I added some pictures earlier. So, I can add a little X or something, if you like.
You only have a few hours from the time of the end of the last fight until these gnolls show up.
@Truk - do you have a feat that would allow you to re-prepare a new spell? There isn't enough time to rest and redo all spells.
@Everyone - please be mindful of your available spells. There was not enough time to be able to regain any spells or charges/uses of magical items.
For the Soldiers of Haemil, the gnoll slayers and the gnoll rangers, I'm going to use a simple HP system when they engage. First hit, they go "yellow". Second hit, they go "red". And third hit they are dead. If the PC's or named NPC's do over 20 points of damage, that counts as two hits. Over 40 points of damage counts as three hits.
Riders of Haemil and Elite Gnoll Rangers will get 4 hits... yellow, orange, red, dead. And 20, 40, 60 points of damage from PC's or named NPC's.
PC's and named NPC's act as normal.
Correct me if my understanding on your tactics is wrong...
We have the 20' deep trench in front of the destroyed gate.
Beyond the trench is rubble (rough terrain) that is hidden with an illusion. The illusion hides the trench and rough terrain. It depicts the destroyed gate that is open and a single barricade just inside the old gate with 5 pikemen.
Beyond the illusion are 3 make shift barricades with the PC's and real Soldiers with pollards. Beyond that is another barricade with Archers. We have more archers on the walls, and the 40 Riders are north along the pass of Shamet to attack the gnolls from the rear.
From my comment above regarding re-preparing spells, I'm assuming that there are not Lava Spikes at the moment.
Did I miss anything?
Vis-a-Vis Truk: The spell he would be preparing would not be in an old slot that he would be re-memorizing, but in a new slot opened up by leveling up. So, no re-preparation involved. Just filling a new slot with a spell, which should take less than ten minutes.
Does that make sense? Is kosher?
"When preparing spells for the day, a divine spellcaster can leave some of her spell slots open. Later during that day, she can repeat the preparation process as often as she likes. During these extra sessions of preparation, she can fill these unused spell slots. She cannot, however, abandon a previously prepared spell to replace it with another one or fill a slot that is empty because she has cast a spell in the meantime. Like the first session of the day, this preparation takes at least 15 minutes, and it takes longer if she prepares more than one-quarter of his spells."
My bad. Filling a new slot would be 15 minutes. But not longer than a few hours.
He had been thinking of filling that slot with Obsidian Flow instead I encouraged him to fill it with Spike Stones instead. Given we hadn't done anything and hadn't finalized new choices I wouldn't think the slot would be locked in.
The first barricade with the 5 pikeman is also an illusion. Niyut is running two by using a spell to cover the trenches Minor Image and using a swift action plus her SU silent image + new lingering illusion effect to re-up it every round. We aren't leaving any one out to dry or in (Potentially) a small lake of lava spikes.
Vis-a-Vis Truk: The spell he would be preparing would not be in an old slot that he would be re-memorizing, but in a new slot opened up by leveling up. So, no re-preparation involved. Just filling a new slot with a spell, which should take less than ten minutes.
Does that make sense? Is kosher?
Ah! Understood and perfectly acceptable.
The first barricade with the 5 pikeman is also an illusion. Niyut is running two by using a spell to cover the trenches Minor Image and using a swift action plus her SU silent image + new lingering illusion effect to re-up it every round. We aren't leaving any one out to dry or in (Potentially) a small lake of lava spikes.
Yes, I got that part. Sounds good.
Also, I'm going to assume that you lit some bonfires as discussed to illuminate this side of the river and maybe a small portion on the far side. I'll indicate it by a bright yellow line on the map.
The first barricade with the 5 pikeman is also an illusion. Niyut is running two by using a spell to cover the trenches Minor Image and using a swift action plus her SU silent image + new lingering illusion effect to re-up it every round. We aren't leaving any one out to dry or in (Potentially) a small lake of lava spikes.Yes, I got that part. Sounds good.
Also, I'm going to assume that you lit some bonfires as discussed to illuminate this side of the river and maybe a small portion on the far side. I'll indicate it by a bright yellow line on the map.
Yes, though as part of our trap we want our real pikeman and the archers of our trap to be in darkness outside of the range of their darkvision until they are in the ruined gate area, since we want it to appear under-staffed, which is why we were using torches in the rubble to provide light and shadow for the second illusion.
Bonfires to illuminate the rest sounds good.
OK, do you want the wall tops to be fully illuminated? The archers will need at least some torch light in order to see where they are going and their ammunition to reload.
If you prefer, they could snuff out the torches to hide their numbers, but that will slow their attack rate and movement if they are in darkness... even though they maybe able to see their targets due to the bonfires.
How should the hidden lava spikes interact with the simplified HP system. Each 5' represents 1d8 (piercing) +1d8 (fire) +2 (Orc Arcana), so a 10' represents 4d8+4. I'm guessing 3 squares or 30' of movement could do 60 damage?
On the walls, I think they should have torches to light once the enemy discovers the trench. After that there is little value to hiding our numbers.
Though, I would ask that the archers near me don't light their torches, but share with the ones at least 20 feet away.
@Everyone - please be mindful of your available spells. There was not enough time to be able to regain any spells or charges/uses of magical items.
Oh right. Luckily I have all the abilities tracked and have made note of them on his sheet. Plus with the level up he just got access to 4th level spells, so Malz is still ready for another battle. Perhaps not a 3rd though.
How should the hidden lava spikes interact with the simplified HP system. Each 5' represents 1d8 (piercing) +1d8 (fire) +2 (Orc Arcana), so a 10' represents 4d8+4. I'm guessing 3 squares or 30' of movement could do 60 damage?
Well if we average out damage for simplicity it looks like every 5' of movement causes 11 damage, which means each 10' square does 22 damage, which means 30' of movement would do 66 damage on average. It would be hilarious to watch them sprint themselves to death.
@Everyone - please be mindful of your available spells. There was not enough time to be able to regain any spells or charges/uses of magical items.Oh right. Luckily I have all the abilities tracked and have made note of them on his sheet. Plus with the level up he just got access to 4th level spells, so Malz is still ready for another battle. Perhaps not a 3rd though.
How should the hidden lava spikes interact with the simplified HP system. Each 5' represents 1d8 (piercing) +1d8 (fire) +2 (Orc Arcana), so a 10' represents 4d8+4. I'm guessing 3 squares or 30' of movement could do 60 damage?Well if we average out damage for simplicity it looks like every 5' of movement causes 11 damage, which means each 10' square does 22 damage, which means 30' of movement would do 66 damage on average. It would be hilarious to watch them sprint themselves to death.
The best part about the lava spikes is the 8 hour duration. If our enemies decide to settle in for a siege, Malz, Truk, and Niyut should go rest. Since that would be at least seven hours of rest potentially more depending on how often they test the spikes. If we could renew our spells we could wreck even more havoc on them.
Lava Spikes would be awesome!! If I'm reading it correctly, it would mean that if they want to move 5', then they would need to take 1d8 (Piercing) +1d8 (Fire) (Since Truk increases the fire damage of his fire effects + 2 from my Orc Arcana. They would need to keep making 18 Reflex saves or catch on fire and an 18 reflex save to avoid injuring their feet all while moving at half speed. So moving 1 square is 4d8+4 and two chances of catching on fire. Haha.
It's also a bit confusing since: the spikes are "long, sharp points that blend into the background." So hidden and full of magma.
I will have to reposition Niyut, but it seems well worth it.
As I read Elemental Commixture, Niyut is casting the [fire] spell. So, the damage die isn't increased. It will be 1d8 piercing plus 1d6+2 fire damage for each 5' of movement along with the 2 saves for catching fire and injuring feet.
Also, I just re-read the last several pages of discussion. I don’t see any specific indication from the group that you wanted bonfires. Must’ve been my imagination. I don’t want to impose any tactics upon you. Please let me know if you wanted that or not.
I'm not anti-bonfire. Foramdar is a legit military commander. He should have input and we should respect his input because in character he has much more siege-craft than we do.
I had hoped that it would change dice since he is the primary caster, but what you say makes a lot of sense to me!
Although Malz is highly intelligent and is likely to help plan the siege, he knows this is a complex subject and isn't his area of expertise, and as such would have no problem listening to the suggestions of Foramdar.
@Valjoen: The bottom of the trench is lined with all of the arrows (and swords) we took after the first battle, in particular incendiary arrows we recovered. So it'll be fall down the hope, land on pointy bits, and pointy fire bits. (The total incendiary arrows are split between eachh of the trench's squares as evenly as possible, for full coverage, with any left overs loaded into the forward squares.)
Beyond the second illusion is--or will be--a big patch of nasty ground covered in caltrops and whatever Truk-tosh eventually casts.
@Malz: If there are any essences to be had in the killing field may I suggest that an invisible imp using the ability to deliver touch spells flies down to get them and avoid hidden lava spikes and other hazards?
"Hey I'm a bird!" Torenz chirps in indignation.
We got a couple hours before the battle so we could definitely handle the transformation before the enemy arrives and use Torenz as an asset.
Indeed, we already have started since he hand delivered the Amber Key to those priests.
"Hey I'm a bird!" Torenz chirps in indignation.
We got a couple hours before the battle so we could definitely handle the transformation before the enemy arrives and use Torenz as an asset.
Sure. What other interaction or RP are you looking for? As Niyut stated, he delivered the key with a few odd looks from the priests, IIRC. I'd say that everyone else is avoiding him and his gaze.
Oh he could do that as a bird. No worries.
I got some stuff to start it out in gameplay :D
Worgs have a land speed of 50'. This means they get a +8 to their acrobatics to jump. We should not be surprised to see worgs clearing the trench once it is discovered. Hopefully, they will jump into caltrops, bear traps, and hidden lava spikes. However, we need to be mentally prepared for the elites and likely the large creatures leaping over the first line of defense once it is revealed.
Can someone explain how range increments work? The rangers are at least 180 ft from the base of the wall. Most are probably 200+ feet away. A longbow has a range of 110'. What sort of modifier are we looking at?
Also, what kind of cover do the walls provide up top? Is it basic cover, or is improved cover (high crenelations and arrow slits)? Do the people inside the walls have total cover?
Can someone explain how range increments work? The rangers are at least 180 ft from the base of the wall. Most are probably 200+ feet away. A longbow has a range of 110'. What sort of modifier are we looking at?
As I understand it, the modifiers to your attack roll would be:
0 at or below 110'
-2 between 110' and 220'
-4 between 220' and 330'
-6 between 330' and 440'
...
until the maximum of 10 increments. Some features double the increment or halve the penalty.
Thanks!
I've never done ranged weaponry before.
Always melee or magic.
They were at a -2 range increment although the gnolls have far shot so only a -1 penalty applies. I also gave the Haemil archers +4 AC for cover. Then I just statistically figured the % chance to hit based on the AC and atk mod... It was a 40 arrow volley and 9 hit random people on the walls.
I didn't include Niyut or Malthazir in the randomness for this round, but will in future rounds, if any, that the two of them happen to be in the areas in which volleys are sent.
Some of the hits were behind the walls, would they have total cover?
The volleys would have been arched very high and coming down at a steep angle from the sky. Turtling, as you mentioned on the gameplay thread, is the best defense and, in future rounds, I'll add another +4 for enhanced cover to the soldiers with the pole arms if their area is targeted and they "turtle up".
Unfortunately, the archers don't carry such shields and will have to endure, unless you want to evacuate them to the towers near the river... the archers to the east of the ruined gatehouse will have to find shelter all the way to the SE where the wall meets the mountain.
Sure, the physics of the steep angle make sense, it just seems a bit odd to me that they are skilled enough archers to target the illusion with the right angle but also bad enough to hit people flush with the wall on accident.
If those archers don't have shields then they didn't follow my advice and deserve death. :-p I mean my original suggestion was stay in the tower until the trap is sprung and bring shields just in case. Haha.
Would turtling with cover provide total cover? How would the arrows hit them when protected on all sides given the barricades and wall?
Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think the GM is just trying to get us immersed in the idea of mass combat. I don't think he's saying "Your strategy was bad so now people are dying early", I think he's saying "War is hell, and people are going to die right in front of your eyes".
Oh, yeah, there is no problem here. I'm okay with them dying on the wall.
Some are firing at the illusion (and seemingly missing due to the shields, at least that is what the gnolls would perceive)... and some are firing upon the battlements assuming that they are maned. With a +14 attack modifier, the gnolls should have good success hitting the 10' walkway atop the walls... but the cover and concealment have lowered the percent hitting. I'm having them hit less than 25% of the arrows fired.
I'll give the pikemen total cover, that's fine... at least until the gnolls engage in melee!
Malz will move to be more centered on the battlefield but will otherwise bide his time.
Torenz is going to go infiltrate the enemy. He will remain invisible and flying so hopefully will be very hard to detect. He will try to see what's going on beyond the vision of the party, and will try to identify any leaders. I've placed him on the map.
Malz, I might not move into the flight path of wayward arrows, but that's just me. :-)
@Malthazir - The imp moved about 200' which is about 2 rounds of movement, I believe (50' fly for the Imp). I'm going to move him back 100' for this round.
I assumed he could sprint, yes? Or is that not a possibility while flying?
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Run Full Round Action while Flying?
Well, here's my research and ruling:
The default assumption is: All movement modes can be used to run unless otherwise stated. And they are otherwise stated in at least some cases:
Swim: The skill entry describes that you must have a swim speed to run.
Climb: The skill entry says no run action, even with climb speed. However, using accelerated climb lets you move at double speed per action, which is effectively the same for an unladen character without special feats.
Fly: Neither the bestiary entry for "Flight (Ex or Su)" nor the skill lists any special exemptions. Therefore, fly speeds can be used to run. As long as it isn't the Fly spell or an ability based on it, since that spell description does forbid the run action. A non-trivial portion of player-accessible flight references the spell, so many PCs may not be able to run with their fly speeds, but not all of them.
Burrow: The "Burrow (Ex)" special ability explicitly forbids running or charging.
In this case, since the Imp has a natural fly speed, he can move unto X4 speed although he will lose his dex bonus to AC during the "run".
Nice, thanks for the thorough ruling!
Yes, thank you!
Gruskorb hasn't posted in a while and it is not clear that there is anything he needs to do at present. May we go to the next segment?
I wonder if he's off on another of those vacations to someplace with horrible cell reception? He seems to favor those locations, quite possibly because horrible cell reception is what they offer :D.
Quite possibly. That has been his MO for all the years we have gamed together. Haha.
@Garidan: Do you know any feats that increase the the DCs of alchemical items?
It's been a while since I had alchemy on the brain, lol, but I don't off-hand recall any (official) feats that do that particular thing. In fact, for Malthazir's campaign with Pazeek, I recall having to negotiate a house-ruled alteration that did that.
I forgot how fun it was to run imps. Mischievous little bastards.
@Garidan: I found a 3rd Party one that adds Int to DC. But it is a mid-level feat. There is another one for alchemists only that is like power attack for alchemical items DC.