I had decided nearly 2 weeks ago, that I was not going to use the maps that come with the adventure RHoD. So instead, I made scenic/3d versions of the required maps as can be seen in the first pic. I am going to try and do this for each of the encounters, where/when it is at all possible.



**SPOILERS FROM THIS POINT ON!!!!**

After having found the crumpled map showing the rough location of an ancient keep, and some scribbled notes about a horde of treasure, the party of adventurers left the relative safety of their home village of Dulsin, and headed out in search of the keep.



'Day 1: Marauders.'

As the party continued their trudging through the hills and dales, they approached a section of road where off to the south they could see the ruins of a long abandoned farmhouse. Ahead of them the road was cut deeper into the ground. Rhianna signalled for the group to halt. She had spotted something in the trees ahead of their position. As it became obvious to her, Rhianna warned the rest of the group of the danger ahead. Four Hobgoblins had positioned themselves up ahead.
Rhianna moved towards a small outcrop of trees that hung over the edge of the road to get some cover as she advanced closer to the Hobgoblins. Sobeliss mirrored the Fighter's tactic, but on the opposite side of the road, attempting to get cover from the two Hobgoblins that he had seen on that side of the road, hiding in the trees as well. Crystal cast Bless on the party as they begun to move into their preferred positions. At the same time, Krah cast Entangle targetting the center of the road between the two groups of Hobgoblins. As the spell took effect, four of the Hobgoblins failed thier reflex saves and were entangled by the massing vines. Skrat lined up one of the 'free' Hobgoblins with his sling and was able to plant the sling bullet squarely between the creatures eyes, killing it instantly. Jason lined up the other 'free'  Hobgoblin and rapid-fired his compound shortbow, killing the creature with two successive hits. One to the abdomen and the second to the chest. With two of the six creatures already downed, and the other four entangled, the melee experts held their advance, and were willing to allow the ranged experts to take down the threat.
As Rhianna slowed her advance, she looked to her right just in time to catch the sight of a wisp of smoke and the movement of a small bush. Charging out of the underbrush was a Hellhound. It lunged at the Fighter, but was unable to land a hit. At the same time, coming out of the ruined farmhouse were a second Hellhound, a Hobgoblin Cleric and a Bladebearer Hobgoblin. The three creatures moved into position outside of the ruin, and the Cleric summoned a third Hellhound only 10' away from Krah & Crystal. The Bladebearer drew both of his shortswords and yelled a warcry. The summoned Hellhound positioned itself and let loose a jet of flame from it's mouth. The flame leapt out 10' from it's gaping jaw and the Cleric and Druid both suffered minor wounds, as their flamable gear began to ignite. With two Hellhounds now basically flanking the party, and a third moving in to attack the Spellthief, it seemed the tables had turned for the worse for the adventuring friends. As the third Hellhound moved in to breath fire on Skrat, he evaded the jet of flame and was able to dodge taking any damage. None of the four entangled Hobgoblins managed to free themselves from the effect of the Entangle spell.
With the introduction of these new foes, Rhianna leapt into action. She readied herself and swung at the Hellhound that had charged her from the underbrush. The fighter's sword bit deeply into the creatures flesh, but only seemed to anger it more. Skrat moved away from the third Hellhound and fired on Rhiannas adversary, missing that Hellhound completely and only barely missign the Fighter with the sling bullet. Jason opened fire on another of the entangled Hobgoblins but the cover provided by the woods stop the sots from hitting their intended target. Sobeliss moved out from his covered position on the road side and charged the two remaining Hellhounds, stunning one of the beasts. The Cleric and Druid went into 'enhancing mode' and cast Bulls Strength on the Fighter, and Magic Weapon on the Monk.
The four entangled Hobgoblins continued to try and break free of the vines and plants, but failed. With it's kin stunned, the other Hellhound attacked the Elf Monk, but was unable to cause any damage. The Bladebearer Hobgoblin moved in and attacked Crystal, it's longsword slicing deeply into the Half-Elf's flesh. Meannwhile the enemy Cleric who had moved closer to the parties location, simply disappeared. Recognising the gestures made by the enemey Cleric, Krah warned his friends that the Hobgoblin was in fact still in the area. It had just cast Invisibility on itself, and the rest of the adventurers should be careful.
The Spellthief moved further away from the Hellhound that attacked the Monk, and took aim at the stunned Hellhound. The Halflings sling bullet hit the Hellhound in the side and a cracking sound was heard as the Hellhounds rib splintered under the impact. Sobeliss attacked the active Hellhound with a Flurry of Blows and killed the beast where it stood.  Rhianna charged past the still stunned Hellhound and collided with the Bladebearer Hobgoblin. A shower of sparks rained through the air as the two locked swords. Rhiannas blade deflected of the Bladebearers shortsword and dug deep into the Hobgoblins shoulder. Crystal moved towards Rhianna and cast Cure Light Wounds on the Fighter. Krah continued to enhance his teammates and cast Might of Oaks on Sobeliss. Jason opened fire on one of the entangled Hobgoblins and slew the creature with two arrow hits.
Appearing from nowhere, behind Crystal, the enemy Cleric attacked. Crystal stumbled as the blow hit her squarely in the back. The Cleric remained standing however. The Bladebearer Hobgoblin swung at Rhianna, but it's attack bounced harmlessly off the Fighters half-plate armor. Two arrows launched from the treeline at Sobeliss, and he managed to avoid the missiles. Two of the Hobgoblins had freed themselves from the entangling vines. The previously stunned Hellhound was now able to act again, and charged at the Spellthief, hitting the small halfling head on. Blood spurted from the halflings shoulder as the Hellhound bit deeply into Skrats flesh. The remaining two entangled Hobgoblins tried in vain to release themselves from the vines. As he was turning to aim at one of the last entangled Hobgoblins, Jason spotted six more figures appearing from around the bend in the road. Rienforcements!
Skrat moved away from the Hellhound and fired into the melee containing the Hobgoblin Cleric and the Half-Elf Cleric. The Halflings shot was acurate and struck the enemy Cleric in the lower back. Using his abilities as a Spellthief, Skrat effectively stole some of the enemy Clerics spell power with the hit, and then used that power to cast Distract Assailant at the Bladebearer Hobgoblin, causing the creature to become momentarilly distracted. Rhianna took advantage of Skrats spell and hit the Bladebearer squarely in the midrift with her sword, felling the creature where it stood. Krah and Crystal fought of the attacks from the enemy Cleric, while Jason killed yet another of the entangled Hobgoblins with arrow fire. Sobeliss attacked the last remaining Hellhound, killing the beast.
The Hobgoblin 'reinforcements' moved into the woods either side of the road and pressed their advance on the adventurers under the cover of the woods. Two of their number attempted to aid the last remaining entangled Hobgoblin, but got themselves entangled in the spells effect. The other four Hobgoblins fired at Sobeliss, all failing to hit the High Elf. With the Hellhounds and the Bladebearer killed, the Hobgoblin Cleric fought for his life, alone. Another swing of his longsword would have felled the Half-Elf Cleric, but Krah stepped in the way of the incoming blow. The druid deflected the sword with his longspear and the Hobgoblin's attack was for naught.
With the immediate threat of the Hellhounds now removed, Skrat took aim at one of the now three remaining entangled Hobgoblins, and killed it with a single sling bullet. Rhianna moved in and dispatched the enemy Cleric with a solid blow from her sword. Sobeliss re-entered the main road from the track where the Hellhound and Hobgoglins had appeared from, and moved towards the new threat. Crystal and Krah went about healing the Half-Elf with healing spells and salves. Jason took aim at one of the four 'free' Hobgoblins, and rapid fired his compound shortbow. the first shot struck true and killed one of the hairy humanoids. The second shot failed completely. The Ranger had not cocked his second arrow correctly, and when he fired the arrow shot from the bow and went directly down to the ground, peircing the Rangers foot.
Krahs Entangle spell begun to to dissipate, and the remaining Hobgoblins were freeing themselves. A hail of arrows fell on the party. Sobeliss managed to evade the incoming missiles as did Skrat and Rhianna. One of the arrows struck the Ranger, but only lightly cut the skin as it deflected of Jasons armor.
Skart again killed another of the Hobgoblins with his sling. Sobeliss moved in and killed two more of their number in melee combat, as did Rhianna. With only one Hobgoblin remaining, Jason took aim. His forst shot missed the humanoid, but his second shot found it's mark as he peirced the Hobgoblins chest with the arrow.
With the threat now completely defeated, the adventurers went about dragging the bodies intothe woods out of sight, healed themselves as best they could, and checked the bodies of the fallen for anything that might be of use. They then headed out and continued on their journey.

DF

Heya All;

After an unbearably long hiatus from our gaming, my group has finally organised to have another session (in a few hours actually). I thought about it and realised that I hadn't posted about the last session, so here goes. This won't be as in depth (as it happened so long ago that I can barely remember myself what happended. Thanks gawd for pics kept on my digi camera).

After sucsessfully defending Dremil's Ferry for as long as was possible, the party decided it best to leave the flailing town to it's demise, and to better concentrate on aiding those who wished to leave.

Once the townsfolk were evacuated, the PC's decided to move north to see what was happening in that region. Their map they had found in the tower showed possible movement of enemy forces in that direction, and the players thought it best to try and halt any advance that may be coming down on Brindol.

The party came across the edge of a huge swamp area, but the way ahead was blockaded by Ogres and other creatures. The adventurers, using the surrounding land t their advantage, were able to best the creatures at the blockade and free up the immediate area, so that they could continue on.



DF