Aubrey's Other Eberron Campaign - The Unbinding (Inactive)

Game Master Aubrey the Malformed

Good point. Of course, you've got to remember to make the notes. In my youthful face to face games that took 15 minutes at the end of a session. Via PbP, I am far less good about it, because I am squeezing posts in around RL.

Still here, not being in game yet is actually a good thing, work has me swamped.

I was wondering, glad you are hanging on. The PCs refuse to lie down and let the plot continue.

I'm ready! If by 'plot continue' you mean 'run away'.

Here's my thought. As it is, we're getting picked apart, and we're already split up a little bit.

I think trying to cut straight through will just get us cut to ribbons ... especially since they seem to be able to drop at least one person—who the rest of us will have to stop, pick up, then continue—each round.

So we use the lizard folk among us to take that eastern tower. Assuming the can get in the front doors .. which I'm really not sure how to anticipate or easily get around, they will get cover from the archers while they fight their way up to that closer ballista tower. Once on top, Ashshar can go to town returning archer fire with those on the other towers while Vaard tries to destroy the ballista.

That leaves those of us in the killing field to figure out what to do. Since walking through our own web spell is practically suicide, it's either go with the lizard folk, retreat to cover, or try to go around the left side of this closest tower.

I figure those of you with ranged power can retreat to cover while Cole tries to break around the left side of this tower. Depending on how the situation goes, he can break for that tower's doors to try his own ascent to the top (though eh has nothing helpful to do once up there but clear it of archers ... at which point he's in danger of being 100% isolated from the group) or cut for the other ballista tower.

I'm open to suggestions but basically, we gotta get on the same page and work together. Using Cole as the meatshield while the rest of you try to pick apart their snipers and casters seems a good place to start.

I thought by 'plot continue' he meant 'stay down'. :(

Well, i can make myself invisible for a few minutes and try to sneak aboard and hijack the airship. Likely suicide even if i were at full HP, but that's all i have in the way of ideas.

Well here is my idea, wich doesn't differ that much from Coles.

Web is a dismissable spell, if nalverren does that, we have a pretty clear path. Then we take the tower that has the arcane ballista. Cole and skelly are in pretty good shape, so they could handle the door to use as a bottleneck when the enemy has to come into melee with us. The rest could handle things up top, and IF we are lucky we could bluff the arcane ballista to our side and let it cause havoc among the enemy.

The idea is that it is the archers that are ruining our day, so lets limit them as much as we can. I much prefer our chances in melee combat than this. There is also the possibility that once we have regroupped we can make a run for it if opportunity presents itself.

There is of coarse the option of retreating, wich at this point might not be such a bad idea. That would mean however that we need to start a war of attrition against these people, slowly cutting down their numbers.

If we want the web gone, let me know. I won't dismiss it outright, because it is still holding those two dudes. one looks like he will get out on his next move action, but i have a flaming sphere getting powered up over here so i will probably bowl it right through the web to open a path for you all plus the fire traversing the web that isn't yet destroyed by that might do a d6 of fire to the other dude in the web, whereas your path should be clear of fire at that time.

I think it is make it or break it time now. If we move further in we are commited come hell or high water. If we wanna retreat now is pretty much the last chance. And to be honest it doesn't look like such a bad idea.

-Wultram and Nalverren are both one volley away from going down again.
-Ashshar is at about half hp
-Cole and Skelly are pretty good.
-Eshshet is even worse off than Nalverren and wultram.
-Vaard is looking good but somewhat isolated.
-Rehil ain't bad but a bit hurt.

I would expect 3-4 people down if we just would make a run for the airship so that is not going to work. So either retreat or establish a choke point/stronghold in one of the towers. So far this has been pretty major failure, we have taken out a handful while we have been essentially sitting ducks for multiple rounds. I personally am not sure wich tactic we should go for. So chime in people. Or if anyone has any other ideas. At least would be good to know if we are going to press on or leg it.

I'm glad you are all 'enjoying' the combat - nice to see lots of discussion.

That said, Nalverren is actually unconscious at the moment. EDIT: Ah, not anymore.

If we want the web gone, let me know. I won't dismiss it outright, because it is still holding those two dudes. one looks like he will get out on his next move action, but i have a flaming sphere getting powered up over here so i will probably bowl it right through the web to open a path for you all plus the fire traversing the web that isn't yet destroyed by that might do a d6 of fire to the other dude in the web, whereas your path should be clear of fire at that time.

I'm less concerned about removing the web right now. It's one of the few things working in our favor currently. The Flame Ball could either be put up on the tower (in case those folks up there are able to find the loose arrow in the dark and simply throw it off the tower) or put it on those two Warforged bottlenecking us on the left side of that same tower.

Also, i'm kicking myself for ever pulling my shield out. Hammer would be so much better right now, but dropping both shield and longspear to get it out makes me sad (not to mention missing out on a full attack).

... sigh. Gots no one to blame but myself. :/

Wait, you're sporting the long spear and shield?

~facepalm~

I was wondering why you suddenly favored slam attacks.

I am aware, but darkness went up before the enemy moved to those positions, so Otto would not be aware.

Oh! I was only meta-thinking tactically on the map. Good IC catch!

Ayup. And once things went to crap in the middle of the field, I"ve been looking for a "good" time to swap. I'm just gonna have to bite the bulet, methinks.

I think it is make it or break it time now. If we move further in we are commited come hell or high water. If we wanna retreat now is pretty much the last chance. And to be honest it doesn't look like such a bad idea.

-Wultram and Nalverren are both one volley away from going down again.
-Ashshar is at about half hp
-Cole and Skelly are pretty good.
-Eshshet is even worse off than Nalverren and wultram.
-Vaard is looking good but somewhat isolated.
-Rehil ain't bad but a bit hurt.

I would expect 3-4 people down if we just would make a run for the airship so that is not going to work. So either retreat or establish a choke point/stronghold in one of the towers. So far this has been pretty major failure, we have taken out a handful while we have been essentially sitting ducks for multiple rounds. I personally am not sure wich tactic we should go for. So chime in people. Or if anyone has any other ideas. At least would be good to know if we are going to press on or leg it.

It's been my plan to run ever since we started this fight, but I will support the group decision to the best of my ability.

Before we start again with Rehil, Aubrey gets:
W6, A, C1 and Arcane Ballista 4-
W1-5 3

I suggest we see how badly we fare. Then decide.

Works for me.

I hate having studded leather, especially in this encounter I have taken something like 70 damage.

I say we retreat, this fight is a lost cause. Should have just taken off when the enemy managed to spot us. Well assuming we survive at least now we know level of opposition we are up against.

So Wultram is alive, but at 0? Can your skelly carry you back to the cover of trees? (or provide cover while you limp back?)

Rehil, should I send Cole over to help you retreat? (as in, aborb fire while you disappear into the forest?

Lizard folk, can you guys retreat back to the water and swim to a safe place to make it back to camp?

And are people waiting for Cole to waffle yet another time and order the retreat? Cause once they clear that Darkness from the tower, we're done with our very brief reprieve.

Wultram can just cast false life and then move. As with 0hp you only get 1 action anyway so the movement distance will be the same either way.

Skeleton can haul his ass if need be, skellys all gear consists of a longbow and some arrows and it has 16str so wultram even with his stuff is not gonna go over heavy load.

Regarding the retreat.

1) Rehil needs to hold out this round(as he already went), he has decent amount of HP left so he should have a decent chance.
2) Lizardfolk do not have a lot of people around, so if they can make it to the water they can dive and be safe from arrows. Eshshet might not make it due to his low hp, but if Vaard can use that ability again to grant extra move actions it is possible.
3) Cole is in melee, but he has enough HP to just eat the AoOs if needed.(be that to run or cover Rehil)
4) Skeleton can move to the edge of forest and take a pot shot at someone to ease the escape and act as a guard there, His DR makes arrows less of a concern.
5) Otto will take care of nalverren, he is high on the initiative so he should essentially make the escape same time as Rehil does, assming he doesn't go down again. If that happens we have freed people to drag him if need be.

Then we just high tail it out of here. Vast majority is on the towers, they won't get down soon enough to pursue effectively. If some do catch us it won't be the full force of the camp.

Hey, Cole told me to go.

The nearest tower is blacked out. If he doesn't go down, Rehil should be able to withdraw into the trees next round without taking too much fire.

You're still engaged in melee with one to three 'forged. It's probably OK for Cole to look to himself and the casters.

Is Nalverren conscious? His last post said not. His status line is -4, but the post was before Otto's last channel.

Hey all. I'm in the middle of moving. Bot me as necessary. Should be back up to regular posting Tuesday.

I shall be on holiday from Friday for two weeks. I doubt I will have any meaningful internet access during that time.

Thanks for taking my turn yesterday, Rehil. I should be back in the saddle now.

Sure. I'm glad it wasn't useless. I was trying to compromise between plan run away and Cole's determination to be the last one out.

Yah, I was going to bolt this round, anyway ... and you rolled me a crit! How can I complain about that?

Still here, just letting the GM know I'm around. :)

Yes, sorry, the attack was quite involved, and now it's coming to an end I'm going on holiday for two weeks. I'll try and keep things moving, but don't expect much while I am away.

Okay, just don't die while you are away. Dying is bad. Oh, and enjoy yourself too:)

I'll try my best. On both counts.

Otto's Remaining Memorized Spells
3 (1+1+1, DC 16): xx, xx// tongues
2 (2+1+1, DC 15): xx, silence, cure moderate wounds + bless weapon // enthrall
1 (3+1+1, DC 14): remove fear, cure light wounds, divine favor, bless + xx // command
0 (4, DC 13): detect magic, light, spark, purify food and drink

Channels: 3/5 remain Inspire Courage: 11/14 remain

HP 40/51

Rehil HP 30/44

That was for the previous day? If so, let's have him burn the rest of his resources getting the party back up to as close to full as possible.

Should we re-prep him for this new day?

Also, since we're now botting Otto, does that make him our OTTO-BOT?

OTTOBOTS, ROLL OUT!

Only if you are Coletimus Prime. Also, Ashshar would very much like some healing. What with being at 29 hp and such.

Ottobots!

Emissary, does that 29 include the two channels (9 hp) from my post 3 hours ago? That was meant for everyone. Otto gathers the whole crew and shares the wealth before bedtime. Even so that leaves you down a bit.

Otto's got 1 channel remaining after those 2, and the cure spells.

Wultram was at 0hp(so 9 now) essentially since the false life will wear off during the night. So yeah some adtional healing would be needed.

Luckily clerics have the spontaneous change of slots for cures.

To help how to use those things.

CLW: 1d8+5, 6-13 (9.5 avg)
CMW: 2d8+5, 7-21(14 avg)
CSW: 3d8+5, 8-29(18.5 avg)

Nice work distributing Otto's cures, BC.

Are we agreed that a daylight attack is just a bad idea?

If the airship doesn't depart by nightfall will we make another try at it? If so is the plan to stay in one group sneak as close as possible, then storm the ship if it looks possible?

Or will we finally get to meet mdt's PC?

Speaking of which --

Hi, mdt.

I can't remember if I welcomed you aboard already or not. I'm pretty sure that Aubrey's going to work you in pretty quickly after he gets back. Thanks for your patience. This game is worth it though. Aubrey's putting the screws to the party; that last long combat is a good example that he pulls no punches. At various points we've been chased by monsters, used as political pawns by lizardfolk, starved of resources, and overshadowed by Wultram's skeleton. Our victories consist of mostly of survival. But it's been great fun.

I will confess that I peeked at your spoiler. I hope your PC is going to be able to provide us some background and context.

Eventually, although language problems may mean it's not a fast transition of knowledge.

I don't mind hard games. I do have a problem with wild swings of difficulty in games. Example would be a game I was in where we were attacking a base, and the first 10 people were relatively easy kills, did a consistent level of damage (about 1/6th our HP per hit, etc).

Then the 'big boss' comes out, looking exactly like everyone else, and does 75% of our HP in one hit, with no warning. Oh, and he got two hits a turn, and I got hit twice in the first round he attacked and instant killed.

We'd separated due to the lower level of the enemies in order to clean things up faster, and so half the party got slaughtered, then the GM said it was our fault for splitting up, and he just followed the AP (then admitted he'd rebuilt the boss because the original build was 'stupid', read not min-maxed, which was probably by design to keep the AP survivable).

Aubrey's very good on balance IMO. Encounters often have some kind of twist that makes them more interesting.

yeah, he is very good at running the game. i've been in one of his other games for 4 yrs now and it was running well before i joined it

Considering they will likely have at least most of their people concentrated on the airship, I would say it is pretty unwise plan. I did not particularly enjoy being a pin cushion last time and this time there would be even more people with LOS, not to mention the juggernauts will probably return to base.

well if they are truly pulling out, everyone should be on the airship. that is why, in absence of a better plan, i suggest we get on the ballistae (if they are still there) and gun the ship down. i say f!@# it, if i cant fly outta here, then they shouldn't be able to either.

also maybe magically notify Bokehn so he could try to arrange an intercept (though that is a looooong shot)

Why wouldn't they take the ballista with them? They are arcane ballistas those can move. Even if it wasn't it isn't that difficult to disassemble and sieage weapons are expensive so no reason to leave it behind.

yeah i wasnt sure, depends on their cargo, if they plan on coming back in the future and want to defend the site, etc.

Considering they will likely have at least most of their people concentrated on the airship, I would say it is pretty unwise plan. I did not particularly enjoy being a pin cushion last time and this time there would be even more people with LOS, not to mention the juggernauts will probably return to base.

Well the plan is to take a look and if we see a weakness -- attack.

I do agree that because of the likely concentration of force, we will not have opportunity to actually launch an attack.

And if Aubrey has them leave before sundown, it's a moot point.

I'm back but I've got a few issues, so I may not be updating all of the games immediately. Sorry about that, hopefully back to normal soon.

Welcome back. Hope your issues resolve quickly and painlessly.

Okay. Dealing with issues is important.

I'm not even going to joke about the number of your issues.

Welcome back, Aubrey, and good luck.