Note: This is a side encounter from an older dungeon that Steve ran us through since John couldn't make it. As he set up the encounter, I realized that trying to keep track of the actions of some 50 zombies and the adventurers was going to substantially hinder my being able to get into the game. Steve suggested that I just track Falcon, my character and generalize the rest of the game. So as written from a first instead of third person perspective. I think Steve may be a genius incognito.
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Bunkered down against an undead siege, Falcon, Ueda, Django and our friend Captain Dragar must defend the the last standing outpost to prevent the evil necromancer and his undead army from entering into the free zone. We barricade three of the doors but there are too many entrances to try and protect against the undead army. Our only chance is to try and use ranged attacks to cut them down before they make it into the outpost. The zombies are slow and weak, but deadly if they get an attack in. They carry an infectious disease that turns living flesh into mindless undead if they should get a grip on you. We have to make sure to stay a distance away, even if they do make it through our barricades at all costs.
We start by doing ranged attacks through the windows at the horde that has surrounded the outpost. Django uses his shuriken, Ueda uses Lance of Faith and Falcon his arrows. Dragar hold the barricade at the front door with his shield. During the first encounter round no one makes any hits and we get concerned about how many are going to swarm us and how fast. The barricades will only hold up for so long and then we will be completely surrounded.
The second round starts and the horde has almost broken in, Falcon takes a shot and pegs one in the head dropping him instantly. The zombies start to break in on the other end of the outpost where Ueda and Django are defending. Ueda casts a spell that takes out 5 or 6 of them in one blast. You just have to love having a cleric around when dealing with the undead! Django and Falcon are taking them out one at a time with arrows and shurikens but there are just too many for that and although they move slowly they are starting to come in in swarms through the barricades and windows.
Our old friend Captain Dragar has been over run at the front door and bitten. He's down. Falcon starts using Rapid Shot to get a hit in on clustered zombies. It subtracts 2 from his attack rolls but at least he can get a shot off on 2-4 of them at a time. Meantime, Ueda has taken a position on top of a table on the other side of the outpost. He allows himself to become surrounded when he uses Turn Undead. I believe he took out about 5-6 in one holy blast of faith.
From a distance we can hear a voice call out “You are fools to try and think you can defeat my army”! Oh crap! Here it comes now. Some crazy necromancer is going to join into the fight. Now Dragar has arisen as an armored zombie. Just what we needed to make our day that much brighter. Falcon uses Clever Shot for 14 damage and slows down the zombie captain.
We hear a loud rumble enter the building. There is a wall that separates us from seeing what just entered the room, but whatever it is it's big. The necromancer makes his appearance and Ueda impales him with a Lance of Faith but it doesn't take him down. Th necromancer returns with a necrotic burst. No damage to our cleric with a natural resistance to necrotic magic. Then we see it. The rumble was coming from a giant undead troll.
The troll forces it's way through the outpost. Only Falcon stands between it and the last door to the free lands. The troll lands a blow on Falcon with it's great axe that drops him down to 2 hit points and nearly kills him instantly. The adventurers agree, take out the necromancer and the odds are that it will break the undead spell and save us all. Falcon is unsure of what to do. If he stays where he is, odds are he will die. If he tries to move then the troll gets an attack of opportunity which also could mean certain death. It all boils down to one shot which may or may not even kill the necromancer. Falcon has already used his Elven Accuracy and his action point. He is left with one shot only and it is all up to the dice roll.
The tension mounts from the adventurers as we watch the die come to a stop. CRITICAL HIT! The necromancer falls dead and the troll and remaining zombies turn to ash before our eyes. This is the kind of thing that rarely RARELY ever happens this beautifully. All as a matter of chance from the roll of a die and luck.
