Chapter 7: Q&A / Discussion

[Ken]

One more thing, Jeff: I believe Belarin is out of action points -- unfortunately! -- so you should adjust that in your sig.

For those who haven't used action points in this encounter, this may be one of those "smoke 'em if you got 'em" battles.

[Jeff]

Right, thanks. And Kal, too, I think.

[Ken]

I'm really wrestling with my next post! Does Belarin attack Rejdar or the troll? At this point, I'm leaning toward Rejdar because the gnoll is capable of taking out me and Streko if we ignore him, and we're the only ones on this side of the troll.

On the flip side, I don't want the troll to regenerate, either. I'll wait to see what Kal is doing, since he goes before Belarin anyway. If he does more fire damage this round, then that'll give me more options.

[Jeff]

How about Kal go and present himself boldly to the troll, with open arms and weapons down? That way the troll can attack him and trigger Dragonflame Mantle and take fire damage? Oh wait, Kal will also probably get eaten in that scenario. I guess that's a downside.

[Darren]

Why you gotta be so mean to poor Kal? What's he ever done to you?

Yeah, Ken. Kal is just going to keep blasting away with Burning Spray until either the troll or everyone in the party dies.

[Dave W.]

Sorry, more confusion. Adamant still had the troll Challenged... if it attacks Belarin without attacking Adamant it will take damage, right?

[Jeff]

Yeah, you definitely have to keep on things like that sometimes. I'll update my post about that tonight, Dave. Sorry. But it wouldn't have changed anything; the troll is rather dumb, and mostly wanted to go away from the direction of fire-boy d'Deneith.

[Darren]

You should really capitalize proper nouns, Jeff. It's Fire-Boy Deneith. Thank you very much.

[Brian]

Okay guys, here's the deal. I made a mistake by using Stand the Fallen. Throwing the sword counts as a ranged attack, and that power can be used only for melee attacks. I had the option of using the throw and saving Stand the Fallen for later (i.e. next round), or saving the throw and taking a double movement to get within melee range and use the power this round. Because it was a miss -- and it is one of my big daily powers -- I opted to keep the throw and use the power in another round. So the healing surges will have to wait. I hope fervently that the decision is not a mistake.

[Ken]

Could you do a move and then a charge attack? With a charge attack, you can move your normal rate as part of the attack as long as it's in a straight line.

[Jeff]

Who are you addressing, Ken?

[Brian]

I think he may be talking to me. I have to shift one square to get out from behind Syrdan and Adamant, so I don't think the shift would work.

[Jeff]

I'll be waiting until tomorrow to post. Joe needs to pick a different power to use (Weal and Woe is a daily he already used).

[Ken]

Dec 16, 2010 11:16:25 GMT -4 Brian said:

I think he may be talking to me. I have to shift one square to get out from behind Syrdan and Adamant, so I don't think the shift would work.

Brian, yeah, and I was actually thinking of the v3.5 charge when I wrote my last comment. The 4E charge doesn't require you to move in a straight line, just that "you must move directly to the nearest square from which you can attack the enemy" (PHB, pp. 287-288).

The problem is see now is that, with Condign's move of 5, the difficult terrain would keep you from reaching the troll on a charge, and at the end of the charge, you'd have to use a basic melee attack (not a power, unless it says otherwise).

Without an action point being handy, the only way that I could see you reaching the troll this round is: 1) Move: Run, increasing your move to 7, which would bring you to the edge of the troll's threat range, although this has big penalties to attack and defense as described above, and 2) Standard: Charge the rest of the way. With all the modifiers factored in, Condign would have a -4 to his attack on the charge and he'd grant combat advantage. Probably not worth it for the sake of a basic melee attack.

[Jeff]

Probably best if Condign keeps his throw for this round, but moves a bit closer if you want to make sure melee is easy next round. That's all I'll say.

[Darren]

You could just get some awesome ranged powers like Kal. ;D

[Brian]

Okay, I added a double movement so that Condign can get one square closer to the troll yet still be outside it's reach for this round. That should allow me to get within striking distance next round.

[Darren]

Hey, Jeff....back in Round 9, Belarin used a power that makes the troll vulnerable to fire (save ends). What ever became of that? I'm not even sure what it means, but did it do anything? Did the troll ever make a save for it? Should we have been doing extra damage to him for the last two rounds?

[Jeff]

It was intended for the troll, but Belarin couldn't get closer, so he hit the gnoll and goblins with that power. Not the troll. Sorry.

[Ken]

Yeah, I was bummed. I knew there was a chance that Rejdar and the goblins would cut Belarin off (they went before me), but I had written that post hoping for the best. Jeff told me that, alas, the bad guys were being efficient. Considering that, at the time, both Belarin and Streko were a couple of hit points away from being bloodied, I chose to use that daily power on the more immediate threat, so that's what appeared in Jeff's update for that round. Shame. A hit on the troll would have been sweet!

Tell Kal that Belarin will do his best to add the special fire/lightning BBQ sauce next time, Darren.

[Jeff]

Bumming you guys out is what gets me through the day.

[Darren]

We should also come up with a combo where Adamant throws Streko at an opponent.

I'm certain no one has used that before.

[Ken]

Holy crap, nice hit, Brian! Between Belarin and Condign alone so far this round, that's 47 points. Pile it on!

And yes, Belarin will happily make use of the healing surge.

[Dave W.]

Dec 17, 2010 12:55:04 GMT -4 Darren said:

We should also come up with a combo where Adamant throws Streko at an opponent.

I'm certain no one has used that before.

Does Streko have claws then?

[Joe]

Yes. They are acrylic and are known to come in a multitude of different, vibrant colors.

[Mike]

Jeff, did you include the extra 1d8 points of healing Syrdan should've gotten from the bracers of respite?

[Jeff]

Ah, that's what I forgot. Dang it, I really need to come up with some sort of real-time web-based way to maintain a list of effects/contingencies.

When I get home tonight I'll add that in, Mike.

[Mike]

Don't worry. It's all good.

At this point, I'm just trying to squeeze out as much healing for Syrdan as possible.

[Jeff]

With good reason, Mike.

To Darren's recent question...

I've said this a number of times, but I'll say it again now:

When you reduce an enemy to 0 hit points, you can choose whether you intend it to be lethal, or whether you'd rather it just knock them out.

If you DON'T say otherwise, I will always assume your intent is lethal. So for example, Syrdan's attack, should it hit and do damage and reduce Rejda to 0 hit points, it'll probably kill him. Whereas Kal's Lightning Orb would not.

No take-backs on this stuff, either! So when you attack anything and don't specify otherwise, it's shoot to kill. If you want to set phasers on "stun," you'll have to always say so.

So yes, Darren, now I know what Kal's intent is. But don't assume that'll be true for Kal's allies, unless you convince them to be merciful and they specifically say they will be.

[Darren]

Right, sure. I just didn't know if that only applied to melee attacks or if it was valid for powers, as well. I guess Kal just isn't putting as much lightning into it as he could.

Anyway, for a quick OOC discussion, I think it might be worthwhile if we can take Rejda alive. I'd imagine the Boromars would like to have a prisoner. Also, it might score Kal some points with Varna.