The Dark is Rising - WotW Part I (COMPLETED) (Inactive)

Game Master Darkness Rising

Ok all, the slow anorexic took out 7 bad guys. You need to take out the one that is left. Also, we need to whack those down, before they get back up. CDG time.

Uh yeah, about that... the sailors are barely CR 1; Odenkirk is CR 6. You kids have fun, now!

I've got my dagger ready. :D
C'mon guys: he can rage all he wants, but you're eviler and smarter (and 3 :P).

We are not talking about CR here, we are talking about head count. Once you scalp them, it is the quantity, not quality, that most will respond to.

Although when it comes to it, the sailors are more dangerous than the captain. He is a complete a$$. He would be unlikely to got to the authorities and blab about what happened, because he just delivered arms to the bugbears. The sailors on the other hand, would without a doubt march right into the next town and rat out us and the captain.

Hey, your tactics* are your own, I'm not criticising them - I'm just noting (with the amused detachment that is every DM's prerogative) that the two dedicated spellcasters the group has are concentrating on the mooks rather than the BBEG. It's a novel approach. I look forward to seeing how many of the other three will shortly be rolling up new characters it plays out.

*although there doesn't appear to have been much discussion of tactics, either in-character or in this discussion thread; was there a general assumption you could take him?

Yeah, I was resisting the urge to say 'Why are you targeting the crew? We can hunt them down later!' - and perhaps I should not have resisted it.

I thought our positions around the captain would be very advantageous, since we have three melee characters that benefit from flanking - but that appears not to have worked out. Now I'm stuck behind the captain and limited in my ability to buff myself to take him out.

Just waiting on Ottakar so I can finish Round 1

Hm, maybe my casting of Grease wasn't good, but Tkaara had to Color Spray the crew twice: if they get a leg start on us, we wouldn't have been able to catch them up.
Can we see if the captain is carrying another weapon beside the one he's wielding? If that's the case, I'll try to spam grease on his weapon: Fortitude and Will are a little too high to target now that he's raging, and a Greased weapon is a death sentence. If he picks it up, he provokes from 3 people; if he attacks with his fists, he provokes anyway.

On the other hand, I don't get why we attacked the captain head on. :/
I was thinking about using Etna's BSmancy to find a way to bunch up the captain and sailors: something like making him and the crew sign a receipt about the horn we were using to repay the "damages", per the cardinal requests. When Odenkirk was going to voice his reticence for the thing, we could have just said that we would have thrown another 500 GP worth of stuff if he and the crew signed the thing.*
With exams and all, I was too slow in posting and Ottakar and Erevan already attacked him, though. :(

*"If you illiterate boors can't write, sign with a cross here, and here, and there..."

Weeell, technically Erevan did not so much attack him, rather he buffed everyone and was rude to him a wee bit. Semantics, I know... :-P

With the good Doctor turning into a bit of a beast -pun wholeheartedly intended- the cat or werewolf was out of the bag, so I thought we may as well kill these idiots deader than a doorknob and be done with it. Unless we end up as the doorknobs, in which case... bad bad idea.

While we wait on our Doctor, in order to keep us moving why don't Etna and Felrin post their Round 2 actions, and then I will seamlessly stitch the whole thing together afterwards...

Sure thing! Like I asked before, can we see if the captain is carrying another weapon beside the one he's wielding? I would like to know that so I can decide if I want to Grease the weapon or the ground?

Yes: he's got a couple of handaxen and a few daggers. Almost nobody carries just the *one* weapon...

I was hoping he was dumb enough to do so. :(
Grease grounding it is then!

Etna - Felrin is in L3, where you greased. The map has not been updated because DMD is posting by phone.

No problem - I'll move the grease square as required to avoid "friendly slick"

The weapon is always a better choice. Getting hit with a crit from a greataxe is never a good idea.

Can anyone else see the new map? Dropbox is not letting me view it or download it.

I can see the map fine. What I can't do is find a safe spot on the map to cast a buff spell or two.

Grrr - just realized that Bless and Beacon of Evil are both morale bonus. Already had this all typed up. So much for that idea.

Turning from the fallen sailors, and hoping that they will stay down long enough to finish the captain, Tkaara raises one hand and calls out to the heavens. As has become familiar now, pinpoints of light are pulled down from the sky into her hands. With a few spoken words in a strange tongue, she blows on the lights as she turns, resulting in the light spreading out in an area about her where they land on her companions and their weapons. Each time one hits,

Good catch - genuinely hadn't spotted that!

I'd have been more inclined to say that Beacon of Evil is a profane bonus, but I guess they set it up that way for a reason.

Maybe a Cure Moderate Wounds?

Can't get to Felrin and am unsure who is injured since nobody is updating their status lines from what I can see. Decided to go with a shield of faith, one missed attack is worth far more than a hit.

Far as I can tell, Felrin is the only one who is injured for now.

Only Felrin's injured so far, so stat lines are accurate.

The Round summary I do in combat provides up to date info on who is hurt, use that if in any doubt.

Ah, forgot you also keep track. Tkaara could not get to Felfin this round.

BTW, Shield of Faith is a defection, not a shield, bonus. Misleading name, really!

I suppose Deflection of Faith just does not have the same ring.

I had completely forgotten that it was deflection, same as a ring of protection. It is sort of funny that you can have Shield of Faith, and Shield active at the same time. Nonetheless, for Tkaara, who is not really up for being hit these days, using Shield of Faith and her own shield will be beneficial.

Do you guys think that I should try to Grease Odenkirk's weapon instead of CdGing mooks, right?

That wouldn't be a bad idea. Whether you do that or something else to affect Odenkirk, I would definitely focus on him rather than the mooks. He's tough and needs to go down, then we take on or hunt down mooks.

Right: at least he won't be bale to full attack if he has to draw a new weapon.

The sailors are not going anywhere for another 5-6 rounds. I rolled terrible on the unconscious, but still got like 3 rounds unconscious and another 3 rounds stunned on both groups.

Remember, if you grease the weapon, he will have to make a reflex save each round to avoid dropping it. If he makes the save, that is a good roll spent not attacking us. If he fails, his weapon drops to the ground.

I always thought that if he made the first Reflex save when I targeted the weapon, the effect was completely nulled.

Etna's right - according to the FAQ, a successful initial save negates the spell completely.

Yet another strangely worded spell. You may be right, although with the description being broken up into multiple separate sentences with no real relation, it is hard to tell whether "A saving throw must be made in each round that the creature attempts to pick up or use the greased item" is avoided by the first saving throw.

Either way, I would cast Grease this round, and for the next 2-3 to get him to drop that big 2-handed weapon and avoid the x3 crit, 1d12 damage, and 2-handed strength bonus.

Sound tactical advice! Remember Felrin was saved only because Sir Balin didn't have his longsword...

Does the captain have super high saves, or he's just lucky? <.<

The problem with save-or-suck spells is that, occasionally, it's the caster who gets the 'suck'

And he just missed Felrin - twice - so the luck balances out, I find. But then, I can be philosophical: if this BBEG falls, there'll be another one/two/many/lots along in a bit. I try not to get too attached to them; although I'm becoming rather fond of Tiadora (I don't know what that says about me - nothing good, I'm guessing!). And Elise, of course. Poor Elise. So clever - and yet so, so, witless... it's tragic, really, when you think about it. Or it will be, once we get there.

Soon.

:)

Generally Barbarians are not known for their high Will or Reflexl. Unfortunately, rage gives a +2 on Will saves, but no bonus on Reflex. With his super high Strength (based on the damage he is meting out), I would hope that his dex/reflex is not astronomical.

As I said, the great thing about save-or-suck spells, is that when the save is made, it removes a high roll that would likely otherwise be an attack (potential crit in this case). I would consider that to be a well used spell.

Okay, I think we're waiting on Ottakar's Round 2 action, and Felrin's Round 3 action, yes?

Oh, I was waiting for round 2 to finish, since you often prefer to wrap up a given round before starting the next. I'll get a post up.

I am hoping that Tkaara is making her way in Felrin's direction in order to do some healing!

I guess that it's also karma coming back to bite be after all those 1s on Sense Motive. :P

I personally like Elise, too! She and Etna could get along, if they got some time to talk: if it wasn't for various family backstabbing, at this time Etna would be traveling around as the sorceress of a group of murderhobos like Elise (even if I'm betting she's a Winter Witch).
We won't have to kill them, do we? D: She's the doctor love interest, too!*

*Ottakar threathened to spank her, not kill her. Maybe the Jadwiga is into that sorta thing. Zon-Zon abound in Irrisen.

Want me to post for the Doctor? Based upon his prior actions, I would assume that he is going to full attack with reach using claw-claw-bite.

No, it's ok, thanks. I think we can give him a little time; we post pretty regularly so another day's delay won't hurt that much. And besides, he has his own - (thankfully) inimitable - way of doing things; I'd hate to cramp his style.

*Ottakar threathened to spank her, not kill her. Maybe the Jadwiga is into that sorta thing. Zon-Zon abound in Irrisen.

Thank you for giving me a mental picture I did NOT need. And I won't even ASK what the strikethrough text is supposed to mean.

Lol - no problem. Was looking forward to all the ripping and shredding. With 3 attacks, there is a good chance that he will be able to use his creative writing skills to describe how the overconfident captain realizes the error of his ways too late.

Uh, yeah, maybe - you've got a fair few hitpoints to get through first...!

@DMD: Want some Brain Bleach? I can mix it up with something strong.

Craft: BrainBleach Cocktail Making: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (9) + 2 = 11

*Presents Vodka shot with a pile of bleaching powder thrown in. There's even a little paper-toothpick umbrella!*

@DMD: Want some Brain Bleach? I can mix it up with something strong.

[dice=Craft: BrainBleach Cocktail Making]1d20+2

*Presents Vodka shot with a pile of bleaching powder thrown in. There's even a little paper-toothpick umbrella!*

Tkaara would prefer a Bloody Mary, or something similar, if possible.

JUst in case my comment above was missed in the excitement: Is Tkaara headed toward Felrin and planning to heal him? Would be much appreciated!

Would have done it last round, but she only moves at 20', so there was no way to get to Felrin. Also, the map had Felrin stuck in a corner that she could not get to without drawing an AoO. Where Felrin is now, assuming he is still alive, Tkaara can hit him with a CMW.