Chapter 16: Q&A / Discussion

[Elvis]

heh.

He won't get many chances to look this cool.

[Brian]

Agreed. Excellent post, Elvis.

And Jeff throws in his own funny:

Thul heads right to the bow, though his face is stern.

[Dave W.]

You guys beat me to it... Yes, a "Captain" standing with one leg up like the mascot of a brand of rum... nicely done...

[Joe]

Jan 24, 2019 22:14:46 GMT -4 Jeff said:

Jan 24, 2019 20:43:28 GMT -4 Joe said:

Streko nods. "I will take your advice and trust my instincts for tomorrow. I agree with you that protections may, indeed, be more important than it was today. Thank you."

It’s “tomorrow” now, though. Not sure you realize what time of day it is. Please reread the latest post.

There were so many time overlapping things at that point, I just assumed you'd realize that the conversation with Histra would have happened before the next day. I've ammended the original post.

[Jeff]

It amuses me that Adamant has now appointed himself the ship's lifeguard (mostly because of Kal), but Melethos has also jumped overboard before, so...

FYI, everyone's got all their hit dice back by now.

[Darren]

Jan 28, 2019 12:21:58 GMT -4 Jeff said:

It amuses me that Adamant has now appointed himself the ship's lifeguard (mostly because of Kal), but Melethos has also jumped overboard before, so...

FYI, everyone's got all their hit dice back by now.

To be fair, Kal has never JUMPED overboard. He teleported out the first time, and flew out the second time.

Melethos is the one who seems to enjoy jumping overboard.

[Elvis]

Nothing says lifeguard like a walking hunk of metal and stone.

[Jeff]

...In, I'm assuming, a pair of swimming trunks and some sort of warforged whistle attachment.

[Elvis]

Eberron's very own Hasselhoff.

[Brian]

Just be happy Mel doesn't like to skinny dip.

[Darren]

I'm really able to imagine this whole thing. Adamant running in slow motion.....

[Dave W.]

C'mon you guys asked Adamant to watch for "odd behavior"... that's a tall task with you people...

I'm thinking more Michael Phelps now... little speedo, swim cap, and little goggles... I do like the whistle though... Adamant needs a whistle...

[Elvis]

Hey Brian,
All good.

Thul was just expressing his frustration at the seemingly continuous changing of orders every few minutes. There is no point in 2 fighters guarding the front in his opinion, so he moved to midship where we have no fighter coverage rather than maintain his originally assigned post.

 

[Darren]

Jan 30, 2019 9:54:08 GMT -4 Elvis said:

Hey Brian,
All good.

Thul was just expressing his frustration at the seemingly continuous changing of orders every few minutes. There is no point in 2 fighters guarding the front in his opinion, so he moved to midship where we have no fighter coverage rather than maintain his originally assigned post.

 

I think it's always sort of been the dynamic of this group, and something that is exacerbated by the nature of play-by-post, that all of us just kind of end up doing whatever we want at any given time. In a table game, we might pause to check in with someone else sitting in the room to see if it makes sense to do something, but because of the speed this game moves at people often just take actions in order to keep the story moving forward. It creates an interesting in-game dynamic that we are now actually playing out, which is kind of fun. I think everyone is actually getting a bit better with coordinating, but it will be a process. It'll be interesting to see what happens in our first actual fight where we're all in the same place (what happened on the ship with the lorelei and the trolls doesn't count).

[Brian]

I'm eager (and a little nervous, to be honest) about using our new formations in a battle. With Melethos in charge, it falls on me to direct the battle. Like Darren said, there will be some growing pains, but I'm sure we can work it out.

As to asking Mel for orders or directions out of battle, remember that Kal is in charge during non-battle times. I'm trying hard to not cross the streams of leadership.

[Jeff]

I would normally agree, Darren, that this could be a play-by-post thing, but I've DMed enough groups to know this happens in real time anyway, all the time. So who knows?

[Dave W.]

Hey, Adamant did ask permission...

And Adamant would still contend that plans need flexibility, brittle plans fail. Right now the need for light up front out weighs the need to spread the fighters about.

Thul just needs to lighten up...

[Elvis]

As part of the formation strategy, we would have discussed (in game), the distribution of fighters and non-fighters.

Maybe we should have a quick discussion about that now?

Non-fighters bunched together at the gunwales? We should also assign someone to support Shorak in case he needs help up top. Who would be best suited? 

Thoughts gents?

[Jeff]

In case the reference is handy:

[Elvis]

Jan 30, 2019 11:48:02 GMT -4 Dave W. said:

Hey, Adamant did ask permission...

And Adamant would still contend that plans need flexibility, brittle plans fail. Right now the need for light up front out weighs the need to spread the fighters about.

Thul just needs to lighten up...

Thul (character) has no problem with Adamant up front with the spotlight. It makes good sense. Except the part where he is straddling the front of the ship. That seems... reckless.

Thul would change places at the stern ballista, but with Melethos already on up there, he feels that bow and stern are covered with heavy hitters. So he will position himself where there are no front line fighters.

Unless Kal and Melethos order otherwise.

Thul will comply (as agreed). Mind you, he will still grumble about it.

[Brian]

The formations Jeff posted are, in my opinion, for close combat fighting--hallways, corridors, smaller spaces. And they make sense: sword-and-board tanks (Adamant/Melethos) up front. Fighter-spellcasters (Thul/Kal) next. Ranged attackers (Shorak/Belarin/Streko) at the rear. Bunching like in those formations does give me the willies--I've been hit by too many AoE spells that take out several PCs--but for now, that's what we have.

For something more wide open, like the deck of the Dragonfly, I prefer a more open approach to avoid devastating AoE spells. Adamant and Mel at the front, attacking the nearest threat. Kal and Thul attacking either ranged or melee, depending on enemy formations. Then ranged attacks and crowd control from Streko, Belarin, and Shorak. I'll utilize NPC characters on the fly, as Jeff will allow them being ordered around.

We also need to buff PCs better before going into battle. Protection from Good and Evil for front-line fighters is good. Belarin's Improved Invisibility is awesome. Faerie Fire is super at providing advantage on attacks for a particularly hardy enemy. I would suggest you all check your spells/abilities to see what can be used to help the overall party in a fight.

Jeff, sorry if I went too far with this discussion being off the main thread, but I don't think I'm saying anything we haven't already discussed. I see this as a refresher.

[Darren]

When we started the day, Kal had asked Thul to stay up front and Adamant at the back (or maybe vice versa), Shorak up top, and for Melethos to stay by him at the wheel while everyone else distributed around the sides. Kal or Belarin can quickly get to Shorak, if needed, using various spells. I don't have an issue with Adamant up front for light purposes (although I had assumed the lights of the Dragonfly were equal to the Delver's Light, but maybe not?), but then Thul should switch and watch the back. I would suggest that Belarin and Histra split sides since they both have reasonable offensive capability, and that Streko stay with Histra and Starg with Belarin. Sem should stay in the middle with Kal and Melethos. That should give us eyes in every direction and the ability to quickly adapt to attack from any side.

[Darren]

Jeff, for purposes of Telekinesis and/or Animate Objects, what size are the boulders? Are they movable by the former and animatable by the second?

[Jeff]

Great question.

It seems likely to Kal that even the smaller of the two floating boulders would exceed 1,000 lbs. so probably would not be movable by Telekinesis. That said, I would rule that the smaller boulder is of Huge size (roughly filling 15 by 15 ft., though technically a bit more), while the larger boulder is Gargantuan. Note that Animate Objects only goes up to Huge. But he could animate that smaller of the two.

[Dave W.]

Every now and again it must be reiterated, these maps are the envy of the RPG world...

[Jeff]

Thanks, Dave. I do mine from existing maps (and even make some purchases from this site) but only in the elements, not so much the whole. That's just Photoshop and time.

Jan 31, 2019 14:47:33 GMT -4 Dave W. said:

"Floating rocks? This is unreal."

Just as a reminder, though: floating rocks aren't unheard of, they're just not commonplace. Sharn has its big floating Skyway district, there is such thing as the Towers of Arcanix in Aundair, and even Stormreach has its own anomalous pieces of floating debris left over from the Age of Giants. Like here.

But in those places it's generally understood by arcanists how or at least why those things float. They're fixed and reliable. It's the fact that these boulders are in a slight motion that's the giveaway that it's different somehow.

[Dave W.]

I had honestly forgotten about Sharn's Skyway... seems like a lifetime ago...

[Jeff]

Jan 31, 2019 17:14:03 GMT -4 Darren said:

Another question, Jeff....can two people use Telekinesis together to move an object? If Kal and Starg both used it together on the same rock to try to move it, would that make any difference?

Case by case. In this circumstance it could...IF the weight allowance is there. Boulders are HEAVY as heck.

[Brian]

Jeff, can we know in which direction the bugbear skeleton pointed?

[Jeff]

Updated my post.