Tuesday, December 20, 2016

The Situation Worsens ~ Round 9


The beetles surround the party.  As previously, I'll will do these alphabetically.

Aleksandra ~ you have two beetles rushing you from behind and flanking, and one attacking from the front. The last, in 1009, rolls a 5, missing.  The one flanking you, in 1209, rolls a natural 1, falling off balance but otherwise not hurting itself.  The one at your rear rolls a modified 8, also missing.  You were very lucky.

Engelhart ~ you have only one attacking you, in 0709.  It rolls a 12, which would hit AC 8.  Your character sheet lists your AC as 10, but you have a shield and leather armor, which should make your AC 7, meaning the beetle misses.  I am guessing your high CLO means you are wearing your armor, so I'll not roll damage at this time.

Lothar ~ you have a beetle on your right, one on your flank and one at your rear.  The one at your front, in 0708, rolls a 3, proving that I can also roll badly.  The one flanking you, in 0808, rolls a modified 9, also missing.  Finally, the one at your rear, in 0908, rolls a natural 20.  It rolls a 9 to follow, so the damage is doubled.  I roll snake-eyes on 2d4 and so you take 2 x 2 = 4 damage.  That will stun you, spin you around and cause you to fall back into Engelhart's hex.  The bug in 0908 will advance into 0809 after hitting you.

Rowan ~ you have two beetle in front of your, in 0908 and 1009.  The one on your left hits first with a 15, causing 5 damage, throwing you back into 0910.  The other, like before, rushes into 0909 and rolls a 12, hitting you again, this time for 4 damage, knocking you this time into 0811.  The beetle doesn't have enough move to follow you.  That makes a total of 9 damage this round, reducing you to zero hit points and leaving you stunned.

Thankfully, Engelhart started this combat in the 4th round - this is therefore only 5 rounds for him, so he is free of CLO damage until round 12 (whew).

Rowan didn't start until the 5th round; therefore, he's not overheating either and won't until the 13th round.

Here's how it looks after the bugs have attacked:


Engelhart, who hasn't hit or been hit yet, can act; Aleksandra also.  Lothar and Rowan must wait a round.

Here's the x.p. distribution so far:


Following the players move, here is their position:


11 comments:

Embla Strand said...

In this one aspect, I have been very lucky.

If I move to 910, do I have enough AP to attack? I think moving there only costs 3, but I'd like to clarify before I act (I'm learning).

Lothar Svensson said...

All right guys! Give those bugs hell for us stunned and unconscious folks! Statistically, we should be running out of bad rolls soon and getting a big string of really good rolls. That's how it works, right?

Pandred said...

I believe it'd be four, wouldn't it? The beetle in 0909 makes 1010 a melee hex, so wouldn't it be 2 ap per move?

It's impossible, but Engelhart's best bet for survival here is hoping they all swarm poor Aleksandra, given that she's in too deep to reasonably expect to reach the rope. I hope Lothar won't be too offended here if I assume we're both very dead.

I don't think the AP exists for what I was hoping to do. With that in mind, I'll lay it out, get Alexis' specific ruling on this kind of thing in the future, and hope someone can crawl to safety from this debacle.

Aleksandra, by my reckoning Lothar gave you his flint, and you still have the torch, because you elected yourself torchbearer.

The bestiary of Alexis' wiki mentions our beetle opponents as scattering if attacked with flame. I see 4 AP to light the torch, but frankly, this assumes you can get it out, assumes that merely brandishing it is interpreted as "attack", and equally hinges on the idea that you don't get stunlocked in the meantime.

I only say it now because I am 99% certain that it could have no bearing on the outcome, and I want to definitively hear from Alexis: Did I Just Cheat?

Is the wiki bestiary something that you are ok with us consulting?

Should I (as I intended) have spent the ap to say "Aleksandra, light the torch!", and then explained why in the post, or is this level of specific strategy okay here?

Alexis Smolensk said...

Rowan, you did not "cheat." I'm perfectly fine with you pointing out another character's options, particularly if your actions don't depend on them doing something right then.

Aleksandra the character knows she has the torch, knows how long it will take to light it, knows she will probably be stunned if she tries to do it and doesn't know if it will have the desired effect. Rowan isn't writing here anything she doesn't already know.

Aleksandra, it will take 4 AP to get to 910, for the reasons Rowan gives. 1010 is a melee hex. I suggest you tighten up into 1010, roll to hit, and let Engelhart throw Lothar into 0910. That will help bunch you all up together. That is, if you'll take advice from a mere DM.

Embla Strand said...

That sounds like sound advice, Alexis. I do so, rolling a 10-28 to-hit and (not) dealing 4 damage.

Engelhart Askjellson said...

I sidestep into 0710 and attack the adjacent beetle. Rolls pending till I get home to my lucky d20.

Embla Strand said...

Sorry, that's 10-2=8.

Alexis Smolensk said...

Pending Engelhart's roll, the round will be finished.

[OOC: I'm going to be out most of the day and evening, Christmas shopping, visiting, generally enjoying the season. Merry Christmas, all]

Engelhart Askjellson said...

Drum-rolls and trumpet blasts, please, for I've just rolled:

Attack roll: 13, modified to 14 (!!!)

Damage roll: 5.

Note that I'm not even sure if this is enough to hit, but it is the highest roll I've made the whole duration of the campaign. Boundaries and envelopes are clearly being pushed.

Alexis Smolensk said...

Engelhart,

I would do anything to give you just one more bonus to hit, but there isn't one. You missed by a hair.

I've posted the party's final position above. I'll start working on Round 10, now.

Alexis Smolensk said...

The next post is up.