Chapter 13: Q&A / Discussions

[Darren]

I guess I'm going to wait to post to see if battle has, in fact, ended.

[Dave B.]

Just a mechanics check. If Shorak gets the opportunity to hide while he is still invisible, that would be rolled with advantage, yes?

[Ken]

It's safe to say that we are NOT throwing down our weapons, so I'll wait for Joe to post before I post Belarin's next action.

[Darren]

Jun 29, 2017 22:22:25 GMT -4 Ken said:

It's safe to say that we are NOT throwing down our weapons, so I'll wait for Joe to post before I post Belarin's next action.

Oh, we are THROWIN' DOWN!

[Jeff]

Jun 29, 2017 21:32:20 GMT -4 Dave B. said:

Just a mechanics check. If Shorak gets the opportunity to hide while he is still invisible, that would be rolled with advantage, yes?

No. But the benefit of being invisible is that you get to just hide whenever, wherever (normally you need something to hide in or around, like fog, or dim light, or an object big enough to block people's sight of you) but with invisibility you automatically qualify for Hiding. Plus, even if you fail to hide successfully, even if an enemy knows exactly where you are by your sounds, they're still at disadvantage in hitting you.

[Darren]

Jeff, any chance for Kal to Counterspell the poison cloud?

[Ken]

Jeff, how much more difficult terrain is in front of Belarin? Hard to tell right now. Thanks!

[Jeff]

He's standing near the center point, I'm afraid. 15 feet of icy terrain between him and exit.

[Darren]

Jul 1, 2017 11:16:21 GMT -4 Darren said:

Jeff, any chance for Kal to Counterspell the poison cloud?

Just in case you missed it (I saw you answered Ken but not me).

[Jeff]

She was hidden until she cast, as a readied action. Kal did not see her.

[Ken]

Okay, if I had known that Belarin didn't have a good line of sight to the woman, I would have had him skip the pointless attack and do the Dash action to get out of the obscurement and as close to her as possible, forcing the guards and maybe her to engage him in melee. But it's done, I guess.

[Jeff]

I did describe where she was, and that she was peeking only her head and fingers (to target a spell) over the top of the stone chair-back. You have to just understand that I can't always list the mechanics around it. Just as when Wylkes turned invisible, you have to remember that attacking an invisible character means you have disadvantage. I can't always list it as we go.

But toward that end, I've put the Wylkes icon back on the map to show where you think he still is. Like Shorak, if he doesn't actively hide, if you're in proximity to him and can theoretically hear his footfalls, then you'll know roughly what square he's in. So I'll keep him on the map accordingly.

[Dave B.]

Just to confirm what I am interpreting from the map, the dais is 5 feet high and the braziers of blue flame are on the dais itself, correct? What material are the braziers made of and do they appear to be bolted to the dais floor?

[Jeff]

Sure. The braziers are big (basically filling the squares they occupy on the map), about 5 ft. wide and also five feet tall, their fires are like a little bonfire of their own. The dais is built around them (they look to be part of the same design), and their rims are only a few inches above the surface of the dais. They appear to be made of iron (so very heavy), and Shorak would have to interact with one to determine if they're stuck to the floor in some way.

[Darren]

Jeff, let's talk objects. There's a table and 4 chairs shown on the map (besides the throne). What are their sizes? I assume the table is large and the chairs are medium? What about the throne, itself?

[Jeff]

Table is Large. Chairs are Small. The big stone seat will be considered Huge, just for its sheer bulk and weight. You don't know if there's any magic in the stone seat or not, but it does look like it's part of this room—like the braziers and the dais, some vestige of the giant days of old. The table and chairs are clearly a newer furnishing.

I'm about to lose reliable reception even on my cell phone for the day (woods!), so I'll check in tonight.

[Darren]

Okay, sorry to slow things down since we'll have to wait for you to get back, but since the chairs are small, I want to make sure Kal gets the chance to animate as much as possible.

Is there anything on the table that he could also animate? Books, instruments, etc? He gets 10 objects total. The table will count as 4, and the chairs are another 4, so if there are 2 more things he could animate, that would be ideal. If there's nothing on the table, could he animate things he's carrying, like his (normal) dagger and his longsword? Would they have to use movement to unsheathe themselves?


Also, can Kal get past Belarin and the guard to get into the room? Would that provoke an attack (you mentioned that the guards already used their attacks on their readied actions)?

[Jeff]

Without even reading your whole post above, Kal can't see much right now. He's not in the room yet, and he's in a cloud of obscuring vapor. So I can't even really answer most of that yet. Act on character knowledge, not player knowledge.

[Darren]

Jul 2, 2017 16:09:42 GMT -4 Jeff said:

Without even reading your whole post above, Kal can't see much right now. He's not in the room yet, and he's in a cloud of obscuring vapor. So I can't even really answer most of that yet. Act on character knowledge, not player knowledge.

That's a fair answer to the first sentence. I need you to read the rest of it, though.

Not trying to be a jerk, but Kal's got literally one chance to use this spell, and I'm not going to screw it up based on a technicality because I didn't fully understand the rules.

[Jeff]

Bear with me. I've been away from a computer all day and still will for at least another couple hours. Hard to field these questions remotely.

[Jeff]

Jul 2, 2017 10:41:40 GMT -4 Darren said:

Okay, sorry to slow things down since we'll have to wait for you to get back, but since the chairs are small, I want to make sure Kal gets the chance to animate as much as possible.

Is there anything on the table that he could also animate? Books, instruments, etc? He gets 10 objects total. The table will count as 4, and the chairs are another 4, so if there are 2 more things he could animate, that would be ideal.

Okay, your questions about object size of things Kal saw make sense, but please remember Kal is basically starting his turn with probably this sort of view on the room (click the image to see full size.



Now, I am currently showing the full dimensions and placement of creatures on the main map because Shorak is far enough in to see it all. Kal can't see all of that. No one but Shorak and briefly, Condign, has even seen the sphinx yet. As one example. The characters see much less than the player. We all are seeing the map to represent what sorts of things each character might see based on their locations. This is not a technicality. So just use common sense on what Kal should see and know moment to moment.

What little Kal saw of the room before the poisonous cloud appeared, he didn't think he saw anything on the table (except Lord Wylkes, before he went invisible and moved from where he started). The group hasn't had much time to examine the details of the room yet. You're still only just about to enter, and then the cloud showed up to block your view.

Jul 2, 2017 10:41:40 GMT -4 Darren said:

If there's nothing on the table, could he animate things he's carrying, like his (normal) dagger and his longsword? Would they have to use movement to unsheathe themselves?

See, in this I need to ask you to just read the spell description. A lot is covered there, so that would save us both time. The second sentence of the spell description has your answer to this very thing:

. Choose up to ten nonmagical objects within range that are not being worn or carried.

First, both Skyfang and his Rekkenmark sword are magical, so they can't be animated. Even if they weren't magical, he couldn't animate them unless he tossed them on the ground first so he would no longer be "wearing" them (like in a sheath) or "carrying" them, you know?  But sure, if he dropped something he had on the ground, he could totally animate it. Or heck, tossed it in the air. Just needs to be free from his person to qualify (and not be magical). 

Jul 2, 2017 10:41:40 GMT -4 Darren said:

Also, can Kal get past Belarin and the guard to get into the room? Would that provoke an attack (you mentioned that the guards already used their attacks on their readied actions)?

Yup, he can move freely through Belarin's space, but he can't move through the guards' spaces. The guards couldn't do opp attacks on Condign because they had used their reactions already, BUT their turns have come up again (and they took normal actions this time), and now they have their reactions free up again (everyone gets one reaction they can use between turns). So right now they can opp attack someone who tries to move past them. But I will point out that the icy terrain is gone now, so nothing will impede your speed.

[Jeff]

Jul 2, 2017 18:22:25 GMT -4 Joe said:

Streko will touch the wall next to him and move as close to Belarin('s voice) as he can get, holding his breath and squinting his eyes shut.
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Constitution Roll: (2) , which is, of course, the worst possible role for Streko to come up with. Sigh.

Sure, Streko can do this at the top of the next round. Is Streko just moving to where Belarin is, or does he seek to push beyond to where he's clear of the cloud? There's no more difficult terrain.

Also...is he no longer moving the duplicate around? He can move it 30 feet as a bonus action on his turn (allowing him to both move and do a regular action as well).

[Joe]

Jul 2, 2017 23:31:08 GMT -4 Jeff said:

Jul 2, 2017 18:22:25 GMT -4 Joe said:

Streko will touch the wall next to him and move as close to Belarin('s voice) as he can get, holding his breath and squinting his eyes shut.
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Constitution Roll: (2) , which is, of course, the worst possible role for Streko to come up with. Sigh.

Sure, Streko can do this at the top of the next round. Is Streko just moving to where Belarin is, or does he seek to push beyond to where he's clear of the cloud? There's no more difficult terrain.

Also...is he no longer moving the duplicate around? He can move it 30 feet as a bonus action on his turn (allowing him to both move and do a regular action as well).

Streko will have his duplicate attempt to catch up as a bonus action, yes. Streko wishes to remain near Belarin, to provide his with support if he needs it.

[Darren]

Jeff, didn't two casters just cast spells in melee combat with enemies adjacent to them? Shouldn't the now-unanimated objects have gotten opportunity attacks against those targets? (Maybe not Wylkes, since he's invisible.)

[Jeff]

I always know I'll get questions from you, Darren, when I've just posted up enemy actions, or right before Kal's turn.

No is the answer. Opp attacks from adjacent enemies don't happen when you cast spells, as a rule (that's from older editions of the game). If either Wylkes or the lady had tried to cast a ranged attack spell (the kind where they make the attack roll), then doing so adjacent to an enemy would mean they'd be disadvantaged on the attack roll—and nothing more. They'd still get to cast their spell. Since both of them cast spells that didn't require them to make attack rolls (the giant hand does its own attacking, her casting summoned it), there's no issue at all.

To compare, if Kal casts Fire Bolt with an enemy all up in his face, he's disadvantaged on the roll but he can still cast it. If he casts Thunderwave or Lightning Bolt—area-affecting spells wherein the targets make saving throws—he'd have no trouble at all even if they're right next to him.

And yes, to make an opp attack, you have to be able to see your target. So Wylkes could do a ranged spell attack, too, with no problems.

[Darren]

Thanks. I guess I still get all of the rules from the previous editions mixed up in my head.

[Jeff]

Welcome to be an adult who's played D&D for a long time.

[Jeff]

Jul 5, 2017 17:09:00 GMT -4 Darren said:

If Shorak shares the information about the magic item, Kal will sacrifice something, but I didn't want to replace character knowledge with player knowledge and do it this turn because that didn't seem right.

Kal is out of actions on this turn, in any case. Move + free action (take out potion) + action (drink potion)

[Darren]

No, I know. I would have sacrificed the magic item instead of drinking the potion is what I'm saying, but I figured that Kal can't hear inside Shorak's head, so I didn't wanna be a cheater.

[Jeff]

Jul 5, 2017 17:09:00 GMT -4 Darren said:

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Kal will move one square north and 3 west to stand by Shorak. He'll take out and drink the healing potion.

Do you mean EAST?