D&D: Chase Scene!
Apr. 13th, 2026 09:05 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
canyonwalkerWe played D&D again this past Sunday. Yes, it had been several weeks since our previous game session. We had to work around multiple travel schedules and a soccer game or two. That's the unfortunate reality of planning f2f RPGs once everyone's past 25 years old. But let me not bury the lede: We played D&D this past Sunday!
Where last we left the heroes they were fighting off a hobgoblin ambush while guarding a merchant caravan— a caravan to transport a totally-not-evil-because-it-doesn't-have-eyes harpsichord, unlike the harpsichord with sneaky eyeballs that tried to kill them— to deliver it and other valuables to a pair of asshole heirs of a reclusive billionaire on the other side of the realm. Along the way the group shrewdly sniffed out that there was a traitor in their midst. So they knew an ambush was coming; they just didn't know the time, or place, or who or what would ambush them.
Where we left off before Sunday's game the PCs had turned the tide of battle and were taking down the ambushers. The hobgoblins, being paid to fight but not in it to die for a cause, were ready to flee. Meanwhile, someone was already fleeing. A cloaked figure on horseback dashed from concealment in a stand of trees, angled toward the road, and headed back toward the last town. Otonio, the well-heeled rogue and now de facto caravan captain, spotted the fleeing spy and spurred his horse to give chase.
When I wrote this adventure I expected that Herran the woodsmanwoman (yes, she changed genders two sessions ago) would spur her horse to give chase. She's the strongest rider in the group. Alas, her trusty steed was the first casualty in the ambush. Leaving her on foot. So I clued in the player of the next strongest rider, Leoghnie the fighter, that she should skip chasing level-1 hobgoblins as they break and run and instead pursue the mysterious figure who could be some kind of ringleader. Jill, playing Leoghnie, didn't need further encouragement that it was her moment to take the spotlight.
Here, again, I'm sharing pictures I created with AI. Do you see what's wrong with the picture above? I prompted Google Gemini that the fighter and rogue are chasing the spy. It got so many things right about that scene. And yet.... Okay, if you don't see the problem, imagine that the Scooby Doo musical interlude theme is playing in the background. 🤣
It took only two more prompts to get a more accurate illustration.
Otonio stayed about evenly matched with the spy. The two men were equally matched at horsemanship. But Leoghnie had a big edge on both of them. Despite the spy having a 200' head start she was able to close the distance in a minute of furious riding. In that short time she'd covered almost half a mile!
As Leoghnie overtook Otonio just before reaching the mystery rider, Otonio stopped his horse and loosed a single shot from his bow. Ka-BOOM! A direct shot that caught the fleeing spy right in the back.
Leoghnie overtook the spy seconds later, her horse about ready to collapse from exhaustion, and opted to grapple him and yank him off his horse rather than slash at him with her sword. The spy, having been injured by the group's spellcasters earlier and now taken a near-fatal shot from Otonio's bow, was already slumped over, unconscious. Leoghnie pulled him off his saddle and dropped him to the ground.
The two PCs circled back around to assess the situation. The spy, lying unconscious in the dust, had only a weak pulse. Finely wrought armor under his cloak showed burns from spells that had penetrated it, and an arrow was lodged between his shoulders. Several of his ribs creaked like they were broken. His breathing was ragged. Left alone, he'd be dead in 10 seconds.
While Leoghnie tried in vain to staunch the bleeding from multiple wounds, Otonio dug out a magic healing potion from his pack and poured it down the man's throat. He hated using a valuable cure on an enemy, but it seemed necessary if they were to figure out who this spy was— and who hired him. The potion was enough to stop the blood loss. They tied his still-unconscious body over his horse and walked it back to the site of the ambush.
To be continued!
Where last we left the heroes they were fighting off a hobgoblin ambush while guarding a merchant caravan— a caravan to transport a totally-not-evil-because-it-doesn't-have-eyes harpsichord, unlike the harpsichord with sneaky eyeballs that tried to kill them— to deliver it and other valuables to a pair of asshole heirs of a reclusive billionaire on the other side of the realm. Along the way the group shrewdly sniffed out that there was a traitor in their midst. So they knew an ambush was coming; they just didn't know the time, or place, or who or what would ambush them.
Where we left off before Sunday's game the PCs had turned the tide of battle and were taking down the ambushers. The hobgoblins, being paid to fight but not in it to die for a cause, were ready to flee. Meanwhile, someone was already fleeing. A cloaked figure on horseback dashed from concealment in a stand of trees, angled toward the road, and headed back toward the last town. Otonio, the well-heeled rogue and now de facto caravan captain, spotted the fleeing spy and spurred his horse to give chase.
When I wrote this adventure I expected that Herran the woods
Here, again, I'm sharing pictures I created with AI. Do you see what's wrong with the picture above? I prompted Google Gemini that the fighter and rogue are chasing the spy. It got so many things right about that scene. And yet.... Okay, if you don't see the problem, imagine that the Scooby Doo musical interlude theme is playing in the background. 🤣
It took only two more prompts to get a more accurate illustration.
Otonio stayed about evenly matched with the spy. The two men were equally matched at horsemanship. But Leoghnie had a big edge on both of them. Despite the spy having a 200' head start she was able to close the distance in a minute of furious riding. In that short time she'd covered almost half a mile!
As Leoghnie overtook Otonio just before reaching the mystery rider, Otonio stopped his horse and loosed a single shot from his bow. Ka-BOOM! A direct shot that caught the fleeing spy right in the back.
Leoghnie overtook the spy seconds later, her horse about ready to collapse from exhaustion, and opted to grapple him and yank him off his horse rather than slash at him with her sword. The spy, having been injured by the group's spellcasters earlier and now taken a near-fatal shot from Otonio's bow, was already slumped over, unconscious. Leoghnie pulled him off his saddle and dropped him to the ground.
The two PCs circled back around to assess the situation. The spy, lying unconscious in the dust, had only a weak pulse. Finely wrought armor under his cloak showed burns from spells that had penetrated it, and an arrow was lodged between his shoulders. Several of his ribs creaked like they were broken. His breathing was ragged. Left alone, he'd be dead in 10 seconds.
While Leoghnie tried in vain to staunch the bleeding from multiple wounds, Otonio dug out a magic healing potion from his pack and poured it down the man's throat. He hated using a valuable cure on an enemy, but it seemed necessary if they were to figure out who this spy was— and who hired him. The potion was enough to stop the blood loss. They tied his still-unconscious body over his horse and walked it back to the site of the ambush.
To be continued!
