[DnD] D&D Arena Signups and Discussion

Well I reckon it'd be fun, although I'd do it more in terms of exponentially harder fights until everyone's actually dead. It was me who suggested parties of two, the reasoning being the game would have quite a high turnover and people might want to buddy up to challenge the current best streak, plus contrary to what Radez said, it opens up millions of tactical options. Each game is a quick sprint, you're not developing characters here so much. I thought it might be fun to try out a load of different combinations of characters, see whether a balance of magic and swords would work, or take a tank and a healer and try to tough it out, or two barbarians and blitz through.

You people are all so negative sometimes.

Put me on the list Zerg, anyone want to team up with me?

Jam it back in, in the dark.

Originally Posted by a_lurker

I'll play with Shin's idea of the two-man challenge against crazy hard enemies.

So what awesome team of awesome should we go for?

I would say a couple of priests, but you did that last time. We certainly don't want to go with anything too sensible though. I quite fancy being one of those frog things, Bullywugs is it?

Edit: Whatever we pick, can we be one black dude and one white dude called Ebony and Ivory?

Most amazing jew boots

Chocodecide says a Kobold Ranger and a Longtooth Shifter Cleric. I'd suggest the shifter be the old, black guy, who is of course called Ivory, making the Kobold a young, brash white dude called Ebony.

Let's do this shit.

You played an old cleric last time lurker so if you're happy with the team choices, I'll take Ivory.

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

Likewise, I have no clue whatsoever about character generation. Given the hard bitten, nearly retired, grouchy old black dude nature of the character, I think a banishing evil type priest rather than a kindly healing type priest would be the best bet. As he's a werewolf, I see him as a guy who's spent his life trying to banish other evil monster types to atone for his own sins by slaying the fuck out of them. Should probably have a hand crossbow for neck-cracking bad-guy sniping, needs to be rubbish at hand to hand combat but make him wise as fuck. Also has several unfeasibly young children who get kidnapped a lot and definitely aren't allowed to sleep with the Kobold.

Now seems the ideal time to repost this:



I am a dolphin, do you want me on your body?

Looks pretty spot on to me, Pang, although I of course haven't read any of the detail on the powers yet but the names certainly look cool! Do shifters change into furries whenever they want or just on full moons? If it's the latter, can we make the campaign start at dusk on the full moon so it's a desperate battle against time before Ivory goes wolf AND FOR NO REASONABLE REASON STAYS THAT WAY FOREVVVVAAAAAAAARRRRRR?

I was speaking idiomatically.

Oh ok, lends itself to a suitably dramatic getting hit then going postal moment though.

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?

Fuck yes we are going to be the best team ever.

Unless of course Zerg is a git and just throws things at us that can only be hurt by necrotic attacks or something.

FELIPE NO

Quick question about my Astral Seal power. Where it says regain an additional five hitpoints, how exactly? I mean, from the description it looks like the attack lowers the defences of whatever it hits, then if lurker hits the same dude she gets back 9hp (2 +2 for charisma +2 for symbol of shared healing). Am I reading that right?

Also how are you working out the damage those longswords did to me? It looks like I got hit by all three but you didn't roll for damage implying a standard damage amount but 16 doesn't divide by 3 last time I checked.

Edit: Oh wait, one missed. So do they do a standard 8 damage per hit?

What, you don't want my bikini-clad body?

Ah, I see, cheers.

Zerg, you never rolled for my first gaze of defiance damage either. It says it does 1D8+7 on the card and +9 vs will means I easily hit it with an 8. I'll do my own rolls normally if I remember, I was just in a bit of a rush this morning.

Edit: With the +2 for running it was actually 2+ to hit on that last attack, way to roll a 1, Shin.

Jam it back in, in the dark.

Nah, fair's fair, I'll keep the 1. Only a minor edit, turned the second shift into a move for a bit more distance, I'll take the AoO for being marked, there's no way he can kill me after all. You said we get one action point per fight essentially so there's no real need to not use it here.

There's nowhere I can't reach.

Holy shit that's a lot to keep track of, I didn't realise nerd-optimisation was quite that complicated.

Anyhow, I think I rolled my turn through ok. Is there a technical difference between the -2 penalty to defences that Astral Seal gives bad guys and a +2 power bonus that Destined duel gives? They both make the bad guy 2 easier to hit, right?

And for the record we're just rolling out the low numbers in preparation for the real fighting to come...

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

That's why I switched to shooting at the Captain, lurker. As the others are minions, had I hit them they'd have died so the bonus wouldn't have mattered anyway. I think one of my powers gives a damage bonus rather than a hit bonus and some heal you so when we're fighting proper monsters, it makes sense for us to both attack the same person (Makes sense anyway as anyone who's played an srpg will tell you, concentrate on one bad guy at a time rather than spreading your attacks). I'll make sure to mention whatever bonuses my powers give when I use them in the posts for reference and hope Zerg gives us enough cover for me to keep out of arms reach, since all my powers are ranged pretty much. Our battle plan is mainly you charging in and wrecking shit while I hang back making it easier for you to hit things and topping up your hitpoints as needed.

I am a dolphin, do you want me on your body?

She can move round people without provoking opportunity attacks can't she? That gives all sorts of opportunities to shift away from someone, then charge past them and attack someone behind. Either that or use her move to back away, taking the AoO, then charge back in, right?

I was speaking idiomatically.

Fucking hell, so lurks can shift away as a minor, move back a bit as a move then charge in and attack twice for her attack every turn?

Sorry Zerg but your optimisation has nothing on Pang's, that's just ridiculous.

It's your go by the way, lurker.

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?

Actually, we have chocodecide to thank for our character races and classes.

God damn I'm looking forward to when I hit my run of 20's.

FELIPE NO

Lurker, since you need a spot of healing now, you might want to delay until after my turn so I can use a power that gives you hp when you attack the same target I just did.

Edit: Although actually I don't think Zerg's going to let me shift anywhere because apparently a puddle is difficult terrain so I can't use any ranged attacks without getting stabbed. I'll use Healing Word to top up your hp but that doesn't matter when you move, unless you trigger an AoO and get killed during your turn. It might make sense for you to kill off one of the minions on your turn since they're steadily chipping off hp.

Edit: Holy shit these dice hate me.

What, you don't want my bikini-clad body?

Didn't forget it, I figured a second wind with it's added defences was more useful than the tiny bit of regen and added offense, especially given that the regen only applies whilst bloodied. I suppose as I didn't move I could have done both but I thought I'd save the werewolfing for a more dramatic moment.

Jam it back in, in the dark.

Originally Posted by Zergrinch

once I manage to kill off Ebony and Ivory )

Might be sooner rather than later if I don't start rolling double figures soon.

There's nowhere I can't reach.

You put us in difficult ground without telling us it was difficult first...

Then I missed with all but one of my attacks so far, it's the dice that have done the damage, not the bad guys.

i think it would help if you pointed out what everything on the map was at the start of the fight in future though, so people know what they're backing into.

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

Woohoo! Finally, after the fight is all but finished I roll a double figures hit roll!

Fucking dice.

I am a dolphin, do you want me on your body?

Apart from that, it went fine and even with that, it wouldn't have looked nearly so nasty if our rolls hadn't been so shitty.

I'm assuming that since Ivory is such a sensible old man, his hut is well built and as such, the roof is a perfectly safe fighting platform...

Lurker, there is a very real chance that if Ivory hide on the roof, Ebony will get swarmed by whatever is coming next and murdered. Then again, if he's on the ground then he'll get attacked and won't be able to use any of his abilities as they're all ranged so he gets attacked if he's standing next to anyone. I think with Ebony being able to shift as a minor you should be able to keep from getting surrounded and Ivory can always jump down and wade in if needs be.

I can almost see Zerg adding triple repeater crossbows to the gear of whatever is coming to get us now.

I was speaking idiomatically.

Do close burst attacks expand in a 2d circle, a column or a sphere?

In other words, if I use one on the edge of the roof, what area will it hit on the ground?

Lurks, are we going to pick off the minions one by one then go for the boss or lay straight into him? Since you're moving first, I'll follow your lead, giving you the best hit bonuses possible against whatever you're currently laying into.

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?

Lurker, I've assumed you're going to take at least one hit before your next go so I used my heal you a bit power rather than a kill things power. Make sure you attack wolf A next turn though as you get +2 to hit it and regain a few hp in the process. I figured it's better to keep your hp topped up from the start, rather than trying to drag you back to life if things go wrong later.

Also I've still not rolled double figures on a D20 yet this whole bloody adventure I think.

FELIPE NO

You might have mentioned that not every fight was going to be a fight. Like lurker, I assumed we were wading straight in every time without any noncing about in between.

And once again the dice roller fucks me over, I swear CHz has rigged it against me.

Lurks, the power I just used gives an additional hit bonus to you if I heal you in the same turn, which was why I targetted the big wolf rather than finishing off the last little one. As I missed again though it's a moot point. If you can kill the last little one on your turn we can focus on fucking up the big one properly, hopefully with you on your feet more and me being able to actually hit something.

What, you don't want my bikini-clad body?

True that, shoot first, ask questions never.

Jam it back in, in the dark.