(( Well, cracks are kind of this player's specialty, so... ))
Gardaitis crouches down, bringing up his shield, and mutters a spell.
(( Fast-casting "The Wizard's Leap" (ReCo 15): casting total of 24, Aura +3, -10 for fast-casting, no penalty for casting with a shield in his hands
'cause of Subtle Magic, roll of 8 =25. Spell cast, no Fatigue. ))
(( Finesse roll to land right in the path of one of the hobs, facing it: Per 0, Finesse 4, Precision specialty +1, roll of 1 then 8=21. ))
With any luck, the hob won't be able to stop in time, and run right into the shield with a comical-sounding "Bonggggg...". If not:
(( Attack roll to smack the hob with the BUTT of the axe, trying to knock him out: Attack bonus +11, -3 Scuffle penalty, roll of 5=13. ))
Wow. I step away for a couple days and a fight breaks out.
Vocis isn't going to do anything the first round other than stand up and try to figure out what's going on. His next step is to call Celeste down from a nearby tree, cast Eyes of the Cat on her (successfully), and send her off to see what's out there. If she wants to hit Vocis with her Grant Puissance in Awareness power, so much the better.
That happens sometimes. I once set fire to the covenant because I was bored
Anyway, Gardiatus rolled so well on his Finesse for Wizard's Leap, I shall rule that the hobgoblin runs smak into his shield at full force and is knocked the &^%$ out. Bam. Like that. No need for a follow up attack.
I am reasonbably certain that Vulcanus will easilly ride down a second hobgoblin, unless he botches, so I do need a roll of some sort.
What else then?
Gardaitis straightens, feeling rather pleased with himself -- that worked very well, exactly as he envisioned. He sets a foot on one of the hobgoblin's limbs, just to prevent it from jumping up and sprinting away, and looks over to watch how the other magi (and the assembled drakes, familiars, and grogs) deal with the other hobgoblins. Assuming the other magi are halfway competent, he muses, this 'not being a lone magus' thing might have some advantages...
Celeste has her eyes on the fourth and final hobgoblin, which has escaped the magi and has moved out of their line of sight. But Celeste is flying straight overhead. What would you like to do?
Have Celeste follow it back to its lair. As long as she can see it, Vocis can teleport to it if necessary. He'd rather gather some intel first. Besides, the lair is where monsters keep their best loot.
Vibria listens to Maurice's tale raptly, taking in every word, looking over at Carmen every now and again, pursing her lips and licking them when Maurice mentions the Smoker's vast undiscovered treasures.
[color=red]"But, if Grandfather does succeed in granting El Diablo Rojo intelligence, wouldn't that make him even more formidable, perhaps so powerful that all of us combined would fall before him?"
So engrossed was she in Maurice's tale that she didn't hear or see the hobgoblins at first ((I'm not going to roll anything, I'm just going to use that as my excuse for not doing anything the first round.))
She will get to her feet, grabbing a stone (preferably out of the fire if possible and will cast Invisible Sling of Vilano next turn...if I can double-whammy those jabronis with a red-hot rock between the ears, so much the better. ((Let me know if/when you need an Initiative roll.))
(I'm not sure if one or two are in front of him.) Guillaume will launch four Pilums of Fire, split two each of there are two or just all at one if there is only one. Casting (assuming no aura): 29 + rolls 2x6, 8, 7, and 5 = 41, 37, 36, and 34. This gives penetrations of 26, 22, 21, and 19. If they penetrate, the damages are 15 + rolls 7, 2x3, 2x3, and 7 = 22, 21, 21, and 22.
Maurice thinks about that for a mnoment. Perhaps, but he was banished to Africa for seventy-seven years. When that term expires, who knows if he will even have interest in the Pyrenees. And if intelligent, that makes it possible to reason and negotiate with him. And I am sure that you magi will have grown a great deal in power of your own by then and will be prepared.
You grap a hot rock from the fire and it smolders in your hand as you look for a target. Three out of four have been captured, and the fourth one is out of sight of the camp but is being tracked by Celeste, ZVocis' Familiar.
This final hobgoblin scrambles under frozen brush, trudges over mounds of snow, scales up a cliff and down the other side of the mountain into a valley honeycombed with caves and darts into one of them.
Vibria takes a quick look at the three prisoners to see if it looks like they have any gold or jewels or any other kind of plunder on them, and to be sure that they look well secured (in that order). ((Per 0 + Awareness (spotting things of value) 4 + die roll of 7 = 11.)) If they look piss-pot poor, and are well in hand, she looks out at where Celeste is hounding the fourth hobgoblin. I should stay and help guard these, she thinks, but if the fourth has treasure, or is leading us to any...I can't very well claim my fair share if I stay behind, now, can I?
So thinking, she takes the burning rock and scampers off after the others, keeping an eye out for any danger ((Per 0 + Awareness 3 + die roll of 5 = 8.))
Vulcanus grabbed one, Gardiatius knocked another out. Then you, and I suppose you mercilessly fries the sucker. Charbroiled
The fourth one is the one being tracked by Celeste. It went out of sight almost immediately (excellent stealth roll).
Vibria seems to be running off randomly in sorta that direction...
Gardaitis watches Vibria go through the hobgoblins' pockets, watches Guillaume toss Intellego Vim around, and can barely refrain from rolling his eyes. Instead, he looks over at the camp, sticks two fingers in his mouth, and gives a piercing whistle to attract the captain's attention.
"Hey, Carlos! Got some rope handy? I could use some, and so can Vulcanus."
Unless he uses magic to scry, this is unlikely. Guillaume uses neither words nor gestures most of the time. From the magi's perspective, it was unusual that he did for his Pilums of Fire.
