SoloDark Pt. 12: The Hoard

Oct 02, 2024

Thanks for reading my solo Shadowdark game running The Shadowed Keep on the Borderlands. I aim to tell a story and pull the curtain back on how to run a solo TTRPG. I use footnotes for smaller rolls, mechanics, and comments, and italic blocks for larger stuff.

You can find all the prior posts here, and if you want to see more in the way of notes you can find my public Notion Notebook here.

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Setup

This is about to be a pretty big fight so we have some setup to do first. I also want to discuss a bit more of the mechanics of the combat just so you can all see how the creme brule gets made (Creme brule = much better than sausage).

First, we know that Sar, the goblin’s priest, is looking to take over the clan from Ruknar, the ogre leader. We need to know if he will answer the war cry. Oracle: Does Sar join the fight? Yes but, he may still betray Ruknar. We’ll keep this in mind for the coming fight.

Next up is the battlefield. The stairs the Luckless have chosen to fight on are only 5’ wide. This means only 1 character from each side can engage in melee. On the Luckless side, this will be Gol’shruk. For the goblins I will rule that Ruknar is tall enough that he can attack over the head of the goblin in front of him. This means that until he is slain Ruknar can also make a melee attack against Gol’shruk, and he gets 2 each round. Let's imagine this as “ranks” on a battlefield (think of darkest dungeon).

Rank 4+ > Rank 3 > Rank 2 > Rank 1 | Rank 1 < Rank 2 < Rank 3 < Rank 4+

Goblins > Bruiser > Ogre > Bruiser | Gol’shruk < Diam < Strika < Quibel & Shiori

In the first rank, Gol’shruck is going to focus on survival and take a full defensive stance. This is not a rule in ShadowDark but I think it’s 100% reasonable to sacrifice your attack to gain a benefit to defense. If I were running this at a table I would give attacks against him disadvantage but given how many attacks are coming his way it would be a crazy number of extra dice to roll. Instead, I’m just going to give him +4 to his AC, which is roughly the mathematical equivalent.

The other reason the group is retreating up the stairs is that it reduces the number of targets for missile attacks. I’m ruling that only the first three ranks of either side can be targeted by missile attacks. That being said Raknur is specifically called out to be very tall and fat. That would make shooting weapons attacks past him incredibly challenging. I’m going to rule that the goblins behind him are simply waiting for a clear shot to fire. Effectively this means that unless Raknur goes down none of the goblins behind him can attack, but if he does go down they all get a shot that round.

Lastly, we should look at how many combatants there are. First up you’ve got Ruknar the ogre with his greatsword. There are 6 goblin bruisers (stronger, better-armored goblins), though one of them is injured from his earlier encounter with the group, finally, there are 11 goblins. That it a lot of enemies, and if the group knew exactly how many were down here they would probably flee but they really want to take care of the 2 ogres and feel they are in a good tactical position where they are. In theory, Ruknar is the one they should be worried about but I’m also super worried about the round he probably goes down. 16 incoming attacks is a lot even if their attack bonus is very small. If they can withstand that maybe Strika can put a lot of them to sleep, or perhaps the group just flees.

Because I like to put out a more narrative style of combat I don’t like to break it all up by putting combat rounds in the middle of text. So you’ll find the narrative result first and then the highlights of each round’s rolls below that with maybe one break if things get dicey. Time to roll ~~some~~ a lot of dice and find out the results of this fight.

Runkar!

As Gol’shruk stood at the foot of the stairs the hoard loomed out of the darkness, led by the massive ogre. He was as wide as he was tall, armor plates were strapped roughly across his hulking form, and he wielded a massive two-handed sword. He pushed his way up the stairwell towards Gol’shruk, metal screeching as it scraped along the stone walls. Gol’shruk closed his eyes, slowed his breathing, and focused. For the briefest of moments, time seemed to slow and the sound of the goblin’s warcries quieted to a whisper. He was ready.

The horrific roar of the Orge returned as Gol’shruk’s eyes snapped open and the creature's sword crashed down upon his shield, pushing Gol’shruk down onto one knee. He shoved the sword to the side and regained his footing as the rest of the Luckless focused their efforts on bringing the monster down. Spells and blades cut into the creature but it would take more than a few strikes to bring an ogre of his size down.

Both sides continued to hammer at each other, chipping away sides defenses. Despite his best efforts at defense, Gol’shruk was not doing well against the ogre. He had barely fended off several deadly blows and was only standing thanks to Quibels scroll of healing. Strika and Shiori weren’t faring much better as their spells began to fail them.

The weight of the ogre’s sword strikes was incredible and after several blows, the shield finally failed. As the wooden shield splintered apart the greatsword drove itself into the stone. Gol’shruck and Diam both seized the brief lapse in the ogre’s defense. Gol’shruk stepped down on the blade to hold it in place just long enough for Diam to take careful aim with his handaxe and bury the blade in the ogre’s throat with a near-perfect throw.1

The ogre toppled forward and a torrent of hot reeking blood splashed across Gol’shruck and Diam. As the hulking form of the ogre fell, the Luckless looked on in horror as they saw the hoard that had gathered behind him. No less than a dozen goblins had been kept out of their sight by the ogre’s massive form. Now, as he fell, they loosed the arrows they had been holding. The Luckless were helpless against the onslaught of arrows, all they could do was pray the arrows would miss their mark.

Rd1. Tied initiative (how appropriate). 
Gol’shruk fully defending AC = 22. 
Defense is successful and enemies aren’t able to hit him. 
Quibel casts rage on Diam. 
Group focuses their attacks on the Ogre for -13hp but he doesn’t go down.

Rd2. Enemies win initiative. 
Ogre hits Gol’shruck for -4hp (11/13). 
Quibel uses scroll of Cure Wounds on Gol’shruk for 5hp (6/13). 
Diam misses, Shiori uses a luck point (2 left) to avoid a magical mishap. 
They do -5hp to the Ogre (18 total). 
Rage wears off Diam.

Rd3. Tied initiative. 
Ogre hits Gol’shruk twice despite the full defense, -2hp on the first strike (8/12) and Gol’shruk sunders his shield to avoid the second. His AC drops to 20. 
Quibel uses a uses a luck point to cast rage on Diam (1 left). 
Diam crits on his attack doing -16hp to the Oger and slaying him (34 total damage)! 
Strika and Shiori both fail their casting checks and lose that spell for the day (Magic Missile and Eyebite…this really hurts the group).

As mentioned before, when Ruknar falls the goblins unleash the attacks they’ve been unable to fire.

Arrows fell upon the group like hail and Shiori watched in horror as arrows impaled Gol’shruk, Diam, and Strika. While Gol’shruk was still on his feet, Diam collapsed with an arrow buried deep in his chest and Strika was riddled with arrows. As blood pooled around the wizard’s body, his bloodshot eyes locked with Quibel’s, and the sage watched Strika’s last words form silently on his lips.

Tell Anya I’m sorry - Strika’s final words

Two of their group were dead or dying and Shiori had no spells to inflict damage. Asking Gol’shruk to hold off the hoard alone would be asking the impossible, he was barely on his feet and had no shield to protect him. The Luckless knew they wouldn’t all make it out. There was a very real chance that none of them would make it out. As the goblins prepared another salvo Gol’shruk glanced back at the two ladies…

Quibel! Shiori! Run! I’ll hold them off as long as I can. You two can make it out.
Go!
Shiori…please go…please live.

…then turned and charged the goblins. He didn’t make it. Most of the goblin’s arrows glanced off his armor, but a single arrow slipped past his defenses and buried itself in his throat. He fell dead on the stairs just a few feet from a devastated Shiori, who had suffered her own injury in the final volley. Tears streaked down Shiori’s face. Her friend for years lay dead at her feet. She had heard his final wish but she knew it was pointless, there was no way out for her. Even if she wanted to flee she couldn’t escape this many goblins, but Quibel could. Quibel still had her innate ability to become invisible. Quibel would live, and Shiori would die with her best friend, but she would make the goblins pay. Without turning her head she called back to Quibel as she moved down the steps.

It’s ok Quibel, you can go. At least one of us should make it out alive. Tell the next adventurous fools about what’s down here. Tell them we took care of the ogres. Oh, and find Munnin and take care of him for me will you? - Shiori

Quibel knew there was nothing she could do. She sobbed, became invisible, and fled. The last of the Luckless.

Rd3 continued. The goblins unleash 14 total missile attacks. 
They all randomly target one of the front three ranks. 
Gol’shruk is hit once for -2hp (10/12), Diam is hit once for -4hp and goes down (9/9), Strika is hit 3 times for -10hp and goes down (10/8). Strika got targeted randomly like 6 times and even sundered his staff to try and avoid going down. This is honestly looking really bad.

Rd 4. Enemies win initiative (and things just keep getting worse). 
With a clear line of fire, all the goblins can attack but Gol’shruck is the only target. Strika and Diam are both at 0hp and roll a d4+Con to see how many rounds they have until they die. They both wind up with 2 and will fully die on round 6.

At this point, the group must flee. Gul’shruk is 1 hit away from death, they’ve already used their one source of healing, Strika and Diam are both down, and Shiori’s only damage spell was lost last round. Gol’shruk would literally have to face down all 15 goblins by himself and if even one gets a hit in, he’s a goner. If they survive the incoming salvo they will flee.

Rd4 continued. It finally happened. 
7 attacks in a row missed, and then a goblin crit Gol’shruk for a measly 2 points of damage…but that was enough, he goes down. Shiori is also hit for -2hp (2/4).

More than 1 character is about to die. The real question is if Quible and Shiori flee. Knowing Gol’shruk when he saw things headed south he would have told everyone to run (he has both the Kind and Protective traits after all). Quibel will almost certainly flee, she can become invisible and has far fewer ties to the group (they all met less than a month ago). The one I’m not sure about is Shiori. She has no solid way to get out of this situation and has a pretty significant bond with Gol’shruk, who she just watched die. I don’t see that escape is a valid option but she might try it out of fear. I’ll roll a d8 and if she rolls equal to or lower than her current bond with Gol’shruk she stays. Her bond is a 7 and she rolled a 7. She stays.

Shiori was a witch. She knew the dark truths of magic. Magic was a force of chaos and destruction that always had a cost. The trick was to control it just enough that you were willing to pay the cost. Shiori no longer cared what the cost was. She was already dead but she would take the goblins with her.

She ripped that arrow from her leg and pulled a dagger from her belt. Running the blade down both of her arms she opened her veins and spilled her life across the floor. She smeared the blood across her face and cast her arms wide as she uttered the black words of a forbidden spell.

Roots shall choke, shadows creep;
My flesh is yours, eternal sleep.
Come, Willowman, from darkest deep
Rise and feast where shadows seep. - Shiori, the Witch

As Shiori collapsed face down on top of Gol’shruk’s dead body, her blood began to bubble. A moment later something truly horrid seemed to crawl forth from her blood. A pale faceless creature with elongated limbs and curved talons that raked the ground. It turned to face the goblins and they, in turn, faced death. As their screams echoed through the dungeon halls, Shiori might have wondered if she had not unleashed something worse than goblins upon the world. She might have wondered…if she wasn’t already dead.

Quibel

The next few days felt like a blur for the old Seer. She ran all the way back to Dulwich, fueled by the unnatural screams of the goblins, and spent the next day deep in her cups. Two days after the defeat of the Luckless she marched back to the dungeon with a handful of fighting men to retrieve the dead bodies of her allies. They found no bodies. While the blood splashed across the walls spoke to the violence that happened here there were bodies left to bury. Even the goblin and ogre corpses were gone, and Quibel wasn’t sure she wanted to know why.

She paid the fighting men with the treasure the Luckless had stored in the tower and decided it was time to retire. She’d seen enough friends die in her life and the Luckless were the last straw. She’d had enough, it was time to drink tea, tell fortunes, and be that crazy old lady who lived in the woods. Somewhere quiet sounded nice.

Well, there we have it. The Luckless is no more.

Honestly, this was sadder than I imagined it would be. I’ve always been prepared for characters to die but I wasn’t ready for a TPK to happen. The dice rolls at the end were just brutal. The characters never won an initiative roll in that entire fight, and essentially faced over 20 attacks in a row because of how it all played out. I’m not really sure how they could have done things differently after they committed to facing the second Ogre. Ultimately the dice tell the story and despite it being sad it was one hell of an ending.

The dice gods are a fickle lot and care not for the concerns of players. - Me, and every TTRPG player ever

With the end of the Luckless upon us I’d love to hear your thoughts on this fight or the adventure as a whole. Next week’s post will include some options for what to play next but if you have any suggestions I would love to hear them.

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