Chapter 11: Q&A / Discussions

[Jeff]

Darren, the wording is a little vague and certainly doesn't cover all bases. Basically, your readied action can't interrupt the triggering action, it has to follow it, but in this case I would interpret that to mean he can place his Wall of Fire after the orcs have moved out where Kal can see them, but before they've attacked. I'll post about it as soon as I can. Map is being adjusted now.

If, however, my son wakes up before I'm finished with the post, I'll do it later...

[Jeff]

Since this is Kal's first use of Wall of Fire, I think this is a reasonable result. HE only caught two of the orcs, because they came out further and his intent was to encircle those that did. Those two are being roasted and won't last another round, quite clearly.

All right, Mother's Day time. See you guys after the weekend!

[Darren]

Not quite what I was hoping for, but I guess I'll take it.

Now, being grappled as he is, what happens if Kal tries to cast a spell right now?

[Jeff]

He can cast a spell still. But if its a ranged one, because he's within 5 feet of an enemy (two in fact), he'd have disadvantage on it. That's all.

[Ken]

Darren, keep in mind that one of the orcs you're fighting is still under the effect of Streko's extra-damage whammy this round.

[Darren]

Oh, it's all good. I figure that while being grappled is the PERFECT time to cast Thunderwave.

[Dave W.]

and now you'll get a +1d4 to the attack roll! Defy the Invisible Castle! Strike hard!!

[Darren]

A quick question about being pushed in DE Next....if Kal manages to push these orcs using Thunderwave, they would go 10'. But neither one of them is going to be able to go 10' without hitting a wall. Do they take extra damage for that?

[Ken]

Darren, the orc that originally attacked you from behind is (unless I'm mistaken) Orc #2, and that's who is under the effect of Streko's extra-damage whammy. So if Kal is intending to strike HIM, then that's in the opposite direction from Belarin and he won't have to worry about it. Thunderwave goes in one direction only.

[Darren]

The description of Thunderwave says, "Each creature in a 15 foot cube originating from you..." I assumed that meant in all directions (including up and down).

[Ken]

Okay, I was thinking of it as a cube in terms of going up and down (i.e., not in a flat line), but with Thunderwave still being, well, a wave coming out of you, as opposed to a blast effect. Maybe I'm wrong.

[Jeff]

It's a cube, not a radius. So a 15 foot cube would essentially be up to 9 Medium-sized creatures if they all occupied that cube. The idea is that you wave your hand and things close in the direction you gesture are blown back with thunderous force. So Kal has to pick a direction. And yup, if the orc is blown back, then Kal will no longer be grappled.

Being a three-dimensional cube, Kal could certainly designate an up or down. So he could direct the thunderwave to hit one of the orcs (but not both) and things below it or above it up to 15 ft. out. Such as blasting that bow away...

[Darren]

I'm still confused, though. A 15' cube in one direction? So....if he picked in front of him, it would be 15' away from him, and 15' up and away from him? The terminology they use is confusing, but I guess I get it.

In other words, it's an area three squares wide and three squares long on the map. If that map were moved into three dimensions, it would also be three squares tall. Is that right?

Anyway, Kal wants the target the orc who is grappling him (which I believe is the one who is also subject to Streko's curse).

[Jeff]

You've got it right. This image is from some 4th edition site, but the 15 foot cube area that thunderwave is just like what 4th Edition called a "close blast 3" (3 squares meaning 15 feet), like this:



You just get to pick where around you cube of destruction begins.

Yup, the orc that first attacked (who Kal pinned for a round) is the one subject to Streko's Vagabond Die's effect and that's the one who's grappling him. The other one just is going at him (successfully) with an axe.

[Darren]

Great. Thanks for the clarification. Kal is mad at the one holding him, so that's the target.

[Jeff]

And, unfortunately for him, yes, Belarin is in the blast zone....

But you know? You guys are not field testing your magic, nor do you in character tell each other about your abilities much. So a certain amount of friendly fire should be expected!

[Ken]

Waah. Okay, let me have it!

(In my defense, Belarin was trying really hard to move back on that roof...)

[Jeff]

To your other questions:

May 11, 2014 19:38:12 GMT -4 Darren said:

Kal will cast Thunderwave.

It doesn't look like I actually have to roll to hit? Apparently the orcs just make a Constitution saving throw. Maybe that's made against my roll? If so, I don't know what I'm supposed to roll, so if you want to take care of it this time and tell me what I'm supposed to roll for next time, I'll roll it next time.

Assuming that there is a roll, I guess Adamant's extra 1d4 applies? Maybe not?

Right. Any spell that requires an enemy to make a saving throw is not something you have to roll, I do. IT would be helpful if you just tell me anytime you cast such a spell what the DC (Difficulty Class) is for it. If you scroll down to where your spell stuff begins on your sheet, you'll see it starts off listing what your attack roll for spells is (+6 for Kal, his Cha modifier + his proficiency bonus) and what his Spell Save DC is. The latter is what I need when I make the monsters roll a Constitution saving throw to resist the Thunderwave. Which is 14 for Kal.

[Darren]

Cool. I will remember that for next time.

And, unfortunately, a lot of Kal's spells have area effects, and we all tend to get in each other's way, so I expect friendly fire may be happening more often that I'd like. :/

[Brian]

Jeff said:

Guys, I see we're going out of order. The Initiative count looks like this:

20 = Syrdan & Lerrhana
18 = Kal
18 = Condign
17 = Streko
16 = Shorak
9 = giant centipedes
8 = Belarin
6 = Adamant
4 = orcs

Sorry, Jeff. With the weekend being so busy, I just looked for Darren's post, then did mine. Didn't mean to cut out Mike.

[Dave B.]

I'm kinda burnt right now, so I'll give MIke a chance to catch up before I post.

[Mike]

What's the attack bonus on Syrdan's greatsword? It's not listed on his character sheet.

[Jeff]

Can't access it at the moment, but I believe it would be Syrdan's Wis mod + his proficiency bonus + 1 (magic sword),

[Darren]

Hey, Jeff....when it's Kal's turn....how flexible are the movement rules with regards to diagonals, etc? Is it possible for Kal to use Lightnig Shift to reach the catwalk on the other side? Or maybe the roof at the top corner?

[Jeff]

You can move diagonally as easily as a non-diagonal. But to your more specific question, I'm not sure where you mean. There are three catwalks on the map. Which one are you talking about moving to? Remember, Lightning Shift lets Kal go double his speed—which means 60 feet (12 squares)—but he can't fly. He'd still have to jump to reach these other heights.

So if you mean the catwalk on the east side of the map, he can't do that in one Lightning Shift move. It's further than 60 feet away. He could get to the northern catwalk, though, because reaching the rooftops between them is an easy jump and Lightning Shift would allow him to maneuver past the orc without provoking any attacks. And it's much closer. Though, Kal really can't see that the other catwalk is even there. He doesn't have the bird's eye view we do.

But...Kal has to wait until after the orcs go anyway.

[Dave W.]

So I hate to complain but I think Addy lost a turn in there. Or at least a move. At the bottom of page 26, Belarin goes and then the orcs go. Adamant should have gone between them. The post at the top of page 27 where Adamant moves and Blesses should be in between those two. Though I suppose it wouldn't matter to do Adamant after the orcs.



Adamant should be 1sq NW, 1sq W of where he is, preventing the 5 un-circle-of-fire orcs from rushing at Lerhanna.



Also people should be adding +1d4 to attack (to-hit) rolls and saves because of the bless...
I don't think that has any notable affect so far...


Or am I missing something?

[Jeff]

Dave, you're right. Sorry. I saw that post but for some reason all this time I thought you had just posted too early. I should have had that all take place before the orcs' last turn. I'll roll it all together as a double turn in my next post.

[Dave W.]

No worries Jeff. It hasn't affected anything yet..

[Darren]

Got it, Jeff. For some reason, in my mind, I neglected to consider that Kal has to actually cross the space between where he starts and where he finishes. I was thinking of it like a teleport and not a move. That's my mistake.

But if he wanted to get to the rooftop 1 square NE of Orc 3, that would be a jump down, a move of 35' and a jump back up. But he'd presumably have to move THROUGH the orcs in order to do that, so it wouldn't work, right?

[Jeff]

May 16, 2014 15:41:51 GMT -4 Darren said:

Got it, Jeff. For some reason, in my mind, I neglected to consider that Kal has to actually cross the space between where he starts and where he finishes. I was thinking of it like a teleport and not a move. That's my mistake.

But if he wanted to get to the rooftop 1 square NE of Orc 3, that would be a jump down, a move of 35' and a jump back up. But he'd presumably have to move THROUGH the orcs in order to do that, so it wouldn't work, right?

So that particular location you can't get to with Lightning Shift. For one, yeah, it's not teleportation. It magically flashes Kal across the battlefield with the speed of lightning, so fast it could easily be mistaken for teleportation except for the trail of sparks it creates, but the bottom line is that Kal is still physically moving through all that space. He could weave through enemies without risk if there's enough of a gap, but he still can't physically enter another creature's space.

The other thing is he can't make it to the rooftop because it's too high. He just barely made it to the 15-foot-high catwalk. But the buildings, as I tried to note on the map, are mostly 20-25 feet up. Same goes for the stone walls they're mounted in. He can jump higher with his spell, but not that high.