The Beginning of the End: A Pawn's Dilemma (Inactive)

Game Master caster4life

@Caster, you do a good job in creating interesting situations for the PCs, tactically and otherwise.

To all, good work!

It is an interesting enounter, and a fun plot (even if we're working hard on breaking it).

I am considering retreating tactically further back into the cave. I can spend my inspiration to move the healing spirit to be in range of the other spirits we have placed so they can do some of the heavy lifting for us. Maybe I could also pick up Horat’s unconscious body and drag him back to the tunnel before Olivia’s healing applies. What do you guys think?

I'll be the first to admit, I've been wondering why you're fighting the devils before they get in range of the spirits instead of after they're whittled down. Especially since this wave doesn't just target AC the way the last wave did.

Ok. Horat will be conscious by the time I go since Olivia precedes me in initiative so I will move a spirit as a free action and take a normal turn if that is okay with you all.

I made an error in pushing Horat out to strike down a hellhound.

Definitely going to get him back to at least the life spirit if not farther back.

I was, admittedly, kind of wondering why we decided to take a stand in front of our other towers.

I looked up if the fire damage from the bite is multiplied on a crit. According to sage advice, all damage die are multiplied on a crit. The example was poison from a snake's bite attack.

Also, Olivia take inspiration for RP and tactical thinking about spirits.

Too bad I can't use inspiration to give someone disadvantage. Since I already had inspiration, I guess I just lose one of them, alas.

Also, I wouldn't say that Liv is a rage monster. She just cares a lot about her own well-being/not about others' well-being and has a very low tolerance for other people making what she would consider mistakes. And her getting put in a bad situation due to others' actions is definitely what she would consider a mistake. Really, she's of the opinion that both Horat and SAM should die/risk their lives to protect her, definitely not the other way around, haha.

This is an outstanding encounter in my opinion.

Oh I'm loving it, even if Horat and S.A.M. are getting battered and Liv may actually explode from rage. ;)

Hmm, I'm thinking about doubling up on a Life spirit; place it right next to the one we currently have. Thoughts? My second choice would be a Wind spirit. Or I could just keep blasting.

No actually, on second thought, I really think a Life spirit is the only option. The only question in my mind is if I should do it or Enizver.

The other thing is that we really need to get Horat in range of the Life spirit(s) and him and SAM in a proper line. But the only way I can think of to do that involves me pushing the hellhound back (or someone killing it) and then Horat disengaging to avoid the AoO from the bearded devil (unless someone else can kill the hellhound and I can push back the bearded devil). At this point in time it's unlikely a Healing Word would really do anything to prevent Horat from getting KO'd.

I'm really enjoying it. I'm glad you guys are too. I think defensive encounters are really fun.

Liv should probably fire. Enizver is so hit and miss that it's always awkward.

I was thinking that maybe we should do a life spirit somewhere else, though. I don't think healing 4 points instead of 2 will make too much difference, but having a fallback position in case we get overrun at another might be a smart move?

And yes, this encounter is a lot of fun. I'm super impressed that you came up with this on the fly, GM.

I'm still trying to work out Horat's actions.

I think an attack action followed by a misty step to the life spirit is about as good as I can manage.

I'm not sure there is a good fallback position though. The narrow passageway means they have to come at us one at a time. Anywhere further back than that and there's really nothing stopping them from surrounding us.

I would also argue that 4HP is twice as much healing and it affects everyone nearby. Sure, it's not going to stop us from going down, but if we survive this wave, we'll get healed to full in half the time. And if we keep piling adding more Life spirits, it'll keep getting better. My personal second choice still remains Wind spirit though.

But if you're the one summoning, it's up to you. *shrug* I already have an idea for a replacement character if Olivia dies. ;-P

...same, actually. Also, if Enizver lives but is badly hurt.

I'll pop it down where we are, and we can set up some final defences near our Energy Core shaman friend next time.

As resources dwindle I think the healing will be indispensable.

My primary goal will be to revive Olivia if the life spirits don’t do that since she has healing magic. However I cannot withstand an AOO at this point.

Can Enizver climb up to heal her?

Huzzah, I guess it was only a 3rd level spell. Though I also can't do that again since I'm out of 3rd level spell slots. Hopefully everybody remembers how many HP they had pre-lightning. I had thankfully said it in an ooc comment in my earlier post.

Also, I would recommend that if you don't kill the hellhound this round, that you stop standing in a 3 person line where its fire breath can hit all 3 of you. Horat's not going to get an AoO against it anyway and 5e doesn't do full attacks, so there's no reason why everybody except SAM shouldn't move away after attacking and then simply move back and away again next round. As far as I can tell, the only disadvantage to this is if SAM falls and enemies are able to move past him, but I think you can move in such a way to be out of range of his fire breath and still not give them infinite run of the rest of the cave if SAM falls.

@DM: Now that the spellcaster is in the cave, can I target either her staff or her religious symbol in the hopes of killing her ability to spellcast (or partially killing)? Or should I not try to do fancy things like that and just shoot her?

I was hoping that we could bring down that hellhound more quickly. But yeah, at this stage, lining up is just a recipe for disaster.

Yes you can damage it but I'm going to let her protect it in some ways shed protect herself. You'll see what I mean. You'll just have to hit it and enough.

You are correct that Hex does not get added if there’s no attack roll (or I would have been doing a lot more magic missiles).

Does the woman have something that increases the radius of the fireball? Normally it’s only 20ft radius, meaning since Olivia is 50ft from Enizver, it shouldn’t be able to hit us both. Not sure if the snaking around was meant to imply ignoring cover or if it was also changing the blast form in some way, presumably from her not-sorcerer half since that’s not a metamagic effect.

I meant to mention it didn't hit you. Ommitted but it did not.

Anybody else think a life spirit is still most prudent? 6HP/round sounds pretty nice. That's my position but I'd love to hear counterarguments.
Also: Do I smell a three party bout?

I suspect it will be less of a 3 party bout and more the devils massacring all of us. Which I'm ok with.

I maintain my Life or Wind spirit opinion. No preference between the two.

I'm inclined to agree with Olivia's assessment. But I'd be happy to have S.A.M. prove correct. :)

Edit: I'm debating what to do with Horat.

He could temporarily withdraw to heal up and avoid the hellhound breath, even putting up another life spirit.

Alternatively, he could try to kill the hellhound.

@GM: Can Horat target the hellhound at that angle?

I don't think the hellhound has been wounded at all, so I'm skeptical that it could be killed this round. Which is something you should keep in mind when deciding your movement this round (along with the fact that standing up takes half your movement).

I would say that someone should summon a spirit. I don't particularly have an opinion on whom.

In retrospect, I probably should have saved quickening an Eldritch Blast for a round where I wanted to spend my action on something else. But honestly, I thought the spellcaster's AC would be lower and was really hoping to do a lot more damage last round. Those 4 blasts would have been enough to take down every member of the party except SAM, who would have spared due to his heavy armor. Also in retrospect, I should have cast Aid much, much sooner/out of combat. I don't know what I was thinking there other than I must've forgotten about it since I grabbed the spell at level up. :-/

Oh, also, I feel like I should also point out that while 6HP/round is nice, everybody crowding around the life spirits makes us vulnerable to AoE spells, as was just shown twice. It's unclear if spreading them out is all that much better though since that is our choke point. *shrug*

She's a spellcaster with armor under those robes. And casting shield grants +5 ac.

If you guys survive this wave, you'll be able to reorganize your spirits and defense a little. I was kind of expecting the melee, grounded enemies would have to slog through your defenses more slowly, taking damage on the way, but it's hard to keep them from just running up and biting. A web spell and another earth spirit might be handy. But spellcasters do mess that up.

Either way, I've enjoyed this encounter style and will have to look for opportunities to do a TD encounter like this again some time, having learned a few things.

Hmm, now I'm wondering why I thought Shield was only +2. Oh well.

Well a shield is +2 ac...

OK. Horat, can you summon a Wind Spirit? I'm going to hold the line, more or less.

The difficulty with this particular "three party bout" is that two of the parties don't actually care about fighting. They just want Tinuk.

SAM: Unsure if you knew or not you were provoking. In Matthew's home game, 5 ft steps are a thing like in PF. That's not a 5e rule. Leaving someone's reach provokes in 5e no matter how far you move.

Now there is a weird rule interaction with the bearded devils as to what their "reach" is. They have a 10 ft reach with the glaive and a 5 ft reach with the beard. I don't think that either weapon should give them fewer attacks of opportunity so I ruled that if you leave their 5 ft reach or their 10 ft reach, they get an aoo with the corresponding weapon. They missed regardless.

Ah. Okay. Thanks for clearing that up.

Horat should actually be at 20HP. If you look back, Enizver healed him for 7 last round, then last round's life spirits (11), he wasn't attacked, then Aid (16), then this round's life spirits (20).

To clarify - I believe that I was at 8 HP last round, then the missiles took me to one and the life spirit brought me up to five. I figured I couldn't Uncanny Dodge my way out of any of that damage, given it's magical Macross Missle Masacre time. Hence why I'm at 5 now. Is that incorrect?

Cheers. I'm feeling a bit ill today so haven't been on top of things too well.

Busy morning. Will have to update after work.

Thanks for the heads up.

The quasit then flies all the way to Tinuk. The old woman shakes her head and sends missiles of force flying all over the battlefield.

...

The first two pulverize the quasit with pure force, destroying the tiny demon and banishing it back to the Abyss. The next two target SAM, Olivia, and Horat. (4 dam to Olivia, 5 to SAM, 3 to Horat shield spell blocks).

I'm confused by this description. Namely

2) After 2 bolts hit the quasit, another 2 are described as coming at us, but then you list damage for 3 people. Are all 3 people hit or just two (and if the latter, which two)?

That's me rushing.

1. Forgot to remove quasit token. Got it now.
2. It's 3. I forgot that it was upcast to a third level slot when I wrote two more. So all the people listed take bolts of force.

One day I'll remember what my own, heavily used ability is called.

...one day.

Welcome, Uki, our newest player. And none too soon. The party would really like to finish off these devils without more injuries.

I'm sure there will be a few questions for Uki and vice versa once everyone can catch their breath. I'll update combat in an hour or so.

Hello, Uki!

Welcome to our Adventuring Party, 3rd Options.

I'll post tomorrow. Very tired.

Atelihai. Greetings from the spirit world. ;)

Welcome, Uki!