Could I propose a lower DC? The DC for "Hear the sound of battle" is normally -10, pretty much an auto success even when you're asleep. DC 10 is hearing a creature walking. Maybe a DC 0 to hear Treesa shouting right next to us?
Yeah, probably should be 0. Have you ever slept on a boat? The sea can be extremely soothing. Anyway, go ahead and roll.
The good news is that once the fighting starts the DC to awaken will be lowered. Pros and cons of a good initiative roll.
This seems like an encounter slanted for a TPK.
Funny, I'm usually the one complaining about this in Fang Dragon's campaign. Fight smart and have faith.
Can we talk strategy for this fight?
Treesa and/or Vormog needs to roll Knowledge: Planes so our characters know what tritons are capable of.
The Obscuring Mist means we've got concealment from their missile attacks as well as cover, and they don't have line of sight.
I recommend that we make them come to us, rather than moving to the gunwhale, so they have to board the ship to melee. We can ready attacks or buff ourselves in the meantime.
I agree, but we do have to deal with the one that is already on board. I already told Rufus to wake people up. I can have him attack the one on the bow of the ship. I hate risking my familiar, but, if he's a caster of some sort we probably need to keep him busy.
Treesa will try to use the protective luck hex and cackle, and/or cast Mage Armor on 2 more people?
I hate risking my familiar, but, if he's a caster of some sort we probably need to keep him busy.
Treesa will try to use the protective luck hex and cackle, and/or cast Mage Armor on 2 more people?
He says he's the "knight of the waves, sworn champion of Mitra," which sounds more like a paladin than a caster to me, but who knows? Knowledge: Planes might tell us. Either way, he doesn't have line of sight on any of us at the moment, so his options are somewhat limited.
Risking your familiar does not sound worth it. But for later use, did you know you can designate your familiar to be the toucher for spells like Mage Armor and Cure Light Wounds?
Treesa will try to use the protective luck hex and cackle, and/or cast Mage Armor on 2 more people?
That all sounds great. I haven't graphed out the math or anything, but I believe Mage Armor is better on unarmored people with relatively bad AC and Protective Luck is better on people with relatively good AC. (Relative to the attackers' bonus to hit.)
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So, I have a single auto success at a Knowledge roll from the basement dungeon. I could pop it now.
I could use a Mage Armor, but I'll pop Fast Healing 2 as soon as I get an action to last until the end of combat through my judgement. I think you shouldn't waste an action on me. Maybe on Rayse if he's not sleeping in armor.
He has plate armor. Definitely not sleeping in that! I'll start with him then.
After he wakes everyone I'll call Rufus to guard me then.
I have not heard from Posh, but I see they are active elsewhere. Anyway, I'll bot him for the time being. Post tonight.
I reckon Rufus would wake Rayse up no problem, not sure how he'd react to this!
And yes there's no way Rayse is sleeping in full harness, well unless we later find some comfort armor.
Okay, in the future I will assume Rayse and Vormog are not sleeping in their armor.
Combat Order:
Treesa Lore
Rendydlyn the Red Waif (asleep)...
Rendylyn's so confident in the Knot that she apparently decided to go back to sleep.
Some tactical suggestions, Vormog--I know some folks don't care for them, so tell me if you'd like me to knock it off.
Since Treesa woke you with her action, you got a look at the tritons before Rendylyn raised the mist. Could you make a Knowledge: Planes check to identify them for us?
You might want to start the fight with a different judgement, and switch to fast healing if and when you take damage.
You might want to two-hand your morningstar for this fight instead of your longspear, because of the mist.
Dargon and Posh both being absent puts us at 4, which does make this encounter more challenging. I encourage any and all tactics table talk.
Posh is easy. He hides below the level of the rail and uses Bard song to buff his allies.
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@Rendy: Tactical talks are very welcome. I agree that the morningstar is more useful.
@GM: Is the identify part true? If so, I'd like to use my auto succeed.
@Rendy: I disagree with the judgement part. The problem is that the resource is very limited and I only get 1 per day. I chose fast healing due to the low AC. Also, there seem to be a bunch of adds that are probably going to do a little bit of damage, which fast healing gains a lot of value. Let me know if you still disagree.
Apologies! I'm here! Stupid Paizo boards don't show this campaign in my list AT ALL!
Ok, bring me up to speed?
@Rendy: I disagree with the judgement part. The problem is that the resource is very limited and I only get 1 per day.
As I understand the mechanic, you activate your Judgement and it lasts for an entire battle. You select a Judgement type when you activate it, and as a swift action you can switch that Judgement's type to another type. You're not spending another use of Judgement, you're just changing the type of the one you've already activated.
Ok, bring me up to speed?
Well, first the earth cooled. Then the dinosaurs came, but they got too big and fat and they all died! Then...
Wait, sorry, too much. So it's nighttime on our boat and Posh is asleep, and there's a bunch of tritons just out of reach, overboard, in the fog. Posh can make a Perception check on your next turn to wake up, but chances are good that Treesa is going to have Rufus shake him awake before that. We're buffing up and readying attack actions in the expectation that we'll be in melee soon.
Our math suggests that this will be a tough fight for five 2nd-level characters, so don't hold back any resources.
That IS how Judgments work! It goes for a whole combat!
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I'll wait gm to confirm this Rendy because that would mean judgement is a lot stronger than what I initially thought.
Also would need confirmation about how this interacts with my judgement surge feat.
If I can change at will during the per day use, then I'd start with judgement of purity (+1 to saves, or +2 if judgement surge applies).
Been a while since I played an Inquisitor so I had to re-read it. It does say that with a swift action you can change the judgement type. Does not indicate any cost to do so. So you could start with a protection bonus right now. Switch to a judgement that increases either your to hit or damage rolls. Change it again to healing if/when you get hit. Only one swift action per round.
But, if you get knocked out, the judgement goes on hold until you are brought back into the battle.
Posh? Did you hurt yourself while sleeping? Your status bar shows HP: 17/21.
...that would mean judgement is a lot stronger than what I initially thought.
From what I've seen, one of the throttles on inquisitors' power level is the limit of one swift action a round. Activating judgements, activating bane, switching judgement, discern lies, litany spells, and more all require swift actions.
I suggest waiting to see what you get from your special Knowledge: Planes check to decide what judgement to start with. If the tritons don't have any abilities that require saving throws, protection might make more sense. They (probably?) can't hit your unarmored AC on a 2, so even a little boost could help.
If one of you high diplomacy types has an action to spare, you might try to convince the captain to fight alongside us. I'd try telling him how fun and glorious the bloodshed will be, rather than trying to shame him or cow him or make him think we can't handle it on our own. We have to live with him afterwards!
Not only would an extra combatant be helpful, but we'd also get to see him in action, possibly useful since we'll have to take him down eventually.
That sounds like a job for the Posh man! Bards are all about talking fools into doing things, right?
I plan to boost my Diplomacy. Even plan to take the Charm hex. The Legendary version of it makes Diplomacy a class skill and I will use INT instead of CHA for it. And it makes it so it isn't dependent on language.
I read Judgment the same way; the only restriction to change Judgments is that it requires your swift action for the round.
Well, my Standard the round I wake up is bardsong, if you want me to talk to the Captain, didn't they like hide or something?
I'm catching up here. Glad to bring my talents to bear, of course.
If someone can ask me to handle that, as a Free Action, when I get back in the Init, I'll make it happen!
I think they went below deck. ?? Might be better to do that once a couple of the enemy have been killed. Let him know that we're just asking if he wants to join in the 'mop up'. Might be an easier sell.
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@GMT: Thanks for clarifying. Can you confirm whether the Judgement Surge feat works for the entire use of the daily judgement (including other judgements that I switch to), or if I change the judgement, I lose the bonus?
I can make the sell, as long as he can hear me!
@GMT: Thanks for clarifying. Can you confirm whether the Judgement Surge feat works for the entire use of the daily judgement
Yes
@GM: Is the identify part true? If so, I'd like to use my auto succeed.
A Gameplay post is needed.
Honestly, the stupid water elementals in this fight have me scratching my head. They feel like doors - big, dumb, and useless, except to slow down combat. There's also a question about tactics. Obscuring Mist is a door of sorts that nobody wants to go through. I had a thought about having the ship simply drift out of it. Might do that. This whole dungeon crawl on the sea is clunky. Not enjoying it.
Are the dolphins able to do anything? I assume not?
Also I notice some boxes north of Rayce? Is that just the map or are they actually there? If they are there, can he climb/jump over them and still make it to the elemental in one round?
You can get to the square south of the mast whether or not the boxes are difficult terrain...not wearing plate armor is suddenly very useful.
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I remembered the miss chance yesterday when I was in bed, but I didn't want to get up to post, sorry. However, I also forgot the +1/+1 from Divine Favor. Don't know if that makes a difference.
@Treesa: Thanks for the buff, but maybe it'll be more useful on Rayse who has more AC right now. I'll rely on Judgement DR and Fast Healing for defense.
Treesa couldn't see Rayse on her turn.
If the bonus from DF turns Vormog's miss into a hit, remember that using a one-handed weapon two-handed gives you the same 1.5x modifier to strength and power attack bonuses as using a two-hander does.
Rayse, you're getting an additional +2 to hit and +1 to damage from Bless and Inspire Courage, though it probably didn't matter with the last attack.
So if these tritons aren't going to rush us, Treesa might give us all the Protection hex, maybe even Mage Armor on all the armorless folks, before the Mist dissipates. That'll help a lot. Also, any summoned dolphins or elementals will wink out. Time is on our side here.
Move away from the railings when you get the chance, to force them to come on board to attack, and to prevent getting bull rushed or repositioned over the side.
Posh, you could try your Suggestion on the Triton leader. Perhaps tell him that the evil puppetmaster of our group is in the ship's hold, so he should rush there to attack as quickly as possible?
Obscuring Mist is a door of sorts that nobody wants to go through. I had a thought about having the ship simply drift out of it. Might do that.
I cast it because I didn't think the ship was moving noticeably.
The sea is glassy and still, disturbed only by the slow, lazy roll of the ship as it drifts on the calm.
It only lasts sixty seconds, but the tritons don't know that. The strategic advantage for us is that we're set up better for melee than for an archery duel. Sorry if it's annoying, but in a tough fight we have to seize any advantage we can.
There is still a current even if there's no wind. Current can move you pretty far in a minute.
I'm no sailor, but I suspect when there's a significant current the water does not look glassy and still.
I'm not going to kick up a fuss if you say the boat drifts out of the mist. Heck, the tritons could get their elementals and dolphins together and push us out of it, assuming they think the cloud won't move with us. But every six seconds we spend in it is to our advantage, so I'm rooting for it to last.
I agree, we need every moment we can get. Tritons are CR2 monsters and we don't know about their leader. They aren't stupid so I would assume the battle is meant to have them target spellcasters first. Any prep time we can get is needed if we are going to have a chance to not have some of us killed.
I agree, we need every moment we can get. Tritons are CR2 monsters and we don't know about their leader. They aren't stupid so I would assume the battle is meant to have them target spellcasters first. Any prep time we can get is needed if we are going to have a chance to not have some of us killed.
Not only are they not stupid, they're not in any hurry.
Posh, you could try your Suggestion on the Triton leader. Perhaps tell him that the evil puppetmaster of our group is in the ship's hold, so he should rush there to attack as quickly as possible?
My thought was to use it on the Captain, instead. Likely his saving throw is lower. And the group was asking me to get the Captain to fight, so I figured I'd do exactly that.
It's a great power! In future fights, if you coordinate with me and/or Treesa, we can give your targets -2 to their will save and/or force them to save twice against your Suggestions, or whatever other spell you're trying.
It didn't make a difference on this attack, but Rayse had an additional +4 to hit and +1 damage (Bless, Inspire Courage, Aid Another).
FYI for Rayse. Treesa cast Mage Armor on you. So you aren't totally unarmored.
That'll help for sure, although I fear dice bot is conspiring against us!
So there's one big advantage to having Mage Armor instead of your usual plate: It makes swimming much easier. After you're both buffed with Protective Touch and we've cleared the decks, we can give Rayse and Vormog the Touch of the Sea potions and have you go melee with the ones in the water. By then their summoned dolphins might have expired. No rush, though.