[DnD] D&D thread of planning and discussing things so people can see how OCD we all are.

Originally Posted by Colonel FuckFaggot

I'm doing my thing and moving two south, actually, to cut off partial LOS from the devils.

We still need someone up front and I'd rather have it Garr than OUR PRIMARY HEALER

I didn't know they were right around the corner

i thought they were going around behind like you mentioned earlier

Additional Spam:
My plan is going to be as follows:
Spiritual Weapon on Gnasc
Healing Word on Glock
If we want to retreat, I'll use my last move action to the doorway and block.

I get the feeling those attacks were encounter-- one of a kind, so I don't expect them to be dealing that much damage for the rest of the fight, but we might need to bug out regardless.

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

The Spined Devil attacks look like to be an At Will type, just with a secondary ongoing poison attack. Gnasc's wand attack looks to be an at-will too.

Framarth's attacks seem to be an encounter type (Brimstone Hail seems to have a range of 15 squares, and an area effect of 2 squares). Note that there's two more where it came from.

Pang's made these guys much more lethal, with double damage. Manageable, if only he didn't throw so many at us. Making those Claw Fighters minions would go a long way to making the battle hard but not impossible.

We need to regroup, and here's what I think we should do:

Glock
Move: Stand up.
Major: Activate "Flute of the Dancing Satyr" and shift two squares south.
Minor: Warforged Resolved, with immediate saving throw
End of turn: Another saving throw. If it fails, burn Lucky Charm powers.

Garrmondo
Move: Shift one square north
Major: Attack one of the Devils, hit or miss: activate combat challenge
Minor: Drop longbow and re-equip sword

Gheth
Minor: Pick up your spear
Move: Shift 1 square East
Major: Spiritual weapon on Gnoll A (or alternatively Dragon Breath on all 3 Gnolls before you shift)

Gordok
Move: Stand up (or if you want to be adventurous, use Second Chance and hope Pang's dice suck)
Minor: Warlock's Curse on Gnoll A
Major: Eldritch Blast on Gnoll A

Flute of the Dancing Satyr allows a free shift action, so:
Gheth: Shift one square southeast
Gordok: Shift south one square
Glock: Shift south one square

Then:
Action Point Gheth or Garrmondo: Close and barricade the goddamn door.

Then we withdraw from this corridor to before the ice room, or take time to reposition and heal up before the gnolls smash the door in.

We have to take out the gnoll fighters first instead of targeting Gnasc/ From Pang's description, they have crazy speed and will hamper our retreat. So once they are taken out, we can escape more easily.

The only thing I'm not clear with is, does sustaining the conjured weapon require line of sight? We don't want to have it conk out after closing the door, right?

I was speaking idiomatically.

Glock has to make a saving throw or he's unconscious this round from poison, so I suggest delaying action on him (which I believe bypasses the save throw) and that will allow me to toss a heal his way and keep him conscious while he rolls for save on his turn.

If necessary I can action point for a healing strike against the gnoll, too, but we're going to run out of options quickly with all our heals disappearing. We may have to cut our losses entirely and retreat. If we decide to do that, I have the same AC as Garr and can make two attacks in one round with the spiritual weapon, so if nothing else I can hold them off while you guys retreat. I always saw this character going down in a blaze of glory, anyways.

Originally Posted by Zergrinch

The only thing I'm not clear with is, does sustaining the conjured weapon require line of sight? We don't want to have it conk out after closing the door, right?

I believe it does require line of sight, yes. But closing the door will require someone or something to keep it closed, presumably with a strength check. We wouldn't want to waste Murray now that he's a usable weapon, at least.

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?

Hmm? I thought you get damaged at the start of your turn, and can make a saving throw at the end of your turn (meaning he won't be unconscious till the start of his next turn)? Glock's current HP of 3 is already after this round's ongoing poison damage. If he uses Warforged Resolved, then he can roll twice, and add the lucky charm roll if he's terribly unlucky. He just needs to make a roll of 8 or more, so these are good odds.

We really can't retreat till we mess up the gnolls. If only Pang made them minions, it would go a long way to rebalancing this encounter

FELIPE NO

Originally Posted by Zergrinch

Hmm? I thought you get damaged at the start of your turn, and can make a saving throw at the end of your turn (meaning he won't be unconscious till the start of his next turn)? If he uses Warforged Resolved, then he can roll twice, and add the lucky charm roll if he's terribly unlucky. He just needs to make a roll of 8 or more, so these are good odds.

Glock is at 3 right now, meaning he'll be unconscious at the start of his turn. Death/0 HP supercedes any actions he might take, including save.

Quote:

We really can't retreat till we mess up the gnolls. If only Pang made them minions, it would go a long way to rebalancing this encounter

Well, we can if one of us blocks the way, or if anyone has any environmental ideas for blocking the door or bringing down the corridor on these guys.

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

I've been doing a separate count from Pang. 3 HP is AFTER deducting the 5 HP poison drain.

Unless you're saying the poison attack strikes immediately after the Devil hits him, and activates again at the start of his turn. Not very sure about that, in that case.

Jam it back in, in the dark.

Originally Posted by Zergrinch

Unless you're saying the poison attack strikes immediately after the Devil hits him, and activates again at the start of his turn. Not very sure about that, in that case.

Ah, I thought Pang was just reminding him for his upcoming turn. I didn't realize he had already taken it off. But no, I don't think it does. It wouldn't be fair to players to have DoTs hit twice per round.

What about the commoners? They aren't much good for fighting, but we might be able to encourage them to make a grab attempt on an enemy or two (probably not the spined devils) Plus, we could toss them our unused weapons, if they get a chance to group up. A commoner plinking someone with a crossbow or frost mace might be just what we need. If nothing else we might encourage the commoners to run. These guys are obviously motivated by money. Having their slaves waltz out the door is a great diversion for us.

How ya doing, buddy?

The commoners are at the bottom of a pit, and there seems to be no way out of it. I doubt they can be of much use unless we make it into the room.

Okay, I think here's the remaining plan for our repositioning/retreat:

Garrmondo should close the door and hold it shut, long enough to hopefully block the ranged attacks and for us to make our escape into the chapel. To minimize chances of said door being smashed before the devils make their move, I propose that Garr delays his move until after the minions, right before Gordok.

Advantages:
The duergar recruit will not be able to get a chance to damage the door.
I get a free shot at it, and have a 50% chance of dropping it.

Disadvantages:
Garr currently has 20 HP left. If my attack misses, he might get hit. And it may not be pretty (although Pang explicitly said he's not changing the number of damage dice for minions.)

Here's the sequence of events I am aiming for:

1. Duergar recruit moves right next to Garr, gets shot at by my stance, and dies.
2. Garr activates second wind, closes the door, and keeps it closed. He has a move action which could be used to move one square south - to take cover from Devils. He's still adjacent to the door and hopefully Pang would allow the door to remain shut.
3. Pang will either do an opposed strength check, or will have Gnoll A bash the door in. Of course I am hoping that the door remains well and truly shut.
4. Gordok uses his move action to stand up, and exchanges a standard for a move action to run to the chapel. He might want to keep "Roar of Terror" ready, so perhaps the minor can be used to polymorph.
5. Both Devils attack the door but fail to break it.
6. Cal double-runs all the way back into the chapel (14 squares - still within range!)
7. Gnasc shoots at the door but fails to break it.
8. Framarth will try to place either Brimstone Hail (knocks target prone) or Vile Fumes (blinds target) at around B17. But he fails because door is blocking his vision.
9. Everyone retreats to the chapel, Garr bringing up the rear.

There are many points of failure in this sequence (#3, #5, and #7). But I'm hoping it will buy us enough damage-free time to regroup.

Once in the chapel, we should be in a better position to use powers that damage multiple enemies, like Dragon Breath, Tune of Ice and Wind, Roar of Terror. Keep Tundra Wind in reserve in case we are pushed back all the way to the bridge

Backup Plans:

1. If Recruit doesn't die, Garr may have to eat his attack, proceed as normal.
2. If Recruit makes it past the door, someone action-points to kill it (most logically Gordok with an Eldritch Blast).
3. If Door is breached before my turn, I will burn Split the Tree and activate Poisoned Weapon on Framarth. He won't be affected by 5 ongoing poison but he will be weakened.
4. If Door is breached by Gnasc, then Framarth gets another area attack. We are positioned out of sight, so here's hoping Pang cuts us a break (worst case scenario, the attack will hit Gheth, Glock, and Garr, and knock the last two unconscious or dead).

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

And now the door can't be shut because there's a dwarf in the way.

Garr should probably delay one further so Acer can zap the damn thing.

Now, instead of a minion being stuck at the end of the corridor, weaker than a gnoll pounding on it, we will have a open space for the gnoll to move in and bash it.

Why did you make these last second changes?

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

Well you see, I...

What I wanted to do was...

Dangit, you got me. I didn't anticipate this, actually. Sorry!

I was speaking idiomatically.

LET'S BRING ON THOSE DICE, NIGGA. FUCK YEAH.



LET'S ROCK

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?

Gordok will have to go first and vaporize him with Eldritch Blast.

You're currently on a longbow so your options are limited. Otherwise you could do Tide of Iron or Shield Bash. Or, maybe can you do Shield Bash with your fist? Or specify that you don't want to damage him, and just want to knock him prone or whatever.

Either way, one action point must be spent, since you'll need to activate Second Wind in this round

FELIPE NO

From an obstacle standpoint, corpses and unconscious PCs don't interfere with move actions, so I don't see why the door should pose a problem. I think Skills is right, Garr, we just need one more delay and then hopefully Acer can kill the one in the way.

Of course, we probably need a contingency plan should Acer miss...

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

+6 to hit vs. reflex of 14, meaning rolls of 8 and over will succeed.

I like them odds (65% in our favor)!

Jam it back in, in the dark.

I'm thinking of delaying my turn after Gnasc but before Framarth. It will give me the tactical flexibility of reacting to these heavy hitters as necessary. However, this will also give Pang the ability to coordinate attacks with the devils, gnolls, and Gnasc. If we can get in between them as well, it may help us adjust better.

(Yeah, I'm basically suggesting a delay for Gordok and Garrmondo as well. What say you?)

There's nowhere I can't reach.

Yeah, that's not happening this turn.

At all.

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

We have one heal left between both of us, Zerg. Let's see if we can kite them for a bit, at least.

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

That we have to spend on Acer.

Which I'll do.

I really have no idea how else we want to play it.

I was speaking idiomatically.

Acer should activate Second Chance (immediate interrupt) to force Framarth to reroll. With luck, he won't even get hit for 24 HP damage.

If that still knocks him silly, then well, either Gordy or Garr will be casualties this battle

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?

Pang says I can't use Second Chance because my readied action already cancels god damn anything after it this round.

FELIPE NO

10 Dice Rolls Trying out something 10

Wow, that sucks. I guess that's why readied actions aren't used that much

How ya doing, buddy?

Pre-rolling out the ones, eh?

Jam it back in, in the dark.

5 Dice Rolls Let's Roll the 1s out E

It's a sound D&D Strategy!

Anyway, to business.

____________________

Whoever's left will be sure to level up after this battle.

I'm currently debating whether I should take the feat "Mark of Making". This basically allows me to make all sorts of magical items at 2 + my level, freeing us from depending on merchant availability for the magic stuff we want to buy.

However, a couple of the people here already have "Ritual Caster" feat. If you plan to buy the "Enchant Magic Items" ritual (175GP), then there is no need for me to take the feat.

So, here's a question. Anybody in the current party (and Zeph as well) plan to buy this ritual?

There's nowhere I can't reach.

I will try my best to drop the Devil on my turn, leaving just Framarth.

We could play this out, four (or five - if we revive Gordy) against one, but is there anyone in favor of diplomacy, as in asking Framarth to surrender and we don't kill him? He can always claim to Murkelmor that after a horrible battle resulting in the deaths of his henchmen, Gnasc took us and the slaves, and refused to pay him jack shit.

I mean, I'm all for ending the encounter nao, freeing the slaves, and booking the hell out of the Horned Hold. Since we're in no condition whatsoever to take on Murkelmor, even after a short rest.

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

Originally Posted by packrat

Pre-rolling out the ones, eh?

Ha ha, I used to have a couple of lucky d6's which came up five or six nine times out of ten. I also had a pair that would roll doubles all the time which were great for levelling Blood Bowl players but useless for fouling. I don't believe it's possible to own more than one of any shaped dice and not ascribe certain characteristics to them.

Additional Spam:

Originally Posted by Zergrinch

So, here's a question. Anybody in the current party (and Zeph as well) plan to buy this ritual?

If you check back to the opening post of the quest, the guy who gave it to you said he'd chuck in some rituals as part of the payment so don't go buying any just yet.

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