Aubrey's Eberron campaign. (Inactive)

Game Master Aubrey the Malformed

LB is ok to be the centre of the invisibility sphere; he will cast weapon of awe on his greatsword and Ironskin on himself (both last minutes / level, so duration should be ok).

Rod will cast bull’s strength on Lightbringer and bless on the group.

"Flame bless us all. Now ... let's go."

As a general plan, Gil heads for the ammo dump while we aim for the catapult at J3. If the ammo goes off, it might take care of the H4 catapult by itself.

"Be somewhat quiet, folks. We don't want to ruin Gil's surprise, do we?"

Aid another checks to Aid Another for Stealth checks. Gil's gonna hafta take care of herself.

Janosz stealth: 1d20 + 27 ⇒ (16) + 27 = 43
Aid Another Lightbringer stealth: 1d20 + 27 ⇒ (7) + 27 = 34
Aid Another Kazadar stealth: 1d20 + 27 ⇒ (10) + 27 = 37
Aid Another Ezreal stealth: 1d20 + 27 ⇒ (13) + 27 = 40
Aid Another Rodergo stealth: 1d20 + 27 ⇒ (12) + 27 = 39
Aid Another Haladon stealth: 1d20 + 27 ⇒ (14) + 27 = 41

I will do Resist Energy, for sure, but the rest of my good buffs are rnd/lvl. I'm hoping to pull off using a hero point for a quick prayer to swap some spells for something more useful. i'm not sure clerics get a lot of min/lvl buffs or stellar attack spells that would be useful here. also i am really hoping my greater dispel will work out awesomely. clerics have some good CC spells i think.

Clerics have silence, if you want to improve the stealth of the team. Not sure of duration, though. Might be better on the enemy, actually, as a debuff.

Stealth: 1d20 + 15 ⇒ (20) + 15 = 35

I've got the Battle Blessing feat so most of my spellcasting are swift castings. I'll wait until we've closed before casting a spell.

However, I'm going to have to wait before using my divine bond to empower my sword. (I'm thinking of flaming burst and keen.) An invisible light shining will probably give us away.

Stealth: 1d20 - 5 ⇒ (10) - 5 = 5

As Gil is headed toward the ammo dump and command post, she will be looking to see what form the command post takes - open air, tent, temporary structure?

Spellcraft: 1d20 + 22 ⇒ (19) + 22 = 41 to determine if Gil knows if Dominate Person would work on a warforged titan

After briefly clarifying enemy positions with Lightbringer Ezreal nods, "Change of plans. Gil get into position as quickly as possible while we draw attention away from you. We will teleport past their trenches."

Spike lined trenches with tight enemy lines complicates our plan of sneaking by foot.
On the fourth round Gil casts haste, we wait.
5th round, Gil double moves. Ez casts mirror image.
6th round, Gil double moves. Ez casts displacement.
7th round, the rest of us teleport directly to the command post.

This leaves us basically stuck in the Mournland overnight, and with an army between us and retreating to the castle, but hey, we're adventurer's right?
It will take Gil 3.75 rounds to cover the distance to her target. We give her a 2 round lead. We raise a ruckus for 2 rounds before she is in position to provide the distraction. We all try not to die.

well, still waiting on the answer about a hero point to swap some spells. i could maybe get us Communal Airwalk, Shield of Darkness on myself, Greater Stunning Barrier on myself, Ironskin on myself.

We technically have action points, not hero points. Hero points are stronger, but you get fewer per level. Like 3 instead of the 11 we have now.

ah yes action points. Honestly i just hoard them in every game but now seemed like a good time to use them if i can make up for my mistake of not changing what spells i prepare since gath's mausoleum

Yeah, not too keen on using the Action Points to swap out spells. They are intended to be used in moments of crisis, to give you a boost just when you really need it, not to correct "errors" in preparation. If you want to swap some spells and just didn't change your load out due to real-life time pressure, the DM will graciously give you leave to do so without touching your action points. However, bear in mind that your intention was to grab LB and split, not relieve the castle siege, so a load-out for that would be appreciated rather than something perfect for the situation you find yourself in now would be appreciated.

ah, then i guess only communal airwalk would have made sense, unless Ez gathered that there was definitely some conflict before we left. dont have time to go back and re-read at this second

OK, so is there a change to the plan on how to the catapults based on Kaz's changed spell choices?

Not for Gil.

I think we should still teleport. Airwalking at dwarven walking speed, double moving, hasted (20x2)x2 we have 80 ft/round. 12 rounds to cover 900 feet. Haste expires as we arrive.

Airwalk gives us another group retreat tactic.

Extended haste, but I agree. Being able to air walk once you are in combat is not a complete waste, however. Instant high ground, every time?

Well, if you guys want to have it running as we go in it does allow for Janosz to fire from above and it isn't necessary to huddle everyone up for a group touch to retreat. Also high ground bonus as Gil points out. Kaz, make the call and let's roll.
Lets teleport in regardless for the quickness and assured surprise though.

as for the plan, all Kaz will change for the non-Gil group is that we can get to them without having to fight our way there. getting back is another story. Kaz's normal speed is 30ft/turn so no worries there.

Heh - can you teleport in to about fifteen feet above and behind the leaders? It's just a thought.

Heh - can you teleport in to about fifteen feet above and behind the leaders? It's just a thought.

possible, but then no teleportation out.

Ok. Airwalk in then and save the teleport. 7.5 rounds to arrive with everyone at 30 ft base and hasted. 11.5 if LB is at 20 with heavy armor.

Yeah, LB is speed 20 prior to haste etc.

Sounds good. I like the idea of teleporting in, but it is probably best saved for making a hurried escape.

OK, so the plan is to Airwalk in invisibly? Map incoming.

Kazadar counterproposes airwalking over the defenders in order to reserve the teleportation ritual for escape and Ezreal concurs. "Whenever you are ready."

Finally, yes. So Gil can hold for our distraction or start before we arrive.

She will leave with the rest, but her speed is greater, so she should be in position before they start knocking heads.

The adventurers set off invisibly across the battlefield. They grow closer to the enemy siege lines, protected by their huge shards of glass, Gil moving ahead under the influence of her greater manoeuvrability.

Perception checks, DC 15 (-10 penalty to that roll if you are not Gil):

Perception DC 25: 1d20 + 27 ⇒ (12) + 27 = 39

"See those ballistas? They can clearly see invisible things - Gil is being targeted right now."

Initiative: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (9) + 7 = 16

"Then we are all in trouble. Get ready for everything to go wrong at the same time."

Init: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (1) + 3 = 4

Perception: 1d20 + 16 ⇒ (13) + 16 = 29

Initiative: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (19) + 4 = 23

init: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (7) + 3 = 10

Kazadar speaks in a low tone to the others, "Time for final spells?"

Telepathic Bond: "Damn it. Why would the Lord of Blades build a siege engine for his warforged when he could build a siege engine who is a warforged. I never even considered the possibility."

Perception: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (2) + 1 = 3
Initiative: 1d20 ⇒ 5

"No battleplan - of ours - ever survives contact with the enemy," Lightbringer concurs with Ezreal over the telepathic bond. "I had not seen the ballista-forged. We will need to take them out first."

Kazadar speaks in a low tone to the others, "Time for final spells?"

Perception: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (1) + 6 = 7

“I suspect so my friend – what are you packing?”

Can we get some idea of where the self-loading ballista are located, at least in the upper left quadrant of the map? I'm not certain what the range of such would be, but I suspect those are the ones I am personally most concerned with.

Telepathic Bond: "Quite clever. We'll need to survive and report it to our respective nations. They'll need to be warned that the Lord of Blades has intelligent siege engines if they ever encounter his warforged."

Init: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (13) + 1 = 14

"We'll need to survive and report it to our respective nations."

"Did you just add surviving to your list of priorities in this encounter?!"

Init: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (1) + 4 = 5
Consistently the slowest wizard of Khorvaire since 2007. ;)

He's got a lot to think about, it's distracting.

Working on the map. Hopefully the other games can entertain you while I work on this big and complex encounter I inadvertently dreamt up.

OK, here is one very long-delayed map. I can only apologise, like I always have to, for my tardiness.

Light blue is the glass palisade. The rest are labelled. You are swooping in from about row 40. Please place yourselves as seems appropriate based on the above.

LB and Haladon in the vanguard, Kaz and Janosz on our flanks, and Rodergo covering our rear. The spellcasters flying. How does that look?

We should have been heading to catapult 1 but our direction could change with the arcane ballista. Also, we need to be close to each other for the invisibility sphere.

I will have to look at it on a computer. My phone won't scroll down far enough to see our starting point.

Wasn't Gil the only one heading to this area and we were heading to the artificer's tent further down and to the right? Or is that command post his spot?

I am content to be placed by our party's strategist.

I believe the plan was that Gil was headed towards the catapult command post (where we expect the artificer to be) and ammo dump, NOT the purple command post (which is not shown on the detailed map) – this is where we expect Darkheart to be (in case there is any confusion on that front). Given the detail on the tactical map, it probably makes most sense for the rest of us to be heading towards catapult 1; that way we have the bulk of the enemy forces (including any reinforcements sent from the overall command tent) on our right flank, rather than roughly split over both flanks as they would be if we head towards catapult 2.

LB will be in about N40. Assuming he is the target of the invisibility sphere, everyone but Gil should be within 10 feet of him. We may need to delay to sync our initiatives to stay within the sphere. Rod will be at N41.

Sorry, the purple command post is where the artificer is, Darkheart's commeand post isn't on this map.

O40 for Haladon

Init:
Gil 23
Rodergo 19
Janosz 16
Haladon 14
Kazadar 10
Ez 5+
Lightbringer 5