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

Game Master Darkness Rising

Let's do this! I have a mage armour for one, let me know who gets it; is AC 19 better tanking than DR 5...?

Ready, too! Felrin just has to open the door to the cell in front of us (the one in which we hide) and we're ready!
We'll take over Talingrade by grease and showing cleavage to half-drunk guards!

I was waiting for the results of my foray down the hall to free Grumblejack and then ask him to wait quietly. I didn't roll great on my stealth check and I'm asking an incarcerated ogre to be patient, so I didn't feel I could take the outcome for granted.

Other than that, I'm ready to proceed and will get that cell door unlocked pronto.

We'll take over Talingrade by grease and showing cleavage to half-drunk guards!

I'm not sure about "Grease and Cleavage!" as a battle cry, but I'm sure that the coat of arms would be worth seeing...

Sorry for the delay, I will update the thread shortly.

WooHoo - time to get some food . . . er, kill some guards.

Oops, forgot I needed to get 'Jack unshackled. Back to work!

Wait, aren't we hiding in the cell in front of our own? Why's the doctor at Y-10?

I thought it was the one next to ours so that we could move forward and into the gambling den while the guards were checking out the illusions, and the drug addict.

I thought you all were going to U/V/W, 1/2/3 -- this is a dark area and allows for you all to move south and into the guard room while the drunk guards investigate the seductive barrister.

EDIT - also, by being here, Etna can easily continue to concentrate/manipulate the silent image.

It seems obvious we have a bit of a mixup in regards to the plan. I would have gone to DD-16, but that would involve sneaking through full light right next to the guardroom, which makes it risky. In any event, I thought I was to try to hide near the guardroom so I could rush in to confront the horn-wielder.

Don't I have to keep line of sight to keep up Silent Image? That's why I thought we where going to hide in cell N-T 11-16.
We where going to jump quietly the guard that you distracted, and then move to the guardroom, maybe waiting for the other guards to come check why the other isn't back yet.

PS:The cell I thought we where hiding in is the one Felrin opened, even if I don't understand why he completed his turn in S 10.

I stopped in S10 after opening the door for two reasons:

I didn't want to get too far ahead of the rest of the party in terms of actions and

I wasn't sure where I was supposed to be.

If we wait in the cell to the right, looking at the map, of where we were locked, then we can all move out to attack the horn holder. The goal is to convince the drunks to come into the cell. As soon as they move into the cell, all the melee types move stealthily south into the guardroom. Then they attack, I run past the guards, hopefully catching them by surprise. And Grumblejack moves out to make the two in the cell have a really bad time.

I do not think this is too complicated and conserves most of our spell resources.

The issue I see with that plan, Tkaara, is that the guards will come in with torches, because they can't see otherwise. So when they come down the first bit of hall, the cells to either side will be lit up, and anyone hiding in them will almost certainly be seen. And when they reach the horizontal segment of the hall, the torch will illuminate the door to the cell you propose we hide in, so it will have to be closed all the way. And the door to our cell will have to be closed and locked to avoid any suspicion (if they arrive at the cell and try to open it and discover it's unlocked, they certainly won't just shrug and enter), so if they don't come in, anyone in there is trapped.

I don't think there's a perfect solution, and I don't mean to nitpick without making a suggestion - I just think this will call for us getting in as good a place as we can and taking a shot at it. I'm thinking that our best hiding places, once the torches begin moving around, are in the neighborhood of O15 and W2, since they'll only be low-light. But having a person at Y10 and T10 could work also, since we could just charge past any guard that comes down the hall and go straight for the door/signal horn, while the others take out the guard that's come to check things out.

I figured that the back part of that cell, against the outer walls, would be in low light even if they were using a torch since the torches are only 20' radius. Also, you should be able to unlock the cells and then jam then such that they can be closed, but not locked. Obviously the cell I am in will be the tough one, and I may need to be locked back in temporarily. At the same time, if you start to move toward the guardroom as soon as the guards are more than 20' down the hall toward the cell Tkaara will be in, then you should be close to, or in, the guardroom before the guards even get a chance to check the cell door. Remember, Tkaara will be using her silver tongue to confuse/seduce the guards. This would take at least a minute, so plenty of time to distract the guards while you all head into the guardroom behind them.

The problem with attacking the guards when they come in is that it results in 1-2 rounds before anyone is able to get to the horn blower if he hears the attacks.

I guess I didn't make myself clear. I wasn't suggesting we attack the entering guards first. I was saying we wait at Y10 and T10 for as long as we can, then rush past the first guards to hit the one with the horn and keep the guardroom door open. I don't imagine the guards will enter with weapons drawn, so we wouldn't provoke AoO's as we rush past them, and we can focus on keeping the horn from being blown, then take out any remaining guards.

I agree about being able to jam the locks so the doors can be closed but not locked. Perhaps we can just presume that Felrin did that on all the doors he unlocked, since the DC would likely be 20?

Ah, I see what you mean Tkaara. Yes, I think that works better.
The thing I didn't see before is that there aren't walls around the cells, but bars. <.<

If we did as I suggested, they would have caught us for sure, as the torches would have surely lit the area at N-T 11, where I suggested where we would hide.
Going with Tkaara's plan, hiding at U-Y 1, they won't catch us even if they pass near there with the torches.

So, where are we supposed to end up for now? I have not posted Erevan's action yet, basically his moving to a specific area, because I am not sure where he is to move to.

Slight complication: just looked up the rules for Blinded and Hecate takes a -4 to Dex-based checks while she can't see. We may have to risk a Light spell if we want her to move.

Either that, or it can be her stumble that the guards hear and brings them to us, if we move her last.

For now, Hecate can stay in our original cell and cast sleep from there on the guard with the horn, since she should be able to see the guardroom door from the cell (he's standing next to two torches). Unless I've forgotten some reason she needs to be elsewhere, in our complex plan-building.

I'm okay with hiding in the cell to the right of ours, if that's the general consensus - but getting to the horn-guard will take two full rounds (during which we'll be visible to the horn-guard and he'll blow his horn), and if we hide at T10 and Y10 we might be able to do it in one, depending where the guard stands.

A couple of clarifying questions:

Is Etna still planning to grease the horn? If so, where will she be?

Is Hecate still planning to sleep the guard with the horn?

An unrelated point:

DM Asmodeus: would you mind putting a link to the map on the Campaign Info tab? That saves us looking through the gameplay thread for your most recent post. Thanks.

DM Asmodeus: would you mind putting a link to the map on the Campaign Info tab? That saves us looking through the gameplay thread for your most recent post. Thanks.

Done.

I already love Grumblejack <3

I already love Grumblejack <3

Same here. I mentioned a while ago that I got to play in a game run by Gary McBride, who wrote this adventure path. His version of Grumblejack and Asmodeus' have a great deal in common - simple, often funny, and dumb as a box of rocks.

I am going to view Grumblejack as akin to Drax the Destroyer from Guardians of the Galaxy, I think...

Yeah, with a little bit of Groot to him.

Following Tkaara's remarks, it looks like we're following the "lure guard into cell" gambit; but we're positioned for the "rush into guardroom and kill 'em where they stand/sit" gambit. Do we reposition (with or without retcon) or do we accept that we're new to working together and just get on with it?

I just wrote a post with your latter option in mind, Hecate (haven't posted yet), since that seemed to be how we all ended up positioning ourselves. Since the guards don't have the signal horn in hand, it seems we can get to the door and start fighting them without it going off, which was the main thing we were concerned about.

In short, I say we roll with the configuration we have - and rush in and kill 'em, rather than re-open the strategy discussion.

Fine - can I suggest that SOMEONE double moves into the guardroom to cut off any escape route? If the guards are playing cards it'll take them at least one round to get ready, by which time the rest of us will be on hand.

I completely agree - that's why I was asking for info on where the guards were. I've just posted my action, which I'm hoping will keep the guard busy so someone can get by (either Erevan, with his high AC, or the doctor, with his DR) to block the door in case anyone wants to close it.

Edit: one minor revision we would have made to the plan, once we all began to line up along the hall the way we did: Felrin would have unlocked the door to our original cell, so Tkaara wouldn't be locked in and unable to get out as we made our bid for freedom.

Edit: one minor revision we would have made to the plan, once we all began to line up along the hall the way we did: Felrin would have unlocked the door to our original cell, so Tkaara wouldn't be locked in and unable to get out as we made our bid for freedom.

That was why I was asking about jamming the locks a while ago. So that nobody could get locked in.

Obviously the cell I am in will be the tough one, and I may need to be locked back in temporarily.

You also said this, which is why I suggested the minor revision, to be sure you weren't locked in.

Ah, had forgotten about that. Although, when I said that, I thought that everyone else would be in the cell adjacent to me, so that the expectation was that I would lure the guards into my cell, and that they would thus do the unlocking for me.

OK, here is A plan; doesn't have to be THE plan.

Felrin engages the guard coming our way (done)
Ottakar finishes him off: sneak attack should work since he's flat-footed
Erevan runs (double-move) past the corpse and into the room, getting as far in as he can to ensure no one runs away and raises the alarm that way (your high AC should protect you from any danger until the others arrive)
Etna moves into sight of the room (move action) and casts Grease (standard action) on the horn (if she can see it) or on the remaining guards (if horn is out of sight)
Hecate moves up behind Felrin & Ottakar (move action) and casts Daze (standard action) on one of the guards in the room (ideally the one nearest the horn)
Tkaara curses at us for ruining a perfectly good plan (guilty, m'lud!) and double-moves out the cell to join in the fun next round.

Sounds great. And it's so nice and clear! Thanks.

Ok, perfect. I just want to be sure about something: can I see trough the cage's bars? In other words: from T 16, could I see in the guardroom and cast Grease?

It will work out, but next time let's make all sure we're on the same page about a plan, ok? ;)

It will work out, but next time let's make all sure we're on the same page about a plan, ok? ;)

Yes, mommy!

:p

Ok, perfect. I just want to be sure about something: can I see trough the cage's bars? In other words: from T 16, could I see in the guardroom and cast Grease?

It will work out, but next time let's make all sure we're on the same page about a plan, ok? ;)

From T16 you could not see in the guardroom at all, the guardroom door is at V and W 16. However on the next update after round one then I plan on including everything in the guardroom everyone can see based on where they end up.

Right now I have Round 1 Actions from Felrin and Erevan if you are not doing anything in the first round but waiting then please let me know, I need everyone's actions before I process the round.

Erevan - if you can get to S20, you'll cut off any escape route down the stairs

Hecate is late down the initiative order, but I'm posting now for efficiency. Trust the DM will untangle it all later.

EDIT: Felrin, if you move as Ottakar suggests you WILL block my line of sight to the guard, so please don't. Since the guard is flat-footed, your sneak attack should apply anyway, Herr Doktor.

EDIT: Felrin, if you move as Ottakar suggests you WILL block my line of sight to the guard, so please don't. Since the guard is flat-footed, your sneak attack should apply anyway, Herr Doktor.

This was my thought also, which is why I moved where I did. I figured we could 5-foot step into a flank next attack if need be, but for now I wanted to be as close to the door as I could.

Since the issue of Felrin "stealing" the flank position has come up a couple of times recently, I wanted to point out that his campaign trait gives him a damage bonus when flanking, so he tries to use it and as an inquisitor he'll have teamwork feats that benefit from flanking. So we'll have three combatants who like to flank. Rather than thinking about it as stealing the position, I'd rather think of it as creating greater opportunities to flank as we get used to each other. :)

I do not know whether Combat Expertise is in your future, but if it is, Gang Up is a sweet feat that allows you to always be flanking as long as you are fighting with at least two allies.

I can summon expendable tanks into useful flanking positions (I know Summon Monster is a full-round action to cast, but it's still awesome).

I know, but if Ottokar, Felrin and Erevan all have sneak damage/flanking bonuses, then getting the Gang Up feat could be very useful as they would all get their bonuses all the time, and then you would not have to worry about summoning just for flanking purposes. Although, expendable flank tanks are always useful.

Also, Outflank, Paired Opportunists and Precise Strike can come in very handy if we have a bunch of underhanded backstabbing miscreants in the party.

Gang Up is nice: a shame that it requires the mother, father, and whatever of all of the feat taxes. <.<

Speaking of cool things: while skimming the ACG I found this:

If we'll ever have to assassinate an NPC (I guess we'll do), we know what to use for MAXIMUM EVULZ POINTZ. :P

I'm not sure I'll have sufficient feat slots for Combat Expertise and Gang Up, but it is worth considering given how our prime melee combatants are focused on flanking. Either way, summoned flanking buddies would be very useful.

Edit: cool spell, Etna! And very thematically appropriate. I look forward to seeing it in play.

Felrin - I didn't follow up my attack post because I was not sure that the guard would be down. I assumed that the last guard was not a sergeant with more HP or something, but figured that DMA would give us the all clear to ransack the place.

I actually hoped that DMA would have still been on when I posted since I was only about 20 minutes after him. Will probably have to wait until this evening to start dividing up the body parts . . . er, loot.

Yeah, I thought about rolling another round of attacks on the last guard, just in case, but it seemed very likely that you had finished him off. If it turns out not to be the case, I'll have to retcon a bit, but it seems likely he's unconscious. The ransacking was less important to me than the listening for any activity below that might indicate we'd been heard.

Might want to retcon now. That last guard has not been hurt previously and 9 points will not take it down. Also Felrin acts first in the round so his action comes before Tkaara. Look at the init order.

Rats! Missed the edit window by a minute. Sorry, I thought that guard had been hit already. Will put up a revised post.