Group 1: Discussions

[dmw71]

As for Bren, I will freely admit that I forgot he was a dragonborn when I had the seller make the comment she did. Still learning the party dynamics.

Having her pass it off as a brass vs red was about as good a solution I could think of.

[drpete]

It's cool, no worries

For good or bad, Oskar tried to give the job of verifying and getting the egg to Bren... dunno if being dragonborn or, I guess, arcana, can help you figure it out, but Oskar's not exactly ready to run this con, either

[dmw71]

I'm just very interested in seeing how the two groups play out this situation.

It's been fun so far.

[Rex]

I am in wait mode, my plan is to burn down the barn and if the egg survives it is probably a red dragon egg.

[dmw71]

I am in wait mode, my plan is to burn down the barn and if the egg survives it is probably a red dragon egg.

[drpete]

I like Rex's plan

[ravenn4544]

Got it - if things go south, we torch the barn! Might as well put that dragonborn fire resistance to the test!

[drpete]

Ummmm... wait... you're gonna let the non-fire-resistant folks get out first, right?

[Rex]

I thought everyone was fire resistant? You are supposed to tell me these things before we go into the burning barn death trap.

[drpete]

Alright, my bad... hope you like the smell of burning beard hair

[Monsieur Rose]

Fire? I could go for some fire. Just say the word.

[dmw71]

Tannaris Vethykos

Since these bad guys are right there, I'm assuming I still have my shortswords in hand and didn't draw my bow.


Initiative [1d20+3] = 9+3 = 12

Then charges the sword bandit.

I'm not sure when I need to cast my cantrip booming blade (5E newbie, sorry)

There are a lot of moving pieces, but I am close to wrapping up the update for this group.
I actually made the rolls for Tannaris (using his short swords and using his blooming blade cantrip), and since my initiative is one higher than yours (13 vs 12), I'll just keep my roll.


'Booming Blade,' from the Sword Coast Adventurer's Guide, is a new spell to me, too, but it requires a melee attack (hence, my having you use your two short swords). Per "On a hit, the target suffers the attack’s normal effects, and it becomes sheathed in booming energy until the start of your next turn.," I interpret its effects going into effect if either of your dual-wielding attacks hit.

[dmw71]

'Booming Blade,' from the Sword Coast Adventurer's Guide, is a new spell to me, too, but it requires a melee attack (hence, my having you use your two short swords). Per "On a hit, the target suffers the attack’s normal effects, and it becomes sheathed in booming energy until the start of your next turn.," I interpret its effects going into effect if either of your dual-wielding attacks hit.

I'm having some second thoughts about this.

I've done a bit of research on this already (I want to do a bit more to solidify my understanding of it), but, even though the spell requires a melee attack, it still uses the 'Cast a Spell' action, not 'Attack' action.

This is an important distinction.

The two-weapon fighting you're utilizing reads:

"When you take the Attack action and attack with a light melee weapon that you're holding in one hand, you can use a bonus action to attack with a different light melee weapon that you're holding in the other hand."

The second attack requires the Attack action, not 'Cast a Spell' action.

It's a confusing spell, but I'm fairly certain when you cast the cantrip, you can only make a single attack (not both).

[Gerrin]

Tannaris Vethykos

I make that -11hp, so I'm dead ?
I see the attacks you rolled for me but I'm not sure who I was attacking when you did the rolls.

[drpete]

It looks like Tannaris has taken 10 damage, leaving him at 2/12.

In the text describing the round, it talks about Tannaris killing one of the bandits. It looks like Dave is having second thoughts about how booming blade interacts with dual wield, but that may be a change going forward...?

[Gerrin]

OK, so do I know roll my attacks or did the DM do it for me this round?

[dmw71]

I make that -11hp, so I'm dead ?
I see the attacks you rolled for me but I'm not sure who I was attacking when you did the rolls.

Tannaris is not dead, and can continue to fight, but he is seriously wounded.

He has 12 hit points, and has taken 10 points of damage:

• Longsword: (-3)
• Shortbow: (-4) + (-3)

This can also be seen in the footer information, where I do link all rolls:

Tannaris.jpg (30.63 KiB) Viewed 1317 times

Here are the rules detailing what happens if/when you drop to zero hit points (you do not go into negative hit points like earlier editions), but we can go into more detail about that later: Dropping to 0 Hit Points. Even if that does happen, though, you'll find 5e is a pretty forgiving game so he isn't automatically "gone."

More likely than not, a character that does drop will be stabilized and brought back.[/ooc]

[dmw71]

I see the attacks you rolled for me but I'm not sure who I was attacking when you did the rolls.

Combat rounds involving 10+ moving parts are very complicated, and time-consuming. I'm doing this for two groups at the same time. Plus running a third full game. I can't always afford to wait for all actions to come in, and since I didn't have rolls for Tannaris at the time, I made them myself. Sorry, but that will happen from time to time.

But, when you post for your character, definitely feel free to provide your own rolls.

If Tannaris is going to attack, definitely provide an attack roll, and damage roll. If he's going to attempt a skill, feel free to provide the roll for that skill -- guessing what is necessary, if you're not sure, or even just providing a straight d20 roll and letting me figure out how to best apply it, and what modifier(s) to use.

If a roll is missing, I will make it. If an entire action is missing, I will decide to the best of my ability what you will do, and make any rolls as needed.

In the text describing the round, it talks about Tannaris killing one of the bandits. It looks like Dave is having second thoughts about how booming blade interacts with dual wield, but that may be a change going forward...?

I haven't had a chance to dive back into it, but I'm very strongly leaning towards the spell being a spell action, not an actual attack, so it will not work with a dual attack.

In the first use (which I did myself), the outcome will not change -- both attacks hit, and did enough damage to kill the bandit. The cantrip would have just been extra. Thankfully.

The bandit remains dead, and the cantrip was never cast.

[drpete]

Two points...

#1) Tennaris isnt "really" badly injured, though old habits die hard... All of this damage can/ will be healed with a night's sleep, so far. In the sidebar in the dropping to zero hp link, it points out that at under half hp, he's really more "scratched and bruised" and the shot that takes him to zero is the real "hit". I know it's an old argument, and old habits die hard

#2) I think I (tactically) screwed up in my actions for the upcoming round. I'm fine with keeping it, especially since I rolled. I was all excited to use my sneak attack, and probably should have gone after the thug leader, instead of Rumble's attackers, and the leader was 10 feet from Tannaris so I zigged instead of zagging. The leader melee attacked Tannaris, though, so is he actually 5 feet further forward/ engaged with Tannaris?

[dmw71]

#1) Tennaris isnt "really" badly injured, though old habits die hard...

His condition or state can be described however; the bottom line is he's injured enough where a single hit will almost certainly knock him out.

#2) I think I (tactically) screwed up in my actions for the upcoming round. I'm fine with keeping it, especially since I rolled. I was all excited to use my sneak attack, and probably should have gone after the thug leader, instead of Rumble's attackers, and the leader was 10 feet from Tannaris so I zigged instead of zagging. The leader melee attacked Tannaris, though, so is he actually 5 feet further forward/ engaged with Tannaris?

Maybe it will make sense after I read your action (I haven't yet), but if it's just a matter of switching targets -- feel free.

Nothing is set in stone until I post my next update (or, sometimes, until I'm deep into completing the update, but haven't quite finished it, depending).