Immersive Ink

Willie yells: "Fall back to the narrow spot & we can gang up on them!"

I'm assuming the beetles are in the kind of boot-shaped area to the right. Willie's suggesting we pull back to beyond the narrowing of the passage, where there's space on either side to gang up on any beetles trying to follow us.

If the party doesn't show signs of following his yelled suggestion, then Willie is going to sling some stones at one of the smaller beetles, from his current position.

Noh's entangle spell unfortunately only works if there are appropriate plants or fungi in the area. I momentarily flirted with allowing the spell to affect the fur hides, so the beetles would be 'burritoed' in their sleeping bags, but that's too silly.

I think you have a good plan: fall back to the narrow section and use the dungeon geography to 'funnel' the beetles towards you single-file, then gang up on them. I changed my mind, and I think it makes more sense to do this as group initiative; we can try individual initiative in some future battle. Depending how the initiative dice fall, the beetles might get a shot off as you retreat, but that's the risk you take. I will allow move & fire in the same round since it's such a short movement distance.

Should we stick with the standard marching order, or do we have two brave volunteers for the front line?

Or you could get lucky and the beetles don't chase you. The dice will decide!

Dougal ducks and runs, as well. As soon as he's clear, he prepares for the ambush.

That's the plan, right? If not, then he keeps running.

Beetle Battle

It's a tense and desperate moment as the Hobbets attempt to fall back to a more strategic location. The range of their lantern light is only 30 feet, so as they retreat, they lose sight of the beetles!

Two globs of tahini come flying out of the darkness. One splats harmlessly against the tunnel wall while the other whizzes past Noh's ear.

The party successfully rounds the bend and passes through the narrowest part of the tunnel. When the passage widens again, the PCs form two columns, ready to gang up on the beetles as they come single-file through the narrows. They draw their weapons and wait anxiously.

A minute passes. Two minutes. Three. Four. Five. A bead of sweat runs down Tet's forehead.

Our heroes feel (relieved? disappointed?) that the Tahini Beetles appear not to have given pursuit.

Your survival might be decided by the initiative check. Very important rolls!

Hobbets 6
Tahini Beetles 5
Bigger Beetle 1

Nice!

Beetle missile attacks
vs Willie miss 1
vs Noh miss 10

Beetle morale
2d6=3