I agree with Tal'ariel. Would like to keep this moving. There's a lot Yulai could do.
Here we are. I think the mage was banking on the fireballs doing a lot more damage than he did. He sunk a lot of 2nd level spells into making the hobgoblins fire-resistant. In retrospect, next time adventurers come knocking he'll be relying on his guards to stand back for the first salvo. That way he'd have more juice to throw around.
Sorry, thanks for the botting.
Sorry for the delay, had a minor emergency last night.
Sorry to hear that, I hope everything worked out okay.
Ouch, feels like we are at real risk of a TPK. I was hoping the bastard ran out of fireballs.
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Maybe he has run out of fireballs now.
He has also used a ton of level 2 slots (resist energy on 4 hobs and the minotaur and probably himself, and a Blindness).
We have 2 unconscious or dead and 1 blinded, and we used some poor matchups (should have had Bran grapple the sorc, too late now), but you guys might still pull this out if he is in fact out of fireballs now.
Just need to play smart and set up some cleaves. I can attempt to reach the caster if we can breach the two on the east but I think we need to take out these grounded ones ASAP.
I think you should have flexed into Dedicated Adversary (Goblinoid). +2/+2 is a lot better than -2/+4 when their AC is this good. Forget the caster; he's flying. At L5 Zelligar would have had a lot more options to deal with him but for now you just have to wait for him to run out of spells.
I was hoping to snag a longsword earlier and capitalize on the two handed strength + PA. Unfortunately the best laid plans mean nothing once the first arrow is loosed.
Dice have not been kind to Tal'ariel. But if Bran can drop #3, who is on his last legs, and step into his space, the hobgoblins won't be able to flank Bran or Tal'ariel.
As long as the dice let me dodge fireballs, I can't complain that much.
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Real longshot, but Iris could try to grab Zelligar's CLW Wand and UMD to heal him? This is assuming Iris could reasonably find it AND succeed on the UMD roll, so it'll be hard, but it sounds easier than trying to hit goblins blinded.
Yulai could heal Zelligar, if you really want.
Iris has her own CLW wand, but she may not have anymore actions this round. Please have Yulai do whatever makes the most sense if you bot her. Not that she'll have to do anything - Iris's animals are about to save the day!
Yulai just posted yesterday so I don't think botting her right now is needed. If you got a PM from her and are botting her, I'll offer my thoughts on her actions.
Would Zelligar standing at 2 or 3 HP be a good idea though? One shot from one of those hobgoblins is around 12 points of damage and could put him onto death's door.
Didn't realize that Iris acted. Was just suggesting her action. Wasn't intending to suggest to Yulai what to do at all. Agree Yulai has better things to do, like killing hobgoblins or disrupting the bugbear.
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Yeah, if Zelligar were to be healed, you would need to have people blocking the hobgoblins' path to him.
Someone should try to heal you regardless. The next fireball won't care if you are taking a nap.
I was hoping there wouldn't be a 'next' but you're right.
It is Yulai then the Sorc. I don't think Yulai can do enough to get Zelligar conscious before the sorcerer acts. If he has another fireball left, that's it for Zelligar. He took 57 points of damage in one round from foes that had really hot dice.
If he doesn't make it but you guys win the day, I'd be happy to bring in another character. I do like this group -- though we need to develop group tactics to leverage each others' capabilities.
Time to bot Yulai?
If so, I would say maintain the Life Channel on Bran, LoH self, and ready to interrupt casting.
She should be at +13 to hit with the Bless and Smite, +14 if the familiar casts Guidance as it can do at will.
I agree with this strategy.
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I am also on board.
I only have one gear right now and it's drop as many things in as little time as possible.
It was time to bot. Bran is up again, and Zelligar has a chance to stabilize.
Zelligar is automatically stable due to the Magic Is Life trait (since he is currently under a Barkskin effect as well as Bless).
Go Bran!
I will be on vacation next week. I should still be able to post if all goes as planned.
So. About those animals. Where did Iris stash them? With the rest of the horses? Are they tied up, or just left to wander?
The fox is free to roam. It may have been hanging out near the mounts.
The ram may have been tied up, if that is what one does with combat-trained ram mounts. You wrote, "I've assumed that all of you left your mounts tied somewhere nearby while investigating the fort." I did not object, so it could be tied. It could also be so loyal that it chews through its tether when called.
RHoD: as told by disney pixxar.
We can pull out of this nosedive team! Just need to...
...
And smash targets.
I think you're doing fairly well - there's only two heavies left by now, and the sorcerer is reduced to using his wand at this point.
Added the 5-foot step now that #1 is down.
Is that the miracle critical we needed to shift the tides?!
I think they're AC 20, but I also think it's a MW or +1 sword which you didn't count, so should confirm. Then again, I also think he had single-digit HP left. In any event, way to go Bran!
I'm fairly certain he did account for the masterwork.
+10 normally while raging, +1 mwk, +2 flank, +1 bless, -1 buckler, -2 power attack clocks in at +11.
It makes little difference, as he cuts it down either way.
Yup already in account!
I'll be gone until Sunday evening.
Going away for my birthday!
Have fun and bot me if necessary!
Happy birthday, Bran! Have a great one!
Random aside, after reviving Zelligar, I had Tal'ariel take a 5-foot step back over the body of hobgoblin #1.
Have a great birthday!
We'll keep Bran alive despite his and the dice's best efforts to the contrary.
Happy Birthday!
A belated Happy birthday from me as well!
2600xp to each of you, by the by. You'll get the other half of the sorcerer's value if you ever manage to kill or capture him.
Are you interested in having some more party members? adsapiens has left us, and I think Ash is out as well.
Woohoo! TPK averted (sorry Isawa). And level 5!
I would definitely like 2 more players. This seems a very challenging conversion. Getting back to 6 PCs at around our level of optimization would be good. 4 super-optimized PCs could probably do it but that isn't us and I don't need it to be.
Woohoo indeed! I agree, given our near TPK, a little backup would be nice.
I think we need more party defensive buffs. I am not going to tell a prospective recruit what to play, but I'm hoping someone offers something with some sort of ability in that regard. There are many, many options. But against this kind of AC and HP, we can't count on killing every enemy before they get to attack, and Zelligar can't heal as fast as they dish out damage. We can't just rely on a good offense.
Zelligar picks up Communal Resist Energy, Prayer (which does double duty), and Magic Circle Against Evil at 5th. Is that enough or do we need more?
We could look at Teamwork feats. Lastwall Phalanx is fantastic, though that would have to be shared by Bran. Shake it Off is great.
I had thought about replacing Zelligar with a Sacred Shield paladin (who could get Ultimate Mercy). That class rocks for facing tough bosses. I'd rather not, though. I'm liking Zelligar; he's just not heavily optimized.
Level Up! Yay!
If we have issues with defense, I could very well retrain (with GM Permission) my Tactician feat into something else so we can share it. In terms of defenses, we just need to pick targets better and not run headlong into big crowds (sorry)! I think overall we have a good spread of options, though a dedicated ranged user would be always welcomed; and possibly some crowd control.
I don't really mind what a new player plays, as long as we have a grand old time together. I'm liking my one on one grappler, even if it isn't the fastest way to down targets, though if we require a bit of cojiggering I can move stuff around.
Also @Red; how do you feel about me grabbing a level of a PRC (Darechaser) at 6? Only because I would need to decide to take the prerequisite at this juncture.
Also, Zelligar gets Fly 1/day at 5th. Which he can use on Bran... Hoping for a rematch with that sorcerer.
Willing to take suggestions on his Level 5 feat. Combat Casting (for +16)? A teamwork feat? A crafting feat? Happy to do things that will make others' jobs easier.