So, Penny Farthing. Pretty much went down every session I played her up to this point; very meek, very indecisive. Party medic and woodsguide. The party was making its way through the goblin cave at the beginning of "The Lost Mine of Phandelver" adventure, and we weren't doing so hot. Goblins had beaten us back twice already (our first attempt, they flushed us out of their cave by breaking a dam inside; Penny nearly died). Trying to find a way around the main force of goblins that were giving us trouble, Penny decided to  ascend a stone chimney the party had found at the back of a wolf den; I thought it might lead to a small alcove or maybe even a back passage. What she found was the leader of the goblins, a huge bugbear and his beloved pet wolf, Ripper, waiting in main chamber of the complex. Penny went down immediately. Thus began a mad scramble by the rest of the party to save the little halfling. Battle was joined, and the Bugbear whooped ass. Beat the party like a cheap rug. On the plus side, one of the last acts of the bard was to heal Penny. She was able to get up and stabilize two other party members while the fourth (our Barbarian) fought the Bugbear. The bard stabilized herself, but it was a close call. Then the barbarian went down, leaving Penny the only standing party member against the Bugbear and Ripper. Cornered, Penny got desperate. Disarmed when she was first knocked down, she originally tried to use a piece of smoldering firewood to beat back the wolf; when that failed, she opted to leap upon its back and, with the aid of a hunting snare (and a few miraculous rolls on my part), managed to garotte it in an attempt to force the Bugbear's surrender, leading to the exchange pictured. It worked. The bugbear retreated, and took his wolf with him, allowing Penny to give the rest of the party some health potions and buying us a chance to regroup and make a comeback the next session. It ended up being her shining moment of glory. A few sessions later, our party's swashbuckler died, and Penny opted to transport his body home to his fiance with a promise to see the party again someday. Maybe she will; she was a lot of fun to play, and I liked her despite how often she nearly died.Â












