Hekazu

D&D 5e - Hoard of the Dragon Queen

To rage takes a bonus action, as does making an off-hand attack. Which would you rather retain @Lucius Cypher?

D&D 5e - Hoard of the Dragon Queen

The flapping force of the blood drinkers had suddenly halved, but those that were still present were driven by their hunger to fight, even if it took them to an early grave. The predators were too stupid to realise a prolonged assault would be all too likely to lead to their deaths, and so they continued. The two that had feasted on the blood of the half-orc pulled their proboscises out and took wing once more, their diminutive frames barely avoiding the swinging blades of their prey if only thanks to the present cover of an entire swarm of bats. Truly, these critters were becoming a nuisance.

For Torus, they were more than just that. Where two had been dealt with, two more came in to claim their place. One stab again at the side of the hyena was nothing out of ordinary, the pain being but a small jolt in all this, but when the other lifedrinker struck directly to a vein in his animal form's throat things got worse. Thankfully it wasn't a complete disaster, but the hit had shaken the druid enough to have them consider reinforcing their shape at the earliest convenience.

And even then, from amid the bats, another Stirge flew forth, aiming for the left arm of the greatsword wielding man of the wilds. A quick threatening move its way was enough to make it consider again, its barely noticeably drooling snout withdrawing as it took to circling around the man instead, biding its time. It would come about again, try its luck once more. But for now it headed back to the cloud, after the two that had just detached themselves from the half-orc.

Mechanics&Rolls

At the starts of their turns, stirges #9 and #10 perform their automatic blood drain damage on Orchid, dealing 4 & 4 damage respectively, to a total of 8 (@Lucius Cypher). They then take flight, and while this prompts opportunity attacks from both Orchid and nearby Brannor, they both unfortunately miss their strikes.

Torus, in turn, is chosen as the favoured target of stirges #1 and #2, both landing their attacks with a 23 and a critical hit respectively. These attacks end up dealing 7 and 7 damage to a total of 14 (Hey that's me).

Stirge #5 misses its attack against Brannor with a roll of 10.

It is now Orchid's turn @Lucius Cypher.

D&D 5e - Hoard of the Dragon Queen

Barbarian: Reckless Attack
Starting at 2nd level, you can throw aside all concern for defense to attack with fierce desperation. When you make your first attack on your turn, you can decide to attack recklessly. Doing so gives you advantage on melee weapon attack rolls using Strength during this turn, but attack rolls against you have advantage until your next turn.

I am afraid due to the underlined definition on when the ability can be used, it won't apply in this case. Either way, you do happen to miss even if your first roll was the better one @Lucius Cypher, and the same happened with Harbinger.

D&D 5e - Hoard of the Dragon Queen

I'm going to need opportunity attacks from @Lucius Cypher and @The Harbinger of Ferocity.

D&D 5e - Hoard of the Dragon Queen

Parum manages to slay her target, freeing her of the threat of continual damage @Ryonara.

It is now the enemies turn, which I will get to in a few hours.

D&D 5e - Hoard of the Dragon Queen

Brannor misses @The Harbinger of Ferocity.

It is now Parum's turn @Ryonara.

D&D 5e - Hoard of the Dragon Queen

There is no sort of damage transfer effect on the stirges. We shall assume attacks are made cautiously enough to rather go wide than hit an ally @The Harbinger of Ferocity. If the designers had intended there to be a significant risk, I reckon they would have mentioned that in the monster stat block.

I am half tempted to say that a critical failure might cause such an effect, but my common sense disagrees. Thus, nothing special apart from their automatic hit on survival to next turn.

D&D 5e - Hoard of the Dragon Queen

Kyra's attack cut her free of the leeching critter, its own blood and the beginnings of the priestess's mingling together in a pool down towards the floor. The hole made by the proboscis would close itself in a matter of minutes, so that was of no concern to the adventurer. Her charge against the other attempt at her life essence would find fruit just as well, piercing the awful bloodsucking monster with a precise strike through its diminutive body. That was two, and a start.

She would not be alone in her efforts, for while it took some stretching a hyena was a fair deal more flexible than a horse. The unluckiest stirge was situated still in the reach of the druid's animal shape, the jaws of the hyena closing in on its small shape. The creature was too greedy to take wing and would find that to be its demise, for the bite reached barely far enough. And now the predator had tasted blood, working itself to a frenzy that led it to spin about until the grip of another stirge loosened enough for it to end up between the jaws of the drooling beast, the sharp teeth crushing the would-be parasite and freeing what had been stolen back to its owner with interest. That made it four, even if the cloud of bats would not let it be plain to see.

Mechanics&Rolls

Kyra lands both of her strikes, removing stirges #7 & #8 from the combat. Torus chomps down on stirge #3 with a roll of 15, landing an attack worth 10 damage. This reduces the stirge to 0 hp, which allows him to use his bonus action to Rampage and make another bite attack, this time at stirge #4 with a roll of 23, dealing 13 damage. This, too, kills the stirge.

Six stirges remain in combat, one on Parum, two on Orchid and three in flight.

It is now Ashkar Brannor's turn @The Harbinger of Ferocity.

D&D 5e - Hoard of the Dragon Queen

The swarm roused some primal awareness in many of the adventurers. Not everything was right in this. Why were there dead bats around? They wouldn't just die off for no reason, now would they? And even then, they were in hostile territory. Anything could be out there, just looking to spill their blood. However, the enemy they were facing tonight would hardly seek to spill what could be drank. The threat was comprised of vampiric little creatures, leathery as the ones they shared the cave with but only several times uglier, stirges. And they were out on a hunt.

Their sense for blood guided them to the meatier targets, those of the adventurers. The bats had kept them alive until now. But now that they were here to provide cover, the monsters took their chance to strike. The one donning heavy plates went mostly ignored in favour of easier targets like the bare chested half-orc or the too large to effectively defend itself from them hyena. Small pincered snouts penetrated skin and began sipping away at the very essence of life at many points, the swarming bats drowning the sounds of agony those that were hurt may have proclaimed. They would have to rely on visuals, and them alone in order to communicate in the midst of this concentrated threat.

Mechanics&Rolls

Good news: Most of the party was not surprised since the stirges that inhabited the swarm rolled poorly on initiative! Torus got 19 for his own.

I'll just save myself from the trouble of linking every single attack roll. They should all be clearly labelled here.

Long story short, Stirges attach to targets on hit. Torus now has two on his wild shaped person having taken 13 damage to his current form, Parum (@Ryonara) has one with 5 damage done to her, Kyra (@Norschtalen) has one with 6 damage done to her and Orchid (@Lucius Cypher) has two with 12 damage dealt to him. The stirges that did not attach are flapping somewhere nearby. You will be able to find them with your 30 feet of movement if you would seek to strike them down. Do note that the little critters will automatically deal damage if still attached by the start of their next turn.

Next up, Kyra! @Norschtalen

@Ryonara@Gordian Nought@Lucius Cypher@Norschtalen@The Harbinger of Ferocity

D&D 5e - Hoard of the Dragon Queen

The presence of the bats brought forth certain unease in the adventurers. Each and every one of them did their best to avoid rousing the ire of the animals that were numerous enough to cover the entire ceiling of the room, their uneasiness perhaps further fed into by how the number of the dead on the cavern floor was still far from zero. After all, would the kobolds and other such more bestial residents have dealt with them even if the humans had found it a bore to see to their disposal? Conscious or subconscious a bother as it may have been, it weighed on the minds of many, leading to less success in seeing them undisturbed.

The first sign of an impending disaster was Brannor's armour, something that the man could hardly help. This alone had not been enough to set the bats off, yet it brought them to alert. Orchid contributed to the blunder with a haphazardly tied axe, it scraping against the ground as the bindings got loose. And to the misfortune of all, Torus found himself unable to hold back to the more natural reactions of his wild shape, a predator's yelp escaping his maw as the axe hit the ground. That was the straw that broke the camel's back. Despite it still being much too early for the departure of the swarm, they would set on wing within the cave itself in blind panic.

In but a few moments, the adventurers were surrounded by dense furry and leathery flapping. It was impossible to see much further than one's own nose for the first few seconds, thought the bats soon learnt a bit of flight pattern control and the visibility was slightly improved. The bats themselves did not pose much of a threat to the group, other than making it impossible to hear a thing and the obvious visibility hazard. But within this cover, an unseen threat approached.

Mechanics&Rolls

The party has failed three out of their five stealth checks, setting off the could of bats. Visibility for each character is reduced to 5 feet around them and any vocal communication attempts will be rendered impossible due to the swarming chiroptera. The party will be surprised by the enemy striking from the swarm, since their approach is more or less impossible to note until they move. But as initiative goes in 5e, you may well be not surprised once their turn rolls about. It will depend on your score.

Please roll for initiative at your earliest convenience.

@Ryonara@Gordian Nought@Lucius Cypher@Norschtalen@The Harbinger of Ferocity