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Rex wrote:Nimh

After searching everything. "Maybe we should move on to another room?"

Might as well. If we switched up searching during all that, it should have enabled us to take our required ten minutes rest early, so we should be good for another hour or so. We have a door a short distance down the corridor we've been following, and the rat room had a door in it, and there is a corridor from the North wall further back (not to the skeleton trap room). I suggest the closest door (the one Lhainor has been watching).

Lhainor will add the nearly 11 pounds of money to his pack unless someone else has capacity for it.

From outside the door to the room with the crossbow bolt, you see a corridor going 10 feet east before ending in a door. To the west, the corridor continues past the edge if your torchlight, which is beginning to show signs of running out. Ten feet to the west, there is a bricked up door in the south wall. Thirty feet to the west, there is a collapsed section of the north wall.

On the rotating idea, here it wouldn't buy you much.
You need at least half of the group actively searching or it would have taken longer. Instead of resting, you had multiple guards. You also rested immediately before this search, so you would have bought only 10 minutes for half the party.

Moony no, he has no holy water.

Check out what caused the collapse of the wall. Subsidence or crumbling stonework or maybe someone was digging through for buried treasures.

I am not an expert in such skills though but will help do that.

Let's see what is past those rats, I saw another door in that room! Whispers Kohrek.

Nimh

"Agreed, lets deal with the rats. Maybe if we leave them a route to flee they will take it and might even show us a new way to go if we are lucky."

Perhaps the rats discouraged other explorers, says Kohrek. Should we win the other side, we’ll find unspoiled treasure!

Nimh

"Kohrek, you go first with Crom's blessing and I will follow. We need to clear a path so the others can get through the door. Everyone else follow as quickly as you can."

I believe we can just open the door and the rats will decide our course of action for us!

Kohrek says Yes, let move as quickly through the room as the vermin permit. No need to kill them all if we can simply bypass them.

Nimh

Agreed

In...through...and beyond.

Moony ignores the fallen brick work in the corridor. Catching the others up he readies his blunt mace to deal with the giant rats. A swarm of nibbling 'gnashers' taking chunks from his own meaty rotund flesh doesn't appeal and he prepares for them to be alarmed at the intrusion into the room. If they prick ears and squeal warnings he will bash the nearest one, otherwise he will allow them the room to run by and into the corridor.

In case a roll is determined: Moony, mace in melee [1d20] = 17 damage [1d6] = 4

The group goes back to the door where you had seen the rats. You ready yourselves and open the door. The rats look up, squeal, and run towards you as Kohrek and Nimh try to push their way in. Several rats engage them, but others rush past them, towards those in the back.

Round One

There is a fast paced swirl of action, which is somewhat difficult to keep track of as the rats swarm in among your numbers, looking for juicy targets.

Nimh, quickly surrounded by three of the rats, swings at one of the rats that moves in to try to bite him, but his mace crashes against the ground. Several rats rush through, and bypassing Theglid, swarm Fane. Fane stabs at one with his sword, knocking it to the ground, stunning it (3 damage). One of the rats swarming Nimh bites at him unsuccessfully.

One of the rats bypasses Nimh but is stopped by Lhainor. Moony steps forward and crushes it with his mace! (4 damage). Another rat bits at Nimh, but its teeth cannot penetrate his armor!

Kohrek attacks the rats around him, trying to force a way through, and he swats one away with his sword in a spray of blood (6 damage). Two more rats try to bite Kohrek, but cannot get through his plate armor! Another rat jumps at Fane, but isn't able to get in a good attack.

A rat tries to get to Theglid, but it is intercepted by Kohrek. Theglid tries to swat it with his mace, but does not manage much. Additional rats attack Kohrek and Nimh, but do not find any purchase on their armor.

Lhainor slashes one of the rats on Kohrek, killing it (5 damage).

Three of the 11 rats are down. In the chaos, Kohrek and Nimh haven't made it far into the room.

Kohrek faces two rats, and Nimh and Fane each face three rats that managed to swarm in past Kohrek and Theglid (though one of the rats on Fane is knocked down and will need to try to get up this round).

Note: with this big bunch of little foes, I determined their opponents randomly. If their opponents were in the back, they could be stopped by people in front ranks making a dex roll. The dice really liked Fane, for some reason... perhaps his leather armor? I'll give Kohrek and Nimh similar chances to push past/move their foes to get across the room...

Notes on dexes & opponents

Moony

Moony, mace in melee [1d20] = 20 damage [1d6] = 2

the priest thrashes about with his mace at the nearest scrawny furry rodent.

Nimh

Nimh will continue to try to push her way in to open the way for the rats and her allies behind her.

Emboldened by dispatching his foe, Kohrek will continue to push on to the next door (in sort of a reversal of the "fighting withdrawal" rule in fairly common use in other editions).

Round 2

Nimh smashes one of the rats pestering her (2 damage), killing it. Fane attempts to kill a rat, but misses. A rat bites ineffectively at Nimh's armor-clad leg. Moony then clobbers this one with his mace, sending it flying across the room (2 damage). Another rat leaps up and bites at Nimh's backpack, ripping it open. This causes the contents of the bag... waterskin, rations and torches... to scatter everywhere. The breaking of this pinata causes the rats to go into a bit of a frenzy!

Kohrek smashes one of the rats (2 damage). This knocks it back away from him.

The rat facing Fane spins and goes after one of Nimh's rations, instead. On its way by, Theglid crushes it with his mace (2 damage), killing it.

The last rat facing Kohrek moves after the rations, as well, freeing up Kohrek to make a move across the room, next round. Lhainor kills the last rat bothering Fane (5 damage).

There are 4 rats alive. Two are going after rations, one has been knocked back away from Kohrek, and the other was knocked down by Fane (and is still getting up). The remaining rats look like their goal now is to grab rations and get out of here, and you can either kill the last few (and save the food & gear) or move on.

Nimh
"Let them have the rations." Nimh moves away from the mess to let the rats flee.

"I hope we find something of value soon or I am going to be hungry soon."

Lhainor

Sounds like a plan...let's move on through.

PRESS ON! Kohrek leads the way, making certain no one falls behind.