Chapter 11: Q&A / Discussions

[Dave W.]

May 2, 2014 13:58:36 GMT -4 Darren said:

...I make the walkway to be 45' away from Kal (25' forward and 20' up)

If you calculate the hyptenuse via SquareRoot(a² +b²), with a=20 and b=25, the distance is actually only 32.0156211872'.

gotta love geometry...

May 2, 2014 14:51:51 GMT -4 Brian said:

Welcome back, Invisible Castle. LOL

Feels like coming home! Actually I've had some good rolls... I won't complain!

[Brian]

Jeff said: Brian, Condign's speed is 20 feet (because he is encumbered), so even with Dash he can only go 40 feet this round.

Oh good grief, why do I have Condign carrying around his backpack, bedroll, etc. inside the city?? I've got to pay better attention to the little things. LOL

[Jeff]

Well, we might have actually specified which items were being left behind before the gala, to be fair. But I don't think encumbrance was being as tracked then. Though I do think encumbrance is important.

[Brian]

I wasn't complaining to you, or about you. I remember specifying what we were taking. I was knocking myself for not paying more attention.

[Jeff]

Of course not! I'm implying that you guys probably have specified (though it's difficult to track) that certain items were left behind at the Cornerstone inn before heading to the gala. I'm almost certain you did.

[Dave W.]

Nov 1, 2012 11:27:34 GMT -4 Brian said:

Condign will only bring his sword and shield. That's all.

From page 6 in this thread

[Dave W.]

I'll get a main post in a bit... Did Belarin kill the ogre? The one I'm on now that is...

[Jeff]

The wound sends the ogre crashing to the ground, dead or dying.

Adamant could check its pulse to be certain.

[Dave W.]

May 5, 2014 13:51:36 GMT -4 Jeff said:

The wound sends the ogre crashing to the ground, dead or dying.

Adamant could check its pulse to be certain.

Sorry, I guess I missed that... So Addy will dance with Ogre 2...

[Ken]

The second ogre failed its save again? Cool. I have to say that this version of Ray of Enfeeblement is turning out to be more effective than I thought! Having the save DC be based on the caster's proficiency bonus (as opposed to a flat 50/50 chance) makes a significant difference.

[Ken]

One more thing: Jeff, if Belarin is struck by an orc on their turn, he'll use Misty Escape to teleport to a spot where he has cover and can fire back (say, higher up and near Kal, where they can watch each other's back).

[Dave W.]

Hey Jeff, I updated Adamant's tab on Docs... I recorded that he's used 2 2nd level spell slots. You okay with us doing stuff like that?

[Darren]

Jeff, I have two questions and a comment:

First, I went to try to update Kal's available spells per day (since he used one) and I don't seem to be able to edit the sheet. I'm fine with that (I probably shouldn't be trusted), but I just wanted you to know.

Questions:

- Kal would really like to be able to use Thunderwave to try to knock the orc off of the catwalk. Is that possible, or would it just push him back into the doorway?
- According to the description of that spell, it says, "At higher levels: Damage increases by 1d8 for every level above 1st." Since Kal is level 7, does that mean the spell does 8d8 of damage? I mean, that'd be awesome, but it seems unlikely. Is that referring to the spell level? If so, how does one increase the level of a spell?

[Jeff]

Try accessing it now.

Thunderwave pushes, so Kal's not at a good angle for that, yeah.

To deal that extra damage, you have to expend a 2nd-level slot on a 1st-level spell. So yep, it's specifically referring to spell levels.

[Darren]

That's what I figured. Thanks.

So, if Kal wanted to try to knock the orc off the catwalk by more traditional means, what would the method be for that? Would it be any easier given that he is Restrained?

[Darren]

Okay, new question, given the orc horde that just arrived....

Is Ready the equivalent of 4E's delaying of an action? I ask because what I would like is to have Kal wait until the orcs come further into the square, and then surround them with a Wall of Fire as soon as they do. Is that possible? Would he be waiting until AFTER they attacked? If so, I probably wouldn't do that. Maybe I will wall them off from us, instead, so that we can get away easier. That's a lot of orcs.....

[Jeff]

So there's a combat action called Ready.

First you decided what perceivable circumstance will trigger your reaction. Then, you choose the action you will take in response to that trigger. "If the cultists steps on the trapdoor, I'll pull the lever that opens it." "If the goblin moves next to me, I dash away."

When the trigger occurs, you can either take your reaction right after the trigger finishes or ignore the trigger. You can only take one reaction per round.

So you could say "when at least X number of orcs comes into my line of site, I'll cast Wall of Fire in [such a way]."

So in summary, an action to ready something, then your reaction to expend it based on the trigger. Please just keep in mind what Kal can actually tell. He can't see the map we can or where everyone is. Use your best judgement.

[Darren]

Got it. So, in Magic The Gathering terms, it's an Interrupt. Got it.

[Jeff]

M:tG, ugh. Magic players have long made my Friday night game hard to even hear.

May 6, 2014 20:48:10 GMT -4 Darren said:

I guess we're dropping the whole one-post-at-a-time combat thing?


Huh? What do you mean? We are doing it that way, posting each character's actions as the round unfolds.

[Darren]

It seemed like people were jumping ahead and posting actions in advance. Are we supposed to wait for a post from you before posting our actions, or do we just post after the previous person in the order?

[Brian]

I assumed we were posting in the order of the initiative. Jeff starts the round, and then we post in that order. Mike went first. You and I share initiative, so I didn't think it mattered which one of us posted first. Then on to Streko, Shorak, etc. Did I get this wrong?

[Jeff]

Nahh, if you're back to back with another player, just post after they do. If I have the time to sneak in a post myself or an update of the map between those two posts, I will (like me updating the map after Ken pointed out Belarin's relocation; I just happened to be able to do that). But for the most part, I'll try and hold my posts until the actual enemies go.

[Darren]

Got it. That was my misunderstanding, then. I thought that after each player post, you were going to post to resolve whatever those actions were. Now I understand, and all is right with the world.

[Ken]

Looking at the initiative list...

That means Streko and Shorak are up next, right?

[Brian]

Correct.

[Dave B.]

Just waiting for my turn.

[Jeff]

May 9, 2014 9:39:55 GMT -4 Darren said:

That seems contradictory to the conversation that we had in the other thread. If I had known that, and I had known where Syrdan was going to end up, I would have just put the wall in front of the orcs where they currently are, before they had a chance to attack. Can he ready his action off of someone else's action, now? Or is it too late for that?

Contrary how? Also, Mike posted Syrdan's actions (and his placement) before you posted your intent.... Help me out.

[Mike]

Syrdan should actually be two squares to the left of where he's currently shown on the latest map update. At least that's where I intended him to be, anyway.

[Jeff]

Ohh. You had said "two above and one to the right of Condign's current position," and before he moved to attack the centipedes, that'd place Syrdan precisely where his now.

Anyway, I can't update the map until probably tomorrow morning.

[Darren]

May 6, 2014 18:09:50 GMT -4 Jeff said:

When the trigger occurs, you can either take your reaction right after the trigger finishes or ignore the trigger. You can only take one reaction per round.

So you could say "when at least X number of orcs comes into my line of site, I'll cast Wall of Fire in [such a way]."

So in summary, an action to ready something, then your reaction to expend it based on the trigger. Please just keep in mind what Kal can actually tell. He can't see the map we can or where everyone is. Use your best judgement.

Based on this, my assumption was that the trigger would be, "when X number of orcs come into Kal's line of sight" he would cast the spell. But you're saying that it's actually AFTER their actions (i.e. after they attack) which was not my understanding of how it works. I specifically asked if Kal would be waiting until after they attacked or not, and your response was the above, so I thought that was the way it worked.

So my question, now, is can Kal just cast and put the wall across the alleyways, or is he stuck waiting until after the orcs have moved and attacked?