GURPS Dungeon Fantasy Session 184, Brotherhood Complex 5 - Gnolls (Part II)

We played DF Felltower today, picking up from last time. For a player's look at the session, check Doug's blog.

Real Date: 5/21/2023
Game Date: 5/4/2023

Characters:
Ambassador Durinn, dwarf cleric (~265 points)
Desmond MacDougall, human wizard (~290 points)
Kaylee Blackwall, half-elf knight (~270 points)
Lenjamin Gundry, human knight (~250 points)
Sigur Hondguthann, human holy warrior (250 points)

We picked up where we left off, in mid-battle. The PCs were in a line, facing a number of gnolls. Their backs were to a corridor and a room they'd walled off on either side with magically created earth walls.

Both sides tried to out-wait the other, with the gnolls unwilling to risk Kaylee's superior reach and the PCs unwilling to advance out of their line. Once the PCs decided to push forward, the engagement kicked back off. Sigur moved forward and attacked, and this provoked a general engagement. The PCs put down a few gnolls with leg hits, and the gnolls tried and failed to harm anyone. Two critically failed blocks and had unready shields, but quickly went down after that.

Desmond put Great Haste on himself and then on Kaylee. The gnolls still hanging back began to bark and yip out some kind of sentences. No one could understand them, but the gnolls in back moved to one side and the leg-wounded gnolls began to desperately crawl away from the PCs. One foolhardy gnoll rushed the PCs but was quickly put hors de combat.

But even as the PCs began to push foward, they saw new foes - cone-hatted cultists with staves.

The cultists turned out to be wizards. One threw a 9d Explosive Acid Ball into the group, aiming at and hitting Sigur. Sigur blocked it . . . but the 24-ish corrosion damage demolished his shield. He effectively blocked Kaylee, Desmond, and Durinn from damage, but Lenny took a fair bit and his back armor was corroded down. A moment later, another wizard threw a 9d Explosive Fireball into the group, while chiding his fellow, "Lob it!" He missed by 1 and the fireball landed next to Sigur instead of in his hex. It did 31 burning damage, which even at the most distance ring of damage was enough to set everyone on fire and badly wound most of them. The combo killed some wounded gnolls, and set a few on fire. The gnolls yowled with complaint but their allies didn't care.

Durinn passed out on his turn from the damage. Desmond, scorched by fire, managed to use Create Water twice to douse Durinn and himself. Kayle and Lenny and Sigur just fought while on fire. A gnoll, crazed by the flames engulfing him, ran into the PCs. Sigur turned and rushed him, leaving his back to the wizards. He savagely wounded the gnoll in the head with his axe, but it didn't fall right away (it would, seconds later.)

But the gnolls didn't advance, and the wizards in the back joked with each other and jostled for room. One threw a Stone Missile at Sigur and hit him in the back, wounding him badly - and he failed a death check by 1 and fell, mortally wounded. Another threw a Ice Dagger at Lenny and punched a hole in his shield but didn't manage to hurt him.

The gnolls back off, some anyway, while others tried to fight as Kaylee moved up and stabbed one repeatedly in the vitals, wounding him badly. Kaylee put Might on herself. But the next turn the wizards threw more spells - the first a 6d Lightning spell that Kaylee dodged, but the cultist rolled a 4 on his 9 or less to hit Desmond, who was exposed as Kaylee dodged. Desmond was wounded and badly stunned. Desmond had decided to make a 4d Explosive Acid Ball himself, but made his Will roll to hold it even when wounded and stunned. Then came another Explosive Acid Ball, this time 6d, landed in the group and fatally wounded a couple more PCs. Finally another 6d Explosive Fireball arrived, aimed the clip the wall near Kaylee (since a gnoll blocked the better view) and it lit up a few more gnolls and finished off Desmond, mortally wounding him.

Kaylee considered surrendering, but it was no use - she passed out before she could.

All dead or unconscious before some angry, man-eating gnolls, especially ones who couldn't retaliate against their wizard "allies" who killed a few of them in the process of "helping" them, there was no chance of any prisoners being taken.


Notes:

Well, that ended poorly. I hoped the players would figure out a tactical solution and could find a way to fight their way out . . . but I pretty much expected this. Last session, the PCs made a big unwise decision, followed by a good tactical decision that made less sense when the situation changed. The big one was staying in place after the big fight last time - this allowed the gnolls to get reinforcements, and their noisy attempts at revenge alerted the cultist wizards. The smart decision to block off their flanks with Create Earth forced the gnolls to either stay put while Desmond harmed them with magic, or rush the blades of the PCs in at best equal numbers and get chopped to burger. The ruthless allies of the gnolls made that choice less helpful - they couldn't run. Couple that an uncertainty of how to deal with the oncoming wizards, the enthusiam for those wizards to open up with the best shots they had, and some high damage rolls made for a short end of the battle.

MVP was Kaylee's player for being the last one standing and pulling off a Might spell with only a 10. It should have been Doug for the name of his blog entry. Screw it, I'll give him a point for that, because it's awful and I didn't think of it first.

Not sure what's next, but we'll play something in a couple of weeks. The death toll continues to mount in "DF on Hard Mode."