Narrated D&D Story: How The Sniveling Cowards Left Me, A Paladin to Die
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- Опубліковано 2 жов 2024
- Cowards! A party adventures together and dies together.
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Hey again everyone. A big thanks to All Things DnD for another wonderful narration of my story. This particular session will always stand out for me since it was one of the most brutal low-level encounters that I have ever been a part of. The dice Gods can truly be very spiteful sometimes.
Good story dude!
Did the Paladin lose his faith after the gods betrayed him and start believing in his own power?
@@R.E.E.D. No. Paladins, unlike Clerics, don't rely on their gods for everything. They believe in fighting with their own power to prove their worth, either to their gods or to those around them. Some of them don't even follow gods. An Oathbreaker Paladin for instance is still seeking glory, they've just turned to the path of Evil (or at least Neutral) to do so. Paladins believe it's cowardly to rely on outside help when they can do something themself, but they aren't against asking for divine aid when they really need it. This Paladin not only did get some divine help, but being Suli already had powerful ancestry to begin with. What matters is that he courageously fought with his own strength, which proved his worthiness as a warrior and the "dice gods" rewarded him for that.
@@DragonGunzDorian Thanks so much. Glad you enjoyed it :)
Hey, I’m a little confused on how a lvl 1 had 18strength and also good charisma. Any chance you could clear that up for me? I’m new to DnD so idk much. Legit unsure and confused, not being a dick
The Kobolds fleeing in terror was the right call. Kobolds fiercely believe in 'fight another day'. They had no idea how much HP the paladin had left. And they'd just seen him shrug off their heavy hitter's attack and then meeting his end in glorious fashion. No wonder they retreated.
Yep, I have used that as well quite a few times. So much better than them just killing off the character after.
Even if the character is pretty obviously badly hurt, these creaturs are too cowardly to throw their own life at the man in order to possibly kill him.
It is just not something they would do.
I had one character ones that, more or less like in this story, destroyed their leader with a single wellplaced hit.
The remaining "soldiers" of that leader became his most loyal servants for one very simple reason....fear..He didn't try to make them fear him, nor did he actually treat them badly and that most certainly helped but all of them just saw him as this unstopable monster that they would never be able to beat...so joining him was a much better option.
Later on it became clear to them that he wasn't this all powerful being..but at that point they had gotten so invested in him and his kindness that they were actually able to fight their cowardly nature and defend him. It was honestly rather beautiful XD.
Kobolds like Goblins are cowards by nature so them running away after there boss got dropped in one blow was pretty well role played by the DM.
yep, in fact it would have been VERY out of character for kobolds to hang around after their leader was defeated, and only a Bad DM would have them attack the next round.
I had to stop myself from saying that it was pretty obvious that the primary goal was to bluff out of a deathly fight, and you don't need rolls to know he had hit all key points to do it, but I know there are DM that doesn't know not to play meta and needlessly end a story of a player character.
This is actually incorrect, kobolds fight their enemies to the death any time because dying in battle is the only requirement for them to go to heaven.
Dwarf: you’re bleeding man...
Paladin: my god says I haven’t got time to bleed...
My Paladin:
*THE BLOOD GOD CARES NOT FROM WHERE THE BLOOD FLOWS, SO LONG AS IT DOES!*
More blood for the blood god
@@The_Forge_Master *BURN HERETIC!*
No! i was not given permission to die!!! -Soldier TF2
RNJesusBless
"Oh shit! The enemy knows what they're doing!"
- Some adventurers, probably.
More flavors ! With my DM, we would charge an orc camp on a whim, but we would be worried at the idea of charging a goblin/kobold camp unprepared and would spy them beforehand.
as a DM i love mixing inept enemys and really clever ones. let them fight some idiotic trolls for a time or undead and when they really dont expect anything clever hit them with a well crafted trap ridden kobold lair full of sneak attackers alchemist bombs and trained animals coming through hidden entrances collapsing gateways all the good stuff.
Tbh, me anytime i do anything in D&D
Competence, the true nemesis of every adventuring party.
@@malyssaryan1987 I mean when your foe has a plan it levels the playing field a lot. I mean they party spent 90% of the time in that "fight" either getting crush by boulders, falling in a pit, or getting shot by arrows. They never really had a chance to retaliate and couldn't adapt to the rapidly changing situation.
That paladin was too angry to die
Edit: fuck y'all for the likes... and thanks I guess...
Was his name Grimaldus, I wonder?
Give 'em a free level of barbarian lol.
Too angry, also too proud to retreat, and pride comes before the fall.
*M A X I M U M A N G E R Y*
@Kapten Krok only because you asked nicely...
I still think back to the orc who found a talking sword that made him a good guy. Good shit.
Ah, yes. Garg and The Moonslicer!
I'd like to hear a continuation of that...
Wasn't it an ogre?
Here's the original story:- www.reddit.com/r/DnD/comments/2mjhz9/what_would_happen_if_an_intelligent_greatsword/
Alternatively, search "Garg and Moonslicer" on this channel and you'll find a fantastic reading!
@@rileygoddard7181 yes, an ogre
There is so much sarcasm in this story and I absolutely love it
Yeah, especially the family jewels bit
The Paladin’s prayer was from the old animated fantasy movie, “Flight of Dragons”. I absolutely love that movie! :D
Omg you noticed too
OMG I love that film, I love how the dragons balloon up to fly, they look so goofey! lol
Thank you!! I knew it sounded familiar.
Wanted to comment this.
I didn't know sir Oren was a Paladin.
A strategic retreat to regroup is fine.
But abandoning party members is not.
Hope he leveled and got all the goodies from that fight.
@@GreenKnight343 I would gave to disagree. It's a role playing game while abandoning party members is never really a good idea, it might be a character flaw someone has (to be cowardly) and I cant fault someone who is playing their character. Especially at low level just being introduced to every one.
@@GreenKnight343 it's cool, it's a pet peeve and understandable so, I don't enjoy playing with cowardly characters having to drag them along to get stuff done or possibly losing someone mid-fight, it gets tiresome.
@@mr.rabbit9714 İ love cowardly characters, but you can make a coward that wont run away and will still stay with the party and fight while for example crying/sobing etc. There are many option that wont create a bad, unfun conflicts in group.
You mean like how the paladin abandoned the party and got completely separated from them because he thought it was a good idea to move forward alone after one goes unconscious and the rest took damage?
@@joanbighorn9778 he is the one who takes the front, that was explained in the beggining, if it wasn't for the hole, he'd be the tank impeding the kobolds from getting to his party
It reminds me of a higher level (12) dwarven paladin of plate and shield I had. Decked out in sacremental adamantine, full on stalwart wall with tower shield and everything.
Party rushed into a fight, I am having to hold back enemy hard, and taking a beating. Wizard runs with a dimensional door and takes cleric with. Rogue runs, monk runs. Me in a dungeon surrounded by baddies. I am in full plate and a dwarf. I wouldnt be able to outrun anything. I was stuck there, surrounded and alone.
Well, DM asks me what I do, I say to DM nobody else is here, so we will resolve in private since session was going to end soon.
Next game, party returns to find or rescue me. Finds a charred body with armor still on in a pit. Take me back to my order. Finds out I was the son of the king (DMs idea). The body is not me. Armor is faked adamantine.
What happened to my Dwarf? Next time party encountered my dwarf, it was a fallen paladin/hellknight. See, I was captured by the BBEG organization. My mind was broken by them. Twisted thoughts of betrayal and hatred of all those who abandoned me and as such, pledged fealty to the BBEG due to the followers willingness to die for the order.... unlike my party.
See my guy was dead, because that organization was ruthless and evil. Party took days to return so that sect had left their now found hideout in the meantime. I am a big roleplayer, so I wouldnt let the DM just ex machina me to safety. He asked me first if I agreed to this plan. He wanted the party to consider their actions more carefully and them to face the conscequences of abandoning the long time party defender.
So their cowardice resulted in their shield, their friend, the one who carried two others on his back while bloodied and broken... well.... resulted in him becoming the right hand of a demon. Destroyer of cities and slayer of kings....
Ngl that's a pretty creative turn of events 😶 I like it.
Dude I so want to hear more about this story,
Welp that's what they get for abandoning someone, a party travels together and die together
@@B0TFrosty I don't really like that statement but I find it pretty cool and most people who like their characters are like hella nah to that statement which is pretty funny also playing a paladin you SHOULD'VE inspect betrayal at one point it's the Paladin's job almost not only that it seems out of character for a level ONE party too do that so early
I think what happened in your story is the most realistic turn of events, if such things could happen.
I could further see that your fallen paladin would be torn in his new life; Torn between wanting to faithfully serve his new lord/s and desperately wanting to leave just so he could hunt down and then vengenise [sic] his old teammates.
Now that's some good stuff.
A paladin who faces his doom with pride and not fear.
Thumbs up to that healer too.
You know, this actually makes sense to me. For the characters that aren't motivated by faith to panic and flee when things go so horribly wrong is actually the only thing that makes sense in-universe to me for a fresh group of adventurers.
Whoops left me family jewels back in town better go get em *just a trail of dust*
@@GreenKnight343 I don't think it was too hard, the party just failed too many saves and it snowballed.
"I just remembered! i don't work for Mr Krabs!"
As a Kobold/Goblin would say, "All I know is that the shiny Klick-Klack Stones with numerical engravings wait until the last second to perform miracles."
"klick-klack stones" and "numerical" don't match up there. lol
Do not prescribe agency to the polyhedron!
I will note running seems perfectly reasonable, but I enjoy a good character death so I often don't.
Kapten Krok I would rather you didn't but it is a free country
For me it depends on character personality. Some will run for their lives, some will face death.
After the rolls they got, I'd run too. Well, depending on the character, but personally I'd be just about done with the session at that point.
I feel like this was borimers last stand except he lived
lol I know right!
*Boromir
YES! Love Boromir! Protect the halflings!
THEY'RE TAKING THE HOBBITS THE HOBBITS TO ISENGAURD!
Every Paladin player worth their salt dreams of the day they get to pull out the Flight of Dragons speech. It's like the D&D equivalent of the parlor scene in a detective story.
What’s a parlor scene?
@@heathenpride7931 it's the scene in old detective novels/movies where the detective gathers all the suspects, usually in the parlor of the mansion, and runs down all the evidence and eventually points out the guy who did the murder.
@@Necrodancer1312 thankd
Why it's us Pals that always get betrayed/left to die?
Because to quote Dark Helmet: "good is dumb" 😁
If i'm being honest it's probably due to good AC, good damage, good HP, and the ability to cast spells, so the odds are much better a paly would live if left by themselves, or at least buy the most amount of time.
Nyghtking that combined with the fact that these are more experienced players telling their stories, and as being betrayed is both a semi common and rememberable thing, plenty of people have those stories to share
Well, there are some Paladins, _not naming names,_ that are a bit... you know... "holier than thou", arrogant or not exactly deserving of Lawful Good. So I COULD understand why you guys would get betrayed every once in a while. I wouldn't leave a true Paladin to die or betray them, never! Though, a Paladin like the ones you meet in games like WOW. Wouldn't even feel one bit of remorse, in fact... I would enjoy it.
@@sashmiel6566
Ooooh the edge.
Flight of dragons quote. Give this man inspiration that gave me chills.
Misra D Fox i wouldve
And a free level in Barbarian
hehe, took a while of searching through comments to find someone else who recognized the quote. well done :)
Depending on my character's personality I'd probably retreat so I'm out of fighting distance but not completely gone so I could rejoin when healed
@@ivarthebonelesslothbrok5918 Well enjoy getting kicked from the game for being a murderous bastard. Most smart DMs know to limit PvP to nonlethal if any at all, because nothing kills a game faster than the inevitable feud between such players.
Regardless there were no cowards depicted in the story, the Rogue advanced, failed, and nearly died. The Mage returned fire, nearly died. The Ranger returned fire. The Inquisitor provided medical aid. The Pali was separated, returned fire, nearly died. With 60% of their crew rendered combat ineffective against an unknown enemy force with mastery over the terrain, retreat was the only logical course. Even the retrieval of the Pali was out of the question, as it would have put both the Pali and whoever would have aided him under fire, and potentially left them unable to retrieve their wounded, giving the Kobolds more captives, which would have put them in worse straights for mounting a rescue.
Sometimes the braver thing to do, is to act intelligently, rather than following some creed dogmatically to one's own demise.
If my character is a complete coward he'd run like hell but I'd nvr make one bc I can't stand playing a coward
My first dnd campaign is in a few weeks I'm gna b a ranger with trust issues and if I they were to run my character would nvr do anything they asked again betrayal is a huge no no with my character but I'm working on a backup character that would understand bc you do wat u do to survive
Me playing a fighter who believes death in battle was the most honorable thing to do
Not my style sorry
I usually play the NG or LG character, so I would have stood and fought side by side with that awesome paladin. Regardless, that story was epic!
Lol depends on the character.
@TheReal RedWolfofDeath That sounds like something a Chaotic Stupid player would say!
@@JavierGomezX I mean, to be fair, there are some people(like me early on) who can be described as a Lawful stupid character, especially since I was a paladin.
Most of my characters are some form of evil (usually more "anti good" than evil, but I like a character that changes over a journey) and all of them would have stood their ground.
And yes, that story was epic.
My Minotaur would have stayed to fight they don't run from a fight even if it looks like it'll be their death
Boulder rolls down hill, apparently not falling into a 10 ft ditch.
the momentum carried it over
10 ft deep not 10 ft wide.
Jeff people don’t seem to understand the concept of: big rock going fast goes over hole that is deep not wide
Multiple traps back to back like that was quite common in earlier editions of the game. So was not surviving to level 5.
Based on the dodge forward/back, sounds like the boulder was rolling across the path not along the path. ergo the boulder didn't roll over the pit at all.
That was absolutely epic. Although not as "rare" as you might think, but the truth is that if you play XCOM games, no ammount of ludicrous rolls can suprise you.
As for whether or not I would have made a final stand, I'd definitly choose to fight.
Fucking XCOM man... you so right about that! but with Xcom its sad usually... have your team of hardened vets die, only leaving a rookie behind... who becomes mans one true hope and savior... think imma have to go play some Xcom now.
Battle hardened Colonel with a shotgun with a 97% success rate for an enemy that's at point blank. Sneezes and hits a duck a quarter mile away. God bless XCOM
@Legohaiden aren't xcoms rolls confirmed to be rigged though?
@@jm6456 In your favour, on all difficulties besides Classic an Impossible (X1), and on all besides Legend (X2)
Would you have turned and run or would you have made a final stand? And how miraculous was that fight? Please let us know and comment below!
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I would of stayed because of 3 reasons
1 always keep teammates alive so you can use them later
2 free items if you live
3 gain thier trust in order to help yourself later if needed
Im definitely gonna make a final stand damnit! I don't care if its not part of my character, imma fight the thing trying to kill us til the very end!
It all really depends on the Character i'm playing. For a better awnser, here's some examples:
BARON NATHANIEL TREVELYAN(NG V.Human Noble Fighter:Banneret)--Stand and fight as many as he could while trying to get the Paly out of the hole....
ORPHEUS SPYROS(LN V.Human Noble Wizard:Necromancy)-- Had his undead familiar Octis fight for him while casually walking out of arrow range....
RAKE GRAYYSON(CG Half-Ork Fighter: Champion/Rogue:Swashbuckler/Barbarian:Tribal Guardian)-- Cut a swath of destruction, using an Enemy's body as both a shield&Blunt object...
As you can see, none of them would run away. But there's a difference between running back to town and moving out of arrow range....
My first character was a tiefling vengeance paladin who swore to end all heresy or die trying. He almost did. Multiple times. One time, he found a statue of Bane, and being the religious fanatic that he is, he tried to smash it. Only then did he realize that the massive stone statue was actually a big ass golem. The party was level 3. We tested our cleric to his limits that day.
Ofc i would stay, just give me 2 turns to take care of the cowards running away and we can start our 2v6 till the mountain path becomes a river of blood.
We're like a minute in and I feel like this guy is gonna turn into goblin slayer
I've had a character die by staying and using her last spell to free one of the party members from an intellect devourer, instead of misty stepping away from the battle (Surrounded by orcs and goblins, and two of the party already had their brains devoured) She was the only one to mentally and physically fall, with her familiar fading away, while the other two will be roaming around the dungeon for our next group to find and hopefully free one day. The guy I saved went unconscious, but not to death. He later escaped and we have yet to meet him as our latest characters.
(Mad Mage)
at least they were trying to mount a rescue attempt, and the inquisitor didn't want to leave the paladin but for the paladins insistence.
They may have said that but if you jad just left someone dying and ran without saying anything and they walk in the romm what would you say
Always stand and fight. When death smiles you in the face... all you can do is smile back.
Brrrrooooooo he quoted flight of dragons! I haven't seen that in years, it was my favourite character too (that he quoted) awesome
To be fair, if the party is level 1, and if the characters have really only just met each other?
Staying to die at each other's side rather than running and escaping with their lives would probably be pretty out-of-character for anyone who isn't of Lawful alignment or honouring a vow.
ranger could've helped the paladin leave the hole in a few seconds, the fallen dude could've been carried together by the dwarf and the one who ran away, it'd take just a few seconds for it even
@@-hello6177 Well, "just a few seconds" is at least one turn in game terms. You'd have to at least spend your main action, and even then, that would only be an attempt - to go with your first example, the Ranger would have to make a Strength Check in order to help the heavy Paladin in full plate armour out of that hole.
Going by what I just said, it probably wouldn't be an easy Strength Check, and Rangers tend to have pretty awful Strength at that.
DnD isn't always all that straightforward; the simplest plans can fail because of one bad roll. In fact, they usually do.
If someone else had stayed behind, they would've very likely just died.
@@TimeturnerJ sad
One of my fighters probably would have stayed long enough for everyone else to hoof it before he ran for it. Merc's honor. :P If he got caught, he'd have probably surrendered, though.
@@TimeturnerJ Lv 1, full plate? What?
that was pretty rad...I swear I think I heard 'goblins slayers' theme during that badass scene
Nah man, what you heard at the moment of the prayer if any anime ost, it is berserk dont remember the name exactly but search it by "my brother" and if you disagree after hearing it, you are just wrong xd
Edit: literally is called "my brother" Just as the vocals start matches too much the prayer and the music itself shows how the kobolds have seen him after obliterating the mage kobold.
Yes, this guy is basically the kobold version of goblin slayer xD
If the others hadn't run the Paladin wouldn't have had a chance to have that encounter. The best gaming stories usually involve great failures.
Very true. I still fondly remember the time my players cut a bridge in half because the alchemist got his foot caught on a mimic. The alchemist ended up dangling upside down on the other side of the bridge, still stuck to the mimic, the cleric and barbarian ended up in the water, and cleric couldn't climb or swim. Bard and rogue made their reflex saves, but ended up having to try and stave off the two owlbears that were attracted to the commotion alone, while the others struggled to get up the cliff.
The amount of swagger this guy must have lift into that tavern, was way heavier than weight of his loot... Small kobolds, epic story.
"Pain heals, chicks dig scars, *glory* lasts forever." - Keanu Reeves, 'The Replacements'
As a whole, the party did the reasonable thing both from a logical and role play point of view. That being said, the Wizard and Ranger might have still been able to do something by finding cover or going full-defense. Still, an Inquisitor isn't very good at healing multiple targets, there were more enemies lying in wait, and bad dice rolls can demoralize even the mightiest of DMs.
Uhhhh just fleeing from battle without even saying anything to their comrades? A tactical retreat to a re-group is fine, but abandoning someone is just pure cowardice
@@B0TFrosty It's still reasonable thing cause if they didn't the campaign could've possibly be over and they couldn't predict if the paladin WAS going to do that also it would've been out of character
simple solution
Scream SCATTER
flee
That last prayer was from Flight of Dragons! I loved that movie!!
I'm so glad someone else caught this!
"Like" doesn't do justice to how I feel about this story.
I wouldn't run without helping the paladin out of the hole first, unless I was roleplaying a more cowardly character.
@@zombieslayer2016 abandoning fellow characters, unless the players have all agreed to be okay with it in a Session 0, is always a dick move regardless of circumstance. Every encounter doesn't have to be either a party victory or TPK, some options could have been surrendering, taking cover and full defense actions, or even retreating a short distance rather than fleeing all the way back to town.
A more accurate title: How the Sniveling Cowards (Minus One) Left Me, A Paladin to Die.
minus two, one was fallen
@@-hello6177 correct
@@-hello6177 the rouge running was understandable.
@@Wilsontrippletsthe rogue never ran, he was carried away while unconscious
Run or fight. That all depends on the type of character you play. A self-insert is all up to you, a brave one would stand there ground, and the coward is pretty self explanatory
That is true. You also can't help people if you're putting your own safety over the party's by running or demanding protection
@@capincmmd5299 I think you should read TimeTurner's comment the party could've just met it'll be out of character if they just decided to stand their ground without a reason
can't find the comment, but that is also a factor I didn't take into consideration
@@capincmmd5299 Well it said that it would be pit of character if a party who had JUST met to stand their ground for one person that makes no sense like at all
@@capincmmd5299 Anyway thanks for understanding
In 3.5, we had a super overpowered chain fighter. He had figured with the DM that he was going to have a heroic sacrifice and hold off an army for a couple of turns while the characters retreated. We didn't know this.
It was amazing, we began retreating, leaving our main fighter to die. Except he didn't die. He was built so well that his attacks of opportunity made mincemeat of the army, he kept making his saves against the enemy spellcasters, and suddenly it looked like we might actually be able to *beat this army* if he keeps his position.
So we turned around and went back to help him, sending heals his way and filling the battlefield with hazardous effects. My swordsage blinked into the fray, and together we took out the commander and changed the course of the campaign - at least for a bit.
How did it end?
What I like the most about this story is that it's not about some epic-level adventurer but about a lvl 1 one. Hell of a way to start a journey.
This story clearly demonstrated the true threat kobolds can bring to a low to mid level party.
The kobolds were utilized to perfection.
2 vs 5 drop the traps and shoot from cover.
7 v 1 come on gang, let's go see what we've caught for dinner today.
Epic dice rolls saving the day and fleeing kobolds leading to an epic tale for years to come.
Now THAT is how you Paladin!
I have to say, given how things were going, retreating was likely the best option. So the narrators screes of cowardice really fall flat for me. Too many parties are wiped out because they don't retreat when they should have. He did end up with a pretty cool story, but most of the time he would have just died.
There is retreating and there is running away they ran away
@@ryderstover275 Yep, and they retreated from a situation they clearly couldn't handle and the poster comes off as a fool who has mistaken luck for skill.
Hey man running from a fight means you can fight another day, and I tend to implement that rule with my monsters that I threw up in front of of my party, especially when they're higher levels
I'm borderline in TEARS of HOW AWESOME THAT WAS!!!!!
I've never played D&D but I love listening to these.
What interesting stories you would have, Fecal Eruptions.
This is what selling your soul in the afterlife is for.
During my whole 8 years of playing i abandoned only one team member. On the side note, he asked for it. As a team we encountered Giant sitting peacfully near the road. We were licking our wounds after one of toughest encounters we had yet and our healer was unconsious. It was at this moment our brilliant Druid thought it would be a great idea to kill this giant, because "it's free xp and loot". Paladin said no, because giant was peacfull. Barbarian wanted to fight a giant but not when that meant risking his bff healer life. I, as a rogue, said no because that thing od huge and we are in bad shape and most important, nobody gonna pay us for that. Ignoring the voice of team, he headed to the Giant and cast one of his electric spells. Giant wasnt really happy about it as his grand club explained that exruciatingly to the druid. Oh the shock od disbelief on that poor druid face when his team simply left him to Die there
That quote was from the movie "Flight of Dragons", 1985, music by don Mclean. And those were the last words of Sir Orrin Neville-Smyth in his last duel against the great dragon Byraugh.
That sole movie is the culprit for which I still play D&D and other fantasy roleplaying games :).
I’m the one usually making the last stands, and I’m not even a paladin.
Kapten Krok I mean, as long as it’s not a fetish thing.
My high-elf ex-princess warlock would stand her ground out of pure bull-headedness and scream at her fleeing allies whilst killing the monsters. If she finds them again she would throw a tantrum and sulk in a corner. Usually the fighter just picks her up and slings her over his shoulder whilst she tries to attack the enemies.
@@justanotherglorpsdaymornin5097 Does she have any inspire skills? She sounds like she should
@@-hello6177 Nah she's all about using persuasion and command (and raining down fiery death). Her mum; the evil, immortal wizard-queen (I leaned into disney princess for her origin) rules through fear and deceit so that is what Ara (my warlock) has grown up with and thinks is the only way to lead (she doesn't really lead the party but likes to think she does). She'll do impulsive stuff like waste a spell slot (Warlocks have very few) on casting command on an npc that has insulted her if she can't intimidate them into groveling. What's worse is that she is the face of the party. So we have a big tough half-orc fighter, a creepy malicious gnome rogue, a fairly friendly dragonborn barbarian, a serene and unphased human druid (often with his eyes closed) all standing there as this little teenage half-elf warlock intimidates, decieves and throws tantrums at every npc they have to interact with.
Party: Welcome back, You're bleeding!
Paladin: Tis but a scratch.
Messed up the quote by not dying still epic
In my very first DND campaign (I was in 4th grade and the DM was my art teacher, he was amazing) are first mission was to get information from a kolbold infested temple and their always being “that guy” who is a total pacifist, of course it was the fighter (me) of all classes, and by some miracle I befriended the kolbold’s leader, gave him a golden mask meant for kolbolds, and when I f*cked up on a wish spell and sent my group 100 years in the future (that’s a whole different story) I found out he became known as a god of bravery to kolbolds for leading them to victory many times, and guess what, they also thought of me as a Demi-god who aided him in his most well known journeys, the journey of friendship with human travelers. BTW the kolbold leader’s name is Grum.
As soon as I heard the title out loud I imagined death knights and fallen heroes.
After watching... Permanent +1 for rolls against Kobalds.
A grand tale of surviving Kobolds. Kudos to that one, bonus xp for the Palladin!
It was a good group imo :)
Sounds like everyone played his/her character well at 1st level:
Paladin - ready to take epic adventures as its written in the books; underestimate kobolds for not being giant epic monsters and thus "plot-armor" shall protect the party.... arrogant, heroic, and stupid enough for a 1st level paladin :D
Inquisitor - being a dwarf is enough :D
Wizard - surely the most intelligent of the group, realises the actual danger of the "lowly" kobolds and retreat for recalculations, also knows living is better than dying for nothing
Ranger - a character for survival. Realises that heroism won't help him survive this encounter, and retreat (next time, stealth and cunning might help good "predator") :D
Rogue - my only disappointment. why isn't his first reaction is to take cover and try to hide? maybe the heroism of the paladin and the inquisitor inspired him to charge against an enemy which has the better position - okay, I guess
so everyone put on a quite good act :P
not really retreating, since there was a fallen ally that he could've easily helped carry if that was the case, he could've asked the inquisitor to help the two leave the hole if his plan was for them escaping, he just fled alone
We don't know any of their intelligence stats. Calling one or the other smart or stupid at this point is getting ahead of yourself. They weren't paying close enough attention to their surroundings as a group, knowing they were going to be raiding hostile territory. That's on all of them. Paladin made an assumption, fell in a hole. Ranger made an assumption, got shot. Rogue had a plan, got tripped up, fell in a hole. Inquisitor had spells, cleaned up party's mess. Wizard had fear, ran away. Ranger had fear, ran away. Rogue had fear, ran away, got shot. Inquisitor picked up party slack, reluctantly retreated. Paladin had plan, first blood. Kobolds showed condescending mercy, Paladin refused to yield his pride/honor (admittedly have mixed feelings on the viability of this action in context of spiritual health vs. pragmatism). Paladin tanked damage, killed attacker. Roared triumph. Kobolds lost nerve, fled.
I don't see arrogance or stupidity here. Just a lack of preparation that nearly lead to a paladin dying.
I enjoyed this narration. It didn't feel rushed. Keep up the good work with this kind of narration.
The only class allowed to “run away” is the rogue who is trying to hide and get sneak attack bonus. Everyone else must “We ride together. We die together.” (From Bad Boys for all you copyright ninjas)
Even as a wizard, I don't go down without a fight.
The whole situation was way out of whack for level 1 characters. A double trap *and* 2 entrenched enemies that require 2+ turns to reach?
The only reliable option in such a situation would have been a AoE from the Wizard. But after having been knocked out and just revived at 2 HP, I fully understand him legging it.
The DM really should have used passive perception here, and only risk dicerolls for those that did not make it passively. It was specifically added in 4.0 and kept for 5.0 to avoid the whole "everyone rolled bad" scenario. It even mentions such a scenario as a example. Also adds a whole dimension to high perception characters, if they do not even *need* to roll.
As for the Intimidate failure causing Combat - yes, that was perfectly sensible. Intimidation always makes the target (more) hostile. Sucesds just makes them unable to attack you for a while to act on that hostility.
I'm glad I'm not the only one who was thinking, "Um, they weren't cowards. The DM made it basically impossible for them to mount any sort of defense let alone fight BACK."
And yes, I agree about the perception thing. ESPECIALLY when it results in SO MUCH damage to level 1s.........Seriously, that DM needs to reconfigure what they think level 1s can handle or something..... holy cow
lol, to be fair, this encounter really only became difficult due to bad luck. None of my party were rolling well, and the DM's dice were basically on fire. And although I wrote the story with a slightly bitter/sarcastic edge, my group still laughs about this encounter, and they basically used it as a character building experience for everyone in the party.
@@sinlesssoul if you DMed this kodos on the way you played the kobolds, not many get it right instead using them as training dummies.
@@lukeshort2960 I'm afraid I didn't DM this particular encounter. However, I will say that our DM absolutely loves playing his characters properly. As such, while I initially didn't have a problem with kobolds, once our DM exposed myself and my group as to how kobolds 'actually operate', I quickly learned to hate them. lol
@@sinlesssoul If that is how they operate, it is on character. Also totally out of whack for Level 1 Heroes.
Also the chance to roll poorly has to be acounted for. This is level 1, not 10.
The old "Book of Challenges" has the "Temple of Draxion" encounter. It includes some Kobold traps. It is Level 2. The "traps" are far enough appart to avoid overlap.
They have a Kobold behind good cover - but it only attacks if the characters dally or approach and "retreats when the PC endanger him". Primarily he is there to sound alarm. So actually decently easy to chase off.
The enemies are 2 Humans and 4 Kobolds, not 8 Kobolds + a Kobold caster.
The "Bugbeat Pit Fight" is Level 3 is also a bit tricky. But nothing close to this level.
That last paladin quote was from one of the greatest fantasy animations of all time. Flight of dragons. A super epic last battle
I definitely would have tried to save the Paladin in someway before turning and running, either by using a shield to cover me while I reach down to him, or by jumping in with him and hoping that I can help push him up. But if I couldn't do either of those due to lack of shield or strength, I definitely would have turned and run after telling him he better survive.
My most epic bout was as follows:
I was a level 3 Human Fighter, with the Battlemaster subclass, playing an old Rapier duelist whose fencing school had been burned down by a passing army years ago, and now was a sword for hire.
Our party had already taken part in an expedition to hunt and kill a vampire, and was formed by a half-orc Barbarian, a Wood Elf Fighter, a Human Paladin and me. We were looking for some easy cash, and so took a job to kill a bandit lord and his men at an old abandoned castle.
We stocked up on everything we'd need, and I even got some blade oils, specifically oils of sharpness to increase my attack bonus. We also paid an apothecary in advance (we were playing with hardcore rules, which meant no potions or healing powers were allowed), and deposited most of our remaining money at the city bank to avoid our DM's typical tricks of having critical hits break our equipment or make us lose our gold purses.
We set out on the following morning, and quickly reached the castle after a few hours. The bandits outside were fairly easy to dispatch, and gave us some pretty good loot we could take to town later to sell, so we bundled it all up in the capes of the dead bandits and hid it in the bushes nearby. Then, we made our way into the castle.
We had only received minor damage until now, which we could have easily recovered from by using our hit dice, but then we made our first mistake: we didn't roll just yet, because we wanted to explore. And as we entered the main hall of the castle, at the very top of the largest tower, the doors fell closed and barred by heavy iron portculli. Then, from the balconies above us, bandits with crossbows started to pepper us with crossbow bolts. A critical hit instantly downed the Wood Elf fighter, and the rest of us received grave injuries trying to get to cover.
With the Wood Elf dead, we had no way of returning fire, but we had managed to take cover behind some stone columns, so they couldn't shoot at us anymore. Then, the bandit lord made his appearance, and ordered us to surrender if we didn't want to die. We, being Lawful Good adventurers, refused. We figured there was only one way to escape alive, and that was to bash down the only door that led to a set of stairs that would take us to the top floor, fight our way through the bandits, reach the walls, and use our ropes to climb out of the castle.
And we did just that: the half-orc Barbarian bashed down the door with his enormous warhammer, and we started one of the most desperate fights I've ever seen in a Dungeons and Dragons game. We ran up the stairs as fast as we could, felling enemies left and right, seeing our HP slowly be chipped away point by point with every engagement, until we finally reached the top of the walls. As the Paladin held off the enemies that swarmed us from the stairs, the Barbarian and I fashioned a very long rope by tying everyone's ropes together.
And then, disaster struck us again. The Barbarian fumbled his Climbing roll, and despite being able to survive the fall, miraculously, we lost the rope. Which left the Paladin and me alone at the top of the wall, with very little chance of survival.
And sure enough, after seven rounds of constant fighting, the Paladin finally fell, with a spear through his gut. A dozen bandits spilled out through the door, surrounding me at the top of the wall, the Bandit lord amongst them. He ordered me to throw down my sword. I, feeling dead already, answered: "Can you throw down part of your arm? If you want my sword, come and get it."
He just chuckled, and ordered his men to kill me. I had two Superiority Dice left, and I used them well. My Initiative roll was extremely high, putting me at the top of the combat sequence. I attacked once... and rolled a critical hit! The first bandit fell, his chest run through by my rapier. Before the DM could start the bandits' turn, however, I used my Fighter's Action Surge, to attack a second time. And I rolled a second critical hit! Another bandit was cut down spectacularly, blood spraying from his opened throat.
Finally, they could attack me. One by one, they rolled. The first one failed his attack, and I immediately declared a Riposte, which allowed me to make a free attack against him, adding my Superiority Die to the damage roll. My attack hit, and I rolled maximum damage on both dice, killing a third bandit! Another bandit struck, missing me, and I used my last Superiority Die to also Riposte against him. The Dice Gods were with me for the fourth consecutive time, and I rolled high enough to also kill that one!
Four bandits lay dead at my feet, and I stood without a single scratch to show for it. My duelist calmly whipped his rapier in a semicircle, sending droplets of blood at the dead men's comrades, and attempted an Intimidation roll. "Who will be the next to die?" I said.
The check was successful, and the bandits all looked to their leader: "If ye want 'im dead, sah, you kill 'im." One of them said. And they all took a step back, as their angry leader stepped forth and brandished his axe. And letting out a mighty roar, he charged me. He didn't hit the first attack, and when it was my turn to act, I didn't hit him either. He then attacked again, and did hit me, causing me to go down to 3 HP. I struck him as well, dealing 11 points of damage, and bringing him to about half health. Then, I used my bonus action to use the Second Wind ability, which allowed me to recover a whopping 8 HP.
He then hit me again with his axe, bringing me down to 1 HP, and as I staggered back, bloody and exhausted, laughed at me: "Looks like your luck has run out, old man." And raised his axe to finish me off.
I decided that, if I was going to die, at least I'd die with honour, and attacked. I rolled the dice... and I didn't roll a natural 20, but I did hit him for 14 damage. Enough for my rapier to penetrate his skull through his smirking mouth, and come out the back.
With the Bandit Lord dead, my character turned to the remaining bandits, panting and bleeding, eyes crazed, rapier clutched in blood-soaked fingers. "Get out." I said. "Leave this place with your lives... or only I will."
The Intimidation check was successful. The bandits turned, dropped their weapons, and fled as if the Devil himself had given the order.
Later, it turned out both the Paladin and the Wood Elf had managed to stabilize themselves with their Death Saves, so I collected them as I headed out. Needless to say, I never once paid for my own drinks after that battle.
He sent them away...and they were coming back for him! He just got lucky at the last second.
I was looking for this comment!
IMO: the Paladin is full of himself based on how he talks about the team vs himself
Would have at least attempted to help my party form an organized retreat, but that was a mess of a rout.
I love the frequency of the writer mentioning be trapped in a "damn hole"
This reminds me of my own epic stand. I was playing a teifling bard. Long story short, my party consisting of me, a half elf paladin, a high elf wizard, and a lizardfolk cleric ended up in a situation where we were level 3 fighting 2 powerful dragonborn. The wizard went down first, followed by the cleric, then the paladin. I was the only one left standing. I cast thaumaturgy on myself to boom my voice, managed to stay alive, I then cast minor illusion to make it look like I was cloaked in red fire. I then made an intimidate check yelling as loud and deep as I could muster "YOU WILL BOTH DIE SCREAMING!" I rolled with advantage, I rolled a 2 and a 3. I died shortly thereafter
I'd do a Captain Jack Sparrow, and run away so that we may fight again. Ambush the Kobold leader while they are trying to capture the Paladin.
of course helping the fallen comrade as you do?
Nigerundayio!
I'm currently in a group with a rogue that treats every intimidating encounter as a cardio exercise. She had to leave a session early once and one of the other players agreed to play her character for her to finish the session with her character there. Long story short, the BBEG was supposed to do a dramatic appearance, then leave... Our cleric had other plans, and sent a ranged attack flying towards him just to show off, and well.... Nat 20, crit damage, we got into a fight with the BBEG at level 3... Rolled initiatives, when the rogues turn came around, DM asked her friend what she'd do, and the whole group went "She runs". Nothing like a well established character in such situations x)
So, basically, the Inquisitor was his only real friend in the party.
I cheered outloud when he rolled that 19 lol. This is a great story
Level one players with traps and kobolds? Someone's been reading too much into Tucker's Kobolds it seems...
I agree and it's good to see kobolds played right for a change.
It's a hard life being the tank, especially at the start of a campaign. You never know what kinds of party members you are going to end up with or what you're going to face. All you can do is just trust your dice and hope you get lucky.
I actually love Kobolds and would try and Redeem them. There was one story I heard that melted my heart about Kobolds that I just love them now. The Video was "The Kobold King - Monsters, Misguided #4" I fell in love with Kobolds as they are just feral cats that need to be pacified.
Moko Arc So... in my current campaign, this is in Adventurers league, our party has befriended and recruited every single kobold we have come across: we either persuade, pay, or threaten. Our numbers have hit 65 in the kobold army.
Thank u for that
Once the leader is dead you could always intimidate with a good "Kneel or die"
The Otaku Dragon Slayer We eliminate enemies with 65d4 damage. It is very fun.
Having played Neverwinter Nights and had Deekin as a rather helpful traveling companion I don't see them as Murder-fodder right off the bat. They're like children in lizard-form. They only need a firm guiding hand to show them a better way to live and be, and depending on your DM, one day they'll make you proud like a parent or teacher.
Reminds me of my first game. It was the first time I played DND. It was the first time any of us players had played. The dm sent us into a kobald cave. Whole party wiped on the first fight with about 7 kobalds in melee
What sort of player flees and abandons the party on the first encounter of the game?
One that wants a character to last more than half a session?
Withdraw from the fight, oh yes, but stay nearby and hidden. So if the tide shifted they could join in. Not all the way in town.
To quote Anakin from Revenge of the Sith when he was told to leave Obi Wan. "His fate will be the same as ours."
I'm amazed the Kobolds stuck around as long as they did. I mean this guy got hit by a boulder and survived; as far as a Kobold is concerned, that's a clear sign of immortality.
Heckin' yes, this was awesome!!! I feel for the player, but it turned out amazingly well.
For the amount of beating everyone was taking, retreating was the best option. Paladin's are fantastic for TPK preventing final stands, that's why they have Lay on Hands. Also, RIP my own Suli Paladin, who died blocking a horde of orcs while my wife's Halfling Ninja/Sorcerer escaped and hid in a chimney for hours as the sole survivor of the party.
If the others hadn't been such cowards though the Paladin wouldn't have an epic tale to tell it would just be another standard encounter.
A moment of valor shines brightest against a backdrop of despair! a righteous cleave Leper approves.
Holy crap that was epic! Well played paladin!
Thanks s was definitely one of your better tales. The best stories show the cowardice of men and the heroism of those forsaken by them, characters who remain true to who they are but grow and stand a little bit taller because of adversity. I'd imagine that paladin gained a newfound respect among his friends and a little bit more influence over them as well. SO many good narratives that could come from a story like that!
Last Stand. I'm a sucker for those 😊
Only one thing matters in life. Survival. The rest is just fluff to make you feel good about yourself.
That final prayer sounds like the prayer of the knight on Flight of Dragons. Very similar at least
For anyone willing to humor my ideas:
If I, as a dm, witnessed my party abandon 1 of the team trapped in a pit while Kobolds were around:
I'd have the Kobolds approach the pit *without* hostility. They'd help the person out of the pit, and once out they'd see one Kobold clearly leading the others, but not a prideful spellcaster. Rather, just an unusually intelligent Kobold. There would then be a conversation basically amounting to "We're people too, don't attack our home, ok bye now." and that party member would have some new Kobold friends. The rest of the party does not.
Kobolts would never do that ,to play soft takes it for a game for kids .
@@pantherapardus8192 Making the occasional creature that doesn't just mindlessly murder doesn't make the game for kids.
If anything, treating monsters as mindless murder machines is the most childish option.
@@thesong7877 I get where you are coming from... but Panthera is right... Kobolds are EVIL by nature... they would want to kill someone for their "shineys", but they are also generally dumb and cowards. So unless your guy was Evil as well and able to dominate the kobolds to your will (via str or int) they wouldn't want anything to do with you. Kobolds only understand strength of leadership... if you're a weak kobold, a stronger kobold will kill you and take the lead, if they are weaker then you, they will listen and follow.
@@Legohaiden I mean...kobolds don't actually exist. They don't _have_ to be evil by nature. There's nothing wrong with taking a race and adding culture and sentience to it so they can have a society.
@@psychronia they have a society and a lore... its right there in the Monsters Manuel. they are evil by nature, its what Kobolds are... yes there may be odd kobolds who are different and not evil, but it wouldnt be the norm (kind of like Drizzt) That all being said, its DnD and you can do whatever homebrew stuff you want
Sometimes cowardice makes for good RP. :) This appears to have been one of those times.
“We ride together. We did together. Party members until the grave consumes us.”
That’s the law my party and I follow, and we have never once broken it.
Exactly! Even my least trustworthy character, an antisocial few 100 year old warforged wizard, would have stayed and fought (unless the whole party agreed to retreat). At 92 years old his body was finally failing him but to cheat death he transfered his mind into a warforged but the spell backfired and he went catatonic for a few centuries. Once the party woke him up he was a cranky old man who had been depowered to lvl4 who just wanted to abandon them but the warforged programing overruled him and forced him to provide assistance to these 'raggabrash, dalcop stampcrabs who would constantly blather over the most inane of matters pertaining to their own asinine fancies'.
I love when the dice tell the tale.
I'm with the rest of the party, they did the sensible thing
True, it doesn't feel good but the rest of the part besides the dwarf was one to two hits away from being killed.
Tactically, yes. Doesn't stop it from hurting.
WorldWalker128 well tactically yes they probably were just cowardly, but they played their characters like the people they were suppose to be. These two, ranger and wizard, were on deaths door fighting enemies they couldn’t hit with a bunch of people they just met, not exactly the scenario for last stand heroics (unless you’re a noble Paladin)
Especially considering how the dice gods forsaken the players
the quote he stated is from: flight of dragons sir orrin prayer. used to watch this movie alot as a kid on VHS.
I love that I knew that paladin prayer :) it’s from the highly underrated “Flight of Dragons”. Great scene
Found you, buckaroo.
yeah bad party members suck especially when everyone else is paralysed and they go off to loot the treasure chest only to come running back moments later chased by a mimic
When noobies need a lesson. Normally the person that goes in front is somebody can use some good perception.
Heh. I dunno. Having the person that can survive finding the trap with their face isn't such a bad plan either. The sharpest eyed person tends to also be a bit more squish.
That's what the rogue was there for
Damn! If that paladin had died, his righteous soul probably would have made that greatsword a magic weapon.
This is somewhat unrelated, but one time, while my party was engaged in epic combat, my rogue decided to go shopping.
This might be my favorite video of yours, I wouldn't run you gotta WHISK IT FOR THE BISCUIT