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(yeah, and a week ago Tyressen [who is famous for being a pushover] has been killed by the blacks. They aren't really the ordinary run-of-the-mill orcs everyone is used to)Hoihe wrote:((The first encounter I had with black orcs, in DM ogorgon's event. My level 6-12 party could take them rather well. We had a Mendel though. I should say 1 Black orc could be considered a level 17 barbarian or something.)).
DMogorgon wrote:Rodeo Roundup: Blackorcs & Steers
Event
Several adventurers witnessed a cattle drive moving through the FAI onto Beregost. Any who offered to help were rudely dismissed by the mercenary guard, who were intent on collecting all the coin for the escort contract. Some time after they passed, Bheelo the RoughRider returned alone on horseback, bleeding from a headwound, a barbed orc arrow protruding from his side. A group largely composed of Paladins and clerics healed the man, while A few went down the road to see what happened. Bheelo revealed that they were fallen upon by orcs, the men and cargo taken towards the Woods of Sharp Teeth
The small group went to the sight of the assualt, shorlty along the lions way headed south. They were Joined by the Ranger Mendel, who followed the group from the shadows from this point. Some bickering ensued as the party grew, largely one elf nearly assaulting a teifling in the group. Bheelo, now bandaged up, eventually came upon them, offered them a reward if they could save the Steer, and told them that if they couldn't find them by the following dawn, then all would be lost.
The group had a hard time organizing, and it was some time before they made it to the woods of sharp teeth. Continuing to bicker, they were fallen upon by a group of warg-rider scouts, one of whom slipped away from the battle to call for reinforcements and warn the others. They came upon a group of orcs gathered around a cooking pot outside of a known orc den. It was noon (lunch time), and they had already cooked the man (the first Mercenary) and were well underway with their meal. THe party slew the orcs, but neglected to search the scene, instead lunging headlong into the cave, where they spent several hours killing starved orcs and searching tunnels, while the plight of the misisng mercenaries and the cattle grew increasingly dire. They picked up another adventurer or two in the tunnels.
Returning to the scene where the merc was eaten, a crow now sit atop his skull, devouring his eye. The druidess Calinde Enyeles went to speak to the animal, while the others continued along patrolling the forest in circles. Upon request, the bird took to flight and circled the woods a few times, it returned to Caldine and told her it saw two groups of orcs, one with cattle, headed northeast. THe ranger Mendel, still in the shadows, found tracks which also led NE. He started to whistle from the dark, trying to lure the party in that direction. They spent at least another hour marching in circles through the wood before they picked up the trail.
Once they followed it a ways, the trail split. Mendel - revealing himself now - noticed half the orcs went East with the men, the other half North With the Cattle. The groups split. The group heading east was felled by an orc assault. The group heading north eventually made their way to the cattle. They eventually circled around to the SouthEast, and found what remained of the remaining two guards, one mangled mercenary, and one traumatized guard captain curled up in the fetal position muttering about orcs and asking for his mommy.
Mendel went south and found the half of the party who had fallen to orc ambush. The remaining orcs who felled them were dispatched, and the 3 unconcious boddies were dragged to the rest of the group.
As the party determined what to do next, the sound of war drums started coming closer from the North East. They grabbed the surviving guard captain, the corpse, and 2 of the unconcious adventurers and prepared to escape. Keegan was quick thinking enough to put one of the bodies atop a cow and lead it. Mendel was able to round up 3 of the cows. Calinde, in the form of a wolf, was able to run around the back and herd another 5 cows. The 4 remaining cows likely slowed the orc assault slighlty as the party escaped and returned to the FAI. In the rush, one of the unconcious adventurers was left behind.
Participants
Mendel
Calinde Enyeles
Althea Ehsani
Alaura Beaumont
Xandros shadowweaver (joined part way through)
Keegan Amherst
Arren Grey (joined part way through)
Rewards Penalties
1500-2800 xp depending on individual effort
5,000 out of 10,000 coin for saving 8 of the 12 cattle.
One patched up Bheelo the RoughRider who will deliver the remaining cattle to Beregost
One Mercenary they were trying to save cooked and eaten by orcs (with his eyes devoured by a helpful crow).
One Mercenary they were trying to save mangled to death by their leader after the party trying to save them fell.
One Mercenary Captain who will live his days out at the local asylum due to the Trauma suffered as a captive of the orcs.
One adventurer left behind who hopefully was not eaten by orcs (I'm sure he washed up somewhere).
very likelyHoihe wrote:((then the orcs in this event were the pushovers from black orcs:
// In the very first encounter with Black Orcs in this Campaign, Laisren and Mendel were cut down like dogs by a dozen of them.Hoihe wrote:((The first encounter I had with black orcs, in DM ogorgon's event. My level 6-12 party could take them rather well. We had a Mendel though. I should say 1 Black orc could be considered a level 17 barbarian or something.)).
Hoihe wrote:I untangled the issue!
Remember the DM proclamation that one NPC can equal up to 20?
Well.. A single black orc that is really a single black orc: Even Calinde could take him on and win, with difficulty.
A single black orc that represents squadron of 3: Hoihe has trouble fighting them, their combined strength perhaps equals the black dragon.
Orcs fight in hordes..
1 black orc NPC = 10 Black orcs (That's what I think Tyre fought). The power scale is not even, for fighting a real 1 on 1 battle is sort of easy.. but having 3 on you will bring trouble. Now.. 10 black orcs are very distracting and they surround you. Very difficult to fight. Even fighting 10 simple human bandits can make a lonesome adventure break a sweat, even if they are used to fighting dragons. The reason being, he has to constantly change his position to avoid being surrounded, exhausting him and he has to change target all the time.
This theory also explains the tendency of NPCs rolling a lot of 20s. 10 people rolling 1d20 have a far bigger chance of getting 20 than 1 person rolling 1d20.