Teothas the Archer vs. Some Hobgoblins

Let’s try a different play test just to see how it goes… I may as well stat up this elf, since he seems pretty cool.

Teothas, Heroic Frost Elf Archer (Renown 2)

Attack +4 | Defend +3 | Focus +2 | Resolve 3

Relics: 

Gauntlets of Quickness (permanent haste)

Bow of the Scout Captain (+1 Attack and +1 Focus)

As an archer, Teothas may attempt an immediate second attack on an attack result of 13+.

Hobgoblin Mercenary

(Rabble 0) Attack 8 | Defend 8 | Focus 8 | Resolve 3

If you roll 4 or less on your attack roll, the hobgoblin gets a free sneak attack against you. Attempt an immediate Defend against attack 8 or you suffer 1 damage. They attack with an axe (in melee) or a longbow (to medium range).

These larger, meaner goblins often lead groups of goblins into combat.

Teothas has some trouble afoot; a patrol of hobgoblins is moving through his lands, and he decides to engage them; there are five of them. This should be a tough battle, but he does bear the gauntlets of quickness and the bow of the scout captain… we’ll see… I think he would easily cut through lots of goblins (since they have Resolve 1), but the hobgoblins are going to be much tougher… he won’t be one-shotting these.

Initiative. Teothas rolls 10, so he gets initiative. He attacks twice, getting 10 and 13, so he triggers a bonus attack, getting 14. He fires three arrows into the lead hobgoblin, killing him. Four remain. The four hobgoblins engage. Two are in melee range with axes, and two are attacking with bows. He has to Defend against four attacks at 8. He rolls 7, 9, 9, and 12. He gets hit once, and is down to Resolve 2. I didn’t put any extra points there (he started with 3 as an elf), so he’s extra special squishy. 

Round 2. Teothas attacks twice, getting 12 and 11. Drat. He hits twice, but doesn’t trigger his ability with either attack. He tries to evade four hobgoblin attacks, and gets 11, 9, 6 (ugh) and 8 (whew). He suffers another hit, and would be down to Resolve 1. He’s going to use his 2 points here from Renown 2 to bump that 6 to an 8, so he evades all four. Four hobgoblins remain, and one is at Resolve 1.

Round 3. Teo attacks twice, getting a natural 12 on the first die (sweeeet) and 13 on the second. He deals 3 damage, and triggers his ability twice. For the second set of attacks, he rolls 14 and 13. He sadly cannot trigger that ability again with the free attacks (or he’d just be peppering with arrows all day), but as is he has dealt 5 wounds in one round; he finishes the hobgoblin he had injured, kills another, and wounds a third; there are now only two hobgoblins remaining, and one has Resolve 2. The two hobgoblins attack, but Teothas rolls 11 and 8 (hah!), dodging both attacks. 

Round 4. Teothas rolls 11 and 13, so he triggers his ability once; he gets 11 with that attack. He deals 3 wounds, so he kills the fresh hobgoblin; only a wounded archer remains, and they are shooting at each other from (rolls dice) 40’ apart. The hobgoblin fires and arrow, and Teo rolls 12, dodging quite easily.

Round 5. Teothas attacks twice, getting 13 and 15, so he triggers his ability twice; for the second attack, he rolls 11 and 13. He hits four times, for 4 points of damage. He decides to use these attacks to disarm the hobgoblin and pin him to a tree… as Teothas steps over the dead bodies of his friends (who are riddled with arrows), he starts to ask who keeps sending them into elfin lands… and why…

Analysis

Buh dang. I instinctively felt like this was a good challenge (two characters of one renown are equal to one character of the next renown up, so four hobgoblins would have been an ‘even’ fight; five was a little tough on paper). It turned out to be. Again, my hero was down to Resolve 1 at the end of the fight. For some context, I would expect he’d have similar results against about 8-10 burrow goblins. He’d be trying to evade attacks of 7, meaning that he’d need a 4 or better on the dice to evade; he’d have about a 90% chance of evading each attack, and he’d be killing at least two per round (often 3 or 4) because they have Resolve 1... so he’d do well.

This FELT like Legolas vs. a bunch of Orcs. He’s firing mad numbers of arrows, and I keep hoping his ability will trigger; that round where he rolled a natural 12 and triggered his ability was pretty sweet; he basically puts an arrow through the head of one hobgoblin, and then peppers two more. That’s totally Legolas.  

The three heroes I’ve played so far all ‘feel’ different. They provide a different play experience and mechanically have interesting things happening.