You can move through any enemies space by doing an Acrobatics check at 5+CMD. I am not sure I would not recommend putting yourself behind it in case more is coming.
We do have limited healing. If everyone else can target it from ranged we can limit damage by having me fight defensively and moving my AC to 31. That should make it hard to hit me. It may get crafty in getting around me, but if its a dumb troll and just attacks whats in front of it that would maybe cut down on resources we need to expend.
But I will take a 5 ft step back if you prefer Ahran.
A character who has not yet acted during a combat is flat-footed, unable to react normally to the situation. A flat-footed character loses his Dexterity bonus to AC and Combat Maneuver Defense (CMD) (if any) and cannot make attacks of opportunity, unless he has the Combat Reflexes feat or Uncanny Dodge class ability.
So, yeah. It's flatfooted.
You can’t move through a square occupied by an opponent unless the opponent is helpless.
So, no. Except:
In addition, you can move through a threatened square without provoking an attack of opportunity from an enemy by using Acrobatics. When moving in this way, you move at half speed. You can move at full speed by increasing the DC of the check by 10. You cannot use Acrobatics to move past foes if your speed is reduced due to carrying a medium or heavy load or wearing medium or heavy armor. If an ability allows you to move at full speed under such conditions, you can use Acrobatics to move past foes. You can use Acrobatics in this way while prone, but doing so requires a full-round action to move 5 feet, and the DC is increased by 5. If you attempt to move through an enemy’s space and fail the check, you lose the move action and provoke an attack of opportunity.
Move through an enemy’s space: DC (5 + Opponent’s Combat Maneuver Defense)
So, if you are not in Medium or Heavy armor, you can try to use acrobatics to get through. Since he is flatfooted, failure only means you don't move unless he has Combat Reflexes or Uncanny Dodge.
We still haven't found Hargulka, who is presumably cowering in fear behind all of the cannon fodder and this big ugly troll. If we can get him to come out, I can start lobbing fireballs to catch this troll and Hargulka.
Does anyone want to try taunting Hargulka to come out and stop hiding?
Because more trolls at once equals more fun?
My good friend (also named Scott) once derived what he called "The Nolan Formula": One troll per PC, plus two. I think they might have been slightly higher level.
I wasn't sure if the entering of combat was the creature's first round, or combat doesn't start until it's already wandered up. (Sounds like it isn't.) It does seem strange that having roared and run right up to us, it is still flat-footed so we can dance around it and tweak its nose without risk. (My thinking is that when both sides are aware combat is imminent and nobody is invisible, nobody should count as flat-footed, since nobody is caught unawares.) But since those are the rules, and they benefit us, I won't complain. ;)
I was thinking that, since it goes last, Ahran can walk behind it without provoking an AoO and someone else can go to one side. That way it is trapped as it can't really pass us, so won't be able to escape the Flaming Sphere. Between that and flanking/sneak attacks, it would probably be down in a round or two.
The alternative being that we withdraw back and then surround it. But in that case it's moved so at least one of us takes an AoO as we go in.
Having posted all that: Ahran has Acrobatics +6 so probably can't reliably make the required roll to beat its CMD. In that case, we withdraw I suppose?
Flaming Sphere goes away at start of this turn - and it was able to avoid it before.
Fire elemental still has several turns to run, so it can soak at least one AoO (if troll moves away) and provide flanking for someone.
If someone goes behind this troll, no Fireballs from Piotr ...
If we do have to retreat, we need to take time to scrawl graffiti / crude drawings on the walls of Hargulka hiding behind the other trolls like a <insert small humanoid that lives in holes in the ground>. That depends on what would be more insulting to Hargulka ... halfling, gnome, kobold, mite ... take your pick.
Ok then, moving Ahran!
Are we letting the troll advance into this chamber?
If so, fire elemental will stay where it is and let it come forward. Else, the elemental will advance while troll is flat-footed and engage.
Damn, that rock troll looks nasty. Imagine that one full size at Gen Con.
Yeah, I think we try to pull it into the room. Trolls ain't known for their smarts.
If we do have to retreat, we need to take time to scrawl graffiti / crude drawings on the walls of Hargulka hiding behind the other trolls like a <insert small humanoid that lives in holes in the ground>. That depends on what would be more insulting to Hargulka ... halfling, gnome, kobold, mite ... take your pick.
Hargulka is doing the same thing in the ruins of the Hart's Rest in Stagfell right now.
*shakes fist*
I will heading out on vacation starting Saturday, July 15. I won't be able to post during that week until I return home on July 22.
Have fun!
I know you said we might not all make out of this...but I didn't think you were talking about Alister!
Alright, let's review the replacement character ideas...
Ahran's on it!
Long day. Taking a break. Will get back at it tomorrow.
Hargulka is on the floor laughing uncontrollably. Can Ahran move through his square freely, or does it still require an Acrobatics check vs. CMD?
No. To do so without a check, the target must be helpless and the text of hideous laughter specifically says that he is not helpless.
Ok. I will put my thinking cap on and post later!
Piotr is almost tapped out of spells. One more Fireball and two Magic Missiles.
We may not have three rounds if Hargulka gets back up! ;)
(Well I guess he can't take us all down in three rounds, although if his mysterious ally shows themselves again it could be another matter.)
(Probably out of touch for the next few days, need to deal with some things here.)
Loot:
- Dusty Rose Prism Ioun Stone
- Unknown necklace
- +1 large hide armor
- +1 darkwood thundering morningstar
- Amulet of natural armor +2
- Exotic wood statue of dragon – 250 gp
- Gold necklace – 625 gp
- Minor jewelry – 1500 gp
- 5 medium quality Gemstones – 625 gp
- 3 bottles of fine wine – 45 gp
- Silver tankard – 65 gp
- 1852 cp
- 4438 sp
- 815 gp
I say we give the ioun stone and amulet to Ahran for now. Then, we need to get him some better armor (magic breastplate) and a magic sword.
Throat-punched by a 3-year old
My 3-year old son head-butted me directly in the Adam's apple. I was sure he'd broken the hyoid bone, but since I can now talk I'm pretty sure he just gave it an almighty good whack. It's still painful 24 hours later.
Morale of the story: get them before they get you.
Ouch!
Get that kid into martial arts soon and let him break some boards instead of you!
Loot:
- Dusty Rose Prism Ioun Stone
- Necklace of Fireballs (2x4d6, 2x2d6)
- +1 ring of protection (special item)
- +1 large hide armor
- +1 darkwood thundering morningstar
- Amulet of natural armor +2
- Exotic wood statue of dragon – 250 gp
- Gold necklace – 625 gp
- Minor jewelry – 1500 gp
- 5 medium quality Gemstones – 625 gp
- 3 bottles of fine wine – 45 gp
- Silver tankard – 65 gp
- 1852 cp
- 4438 sp
- 815 gp
Should we immediately track down the owlbear while its trail is fresh?
We need to deal with the fallen and any traps or lingering trolls first.
I'm off to GenCon in the morning. I'll see you fine folks on Monday!
Except for those of you I'm seeing at GenCon!
I'll probably check in pretty frequently, actually, so feel free to carry on.
Jamey and I are also headed out for Indy in the morning. See you there, i hope!
We shouldn't have any trouble posting throughout the weekend.
Nick: I don't have your phone number. I'm sending you an email.
In the aftermath of the Battle of Stagfell and the horrific carnage caused by the Beast of Stagfell, the population of Stagfell and the Sword Marches has plummeted, creating some problems and solving others.
Initial Treasury: 7 BP
UPKEEP PHASE
Special: The heroes of the Sword Marches recover 4 BP from the trolls' lair, raising the treasury to 11 BP.
Step 1—Determine Kingdom Stability: . Since this failed by more than 5, Unrest increases by points to 17.
Step 2—Pay Consumption: Your quarterly holiday edict costs you Consumption, giving you a total cost of 4 and leaving your Treasury with 7 BP.
Step 3—Fill Vacant Magic Item Slots: n/a
Step 4—Modify Unrest: With Akiros Ismort dead, no one holds the position of Royal Enforcer. However, with the threat of the trolls ended, Unrest drops points to 7.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
EDICT PHASE
Step 1—Assign Leadership:
Step 2—Claim and Abandon Hexes:
Step 3—Build Terrain Improvements:
Step 4—Create and Improve Settlements:
Step 5—Step 5—Create Army Units:
Step 6—Issue Edicts:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
INCOME PHASE
Step 1—Make Withdrawals from the Treasury:
Step 2—Make Deposits into the Treasury:
Step 3—Sell Expensive Items for BP:
Step 4—Collect Taxes:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
EVENT PHASE
Event Phase, Part I: Trolls! With the threat of the trolls ended, the people of the Sword Marches become more certain of their futures, decreasing Unrest (see above).
Event Phase, Part II: Wagon Train! Once word of the PCs’ success reaches Restov, the swordlords reward them not only by sending the PCs personally 2,000 gp but also sending by additional support for their kingdom in the form of 10 BP.
Event Phase, Part III: Truce: The bad blood between Kesten Garess and Giles of Gralton seems insignificant in the wake of the Battle of Stagfell. The Random Event does not carry into this turn.
Event Phase, Part IV: TBD
We definitely need to assign a new Spymaster to replace Derry. A nw Royal Enforcer would also be nice, but isn't as critical since this role has no vacancy penalty.
I am having a hard time coming up with any likely NPCs. Who's left?
Carres Isten and Oleg Leveton (see the first tab of the Kingdom Turn Sheet).
You might also try to appoint The Old Beldame, Loy or Letricia Rezbin (whom you bankrolled into founding a settlement in the Narlmarches), Mikmek the kobold or one of the fey (Tiressia or Melianse)?
Choosing (inviting) one of the fey could fail, and/or have interesting side effects.
I vote for Mikmek as Enforcer. His people came to help and it will help with relations to have a trustworthy non-human in the court. And Letricia for Spymaster. She can keep eyes on areas we are not in and nobody expects the wife of being a spy.
I am going to advocate for not having the Old Beldame or the Fey in the court.
I did think of Mikmek, but figured he has enough on his plate ruling his own people to take on a court role. Carres Isten already has a role, so that would be one step forward one step back. I forgot about Loy and Letricia - do we have any reason to think she (or he) has the necessary requirements?
Any particular reason that Mikhail doesn't want the Old Beldame or any of the Fey in court?
Of the choices available, without re-assigning some of the existing, Mikmek is probably the best Enforcer.
One of the Fey might be an effective spymaster.
The Fey aren't trustworthy even if your interests generally align. I believe the GM hinted as much above. We seem to be going against some Fey Queen who is giving people actively working against us those rings. Trusting any Fey who may hold far more allegiance to her, or have a greater fear of her, would be foolhardy. We could easily be placing someone working against us in our government on purpose.
I also don't trust the Old Beldame. I am generally confident she would turn on us if it suited her.
OKay - no Fey in the court.
Mikmek for Enforcer, Letricia Rezbin for Spymaster.
Great! What about the other steps in the Edict Phase?
Claim or abandon hexes?
Build Terrain Improvements?
Build Settlement Improvements?
Create Army Units?
Issue Edicts?
I cant imagine we can expand right now. We probably can only afford to rebuild some houses. That should also reduce unrest, I think. Or maybe rebuild one of the walls?
For edicts, perhaps we put out calls for trackers willing to help us follow the owlbear and any errant trolls?
-Posted with Wayfinder
A quick question. Beyond finding loot in a random monters horde how do you get BP? It look like our kingdom earned no BP this turn and even with what we found we could easily have lost BP. Does the Economy not provide BP? It seems odd if the only way to get BP is to give up personal gear.
I think we should expand. Even if its just claiming a region and dropping some tenements down for later building. The message we would send by expanding is positive and strong. Turtling up looks weak and beaten. We have enemies within and without. Messaging needs to be considered.
BP's are generated in the Income Phase. Which is near the end of the Kingdom Turn.
Before we decide about hexes, terrain improvements, and settlement improvements, what has been the effect of the trolls?
Did we lose any hexes and decrease kingdom size? Did we lose any terrain improvements?
It appears that we have lost, at a minimum, the walls, inn and maybe some housing within Stagfell. Did we lose any other improvements?
John (Piotr) is right. You can see the income in Turn 15 HERE and also in the rules HERE (although that latest link, which used to be to Yuku, now appears to run to something called "Tapatalk". It's legit, though.
Inside of Stagfell you lost two walls, two houses and the inn. Outside of Stagfell (but still in its hex) you lost 1 farm.
Remember that when you claim a region (or expand your cities), you increase your Control DC, which is a bad thing until you get your Unrest down and your Economy, Loyalty and Stability up. The bigger you are the more easily you will fall unless those numbers are in a better ratio.
Tim, a blind man could follow the owlbear's trail.
Don't claim any hexes but I don't think that we need to abandon any.
Rebuild the farm (2 BP cost, -2 Consumption) as a Terrain Improvement.
Build 1 House in Stagfell (3 BP cost, -1 Unrest) as City Improvement.
Or, we could forgo the farm and build two houses in Stagfell. Rebuilding the City Walls would help with Defence but we have already got the Unrest benefit from that for Stagfell.
I can't find the cost for armies ... re-forming the militia might be an idea, if we can afford it.
As for Edicts, I don't think that we should change anything.
I think a farm and a house sounds right.
Not loving any of the court suggestions, but there aren't a lot of qualified options. If they are interested in the positions, Aristu won't object to Mikmek and Letricia.
I don't think Aristu is convinced that either Tiressia or Melianse are trustworthy, but he would support Tyg-Titter-Tut and/or Sir Perlivash (if we knew where he was) as Spymaster.
No expansion until we are at the point where having unrest increase won't strangle us.
Oh my. Tyg and Perlivash are kind hearted but flighty and irresponsible as only fairies can be. They would make devastatingly bad kingdom officers. Tiressia and Melianse are more level-headed, but you may (or may not) be right to question their loyalties.