Chapter 19: Discussions / Q&A

[Darren]

Thinking ahead to Kal's turn....

Jeff, I have a few questions. First, if Kal wanted to try to grab Calitraia from the fiend with Telekinesis, I'm guessing that would be a Strength check from his opposing Kal's Casting Ability check?

Let's say Kal wanted to try something more dramatic....would it be possible for him to Lightning Shift to jump up and get his hands physically on Calitraia, and then Dimension Door the two of them away? How would that work mechanically?

[Jeff]

Great ideas. Okay, so...

Yanking Calira out of its grasp with Telekinesis would work just like trying to grab the thing itself, but he's targeting her; it's a contest of his magic vs. its strength to hold onto her, just as I think you were assuming.

Re: Dimension Door. If Calira was conscious and willing, then Kal would only have to get himself adjacent to her (be within 5 feet) by whatever means (he doesn't even have to touch her). But unsconsious creatures are not considered willing.

So of the two, the Tele-grab is your better bet.

[Darren]

Dec 23, 2020 15:14:42 GMT -4 Jeff said:

Great ideas. Okay, so...

Yanking Calira out of its grasp with Telekinesis would work just like trying to grab the thing itself, but he's targeting her; it's a contest of his magic vs. its strength to hold onto her, just as I think you were assuming.

Re: Dimension Door. If Calira was conscious and willing, then Kal would only have to get himself adjacent to her (be within 5 feet) by whatever means (he doesn't even have to touch her). But unsconsious creatures are not considered willing.

So of the two, the Tele-grab is your better bet.

And I guess as an unconscious "object", Kal would have to be holding her for Dimension Door to work, which would mean grabbing her away from the fiend anyway, right?

[Jeff]

Nope, no touch needed. Just proximity. But unconscious she's not even an object. She's a creature, per spell parlance, so she simply cannot be Dimension Doored away without being aware and willing.

[Brian]

Jeff, Melethos currently has a 24 AC due to Streko's spell. The deadman's roll of 23 is a miss, unless it was a 20, of course.

[Jeff]

Fixed! Right you are.

[Ken]

Jeff, how far "up" is Calirataia, compared to the level of the deck?

[Jeff]

Just 5 feet above the gunwale on that deck.

[Jeff]

Dec 24, 2020 12:26:23 GMT -4 Darren said:

____________________
Kal will use Lightning Shift to move 5 squares south. Even if he goes up the stairs, he should be able to make it and there's no Opportunity Attacks because of Lightning Shift.

He can move adjacent to enemies without provoking opp attacks but Lightning Shift doesn't let you pass through their spaces. What route is Kal is taking exactly? I would allow him to attempt a Strength (Athletics) check to jump and climb up to the next level without going on the stairs, but a low enough roll could result in an unpleasant impact in the attempt made at a frightening speed.

[Darren]

That's fine, he can jump it, too. Lightning Shift also allows you to jump three times your normal height, though, so I wouldn't imagine he'd have trouble making it over the railing.

[Brian]

Dec 24, 2020 12:16:10 GMT -4 Brian said:

Jeff, Melethos currently has a 24 AC due to Streko's spell. The deadman's roll of 23 is a miss, unless it was a 20, of course.

I made a mistake. I was showing my daughter Mel's stats (she plays D&D) and I noticed Mel's normal AC is 21. With Streko's spell, his jumps to 23, not 24. That deadman hit was good. Jeff, please make any adjustments you feel are proper. But I wanted to make sure you knew that, until Streko's Shield of Faith ends, Mel's AC is 23.

[Jeff]

Okay, thanks, Brian. Adjusted. He took 13 necrotic damage, then.

Ken . . . fun idea! But, I need some clarity on this part:

Dec 26, 2020 1:27:19 GMT -4 Ken said:

The warlock suddenly disappears in a swirl of shadows--

--and reappears crouching between the fiend's wings!

Bonus action: Use his 2nd warlock slot to cast misty step to close the rest of the distance and materialize on top of the fiend.

His intent is to appear into a "riding" position of the fiend, on its back?

Also, I thought Belarin's last slot was already used to cast Soulsorrow's Armor? I changed it from 1 slot remaining to 0 when he cast that a couple of rounds ago. He used Misty Step in the hold of the Dragonfly, then Sorrosworn's. That's two slots used, isn't it? Does he really have a slot remaining for another Misty Step I'm not remembering?

[Ken]

Oh hell, I did use Misty Step in the hold, didn't I? And I can't use one of my wizard slots, since it's a 2nd-level spell.

Waah. I'll revise my post.

[Dave B.]

Thanks for catching my mistake with Cunning Action, Jeff. I was getting a bit sleepy when I posted that. Oops. But, yeah. The disengage action should have been the use of Cunning Action.

[Brian]

Melethos's bonus action on his last turn comes from Expeditious Retreat. He's using his bonus Dash to scrabble closer to the fiend's head and hopefully out of reach of an attack.

[Jeff]

Got it. But as noted in the main post, but he can't actually get himself where the fiend can't reach him.

[Brian]

Understood. Just wanted to clarify the bonus action thing. Also, I'll make sure I mention the spell that allows his bonus dash in those posts.

[Ken]

Jeff, can you please move Belarin 5 squares forward (south) to reflect his current position?

[Jeff]

Will do on the next update. Sorry I missed it. I even specifically go back looking for statements of movement but sometimes they’re just invisible to me.

[Jeff]

I'm going to throw in a Strength (Athletics) check to that movement, since I don't think Belarin is taking the stairs down to the lower deck from where he's at. He's got to vault the railing and climb down; easy roll but still possible to bungle it. This is evident from the map, right?

Oh, wait. Ignore me. Belari's ring makes that jump easy; no chance of damage from that.

By the way, loved the story-flavor of that last turn, Ken!

[Darren]

A quick moment of meta-gaming to Ken and Dave....yeah, I get it. We're strung out and we should be focusing our attacks on the fiend. But we got caught strung out and surrounded pretty fast, and without thinning out the undead, there's no way we could have reached the fiend without getting swarmed. Had we all been clustered together, Kal could have put up a wall of fire to keep the undead on one side and us on the other, but it didn't happen that way and as soon as Adamant got overwhelmed, Kal didn't really have any choice but to try to free him up. Kal's strength lies in damaging lots of enemies at once. He's not great against a single opponent, so we need Adamant and Melethos (and Shorak and everyone else) free to be able to attack the fiend, hence Kal's continual attacks on the other undead.

Either way, I'm kind of impressed with us on this one.

[Jeff]

Me, too.

[Ken]

Oh, absolutely, Darren! A lot of stuff was thrown at us quickly and we intentionally split ourselves up to avoid being an easy target for the fiend. It was really just spur-of-the-moment commentary from Belarin.

[Brian]

It's much easier to perform a forensic exam on a battle after you know what the enemy did. Personally, I think we're an effective fighting group, and we're getting better.

So, yeah, up to now, we've rocked this one. Let's hope that continues.

[Brian]

Dec 29, 2020 23:44:33 GMT -4 Dave B. said:

"Did no one see?" Shorak calls out. "The fiend heals by drawing the essence of these undead. Focus your attacks on it and the other undead will fall!"

In a perfect world, Dave, I would agree 100%. But since only attacking the fiend wasn't practical, I think (or at least I hope) destroying the deadmen and other undead would deprive it of the food the fiend needs to regenerate.

[Brian]

Jeff, from Melethos's position on the back of the fiend, trying to disarm Cali from its grip doesn't seem feasible. What are your feeling on whether he could even attempt such a thing?

[Jeff]

I haven't resolved Darren's turn just yet, but...

I would allow Melethos to make a grapple check to try to pry her free, sure. It's essentially a grapple check of its own. (He'd need a free hand for that, too. One hand to hold onto the fiend, another to try and grab her.) BUT: as I ruled the grapple attempt to be an "attack" on Calira for the fiend, so it would be for Melethos. He would need to make a Wisdom saving throw against Adamant's Sanctuary to even make the attempt. If he fails, he'd have to redirect his attack.

If he succeeds on both the saving throw and the grapple check against the fiend, he'd still be in the fiend's space, and he'd still have to get away with her safely.

[Jeff]

Dec 30, 2020 10:58:19 GMT -4 Darren said:

_____________________
Kal will use 2 Sorcery points to do a Quickened casting of Dimension Door. He will move to the square two squares north of the eastern staircase on the rear of the ship.

I think that's precisely where Shorak is. Can you specify a square in relation to Shorak's current position?

[Brian]

Dec 30, 2020 12:10:46 GMT -4 Jeff said:

I haven't resolved Darren's turn just yet, but...

I would allow Melethos to make a grapple check to try to pry her free, sure. It's essentially a grapple check of its own. (He'd need a free hand for that, too. One hand to hold onto the fiend, another to try and grab her.) BUT: as I ruled the grapple attempt to be an "attack" on Calira for the fiend, so it would be for Melethos. He would need to make a Wisdom saving throw against Adamant's Sanctuary to even make the attempt. If he fails, he'd have to redirect his attack.

If he succeeds on both the saving throw and the grapple check against the fiend, he'd still be in the fiend's space, and he'd still have to get away with her safely.

I have to say, it would be interesting to try. Mel has a 30% chance of beating Addy's DC on the Widsom save. But if he uses his Inspiration, he'd at least get two tries. In the grapple vs the fiend, the fiend's Strength check is at disadvantage due to Hex. If both worked, Mel still has 30' of movement plus and additional 30' from his bonus Dash given from Expiditious Retreat.

I'll of course wait for you to resolve Darren's turn and then wait for Joe to go. This'll give me time to think.

[Jeff]

Something else to head off now, she Mel choose to try this. If he does fail the saving throw vs. Sanctuary:

On a failed save, the creature must choose a new target or lose the attack or spell.

Choosing a new target would essentially be redirecting a grapple check. But Mel can't effectively grapple a Huge creature (hence why he was at least able to climb onto it). So he couldn't suddenly draw out his sword and swing that instead. He's committed to whatever method of attack he'd be going for (in this case trying to grab Calira).