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Post by Wolfgar on Mar 13, 2006 20:19:12 GMT -5
Does anyone have Haste? I was thinking that if we could cast haste on Otto, Al, Diego and Raven and then slow on the giants we could deal a lot of damage in a hurry. Due to the risk of instant death, and by special request of Raven - who is apparently the leader - we don't ever use Haste. But with the rod of resurrection it is less of a worry. And my ring of regeneration should keep me from actually dying even if I failed a system shock.
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Post by Ginger on Mar 13, 2006 22:48:22 GMT -5
Wall of Force lasts for 19 rounds and covers a "20' square per level." It's not really clear how that'll be reduced if we use a hemisphere or a full sphere.
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Post by Dead Greyhawk on Mar 14, 2006 7:10:06 GMT -5
Pavel claims that there are three exits. The doors you are behind. Doors opposite your door. A long wide processional hallway, leading presumedly to an exit.
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Post by Wolfgar on Mar 14, 2006 9:21:37 GMT -5
Wall of Force lasts for 19 rounds and covers a "20' square per level." It's not really clear how that'll be reduced if we use a hemisphere or a full sphere. I think you use the standard formula for a hemisphere - 2 pi R^2. Not sure how to interpret "20' square per level." Is this 2 10' x 10' or a 20' x 20'? Using the latter would give a radius of 24'. A cylinder might be nice if allowed, at 20' high it could have a radius of nearly 30'. Or 30' high and 20' radius - better to keep giants in.
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Post by Ginger on Mar 14, 2006 11:19:54 GMT -5
It could mean that we only get 180 square feet of wall for a 9th level magic user, which would be really lame.
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Post by Mr. Trommer on Mar 14, 2006 11:59:33 GMT -5
AsI mentioned we don't have to attacke them all at once though it is the most fun. While they might not be well armed they do have beer steins to toss at us. The other option is to wait until the party over and pick off the ten that will come to their barracks by the kennel then get the others after that. While there is the risk of being discovered by waiting there is less of a risk of being crushed by 40-50 creatures all at once. They longer we wait the drunker they will be and thus less attentive.
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Post by Dell on Mar 14, 2006 12:21:24 GMT -5
"The magic-user can, if desired, shape the wall to a hemispherical or spherical shape with an area equal to his or her ability, maximum of 20 square feet per level of experience." But what does that mean? As always, there is a debate here. At 180 square feet in size, it wouldn't be useful at hemming them in. It might be useful as a low wall to keep us from getting flanked and provide cover from missile fire, but that's about it.
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Post by Dell on Mar 14, 2006 12:34:04 GMT -5
The other option is to wait until the party over and pick off the ten that will come to their barracks by the kennel then get the others after that. I don't like that idea. The longer we wait, the more likely we are to be discovered. Plus, we tend to blow off a lot of spells in any combat we have - I think it's best to hit the big guys now while we're fresh, rather than wait and come at the most dangerous ones when we're weakened. (Also, they could run away and take their valuable loot.)
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Post by Ginger on Mar 14, 2006 13:45:07 GMT -5
I also think we shouldn't wait. In general, our spells are most effective when they have the most targets. Confusion, lightning bolt and slow usually lose effectiveness because they don't have enough targets in the area of effect. If we fight a mass of guys, we'll probably do more damage.
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Post by Mr. Trommer on Mar 14, 2006 14:36:13 GMT -5
Uncle! So say we fight at the doorway. Can we use the Wall of Force to have it start say at 10' high and go to the ceiling to block the major throw weapons they want to use against us. It would also make them bump their heads and stoop. Or perhaps make it a horizontal wall to sheild us from such attacks. I don't know if the wall would be long enough to block both of the other exits. But that would prevent any running away and taking the loot. I would expect that the visiting giants will be the ones to run.
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Post by Mr. Trommer on Mar 14, 2006 15:02:19 GMT -5
It occurs to me that we would only need to block the door to the long hallway. The other door probably leads to sleeping quarters without an exit to the outside.
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Post by Ginger on Mar 14, 2006 16:48:05 GMT -5
I'd rather block the doorway with our fighers and use the wall to seal off the tough giants at the head table. I want all of our spellcasting to be on the bad guys, not on thin air. Maybe a stinking cloud to seal off the exists, but no bigger spells.
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Post by Dead Greyhawk on Mar 14, 2006 22:44:49 GMT -5
"The magic-user can, if desired, shape the wall to a hemispherical or spherical shape with an area equal to his or her ability, maximum of 20 square feet per level of experience." But what does that mean? As always, there is a debate here. Winthrop, at 9th level, has 180 square feet of wall to work with. 18 feet wide by 10 feet high, for example. Used as a sphere gives a radius of about 4 feet. Used as a hemisphere gives a radius of about 11 feet. Walls of force can't be cast through solid things, meaning you can't use one to chop someone in two. At 180 square feet in size, it wouldn't be useful at hemming them in. It might be useful as a low wall to keep us from getting flanked and provide cover from missile fire, but that's about it.
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Post by Mr. Trommer on Mar 15, 2006 10:22:14 GMT -5
How effective is a Gust of Wind against large throw objects?
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Post by Ginger on Mar 15, 2006 11:30:46 GMT -5
Maybe a 2' by 90' wall that's 12' in the air. It could deflect boulders, but probably wouldn't affect our arrows or spells. It would also disrupt giants who are charging in.
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Post by Wolfgar on Mar 15, 2006 12:16:14 GMT -5
If we are surrounded by 10' ogres and 15' giants then no one in the back will have open space to throw things at us.
Could we rotate the wall to make in horizontal and have it work like a ultra-thin, ultra-sharp invisible wire? Place it at 8' and then let them impale themselves on it as they run at us.
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Post by Mr. Trommer on Mar 15, 2006 12:54:47 GMT -5
I assume that it can be done that way.
Here are the other potential uses: 1. Use to prevent anyone escaping through front door. 2. Use to trap the visiting giants. 3. Use to create a roof over our heads to protect from thrown objects. 4. Use to channel flow of giants at us.
Which one is the most beneificial?
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Post by Dead Greyhawk on Mar 15, 2006 20:30:20 GMT -5
How effective is a Gust of Wind against large throw objects? Not very. Against a boulder (or a thrown table) it would do nothing. Against arrows or other aerodynamic missiles, it would likely lead to a negative on the to hit roll for firing in a breeze.
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Post by Dead Greyhawk on Mar 15, 2006 20:40:33 GMT -5
If we are surrounded by 10' ogres and 15' giants then no one in the back will have open space to throw things at us. You definitely would have cover, but due to the way we allow missile fire in combat, there is always a chance to hit. The penalty would be greater than that for 90% cover though, which is something like -7 to hit. Of course, the surrounding giants have a chance to be hit by the missiles as well. No. Walls of force are blunt, soft, and visible, being a hazy translucent grey color. They can't be made to act like monofilament wire. Also, a wall of force needs to be anchored at least on one end. It must grow from something. Even in the sphere mechanism, one portion of it touches the ground. This is one of the things that makes Otiluke's Resilient Sphere different than Wall of Force. It doesn't need to be supported. It could, for example, attach one side to a wall 30 feet up and extend horizontally across 30 feet up. Lastly, Walls of Force are immobile.
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Post by Wolfgar on Mar 15, 2006 23:04:54 GMT -5
I think the wall of force to prevent them from escaping is best. I think we should try to use Pavel to surprise them. According to the MM he surprises on 1-4. While they are surprised we can move into the room, Winthrop cuts off the exit, Dell slows the giants at the head table, the archers start tearing through those closest to the door (don't they get a ridiculous number of shots when surprising?), Otto and Al move up to melee. The next round is for the heavy artillery - fireballs or lightning bolt (maybe Dell can use the opening in the roof to call a meteor shower) or more slows depending on the concentration of the giants. The fighters continue their rampaging. The clerics hang back doing prayer, bless and healing anyone hurt and watching the rear.
Does Pavel know how the tables are arranged? If there is one long one then a lightning bolt done each side might be all we need. Do we have a rough estimate of the size of the room?
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Post by Ginger on Mar 16, 2006 12:09:42 GMT -5
My two cents: I'd imagine the the ogres and giants are seated, and not really mingling around the hall. They are also probably quite loud. We should wait a short while to see if the orks head en masse out of the hall again. If they do, we can kill or capture them before they enter the hall. That will free up a lot of space in the aisles between tables and around the walls of the room. We should all invisibly sneak in, which won't be too difficult with all the singing and such. Pavel can give some sort of signal, either a gesture or one of his infamous brain handshakes, and we'll commence the attack.
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Post by Mr. Trommer on Mar 16, 2006 12:38:21 GMT -5
I think we probably have used the only Invisibility 15' spell. I would expect with the party going on we will probably be able to open the door and step in before we are noticed. I doubt any of the giants are paying attention to the coming and goings of the orcs. Pavel could easily open the doors for us as an orc and the the chaos begins.
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Post by Wolfgar on Mar 19, 2006 19:57:25 GMT -5
How much farther did you get after I left? Did you find and kill the rest of the giants on the first floor? Do we have a plan for next week?
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Post by Dell on Mar 19, 2006 21:20:26 GMT -5
It seems that the giants that were upstairs have run away - Otto did some supergood tracking and it seems that they moved through the courtyard and out the front door at high speeds - some of them were bleeding as they did so. So currently all the giants have either run away or retreated downstairs.
That's pretty much all that took place - we're back at the stairs, planning to go down and kill the bad guys.
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Post by Ginger on Mar 19, 2006 22:08:37 GMT -5
Does Dell have any explosive runes sheets left? We could shout down about wanting to negotiate and throw down a scroll with our "demands."
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Post by Dell on Mar 20, 2006 15:15:09 GMT -5
Dell wants to make sure the upper floors are looted before we charge downstairs. Remember: "Gems and cash before hack and slash."
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Post by Mr. Trommer on Mar 20, 2006 15:58:33 GMT -5
Loot away. I could use a few hours, maybe around eleven, to get all my spells back.
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Post by Ginger on Mar 20, 2006 17:55:43 GMT -5
Remember that we'll lose Strength spells after a few hours.
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Post by Wolfgar on Mar 20, 2006 17:58:00 GMT -5
Aren't there captives around here somewhere? Shouldn't we be freeing them?
Winthrop shouldn't need to sleep. Resurrection brings him back fully rested and recovered. So just 3 hours of memorization.
It would nice if we could close off one or both of the known escape routes while we spend the time looking for loot. Also once we go down we don't want them sneaking out the other end. Do we recall if the doors open in or out? Maybe we could just pile rubble or place one of the long tables over the entrance to slow anyone coming out.
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Post by Dell on Mar 20, 2006 19:43:01 GMT -5
Aren't there captives around here somewhere? Shouldn't we be freeing them? We can talk to their corpses. Winthrop shouldn't need to sleep. Resurrection brings him back fully rested and recovered. So just 3 hours of memorization. 11 hours is how long it would take Winthrop to memorize all of his spells after he's had a full nights rest. It might be worthwhile to have him start memorizing some spells and stay upstairs with a couple of looters, while the rest of us go downstairs and commence the killing. [/quote] Do we recall if the doors open in or out? Maybe we could just pile rubble or place one of the long tables over the entrance to slow anyone coming out. Anything we put in their way will hardly slow them down. Hardly seems worth it. Let's make some assumptions. First, assume the ones that have left the stockade won't come back until they've had a chance to regroup and get organized. I'd expect a counterattack from them either in the morning or slightly before sunrise - if they come back at all. The ones downstairs will no doubt be fortifying the entrances - collecting weapons, magic items, etc. I recommend we charge down these stairs and commence the asskicking. Depending on the layout, it might be wise to fight them in the fog. Otto would rather take a -4 to hit than a boulder to the face, right?
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