Here's the scenario: four adventurers are exploring the dungeons beneath a ruined temple when they encounter a guardroom with six bugbears armed with morningstars. The heroes are Dain, a dwarf fighter with 13 fatigue points; Pascal, a human paladin with 10 fatigue points; Lyssa, an elven mage with 4 fatigue points; and Damiar, a half-elven thief with 6 fatigue points. The bugbears each have 11 fatigue points (Monsters get 8 points plus their Hit Dice, in this case 3+1). None of the members of either group are considered encumbered.
No one is surprised, so the DM places the bugbears in their room and tells the players to arrange their heroes in the doorway. Since Damiar opened the door, the DM decides that Damiar must be in front, even though Dain usually takes point in the marching order.
Round One[]
First, the DM decides what the bugbears are going to do. The two on the flanks move to take cover, the one in the middle flips the table for cover, his companions close for combat, and the last bugbear is still getting out of bed and decides to wait and see what happens. Now the DM asks each of the players what their characters will do:
Damiar: “I'll shoot at the nearest bugbear.”
Pascal: “Bugbears? We can take them. I'll close for an attack!”
Lyssa: “I'll throw a sleep spell.”
Dain: “There might be more of ‘em around. I'll cover the hallway with my crossbow.”
Everyone has declared an action, so it's time to roll initiative. The DM rolls a 5, but the players beat him with a roll of 3. Now, the DM begins with very fast actions and starts working through the round.
DM: “Okay, nobody's very fast this round. You guys won initiative, so who's fast?”
Lyssa: “My sleep spell's fast.”
Pascal: “I start moving.”
DM: “Where do you want to center your spell, Lyssa?”
Damiar: “Don't catch us with it!”
Lyssa: “I'll center it on the bugbear in the middle of the room.” (Rolls effect) “My spell affects 5 Hit Dice of bugbears.”
DM: “Sorry, that's only one. He's out.”
Pascal: “I'm moving! I'll jump on the table in front of them.”
DM: “No problem. You threaten the bugbear, and he threatens you. Don't forget to mark a fatigue point off. That's it for fast. Let's go on to average actions.”
The bugbear's base initiative is average, but the players won initiative and get to resolve their average actions first. Pascal is wielding an average-speed long sword.
Damiar: “My first bowshot is average. I rolled a 20! Is that a critical hit?”
Damiar's adjusted THAC0 with his longbow is a 16, so he hit an AC –4 with his roll of 20. The bugbears are only AC 5, so he easily hits the bugbear with a good enough roll to critically hit the monster. The basic critical rule is double damage dice, but the DM could use the critical hit rules in Chapter Six if he wanted to. With doubled damage, Damiar rolls 2d8 for his sheaf arrow and tags the bugbear for 15 points of damage, dropping it with one shot!
The two bugbears moving under cover begin their moves now. The last bugbear meets Pascal. Pascal gets her attack first, but even with a +1 bonus for height advantage, she misses. Her opponent misses her as well. Damiar uses his second bow shot and fires at a bugbear using cover, missing by a mile.
At the end of the round, Pascal and Damiar have each used two points of fatigue, while Dain and Lyssa have used none. The two bugbears that took cover have each used one, while the one locked in combat has used two. There are no retreats, but the DM decides that a morale check is in order since the bugbears have seen two of their fellows knocked out of action. The bugbears pass the check, and the round is over.
Round Two[]
The DM decides that the two bugbears on the flanks remain under cover this round and guard. The bugbear engaging Pascal decides to take a half-move and attack, looking to open the range and take advantage of its longer reach. The last bugbear will move up to join the fight and engage Pascal. The players state their actions:
Pascal: “I'll stand my ground and attack.”
Lyssa: “I'm going to move into the room to find a place to cast my next spell.”
Damiar: “I'll try and shoot at the bugbear hiding around the corner. Maybe I'll get lucky.”
Dain: “You guys are doing okay without me. I'll keep covering this hallway.”
DM: “Roll initiative, everybody.”
The players win initiative again, rolling a 1. This accelerates their actions by a phase. In the very fast phase, Lyssa moves into the room. This time, Pascal's average sword attack becomes a fast action, as does Damiar's bow shot. Pascal misses her bugbear, but Damiar rolls another 20!
This time, Damiar's 20 is not a critical hit. The DM rules that the bugbear is under 75% cover, so it has a 7-point bonus to its Armor Class, making it effectively AC –2. Since Damiar's adjusted THAC0 is a 16, he only hit by 2, and he needed to hit by 5 to get another critical hit. The bugbear is wounded but still has some fight left in it.
In the average phase, Damiar fires his second arrow but misses. Finally, the bugbears can begin to move. The bugbear that is threatened by Pascal backs away, provoking an attack of opportunity. Pascal rolls her free attack but misses. The last bugbear closes to within two spaces. Since the bugbears are Large creatures armed with weapons, they can still reach Pascal.
DM: “We're up to slow actions, and the two bugbears fighting Pascal get to make their attacks.” (Rolls two attacks.) “You're lucky, they both missed. At the end of the round, nobody has to retreat. Everybody keep track of how many fatigue points you've used. Pascal, you used up two again this turn, due to your attack of opportunity.”
Pascal: “Don't the bugbears have to make another morale check?”
DM: “No, nothing's changed since the last one.”
At this point, Pascal has 6 fatigue points left, Damiar 2, and Lyssa 3, while Dain is still at his full amount, since he hasn't moved or fought. The bugbears attacking Pascal have 7 and 9, respectively, while the two taking cover still have 10 each.
Round Three[]
The DM smiles to himself—the bugbears have maneuvered the heroes right where they want them. The two bugbears fighting Pascal can guard, getting the first attack against the paladin because of their longer range. The two bugbears hiding behind the room's corners will move forward to engage Pascal's flank and Lyssa. The DM asks the players to state their actions for the round:
Pascal: “I'll move up and attack again.”
Lyssa: “Cast acid arrow at the bugbear hiding in the corner there.”
Damiar: “Keep firing!”
Dain: “I'll move and take a shot at a bugbear. Nothing's coming down this hallway.”
The initiative roll is won by the players again, beating the bugbears with a 2. There are no very fast actions this round.
In the fast phase, Pascal moves up to threaten the bugbears facing her, but they both get attacks since they were guarding and out-ranged her. One bugbear misses, but the other hits for 5 points of damage and a roll for a knockdown. A morningstar is rated as a d10 for knockdowns, and since the bugbear is a Large creature, that is stepped up to a d12. It takes a 7 to knock down a Man-sized creature, and the Bugbear rolls a 9. Success! Pascal rolls a saving throw vs. paralyzation and fails. She is on the ground and has to use this round to stand up again.
Lyssa's spell is again fast. She throws Melf's acid arrow at the bugbear previously wounded by Damiar and hits it for 8 points of damage. Dain takes a half-move and steps into the doorway beside Damiar.
On the average phase, Damiar fires his first arrow of the round and misses. Pascal would have attacked this round, but decides to stand up again. The bugbears hiding around the corners move up to threaten Pascal and Lyssa.
Pascal: “Sure, now they break cover since I got knocked down.”
DM: “You didn't think those two bugbears were going to stay out of the way forever, did you?”
Lyssa: “We're in trouble.”
DM: “We're up to slow actions now. Dain and Damiar have shots, if they want to take them. You'll be shooting into a melee now, since there aren't any bugbears clear of the fight.”
Damiar: “I'll take my chances.”
Dain: “Me, too!”
Lyssa: “Hey, you could hit us!”
Dain (shrugging): “So? You can take it.”
There are three bugbears who are threatening Pascal. Using the Firing into a Melee rules, the DM determines that a d8 roll should be used to resolve who becomes the target. (The three bugbears are Large and count for 2 each, and Pascal counts for 1 target. An 8 result will be rerolled.) Damiar and Dain are lucky—the target rolls end up being bugbears. Unfortunately, both characters miss with their attacks.
The two bugbears who moved in this round get to attack in their half of the slow phase. One attacks Pascal, and the other attacks Lyssa. Pascal is hit again for 5 more points of damage, but this time she isn't knocked down. Lyssa gets clobbered for 6 points of damage and begins to consider a strategic withdrawal.
At the end of the round, everyone marks off their fatigue points. Pascal loses two more, as do Dain and Damiar, but Lyssa cast a spell and loses none. The bugbears who broke cover and attacked Lyssa and Pascal lose two, but the others who were already engaged only lose one each.
Since Pascal was hit without hitting her opponents, the bugbears can force her to retreat. She is driven back one square, but the bugbears hold their ground to keep their reach advantage. The continuing damage from the Melf's acid arrow spell doesn't begin until next round, since Lyssa just cast the spell this round.
Round Four[]
In the next round, the heroes get a little lucky. Pascal downs one of her attackers with a critical hit, and Dain covers Lyssa's withdrawal and inflicts serious damage against the bugbear who had injured the mage. Another bugbear falls when the Melf's acid arrow finishes it off at the end of the round. With two more down, the DM rules that the survivors choose a fighting withdrawal, and the heroes let the bugbears retreat.