September 1, 2025 • 34 mins
Giant Forest Troll: Tale of the Manticore is a hybrid solo-actualplay D&D game and full production audiodrama. I use Dungeons & Dragons B/X (OSR). This is a dark fantasy tale made for a mature audience.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
Hi, this is Cranberry Spider and you're listening to Tale
of the Manticor. The following podcast is intended for a
mature audience. Listener discretion is advised. Welcome back to Tale
(00:29):
of the Manticor Season three. Like the creature from which
it takes its name, Tale of the Manticor is a
mash up, a cross breeding between two different species of storytelling.
Here you will find the unpredictability of old school paper
and dice games with the story craft of a dark
fantasy novel. No character is sacred and none will be
(00:50):
spared if the dice decide their fate is at hand.
According to lore, the Tale of a Manticre is barbed
with cruel iron spikes. There will be much pain in
the days ahead. Last time on Tail of the Manticor,
(01:15):
the last chapter begins with the discovery of the first
scroll of Galandl a Dorothi Treasure, or really the Dorothy Treasure.
Since it's written in old dation, it will take time
to fully understand the pieces. Don't know what it is
and simply pack it away to go over at a
later time. When they continue their investigation of the Dorothy caves,
they find a tunnel, ending in a door. It's not locked,
(01:37):
but it is hard to open because something heavy is
on the other side blocking it. Durani and Tantier managed
to get the door open enough to see that a
table has been pushed against the door. They crawl under it,
get inside, push it out of the way, and the
rest of the pieces enter. Beyond is a room whose
obvious purpose is to house a great but incomplete map
of the surrounding region. In addition to the map, they
(01:59):
find it a lantern and a skeleton clutching a note
in its bony fingers. The note is the diary or
perhaps confession, of one Rector Bayume. He appears to have
spent his final days alone, abstaining from all food and
water as a way to repent his sins. He asks
whoever finds the note to deliver the map and the
scroll the pieces found in the other room to a
(02:20):
cleric named Tobias who lives Inzatia. He also mentions a
devil that lurks outside the cave mouth. The pieces decide
that it's time to go back to the entrance, taking
care as they cross the yellow mold room not to
disturb the deadly fungus. When they reach the exit, they
are stunned to find a gigantic, misshapen creature outside. Unfortunately,
(02:41):
it sees them too, and now the Pieces must face
the same problem that the Derothi failed to overcome. They
debate various strategies and in the end decide to try
attacking the monster with missile weapons from the safety of
the cave. Whether or not this will work is yet
to be determined. The debate over how to deal with
(03:06):
the giant forest Troll, to my mind, satisfies the current
event meaning of dispute magic, so we'll need a new one.
Rolling D one hundred twice gives me attract and elements interesting.
We'll see how that might influence the narrative in time.
Needing a new event meeting is not the only reason
I didn't begin this episode with an audio drama segment. No,
(03:29):
there's something much more important that needs to happen before
the PCs engage the giant Troll. Today is a level
up episode four de Renni. He is now a fourth
level fighter, and so we'll receive a D six of
new hit points, an attack bonus increase, and a chance
for stat increases. Let's get into it. Rolling new hit
points on a D six gives me I got a four,
(03:50):
which isn't bad and takes his current and max hit
points up to sixteen. That's the decent start. I hope
his luck will hold out as we roll for potential
stat increases strength. I've got a four, Intelligence A one,
Wisdom a two, Dexterity a four for dexterity, constitution a five,
(04:13):
and last chance charisma a one. The dice God simply
do not want during any stats to improve. His last
level up was also a dud. If memory serves. Oh well,
like last time, there's a silver lining. His basic two
hip bonus goes from plus one to plus two, and
that's the kind of improvement that can really make a
big difference. He goes without saying that the PCs will
(04:35):
need all the help they can get as the enemy
the air, but to face does not represent what would
be called a balanced encounter, not even close. It weigh
out classes them and it is a deadly threat. Let's
get into the narrative and see how their current strategy
will play out. Chapter thirty three, Part one, Day twenty
(05:00):
eight afternoon mythic event meaning attract elements, party status achillea
thirteen of thirteen hip points, Cord eighteen of eighteen, de
Renni sixteen of sixteen, ten Tier fifteen of fifteen, fair
(05:22):
Wind twenty six of twenty six supplies. The companions have
eight portions of food remaining spells available. Achille can cast
shrink times two and glitter dust. Cord can cast entangle
and slow poison. De Renni took a deep breath and
(05:49):
pulled an arrow back far enough that the fletching touched
the tip of his nose. Then he ducked out from
the cover of the broken front door frame that filled
the aperture of the cave mouth and fired behind him.
Ten tiers loosed as well, and then came the sound
of fair Wind's sling. Three missiles flew towards their target,
a monstrous column of corded muscles and wiry black hair
(06:11):
with pits for eyes and a long, misshapen nose that
hung over a wolf's grin. Since the giant forest troll
will be unable to retaliate, I'm not going to enter
into combat or even roll initiative at this time. The
circumstances dictate that the three PCs who have ranged weapons
can each make a free attack. The troll has an
(06:33):
armor class of sixteen, and so de Renni will need
a thirteen to hit it, while Tender will have to
roll a fourteen or better and fair Wind will require
a seventeen because of his dexterity penalty. Here come the
rolls to any fires. A five is a miss ten tiers. Next,
A fourteen hits and does ooh six points of damage.
(06:55):
Last to go is fair Wind with his sling. A
two doesn't come close since first blood has been drawn.
I suppose I'll need to roll up the monster's hit points.
Rolling eighty eight gives me. Let's see thirty five hit points.
The min ow number is thirty two, so there's no
adjustment to make, but after Tentus hit that number is
(07:17):
reduced to twenty nine. Let's return to the narrative and
see how this plays out. De Rennie pulled back behind cover,
hugging the broken timber door frame. His first good look
at the monster had shaken him, and his heart thumped
in his chest.
Speaker 2 (07:37):
I don't think I hit it, he rasped.
Speaker 1 (07:40):
I'm pretty sure I did, said ten tyr. His eyes
were wild and a sheen of sweat glossed his forehead,
despite the cool of the caves. In fact, Tenttyr was
certain he had hit the creature. He had seen his
arrow strike its muscle packed abdomen. Fairwind was also now
back behind cover. He was visibly shaking. Dornnie wasn't sure
how much help Fairwin was going to be. He had
(08:02):
seen the cleric slingstone fly away over the giant's head,
but ten tyars hit had elicited a terrible roar from
the giant creature, and they had heard it stalk off
to one side. When Dorenni poked his head back out
to steal a look, the village basin was empty, but
it only took a second for him to hear the
heavy breathing and then catch a whiff of the monster's
rank odor. He ducked back into safety.
Speaker 2 (08:24):
It is off to one side. I do not think
I will be able to get off another shot. Maybe
I can.
Speaker 1 (08:32):
A little noise interrupted the elf. When he looked over
to where the sound had come from, there was tentyars
arrow bloodied the fletching on the cave floor. The creature
must have pulled it out and thrown it back at them.
In challenge, Tantyre looked at to Rennie.
Speaker 2 (08:46):
What now, I'm not sure little mouse was the reply.
Maybe I can see where it went if I am quick.
Speaker 1 (08:53):
Doretnie once again stuck his head out just far enough
past the wooden frame to allow himself a glimpse of
the monster. No sooner had he done so than something
huge came wooshing his way. Giant forest trolls do not
normally use weapons, but since the companions are out of
its reach, it is yanked to steak free from the ground,
(09:14):
flicked off the corpse impaled on it, and is about
to try to crush de Rennie's skull. Of course, Dornni
has almost full cover, so the giant troll will need
to roll extremely well to connect. Normally, it would need
a nine to hit de Reni's ac of fifteen, but
in this case I'm going to impose a minus eight
penalty for the cover and the hard to reach location
Duranny currently occupies. That means the elf is safe unless
(09:37):
I roll a seventeen or bitter fingers crossed. Here's the
roll I got fifteen. Dorni manages to pull back just
in time to avoid having his head obliterated by the steak,
which slams into the door frame, producing an ear splitting
crack and sending bits of dust and splinters everywhere. When
(10:05):
fair Wind, to Tener and a badly shaken Dorennie returned
to the guardroom through the narrow tunnel, Achillie was in
the middle of explaining something to Chord. At first she.
Speaker 3 (10:13):
Didn't see them, so they waited and waited, and the
thing never left, and then they waited some more, with
the same result. Eventually they would have been too weak
from hunger and thirst to do anything but weight until
they simply starved, you see, and that's how we found
Oh they're back, de Rennie.
Speaker 1 (10:31):
Are you all right, de Rennie answered in a hollow voice.
Speaker 2 (10:34):
I yes, we are all all right. Tensier heard it.
Speaker 1 (10:41):
I think I only managed to anger it, to be honest,
said Tantyr, rubbing the back of his neck. Fair Wind
was with the two elves, but he didn't even look
at Achillia and Cord. He was muttering a prayer under
his breath and looking up at the tunnel ceiling as
though the solution to their predicament might be written across it.
Once they were all together, Dorenni lifted a finger and
(11:01):
said sh listen. They did so, but there was no sound.
The slightest tinge of hope found its way into Dorannie's
tone when he next spoke.
Speaker 2 (11:12):
Is it possible that ten tears arrow drove it on?
Speaker 1 (11:20):
De Renni didn't even have the chance to finish the
question before it was answered by a barrage of aggressive snarls, roars,
and the sound of breaking timber. Achillia was the first
to understand how their situation had just gone from bad
to worse.
Speaker 3 (11:33):
The stairs, if that thing destroys the stairs, will be
trapped up here with no quick way down.
Speaker 1 (11:38):
She was right, of course, the stairs, attached to the
stone wall of the hillside had been in fairly good condition,
especially compared with the rest of the Dorothy village when
they had come in. But if they were destroyed, the
companions would have no choice but to descend using Dourni's rope,
and that would make them ridiculously easy targets for the monster.
Even as they were, the stairs would slow them down somewhat,
(11:59):
as their use was only possible in single file.
Speaker 3 (12:02):
There's no time to lose. We have to do something
right now.
Speaker 1 (12:05):
Come on, said Achillia. She started to go, but then
stopped in her tracks, she turned back to Dorni.
Speaker 3 (12:12):
Right, we have to go now.
Speaker 1 (12:14):
Dorni's nod was what she needed. Once she had it,
she ran back through the pinched tunnel and towards the
square of daylight that was the cave entrance, with the
words of a spell already forming on her lips. The
others followed at her heels. Well, this is it. The
pieces are going to have to engage with the giant
(12:36):
forest troll. I think their plan will be to try
to run past it, casting spells and using missile weapons
as they go. Since they'll need to navigate the stairs
in single file, I'll need to set up marching order.
Although Achilia will be the first there, she won't be
the first to use the stairs. That will be Fairwood,
who's the worst shot. Then it'll be Cord and Achillia,
(12:56):
while Dourni and Tentire continue to provide covering fire before
following the others down. And oh yeah, I almost forgot.
There's one more thing to mention. If this encounter continues
past two rounds, an event something special will be triggered
on round three. This isn't a random thing, but the
result of a story that's been running in the background
for a little while behind the curtains. Maybe you can
(13:19):
even guess what it is. Anyway, with that settled, we
are finally ready to get to the action andrey combat
Round one initiative the party one the giant troll of
five and wait, cries de Rennie. The cleric has started
(13:42):
running before Achillia can finish her spell, but he falters
at the first step, seizing up in panic when he
beholds the gigantic creature suddenly upon him. Then realizing just
how exposed he is, he will take at least ten
seconds to descend the stairs, and while he's doing that
there's no defense, but prayer still save us. He sputters
and then plunges down two steps at a time. At
(14:06):
the bottom, he can see a stone well. The plan
is to run past that and then away in a
straight line. They'll worry about regrouping later. Unfortunately, Fairwind's moment
of hesitation has a cost. The troll is quicker than
it looks, and tossing the wooden stake in its hand
aside and lunges at him. Giant forest trolls have a
preset attack routine that rotates through the following grab and slam,
(14:30):
grab and bite, or grab and throw. I'll roll a
D six to see which one it'll start with. Let's
assign a one to two, three to four, and five
to six to the three kinds of attack. Here's the
roll A six, grab and throw. Okay, that's what we
start with and will rotate through the attack types in
order from here on in. Fairwind has a pathetic ac
(14:52):
of ten and the troll has an attack bonus of
plus six, so it only needs to roll a four
or better on a D twenty to hit. I've got
an eleven. Well, yeah, we are not off to a
good start. A huge hand snatches fair Wind by the
right arm and plucks him off the stairs before flinging
him in the opposite direction he was heading.
Speaker 2 (15:13):
Oooh.
Speaker 1 (15:16):
The cleric will take five points of damage as he
hits the ground hard. The damage isn't so bad, but
fair Wind is now in a difficult spot. The monster
is standing between himself and where he wants to go.
If that's not bad enough, things get worse when Tentire
pops out from cover to loosen arrow and notices that
the spot on the monster's abdomen where he'd previously shot.
(15:37):
It now shows no trace of any injury at all.
Hopefully the shock of that won't throw off his aim
tent Tuo needs a fourteen to hit the roll. A
two his arrow goes wild. I guess he was that surprised.
Duranti will also fire, and he needs a thirteen to
hit his role. That nineteen is good. His arrow will
(15:59):
do four points and take the troll, which had regenerated
back to full health, down to thirty one. Achillia is next.
She casts glitter dust, using her wand to focus the
spell's power. This causes a twenty foot cube of glittering
magical particles to appear that will force the troll to
save versus magic or be blinded for one to four rounds. Unfortunately,
(16:21):
since the sparkling cloud persists for about half a minute,
going forward, any creature the troll might grab and pull
towards it will also have to save that the party
not lost the initiative. This problem wouldn't have happened, but
it would be very meta to red Conochilia's intentions at
this point. I think the pieces intend to throw everything
they have at this thing, and so Cord follows up
(16:42):
by casting entangle. Now, I feel a first level spell
would not be enough to hold back a giant sized creature,
but I'll have the troll save to avoid being unable
to move forward. One round sounds fair to be clear,
its ability to attack will not be affected by the
entangle spell, only its movement. The save A three fails,
and the troll is not only blinded by a great
(17:03):
puff of silver gold dust that explodes from a spot
right beside his head, but is also grabbed around the
ankles by animated grasses and vines on the ground. It
moors in frustration, and that concludes round one. Round two,
the giant troll regenerates two hit points and now has
thirty three initiative. The party A two. Uh oh, the
(17:28):
giant Troll A one. Okay, this monster doesn't know what
hit it, and the pieces go first. Fairwin looks from
the tree line and the safety it represents, then back
at his companions, and finally to the sling in his hand.
He decides to take a SHOT's.
Speaker 2 (17:44):
It all guide my handph.
Speaker 1 (17:46):
He flings the stone, needing a seventeen to hit will
he hit boom? Natural twenty did not see that coming,
and neither did the troll fair window are full of surprises.
Damage will be the maximum plus an extra die for
the crit six points. He manages to smack the troll
right on its temple. There's another frenzied roar of pain
(18:07):
and frustration. Oo. Now Cord takes to the stairs while
the opportunity is ripe. He scrambles down the planks toward
the stone well as fast as his wooden feet will
take him. Durrani and Tentire both fire while the enemy
is off balance. Deurnni's roll a fifteen that's a hit
damages three points. Ten tier tries as well, but a
(18:33):
three misses. He's distracted because he can now clearly see
the monstros wounds closing on their own. He calls out
to the others the damned thing can regenerate. Achille will
go last, and I think it only makes sense that
she casts the spell shrink once again, using her wand
to focus her energy. The giant troll will need a
twelve or better to resist the spell. The roll an eighteen.
(18:56):
It does manage to deflect the magic somehow, and Achilles
is wasted. It's now the monster's turn to attack, since
it is almost literally rooted in place. This round, it
only has one choice of target Cord. With all bonuses
and penalties considered, the troll needs a twelve to hit
the roll ooh, A seventeen will certainly hit, and this
(19:21):
will not be pleasant. The troll snatches Cord up, pulls
him into the silvery gold dust of Achilles spell, and then,
with tremendous force, smashes him back down into the timbers
from which the stairs are built. Damage will be bad
twoty six plus seven bad, and there's a chance, albeit
a small one, that the construct will die right here.
Rolling eight plus seven is fifteen points. Just like that,
(19:45):
Cord is down to three hit points. It all happens
so fast that Cord cannot parse the experience. He feels
himself go up and then come back down and through
the stairs, which sunder under the impact. Even worse, Cord
will have to say versus spells or heat two will
be blinded. A fifteen or better on a D twenty
is needed his roll an eleven For the next four rounds,
(20:09):
Cord cannot see. I am not loving the way this
combat is going, but there's no getting away at this point.
The companions will have to fight it out. A reminder
that as we enter into the next round of combat,
a special event will be triggered on the party's turn,
and it has the potential to really shake things up.
Let's find out if it will. As we enter round three,
the Giant Troll regenerates two hit points and now has
(20:32):
twenty nine. The initiative the Party A three, the Giant
Troll A two. The Giant Troll is completely disoriented, slowly
rotating in a certain boone, swiping at the air and
snarling 's Achille has turned to try and run down
the stairs, but ten Tiers stops her. Let me go first,
he cries, strolling the sort of lear Hane and rushing
(20:53):
down ahead of her. There's now a broken section of
the stairs where Cord was attacked. When Tenttier comes to it,
he leaps cross without breaking stride, all the while yelling
a battle cry. Achillie and Dorni will both attack from
their vantage with dagger and arrow. Achille will need a
fifteen to hit with her weapon. An eight missus too bad,
(21:14):
Maybe Durrani can do better. Crap and nine will not
do it. The troll is a huge target, but it
has thick skin that can turn an imprecise shot. Cord,
lying in the wreckage of the broken section of staircase
is blind and I don't see how he can realistically
participate in the fight this round. Somewhere in the trees nearby,
Robin can be heard tweeting madly. Fair Wind is up next.
(21:37):
He'll try another slingstone. Can he repeat the impossible? A
seven means he cannot. This stone bounces harmlessly off the
Giant Monster's back. This is the point where my special
event is triggered. Here's what happens. With a familiar sound.
A white shape operates right beside the Giant Troll and
springs to attack. It's one of the blank the pieces
(22:00):
saved back in episode twenty five. It has been following
them all this time, and ingratitude for its life, will
now fight to the death on the PC's behalf. The
blink Dog needs a fourteen to hit. Here's the role seventeen,
good boy. Damage from the bite will be five points,
bringing the Giant Roll down to a still formidable twenty four. Now,
(22:24):
since the blink Dog has appeared right in the middle
of Achilles's spell, it too will need to save in
order to avoid being blinded. The target number is fourteen.
Here's the role A fifteen. Well, okay, I'll take that.
There's more good news to share here because the blink
Dog is the only real target for the Giant Troll's attention,
and according to the rules, if the blink Dog wins initiative,
(22:46):
it will blink away before the opponent can retaliate. So
the Giant Troll's huge clawed hand slams down on the ground,
but the blink Dog is already elsewhere. Round four, the
Giant Troll rates two hit points and now has twenty
six initiative. The party afore the Giant Troll a one.
(23:08):
That's lucky. Winning the initiative is always important, but it's
going to matter even more than usual in this fight.
Achillie will take to the stairs as Durrani lets fly
yet another shaft at the troll. A fifteen is good enough.
His arrow strikes true, doing six points. Wowsaw for the
first time they see this giant monster stagger by now
(23:32):
tinterers at the bottom of the stairs. He takes one
look at Cord and he yells stay there. Then he
looks at the shimmering cloud surrounding the monster. Three times
a height seems to consider for the space of half
a second and curses Chu chins braid, what am I
doing before running headlong into melee. He'll need to save
versus spells now or be blinded. The sixteen is the
(23:54):
target number. A twelve fails tent deer cannot see his
chance to land a hit drops to a dismal fifteen
percent or an eighteen or better on a D twenty.
Here's the roll A sixteen close, but not close enough.
The sword of lear Haang cleaves nothing Fairwe can no
longer use his sling without risking friendly fire, and his
(24:16):
only spell purify food and Drink was used earlier in
the day, so his best move is probably to change
position so he's closer to the bottom of the stairs
than the rest of the party. This repositioning, while avoiding melee,
will be his only action this round. The blink dog
can once again blink in and strike. Having saved once
to avoid being blinded, it need not save again its attack.
(24:39):
The thirteen is just shy of the target number. I
wonder if the attack will have drawn the troll's attention
away from ten tier all roll high low high means
the troll attacks the blink Dog. The thirteen is high,
and that means that once again the giant forest trolls
attack comes too late. It lifts a huge foot intending
to stomp the dog flat, but when it comes down,
(25:02):
the dog has already blinked away. Well, that was a
good round for the party mostly, but there's bad news
coming because by the next round, the troll's blindness will
have worn off. It is round five. The giant troll
regenerates two hit points and now has twenty two initiative.
The party the two, the Giant troll the five. Yeah,
(25:27):
that streak couldn't last forever. And I think we know
what this looks like. The giant Troll's eyes burned bright red.
It looks straight at tent Tier and smiles a hideous
gargoyle grin. But hang on, there's actually only a fifty
percent chance it will target ten Tier because the blink
Dog is very much still in this melee. So it'll
be high low, and once again high will indicate the
(25:48):
blink Dog is the target. In eighteen says it is.
Ten Tier is blindly feeling out in front of him
with the tip of his sword when the blink Dog
suddenly operates on the troll's left and draws its attention.
But the troll needs a nine to hit it. The
thirteen means it does hit. Let's see, the last attack
was the grab and smash, so this is oh oh,
(26:11):
it's grab and bite. The dog is plucked from the
ground and pushed into the trolls open maw at two
d eight plus four. Damage will be bad. He was
hoping for a low roll. I got a nine on
the dice plus four. It's thirteen. But how many hit
points does the blink Dog have? Anyway, when we met it,
I maxed out hit points in a half, so I
(26:32):
think I need to reroll, and this time min out
for my usual house rules. Let's see, fourty eight gives
me sixteen. So the good news is that the blink
Dog is not killed by the bite. The bad news
is that it comes pretty darn close. With three hit
points left, it is tossed to the ground, bloody and limp,
where it whimpers and whines and pain. That was rough,
(26:56):
but at least it is now the party's turn. Durretti
draws his sword and begins to down the stairs. Achillia
has stopped at the damaged section of stairs, where she
looks down upon the broken but thankfully still moving shape
of Cord. With a curse, she flings her last spell
at their enemy. Once again, the troll needs to make
a twelve to save becomes the roll a fifteen. Hard luck, Achillia.
(27:20):
It seems that this giant Troll will remain Giant Cord.
Sitting in a pile of broken wood, is still blind
and near death. There's nothing he can really do this route. Likewise,
fair Wind can't do much more than watch the fight
unless he wishes to enter Mela in risk blindness, which
he does not. That leaves tent Tire in the blink Dog.
The blink Dog picks itself up and launches a ferocious
(27:42):
series of faints and strikes, but at nine misses and
the troll easily kicks it away. It's up to ten
tier to land a blow, but he's going to need
an eighteen to hit. It doesn't look good. Fingers crossed
A fifteen is a good role old, but it is
still a miss. Round five was pretty bad for the pieces.
(28:05):
Let's hope the tide will turn. In round six, the
giant Troll regenerates two hit points and now is twenty
four initiative the party A three the giant troll A one.
Thank a Heia for that. The companions really need to
start dishing out some damage. At this point, Achille's glitter
dust cloud has turned out to be a mixed blessing.
(28:26):
To be honest, maybe she was unwise to cast it. Well,
that's spilt milk, and this is no time to armchair general.
Let's get back to the fight and make some attack rolls.
Ten tier continues to slash wildly. An eight misses the
injured blink Dog snarls and tries to tear a chunk
out of the troll's leg. A sixteen will hit four
(28:48):
points of damage for the bite. Dernni and fair Wind
both consider entering the melee, but they can see that
the silvery gold cloud from Achille's spell is dissipating quickly.
If they wait just one more round, they won't have
to risk going blind. It's a hard decision, especially for Drenni,
who's forced to watch his brother struggle, but both of
them choose to hold back. At this point, Chord suddenly
(29:11):
sets up his vision has returned, with an amount of
bravery approaching lunacy. He gets up and throws himself into
the fray and I'm not so nasty as to make
him safe again. He needs sixteen to head with his
battle axe. A ten is not going to do it, jinkies,
is it already? The trolls turn to attack, and I
think it is. The monster now has three potential targets.
(29:34):
It'll be a random roll between ten tier Cord and
the Blink Dog rolling it's ten tier and the troll
need only roll a nine to hit him. Here we go.
A sixteen is a hit with a room despair. Luckily
for ten tier, his will be the grab and throw attack,
which only does a D six of damage. Here's the
roll ouch A five. Ten tier is flung out of
(29:56):
the fight. He lands on his back and gets the
wind stock out of him. During the next round, he'll
miss his turn. Round seven, the Giant Troll regenerates two
hit points and now has twenty two. The initiative the
party the five good roll the Giant Troll a six.
Dang it. This round, the troll will choose between the
(30:18):
Blink Dog and Chord, and also Durani and Fairwind, who
entered the fight at this time. Now that the glitter
dust spell has expired. I'll roll a D four to
see who gets attacked the three. That's Derni. Looks like
the Giant troll needs a nine or better to hit
the roll. Huh A four, I was fully expecting a
hit there. Durani dives out of the way. He lands
(30:40):
in a roll and then springs up to his feet
with his blade up. He'll try to hamstring the monster.
Ten will not do it. Fairwind swings his cudgel while
the creature is distracted. He needs a sixteen to hit
A three fails cord cracked and broken in a dozen places,
still has the strength to wield his axe. He also
(31:00):
needs a sixteen. A sixteen nice cord damage will be
just one point. Perhaps the blink Dog can score a
decent hit. Oh brother, a one. That's a critical fail,
and the blink Dog will miss its next turn. Tent
To will spend this round reentering combat, and so we
(31:22):
are on too. Round eight. The Giant Troll regenerates two
hit points and now has twenty three initiative. The party
a three, the Giant Troll a two. There is now
blood all over the battlefield and the combatants are beginning
to tire. Somehow, the PCs manage to find a second
wind and searche forward with everything they've got. We really
(31:43):
need some significant hits because at this rate the chance
for a PC death is extremely high. Duran, he swings
his sword at nineteen is plenty. His sword does four
points a good start. Ten tier still blind attacks when
de Anny calls.
Speaker 2 (32:00):
Out ten tier, it's on your right.
Speaker 1 (32:03):
But a ten on the die means he misses despite
the help quard is next. A seventeen means the construct
lands another hit damages it on a d eight, Come on,
big money five points. The ex blade shears through the
monster's side, splitting a river or two and producing a
gout of bright blood. Now at fourteen hit points, the
(32:25):
giant troll staggers once again. The morale roll is going
to be required before its next action. But before that,
I've still got fair wind's attack. The cudgel swings in
and with a fourteen it bounces harmlessly off the trolls
not be high. That's it for combatants, Achille. I can
only stand at the perimeter and watch, and the blink
Dog will spend this round limping back into the fight.
(32:47):
So now it's the troll's turn. But it needs to
make a morale check. A typical troll has a morale
of ten, so this kind must have what an eleven
sounds right? That means only double six is will indicate
flight worth a shot though here goes nothing. Oh my goodness,
those are double sixes. The forced troll decides the meal
(33:10):
isn't worth the price. Its leering grin is gone, and
with a grunt, so is it as it suddenly turns
and stalks off into the woods, And just like that,
not in any way I might have predicted, combat is over.
Thank you for listening to Tale of the Manticore. This
(33:32):
episode has run long, so I'll make this sign off
very quick. Gratitude goes out to my core cast of Kyellen,
Kevin Barringer, and David Cooper, who played to Renny Tenier
and fair Wind, respectively. Thanks as always, guys, and back
one last time at least for now is Robert Newman,
who designed the FX for the Giant Forest Troll. Check
(33:53):
out Robert's other work at Robert newmansound dot com. That's
all for now, but the story will continue next time.
The Tale of the manticor the Story or Chaos rolls
Hi, this is Cranberry Spider and you're listening to Tale
of the Manticor. The following podcast is intended for a
mature audience. Listener discretion is advised. Welcome back to Tale
(00:29):
of the Manticor Season three. Like the creature from which
it takes its name, Tale of the Manticor is a
mash up, a cross breeding between two different species of storytelling.
Here you will find the unpredictability of old school paper
and dice games with the story craft of a dark
fantasy novel. No character is sacred and none will be
(00:50):
spared if the dice decide their fate is at hand.
According to lore, the Tale of a Manticre is barbed
with cruel iron spikes. There will be much pain in
the days ahead. Last time on Tail of the Manticor,
(01:15):
the last chapter begins with the discovery of the first
scroll of Galandl a Dorothi Treasure, or really the Dorothy Treasure.
Since it's written in old dation, it will take time
to fully understand the pieces. Don't know what it is
and simply pack it away to go over at a
later time. When they continue their investigation of the Dorothy caves,
they find a tunnel, ending in a door. It's not locked,
(01:37):
but it is hard to open because something heavy is
on the other side blocking it. Durani and Tantier managed
to get the door open enough to see that a
table has been pushed against the door. They crawl under it,
get inside, push it out of the way, and the
rest of the pieces enter. Beyond is a room whose
obvious purpose is to house a great but incomplete map
of the surrounding region. In addition to the map, they
(01:59):
find it a lantern and a skeleton clutching a note
in its bony fingers. The note is the diary or
perhaps confession, of one Rector Bayume. He appears to have
spent his final days alone, abstaining from all food and
water as a way to repent his sins. He asks
whoever finds the note to deliver the map and the
scroll the pieces found in the other room to a
(02:20):
cleric named Tobias who lives Inzatia. He also mentions a
devil that lurks outside the cave mouth. The pieces decide
that it's time to go back to the entrance, taking
care as they cross the yellow mold room not to
disturb the deadly fungus. When they reach the exit, they
are stunned to find a gigantic, misshapen creature outside. Unfortunately,
(02:41):
it sees them too, and now the Pieces must face
the same problem that the Derothi failed to overcome. They
debate various strategies and in the end decide to try
attacking the monster with missile weapons from the safety of
the cave. Whether or not this will work is yet
to be determined. The debate over how to deal with
(03:06):
the giant forest Troll, to my mind, satisfies the current
event meaning of dispute magic, so we'll need a new one.
Rolling D one hundred twice gives me attract and elements interesting.
We'll see how that might influence the narrative in time.
Needing a new event meeting is not the only reason
I didn't begin this episode with an audio drama segment. No,
(03:29):
there's something much more important that needs to happen before
the PCs engage the giant Troll. Today is a level
up episode four de Renni. He is now a fourth
level fighter, and so we'll receive a D six of
new hit points, an attack bonus increase, and a chance
for stat increases. Let's get into it. Rolling new hit
points on a D six gives me I got a four,
(03:50):
which isn't bad and takes his current and max hit
points up to sixteen. That's the decent start. I hope
his luck will hold out as we roll for potential
stat increases strength. I've got a four, Intelligence A one,
Wisdom a two, Dexterity a four for dexterity, constitution a five,
(04:13):
and last chance charisma a one. The dice God simply
do not want during any stats to improve. His last
level up was also a dud. If memory serves. Oh well,
like last time, there's a silver lining. His basic two
hip bonus goes from plus one to plus two, and
that's the kind of improvement that can really make a
big difference. He goes without saying that the PCs will
(04:35):
need all the help they can get as the enemy
the air, but to face does not represent what would
be called a balanced encounter, not even close. It weigh
out classes them and it is a deadly threat. Let's
get into the narrative and see how their current strategy
will play out. Chapter thirty three, Part one, Day twenty
(05:00):
eight afternoon mythic event meaning attract elements, party status achillea
thirteen of thirteen hip points, Cord eighteen of eighteen, de
Renni sixteen of sixteen, ten Tier fifteen of fifteen, fair
(05:22):
Wind twenty six of twenty six supplies. The companions have
eight portions of food remaining spells available. Achille can cast
shrink times two and glitter dust. Cord can cast entangle
and slow poison. De Renni took a deep breath and
(05:49):
pulled an arrow back far enough that the fletching touched
the tip of his nose. Then he ducked out from
the cover of the broken front door frame that filled
the aperture of the cave mouth and fired behind him.
Ten tiers loosed as well, and then came the sound
of fair Wind's sling. Three missiles flew towards their target,
a monstrous column of corded muscles and wiry black hair
(06:11):
with pits for eyes and a long, misshapen nose that
hung over a wolf's grin. Since the giant forest troll
will be unable to retaliate, I'm not going to enter
into combat or even roll initiative at this time. The
circumstances dictate that the three PCs who have ranged weapons
can each make a free attack. The troll has an
(06:33):
armor class of sixteen, and so de Renni will need
a thirteen to hit it, while Tender will have to
roll a fourteen or better and fair Wind will require
a seventeen because of his dexterity penalty. Here come the
rolls to any fires. A five is a miss ten tiers. Next,
A fourteen hits and does ooh six points of damage.
(06:55):
Last to go is fair Wind with his sling. A
two doesn't come close since first blood has been drawn.
I suppose I'll need to roll up the monster's hit points.
Rolling eighty eight gives me. Let's see thirty five hit points.
The min ow number is thirty two, so there's no
adjustment to make, but after Tentus hit that number is
(07:17):
reduced to twenty nine. Let's return to the narrative and
see how this plays out. De Rennie pulled back behind cover,
hugging the broken timber door frame. His first good look
at the monster had shaken him, and his heart thumped
in his chest.
Speaker 2 (07:37):
I don't think I hit it, he rasped.
Speaker 1 (07:40):
I'm pretty sure I did, said ten tyr. His eyes
were wild and a sheen of sweat glossed his forehead,
despite the cool of the caves. In fact, Tenttyr was
certain he had hit the creature. He had seen his
arrow strike its muscle packed abdomen. Fairwind was also now
back behind cover. He was visibly shaking. Dornnie wasn't sure
how much help Fairwin was going to be. He had
(08:02):
seen the cleric slingstone fly away over the giant's head,
but ten tyars hit had elicited a terrible roar from
the giant creature, and they had heard it stalk off
to one side. When Dorenni poked his head back out
to steal a look, the village basin was empty, but
it only took a second for him to hear the
heavy breathing and then catch a whiff of the monster's
rank odor. He ducked back into safety.
Speaker 2 (08:24):
It is off to one side. I do not think
I will be able to get off another shot. Maybe
I can.
Speaker 1 (08:32):
A little noise interrupted the elf. When he looked over
to where the sound had come from, there was tentyars
arrow bloodied the fletching on the cave floor. The creature
must have pulled it out and thrown it back at them.
In challenge, Tantyre looked at to Rennie.
Speaker 2 (08:46):
What now, I'm not sure little mouse was the reply.
Maybe I can see where it went if I am quick.
Speaker 1 (08:53):
Doretnie once again stuck his head out just far enough
past the wooden frame to allow himself a glimpse of
the monster. No sooner had he done so than something
huge came wooshing his way. Giant forest trolls do not
normally use weapons, but since the companions are out of
its reach, it is yanked to steak free from the ground,
(09:14):
flicked off the corpse impaled on it, and is about
to try to crush de Rennie's skull. Of course, Dornni
has almost full cover, so the giant troll will need
to roll extremely well to connect. Normally, it would need
a nine to hit de Reni's ac of fifteen, but
in this case I'm going to impose a minus eight
penalty for the cover and the hard to reach location
Duranny currently occupies. That means the elf is safe unless
(09:37):
I roll a seventeen or bitter fingers crossed. Here's the
roll I got fifteen. Dorni manages to pull back just
in time to avoid having his head obliterated by the steak,
which slams into the door frame, producing an ear splitting
crack and sending bits of dust and splinters everywhere. When
(10:05):
fair Wind, to Tener and a badly shaken Dorennie returned
to the guardroom through the narrow tunnel, Achillie was in
the middle of explaining something to Chord. At first she.
Speaker 3 (10:13):
Didn't see them, so they waited and waited, and the
thing never left, and then they waited some more, with
the same result. Eventually they would have been too weak
from hunger and thirst to do anything but weight until
they simply starved, you see, and that's how we found
Oh they're back, de Rennie.
Speaker 1 (10:31):
Are you all right, de Rennie answered in a hollow voice.
Speaker 2 (10:34):
I yes, we are all all right. Tensier heard it.
Speaker 1 (10:41):
I think I only managed to anger it, to be honest,
said Tantyr, rubbing the back of his neck. Fair Wind
was with the two elves, but he didn't even look
at Achillia and Cord. He was muttering a prayer under
his breath and looking up at the tunnel ceiling as
though the solution to their predicament might be written across it.
Once they were all together, Dorenni lifted a finger and
(11:01):
said sh listen. They did so, but there was no sound.
The slightest tinge of hope found its way into Dorannie's
tone when he next spoke.
Speaker 2 (11:12):
Is it possible that ten tears arrow drove it on?
Speaker 1 (11:20):
De Renni didn't even have the chance to finish the
question before it was answered by a barrage of aggressive snarls, roars,
and the sound of breaking timber. Achillia was the first
to understand how their situation had just gone from bad
to worse.
Speaker 3 (11:33):
The stairs, if that thing destroys the stairs, will be
trapped up here with no quick way down.
Speaker 1 (11:38):
She was right, of course, the stairs, attached to the
stone wall of the hillside had been in fairly good condition,
especially compared with the rest of the Dorothy village when
they had come in. But if they were destroyed, the
companions would have no choice but to descend using Dourni's rope,
and that would make them ridiculously easy targets for the monster.
Even as they were, the stairs would slow them down somewhat,
(11:59):
as their use was only possible in single file.
Speaker 3 (12:02):
There's no time to lose. We have to do something
right now.
Speaker 1 (12:05):
Come on, said Achillia. She started to go, but then
stopped in her tracks, she turned back to Dorni.
Speaker 3 (12:12):
Right, we have to go now.
Speaker 1 (12:14):
Dorni's nod was what she needed. Once she had it,
she ran back through the pinched tunnel and towards the
square of daylight that was the cave entrance, with the
words of a spell already forming on her lips. The
others followed at her heels. Well, this is it. The
pieces are going to have to engage with the giant
(12:36):
forest troll. I think their plan will be to try
to run past it, casting spells and using missile weapons
as they go. Since they'll need to navigate the stairs
in single file, I'll need to set up marching order.
Although Achilia will be the first there, she won't be
the first to use the stairs. That will be Fairwood,
who's the worst shot. Then it'll be Cord and Achillia,
(12:56):
while Dourni and Tentire continue to provide covering fire before
following the others down. And oh yeah, I almost forgot.
There's one more thing to mention. If this encounter continues
past two rounds, an event something special will be triggered
on round three. This isn't a random thing, but the
result of a story that's been running in the background
for a little while behind the curtains. Maybe you can
(13:19):
even guess what it is. Anyway, with that settled, we
are finally ready to get to the action andrey combat
Round one initiative the party one the giant troll of
five and wait, cries de Rennie. The cleric has started
(13:42):
running before Achillia can finish her spell, but he falters
at the first step, seizing up in panic when he
beholds the gigantic creature suddenly upon him. Then realizing just
how exposed he is, he will take at least ten
seconds to descend the stairs, and while he's doing that
there's no defense, but prayer still save us. He sputters
and then plunges down two steps at a time. At
(14:06):
the bottom, he can see a stone well. The plan
is to run past that and then away in a
straight line. They'll worry about regrouping later. Unfortunately, Fairwind's moment
of hesitation has a cost. The troll is quicker than
it looks, and tossing the wooden stake in its hand
aside and lunges at him. Giant forest trolls have a
preset attack routine that rotates through the following grab and slam,
(14:30):
grab and bite, or grab and throw. I'll roll a
D six to see which one it'll start with. Let's
assign a one to two, three to four, and five
to six to the three kinds of attack. Here's the
roll A six, grab and throw. Okay, that's what we
start with and will rotate through the attack types in
order from here on in. Fairwind has a pathetic ac
(14:52):
of ten and the troll has an attack bonus of
plus six, so it only needs to roll a four
or better on a D twenty to hit. I've got
an eleven. Well, yeah, we are not off to a
good start. A huge hand snatches fair Wind by the
right arm and plucks him off the stairs before flinging
him in the opposite direction he was heading.
Speaker 2 (15:13):
Oooh.
Speaker 1 (15:16):
The cleric will take five points of damage as he
hits the ground hard. The damage isn't so bad, but
fair Wind is now in a difficult spot. The monster
is standing between himself and where he wants to go.
If that's not bad enough, things get worse when Tentire
pops out from cover to loosen arrow and notices that
the spot on the monster's abdomen where he'd previously shot.
(15:37):
It now shows no trace of any injury at all.
Hopefully the shock of that won't throw off his aim
tent Tuo needs a fourteen to hit the roll. A
two his arrow goes wild. I guess he was that surprised.
Duranti will also fire, and he needs a thirteen to
hit his role. That nineteen is good. His arrow will
(15:59):
do four points and take the troll, which had regenerated
back to full health, down to thirty one. Achillia is next.
She casts glitter dust, using her wand to focus the
spell's power. This causes a twenty foot cube of glittering
magical particles to appear that will force the troll to
save versus magic or be blinded for one to four rounds. Unfortunately,
(16:21):
since the sparkling cloud persists for about half a minute,
going forward, any creature the troll might grab and pull
towards it will also have to save that the party
not lost the initiative. This problem wouldn't have happened, but
it would be very meta to red Conochilia's intentions at
this point. I think the pieces intend to throw everything
they have at this thing, and so Cord follows up
(16:42):
by casting entangle. Now, I feel a first level spell
would not be enough to hold back a giant sized creature,
but I'll have the troll save to avoid being unable
to move forward. One round sounds fair to be clear,
its ability to attack will not be affected by the
entangle spell, only its movement. The save A three fails,
and the troll is not only blinded by a great
(17:03):
puff of silver gold dust that explodes from a spot
right beside his head, but is also grabbed around the
ankles by animated grasses and vines on the ground. It
moors in frustration, and that concludes round one. Round two,
the giant troll regenerates two hit points and now has
thirty three initiative. The party A two. Uh oh, the
(17:28):
giant Troll A one. Okay, this monster doesn't know what
hit it, and the pieces go first. Fairwin looks from
the tree line and the safety it represents, then back
at his companions, and finally to the sling in his hand.
He decides to take a SHOT's.
Speaker 2 (17:44):
It all guide my handph.
Speaker 1 (17:46):
He flings the stone, needing a seventeen to hit will
he hit boom? Natural twenty did not see that coming,
and neither did the troll fair window are full of surprises.
Damage will be the maximum plus an extra die for
the crit six points. He manages to smack the troll
right on its temple. There's another frenzied roar of pain
(18:07):
and frustration. Oo. Now Cord takes to the stairs while
the opportunity is ripe. He scrambles down the planks toward
the stone well as fast as his wooden feet will
take him. Durrani and Tentire both fire while the enemy
is off balance. Deurnni's roll a fifteen that's a hit
damages three points. Ten tier tries as well, but a
(18:33):
three misses. He's distracted because he can now clearly see
the monstros wounds closing on their own. He calls out
to the others the damned thing can regenerate. Achille will
go last, and I think it only makes sense that
she casts the spell shrink once again, using her wand
to focus her energy. The giant troll will need a
twelve or better to resist the spell. The roll an eighteen.
(18:56):
It does manage to deflect the magic somehow, and Achilles
is wasted. It's now the monster's turn to attack, since
it is almost literally rooted in place. This round, it
only has one choice of target Cord. With all bonuses
and penalties considered, the troll needs a twelve to hit
the roll ooh, A seventeen will certainly hit, and this
(19:21):
will not be pleasant. The troll snatches Cord up, pulls
him into the silvery gold dust of Achilles spell, and then,
with tremendous force, smashes him back down into the timbers
from which the stairs are built. Damage will be bad
twoty six plus seven bad, and there's a chance, albeit
a small one, that the construct will die right here.
Rolling eight plus seven is fifteen points. Just like that,
(19:45):
Cord is down to three hit points. It all happens
so fast that Cord cannot parse the experience. He feels
himself go up and then come back down and through
the stairs, which sunder under the impact. Even worse, Cord
will have to say versus spells or heat two will
be blinded. A fifteen or better on a D twenty
is needed his roll an eleven For the next four rounds,
(20:09):
Cord cannot see. I am not loving the way this
combat is going, but there's no getting away at this point.
The companions will have to fight it out. A reminder
that as we enter into the next round of combat,
a special event will be triggered on the party's turn,
and it has the potential to really shake things up.
Let's find out if it will. As we enter round three,
the Giant Troll regenerates two hit points and now has
(20:32):
twenty nine. The initiative the Party A three, the Giant
Troll A two. The Giant Troll is completely disoriented, slowly
rotating in a certain boone, swiping at the air and
snarling 's Achille has turned to try and run down
the stairs, but ten Tiers stops her. Let me go first,
he cries, strolling the sort of lear Hane and rushing
(20:53):
down ahead of her. There's now a broken section of
the stairs where Cord was attacked. When Tenttier comes to it,
he leaps cross without breaking stride, all the while yelling
a battle cry. Achillie and Dorni will both attack from
their vantage with dagger and arrow. Achille will need a
fifteen to hit with her weapon. An eight missus too bad,
(21:14):
Maybe Durrani can do better. Crap and nine will not
do it. The troll is a huge target, but it
has thick skin that can turn an imprecise shot. Cord,
lying in the wreckage of the broken section of staircase
is blind and I don't see how he can realistically
participate in the fight this round. Somewhere in the trees nearby,
Robin can be heard tweeting madly. Fair Wind is up next.
(21:37):
He'll try another slingstone. Can he repeat the impossible? A
seven means he cannot. This stone bounces harmlessly off the
Giant Monster's back. This is the point where my special
event is triggered. Here's what happens. With a familiar sound.
A white shape operates right beside the Giant Troll and
springs to attack. It's one of the blank the pieces
(22:00):
saved back in episode twenty five. It has been following
them all this time, and ingratitude for its life, will
now fight to the death on the PC's behalf. The
blink Dog needs a fourteen to hit. Here's the role seventeen,
good boy. Damage from the bite will be five points,
bringing the Giant Roll down to a still formidable twenty four. Now,
(22:24):
since the blink Dog has appeared right in the middle
of Achilles's spell, it too will need to save in
order to avoid being blinded. The target number is fourteen.
Here's the role A fifteen. Well, okay, I'll take that.
There's more good news to share here because the blink
Dog is the only real target for the Giant Troll's attention,
and according to the rules, if the blink Dog wins initiative,
(22:46):
it will blink away before the opponent can retaliate. So
the Giant Troll's huge clawed hand slams down on the ground,
but the blink Dog is already elsewhere. Round four, the
Giant Troll rates two hit points and now has twenty
six initiative. The party afore the Giant Troll a one.
(23:08):
That's lucky. Winning the initiative is always important, but it's
going to matter even more than usual in this fight.
Achillie will take to the stairs as Durrani lets fly
yet another shaft at the troll. A fifteen is good enough.
His arrow strikes true, doing six points. Wowsaw for the
first time they see this giant monster stagger by now
(23:32):
tinterers at the bottom of the stairs. He takes one
look at Cord and he yells stay there. Then he
looks at the shimmering cloud surrounding the monster. Three times
a height seems to consider for the space of half
a second and curses Chu chins braid, what am I
doing before running headlong into melee. He'll need to save
versus spells now or be blinded. The sixteen is the
(23:54):
target number. A twelve fails tent deer cannot see his
chance to land a hit drops to a dismal fifteen
percent or an eighteen or better on a D twenty.
Here's the roll A sixteen close, but not close enough.
The sword of lear Haang cleaves nothing Fairwe can no
longer use his sling without risking friendly fire, and his
(24:16):
only spell purify food and Drink was used earlier in
the day, so his best move is probably to change
position so he's closer to the bottom of the stairs
than the rest of the party. This repositioning, while avoiding melee,
will be his only action this round. The blink dog
can once again blink in and strike. Having saved once
to avoid being blinded, it need not save again its attack.
(24:39):
The thirteen is just shy of the target number. I
wonder if the attack will have drawn the troll's attention
away from ten tier all roll high low high means
the troll attacks the blink Dog. The thirteen is high,
and that means that once again the giant forest trolls
attack comes too late. It lifts a huge foot intending
to stomp the dog flat, but when it comes down,
(25:02):
the dog has already blinked away. Well, that was a
good round for the party mostly, but there's bad news
coming because by the next round, the troll's blindness will
have worn off. It is round five. The giant troll
regenerates two hit points and now has twenty two initiative.
The party the two, the Giant troll the five. Yeah,
(25:27):
that streak couldn't last forever. And I think we know
what this looks like. The giant Troll's eyes burned bright red.
It looks straight at tent Tier and smiles a hideous
gargoyle grin. But hang on, there's actually only a fifty
percent chance it will target ten Tier because the blink
Dog is very much still in this melee. So it'll
be high low, and once again high will indicate the
(25:48):
blink Dog is the target. In eighteen says it is.
Ten Tier is blindly feeling out in front of him
with the tip of his sword when the blink Dog
suddenly operates on the troll's left and draws its attention.
But the troll needs a nine to hit it. The
thirteen means it does hit. Let's see, the last attack
was the grab and smash, so this is oh oh,
(26:11):
it's grab and bite. The dog is plucked from the
ground and pushed into the trolls open maw at two
d eight plus four. Damage will be bad. He was
hoping for a low roll. I got a nine on
the dice plus four. It's thirteen. But how many hit
points does the blink Dog have? Anyway, when we met it,
I maxed out hit points in a half, so I
(26:32):
think I need to reroll, and this time min out
for my usual house rules. Let's see, fourty eight gives
me sixteen. So the good news is that the blink
Dog is not killed by the bite. The bad news
is that it comes pretty darn close. With three hit
points left, it is tossed to the ground, bloody and limp,
where it whimpers and whines and pain. That was rough,
(26:56):
but at least it is now the party's turn. Durretti
draws his sword and begins to down the stairs. Achillia
has stopped at the damaged section of stairs, where she
looks down upon the broken but thankfully still moving shape
of Cord. With a curse, she flings her last spell
at their enemy. Once again, the troll needs to make
a twelve to save becomes the roll a fifteen. Hard luck, Achillia.
(27:20):
It seems that this giant Troll will remain Giant Cord.
Sitting in a pile of broken wood, is still blind
and near death. There's nothing he can really do this route. Likewise,
fair Wind can't do much more than watch the fight
unless he wishes to enter Mela in risk blindness, which
he does not. That leaves tent Tire in the blink Dog.
The blink Dog picks itself up and launches a ferocious
(27:42):
series of faints and strikes, but at nine misses and
the troll easily kicks it away. It's up to ten
tier to land a blow, but he's going to need
an eighteen to hit. It doesn't look good. Fingers crossed
A fifteen is a good role old, but it is
still a miss. Round five was pretty bad for the pieces.
(28:05):
Let's hope the tide will turn. In round six, the
giant Troll regenerates two hit points and now is twenty
four initiative the party A three the giant troll A one.
Thank a Heia for that. The companions really need to
start dishing out some damage. At this point, Achille's glitter
dust cloud has turned out to be a mixed blessing.
(28:26):
To be honest, maybe she was unwise to cast it. Well,
that's spilt milk, and this is no time to armchair general.
Let's get back to the fight and make some attack rolls.
Ten tier continues to slash wildly. An eight misses the
injured blink Dog snarls and tries to tear a chunk
out of the troll's leg. A sixteen will hit four
(28:48):
points of damage for the bite. Dernni and fair Wind
both consider entering the melee, but they can see that
the silvery gold cloud from Achille's spell is dissipating quickly.
If they wait just one more round, they won't have
to risk going blind. It's a hard decision, especially for Drenni,
who's forced to watch his brother struggle, but both of
them choose to hold back. At this point, Chord suddenly
(29:11):
sets up his vision has returned, with an amount of
bravery approaching lunacy. He gets up and throws himself into
the fray and I'm not so nasty as to make
him safe again. He needs sixteen to head with his
battle axe. A ten is not going to do it, jinkies,
is it already? The trolls turn to attack, and I
think it is. The monster now has three potential targets.
(29:34):
It'll be a random roll between ten tier Cord and
the Blink Dog rolling it's ten tier and the troll
need only roll a nine to hit him. Here we go.
A sixteen is a hit with a room despair. Luckily
for ten tier, his will be the grab and throw attack,
which only does a D six of damage. Here's the
roll ouch A five. Ten tier is flung out of
(29:56):
the fight. He lands on his back and gets the
wind stock out of him. During the next round, he'll
miss his turn. Round seven, the Giant Troll regenerates two
hit points and now has twenty two. The initiative the
party the five good roll the Giant Troll a six.
Dang it. This round, the troll will choose between the
(30:18):
Blink Dog and Chord, and also Durani and Fairwind, who
entered the fight at this time. Now that the glitter
dust spell has expired. I'll roll a D four to
see who gets attacked the three. That's Derni. Looks like
the Giant troll needs a nine or better to hit
the roll. Huh A four, I was fully expecting a
hit there. Durani dives out of the way. He lands
(30:40):
in a roll and then springs up to his feet
with his blade up. He'll try to hamstring the monster.
Ten will not do it. Fairwind swings his cudgel while
the creature is distracted. He needs a sixteen to hit
A three fails cord cracked and broken in a dozen places,
still has the strength to wield his axe. He also
(31:00):
needs a sixteen. A sixteen nice cord damage will be
just one point. Perhaps the blink Dog can score a
decent hit. Oh brother, a one. That's a critical fail,
and the blink Dog will miss its next turn. Tent
To will spend this round reentering combat, and so we
(31:22):
are on too. Round eight. The Giant Troll regenerates two
hit points and now has twenty three initiative. The party
a three, the Giant Troll a two. There is now
blood all over the battlefield and the combatants are beginning
to tire. Somehow, the PCs manage to find a second
wind and searche forward with everything they've got. We really
(31:43):
need some significant hits because at this rate the chance
for a PC death is extremely high. Duran, he swings
his sword at nineteen is plenty. His sword does four
points a good start. Ten tier still blind attacks when
de Anny calls.
Speaker 2 (32:00):
Out ten tier, it's on your right.
Speaker 1 (32:03):
But a ten on the die means he misses despite
the help quard is next. A seventeen means the construct
lands another hit damages it on a d eight, Come on,
big money five points. The ex blade shears through the
monster's side, splitting a river or two and producing a
gout of bright blood. Now at fourteen hit points, the
(32:25):
giant troll staggers once again. The morale roll is going
to be required before its next action. But before that,
I've still got fair wind's attack. The cudgel swings in
and with a fourteen it bounces harmlessly off the trolls
not be high. That's it for combatants, Achille. I can
only stand at the perimeter and watch, and the blink
Dog will spend this round limping back into the fight.
(32:47):
So now it's the troll's turn. But it needs to
make a morale check. A typical troll has a morale
of ten, so this kind must have what an eleven
sounds right? That means only double six is will indicate
flight worth a shot though here goes nothing. Oh my goodness,
those are double sixes. The forced troll decides the meal
(33:10):
isn't worth the price. Its leering grin is gone, and
with a grunt, so is it as it suddenly turns
and stalks off into the woods, And just like that,
not in any way I might have predicted, combat is over.
Thank you for listening to Tale of the Manticore. This
(33:32):
episode has run long, so I'll make this sign off
very quick. Gratitude goes out to my core cast of Kyellen,
Kevin Barringer, and David Cooper, who played to Renny Tenier
and fair Wind, respectively. Thanks as always, guys, and back
one last time at least for now is Robert Newman,
who designed the FX for the Giant Forest Troll. Check
(33:53):
out Robert's other work at Robert newmansound dot com. That's
all for now, but the story will continue next time.
The Tale of the manticor the Story or Chaos rolls
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