Room 5 plan, time and potions
Subject Keeping on
OOC:
Porter says we we ought to keep going until we need to stop because we don't have any offensive magic left and we can't heal everybody from the last encounter.
From: Josh
Subject Keeping on
OOC: Kal's still at 100%. I've been conserving magic. How's everyone else looking HP/Magic wise?
From: Kevin
Subject Keeping on
OOC: Harp has taken some hp damage, but has not used his spells yet. That may change with these things if he decides a Bulls Strength may be useful.
I would like to see if anyone has any ideas of how to beat these critters with minimal exposure.
From: Jason
Subject Keeping on
I like the idea of having Harp and Ragnar or Harp and Mund stand in front of the door and having Mund, Salix, and anyone else who can shoot arrows at them, and possibly Kal & Allistair casting at them.. Then hopefully we can fight them one at a time in a position they can't move very well.
From: Karl
Subject Keeping on
Salix has used CMW and Light. He's still got all his more powerful spells, including Call Lightening, and Flame Sphere. Also, he has the ability to trade any 1-3rd lvl spells for the equivalent "Summon Nature's Ally" spell. (allowing him up to 4 1st lvl, 3 2nd lvl, 2 3rd lvl SNA spells, none of which have been used yet.)
From: Kevin
Subject Room 5 plan
OOC: I like that idea to, but I am concerned at how crowed it may get. If you look at the map, the door is at the very end of a dead end hallway, on the right hand side. Granted we should be able to place 4 people there, but having one of them shoot through melee will generate some negatives. In addition, I am concerned with how much damage these things can do - I hate "giant" "large" "humongous" things - that generally turns into multiple dice of damage. And if there is more than one of them, we could run out of spells quickly.
Nonetheless, using a 4 person rotation might be worthwhile. Start with Harp and Mund in the first 2 squares, Kal and Allistair behind them, Ran and Ragnar adjacent to Harp and Mund up the hallway. Harp and Mund melee, Kal and Allistair cast spells. As Harp and Mund take damage, Kal and Allistair rotate up the hallway, Harp and Mund move to the back and Ran and Ragnar rotate in the front. Harp can cast some healing on he and Mund, Kal can move up to the side of Ran and Rangar, etc. Keep healthy people at the front, rotating those who have been injured to the back or side where they can get healed. Sort of like a volley ball team rotation.
Does that make any sense. It is too early in the morning for me to think like this.
From: Kevin
Subject Correction
Edit that. Door is on the left hand side.
Told you it was too early.
If someone has a simpler plan (not hard to do), give it up.
From: Porter
Subject Room 5 plan
Did you see my IC post earlier? Mund had an idea.
From: Porter
Subject Room 5 plan
Mund's idea was to avoid melee completely. Why don't we do that?
From: Josh
Subject Room 5 plan
OOC: Kevin: We can use our move actions to just rotate us around. We're not worried about AOO's, so we can get an assembly line of ranged attackers going around.
I suggest that the melee units stay back, and let the casters and inbetweens handle this one. If things get rough we can drop back behind you guys and regroup there.
From: Karl
Subject What are they?
(OOC: Can either of our fearless investigators provide any information to tell us exactly what these things are? Giant beetles? Do we know what kind? Are we sure there are just two of them? Sorry if I missed an email where this was made explicit.)
From: Mark
Subject What are they?
It was never made explicit exactly how many there were. Surin thought there were at least two from his listening at the door.
I will do a knowledge check for Salix when I get back from lunch to see if he can figure out what these things are from the description.
From: Kevin
Subject What are they?
OOC: Mark, how about it - a knowledge check for Harp and Ragnar, and then one for Salix after they describe the creature to him?
Following Porter's suggestion, we cycle ranged attackers (both natural and magical) along the back side of the hallway through the open door, keeping a couple of non-ranged attackers (given their bonuses, Harp and Ragnar) close to the door in case the thing gets through. Sound like a plan to every one? Surin will probably want to stay out of the way since his ranged weapons do so little damage; maybe he can keep an eye on the hallway behind us.
Toss a torch into the room to provide us some light, or just hold it by the door?
From: Porter
Subject Room 5 plan
If we're gonna toss in a torch, le'ts make it Mund's everburning torch, since it won't go out.
Also, did anybody ever come up with a brilliant idea for how Mund can attach his torch to his shield?
Karl, can Salix cast a wood-shaping spell?
From: Karl
Subject Room 5 plan
Right now, Salix has only prepared "Warp Wood". I'm not sure that would be very useful for that purpose. Also, we don't know exactly what these things are. I'd advise against throwing in Mund's torch. If these turn out to be something acid spitting or the like, we might lose the torch entirely. Much less of an issue with a disposable torch. Maybe after next rest, Salix will prepare more than one instance of Light. Then he could just cast it on the creature itself or on just about any object to be tossed into such a room. (Yeah, that doesn't help us now).
From: Derek
Subject Room 5 plan
Also my fireball could damage the torch. Does anyone have some oil we could douse on these beetles before I fireball them for a bit of extra fire damage?
From: Mark
Subject What are they?
When the two get back to the party they describe what they saw. Most of the party has no idea what the creatures are and neither do Harp or Ragnar (Knowledge Nature, DC15, 12+0=12, Harp fail, 13+0=13, Ragnar fail). Salix listens to what the two have to say and then asks them some questions. "Did it have a large horn type thing on top in the front?" Harp nods. "What color were they?" Both Harp and Ragnar give the same response "We couldn't tell. Our vision is only black and white when there is no light." Salix thinks some more before responding.
"I think that they are giant stag beetles (DC15 KNowledge Nature, 7+9=16, success). They are simple vermin with no intelligence to speak of. However, they are fairly well armored, for beetles, and can take a fair amount of punishment before dying. They also have a vicious bite and in the open can trample people. I would not take one lightly and if there are two this would be our hardest challenge yet."
OODM: OK next?
From: Ashley
Subject Room 5 plan
I just realized Surin has a bullseye lantern, but I don't know if it has oil in it. If so, he'll either give any oil in it to Allistair as per his fireball plan (so long as Harp approves), or just light it and be able to actually see his pretty little fingers in front of him.
From: Ashley
Subject Room 5 plan
Or, you know, not do anything if the lantern turns out to be empty. :)
From: Josh
Subject Room 5 plan
OOC: Pshh. Everyone's always ready to give Kal's ideas away to someone else. ;-)
From: Porter
Subject Room 5 plan
Did nobody see Mund's suggestion?
From: Josh
Subject Room 5 plan
OOC: I got the email, but I must not have read it. I just saw it now. I agree this is the best plan of action. We harass them from a distance until they get through the door, and then fall back behind the melee units once they get through.
Kal suggets we position Mund, Harp and Ragnar in the back. He also suggests that he and the others who are able to attack from a distance come to the front. We'll hit them until the charge us, and then the weakest of us (Allistar and Surin, I believe) will be the first ones to fall back behind the Mund/Harp/Ragnar meat shield. Salix Rand, and I will be able to hold the beatles for a turn as they make that retreat. Once they're too safety, we'll fall back to the meat shield, which will close in in front of us. If there's any gaps one of us 3 semi-melee people can drop in and fill in the gap.
Sound good?
From: Mark
Subject Room 5 plan
10 foot wide hallways. Only two people across.
From: Josh
Subject Room 5 plan
OOC: My plan is assuming that these hallways can fit 2 across, is that true?
From: Porter
Subject Space
What happens if we stand closer together than that?
From: Josh
Subject; Space
That's fine. The meat shield is just staggered. Harp standing on a square, Mund standing a sqaure behind and to the right of him. Ragnar behind Mund.
If we can't move through that diagonal, just move Harp up one square.
(Mund would be a chess knight's move behind and to the right of harp, with Ragnar behind him. Once all the ranged characters are through, they can use their 5 foot step to seal up.
Or we could build the meat shield back in the main room
From: Porter
Subject Room 5 plan
Mund says that the only reason why we should go into the room at all is to lure them toward the door where we can cowardly kill them from afar.
From: Josh
Subject Room 5 plan
Yea, Kal's agreeing with that. Hopefully we'll be able to kill these things off without ever having to engage them in melee. If they do manage to break through the door however, we should have a contingency plan. (The meat shield)
From: Porter
Subject Room 5 plan
"I agree with the elf -- that does make sense."
From: Mark
Subject Room 5 plan
And hell freezes over. Quick get the druid. :)
From: Kevin
Subject Room 5 plan
OOC: So let it be written, so let it be done.
IC: Harp nods his head, surprised at the agreement between Kal and Mund.
"All right, let get lined up. Remember, we are to try and avoid hand to *mouth* combat. If this thing starts to get through the door, you guys up front start to fall back and let us in the armor slow it down until you can get reset. I have seen the mouth of this thing, and it will put a hurting on you."
From: Kevin
Subject Healing potions
OOC: How many CLW potions is Ragnar carrying? Would it make sense to give one to each member of the party before we start this? Just so no one HAS to rely on Ragnar getting to him in the middle of a combat? Remember how useful those were when we fought those yellow skinned creatures after rescuing Rochelle? Kal especially had a tough time with his guy - hit him, he heals, hit him again, he heals, hit him again, he heals.
Just a thoght.
From: Josh
Subject Healing potions
OOC: Great Idea.
From: Jason
Subject Healing potions
ooc: I noticed Porter's email. Ragnar even agreed, except that I suggested adding two people in front of the door. Despite what our DM said, I have little doubt that an 8.5 foot beetle could squeeze his way through an 8 foot doorway if people were shooting arrows at him through it. Much harder if there are people with armor in front of it however.
Ragnar is carrying 10 potions. He's certainly willing to share, but the idea would have to come from someone else because he won't bring it up.
From: Josh
Subject Room 5 plan
Well whoever came up with it first, Kal thinks it's a good idea.
From: Randy
Subject Room 5 plan
Ranthir begins to take up his position, his back to the wall opposite the door, crossbow at the ready.
OOC: I think that is the position Ranthir is meant to be in, if not, adjust accordingly.
From: Kevin
Subject Healing Potions
Harp goes over to Ragnar. "Ragnar, I know you have been carrying our healing supplies this whole trip, and I am grateful for that. I think it may be time to let each of the members carry at least one of the healing potions. As we have found from our earlier experience, they can be a great asset in the middle of a fight. I would hate to loose someone because you or I were unable to get to them in time in the middle of a fight. You and I and Salix can take care of ouselves, but Mund, Ran, and Kal may very well bear the brunt of this and would be hard pressed if they were seperated from us. Why don't you give 2 each to those three, and one each to Allistair and Surin and keep the rest as a back up."
OOC: Cool??
From: Jason
Subject Healing potions
ooc:
Well that leads me to an interesting question. Is Ragnar still carrying his backpack? He certainly would have brought it into the portal, but would wearing his backpack hinder him in combat? It seems somewhat realistic that he would have left his pack in the main room. On the other hand, he would definitely have followed the others' leads if they kept carrying their packs. Not that it will make too much difference, except in RP
From: Porter
Subject Gear
Mund's saddlebags are back in the main room, as is his original shield.
From: Kevin
Subject Healing potions
OOC: Had not really thought about it (still new to this RP stuff). The main room is only 140 ft. away, even Ragnar can make that distance in a few minutes. I think the rest of the group will wait for the healing potions to be brought up.
From: Jason
Subject Healing potions
ooc: Well I was only asking because I was about to write out a bit IC where he went back to the main room, and I realized I didn't know where he was keeping his stuff.
IC: Ragnar stares blankly at Harp for a moment, then shakes his head slightly and says "Of course, that's a good idea. I should probably have been carrying one anyway." He walks quickly to the corner where he had dropped his pack and begins to rumage through it. "Mund" he calls, "could you give me a hand?" He pulls out four of his potions and hands them to the barbarian, saying "Keep two of them for yourself, and take two to Ran if you would." He pulls out four more, then digs deeper and pulls out a scroll as well. Carefully holding the scroll and potions delicately in his armored hands, he takes the other potions and hands them out as Harp suggested, keeping the scroll for himself. "Don't be using these lightly now" he admonishes. "If you're badly wounded, I can heal you quite a bit more effectively than one of these potions. They're best used if for some reason you're cut off from Harp and myself."
ooc: Salix can only cast cure spells if he prepares them ahead of time, right? Does he generally prepare any? Just curious. Ragnar will also look for some convenient way to carry that scroll. He has a belt pouch, but that would be under his armor and pretty inconvenient probably, right? He should probably be able to wrap it around whatever sheathes his sword though, or if not he does have some thread to tie it on with.