Out-of-character adventure discussion

[Umiushi]

From this point on, I'm going to be working on the round's results. There is a possibility that player posts after this post may not be incorporated into those results. Actually, this is normal procedure, but I thought that a reminder here would be good since this is the middle of the party's first fight.

Also, any necessary dice for the PCs that weren't rolled, I'm going to roll, now. The ones I remember up front, I'll do publicly, but if I forget any, I'll roll those privately and announce the results in my round summary.

* Zephyr's Attack Damage: Hot Poker vs. #1 *

* Morgran's Attack Damage: Hot Poker vs. #1 *

[Umiushi]

This post complements the fifteenth Main Post in the Acqua Alta thread. Players' posts in either thread are due by 11 pm, Saturday, May 23rd.. The next OOC main post will appear by 11 am, Monday, May 25th.

Sometimes my hints don't come to pass. It looks like Myn is the one who got dropped this round.

Warlord-based powers can require a lot of coordination between the players. Sometimes, people are too busy to participate in those discussions. In order to deal with that, I'll implement an opt-out policy for some of these abilities. Here are my initial guidelines:

• When using Commander's Strike, Cocoa will make the PC's basic melee attack roll.
• When using Wolf Pack Tactics, Cocoa specifies who it is and how they shift. The person who gets the shift may choose to shift in a different direction if they post about it in time. If they strongly protest about a perceived disadvantageous shift based on circumstances that developed or were obviously developing by Ariellana's Initiative Count, I will try to retroactively set things straight. However, it might be best to discuss good shifts ahead of time.

This time, I specified who it was, and how they shifted. I chose Zephyr, and shifted him to what seemed like a decent place, assuming he's got combat on his mind. However, in the future it must be Cocoa who chooses.

I had intended the fireplace to restrict diagonal movement, like the central table. However, I neglected to mention it, and then compounded my error by not taking it into consideration when calculating Ariellana's moves. Therefore, the fireplace will not restrict diagonal movement.

Although Ariellana will probably pick up a poker, she's a lot more likely to use her dagger..

While concentrating on your OOC posts, it didn't occur to me until rather late that your main post is at variance with it, or rather, I assumed this was an either/or proposition and you went with the dagger. I didn't think Ariellana started out with her dagger in hand: the soup she ordered is described as "thick," but it's not that thick. I used your minor action to draw your dagger, but that means there wasn't enough time to grab a poker, too.

In consideration that TheGreenLabrador may be busy with finals, I determined Tanglar's actions this round. I'm not sure how long Tanglar was intending to observe the conflict, but it's going to get a lot harder for the party if he doesn't step in, now.

While the initiative order is maintained for the purposes of the conducting the mechanics of combat, I took some liberties in describing it while writing the main post. Hopefully, I still preserved the sense of what's going on, and nobody will be confused by this.

Updated Map: [img=http://img132.imageshack.us/img132/5673/ortalan02.jpg]

Map Key: Myn's position in the room is now designated by the yellow-shaded square.


Concluding Round One
#4 grim-faced, unarmed stranger (Initiative Count 2)

Immediate Reaction (from Akaysha; trigger - Akaysha takes damage.): Fade Away (Successful - Akaysha is invisible.)

Round Two Summary
Zephyr (Initiative Count 23)
Expended: Acid Orb (Encounter)
Status: cover if attacked through crowded squares, flanked by #1 and #3 (from Initiative Count 4), Marked (by #1, from Initiative Count 4)

• 15 damage (5 from previous round, 10 from Initiative Count 20)

Move Action: move one square west. (Cost 2, walk; successful.)
Standard Action: attack #1. (Melee attack vs. AC, with combat advantage. Critical Hit - 9 points of damage (2 fire), and ongoing 2 fire damage against #1, who is bloodied.)

Free Action on Initiative Count 11: shift one square north. (Cost 0, shift; successful. Due to Ariellana's Wolf Pack Tactics.)

Akaysha (Initiative Count 22)
Expended: Words of Friendship (Encounter), Fade Away (Encounter), Stirring Shout (Daily)
Status: cover if attacked through crowded squares, Invisible (to Initiative Count 22), Marked (by #4), Bloodied (from Initiative Count 2)

• 14 damage (3 from previous round, 5 from Initiative Count 20, 6 from Initiative Count 2)

Move Action: move to two squares south of U while invisible. (Cost 5, walk, does not trigger opportunity attacks; successful.)
Standard Action: Stirring Shout at #4 (Ranged attack vs. Will, distance 3, with combat advantage, target has cover. Miss. Effect: Allies heal 4 whenever they hit #4; Akaysha is no longer invisible.)

Involuntary Action on Initiative Count 2: slide one square north. (Due to influence of #4's attack.)

#5 bearded, unarmed tough (Initiative Count 20)
Status: slowed, granting combat advantage, cover if attacked through crowded squares, dealing non-lethal damage, Storm Spirit effect (from Initiative Count 20)

Move Action: move east one square. (Cost 2, walk; successful.)
Minor Action: summons a spirit that heals #1. (Distance 4. Successful - #1 heals 5 points of damage and is no longer bloodied.)
Standard Action: summons a storm spirit that attacks the party and benefits its allies. (Close burst vs. Fortitude, range 5, targeted party members have cover, with combat advantage over Myn. Successful - Critically downs Myn for 17 points of non-lethal damage, Myn is restrained; Hits Morgran and Zephyr for 10 points of damage; Misses Akaysha but still does 5 points of damage; Ariellana and Tanglar are out of range. Overcomes numerous bystanders. A beneficial effect influences all of the party's enemies.)

Saving Throw vs Faerie Fire: failure - continues to grant combat advantage and be slowed.

U: spectral apparition (Initiative Count 20)
Status: cover if attacked through crowded squares, dealing non-lethal damage

Minor Action: heals #2. (Successful - #2 heals 2 points of damage.)

Morgran (Initiative Count 18)
Status: -1 healing surge, cover if attacked through crowded squares, Marked (by #1, from Initiative Count 4)

• 15 damage (10 from Initiative Count 20, 5 from Initiative Count 4)

Move Action: moves west two squares. (Cost 4, walk; successful.)
Standard Action: Enfeebling Strike at #1. (Melee attack vs AC. Hit - 9 points of damage (2 fire) against #1, who is bloodied.)

Bystanders (Initiative Count 17)

Move Action: those who can still move are trying to get to either the kitchen or the buttery. (Crowding environment modified as described in OOC Post #14.)

Myn (Initiative Count 16)
Expended: Faerie Fire (Daily)
Status: -1 healing surge, cover if attacked through crowded squares, dealing non-lethal damage, in beast form, Dazed (until the end of Initiative Count 13+), Marked (by #1, until the end of Initiative Count 4), Unconscious (from Initiative Count 20), Restrained (from Initiative Count 20)

• all hit points lost (10 from previous round, 17 from Initiative Count 20; final damage was non-lethal)

Faerie Fire Aftereffect Reminder: 17 points of radiant damage, grants combat advantage

All actions canceled due to unconsciousness.

End of Turn: #1 and #3 no longer grant combat advantage.

#3 sandy-haired individual with a club (Initiative Count 13+)
Status: granting combat advantage (until the end of Initiative Count 16), cover if attacked through crowded squares, dealing non-lethal damage, Storm Spirit effect (from Initiative Count 20), flanking Zephyr (from Initiative Count 4)

• 6 damage (from previous round)

Move Action: step one square east. (Cost 1, shift; successful.)
Standard Action: aim a blow at Zephyr. (Melee attack vs. AC. Miss.)

End of Turn: Myn is no longer dazed.

#2 brawny youth wielding hammers (Initiative Count 13)
Expended: both throwing hammers
Status: slowed, granting combat advantage, cover if attacked through crowded squares, dealing non-lethal damage, Storm Spirit effect (from Initiative Count 20)

• 11 damage (13 from previous round, healed 2 on Initiative Count 20)

Move Action: move two squares east. (Cost 2, walk; successful.)
Standard Action: throw hammer at Zephyr. (Ranged attack vs. AC, distance 2. Miss)
Minor Action: ready big hammer.

Saving Throw vs Faerie Fire: failure - continues to grant combat advantage and be slowed.

Ariellana (Initiative Count 11)
Status: -1 healing surge, cover if attacked through crowded squares, all defenses at +2 (until start of Initiative Count 11), dealing non-lethal damage, Marked (by #1, from Initiative Count 4)

• 11 damage (from Initiative Count 4)

Minor Action: draw dagger. (Successful.)
Move Action: move one square southwest, two squares south, one square southwest, and one square northwest. (Cost 6, walk; successful.)
Standard Action: Wolf Pack Tactics against #1. (Zephyr shifts one square north. Melee attack vs. AC. Miss.)

#1 elderly staff bearer (Initiative Count 4)
Status: granting combat advantage (until the end of Initiative Count 16), cover if attacked through crowded squares, dealing non-lethal damage, bloodied (from Initiative Count 23 to Initiative Count 20, and from Initiative Count 16 to Initiative Count 4), ongoing 2 fire damage (from Initiative Count 23), Storm Spirit effect (from Initiative Count 20 to Initiative Count 4), flanking Zephyr (from Initiative Count 4), Tanglar's quarry (from Initiative Count 0)

• 9 damage (6 from previous round, 9 from Initiative Count 23, healed 5 on Initiative Count 20, 9 from Initiative Count 18, takes 2 fire and heals 10 plus 2 on Initiative Count 4)

Storm Spirit effect: heals 2 damage.
Ongoing Damage: takes 2 fire damage.

Minor Action: ends Storm Spirit effect. (Successful - heals 10 points of damage and is no longer bloodied)
Standard Action: dashes around, lashing out at her enemies. (Melee attack vs. AC. Hit - 11 points of damage against Ariellana. Shift one square east. Melee attack vs. AC. Hit - 5 points of damage against Morgran. Shift one square east. (Flanks Zephyr with #2.) Melee attack vs. AC, with combat advantage due to flanking. Misses Zephyr. Effect: Ariellana, Morgran, and Zephyr are Marked.)
Move Action: shift one square north. (Cost 1, shift; successful. Flanks Zephyr with #3.)

Saving Throw vs. Ongoing Damage: failure - continues to suffer ongoing damage.

End of Turn: Myn is no longer Marked.

#4 grim-faced, unarmed stranger (Initiative Count 2)
Status: slowed (until end of Initiative Count 2), granting combat advantage, cover if attacked through crowded squares, dealing non-lethal damage, Stirring Shout effect (Whenever hit by allies of Akaysha, those allies heal 4 hit points.), bloodied (from Initiative Count 2), Storm Spirit effect (from Initiative Count 20)

• 17 radiant damage (from Initiative Count 2)

Move Action: move south two squares. (Cost 2, walk; successful.)
Standard Action: kicks Akaysha. (Unarmed melee attack vs. AC. Hit - 6 points of damage against Akaysha, shifts one square east, and slides Akaysha into vacated square. Effect: Akaysha continues to be Marked.)

Saving Throw vs. Faerie Fire: success - no longer slowed, but takes 17 points of radiant damage and is bloodied.

Tanglar (Initiative Count 0*)
Status: -1 healing surge, cover if attacked through crowded squares, hunting #1 (from Initiative Count 0)

Minor Action: pick up heated poker. (Successful.)
Minor Action: designate #1 as quarry. (Successful.)
Standard Action: attack #1. (Basic melee attack vs. AC. Rolled a 3, modified to 6. Miss.)

*Waiting on Tanglar's initiative roll.


Environment for Round Three:

• At Initiative Count 17 and higher, crowding is as it was in Round Two.
• Below Initiative Count 17, there will be no more crowded squares in the central room for the remainder of the encounter, barring unforeseen events.

PC Results Summary:
Akaysha has expended Words of Friendship (Encounter), Fade Away (Encounter), and Stirring Shout (Daily).
Akaysha has taken 14 points of damage, is bloodied, and is Marked by #4.

Ariellana has spent 1 healing surge.
Ariellana has taken 11 points of damage, and is Marked by #1.

Morgran has spent 1 healing surge.
Morgran has taken 15 points of damage, and is Marked by #1.

Myn has spent 1 healing surge.
Myn has expended Faerie Fire (Daily).
Myn has lost all of his hit points, is Unconscious, and is Restrained.

Tanglar has spent 1 healing surge.
Tanglar designated #1 as his Hunter's Quarry.

Zephyr has expended Acid Orb (Encounter).
Zephyr has taken 15 points of damage, and is Marked by #1.
Zephyr is being flanked by #1 and #3

[Cocoa]

OK, who wants to heal Myn? It's a minor action for Ariellana, Morgran, or Akeysha. Morgran has to touch Myn, but the bard and the warlord do it with a close burst 5. Ariellana grants a healing surge +1d6. The bard grants a healing surge +CHA mod, and slides the target one square. The paladin grants a healing surge, except that he spends the healing surge while Myn regains the hp. Any of these means that Myn could still do 2nd wind as his standard action for more hp and higher defenses for the turn.

Does someone have a higher initiative than Myn? If so, Myn could be up and attacking on his next turn if he chooses.

I used your minor action to draw your dagger, but that means there wasn't enough time to grab a poker, too.

Not a problem.

--------------

Ariellana is considering the following actions on her next turn. She might also use her action point. Please let me know how we can coordinate the benefits that Ariellana can grant.

Remember that if you make an attack, then use an action point to make a second attack, you can add +2 to your second attack roll.

1. Commander's Strike -- this is the one where I let you hit instead of me.

2. Wolf Pack Tactics -- one person, either next to me or the target, can shift one square before my attack. This can help us set up flanking, or it can help get someone out of the way.

3. Warlord's Favor, an encounter power. If I hit, one of you within 5 squares of me gets a +5 power bonus to all attack rolls against that target before the end of my next turn. This is in addition to the untyped +2 bonus from using an action point. I also do 2W+3 damage if I hit. If I don't hit, I'll be very sad.

Since I am marked, I am inclined to go after #1 for my next turn. I don't know if we want to use Warlord's Favor on her, since she already has some damage. Commander's Strike would work just fine on any target, since Ariellana wouldn't be doing the attack.

[Umiushi]

The bard grants a healing surge +CHA mod, and slides the target one square.
...
Commander's Strike would work just fine on any target, since Ariellana wouldn't be doing the attack.

Good analysis. I want to add a couple of situational notes. Right now, Myn can't be Slid while he's being Restrained. Commander's Strike still requires Ariellana to be within her melee weapon's range of the target being attacked (almost always one square's distance), but the attacker doesn't need to be adjacent to Ariellana: just also within melee range of the target.

[love2readking]

I will heal Myn. I can use my majestic word twice per encouter and I'm before him in the count. I also plan on shifting, using a second wind, and using my action point to attack 4. I'm working on my IC post now and my OOC post with rolls will follow.
--- Merged from Double Post ---
The damage Akaysha is doing if she ever does any is non-lethal.

Actions
Minor: Majestic Word to Myn he regains healing surge +4
Standard: Second Wind Akaysha regains 6 hp and has +2 to all defenses until end of her next turn
Move: Shift south one square
Action point: perform Blunder (encounter) on 4 which grants a basic melee attack with a +3 (because of virtue of cunning) power bonus to the roll as a free action. Also slide 4 one square south and 1 square diagonally southeast. I hope that's clear, 4 will end up two squares left of Ariellana
Free action: basic melee attack +3 power bonus to attack roll.

Now lets hope I can roll something that hits.

* blunder vs will at 4 *

* blunder damage *

* if blunder hits basic melee attack vs ac at 4 *

* basic melee damage *

[Umiushi]

From now on, I will be listing any negative status effects inflicted on a PC by their enemies from a previous round that expire before the PC's Initiative Count. Hopefully, this will give players a better picture of what their options are when it comes to their turn. Right now, I think there is only one:

• Myn is no longer Restrained by Initiative Count 20.

Once again, I will list expiring status effects under these conditions:

• The status effect was inflicted before the current round.
• The status effect is malign.
• The status effect was inflicted by opponents.
• The status effect expires before the PC's Initiative Count.
• The status effect expires because its duration ran out, rather than being canceled or modified by PC actions.

--- Merged from Double Post ---

Good analysis. I want to add a couple of situational notes. Right now, Myn can't be Slid while he's being Restrained. Commander's Strike still requires Ariellana to be within her melee weapon's range of the target being attacked (almost always one square's distance), but the attacker doesn't need to be adjacent to Ariellana: just also within melee range of the target.

Clearly from the above, I just realized that Myn will not be Restrained by Ariellana's turn.
--- Merged from Double Post ---

The westernmost four columns of the third-southernmost row of squares are Crowded.

Move: Shift south one square

The square to Akaysha's south became crowded on Initiative Count 17 last round, and will remain crowded until Initiative Count 17 of this round. Akaysha's attack results were spectacular, but it's hard to see how they can be pulled off without exposing her to two attacks, whether she walks, shifts west with a Jump/Acrobatics Check, or stands in place.

Taking the Second Wind into consideration, Akaysha's chances to absorb two attacks and remain standing are certain. I'm revealing this much because it would be a shame to give up on this result, and partly because of the bookkeeping involved on my end. I can't make any guarantees for what happens after her Initiative Count, of course.

[Cocoa]

I'd like to know what other folks are planning in order to coordinate Ariellana's actions with them.

What are the options for cooperating with Akaysha? It looks like #4 will be close enough for me to do something to it. Does Akaysha have a semi-decent melee basic attack? Can we get #4 flanked?

Will the mark on Ariellana wear off by the time her turn begins?

If I use my encounter power, which target do we want to specify? Who wants the bonus for the attack on his/her next turn? This assumes I can hit the target, which is not at all certain.

[Myn]

Yikes, looks like I'm out of the fight for a bit there. First off, sorry for being so quiet recently, I'm at Fanimecon at San Jose, and it's taking up more of my time than I thought (I was awake from 6am until 12pm visiting the con and eating). I'll try to keep up on posts as I can, but I'll be more free come Monday.

That said, it doesn't seem like I have much I can do right now. My plan is to immediately use second wind, and then possibly try a heal check on myself, I don't have my books with me, so I'll have to look up whether I can do that or not. Best of luck!

[love2readking]

The square to Akaysha's south became crowded on Initiative Count 17 last round, and will remain crowded until Initiative Count 17 of this round. Akaysha's attack results were spectacular, but it's hard to see how they can be pulled off without exposing her to two attacks, whether she walks, shifts west with a Jump/Acrobatics Check, or stands in place.

Okay so taking all that into account, I'm going to go change it up a little but I need to know if the crowded squares affect where I can slide #4?

[Umiushi]

What are the options for cooperating with Akaysha? It looks like #4 will be close enough for me to do something to it. Does Akaysha have a semi-decent melee basic attack? Can we get #4 flanked?

Will the mark on Ariellana wear off by the time her turn begins?

Depending on whether Akaysha's revised actions let her keep her attack roll or not, Ariellana may not need to worry about #4 on her turn. Examining the earlier dice and bonuses she used, Akaysha's basic melee attack doesn't quite look like it's at the semi-decent level, no.

Ariellana's mark was inflicted after Ariellana's turn last round, so it won't wear off before Ariellana's turn, this round, unless #1 is dropped before Ariellana's turn. The general rule with these status effects is that the character always suffers at least one of their turns under the influence of the effect; it won't appear and disappear of its own accord between the character's turns.

My plan is to immediately use second wind, and then possibly try a heal check on myself, I don't have my books with me, so I'll have to look up whether I can do that or not. Best of luck!

Since you don't have your books, I'll provide some basic advice. The two straightforward options, based on your indicated preference, would be to use Second Wind as your standard action, and then Stand Up as your move action. If your square is still occupied, you are allowed to shift one as part of the Stand Up action.

For the more faint of heart, the actions would be Second Wind, and feign unconsciousness as a free action. That would require a Bluff Check. Naturally, I advocate the heroic option.

A Healing Check won't do Myn any good, so don't worry about it. At best, a success will tell him that he's been through a lot; he could really use a good night's sleep, and that the soup wasn't filling at all. The serious explanation is that the use of a Heal Check is a standard action to "allow [a]...character to use his or her second wind" but without the defense bonus, and doesn't give a "second second wind," so it's moot.

When giving this advice, I didn't look up any of Myn's special abilities, so there might be something he can do differently, but overall, I think it's pretty sound.
--- Merged from Double Post ---

Okay so taking all that into account, I'm going to go change it up a little but I need to know if the crowded squares affect where I can slide #4?

Good question. I looked it up, and forced movement is not hindered by difficult terrain, so it is possible to slide #4 through the crowd. What you cannot do is slide her diagonally past objects that take up their entire square. There is only one object in the room (since I screwed up with the fireplace) which does this: the central table.

[Cocoa]

Myn:

When you stand up, can you shift to the southeast so that you flank #1? You also get a slide from Akaysha's healing, another thing that can get you to that spot.

You have good attacks that aren't affected by being unarmed. You could attack #1 and then use an action point to get a +2 bonus to attack her again. If you do that, I could use Wolf Pack to let you shift another square before I attack. The problem with that is if #1 chases you. Though if she does, we'll get a bunch of opportunity attacks. Or I could do Commander's Strike so you get a third attack on her.

Another possibility, which I think is less risky for you, is for you to end up flanking #1 as above. Do second wind for your standard action. I come on up to you and #1, but let you do the basic melee attack (Commander's Strike). You're flanking, which is good. #1 will be subject to opportunity attacks if she tries to escape. This does less potential damage to #1, but it also gets you back up to half your hp with higher defenses if you're attacked again.

Both of us move before #1 does.

If you like this, which basic melee attack will you use?

Where is everyone else? We know that Akaysha is around. Myn has checked in. What about Tanglar? The Zephry/Morgran combo? Is everyone busy for the long holiday weekend or something?

I hesitate to take actions without knowing what everyone else plans to do.

[love2readking]

Okay so my slide stays the same since I was sliding him straight south one and then diagonal he is not sliding diagonal while adjacent to the central table. He does end up adjacent to the central table.

So since Akaysha has to move and provoke attacks the only change I'm making is to move her two squares south instead of one making her use 4 squares of crowded movement. I'll change my flavor text to reflect this small change.

[TheGreenLabrador]

Hey guys, sorry, I am back. My computer was down, I got some serious trojan that was disabling all my virus scanner stuff and rerouting every website and link I clicked on, and installing yahoo, google, pretty much every add-on bar that I never knew existed. Got the PC back today. Sorry again.

Unfortunately, I lost my C: drive, where my character sheet was located, so it might be tomorrow before I can remake him fully, but until then, lets

* roll his initiative! *

Also, he will

* continue attacking #1. *

[Cocoa]

Welcome back!

Does Tanglar want to do something that coordinates with Ariellana's abilities?

Unless someone says otherwise, I'm going to assume that Myn ends up south of #1, flanking her. Then Myn and Tanglar have combat advantage.

Ariellana will move to the square southwest of #1. Then she'll have one of the people next to #1 attack instead. I'm assuming Myn because (a) he'll be flanking for a +2 attack roll bonus, and (b) all of his attacks are weapon-independent. I think they're all Wis vs Ref attacks that do 1d8+wis mod damage and also have other effects on the target. I'm not sure which one Myn has chosen. It's one of the at-wills that subs for a basic melee attack.

If Morgran moves to his northwest, he'd be south of #3. He could Divine Challenge #3. If the big table to his west blocks movement, then that would be a semi-reasonable defensive position to keep #3 and #2 from moving in further. That's assuming I'm interpreting the map correctly.

I am not that good at these kinds of things. I often overlook something obvious or don't calculate the risk/benefit as well as I should. So if others see better options, please do let us know!

[TheGreenLabrador]

Sure, I can coordinate, at the moment, from my memory, without two weapons I am nowhere near as useful as I would be normally, I suppose if there is another poker I will grab another one.


Also, Umi, could you send me my character sheet?