Sons of Dammerhall: Dark Frontiers (Inactive)

Game Master GM SuperTumbler

Better now than I was a few days ago. My vote is if we are fighting here to have all the non combatants moved out of town or brought to the Lords house since it is probably well defended.

I forget which entrance was the army coming though? And could we set up a rock slide to take out a large number of them?

Also that candy is poisoned!

I was wondering if the candy is addictive.

Probably the best that I can do is to set up a triage ward for the inevitable casualties (Heal +8).

I'll probably do best by drilling and training the militia. Rock slides and other traps would be very nice.

I'm going to plead my ignorance as a Pathfinder PbP GM here and throw myself on the mercy of the group. How are we feeling about progression? Do we need to be 3rd level? Do we want to face this invasion and then level up?

I wouldn't mind you being higher level, I can throw slightly cooler stuff at you, maybe.

I just don't want people to be bored, but you haven't really had a combat at 2nd level, so I don't want to short change that.

Don't know how the invasion is statted, so don't know what resources we need to face it! If the orcs start overwhelming us you can always turn the tide with some timely reinforcement gnomes, or if it's too easy just throw in a couple more waves.

The progression has been fine, and facing the invasion then leveling up would be the most appropriate.

However, progression is up to you! If you want us to be a bit more badass/less squishy when facng the orc army we won't complain! Dasur wouldn't mind some 2nd level spells! Of course we could level up before the invasiion, face iit, then spend more time at level 3 to make up for it.

Thematically speaking, a group of level 2 characters facing an army of black orcs, even wth assistance, is a bit of a stretch. This is especially true considering it's an army bred for war vs a bunch of farmer/miner gnomes.

Given the gravity of the situation failure should be an option here- either in terms of the party being wiped if we handle this really poorly, or we needing to retreat to the tunnels if Fasturvalt becomes overwhlemed.

Of course, there are ways to mitigate this situation.

1)If the orc army is forced to march through the jungle, it could devastate their ranks and put us on equal footing (with our dwarfs present).

2)If we put all our dwarfy effort into a massive cave-in to the tunnel we suspect they will march through, it could also put us on equal footing.

I'm sure there are other options I'm not thinking of at the moment, such as letting Geirni die from diabetes caused by his candy addiction and putting in Iverna as the new ruler.

I agree that we haven't done enough to deserve Level 3; our being low level was the reason why I'm suggesting traps and guerrilla tactics, like certain kobolds. Fighting smart rather than fighting strong.

Let's get down to business, to defeat the Orcs
Did they send me deep gnomes, when I asked for dwarves?
You're the saddest bunch I ever met
But you can bet before we're through
Mister, I'll make a dwarf out of you!

Glenda, I know it's not yor choice god, but... If you could ask Torag to send us a legion or two of Dwarven Defenders, that would be grand!

We are going to use the Mass Combat rules to run this conflict, with probably an encounter or two with just our dwarves.

I'll let you guys decide, but it might be more fun and possibly advantageous for each of you to lead an army of 25. I'll give each of you a commander boon.

Ooooh that's exciting I've never used the mass combat rules before!

I assume Snorri will be our commander?

Of course this means our unit name is the Snorks.

Yes! I approve so much! Bring on the mass combat which I have little experience with but new things are always nice.

Hi All... Sorry I dropped out of obscurity, life just beat me up a bit. I've been trying to catch up with games that are still active, if ya'll still need me, I'd love to come back. If you have replaced me or written me off I understand, it was all my own fault.

I'm happy to have you back Dagmar. Once you catch up let us know what you would like to contribute to the defense.

I'm still learning the system as well. Built these two armies to get a feel for it. Take a look and let me know what you think. Obviously I made choices for you for your militia that you would need to make.

It sounds great! And we can always consider Dasur a Person of Mass Destruction.

I set this up as having the gnomes trained in defensive tactics. I figure we aren't training them to throw themselves recklessly at the enemy. We are manipulating terrain, setting traps and funneling the orcs into the traps, collapsing bridges.

I also gave the gnomes the benefit of advantageous terrain and battlefield advantage to reflect those preparations we discussed. Since all of the rolls are made at the same time, I guess I will make them all in one post when the time comes.

I'll let everyone weigh in.

Welcome back Dagmar! We're about to engage in mass warfare for the fate of a town, no big deal really.

The army stat blocks look good, and generously reflect our preparations. I like how the hp is distributed- essentially if the orcs break through our defenses we're toast, which is how it should be.

Ha, Dasur is only so destructive because he has stalwart dwarfs in front of him taking the hits. Plus he's focused on battlefield control and buffs so those stalwart dwarfs can crack skulls more effectively!

Dasur's spell list for the battle will be:

0th:

Resistance
Acid Splash
Prestidigitation
Message

1st: (DC 16)
+ Mage Armor
+ Color Spray (DC 16)
+ Color Spray (DC 16)
+ Obscuring Mist
+ (Earth) Grease (DC 17)

Still need to read thru the 90+ posts, but here is Dagmar's spell lineup.

While Dasur is not much on offense, Dagmar's proclivities for fire are.

0-level:
Create Water
Detect Magic
Read Magic
Stabilize

1-level:
Burning Hands x2
Burning Sands (Adventurers Guide.. if book too new, she'll slot another hands instead)
Cure Light Wounds

Shaman goodies:
Touch of Flame 3/day
Evil Eye Hex

-Posted with Wayfinder

Burning Sands is fine.

Trying to suss out my spell list!

My stomach sunk when saw that natural 20 for the orc's melee phase... The one thing that could take us out and a 5% (1/20) chance at that.

Then I laughed on seeing the gnome army's natural 20 after that, suddenly and dramatically sealing the battle. Rolling two 20's in a row is a 0.25% chance (1/400)! How crazy!

Hopefully Dasur's grease spell will disable the lance threat. I'm a little worried that because this drow is wearing spiked mithral full plate he might have a locked gauntlet or weapon cord, but that's the risk you take trying to disarm enemies of their favorite weapons.

While locked gauntlets are perfectly acceptable I've always thought weapon cords are dumb, but my character can summon portals to the elemental Plane of Butter, so what do I know?

Also, DM, what is a "Partial Charge?" I couldn't find it in the Pathfinder rules, is it a D&D term?

It's a term from 3.0 that mysteriously vanished, but the mechanics remained. A "partial charge" is when you make a charge while you have only a standard action available. Instead of going double your speed and ending with an attack, you move your speed and end with an attack.

The solution could be to grease the area under his spider, as you can't charge through difficult terrain. Even more comical to see the beast skitter around. I have a grease scroll as well.

Ohhhh. Thank you for the explaination Glenda!

Snorri, I thought about that, but I assume a spider would have a pretty high reflex saving throw. Plus, that only puts the lance-charging it out of commission for one turn. If he drops the lance, he'll be forced to switch to a different weapon. So I say- let's do both! Dasur can make more scrolls of Grease later.

Yeah, it was more about breaking the charge than sending them tumbling. I will try to disable him with hideous laughter, but spell resistance is working against us.

We have a lot of control spells so as long a someone is on spider-charge stopping duty every round, or we stick together around cover, we should be able to handle this. I find it interesting our party is more tactically focused than raw damage focused, which is pretty dwarfy if you ask me!

If the drow and orcs hold their action this turn we'll be forced to move forward.

Also, these foes probably have at least 3-4 hit dice, the drow might even have 5. Dasur's Color spray will be able to blind and stun them, but I doubt they will be unconcious like last time.

We picked up a lot of crossbows and bolts from the orcs that we fought last time, I don't know if anyone wanted/took some. Dasur isn't the type to carry a real weapon, so he'll be relying on his spells.

I'll be traveling this weekend to go see the total eclipse in Southern Illinois. Should still be able to post from my phone.

A light crossbow might be useful for me if we're forced to do ranged combat.

I will be picking one up as well. Are there light and heavy crossbows?

Our current group loot is:

7 scale mail
7 light crossbow
7 scimitar
60 unused bolts
1 potion of cure moderate wounds

Help yourself! It's up to the GM if you can say you picked up the crossbows/bolts from the cart before the battle.

It's fine with me if everyone has whatever of that gear they want to be carrying.

The mist blocks line of sight, so if you're in the mist he can't target you directly with spells without being in your face.

Sorry for those of you about to whip out crossbows, but we're dealing with, potentially, a 3rd-5th level caster and need real cover.

The drow will either pull back or move into the mist to attack. If he pulls back from the mist we can attack the orcs, if he wades in or stays put I have another plan.

We're gonna be in for a bad time if Snorri fails that save... Call upon your ancestors for aid, Snorri!

Hmmm this puts us in a precarious situation. Being the good group of dwarfs we are we would usually follow Snorri's orders to the letter and retreat. Can we get some sense motive checks or the like to realize he's under magical compulsion?

OR could Dasur make a spellcraft check to identify the spell that was cast as per spellcraft rules? It was cast prior to the Obscuring Mist so he would have had line of sight on the Drow.

Certainly Spellcraft. Based on the DC for detecting possession, I'd say the DCfor sense motive would be at least 25.

Sorry Snorri- no dispel magic for a while. I don't think there's anything we can do until the suggestion wears off.

Yep, looks like I'm out unless I'm personally attacked or I have effectively quit the field (at which point Suggestion expires). Expect some serious sulking in the future.

Note that suggestion just makes a particular course of action seem reasonable. It doesn't necessarily deform your opinions and worldview about everything else - i.e. Snorri thinks he decided that quitting the field is the best thing to do right now, but that doesn't mean he suddenly trusts dark elves or thinks that letting the gnomes die is a good idea.

Also:
"If the suggested activity can be completed in a shorter time, the spell ends when the subject finishes what it was asked to do."

The drow did not tell him to quit the field of battle and stay out of the fray. Once Snorri leaves the battlefield, the suggestion should end.

And that's when I'll charge back in with great vengeance and furious anger.

And that's when I'll charge back in with great vengeance and furious anger.

"Fetch my axe!"

"Which one is it?"

"The one that says bad brother strucker!"

My apologizes. I have returned and will get a post up

Welcome back Nalnera!

Hope this color spray sticks on the Drow's mount at least. If it stuns and Glenda, Dagmar, Iverna (I think she's on the map?) and Geirni charges the Drow commander/spider, Dasur will move behind them next round to block off their escape and give flanking. We'll destroy the drow and spider with overwhelming force next turn! Unless the spider is knocked unconscious I would prioritize it so the rider can't escape easily.

Not sure if Nalnera and Regnir can make it to the dogpile in one round? There's an orc down there to kill at least.

Also, don't forget everyone has Bless now (+1 attack and resistances).

Edit:

Ahhh you're right Glenda, Color Spray has the [pattern] and [mind-affecting] descriptors, so it shouldn't work on vermin or anything mindless. I always thought it was sight-based only because of the spell description itself and the clause about it not working on sightless creatures. That's what I get for assuming and not reading the spell descriptors. So much for my plan to stun his mount!

Sorry absense, was dealing with our only warehouse worker getting fired at work (he deserved it) then got the news of the death of a close family friend. I should hopefully catch up tonight.

-Posted with Wayfinder

I forgot Bless though with my extremes I doubt that mattered. \

Gm Should Nalnear and Regnir both have gotten attack of opportunity on the coward? We were in melee. I will wait to post for an answer cause that will decide my move.

And Regnir actually has a move speed of thirty but would not likely abandon Nalnear unless it seems she should be fine. Or if he can shame her by doing so :)

No attacks of opportunity. The orc used a Withdraw action. That was why he didn't attack and then leave.

Ha, I forgot that was a thing. I am a bad tank. Sorry for the delay. Regnir was helpful and the dice seem to hate Nalnera.

I'll just keep from posting "Snorri moves away" until it's reasonable that I have left the field.