Round 1 actions, round 1, map round 2 actions
Subject Round 1 actions
Allistair will cast a fireball. If the ogres aren't in melee range with the front line when Allistair's turn comes up, then he will try and blast as many as possible. If they are in melee range with Harp, Mund, etc., then he will do his best to aim it so that the ogres get blasted but his friends don't.
From: Kevin
Subject Round 1 actions
Harp watches as the ogres rise from where they had been lying in wait. The groups patience had paid off., But, Harp's training warns him, there were still potential enemies even closer - they had not confirmed the bodies just in front of them were dead. It would be just like these ogres to pop up, hoping to get the group to charge them, and then have their companions pop up behind as the group rushed to attack.
"Hold the line, the others may be playin' possum." Harp shouts to Ran and Mund. "Let them come to us and let's try an cut a few of them down before they get here."
Harp raises his bow, pulls the arrow to his cheek, and waits for the nearest one to get within range, firing when it does so.
OOC: Mark, Harp is going to ready a full attack. When one of the ogres gets within 110' feet (1 range increment) Harp will shoot 2 arrows at him. Harp has no other special bow feats (other than Weapon Focus and that is already built into his attack bonus).
From: Mark
Subject Round 1 actions
Tell me which ogre he wants to shoot at.
From: Kevin
Subject Round 1 actions
Which ever one comes in range first. Actually, it is more likely that he will shoot at the same one Ran shoots at, since he we be trying to take one of them out before it gets in melee range. Since L3 is the closest by a small margin, I am guessing that it will be the lucky target.
From: Karl
Subject Round 1 actions
Salix will move to K43 (between and slightly behind Ran and Harp). On the way he will call out "Hold your ground! Do not move among the corpses, we don't know how many more of them are alive and waiting!"
He intends to cast Entangle in a strategic spot, but will wait to see where the ogres move to.
OOC - Incidentally, I can't connect to the site I usually use to check D&D rules. Can anyone access and forward the stats for "Entangle"?
From: Kevin
Subject Round 1 actions
Karl, I had the same problem on the SRD20 site this am. They may be having a problem.
From: Anthony
Subject Round 1 actions
(OOC: Okay, right, Ran is Rn! For the last few minutes I though Ra was Ran. Ha ha. Got it.)
Ran stays where he is to allow the wizard to cast his fireball if the chance comes up. At the same time, if the ogres do not move by the time it is his turn, he fires a crossbow bolt (attack bonus +12, damage 1d8) and reloads the crossbow. He targets the closest ogre (most likely... L6?)
If one of the ogres moves forward and begins to attack one of the other players before his turn, Ran targets that ogre with his crossbow bolt. (damn, no precise shot feat. Oh, well.)
If, on the other hand, an ogre moves to within melee range of Ran, he switches to his +1 ghost touch longsword ( attack bonus +11, damage 1d8+3) and attacks.
However, if the ogre gets within 20 feet of Ran without getting into melee, he attacks with his crossbow, then switches to his longsword in preparation for melee the next turn.
(OOC: how's that, guys?)
From: Kevin
Subject Round 1 actions
OOC: If I may,
Anthony, good first turn. Only thing I would suggest would be your first target. At this point, the only large creatures Ran knows is moving are the light blue ones (L1, L2, L3, L7 and L9). The other ones are still prone and "assumed" dead, though some of the party have their suspicions and have express those concerns (Harp and Salix have said as much). You may want to consider reviewing who you are targeting. Also, you will want to read up on combat with creatures that have a 10' reach. There is a section in the PHB that covers this. Ran, being both a fighter and having fought such creatures before will have some knowledge of this, and you should too. Trust me, making the wrong move around something that can reach that far can (and will) have serious consequences. You will want to also review Attacks of Opportunity and the "5 foot step" rule.
For a first try, that was really good. The items I mentioned above are things that even experience players has issues with sometime.
From: Derek
Subject Round 1 actions
OOC: That's why I play a wizard. I just stay out of harm's way and throw spells at the baddies. Don't have to worry about charge, bull rush, reach, AOO, and all that other crazy stuff. If something happens where I DO have to worry about that stuff, a wizard's pretty much SOL anyway, so it doesn't matter.
From: Mark
Subject Round 1 actions
Like when talking to a pissed off manticore and being made a pin cushion. :)
From: Porter
Subject Round 1 actions
Hey, Allistair didn't even drop from that.
From: Mark
Subject Round 1 actions
Never said he did. But most wizards his level would have bleed out from that. It was a classic moment, I feel.
I love when a plan comes together.(gnaws on cigar).
Just ask Kevin about our evil real life game. The whisper gnome took a beating from a trap. It was great.
From: Jason
Subject Round 1 actions
10' reach doesn't really make that much of a difference. Just ask Kal, he loves fighting guys with 10' reach!
But, a little more seriously, I believe Ran has the Mobility feat and you might want to read over that if you don't know what it does (basically it makes you much less likely to be hit while closing with them, +4 AC bonus.)
Other than that, all I can say is you're making us all look bad! I haven't looked up my +hit and damage for... a long time now, I just let Mark take care of it...
From: Mark
Subject Round 1 actions
Jason is right. Ranthir is actually has a better AC when moving through threatened squares and provoking AOO then when standing still.
From: Kevin
Subject Round 1 actions
After looking at Ran's stats again, Mark and Jason are right. Shows you what I get for playing the 6'5" 300 lbs meat shield.
Just wait until Harp gets within melee range.
From: Mark
Subject Round 1 actions
You see now we come into the problem. Instead of just acknowleding that I was right, since I am the DM, Kevin had to go check some figures. I will have to chastise him some more on Friday, during the RL good group game.
From: Anthony
Subject Round 1 actions
(OCC: Whoops! Silly me, I misunderstood which ogres were known about. That is a minor fix. And furthermore, yes, I hadn't thought about the ogres' reach, though I know the rules for such. (have dealt with 'em before, and played 'em as DM.)
Anayway, yes, looking over his feats again... yep, there it is, mobility. However, I recall the wizard planning to fireball 'em, so... no way is he gonna risk getting hit by a fireball. I'll simply edit the post a bit here.)
Ran stays where he is to allow the wizard to cast his fireball if the chance comes up. At the same time, if the ogres do not move by the time it is his turn, he fires a crossbow bolt (attack bonus +12, damage 1d8) and reloads the crossbow. He targets the closest standing ogre.
If the nearby ogres who seem to be down do decide to come back to life, he'll attack the closest one of those (L6, if it awakens, or else the closest standing ogre.) If it is within his move distance, he'll switch his weapon while moving (allowed as he has more than +1 to BAB) get up to it and attack. If it is outside moving distance, he fires crossbow and switches to longsword, in preparation for the next turn.
If one of the ogres moves forward and begins to attack one of the other players before his turn, Ran targets that ogre with his crossbow. (damn, no precise shot feat. Oh, well.) However, if this ogre is within movement distance, he'll do as above and move+switch, then attack.
If, on the other hand, an ogre moves to within melee range of Ran before he can move, he switches to his +1 ghost touch longsword ( attack bonus +11, damage 1d8+3), does a 5-foot step to try to get better ground, and attacks.
However, if the ogre gets within move distance of Ran without getting into melee, same as above with move+switch and attack.
Though wary of fireballs, if an ogre does end up close enough for him to move towards and attack, he figures he's about at the distance where the fireball would hit him anyway, so why not do some damage and pray the wizard decides on another target?
From: Josh
Subject Round 1 actions
Kal's gonna move up to H41 and shoot off a magic missle if the ogre's are still across the clearing. If they're close (able to close on him in a round) he'll instead cast Bull's Strength on himself.
From: Mark
Subject Round 1
Round 1
Initiative: Ran (23), Surin (22), Harp (21), Mund (17),Ogres(15), Allistair (12), Salix (10), Kal (6), Ragnar (2),
The sudden roar only startles Ran a little bit. They had all been expecting some type of ambush. 5 ogres however could be a handful. The one in the testing ground had fallen quickly but they had outnumbered it 8 to 1 and had position. No such luck here. They still outnumbered the ogres almost 2-1 and they had range. The 1/2 elf brings his crossbow to his shoulder, sites down the frame and squeezes the trigger. His bolt flies true and strikes the ogre in the thigh (L3, AC16, 16+10=26, hit, damage5). While Ran reloads his cross bow he yells to Mund and Harp "Shoot the closest one first, then work your way back. Let Allistair take care of the ones in the back."
Harp hears Ran's comments and decides to wait until the ogres charge the party. They were just out of the range he was comfortable with.
Mund has no such hesitation. The closest ogre(L3) is just outside his comfortable range but he fires anyway. His first arrow slams into the things other thigh (AC16, 15+8=23, hit, damage 7). He quickly nocks another arrow and lets it fly (AC16, 10+3=13, miss) but it bounces off the hide armor.
The five creatures seem to be talking to each other, if the loud noise could be called talking. The all start advancing on the party and as soon as they are in range(L3) Harp lets his first arrow fly (AC16, 2+9=11, miss). He curses himself for not breathing and sets another arrow to the string. This one (AC16, 11+4=15, miss) is closer but sticks in the hide armor of the beast.
As the creatures move they all grab javelins from their belts. As they move one of them(L3) throws its javelin at Mund. While the creature obviously is immensely strong, it is also obviously not all that coordinated. The throw is strong but the range allows Mund more than enough time to jump out of the way (AC20, 12-3=9, miss). The others start advancing on the party, clubs and javelins in hand.
Allistair's mind races. This was a perfect setup for a fireball. Lots of open space, the foe a long way off. He watches as the brutes advance and see that three of them will come close to each other. Perfect. Before they even get to where they will be he starts chanting and rubbing the small piece of bat guano between his fingers. Just before the three get to their closest point, he releases his spell.
The timing is perfect. The sizzling ball of flame streaks from his hand and flies to a spot between all three. There it explodes into a ball of flame 40 feet across. The three are engulfed in flames. The three try and dodge out of the way (REF save, DC16, L1, 15+2=17, save, damage 14, L3, 5+0=5, fail,damage 28, L9, 20+0=20, save, damage 14). As the flames subside, the ogre that had been closest to the party falls to the ground in a burning pile.
Salix realizes that he can not catch all of the ogres with his entangle prayer, and seeing one fall and the others get burned, Salix turns his attention to the two on the left flank. He concentrates, praying for the very grass to respond to his command on the behalf of Obad Hai. Roots from shrubs and grasses start to writhe and grab at the ogres legs. The brutes try to avoid the clinging vegetation (REF save, DC 14, L2, 18+0=18, save, L7, 6+0=6, fail ). One of the creatures is held fast, the other continues struggling towards the party.
Kal, who had been trailing behind Harp by about 20 feet, moves up at the commotion. When he gets next to Harp, he chants the mage arrow spell and pointing his rapier and 4 of the bright bolts of energy streak from the tip of his weapon. They fly towards the closest brute that survived the fire (L9) and the bolts sizzle as they strike true (Damage 15). The large figure crashes to the ground, blood flowing from the smoking holes.
Ragnar steps up next to Salix, his holy symbol in his hand. As he raises it to the sky, he chants the prayer and the small silver sword starts to glow. At its brightest, Ragnar points the symbol at the ogre to his left (L2) and a flash of brilliant light flashes out (AC8, 3+5=8, hit, damage 17). The searing light strikes the beast in the middle of his chest, burning a hole in the hide armor and smoking flesh beneath.
OODM: Round 1 is over. I need round 2 actions. New map attached.
From: Porter
Subject Map
Looking at the map, I cannot tell which ogres are up and moving and which are not.
From: Anthony
Subject Map
It looks to me that L1 is active lost 14 HP from fireball, L2 has lost 17 from searing light, L3 was hit by me, Mund and Alastair's fireball and is thus dead, L7 is paralyzed , and L9 was hit by the fireball and Kal, and is thus dead.
That means that on the map, L1, L2 and L7 are active, while the others that are still on the map are still prone.
From: Porter
Subject Round 2 actions
Just like last round, Mund will stay put. If there's something to kill within a 5-foot step, Mund will rage and do so. Otherwise, he'll shoot an arrow off at the closest thing to kill.
From: Mark
Subject Map
L1 is the only ogre still moving freely. L7 is in the entangle area of effect as is L2. The other two are dead.
From: Anthony
Subject Round 2 actions
If his turn goes before the ogres, Ran does this: the closest (L2) being more than 60 feet away, Ran will fire another crossbow bolt at him and then switch to his longsword but stays still if an ogre's next move puts it within Ran's charging range for the next turn.
If an ogre moves close enough for him to charge it by this turn, he does so, switching to his sword during the charge and attacking it. (Is that legal? I know that witha +1 BAB you can switch weapons during a move, so does that include a charge?)
From: Jason
Subject Round 2 actions
Wow, we really wrecked them. Ok, once again if there are several together, Ragnar will send down the wrath of Heironeous to smite them (Holy Smite). If not, but at least one ogre has closed with a fighter, he'll Doom it. If that hasn't happened yet, he'll cast spiritual weapon, (probably on L2.)