Chapter 12: Q&A / Discussions

[Brian]

We do have an initiative order. I think we should wait for Jeff's turn with the sushi folk before we try anything else.

[Jeff]

Oct 23, 2015 15:38:12 GMT -4 Darren said:

Kal will continue to move 30 feet away from the approaching fishes. He will then cast Lighting Orb on one or both of the Whelmed (not sure if he can actually hit both). Either way, he should be able to hit them without hitting Adamant. Dexterity save vs. DC 14 or they take 2d4 lightning damage.

Just to be clear, you're slowing down (by only moving once then doing an action other than Dash) so you can attack?

[Darren]

Yes. Hopefully the Whelmed will slow down the sahuagin. Even if they don't, Adamant and Streko can't keep up, so there's no sense getting too far ahead.

[Darren]

Oops. I'm really sorry guys. I somehow missed the fact that the Whelmed went in the order before Adamant. I probably wouldn't have done that otherwise. That's totally my fault.

[Dave W.]

Eh, Darren, stuff happens... Most D&D combats are probably too orderly...

I'm still recovering from a wild weekend (okay, I'm old... dancing until 11:30 is "wild")... I will get caught up today...

Jeff, thanks for correcting Adamant's speed... I was thinking it seemed too fast for him...

Also, too, I can see the grid lines clearly on both PC and iPad.

[Jeff]

Hey, Dave, I'm just waiting for Adamant's action.

[Dave W.]

Oh! Sorry, thought you were waiting on Dave B for a perception check... you don't need one from me do you?

I'll get something out there soon...

[Ken]

For what it's worth, I did some digging on the RPG forums for info on disarm attacks in 5e, since the PHB doesn't explicitly call it out. The DMG does have an optional rule:
rpg.stackexchange.com/questions/47648/does-dd-5e-lack-a-general-disarm-rule

[Jeff]

Thanks for the reminder of that, Ken. Yes, I do think it's silly that only some fighters can even attempt to disarm an enemy. It shouldn't be necessarily easy to do, but I appreciate that anyone can try. The difference being, if you're a fighter with that maneuver, your chances are better and you can also deal damage in the process.

I've added the mechanic to the Quickstats tab of the DE Stats sheet, under Attack.

[Darren]

Jeff, per your most recent map, did Belarin not move? Or is my map not refreshing?

[Jeff]

Sorry, I forgot to relocate him.

[Darren]

Guys, let's take a quick moment and face a certain amount of reality. We're in serious trouble here....

The weakest guys on the field, we assume, are the sahuagin. There are 10 (?) of them left. We know, based on Kal's lightning bolt, that to kill one of them requires in excess of 24 hp of damage (probably around 30 is my guess). On average, we seem to hit for between 6 and 15 damage each time we attack. Let's assume that they do the same. Unless we can start hitting them faster or in greater numbers per attack, there is no way we can win this fight. This doesn't even account for Sarquaa and the yugoloth.

Kal is out of spells. He's down to cantrips only. There's no way he can hurt any significant number of them quickly. On top of that, one good hit is going to kill him.

Streko may have some spells, but he's also nearly dead.

If anyone has anything big left to use, this is the time to use it. There's no holding back here. If an opportunity presents itself to run, I think everyone should take it. At minimum, keep re-positioning farther north to avoid getting surrounded. Whatever you do, make sure you consider every move very carefully before you make it, because we may not get many more moves. This is no longer a normal fight. It's potentially our last.

[Ken]

I might have offered a slight disagreement... until one of the undead was revealed to be an undead CASTER. Yeesh.

The thing is, as we have already discovered, running leaves Streko and possibly Adamant behind.

The yugoloth has Histra's necromantic staff, which (as Belarin said) is a big problem. Get the staff and things may improve.

[Brian]

Condign has three superiority die left. He can Rally three times, granting 4 to 11 temporary hits points each time. That might keep Streko alive. If we can get the yugoloth on the ground, Condign can also go all out, using his extra attacks and action surge to make four attacks. He can also expend his Inspiration to gain advantage on the attacks. That could mean serious damage to the yugoloth and a chance to regain the staff.

We just have to get it on the ground.

And stay alive.

And make it back to Eberron.

Where our ship is burning and our friends are dying.

Mommy!!

[Darren]

Sure, but I'm less concerned about the yugoloth than I am the 10 sahuagin. That's a lot of damage to absorb every turn.

[Joe]

Streko hasn't had spells in a very long time. He's working on cantrips and divine inspiration only...and a die...and a sickle.

[Ken]

Nov 1, 2015 20:03:36 GMT -4 Darren said:

Sure, but I'm less concerned about the yugoloth than I am the 10 sahuagin. That's a lot of damage to absorb every turn.

Get that staff away from the yugoloth, and the tide could change quickly. And not all the sahuagin will do the type of damage that Sarquaa did to Streko.

We're still in a really sucky situation, regardless. No good answers, but I don't think we can run without conceding two of our PCs.

[Dave B.]

Shorak can focus his attacks on the nycatloth in hopes of making him drop the staff. On the other hand, he can potentially do more damage against Saquaa. On the other, other hand, he has the ability to escape this fight and leave you all in the dust, but he won't do that, yet.

[Darren]

And then everything changed...

Great job, Joe! NOW we've got a fair fight going.

[Dave W.]

All I got is my pointy sword and my shiny shield... Oh and an Inspiration... I'll use that if I can get a swing on either Sarquaa or the yugoloth

[Ken]

NICE, Joe!! Great time for that.

[Brian]

Yes, Joe. Well played. You may have saved our collective bacon.

[Dave W.]

Damn. All of the folks I was going to fight this turn seem to be ash...

Well, done Joe!

[Jeff]

Aug 2, 1974 0:14:37 GMT -4 Dave W. said:

I miss being able to use Divine Challenge... Well, let's try a sword instead...

I sure don't miss the weighty numbers and thinly-flavored repetition of attack powers. But that's what I like about 5E; many things have continued on into a better system. What you want is Compelled Duel, a 1st-level paladin spell Adamant already has and has even prepared. He's just out of spell slots.

[Dave W.]

My apologies folks... don't know why I was convinced I was up after Streko... brain fart.

Yes, Jeff, there's a lot of improvements over 4e. I do like 5e better than 4e overall; this is just a thing I miss. Not whining, just noting.

And I did know about the Compel Duel. Actually I like that it imposes disadvantage when the challenged fights someone else; that seems much more interesting and "realistic" (?) than inflicting a small to moderate amount of damage... it's harder to do something else, not damaging.

But it's a spell slot... I don't get all that many and I can instead cure 2d8+2 or give all my allies +1d4 to attacks for 10 minutes or throw a Sanctuary on them for a minute...

Using the call of my deity to shield my friends has gone from being something that I did every round to something I'm unlikely to do at all.

It's fine, Sentinel will be a good replacement after we find a safe place to rest...

[Jeff]

Well, this is straying into mechanics theory, which...yeah.

The reason I like that this is a spell is for the same reason I like that Find Steed is now a spell. Not all paladins—or campaigns—making having a steed on hand all that practical. In my tabletop Eberron game, the paladin recently acquired this spell and we're excited to try it out but we both know its use is going to be few and far between. So much dungeon crawling right now doesn't make that quite as useful. But if the steed was a class feature, it would necessarily crowd out something else good. I like the paladin's existing main features, personally. I'd hate to see anything else go.

Compelled Duel is cool, but unless you see using it constantly (which I can see being both useful and a pain), I'm glad it's just a spell.

[Dave W.]

I can see that point, and by all that is Holy Adamant's not going to ever cast Find Steed because... Adamant on a horse??

I have given precisely 0 thought to any of this; I don't know what I would swap for Divine Challenge if I had been a game designer... doesn't matter really... I just envision Adamant as a protector... he wants the bad guys to focus on him as much as he can arrange that... between the fighter Protection style and the Sentinel feat I'm good.

Adamant on a horse... LOL!

[Ken]

Your steed, m'lord.

[Jeff]

Hey, don't laugh! The paladin in my other game IS a warforged. The steed will suit the rider. If ever there was a storm giant paladin, it wouldn't be a pony that comes when called...

[Dave W.]

I was thinking...
Attachment Deleted

I can imagine a warforged on a horse but not Addy... he's too earthbound in spirit... maybe that's why he's having a hard time in Dolurrh...