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A couple of quick questions before I decide what to do this turn:
Does the fog seem to be affected by movement, i.e. does Marik think that something like the gust of wind spell could potentially clear it?
Am I right in thinking that the allip essentially moved out of the wall, cast the spell which caused the fog and fear effect (presumably via something like flyby attack or as a swift action) and then moved again into the opposite wall. Or did disappearing into the wall seem to be part of the spell?
The allip is using Flyby Attack.
The smoke is as thick as a Fog Cloud. I'd allow a Knowledge (Arcana) DC 22 check to give a definite answer on methods shifting it.
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Ah, that's a nasty combination, incorporeal, spellcasting and flyby attack!
I also just remembered another question I was going to ask. Did we notice anything noteworthy about the body other than it was dead and desiccated? I'm guessing it could be the individual whose notebook we found. Do they appear to be a crusader and do they have a holy symbol? Also does the body bear any resemblance to the allip? (essentially Marik would be trying to work out if it seems likely that the allip and the body are from the same person and if he can use anything he spotted on the body as source material for more insults to throw at the spirit).
There is actually a full-size portrait of your ghostly friend in the scenario, and it is showing what I think is a holy symbol of Iomadae. I've added the portrait to Slide 2.
You didn't really get time to look closely at the desiccated body yet though. (Though it could be examined with a move-action Perception check if within 10 feet if someone wanted to).
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If confusion ever wears off, perhaps we can bypass this room and try to head thru the door to the north; we could wait till he disappears thru a wall and then make a break for the door…
The allip can keep this crap up all day; with flyby attack, he can emerge from a wall, attack, and sink back into a wall…and we can’t full attack with readied attacks so even when Myth is not confused, he can’t do much, especially if it casts cloud where we can’t see it…
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I think the trouble with going through the next door is that the allip can move through walls and has already shown a willingness to move beyond its original room. So the chances are we will just end up moving the fight to another room and if there are dangers in the next room we could end up going from dealing with one tough fight to dealing with the existing fight plus other issues.
To be fair we’ve managed to do 119 hit points to it so far, which is a decent amount of damage. Although I’ve no idea if we can tell how injured it’s currently looking, to get a rough idea of how much more we need to do?
(Presumably the enchantment/compulsion effect does not allow the caster to exercise control over Marik so he would not be protected by the haunted mercy as per the protection from evil faq?):
Correct. Terrible Remorse grants no control over the target, but has a fixed effect.
Confusion can sometimes be a party-killer, but I have to say I am enjoying Derpi and Ashwell's antics, as well as the imagery of Riddywhipple flitting about desperately trying to get Derpi's attention and bring her back to reality :)
And as for Myth's luck, well :O
You've fired 10 ghost salt arrows, Myth, which is the sum total that you had on your sheet.
Mun, 3 of Myth's arrows hit on round 2. That makes 3 potentially recoverable. When out of combat, all you need to do is roll d% , a low number means arrow survived, assuming it's not durable.
But if still in combat rounds I'd require a move action to locate an arrow (Perception - I'll not worry about which 10' square you're searching though, and I'd consider the DC low enough that you wouldn't need to roll, the important thing is that it takes an action), then a move action to go to the location (which I'll randomly determine if you're in combat), and a move action to pick up the arrow.
That's a perfectly fine use of the Fetch trick, Mun.
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I couldn't find anything useful in my boons. I definitely think Mun's idea for more dispels is a good idea, as being confusion locked for a whole fight is not fun and it will also give us more options for dealing with the allip. Does Mun have the 'Purifier' boon from the Silver Crusade faction card (the one which gives a bonus to caster level checks to remove conditions)?
Hopefully the allip will start to run out of spells soon. Spellcasting in combination with incorporeal and flyby attack is a really unpleasant combination, especially if the creature has tactics which exploit those. It really limits the options for melee focused characters to contribute, even ones who do have ranged weapons.
Is there any pattern to the area of wall it is emerging from or the path it is taking when it moves? I'm wondering if it would be at all possible to predict which bit of the wall it will emerge from and lie in wait for it?
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Does Mun have the 'Purifier' boon from the Silver Crusade faction card (the one which gives a bonus to caster level checks to remove conditions)?
Yes, he does! He has it with 5 goals on Season 9 and an additional 2 goals on Season 8 (which counts as +1 goal towards Season 9), so a functional 6 goals for a +3 bonus. Good thinking!
Is there any pattern to the area of wall it is emerging from or the path it is taking when it moves? I'm wondering if it would be at all possible to predict which bit of the wall it will emerge from and lie in wait for it?
No particular pattern, but I can draw arrows to show its 'flight path' on the map on its turns.
Purifier is applicable.
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It looks like the confusion lock party may be starting to get a bit out of hand... If I'm reading things correctly and if Derpi has more magic missiles, then I think on Derpi's next round she will be able to do enough damage to Ash to outright kill him...
Given that I've got a few questions regarding options for stopping that happening:
- 1. I'm guessing Riddywipple was the only party member who would be able to distract Derpi and prevent her casting more spells, so it would not be possible for someone to take over doing that?
- 2. As this development happened on Derpi's turn, is there any option for people who are after Derpi in the turn order, who have already said what they are doing, to change their actions in light of the new situation if they think that would be useful?
If both of the above are non-starters then I guess that leaves Marik and Myth to stop Derpi from killing Ash. I don't think we want Myth to be distracted from killing the allip as Myth is the only party member able to consistently do damage to it, so I think the best option in that case would be for Marik to do something to stop Derpi.
Marik is not at all good at grappling so I don't think restraining Derpi would be a realistic option for him. I think his best bet would be to try and stun her with Stunning Fist. To be honest he's not much better at hitting with unarmed strikes, but even if he failed to stun her, if he delayed the attack to just before her go he would move the confusion lock onto himself and as he's got shield up he will avoid the magic missiles. Unfortunately, the shield will only last long enough for one round of magic missiles so at that point he will need to move into the other room and pick up his wand to cast it again to survive any future volleys, so someone will also need to make some sort of attack on Ash the following round to stop Ash from attacking Derpi and getting the confusion lock back (Probably best doing a non-lethal unarmed strike or throwing an improvised weapon at him).
If Marik has to do that, is Derpi ok with him attacking her? It would be 1d4-1 nonlethal damage if it hits.
On a side note, I was wondering if it would be worth people readying ranged attacks to ready them for when the allip tries to cast a spell, in order to potentially disrupt the casting. I guess the problem with that is if it decides to use its action for something else the readied action would be wasted, so it would be a bit of a gamble.
I think that's a distinctly grey area but i've certainly seen it ruled that way.
Can't provide any more advice tonight, I am transferring data from my old Mac to a new one and limited to my phone for now. Should be able to pick up tomorrow.
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Now that the Muffin Wars appear to have escalated into an even more urgent issue, can I just check where the belligerents are in terms of hit points? If I'm understanding things correctly, Derpi is now at 22 out of 47 hit points and Ash is at 3 of 50 (let me know if I've got that wrong)?
If that's the case then I think we've now got a situation where either of them could outright kill the other next round (Ash will go first and if he casts another Mind Thrust, that will do an average of 36 damage which would kill Derpi if she fails the will save, if she passes and is still conscious, another set of those Magic Missiles will average 17 damage which risks killing Ash, even if they aren't maximised).
So we now need to stop both Ash and Derpi before they get their next round, which rather changes our available options...
One key question is the one around whether people going after Ash and Derpi this round can change their declared action in light of what has now happened? e.g. would Mun want to use dispel to try and remove confusion from one of them? It also opens up other potential options if needed (e.g. stronger members of the group grappling Derpi to make it hard for her to cast, or putting a fear or emotion effect on Ash to try and shut down his physic casting - I'm not an expert on physic casting so not sure if that would totally shut his offensive casting down or not?).
As both Ash and Derpi are low on hit points another option to prevent them casting would be to have Marik try and knock them unconscious with non-lethal damage. If Ash is on 3 hit points, then (unless Marik is really unlucky) Marik should be able to knock Ash out with a full round attack. He may be able to put both confused party members unconscious if he roles well, and should be able to deal with Derpi's magic missile for a round if he doesn't, due to his remaining round of shield. The disadvantage of this option is that, in order to get them back in the fight we'd need to both dispel magic on them and also heal them rather than just dispel magic.
I think what we do next hinges on whether dispel magic before Ash and Derpi's next go is an option or not. If it is, then it's probably our best bet for helping one of the confused party members. If it's not an option, then I think that just leaves us with the option of Marik trying to non-lethally knock Ash unconscious and then seeing if he can also do the same to Derpi (which would require permission from both for him to do that).
I did a quick scan of the forums for opinions/rulings on Confusion, and it does seem that going for the kill is the most common interpretation of "attack nearest creature".
The simplest solution to 'breaking' the Confusion attack lock is just to switch the target - the most recent creature to attack the Confused person becomes that person's target.
Retconned actions are available - I've posted in Gameplay.
I think I missed your False Life though Ash - corrected total now.
Will update gameplay later this evening, but yes, Mun's dispel on Derpi's confusion succeeds.
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Can someone move Ash out of range of that inflict? He’s going to be dead dead next round, I’m afraid.
Has Ash used the Misfortune re-roll from Xiao yet, that may also help? Another option to stop it casting would be to ready some ranged attacks to trigger when it casts, which could disrupt the casting. The main downside of that is that if it decides not to cast this round, the attack won’t trigger, but if it does cast the attack could do a good job of stopping the casting.
I assume the spell it’s using mass inflict light wounds, which needs the targets all be within 30 foot of each other. So to get out of range we’d need to arrange ourselves so that Ash is over 30 feet away from the majority of us, although I’m not sure if that might leave Ash vulnerable to the allip doing other nasty stuff?
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Thinking about options for getting Ash out of range of the mass inflict spells, another option would be to move him into the smaller room to break line of sight.
Marik would not be strong enough to pick up Ash (the minimum male undine weight is twice Marik’s maximum carrying capacity), but he could in theory drag him, as you can drag up to 5 times your maximum load. The rules around dragging do not mention any impact on speed or encumbrance, so would this mean that it’s possible to drag someone at your full movement speed, so long as you are otherwise lightly encumbered?