The Scorpion's Sting

 I had a brief opportunity for gaming this morning, so I decided to continue Gregor and Belle's adventure.

As Gregor and Belle tramp through the desert, two giant scorpions pop up from behind a sand dune.

Let's take a detailed look at the combat process.

Round 1

Initiative

The scorpions roll higher so they go first.

I then rolled to see if they surprised the heroes. I gave it 50/50 odds (surprised on 3 or less). No surprise.

Ranged Attacks

The scorpions do not have ranged attacks.

The heroes do not have ranged weapons. However, Belle decides to call upon divine aid (i.e. a clerical spell). I do not have a set spell list; instead I take a free form approach. I decide that Belle is calling upon divine aid to drive away the scorpions. This sounds like a ranged attack to me so she can act.

• First, she must check to see if she gets the "spell" off. I give her neutral odds (4+). She rolls a 4 and just manages to catch the attention of Daeus, her deity.
• Now she must determine the impact. I treat this as a normal attack on the scorpions. She would typically be disadvantaged against scorpions because they are a higher level so she needs a 5. She rolls a 6 and 3.
• I decide that the successful roll manages to drive off one scorpion

Melee

The remaining scorpion charges into battle. I roll randomly to see who it attacks - it's Gregor. This is fine because I wanted Gregor to shield Belle.

• The scorpion has an advantage over Gregor (higher level). However, Gregor's shield brings this back down to neutral. The scorpion needs a 4+ and rolls a 2. A miss!

Note - I made a change to the rules. Now a defender's shield causes a disadvantage to the attacker's roll instead of adding to the defense roll. While it makes more intuitive sense to me, I'm not sure if I like this change; I'll experiment some more.

Now Gregor counterattacks.

• He starts as disadvantaged but gets an advantage due to his warrior training (i.e. class bonus). This ends up as neutral so he needs a 4+. He rolls a 5; a hit!
• The scorpion defends. It needs a 4+ but rolls a 3. It is wounded. It can only take 2 wounds so is in a bit of trouble!

Morale

I should have made a morale roll to see if the wounded scorpion fled but I forgot. Let's just say that it passed.

Round 2

Initiative

Both sides roll a 4. I have a rule I call "Dynamic" that lets player characters to act first on a tied initiative roll. The heroes act first.

Ranged Attacks

Belle decides not to risk calling on Daeus this time so she rushes into melee. Therefore, there are no ranged attacks.

Melee

The heroes attack.

• Gregor still needs a 4+. Belle does not have a class bonus so she needs a 5+ (she is disadvantaged because the monster is higher level). They roll 5 and 2. One hit!
• The scorpion defends, again needing 4+. It rolls a 6 so the hit does nothing (its chitinous exoskeleton repels the attack).

Now it's the scorpion's turn. A random roll determines that it attacks Gregor.

• It needs a 4+ and rolls a 6. Gregor is hit.
• He now defends. Due to his light armor, he needs a 4+ to resist damage. He rolls a 1 so takes a wound.
• But the scorpion has poison. Off the cuff, I decide that Gregor needs to make a Constitution save or else take more damage. I give him even odds (4+) but he rolls a 2. He takes a second wound!

Gregor has lost 2 of his 4 hit points so he is badly wounded.

Round 3

Initiative

The scorpion wins 5-4. It goes first.

Ranged Attacks

None

Melee

I randomly determine who gets attacked and it is Belle, which is what I wanted. I imagine that Belle would try to shield her wounded comrade. 

Note - A new rule just dawned on me. When one character tries to shield another, I should increase the odds of the shielding character to get attacked.

The scorpion attacks.

• It has an advantage vs. Belle (3+ to hit) but rolls a 2. Belle manages to dodge the attacks

The heroes counter

• They still need a 4 and 5 to hit. They roll 5 and 6. Both hit!
• The scorpion defends. It needs a 4+ but rolls a 3 and 2. It takes 2 wounds and drops dead!

Aftermath

The battle is over with our heroes victorious. However, Gregor is badly wounded. Time to invoke another rule called Rally. After a fight, PCs can try to rally their strength and recover a wound. Gregor needs a 4+ and succeeds. He goes back up to 3 hit points.

Next, Belle tries to heal Gregor. She has already called upon Daeus in this encounter so I decree that a second calling will be done at a disadvantage (5+). She rolls a 2 so Daeus does not answer her prayer this time.

After a rest, our heroes resume their trek.

What happens next? Tune in next time!