Chapter 8: Q&A / Discussions

[Dave W.]

Mar 2, 2011 13:12:41 GMT -4 Mike said:

Agree with Dave and Ken.

Agreed, plus Adamant is still not in favor of firing the ship unless we've determined that the crew are not innocents.

[Dave B.]

I'd like to have Shorak do a quick recon with Syrdan, if that's okay with everyone else. Maybe 15 to 20 feet ahead.

[Darren]

Jeff, for those of us who aren't all that nautical....the stern is the back of the ship, yes? So it is my assumption that the hallway that Shorak and Syrdan are currently standing is the stern, and therefore that is where Histra's summoned creature is pointing?

Also, was the creature pointing at a specific door, or just the general direction?

It's my feeling that if we can determine exactly which door is correct, our best bet is to try to jam as many of the other doors as we can quickly and easily reach, then head into the room with the vampire(s) and take it/them out as fast as we can. I'm guessing the noise of combat, in addition to the noise we've already made, is going to bring out the rest of the crew. However, judging by the water that is now pouring down the stairs and some of the other clues Jeff has given us, I'd also imagine that Captain Morsha has conjured us some kind of distraction. Either way, we have to do what we came here for, right?

Also, for what it's worth, I wasn't suggesting burning the ship completely. I was just talking about making a fire small enough to be a distraction. Kal's not too keen on sinking a ship that has kids on it.

[Ken]

Mar 3, 2011 0:13:56 GMT -4 Darren said:

It's my feeling that if we can determine exactly which door is correct, our best bet is to try to jam as many of the other doors as we can quickly and easily reach, then head into the room with the vampire(s) and take it/them out as fast as we can.

Me gusta mucho. ;D

And if anyone stuck behind a jammed door should, oh, seep through it as mist, that's a good signal we can skip bothersome interrogation of that person and go all Buffy on them. (Despite the wording, that's a very macho comment I just made.)

[Dave W.]

Mar 3, 2011 0:13:56 GMT -4 Darren said:

Jeff, for those of us who aren't all that nautical....the stern is the back of the ship, yes? So it is my assumption that the hallway that Shorak and Syrdan are currently standing is the stern, and therefore that is where Histra's summoned creature is pointing?

Ah, I was assuming the ship is pointed south which would make the stern up north.

It's my feeling that if we can determine exactly which door is correct, our best bet is to try to jam as many of the other doors as we can quickly

Liking this plan!

Also, for what it's worth, I wasn't suggesting burning the ship completely. I was just talking about making a fire small enough to be a distraction. Kal's not too keen on sinking a ship that has kids on it.

I wasn't thinking you meant it as more than a distraction, but fire has this way of doing it's own thing. Fire should be a last resort, especially on a ship where there are limited options for fleeing. You think we have a tense journey to port now; imagine if we have angry Patriot crew members on board...

Mar 3, 2011 1:23:02 GMT -4 Ken said:

And if anyone stuck behind a jammed door should, oh, seep through it as mist, that's a good signal we can skip bothersome interrogation of that person and go all Buffy on them. (Despite the wording, that's a very macho comment I just made.)

I'm secure enough in my manliness to channel a little inner Buffy... especially when I'm picking out an outfit for work... wait, no I mean when I'm killing stuff... yeah, that's it...

[Jeff]

Mar 3, 2011 0:13:56 GMT -4 Darren said:

Jeff, for those of us who aren't all that nautical....the stern is the back of the ship, yes? So it is my assumption that the hallway that Shorak and Syrdan are currently standing is the stern, and therefore that is where Histra's summoned creature is pointing?

See the updated map.

Also, was the creature pointing at a specific door, or just the general direction?

Just general direction.
Ken:

Jeff, since Thievery can be used to open locked doors, can it be used to jam those locks, too?

Yup, I'm okay with that. I'll treat it sort of like a Disable Trap attempt. But, some sort of tool or implement is required for the check. Shorak can use his lockpicks to attempt to jam or damage a lock. If it's unlocked, he can try to lock it and jam it.

Those without thieves tools need something to work with, though, to justify the Thievery check. Even if it's just to jam in the cracks of the door, if not the lock.

Note: you can try to use (and give up) a dagger to create a makeship doorstop/doorjamb, but a dagger isn't fine enough to do much with the lock. You'd have to leave it behind after wedging it in a crack. It's a pretty superficial block, and wouldn't stop a person determined to get past it for too long, but it's still better than nothing. Just one idea.

[Darren]

Shorak listens to Belarin's instructions and goes to work on disabling the glyph.

When Kalarian calls to him to go around and jam doors and disable locks, he stops to compose himself. Then ignoring Kal, he goes back to the delicate task at hand, muttering to himself, "I'm just a little busy right now."
Thievery (1d20+12=31) Now that's a proper roll! ;D

My mistake. I always forget that thieves are capable of disarming magical traps, too.

[Brian]

If the Glyph is down, and the vampies are in that room, why don't we simply go into the room. That way the hallway is empty. We can at least hope for minimal noise. And I doubt a common sailor would be able to tell that the Ward has been broken.

If we face someone in the hallway, then we may as well resign ourselves to fighting the whole ship.

Sure, there may be some kind of protective animal, like a mastiff or something, but I still feel it's a better play than absolutely alerting everyone to our presence.

Opinions?

[Darren]

I had considered that, but I'm guessing on your average ship that the room will be too small for all of us to get into. If I turned out to be wrong, then that would be my ideal scenario.

Also, because Jeff was asking and saying he was unsure of how I had hoped to arrange people, here's my quick attempt at explanation.

________________
Door Door

St Sy C H
B K
A Sh

|
|______________
Stairs



I agree that I have NO desire to fight the entire ship. We might not have a choice, though. I'd say, let's have someone open the door and look. If we all fit, we all move in. If not, we hold position as above and try to parley with those coming down the stairs while fending off vampires from the other side.

[Mike]

Let's see the size of the room before we all barge in.

Clustered fights in 4E are generally a bad idea. We should be able to do more than just fit in the room if we plan on being effective.

If there's room to maneuver, let's all go in. But if we're all standing shoulder-to-shoulder, and space is at a premium, let's break into two groups - one to take the vampires, the others to head back by the stairs and deal with any other intruders (and perhaps talk them into not fighting).

[Darren]

Agreed, Mike. Hence my arrangement of everyone. I figured Histra, Streko, Syrdan and Condign could go into the room. Kal and Belarin can stay near the door and deal ranged damage in whichever direction it's needed. Adamant and Shorak can block up the hallway and defend our rear. That also leaves Kal and Belarin to negotiate, as needed, with those that come down the stairs.

I realize that Adamant may be more effective than Condign against the vampires, but we don't know what's going to come from the other direction, and I don't like to have all of my eggs in one basket.

[Jeff]

Or all your 'forged in one handbag.

[Ken]

I'm good with the above. Good positioning, Darren.

[Dave B.]

Oops. Didn't read any of this before I posted. Someone want to stop Shorak from opening the door before everyone gets into position? I had been playing him to move as quickly as possible. He may need to be slowed down a bit.

[Dave W.]

Mar 4, 2011 15:59:24 GMT -4 Darren said:

Agreed, Mike. Hence my arrangement of everyone. I figuredI realize that Adamant may be more effective than Condign against the vampires, but we don't know what's going to come from the other direction, and I don't like to have all of my eggs in one basket.

If it makes you feel better, I don't think that Adamant is going to be significantly better than Condign vs Vamps. I've got a couple of powers with the Radiant keyword, that might be good for the occasional +5 damage, but I think Condign does more damage on the average anyway.

Adamant's mostly for keeping a few of the enemy locked into attacking him. And the two powers that let me take damage for one of you.

One thing that worries me a bit is that you have Streko and Condign, ie both our healers, up front. Well, I can do a minor amount of healing, but not like those two. Still if there is a vamp that way, you may need the double healing!

[Darren]

I guess I never really considered that Condign was a healer. I always though if him as a tank. I think it should still be okay. We definitely want Streko well protected, but in a spot where hr can use his powers against the vamps. I like that Addy can tie people up. That makes him perfect for blocking the hallway.

[Brian]

I'm sorry, Joe. I did read your post, but by then I'd moved Condign away from that door. The posts were coming so quickly I never had a chance to go back and revise my post.

Again, I apologize.

Jeff, Condign is where he is. That's fine.

[Joe]

No worries, Brian. I am lucky to get a chance to post once a day and on those days where the posts are flying fast and furious, well, let's just say I understand. It's frustrating, but it happens. We just go with the flow and keep on forging ahead, so to speak.

[Brian]

I just thought of something. Even if we were to go into the room, it's now obvious that we jammed the doors with darts and pitons. The crew will know someone is on the ship. Let's just hope that the "glyph" is enough to keep them from thinking we're in the vamp room.

[Darren]

It's a valid point, Brian. Our options, at this point, are to try to all get into the vampire room and close the door and hope that keeps the crew out. Chances are, when we're done in that room, unless we can get out of the portholes, we're going to have to open the door and face the crew, anyway.

Or we can hold position the way we are now and deal with the crew as they come down the stairs and hope they're not hostile. If they are, we fight a battle on two fronts.

I honestly think this should be open for discussion before we progress. I could somewhat go either way, although I think I might be leaning towards the latter option.

[Dave B.]

I'm all for piling into the room. We may need everyone's strength to defeat what's in there. If the crew is hostile, then forcing them to have to come through a doorway to get to us would slow them down and even create a logjam of sorts, if we defend properly.

Of course there is also the possibility that there is a way off the ship from the room. If not maybe we can make our own exit without ever having to confront the ship's crew.

I will go with whatever the group consensus is.

[Brian]

I figured the hallway was narrow enough for Adamant and Condign to hold it, but the doorway would work just as well. Good point, Dave. We can even rotate people as the situation changes. So, I'm for heading into the room.

[Dave W.]

I've never really understood how the crew is not going to be hostile. We've invaded their boat. It's not like we can say "oh, I'm sorry I was just wandering around the ocean and thought there might be a restaurant on this ship".

You left Adamant to negotiate with the crew man, he's going to try fast talking with the line "we detected a vampire on board and we're here to take care of that for you." but it is a weak argument all round. It is a good way to find out if the crew know who's on board, but in general my guess is that they're going to not be impressed with "don't mind us we're just here to murder you passengers.".

I'd sort of prefer to be making that case above decks right before (or better yet as) we jump into the ocean. So I'm in favor of piling into the room and hoping the crew are told to stay away from the glyphed cabin.

Im just not sure how to talk our way out of this.  I have seen stranger things work out in RPGs though...

[Jeff]

"Oh, the door with the glyph? I'm sorry, Captain Vorik, we totally thought that was a Long John Silver's. Our bad!"

[Dave W.]

Well, Jeff, I have to say in your last post on the main thread you had me at "sepulchral smell"...

[Ken]

Just to give you the thinking behind my last post, I'm not expecting that we'll persuade the crew to be nice, just to buy a round or two for the real menace to make itself known. Making the crew ponder that there are vampires onboard is better than having the crew charge in upon all of us blindly. If Belarin can stall for a few seconds, great.

[Mike]

Agreed with Ken - a temporary stall is probably the best we could (and should) hope for.

Seeing the layout of the stern now, I'm also not adverse to everyone trying to simply go in there. I was only cautioning against it previously in case it turned out there was only a three-square-by-three-square room behind the door.

[Jeff]

I'll be guiding by your stated movements and actions in the main gameplay thread, of course, not your intentions in this one. So be explicit over there! ;D

[Jeff]

Brian:

Also, Jeff, I can't find Condign's Level 6 power on his character sheet. Could you please double check?

Brian, my memory is poor. We took the discussion of Condign's powers to IM, so I don't see your final decisions in the private thread. Can you post there and remind me, then I'll make the updates?

[Ken]

FYI: I modified my hurried post from last night to include actions within the room.