The caravan hit the badlands on the third day of traveling, which was exactly on schedule.

On the way, the party got to know several moderately interesting characters. There was, for example, Billy, the man who owned precisely one goat and nothing else that was not currently in his possession; there was Malle, last name Volent, whose thin chin was badly emphasized by a goatee and whose hand shook when Jason grasped it; and there was Doughraine “I Heard It From Some Guy What Heard It From His Friend” Bellwether Daphroetsm Dijaunie Paddajamsuary, whom everyone called Doug.

Altogether, they made a mildly less unpleasant journey.

Mildly.

The change in terrain, when it came, was like a knife, cut into the geography of the world. On one side of the divide, it was a passable road through direly boring plains whose barely-rolling hills were covered in a wiry scrub-brush. On the other, the road was more of a vaguely-winding path up a gradually-increasing slope which eventually resorted to switchbacks.

Tensions immediately shot up. The same patrol schedule was followed, for the same reasons, but now everyone was on edge. This, Surge explained tersely and in small words that would have been well-suited to teaching preschoolers, was because everyone knew that this was where the ambush was going to be set.

Not, that was to say, that they knew exactly where. But it would be somewhere in the vicinity; most likely on the switchbacks, going up a path that wouldn’t even need them if it weren’t for the fact that the oxen would balk at walking straight up the hillside.

Without the oxen, they wouldn’t have needed the path itself, for that matter, as Harriet felt compelled to point out repeatedly. Oh, they would have had to tread somewhat carefully, but the shrubs had mostly given way to a mixture of lichen and trees, but while the root growths and the remaining razor-wire bushes were obnoxious, they also had a habit of just… not being in the way.

“It’s because it’s not ‘dense forest’,” Cassandra expounded furiously after their so-called lunch. “These roads are rubbled ruins—look at them! There used to be a real road here, and it’s a ruin now, and we’re traveling through the rubble. If there had never been a road here, I bet this wouldn’t even count as difficult terrain. It’s bullshit. Look!”

She stomped away from where the wagon was rolling steadily—but slowly, oh so slowly—forwards. Moving through the shrublands at her measured pace, she somehow managed, without looking or working at it, to miss every plant that would have seriously impeded her path, ripped her boots to shreds, or cut into her skin.

“See?” She stomped back towards the wagons. “Like I said—”

Rolling Insight (Charisma) | 1d20+7

She stopped suddenly, then spun to face her family, realizing that they had gotten distracted by some absolutely trivial bullshit at a potentially critical moment. “Eyes up! Narrative causality warning! Load Fate’s Dice!”

Rolling Perception (Wisdom) | 1d20+6

Rolling Perception (Wisdom) | 1d20+1

Rolling Loaded Perception (Wisdom) | 1d20-1, Best 1 of 2

“Clear! Really, mom?”

“Are you sure, dear?”

Cassandra scowled at her husband and daughter. “I’m sure of it. We all just rolled Perception and I’m sure we just failed it. Insight with Charisma for sense narrative, ugh. I should have been a Bard.”

And it was at that exact moment that the ambush was sprung.

Two dozen goblins seemed to pop out of the ground, having hidden well enough to be missed by all three of the party’s sub-10 results on their Perception rolls. That having happened, none of the supposedly-alert members of the Two Wolves Company noticed, either, possibly because they hadn’t understood Cassandra’s warning, with some few exceptions: Guardsman Malle immediately began sprinting away from the caravan, and three crossbows—

Crossbow, heavy

Cost: 50 gp

Damage: 1d10 piercing

Weight: 18 lb.

Properties: Ammunition (range 100/400), heavy, loading, two-handed

Ammunition

You can use a weapon that has the ammunition property to make a ranged attack only if you have ammunition to fire from the weapon. Each time you attack with the weapon, you expend one piece of ammunition. Drawing the ammunition from a quiver, case, or other container is part of the attack (you need a free hand to load a one-handed weapon). At the end of the battle, you can recover half your expended ammunition by taking a minute to search the battlefield. If you use a weapon that has the ammunition property to make a melee attack, you treat the weapon as an improvised weapon (see "Improvised Weapons" later in the section). A sling must be loaded to deal any damage when used in this way.

If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.

Heavy

Small creatures have disadvantage on attack rolls with heavy weapons. A heavy weapon's size and bulk make it too large for a Small creature to use effectively.

Loading

Because of the time required to load this weapon, you can fire only one piece of ammunition from it when you use an action, bonus action, or reaction to fire it, regardless of the number of attacks you can normally make.

Two-Handed

This weapon requires two hands when you attack with it.

—rose, aimed at him—

Ranged Attacks

When you make a ranged attack, you fire a bow or a crossbow, hurl a handaxe, or otherwise send projectiles to strike a foe at a distance. A monster might shoot spines from its tail. Many spells also involve making a ranged attack.

Range

You can make ranged attacks only against targets within a specified range. If a ranged attack, such as one made with a spell, has a single range, you can't attack a target beyond this range. Some ranged attacks, such as those made with a longbow or a shortbow, have two ranges. The smaller number is the normal range, and the larger number is the long range. Your attack roll has disadvantage when your target is beyond normal range, and you can't attack a target beyond the long range.

—and fired.

Rolling Attack (Crossbow) | 1d20+??

Rolling Attack (Crossbow) | 1d20+??

Rolling Attack (Crossbow) | 1d20+??

The feathers of three crossbow bolts seemed to sprout, magically, in the back of the running man.

Rolling Damage | 1d10

Rolling Damage | 1d10

Rolling Damage | 1d10

Malle Volent went down hard, and at the same moment, the first volley from the goblins came streaking in.

There were fifteen people and six oxen around the caravan, since two riders were out of line of sight on patrol, one had died by Cassandra’s hand, and one had just acquired three lightly-used crossbow bolts. A yodeling woolooloolooloo! arose, and then two dozen goblins aimed two dozen shortbows and a hail of arrows came down, accompanied by shouts of pain and noises somewhat similar to glurk.

Shortbow

Cost: 25 gp

Damage: 1d6 piercing

Weight: 2 lb.

Properties: Ammunition (range 80/320), two-handed

Oddly, none of the oxen were targeted.

Rolling Insight (Charisma) | 1d20+7

“They’re leaving the oxen alive because they don’t want to haul the wagons away,” Cassandra stated confidently.

“Game face, dear,” her husband replied with a smile.

Her daughter snickered. “Yeah, mom, game face!”

“Right,” she assented. “Let’s engage in some hopefully-ethical violence.”

End of Round 1 (Surprise Round)

Rolling Initiative | 1d20+5=18

Rolling Initiative | 1d20+2=16

Rolling Initiative | 1d20-1=12

Other Entities Rolling Initiative

Initiative

Initiative determines the order of turns during combat. When combat starts, every participant makes a Dexterity check to determine their place in the initiative order. There is one roll for each group of identical creatures, so each member of the group acts at the same time. Each combatant is ranked in order from the one with the highest Dexterity check total to the one with the lowest. This is the order (called the initiative order) in which they act during each round. The initiative order remains the same from round to round. If a tie occurs, a roll of a d20 determines the order, highest roll going first.

“One of you boys is larger than the others,” Jason declared authoritatively. “Though honestly that’s not really saying much. You all look like you suffered from malnutrition! I wish you’d just come to us for a solid meal.”

While speaking, he was already in motion.

Your Turn

On your turn, you can move a distance up to your speed and take one action. You decide whether to move first or take your action first. Your speed--sometimes called your walking speed--is noted on your character sheet. The most common actions you can take are described in the "Actions in Combat" section later in this chapter. Many class features and other abilities provide additional options for your action. The "Movement and Position" section later in this chapter gives the rules for your move. You can forgo moving, taking an action, or doing anything at all on your turn. If you can't decide what to do on your turn, consider taking the Dodge or Ready action, as described in "Actions in Combat."

Movement and Position

In combat, characters and monsters are in constant motion, often using movement and position to gain the upper hand. On your turn, you can move a distance up to your speed. You can use as much or as little of your speed as you like on your turn, following the rules here. Your movement can include jumping, climbing, and swimming. These different modes of movement can be combined with walking, or they can constitute your entire move. However you're moving, you deduct the distance of each part of your move from your speed until it is used up or until you are done moving.

Despite the shortbows having an effective range substantially higher, the largest of the ambushers was only thirty feet away from the Paladin—exactly the distance he was able to traverse while speaking.

Smiling sadly, he swung.