After making sure the animals were safe and secure, the Party descended into the next level of the fortress. The Asimar woman had not been seen, so they had to investigate further.

While most of the Party went down a hallway to inspect some empty rooms, Chaka went to a different door to see if he could find anything else.

In the tabletop RPG world, there is a common phrase sung by DMs and Players everywhere: “You NEVER split the Party!” Here is a perfect example why.

Chaka nonchalantly opened the door. Inside was one of the Asimar’s commanders, a Bugbear, and the Goblin Chief’s wives, whom the Bugbear had been comforting since their chief wouldn’t spend time with them. The smell of their rancid perfume forced Chaka to make a Fortitude Save, which he promptly failed. After losing his lunch from the stench, a surprise combat round ensued with Chaka facing these enemies by himself.

The rest of the Party barely got to him in time. Rainstorm took out the Bugbear with a well-timed Magic Missile, and Draco Nat20 killed a goblin bride with his Wand of Shocking Grasp.

However, it wasn’t just the Party that had good rolls. One of the goblin brides attacked Ciara with a dagger and rolled a Nat20. With our current rule set, if you roll a Nat20, you must roll again to confirm the critical hit. If the second roll is less than the target AC, it’s a guaranteed hit, but not for critical damage. I rolled to confirm the goblin bride’s critical. Second Nat20. Ciara’s Player grew extra nervous. Apparently, if 3 Nat20s are rolled in a row during an attack phase, it’s not just a critical hit that’s dealt. It’s an instant kill with no chance of saving throws. Goodbye character. Luckily, I did not roll a third Nat20, but I still had to dish out the critical damage.

*rolls damage dice, calculates double the roll* “Alright, the Goblin Bride rushes in, gets past your defenses, and stabs you with her blade…for a total of 4 damage.”

They got past that encounter, took out a few more guards and commanders, and eventually came up to some sort of ritual hall. They figured out the room had two entrances, so they planned for a pincer attack. Jyn, Rainstorm, and Draco would charge in from the front while Ciara and Chaka would flank from the side door.

They rushed in and were greeted by a pair of Yeth Hounds, demon dogs capable of flight. At the start of any encounter with these things, yeth hounds will let out a fear-inducing howl (something about the way they hunt). If you fail a Will Save, you instantly panic and have no choice but to run at full sprint for a certain number of turns.

Rainstorm and Draco failed their Will Saves. Since the rest of the Party had higher Initiative rolls, their actions would go last. They were still by the entrance of the ritual hall, with one path opening into already explored territory, the other leading to stairs that went deeper into the fortress’s basement.

In that moment, I became Evil DM.

Jyn attacked one yeth hound while Chaka and Ciara tussled with the other. On Rainstorm’s turn, she ran off into the pre-explored areas. Draco, who went last, ran for the stairs.

Jyn was the first to notice what was going on (his Player obviously not happy with me), but was already engaged with the yeth hound. By the time he struck it down, Draco was already one turn away from reaching the stairs. Rainstorm had already doubled back in her panicked run, so he went to subdue her first. Picturing a man-sized bird hogtying a 6ft tall blue woman was hilarious, at least for me.

Ciara and Chaka didn’t fare too well, either. Their yeth hound succeeded in biting Ciara, and its bite attack had the chance of tripping its target. My DM dice acted up again and rolled another Nat20. Ciara fell prone and lost hold of her gun, leaving her vulnerable.

The yeth hounds were soon defeated and Rainstorm eventually came back to her senses.

Draco, however, was gone, somewhere in the depths of the fortress.

Man, I love leaving people on cliffhangers!