Acqua Alta Finale Discussion

[Malk0lm]

Updated my post below.

Do the "marks" not have names like other spells and whatnot? Can't Umi just use the proper noun and then leave it up to everyone else to look it up?

/noob question

---------- Post added at 01:03 PM ---------- Previous post was at 12:52 PM ----------

Umi, if the sphere attack hits Ros then Nox will use Fiery Might an re-roll the 2 since I flubbed the Thunderwave.

* 1d6(5) kept + new roll + 6 *

---------- Post added at 02:03 PM ---------- Previous post was at 01:03 PM ----------

Roti is not just unconscious; he's dead.

Deadness is a type of unconsciousness, isn't it? It's the kind of unconsciousness that you don't ever regain consciousness from.

[Ithelryn]

Wow, I'm going to go on a limb here and guess that Noxias comes from the Winter Fairy Court, despite his hot disposition.

Move: Shift West
Standard: Exacting Utterance for Roszroon
Minor: Talk

* Exacting Utterance vs. Roszroon's Will *

Exacting Utterance: (Divine, Implement), Standard Action, ranged 5, Wis vs. Will, Hit: Until the end of your next turn, the target gains vulnerability to all damage equal to your Wisdom modifier, and any ally who attacks the target gains temporary hit points equal to your Wisdom modifier. (4 points of vulnerability, 4 points of temp hit points)

[Palpatim]

As can be seen below, there's no difficulty accepting Rogur's round six actions today. ... I wish to delay Konstansz's turn until the top of round seven. ... Round Seven Summary

Am I correct in assuming the Round Summary title is a typo, and that the summary was in fact for Round Six? It doesn't matter much, just trying to keep on top of things.

Rogur, Round Seven

Option 1: If Rogur is able to flank Roszroon in Melee
Move: (Fleeting Ghost) Based on current map: W, W, S, SW. Regardless, the intent is to flank Roszroon, using a shift of 1 from Acrobatic strike if necessary to accomplish this. Stealth, hide from enemies from whom Rogur has cover or concealment.
Minor: Draw sword
Free: None
Standard: Acrobatic Strike against Roszroon. Before attack, shift 1 S. Rogur is now flanking Roszroon with Zephyr. If it is not necessary to shift to move into flanking position, please change the attack to Sly Flourish and add 2 to the damage roll.

* Rogur - Option 1 Stealth *

* Rogur - Option 1 Acrobatic Strike (or Sly Flourish) melee vs. AC *

* Rogur - Option 1 Melee damage (add 2 if attack is Sly Flourish) *

* Rogur - Option 1 Sneak Attack damage *

Option 2: If Rogur is unable to flank Roszroon in Melee
Move: (Fleeting Ghost) N, N. Stealth - Hide from enemies
Minor: None
Free: Reload Sling
Standard: Sly Flourish against Roszroon

* Rogur - Option 2 Stealth *

* Rogur - Option 2 Sly flourish ranged vs. AC *

* Rogur - Option 2 Ranged damage *

* Rogur - Option 2 Sneak Attack damage *

[Malk0lm]

Wow, I'm going to go on a limb here and guess that Noxias comes from the Winter Fairy Court, despite his hot disposition.

I didn't know Yrisz felt so strongly. I think it might be getting through to Noxias.

Umi, if it's not too late I'll strike out the portion where I use the action point and move the sphere 1S toward 10. So the round summary will be:

Minor: sustain
Std: Thunderwave vs Roszroon
Move: Sphere 1S to 10

So no action point and only adjacent damage against 10 if they start their turn there.

[Umiushi]

Is there some kind of system where a mark if more than just -2 can be "marked". Maybe like:

Conditions:

Zephyr is marked* by Roti

That way you don't have to write a lot, and we can be aware that there is more to the mark than a basic one? Just a thought

I will consider something to that effect.

Do the "marks" not have names like other spells and whatnot? Can't Umi just use the proper noun and then leave it up to everyone else to look it up?

To answer this, I should start by saying a mark is not a spell. It's a condition, like being immobilized or surprised. As a condition, it has only one effect: if you are marked, and you make an attack that does not include the character who marked you, you take a -2 penalty. Where it gets interesting is that many characters and creatures have additional abilities that effect marked targets in interesting ways. Sometimes these abilities are different from the abilities that cause the marks to be made in the first place. That is why the marks themselves don't have individualized names. As for the names of the abilities related to marks, those get revealed when the abilities are triggered.

Wow, I'm going to go on a limb here and guess that Noxias comes from the Winter Fairy Court, despite his hot disposition.

What I will say, because it is within the realm of discernment for the party, is that no Seelie would set foot in Tanisaornkuld.

Am I correct in assuming the Round Summary title is a typo, and that the summary was in fact for Round Six? It doesn't matter much, just trying to keep on top of things.

I only have time for a cursory investigation, but where I believe I made the mistake was talking about Rogur's round six actions and moving Konstansz's actions to round seven. I meant that I would accept Rogur's actions for round seven, and move Konstansz's actions to round eight.

The prior round, from what I can tell, was in fact round seven. The next round summary will be for round eight.

Umi, if it's not too late I'll strike out the portion where I use the action point and move the sphere 1S toward 10. So the round summary will be:

It's not too late until the players' posting period ends, which is tonight. After that, it's not guaranteed to be too late, but it might be. In any case, having already done it, you're well in the clear.

[Ithelryn]

So everybody in Tanisaornkuld was unseelie, that explains a lot....I had thought some of the fay with Elpy had seemed not so bad, same with the King's representative.

I didn't know Yrisz felt so strongly. I think it might be getting through to Noxias.

I realized as I was going to sleep last night that I was being a bit hard on Noxias, and by extenson his player…That kind of inter party stuff I'm not interested in be the cause of if I can manage it…as a player I haven't forgotten what the Matchless Gang did in the Garden (the temple) so much of what Noxias is dealing to them doesn't seem outside the realm of justice, and that fire ball daily is really proved quite impressive I think…It's one of the few daily powers that I've seen that really feels like a daily wow power.

Yrisz however is in a very real sense a pacifist, though she does keep her views to herself considering she is running around with what amounts to a crack military unit, but she does have limits as I've tried to convay in her posts.

I just wanted to make clear that I'm not here to ruin other players' fun, and if it comes to that I'm open to discussion...

[Malk0lm]

I realized as I was going to sleep last night that I was being a bit hard on Noxias, and by extenson his player…That kind of inter party stuff I'm not interested in be the cause of if I can manage it…as a player I haven't forgotten what the Matchless Gang did in the Garden (the temple) so much of what Noxias is dealing to them doesn't seem outside the realm of justice, and that fire ball daily is really proved quite impressive I think…It's one of the few daily powers that I've seen that really feels like a daily wow power.
I just wanted to make clear that I'm not here to ruin other players' fun, and if it comes to that I'm open to discussion...

On the contrary, I welcome this type of IC dynamics! In fact I was thinking about chatting with Zephyr about his fire powers the next time we are in RP mode instead of combat mode. Also I was planning on striking up a conversation with... Rogur was it? Someone mentioned that their character was not a big fan of fire, so that will be fun to explore (I'll have to go back and find out who it was). Also I'm thinking that Noxias might have amorous feelings toward Konstansz that he may or may not wish to explore.

[cutopia]

Okay, since it is going to be a bit before Konstansz attacks next, I'll cover more bases for what her move might be given the various possiblities:
If Roszroon is either on her last legs (massively damaged, slipping in her own blood, and obviously about to keel over) or already has keeled over, then Konstansz will pick any convenient undamaged thug in the room beyond instead (saving her starfire for later).

She will move as needed to get the clearest shot (while avoiding getting close enough to any melee combatants that might take a swing at her)--basically I'm envisioning her maybe shifting a couple squares in the hallway to get to a better vantage.

She will curse said enemy.

* Then she will eldritch blast. *

* And hopefully damage the opponent. *

If Roszroon is still going pretty strong, then Konstansz will just do the flames of plegethos/starfire attack on her instead as outlined in a previous post.

[Umiushi]

If Roszroon is either on her last legs (massively damaged, slipping in her own blood, and obviously about to keel over) or already has keeled over, then Konstansz will pick any convenient undamaged thug in the room beyond instead (saving her starfire for later).
. . .
If Roszroon is still going pretty strong, then Konstansz will just do the flames of plegethos/starfire attack on her instead as outlined in a previous post.

One of the advantages of going at the top of the round is that you and only you know exactly what "the board" looks like. If one of the opposing side could go before Konstansz, I would put them at the bottom of the prior round. This frees you from having to plan for contingencies until someone manages to take the top slot for themselves, usually by delaying past the round they're on.

With that, I imagine Konstansz will be using the Starfire attack on Roszroon, as outlined earlier.

[Umiushi]

This post complements the eleventh main post in the Acqua Alta Finale thread. Players' posts in either thread are due by 11 pm, Tuesday, April 10th. The next OOC main post will appear by 11 pm, Thursday, April 12th.

This is probably a good time to ask for new character sheets if the character sheet you have previously submitted to me contains some errors that you wish to rectify. For example, Yrisz has some retrained powers, and Marc's character sheet that has his most recent ability scores is a very abbreviated version. In addition, please remember to include a reference to what rulebook your powers and magic items come from if you haven't already done so. Please send these along as soon as it is convenient for you.

I will take this opportunity to remind everyone, especially the newer players, that temporary hit points behave differently from regular hit points in that they do not stack.

Also I should elaborate on timing a little more. Events that happen at the "start of the turn" are very difficult to avoid. This includes the damage from being adjacent to the flaming sphere and the damage from being adjacent to Roszroon due to her Rain of Steel stance. You could almost consider them to be guaranteed.

This is perhaps more common knowledge, but a natural roll of 1 on an attack is an automatic miss: it misses regardless of any other consideration. Similarly, a natural roll of 20 is an automatic hit. If the adjusted attack result of a natural 20 result would have hit anyway, it is also a critical hit.

Map:

Round Eight Summary
Konstansz (Initiative Count 28)
Expended: Starfire, 1 healing surge
Hands Free: none
Held: rod, everburning torch
Status: Shadow Walk
4 temporary hit points

Minor Action: curse Roszroon.

Fate of the Void: Konstansz adds +1 to her Starfire attack.

Standard Action: cast Starfire on Roszroon. (Ranged Fire Rod +1 vs. Reflex +2 at distance 3 - misses. Roszroon takes ongoing 5 fire damage.)

Move Action: step back. (Cost 3; shadow walk - 3xN. Konstansz gains concealment.)

Yrisz (Initiative Count 27)
Expended: sun rod, 2 healing potions, Cure Light Wounds, Exacting Utterance (encounter), Healing Word (encounter - once), 1 healing surge
Hands Free: one
Held: everburning torch, holy symbol (worn)
Status: non-lethal attacks
4 temporary hit points

Move Action: shift west. (Cost 1; shift - W.)

Standard Action: pronounce an Exacting Utterance upon Roszroon. (Ranged Symbol vs. Will at distance 2 - misses.)

Talking is a Free Action.

Rogur (Initiative Count 26)
Expended: 7 crossbow bolts, 23 sling bullets, 1 healing surge
Hands Free: one
Held: sling
Status: total concealment, non-lethal attacks
4 temporary hit points

Move Action: dash to the next pillar. (Cost 2; fleeting ghost - 2xN. Rogur is trying to hide.)

Free Action: reload sling

Standard Action: shoot Roszroon with a Sly Flourish. (Ranged Sling vs. AC +2 with Combat Advantage at distance 5 - hits. Roszroon loses Battle Vigor and her temporary hit points and is bloodied by 18 points of damage. Rogur is no longer hiding.)

Roszroon will not grant combat advantage if she's flanked, this round. I will take that to mean Rogur will use his second option.

Marc (Initiative Count 13)
Expended: none
Hands Free: one
Held: longsword
Status: non-lethal attacks, bloodied
21 points of damage
3 temporary hit points

Start of Turn: Marc loses his temporary hit point and is bloodied by 3 points of damage from Roszroon's Rain of Steel.
Start of Turn: Marc gains 3 temporary hit points from Zephyr's Life Thane Rage.

Minor Action: issue a Divine Challenge to Roszroon. (Close Burst at distance 1. Roszroon is marked.)

Standard Action: swing his blade at Roszroon. (Melee Basic Heavy Blade vs. AC +2 - Marc rolls 18 modified to 25. Hits - Marc rolls 1 modified to 6 points of damage to Roszroon.)

End of Turn: Roszroon remains marked.

I will use Marc's frequent attack pattern here.

Zephyr (Initiative Count 9)
Expended: rope, sun rod, Acid Orb (encounter), Action Point (encounter - none remaining), Arcane Prodigy (encounter), Escalating Violence (encounter), Flame Spiral (encounter), Life Thane Rage, Roar of Triumph (encounter), Savage Growl (encounter), Second Wind (encounter), 2 healing surges
Hands Free: none
Held: heavy war pick
Status: non-lethal attacks, Rage of the Life Thane, marked (Roszroon)
19 points of damage
8 temporary hit points

Start of Turn: Zephyr takes 3 points of damage from Roszroon's Rain of Steel.

Standard Action: Recuperating Strike versus Roszroon. (Melee Pick vs. AC +2 - hits. Roszroon takes 13 points of damage. Zephyr gains 8 temporary hit points.)

Noxias (Initiative Count 6+)
Expended: Shield
Hands Free: one
Held: staff
Status: sustaining Flaming Sphere
6 points of damage
3 temporary hit points

Start of Turn: Noxias loses his temporary hit points and takes 6 points of damage from Roszroon's Rain of Steel.
Start of Turn: Noxias gains 3 temporary hit points from Zephyr's Life Thane Rage.

Minor Action: sustain Flaming Sphere.

Standard Action: cast Thunderwave. (Close Blast 3 directly southwest, targeting Roszroon; Thunder Staff vs. Fortitude - automatic miss.)

Move Action: move flaming sphere next to another thug. (Cost 1; normal - S.)

#7- Matchless Gang Thug (Initiative Count 6)
Expended: 3 quarrels
Held: crossbow
Status:

Minor Action: reload crossbow.

Standard Action: shoot at Noxias. (Ranged Crossbow -2 vs. AC - hits. Noxias loses his temporary hit points and takes 7 points of damage.)

Move Action: head back to the windows. (Cost 6; normal - 3xE, 2xNE, N.)

S - Roszroon (Initiative Count 6-)
Expended: Bull Charge, Shielded Sides
Held: light shield, mace
Status: Battle Vigor, Cursed, Marked (Marc), Rain of Steel,
63 points of damage
4 temporary hit points

Start of Turn: Roszroon takes 5 points of fire damage from Konstansz's Starfire.

Standard Action: swing at Noxias. (Crushing Surge. Melee Mace -2 vs. AC - automatic miss. Noxias is marked.)
Marc's Divine Challenge (trigger - Roszroon made an attack that didn't target Marc) Roszroon takes 6 points of radiant damage.
Invigorating Attack (on a miss) Roszroon gains Battle Vigor and 4 temporary hit points.

End of Turn: Shielded Sides expires.
End of Turn: Zephyr is no longer marked.
End of Turn: Roszroon successfully saves vs. ongoing fire damage.

#10 - Matchless Gang Thug (Initiative Count 4)
Expended: 2 quarrels
Held: crossbow
Status: dead
7 points of damage

Start of Turn: slain by 7 points of fire damage

No Actions

#9 - Matchless Gang Thug (Initiative Count 3)
Expended: 2 javelins
Held: javelin
Status: out of sight

Move Action: leave room. (Cost 4+; normal - 4xE. Thug #9 is out of sight.

#6 - Matchless Gang Thug (Initiative Count 1+)
Expended: 2 sling bullets
Held: sling
Status: out of sight

Move Action: leave room. (Cost 3+; normal - 3xE. Thug #6 is out of sight.

PC Results Summary
Konstansz has cast Starfire (daily).
Konstansz has spent 1 healing surge.
Konstansz is using Shadow Walk.
Konstansz has 4 temporary hit points.

Marc is using non-lethal attacks.
Marc is bloodied.
Marc has taken 21 points of damage.
Marc has 3 temporary hit points.

Noxias is sustaining a Flaming Sphere (daily).
Noxias has cast Shield (daily).
Noxias is marked by Roszroon.
Noxias has taken 13 points of damage.

Rogur has expended 7 crossbow bolts and 23 sling bullets.
Rogur is using non-lethal attacks.
Rogur has spent 1 healing surge.
Rogur has total concealment.
Rogur has 4 temporary hit points.

Yrisz has used a sun rod and 2 healing potions.
Yrisz has cast Cure Light Wounds (daily) and Exacting Utterance.
Yrisz has used a Healing Word.
Yrisz is using non-lethal attacks.
Yrisz has spent 1 healing surge.
Yrisz has 4 temporary hit points.

Zephyr has used his length of rope and a sun rod.
Zephyr has cast Acid Orb and Flame Spiral.
Zephyr has expended Arcane Prodigy, Escalating Violence, Life Thane Rage (daily), Roar of Triumph, Savage Growl, and Second Wind.
Zephyr is using non-lethal attacks.
Zephyr has spent 1 action point (none remaining).
Zephyr has spent 2 healing surges.
Zephyr has entered the Rage of the Life Thane.
Zephyr has taken 19 points of damage.
Zephyr has 8 temporary hit points.

Enemy Negative Effects Summary
Matchless Gang Thug #1 is dead.

Matchless Gang Thug #2 is dead.

Matchless Gang Thug #3 is dead.

Matchless Gang Thug #4 is unconscious.

Matchless Gang Thug #5 is unconscious.

Matchless Gang Thug #7's crossbow is unloaded.

Matchless Gang Thug #8 is dead.

Matchless Gang Thug #10 is dead.

Matchless Gang Thug #11 is dead.

Roszroon is bloodied.
Roszroon is cursed.
Roszroon is marked by Marc.

Roti is dead.

Enemy Damage Summary
Matchless Gang Thug #1 - slain by 37 points of damage

Matchless Gang Thug #2 - slain by 21 points of damage

Matchless Gang Thug #3 - slain by 9 points of damage

Matchless Gang Thug #4 - unconscious from 12 points of damage

Matchless Gang Thug #5 - unconscious from 56 points of damage

Matchless Gang Thug #8 - slain by 6 points of damage

Matchless Gang Thug #10 - slain by 7 points of damage

Matchless Gang Thug #11 - slain by 6 points of damage

Roszroon - 63 points of damage

Roti - slain by 59 points of damage

[Palpatim]

Roszroon will not grant combat advantage if she's flanked, this round. I will take that to mean Rogur will use his second option.

Thank you for correctly interpreting my intent for Rogur's round. The same intent applies for the next round: Rogur will move into melee range, flanking with Zephyr, if doing so grants combat advantage. He is willing to risk an opportunity attack from Roszroon to do this, since I believe both the pillar and the corridor wall prevent him from moving SWx4,SE to avoid such an attack. He'll trust to his various AC bonuses against opportunity attacks to help him withstand her attack, and trust that the party will bring her down this round so he won't have to worry about Rain of Steel.

Rogur, Round Nine
Option 1, Flank Roszroon in melee to gain combat advantage
Move: Preferred move SWx5, SE. Alternate move, if not allowed by pillar and wall: SW, SW, S, SW, SE
Minor: Draw sword
Standard: Trickster's Blade against Roszroon. Hit: Rogur gain a +2 bonus to AC until the start of your next turn

* Rogur - Trickster's Blade melee vs. AC *

* Rogur - Melee damage, +2 bonus to AC (SoT) *

* Rogur - Sneak Attack damage *

Option 2: If Rogur is unable to flank Roszroon in Melee
Move: (Fleeting Ghost) S, S. Stealth - Hide from enemies
Minor: None
Free: Reload Sling
Standard: Sly Flourish against Roszroon

* Rogur - Option 2 Stealth *

* Rogur - Option 2 Sly flourish ranged vs. AC *

* Rogur - Option 2 Ranged damage *

* Rogur - Option 2 Sneak Attack damage *

[Isrealjacob]

I apologize for missing posts this week its been crazy. Thank you for continuing my attack, that would have been my attempt. Marc is going to continue to press the attack in hopes that this will end soon now that his team seems to have the combat advantage.

Standard: Attack with Longsword

* attack with Longsword *

* Damage *

Yeah that +8 was a typo and wishful thinking I guess

[Malk0lm]

This post complements the eleventh main post in the Acqua Alta Finale thread. Players' posts in either thread are due by 11 pm, Tuesday, April 10th. The next OOC main post will appear by 11 pm, Thursday, April 12th.
This is perhaps more common knowledge, but a natural roll of 1 on an attack is an automatic miss: it misses regardless of any other consideration. Similarly, a natural roll of 20 is an automatic hit. If the adjusted attack result of a natural 20 result would have hit anyway, it is also a critical hit.

This is good to have as confirmation. I spent some time investigating this since my Thunderwave rolled a 1. My fear was that, like in other systems, a automatic fail roll also has a chance for "catastrophic failure" which usually takes the form of hitting a comrade or having the spell backfire. I'm glad to see that there is no such "insult to injury" rule in DnD.

Nox's turn

Standard: Total Defense
Move: Sphere adjacent to 7. Please move it 1NW of 7 so that there is less space between it and Roszroon.
Minor: Draw long sword.

Now that I am wielding both the staff and the sword, do I lose the staff as an "implement" for all spells?

* Fire Damage *

[yukonhorror]

I don't think I can, but howl of fury (or whatever it is called, no character sheet handy) vs. Ros in direction of any baddies

* howl of fury vs. ros AC *

* dam and all enemies (except Ros) take 6 thunder dam *

[Umiushi]

This is good to have as confirmation. I spent some time investigating this since my Thunderwave rolled a 1. My fear was that, like in other systems, a automatic fail roll also has a chance for "catastrophic failure" which usually takes the form of hitting a comrade or having the spell backfire. I'm glad to see that there is no such "insult to injury" rule in DnD.
. . .
Now that I am wielding both the staff and the sword, do I lose the staff as an "implement" for all spells?

This reminds me that I should also note that the automatic hit, automatic miss, and critical hit rules only apply to attack rolls. Unless I specify otherwise, there are no automatic successes or failures when it comes to skill checks. If your character would succeed even on a roll of 1, that means the character succeeds 100% of the time. Similarly, if a natural roll of 20 is insufficient to succeed, then the task is beyond the abilities of the character. For situations where natural 1s and 20s are significant for skill checks, I will do my best to inform the party ahead of time.

The staff is a two-handed melee weapon but a one-handed implement. Noxias may still use the staff to cast spells, and still use the magical abilities of the staff even after he's drawn his longsword. He may not, however, employ the staff as a melee weapon while it's being held in only one hand.