallo for 8hp

Canon hits Voon deGoon for 4hp

Curate hits Kleptikos for 2hp

Monk hits Dejing pan Ark for 3hp

Cult Fighter hits Jack Stabby for 2hp

Round 3: Bros win 3-1

Brogallo hits Patriarch for 19hp, killing him

Kleptikos hits Curate for 7hp, killing him

Krall Diacan hits Adept for 8hp, killing him

Dejing pan Ark hits Monk for 9hp

Blastikus hits Cult Fighter hits for 6hp, killing him

Jack Stabby hits Monk for 7hp, killing him

The Bros have wiped out the Circle of Pelagea, ending the threat...for now.

Downtime will be interesting...

Session 14 Part 2: Hydra Head Games

Flush with success over the usurpers (and with one of the cohort in chains along with her henchmen), Brogallo confers with Kleptikos and they agree to continue on the trail of the Tallow Watch usurpers while the trail is hot. They decide to make their way westwards and begin searching for the sweet, sweet loot that the junta is  temporarily holding for the Bros. They travel south and hit the road to Valthrun without incident, but as they begin their journey to the city, they are attacked by a 14 headed hydra in hex 307.295. Life gets complicated sometimes...

The hydra surprises the Bros 5-2 and is 17" distant. It spends the surprise segments closing to melee range and attacks the Bros directly, somehow sensing that they are the leaders of this expedition.

Round 1: Tied 4-4
Kleptikos and Man-Lee all wound separate heads
Brogallo and Voon de Goon each kill 1 head
Hydra scores multiple d12 hits on all party members
12 heads remaining

Round 2: Hydra wins 4-1
Hydra scores multiple d12 hits on all party members; Man-Lee and Manderbro are not happy
Bros each kill a head
6 heads remaining

Round 3: Bros win 6-4
No Tiki, Man-Lee and Manderbro each wound a head
Voon de Goon kills 1 head
Hydra kills Man-Lee and Manderbro
5 heads remaining

Round 4: Hydra wins 6-1
Hydra wounds remaining bros; No Tiki is near death
Brogallo and Voon de Goon each kill 1 head
3 heads remaining

Round 5: Hydra wins 2-1
Hydra kills No Tiki
Brogallo and Voon de Goon each kill 1 head
1 head remaining

Round 6: Bros win 6-5
Brogallo kills final hydra head

Well, that sucked. The Bros lost one of their frontline fighters and both magic-users. Based on this unfortunate setback, Brogallo decides that the Tallow Watch junta will have to wait for now. Considering the heavy wounds of the remaining Bros, he thinks a little humility will go a long way and decides to pay a visit to Blastikus' nearby tower and see if some gifts will help soothe hurt feelings and allow him to recover in the mage's tower.

Session 14 Part 1: Berserker Beatdown

 

Brogallo and Kleptikos decide that the usurpers (and the Old Brightwood treasury funds they stole) are too good of a target to ignore. Brogallo recruits two more mercenary companies with officers, successfully hiring 27 crossbowmen and 24 light infantry per DMG pg 30. He pays to kit them out, but of course, doesn't trust them to keep quiet if they successfully defeat the usurpers. Working with Kleptikos, he discretely purchases enough poison from underworld contacts in Old Brightwood, Tallow Watch and Valthrun (type A and type C, per DMG pg 20) to kill them all after the treasure is recovered. Let's not forget that both of the Bros are Neutral Evil, not to mention bloodthirsty bastards, so this is absolutely in character! If the existing mercs have a problem with this, well, they can be dealt with as needed...

I randomly roll for direction and distance and find that the usurpers have fled northeast and are 8 hexes distant, putting them in Hex 311.289. I roll up an NPC Party for the usurpers per DMG Appendix A pg 175 and decide that they'll have a group of berserkers as fanatic followers, mainly because I'm tired of bandits and want something a little different. I roll up a group of 52 berserkers with leaders per MM. In terms of loot, I decide the treasury will be Treasure Type H (again per the MM), and the berserkers will have additional loot per their MM entry.

Brogallo leads his warband out of Old Brightwood (starting hex 302.295) and begins searching. I'm using a d6 to determine random direction on the hex map and checking for random monsters as the Bros enter the hex. I hit paydirt immendiately as hex 303.294 comes up with...a white dragon! Of course, this must be Zenabarithon and his hungry mate looking for snacks!!

I check for surprise and the Bros win 4-1 which gives them 2 segments of surprise attacks. Zenabarithon was caught lacking by his opp!! Encounter distance is 12", so I decide the boys catch the dragons in mid-flight. The bros open fire with all available missile weapons and roll insanely well, scoring 29hp on Zenabarithon. ROF of composite longbows is pretty devastating in surprise attacks!

Round1: Bros win initiative 4 to 1

The mercs are affected by the dragons' fear aura and all flee in terror. One of the captains and two of the sergeants come from sterner stock, make their saves and stand fast. Missile fire from Brogallo, No Tiki, and Voon deal 14hp total, killing Zenabarithon!

Manderbro casts Melf Minute Meteors for 6hp against the female dragon. Manderbro casts Fireball for 30hp and the dragon makes her save, taking 15hp

Zenabarithon mate rolls 21% for breath weapon, so goes for a claw/claw/bite attack on Man-lee, hitting for 4hp

Round 2: Bros win initiative 6-2

Missile fire from Brogallo, No Tiki, and Voon deal 21hp total, killing Zenabarithon's mate. Vengeance is a dish best served cold (HA! see what I did there?)

The Bros spend 16 turns rounding up the terrified mercs (see Dragon entry in MM for fear aura effects) and fortunately don't encounter any more trouble while doing so. They continue searching for the usurpers and have the following encounters while doing so:

Hex 304.294: The home of Yuancheng Al-Khatib (Lawful Good)

Reaction (20% reaction roll + Kleptikos 30% = 50% Neutral): The old hermit tells PCs he saw the usurpers fleeing northeast towards the villages. Being a good and kindly soul, he takes Brogallo aside as he turns his mount to continue his journey and says "Be careful if you go to the village of Eastsea. They are a queer and secretive people that have an unsavory demeanor about them. I don't know what they're hiding, but I think it is a deeply ingrained evil".

Hex 307.293: The Hamlet of Eastsea (Chaotic Evil)

Reaction (84% reaction roll + Kleptikos 30% = 114% Enthusiastic Friendly): Brogallo and Kleptikos immediately notice the odd appearance of the village and its inhabitants. There is an abundance of serpent imagery decorating the interiors and exteriors of their homes and there is an unmistakable marine odor of rotting fish, though the village is nowhere near the sea. The villagers themselves seem to have an oily sheen to their skin and speak with an excessive sibilance. Their jewelry repeats the serpentine motif seen on the buildings, though they oddly try to hide the items if they notice anyone staring at them too intently. Mysteriously, they are perhaps too enthusiastic in their welcome of the Bros as they tell Brogallo that they saw the usurpers heading north towards Cornhenge. They say there are about 60 savage looking troops led by a group of a dozen adventurer types. Brogallo and Kleptikos, hackles raised at the eerie villagers' behavior, thank them and quickly depart before the situation can spiral into chaos.

Hex 307.292: The Hamlet of Kendra (Lawful Good)

Reaction (95% reaction roll + Kleptikos 30% = 125% Enthusiastic Friendly): The villagers have received word from their friends and relatives in the village of Brofield (hex 302.291) about Brogallos victory over Zenabarithon and great the Bros as heroes. They tell Brogallo that two of the villagers followed the group and saw them make camp in the ruins in the mountains near the town or Welland. They think the group is looking to loot the town.

Hex 307.291: The Hamlet of Cornhenge (Lawful Neutral)

Reaction (46% reaction roll + Kleptikos 30% = 76% Friendly): The local chieftain tells them the usurpers were seen heading northeast and they should check at Kendra. The Bros spend the night to recharge.

Hex 311.289: The Ancient Graveyard

The boys make contact with the usurpers who have set up camp in the fields surrounding the ruins of an ancient temple and graveyard complex.

Neither side is surprised (5-5) and encounter distance is 14". We proceed to combat using our mass combat rules.

Round 1: Bros win initiative 6-1

Crossbowmen hit berserker unit 1 for 8 kills

Lancers 1st Company hit berserker unit 2 for 4 kills

Lancers 2nd Company hit berserker unit 2 for 11 kills; berserker unit 2 wiped out

Brogallo hits berserker unit 3 for 9 kills

No Tiki hits berserker unit 3 for 8 kills; berserker unit 3 wiped out

Voon de Goon hits berserker unit 1 for 11 kills

Kleptikos hits berserker unit 1 for 1 kill

Ah-Soh misses L10 berserker leader

Man-Lee hits L10/L7/L6 berserker leaders for 6hp

Manderbro casts Sleep against L1 berserker elites, taking out the unit

Berserker leaders all hit Ah-Soh, killing him

Remaining Berserker troops fail morale check with 38% and flee the battle

Round 2: Bros win initiative 6-5

Crossbowmen hit Usurper leaders, killing Kybold and hitting Mara for 8hp

Lancers 1st Company get 8 hits on Mara for 31hp

Lancers 2nd Company get 11 hits on Faris for 44hp

Brogallo hits Faris for 10hp, killing him

No Tiki hits Jue Basha for 5hp, killing him

Voon de Goon hits L10 berserker leader

Man-Lee hits Ienepa with Melf's Acid Arrow for total of 10hp

Manderbro hits Ienepa with Burning Hands for 6hp

Berserker leaders hit Kleptikos for 3hp

Dejing hits Brogallo for 4hp

Round 3: Bros win initiative 5-3

Brogallo kills Ienepa

No Tiki kills Olag

Voon de Goon hits L10 berserker leader for 14hp

Man-Lee hits Mara with Burning Hands for 7hp

Manderbro hits Ienepa with his staff, killing her

Dejing hits Brogallo for 7hp

Berserker leaders hit Kleptikos for 7hp

Round 4: Usurpers win initiative 3-2

Remaining berserkers fail morale and flee

Remaining usurpers fail morale and surrender:

• Dejing pan Ark - Human Female Lvl10 Thief (True Neutral)
• Yelu Falone - Human Female Lvl3 Cleric (Neutral Evil) 
• Culrink - Surface Gnome Female Lvl3/3 Illusionist/Thief (Chaotic Evil) 

A lot of action this session with more to come. Stay tuned for part 2...