True.
Still, even after a terribly unlucky fight I'd posit we're still at 50% fighting potential (we have 7 castings of CLW left, Tiferet's scroll included, and Morgraine still has her full array of spells available). Make it 3 after we're fully healed. I'd say we can still face at least one encounter before resting, or at least try to push on until evening. Sooner or later, we'll have to face the Witch in her fortress, and we won't be able to rely on single-encounter days any more.
By the way, what time is it? Noon-ish (given it was late morning when we reached the lodge)?
It's pretty slow going due to the snowfall. It's been a couple of hours, making it early to mid afternoon, but you've mostly crossed over the High Ridge. You have maybe a couple of hours until dark.
Just to be clear, the party is joining Eirikr and Inire in the clearing, right?
Tiferet surely is, if only ~ 100 ft. away to get a +10 distance bonus to her previous stealth check (even with a mwk. breastplate, she's still the clunkiest character in the party). The square you put her in the roll20 map seems about right. She wouldn't dare to approach further for fear of being discovered.
I'd say if Nathara is using her bow, the pieces are very well placed already. Martials in melee (bar Tiferet who's going to charge into it ASAP), archer in the back, and casters further behind. If Inire or Eirikr's spot checks are enough to discern a creature in the foliage, we can start the dance with a ranged attack and a surprise round (if we weren't spotted first, that is). Otherwise, we can always create a diversion.
The party has not been spotted by anything, though with the distance, they can't identify exactly what's in the trees. They're not very big, whatever they are.
Well that's... reassuring :)
Shall we just use a surprise round to come out and close the distance (or ready actions for those who have ranged capabilities), gauging their reactions, or shall we create a distraction to flush them out of hiding?
For what we know, whatever is lurking there might not even be hostile!
But its reasonable to assume the fey would have murdered anything that wasn't friendly. As has been the case with everything else, so far. :)
I'm positively, 99% persuaded that's the case in point :) (even more so that according to Vosi, they've now actively added us to their extermination list – so they killed the man and used him and his camp as bait).
I was having scruples because I was thinking of throwing a random Alchemist's Fire into the quivering branches – that would probably elicit a reaction pretty quick so that we can hit them with everything we have using readied actions. But I thought that blindly bombing things is not something Tiferet would do, so I started considering less violent means of flushing them out :(
Was Eirikr's transformation flashy enough to be potentially spotted or are we still in Stealth mode? If the former, Tiferet would use what would basically amount to her Surprise Round action to activate her raging song. Otherwise, she'd just stay put for the time being...
I rolled a 5 on my stealth roll, so I imagine whatever it was had already spotted me at least
True, but in spite of your unlucky roll being invisible granted you a +20 bonus on that check, for a total of 25... Plus if you ended your second turn behind a tree you would have total concealment anyway as long as you're immobile (whispering is a DC 25+1/10 ft. Perception check to notice).
I'm curious as to how the GM is going to rule about this, perhaps he'll just settle things by giving us a surprise round before combat proper begins.
Right, forgot about the spell. Well, maybe this will turn out to be a noncombat encounter? Helpful fairies! Who grant wishes! I still believe!
Hahaha. Helpful fairies... you're funny... An vanish would wear off right after he transformed. It only lasts two rounds at this level.
I'm about to be shot full of tiny arrows aren't I?
Don't worry about waiting for my surprise round. I don't have one.
Tricky. Unfortunately Izoze is not in range for a daze spell. I cannot charge the remaining elemental, since there is no straight line. I could have run straight to Izoze to have him in melee, but then I would not have been able to do anything else to keep the pressure up.
I forgot to put in my post that Eirikr accepts Tiferet's raging song
With all our flying friends, I may have to start rethinking the spells Morgraine prepares. :P
Sleep was a very solid and versatile choice, too bad the mephit made her will save or combat would have already been over :(
Do we have some spells in store to force her down her perch or is it going to be Fawfein 2.0? At the very worst we have plenty of Alchemist's Fire to throw at her...
Sleep was a very solid and versatile choice, too bad the mephit made her will save or combat would have already been over :(
Do we have some spells in store to force her down her perch or is it going to be Fawfein 2.0? At the very worst we have plenty of Alchemist's Fire to throw at her...
I have a "burning hands" remaining, but I am not in range yet. Other than that "acid splash" and "daze", but I think it's better when I keep shooting.
I had meant to post a spoilered summary of Tiferet's upcoming turn but I figured it's too dependent on Eve's actions and eventual reactions as of now...
It's probably going to be a melee attack if she manages to Command it down the tree, or a delay action to allow Nathara and potentially Inire to make their moves first otherwise (I was entertaining the crazy notion of throwing her axe at her – it's a -4 penalty and I'd have to use Tiferet's meagre DEX modifier for it, but it beats just standing there shouting and cursing!).
That's a great point. Eve's turn may alter Inire's entirely. But, you know, only if Inire could do anything else. :)
If I remember right, Mephits heal from their own elements. But that's just hearsay-based nonsense that I'm not even sure of (I think I read about it in the sylph thing?). If that's the case, it'd be funny to see a mephit with chill metal chill its own breastplate.
I mention this, because if we're throwing two-handed weapons, Inire's dex mod isn't terrible -but- it's also cold. Also, she probably wouldn't ever throw Scribe... buuuut. :p
Maybe Eirikr can toss Inire his spear and she can throw it at Izoze?
They kind of do, if I remember correctly, which would explain the closing wound thing... I don't know if contact with a frozen object would further boost it or if the freezing temperatures all around are already doing their job, but in a normal climate, casting chill metal on its own armour sounds like a very good tactic for wayward mephit.
Which actually leads me to a question I've been meaning to ask for a while now: how much do our characters know of a foe's abilities? Specifically, after rolling the appropriate Knowledge check. For instance, Tiferet rolled a 26 when identifying Izoze as a Mephit. Does that mean she also knows some of her peculiarities like whether the wound closing thing is due to damage resistance or fast healing or regeneration or something else entirely?
It's already below freezing, so Izoze is already benefiting from her fast healing. If you want to know if you'd know something, you can just ask. I'll try to include higher DCs with future checks, each DC will provide more detail.
Tif would know an ice mephit's strengths and weaknesses. They're weak to fire, immune to cold, have DR 5 which is pierced by magic. They possess very sharp claws and a frigid breath weapon along with several spell-like abilities, most of which she's already used.
Yup! Would be awesome if u.rogues could make use of dex to damage on thrown. But that'd likely also be bad, cause it would pigeon hole rogues towards using daggers and star knives. Likewise, a full attack with thrown is much easier to manage at higher levels.
Inire probably couldn't hurt it, throwing the spear, now that we know it has Dr. :(
Just went with move since this fight alone has wasted a lot of her spells, if we have trouble with the pinata I'll burn the spells but I'd prefer to keep them.
Maybe Tiferet can climb the tree? She's the only one who can do enough damage to pass its DR without magic. Eirikr could use Magic Fang on himself but since his bite is currently a secondary attack his likelihood of hitting is basically nil.
Can't attack with a two-hander while climbing. That's why Inire wasn't worried about taking the sword with her.
Just going to delay action until there's something useful Tiferet can do then.
We can blast it with Alchemist's Fire, but it kind of seem wasteful to me before we exhaust our renewable options. With most of our spells and healing already spent, this is going to be the last fight of the day in any case.
Thanks for clarifying! Also, did Izoze's saving throw included the -2 penalty for still being shaken? Sorry for nitpicking, but the sooner this stall end, the better for everyone, right? :) (On the same note, can we hand-wave Eve using her Hypnotic Stare on Izoze since it's just a Swift Action?)
Re:climbing, Tiferet would try to do that and initiate a Grapple (better than nothing), but I don't have enough movement this round to get to Izoze and on her next turn she might just fly away. If she's struck by Vosi's Colour Spray, however, that might become a viable option after all... I feel dealing with DR, regenerating, flying foes is in the casters' court at this stage of the game, mainly due to lack of other options :(
I did forget the -2 from being shaken. She still manages to pass though. Just barely. And unfortunately Swift Actions must be taken on the character's turn. If she wants to retcon using it on her last turn, I would allow it since Eve didn't use anything other than moving last round.
Izoze is one of the most obnoxious foes that you run into during the first half of this AP.
Or setting it on fire. Over and over and over. :)
It's odd how many of my campaigns are fighting icy things right now. I think it's the turn in weather. Oh, and this being reign of winter. :)
I do have an idea for a pretty wild stunt, something that Inire could do. Not sure whether I should mention it here or say it in character... it has something to do with the equipment we acquired.
Party Inventory (link)
I am a bit ... hesitant to use my very last level 1 spell, burning hands. That was reserved for a certain troll. But we need to succeed here and now before we can think of the future. But even if I manage to seriously fry her she could simply fly away. Holding back, however, might be very costly. And I absolutely need Izoze to focus on Tiferet and myself, since we have cold resistance.
Are we permitted to look up the entry in the monster database to look up the Izoze's species, for which Tiferet and I succeeded in a Knowledge (The Planes) check?
Indeed. That's why the strategy os so dependant on her being stunned - so that she won't fly away. After this encounter we'll be basically forced to rest, as we're probably in no shape to continue; on that note, according to the map we found at the lodge, how far are we from the portal? Pretty close or is it still a couple days walk away?
There is no way I'm sending you into the boss fight before you have a chance to rest. You've burned enough resources and gotten beaten down enough that it really wouldn't be fair to you. That and you've got other encounters before you even find the boss anyway.
Yeah, you can check the ice mephit page. You've seen most of her powers anyway and you both made the check.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
without changing anything you've done, would you be willing to add a Swift Action to your turn and use it to cast Hypnotic Stare on Izoze?
At this point, I feel it's either that or liberal use of Alchemist's Fire, as our ranged capabilities are too scarce to out-dps a regenerating foe with Damage Reduction (though Tiferet's Arcane Strike bypasses it, she has no way to hit her other than the flashy stunt she put under the spoiler).
you were thinking of catching the mephit with a grappling hook? Is all of our equipment loaded up on Lily, or is someone carrying some of the stuff on his person? I also agree on the fact that it should be the two of us going toe-to-toe against Izoze, due to cold resistance...
The grappling hook, indeed. For all the advantages Izoze may have, she is not particularly powerful. We don't have a net, harpoon or anything like that, but we need to get her out of the sky if we wish to overcome her. It's loaded on Lily with the rest of our equipment.
If the dm is ok with me adding after the fact sure if not I'll be sure to do it next round
If we can't take care of her this round I'd rather try a command than a fire
Just how high is Izoze flying?
Fifteen feet and she's actually stunned on a tree branch, not enough to get cover or anything though. You can hit with a 15 foot cone from any square adjacent to her, but it will only hit her square shooting mostly upward.
I was considering the possibility to climb up and get her while she's stunned. A burning hands spell does only 2d6 damage in my case (i.e. the expectancy value is 7) and it does allow a reflex save vs. DC 15 for half.
If Izoze has +5 Reflex Save that means she stands a 55% chance to succeed, reducing the expectancy value to 3.5.
So in total the expectancy value would be 0.55 * 3.5 + 0.45 * 7 = 5.075. With a lot of deviation, of course.
Nice! Intimidate + Hypnotic Stare is a strong combo to set up save vs. Will spells; which at low levels usually mean one very dispatched foe if failed.
at least as far as I'm concerned, your judgement is as good as anyone's when it comes to take advantage of common resources, so if you want to use them, by all means, do! I'm surely not going to fault you for that ;)
For the record, since Izoze is now a sitting duck and won't be able to fly away, Tiferet's next turn will probably entail borrowing one of Nathara's swords and join her up the tree, using Arcane Strike to bypass her DR. It will take a couple of rounds though.
EDIT: in this case, Tiferet would throw her ax before Nathara climbs up the tree, so as not to risk hitting her!
I think I am still going to use the burning hands first. There should be sufficient time to climb the tree afterwards.
Inire will delay until after Eve // before fast healing. I'll lob the fire if he's still up. That crit, and a burning hands will go far in subduing the little monster. Remember also, that the little thing is blind, Nath, so his reflex is tanked right now.
Nice crit! If it's ok with you, Nathara, Tiferet might want to un-delay (is that a word?) her action a little bit and carry it out before your turn, so that (if we're lucky) you can save the spell for later (since as Inire pointed out, as long as we're in the wilderness we don't always get to decide what our last encounter for the day would be).
I was coincidentally also looking for a statement about being blinded/stunned affecting your Reflex saves, but I couldn't find any... By RAW, it appears being stunned prevents you from moving, but (for instance) paradoxically enough not from jumping out of the way if a trapdoor suddenly opens under your feet. It doesn't even give you any malus. Weird, huh?
As a GM that knows when rules are illogical, I'm comfortable saying that Izoze is definitely not getting a Reflex save if Nathara throws a burning hands at her. Burning hands inflicts 2d4 damage, but Izoze is also weak to fire, so increase any damage rolls by 50% after the fact. So on average it is only 8 damage. But it's 8 damage that's not resisted by anything.
If Tif wants to go now, go ahead.
Stunned doesn't, but should. Blinded should because it gives the opponent total concealment, and barring Uncanny Dodge/alternate vision shenanigans, an invisible foe always treats its opponents as flatfooted.
Though, whether flatfooted applies to reflexes seems to be up to the DM as well. It's odd that I didn't know that was a house rule until a few days ago.
Says the trap finding rogue who doesn't have uncanny dodge yet. ;~;
I'm also not sure total concealment = invisible = flat-footed, at least by RAW. Stunned takes way your DEX bonus to Armour, just like flat-footed does, but the two conditions are not stated to be equivalent. Though yeah, as the GM pointed out, this borderline pedantry better suited to the Rules forum.
Also, due to Arcane Strike, shouldn't Tiferet's blow, however unorthodox, bypass Izoze's DR for the full 16 dmg.?
How high up in the tree is Izoze?