Two hobgoblins and a bugbear charged the pesky adventurers who had provoked them.
The general consensus of the Civilized Races, and certainly of the Daggered Shores Archipelago, was that goblinoids would do this without a plan; that they were, effectively, unthinking brutes who could be baited with ease. This was corroborated by the various reports from adventurers and guards who had fought them and triumphed.
Avalanches’s collection of skulls, the choicest of which were strung around the bugbear’s neck as a fashion statement and power move, spoke to a simple truth: there were no reports from the ones who died.
Goblin was a language of rumbling tones and snapped consonants. It was rhythmic, if not particularly melodious. In many ways, it was similar to the Dwarvish whose abjadic script it was based upon, and which it still used as its own. And that very fact was telling—Goblin’s use of Dwarvish lettering had caused scholars and adventurers alike to assume that the writing itself was Dwarvish.
It had caused them to make the error, which in many cases had been lethal, of assuming that Goblin didn’t have a written form… and that goblins lacked the capability. This, despite the fact that hobgoblins, as Cassandra Claire and her family had immediately discovered the moment that she’d used Query on them, had an INT of 10.
Humans, as it turned out, were themselves no smarter and no wiser.
The goblinoids’ plan was simple and elegant, and had proven to be effective at dealing with incursions before. The hobgoblins would charge, coming to grips with anyone who wasn’t fleeing and using Martial Advantage to dominate in melee. Meanwhile, the bugbear who went by the name of Avalanche would give chase and throw javelins at the adventurers who were fleeing, and then turn to assist with any who had stayed to hold the line.
Then they would unleash the floods by opening the dammed pools, and kill any of the runners that survived the deluge.
This simple and elegant plan had been identified and dissected by the Claires from the moment they’d seen the pools—the result of a substantial investment and ready to be loosed upon the unwary. How else, after all, could their opponents hope to catch up to those who would lead them on a merry chase through tunnel and cavern? And so they played along… and the three goblinoids surged into the narrow corridor of the entrance to the southern area—hobgoblin in front, Avalanche just behind, and hobgoblin taking up the rear.
Though they hadn’t, all three of them realized in the moments before contact, accounted for bugbear’s pet.
Crunch.
Jason, unseen—
Unseen Attackers and Targets
Combatants often try to escape their foes' notice by hiding, casting the invisibility spell, or lurking in darkness.
When you attack a target that you can't see, you have disadvantage on the attack roll. This is true whether you're guessing the target's location or you're targeting a creature you can hear but not see. If the target isn't in the location you targeted, you automatically miss, but the GM typically just says that the attack missed, not whether you guessed the target's location correctly.
When a creature can't see you, you have advantage on attack rolls against it. If you are hidden--both unseen and unheard--when you make an attack, you give away your location when the attack hits or misses.
—swung two-handed, Readied as he was—
Ready
Sometimes you want to get the jump on a foe or wait for a particular circumstance before you act. To do so, you can take the Ready action on your turn, which lets you act using your reaction before the start of your next turn.
First, you decide what perceivable circumstance will trigger your reaction. Then, you choose the action you will take in response to that trigger, or you choose to move up to your speed in response to it. Examples include "If the cultist steps on the trapdoor, I'll pull the lever that opens it," and "If the goblin steps next to me, I move away."
When the trigger occurs, you can either take your reaction right after the trigger finishes or ignore the trigger. Remember that you can take only one reaction per round.
When you ready a spell, you cast it as normal but hold its energy, which you release with your reaction when the trigger occurs. To be readied, a spell must have a casting time of 1 action, and holding onto the spell's magic requires concentration. If your concentration is broken, the spell dissipates without taking effect. For example, if you are concentrating on the web spell and ready magic missile, your web spell ends, and if you take damage before you release magic missile with your reaction, your concentration might be broken.
—at the first goblinoid to step into his reach.
Rolling Attack (Warhammer) | 1d20+7, best of 2 | 1d10+5
Result of 26 HITS | Hobgoblin takes 7 damage
The warhammer slammed into hobgoblin, who staggered forward a step—and stepped with a snap into the trap.
Hunting Trap
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.
When you use your action to set it, this trap forms a saw-toothed steel ring that snaps shut when a creature steps on a pressure plate in the center. The trap is affixed by a heavy chain to an immobile object, such as a tree or a spike driven into the ground. A creature that steps on the plate must succeed on a DC 13 Dexterity saving throw or take 1d4 piercing damage and stop moving. Thereafter, until the creature breaks free of the trap, its movement is limited by the length of the chain (typically 3 feet long). A creature can use its action to make a DC 13 Strength check, freeing itself or another creature within its reach on a success. Each failed check deals 1 piercing damage to the trapped creature.
Rolling Saving Throw (Dexterity) | 1d20+1
It was not a very subtle trap, nor a difficult one to avoid; no hobgoblin worth the life and darkness they’d been birthed from would fall for it.
Less obvious was the vial of oil and the vial of Alchemist’s Fire that were placed between the prongs. The vials both shattered, the Alchemist’s Fire igniting on contact with air, and the resultant explosion peppered the hob with burning oil and left the floor of the cave blazing with fire in a five-foot square.
Mundane fire, to Harriet’s disappointment; the Alchemist’s Fire, not having made actual contact with the enemy, served only to ignite the oil.
But quite to her satisfaction, the explosion of burning oil took care of at least one piece of critical business.
5 Damage From Burning Oil KILLS Hobgoblin
Between the warhammer strike and the oil explosion, the previously-undamaged hobgoblin dropped to the ground, dead in instants. With that, hobgoblin and Avalanche reacted immediately, the nearly-dead hob backing up from the miniature inferno and nocking an arrow—
Rolling Attack (Longbow) | 1d20+3 | 5
Result of 11 MISSES
—which failed to even glance off of Jason’s armor, missing him entirely.
Avalanche was rather less interested in such niceties as ranged attacks. As expected by the party, the allure of swinging for more than twice as much damage was too great—the bugbear roared, charging into the fire, willingly taking the damage in return for a chance to swing.
Avalanche takes 5 damage from Burning Oil
Rolling Attack (Morningstar) | 1d20+4 | 11
Result of 14 MISSES
This, too, missed.
And then, out of the darkness—which the Claires could see through without much trouble, as all three of them had Darkvision—meandered, snuffling, a sleek and terrifying creature. Yawning and displaying a mouth full of sharp, jagged teeth on a mammalian but inhuman scale, it shook itself and cocked its head with interest.
And then, Avalanche’s pet, the terror of the caverns, the fearsome champion of Short Drop Falls Mine, the oversized wolf of the waters, the Giant Otter—
Size
A monster can be Tiny, Small, Medium, Large, Huge, or Gargantuan. The Size Categories table shows how much space a creature of a particular size controls in combat.
Large: 10 by 10 ft. Examples—Hippogriff, ogre
—dove into the water at the side of Avalanche’s cache-cave, disappearing from sight.
Giant Otter
Large beast, unaligned
Armor Class: 12
Hit Points: 26 (4d8 + 8)
Speed: 25 ft., swim 35 ft.
Stats: 14 | 14 | 13 | 3 | 12 | 6
Senses: darkvision 30 ft., passive Perception 13
Languages: --
Challenge: 1/2 (100 XP)
Aquatic Paragon: The otter has advantage on all checks that involve bodies of water. This includes living in them, traversing them, and fighting in them.
Pack Tactics: The otter has advantage on an attack roll against a creature if at least one of the otter’s allies is within 5 feet of the creature and the ally isn't incapacitated.
Actions
Aquatic Apex: The otter makes two attacks: one with its bite and one with its claws. If it connects with either attack, the target is grappled (escape DC 12). Until this grapple ends, the target is restrained, and the otter can't bite or claw another target.
Bite: Melee Weapon Attack: +4 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 5 (1d6 + 2) piercing damage.
Claws: Melee Weapon Attack: +4 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 7 (2d4 + 2) slashing damage.
“I am not staying in this water,” Cassandra murmured. “Wow.”
“Big,” Jason acknowledged with a nod. “Really big.”
“Oh my God,” Harriet whispered, and at her tone of voice both of her parents’ eyes shot momentarily over in alarm.
“Oh, shit. Fuckity fucking—Jason, Jason, do something!”
“Honey, you know I love you, but—”
“It’s so fucking cool,” the girl—Ranger, halfling, mischief gremlin, and all-around thirteen-year-old with decades of life and adventure behind her—breathed, eyes aglow. “I want one. I want this, I need this.” She turned to meet her parents’ eyes, one after another. “Mom, Dad, I want this one.”
“We’re doomed,” Cassandra sighed. “I’m doomed? I might be doomed.”
She locked eyes with the otter, mischievous and curious and hungry, and shuddered as it came to the end of its swimming movement five feet away from her.
“Don’t worry, Mom,” Harriet said brightly as the turn order came around to the Claires again. “You’re not doomed yet. Growth mindset!”
“Growth mindset,” Cassandra repeated absently, sighing. “Growth mindset.”
End of Round 2