Solo Tales of Argosa Episode 5 "Six Little Lackeys Jumping on the Bad"

Previous, in Solo Tales of Argosa ...

The adventuring party and the three outpost guards chased the criminals (doppelganger, three runaway cultists) up to a suspicious lone hut. The pursurers have set up an ambush around the spot waiting patiently for the enemies to emerge...and they did!

Thanks for the favourable outcome of the last Chase Event (10: "Hidey Hole"), the chase was successful practically forcing the quarry into a cul-de-sac without their being aware of that. It's now time to seal the pocket.

Our battle plan: Take down the most dangerous foe (the Doppelganger, 4HD), and capture (at least) one Cultist alive.

[To simplify the presentation a bit, the roll results are final after applying the modifiers.]

Surprise (bonus) combat round

Cut, Bulfin, and Sulani work as a team to take on the Doppelganger, and let each outpost Guard (#2, #8, #11) deal with one of the Cultists (#1 [the spellcaster], #2, #3).

Cut, Bulfin, and Sulani jump onto the Doppelganger (AC 13) and strike at the monster in unison.

Cut's melee attack: d20 + 1 (class bonus) +3 (STR bonus) +1 (outnumbering) vs. AC13, with Advantage (surprise attack)
    Roll = 12, 18 (hit)   Damage (1d8+1 two-handed) = 5+1 = 6    A painful slash!

Bulfin's melee attack: d20 + 1 (class bonus) +1 (STR bonus) +1 (outnumbering) +1 (flanking with Sulani) vs. AC13, with Advantage (surprise attack)

    Roll = 10, 14 (hit)   Damage (1d12) = 11    A ferocious chop!

Sulani's melee attack: d20 +1 (STR bonus) +1 (outnumbering) +1 (flanking with Bulfin) vs. AC13
    Roll = 12 (hit), 7   Damage (1d8) = 2    A nice blow. Could be better.

Total damage caused by the party to the Doppelganger: 6+11+2 = 19
The Doppelganger's actual HP is now revealed: 4HD = 7, 7, 4, 4 = 22
Actual life remaining: 22 - 19 = 3        Severely wounded!

[My homebrew solo rule: To preserve surprise and fog of war in solo play, do not roll for the actual HP of the enemy until it suffers injuries over half of the nominal HD.  Any excessive damage will be wasted, even if the actual HP turns out to be unexpectedly low...
In this case, the maximal HP is 32 (d8 x 4) and so HP will be determined after 16 points are removed.] 

Encouraged by the successful attacks of the new guests, the guards also step forward to engage the cultists (AC 11).

Guard #2's melee attack: d20 +1 (class) +1 (STR bonus) vs. AC11, with Advantage (surprise attack)

    Roll: 6, 12(hit)    Damage (d8+1) = 5
    Cultist #3's HP revealed (1HD) = 3
    Cultist #3 is killed!

Guard #8's melee attack: d20 +1 (class) +1 (STR bonus) vs. AC11, with Advantage (surprise attack)

    Roll: 7, 2 (misses)

Guard #11's melee attack: d20 +1 (class) +1 (STR bonus) vs. AC11, with Advantage (surprise attack)

    Roll: 6, NAT 20(CRIT)    Damage (d8+1)+1 = 10
    Cultist #2's HP revealed (1HD) = 5
    Cultist #2 is killed!

Morale (WILL) checks for the enemies are called for. Doppelganger: W16 vs. 15 (pass), Cultist #1: W13 vs. 12 (pass)

Despite their two fallen comrades, the remaining enemies stand defiant. Combat continues.

Round #1    
Rolling for initiative: Sulani's Init score is the highest (15), so let her go first. Roll = 5 (great success)

Order of actions: Sulani, Cut, Bulfin, then the Guards.

Sulani's melee attack vs. the Doppelganger:  d20 +1 (STR bonus) +1 (outnumbering) +1 (flanking with Bulfin) vs. AC13
    Roll = 16(hit), 7   Damage (1d8) = 7

Her swift warhammer lands squarely right on the head of the faltering Doppelganger, bringing it down at once!

Cut, seeing nothing more to do with the fallen monster, dashes to the back of the cultist spellcaster, hoping to knock it out from behind.

Cut's melee attack vs. Cultist #1: d20 +1 (class bonus) +3 (STR bonus) +1 (flanking with Guard #8) -2 (knock out penalty) vs. AC11

    Roll = 17(hit)  Damage (1d8) = 5

    Cultist #1's actual HP (1HD) = 4

    Cultist #1 goes down, falling unconscious.

With a wide swing, the face of Cut's long sword connects to the back of the cultist's skull, sending the cultist jerking under protest and collapsing to the ground.

Battle outcome: Four enemies, three dispatched, one captured. All allies unscathed. A sweet victory.

To be continued....