Finalizing Plans
Subject: Re: Crashing the party; sneaking around
"Well, if I can get close enough to see the wizard, I can cast a spell to bind him for a short time. This could be fatal to him if he is alone upstairs and we can get someone to him while bound," Farron replies.
"Or, you have seen that I can summon monstrous aid from another realm. I can call forth several dire assistants that might distract our foes on the ground. Or, again if I can get positioned correctly, I might be able to summon them to appear upstairs and thus distract or wizard foe."
"What think you all of this?"
(ooc - Ty, is there any way I can get line-of-sight to the wizard, or can I cast Summon Monster to the second floor without having actually seen the second floor?/ooc)
From: Scott
Subject: Re: Crashing the party; sneaking around
Mission nods at the mage, but his voice is guarded. "Anything you can do to disable the wizard up there would be . . . welcome." Trusting to magery to defeat its own. . . Mission swallows and looks away.
"Rennick, Garyth-- we must move quickly. If you are not planning on climbing the tower, Rennick, maybe you can sneak into through the hole and suprise them from that angle, while Garyth and I attack from the front."
From: Ty
Subject: crashing the party; plotting strategy
I am going to let you guys plot as long as you like. I will not write up a new turn until everyone checks in with a final "I do this" kind of thing.
Keep in mind though, I am allowing a reasonable amount of game time to pass while you sneak around the tower, and have conversations about what to do. It is possible that those inside the tower could be taking actions during that time.
From: Scott
Subject: Re: crashing the party; plotting strategy
Mission is set on doing what he'd said he'd do last email.
From: Dan
Subject: Re: crashing the party; plotting strategy
I've got my best damsel in distress routine fired up and ready to roll.
From: Karl
Subject: Re: Crashing the party; sneaking around
"Here is what I can do," Farron suggests. "Ideally, I could try to climb the tower (ooc- 1 rank in 'climb' /ooc) and try to get a look at the wizard in there. If I'm not detected, and if I can get enough of a foothold to use my hands for casting, I could then cast a spell to bind him for a time. (Hold Person).
"Or, and this idea I like better, I could summon a pack of dire rats and send them into the tower with the instruction to head for the mage above. If the others try to stop them, they will be distracted when the rest of you attack, and if they don't, they will certainly distract the mage."
From: Raja
Subject: Re: Crashing the party; sneaking around
Sa'id nods. "The rats are a good idea. I suppose I will have to enter from the front, but I can use my ranged magics against the other wizard if Garyth and Mission can protect me from the fighters."
OOC: I'm ready to go.
From: Mike
Subject: Re: Crashing the party; sneaking around
(OOC)
So the plan is:
1.) Mission tumbles in and attracts attention by attacking someone.
2.) Garyth follows, attacking one of the fighters who goes after Mission.
3.) At the same time, Rennik will burst in from the back room and administer
the antitoxin to Cadfael, and Farron will send his dire rats up the stairs.
4.) Sa'id will follow Garyth in with magical support.
I'm good with this.
(/OOC)
From: Matt
Subject: Re: Crashing the party; sneaking around
Rennik's ears perk up at the mention of the pack of rats. Perhaps there is some use for mages after all... other than as targets or bait.
"The rats are a good idea, and a great distraction. With the chaos they will cause, Garyth and Mission will do well in open combat. I will scale the tower and offer cover from above with my bow, trying to harry the mage as much as possible in the process."
"The wall is easily climbed, though fragile in places. I should be able to get into position in a minute or two. I will hoot once I am ready."
If there are no objections, he will begin his climb up the wall.
From: Mike
Subject: Re: Crashing the party; sneaking around
Garyth watches the halfling begin the ascent with a slight feeling of dread. Splitting the party again seems a bad idea, but at this point, he can only hope for the best. He quietly draws his sword and waits for the signal.
(OOC: Is Farron casting Haste? Or will there not be enough time for him to do that and summon the rats?)
From: Karl
Subject: Re: Crashing the party; sneaking around
If there are no objections then Farron will cast Haste on the 5 of the party who are still conscious, then will cast Summon Monster. (Haste only lasts for 5 rounds - FYI). He suggests quickly that the attack start immediate *after* the rats are summoned, then he will Summon Monster (1d4+1 fiendish dire rats - OK, if this only gets us 2 rats, it might not be a pack, but these suckers are 4 feet long and over 50 pounds, so they'll still cause a ruckus.) He'll summon them as close to the front door as possible and direct them to run inside and upstairs to attack the mage. He will then follow Sa'id around the tower and into the attack, staying 20-30 feet away from him so that the two mages won't make a convenient common target.
NOTE 1: If Rennik is scaling the tower, he's probably not also breaking in from the back room to un-poison Cadfael.
NOTE 2: I'm outta the office after this email so this is what Farron plans to do unless someone stops him.
From: Dan
Subject: Re: Crashing the party; sneaking around
Just a reminder to Ty, waaaay back when we were first approaching the tower I cast Bull Strength and Rennik and Garyth. I'm sure it hasn't been 5 hours since then, so they both have suped up strength right now.
From: Ty
Subject: Re: Crashing the party; finalizing plans
Here is what I have so far:
-Farron casts haste
-Rennik climbs the tower (matt, what are you looking for? Climbing up to the roof, then coming down through the trapdoor? It would be almost impossible to fire a bow while hanging on the side of the tower, even if there was a useful hole to fire into. Also, climbing the tower is DC15, but trying to climb up the tower, then into a hole in its, side will be more difficult. I assumed you were going to the roof, and then down, but let me know if that's not the case.)
-Farron casts summon monster, and sends some rats in to distract the bad guys.
-Mission and Garyth wait by the front door for the rats to enter, then Mission enters while tumbling (BTW, tumbling prevents AOO's, but does not prevent attacks from those who are waiting in 'attack on approach' mode), and Garyth follows him.
-Once Mission and Garyth are engaged inside, Sa'id follows them in?
-Rennik is on the roof firing arrows into the tower?
-Farron? I mean, after the haste and rats?
Do I have the series of events properly listed? Please let me know.
From: Ty
Subject: Re: Crashing the party; sneaking around
Thanks for the reminder!
Garyth has +4
Rennik has +2
From: Mike
Subject: Re: Crashing the party; finalizing plans
I don't have a good handle on what Rennik is doing, but the rest sounds right.
From: Matt
Subject: Re: Crashing the party; finalizing plans
Just for clarification purposes.
The barging in through the back door idea was rescinded by Rennik because he felt it would give the mage too much of an upper hand, having the higher ground and visual ownership of the entire battle. He has decided to scale the walls, which are deteriorated enough to have plenty of handholds, to put himself in the crow's nest, if you will, along with the mage.
The plan is to offer covering fire (two arrows per round) for those on the floor, while also trying to get a shot in at the mage to disrupt his concentration and take him out of the action. While the fight is going on downstairs, Rennik will be the eye in the sky, raining arrows on our enemies and calling out warnings when he sees something others can't.
Now, as Ty had originally described it, the top of this tower is in a bad state of disrepair and there were lots of openings where smoke from their campfire has been exiting the tower. Rennik had originally thought to find a large enough hole (he ain't that big) and squeeze through, putting him on the inside of the tower higher up. If he can't find a suitable spot, he'll go all the way to the rooftop and try to find a way down.
Ideally, he's looking for a spot where he can set up shop with his bow and arrows, that offers some cover from the ground and some cover from the mage - but within sight of both. Since this may take a minute or so, he will signal using the same hooting call as before when he is in position - which would be a good time to start the night's festivities. :)
And Ty, remember his added strength bonus to his Climb rolls. :)
Does anyone else have an antitoxin to give to Cadfael once inside? If no one does, I can give them mine.
From: Raja
Subject: Re: Crashing the party; finalizing plans
One final note:
"If we find ourselves completely outclassed, RUN AWAY. Surviving is more important than winning. Remember that we are here to rescue Cadfael, and not to kill everything that moves."
From: Matt
Subject: Re: Crashing the party; finalizing plans
OOC: But what fun would that be?