"Hey, you wanna try and scare 'em off, go ahead," shrugs Fingers. "I'm just saying it's kind of weird not to kill things that want to kill you. And if you scare 'em off, they might just come back at us from behind later. But if you think it'll work, it beats the heck out of getting bitten."
"Sprinkles and I'll just be back here..."
Okay. I see two options:
We try Winnie's plan. Winnie burns the webs, the rest of us stand back ready to fire bows or otherwise fight if the spiders flee towards us instead of away from us.
We attack first with ranged weapons, using surprise to our advantage. Then it's to melee and hope no one gets bitten.
Burning the webs might take out a few of the spiders and it will definitely give them less to hide in. I don't have a ranged weapon so I would prefer to stay back and squash any spiders that get too close rather than going to them. Hengist says.
Playing: At the Forest's Edge: Desmond Halfling Vagabond
The Northern Marches: Hengist Cleric of Baudh
I don't want to declare a group action until Bandy and Markd have chimed in on whether they're up for melee with possibly poisonous spiders, should Winnie not scare them off—or scare them towards us.
I swear everything about this town is made for Halfpint instead of Markd... Horse country, able to do any direction of followers without risking a certainly failed morale check, fighting poisonous spiders without a magical poison avoider.
uggh...
With the other things that we could face or fight. I am leary of heading in with a higher level pc into something that could be random sudden death. To me is the struggle with these games. as the pc gets higher, the opponents should get higher. However, for those dead with a single hit type opponents, you are still playing russian roulette. At some point you lose and die. Odds are, by the 5th or 6th one. As PCs get more advanced, the risk becomes greater than the perceived benefit. And, since the defense stats dont naturally improve with levels like to-hit does, those peon critters have just as easy a time killing a 5th+ level as they do a 1st level. (minus 10-15% chance bonus of saving throws) For 1st-3rd level it isnt that big a gamble. Higher up it is, and for someone who is ultra conservative as it is, it is hard to keep gambling encounter after encounter.
My vote would be to exit and look around the town then... that said, I have been working from 60-80 hrs a week this month and see no end in sight. I am struggling to keep up as it is...
Dandelion - female half-orc beautyqueen in training (The Lone City in the Wildlands) OSRIC Halfpint - female halfling badgirl wannabe (Lab Lord- The North Marches) LL Mark'd - charismatic human fighter (Lab Lord- The North Marches) LL
Yeah, I get that. Poison is a PITA after the levels when one bite its probably fatal anyway and before neutralize poison becomes available. It doesn't help that most healing potions do jack & squat against poison (hey, Marullus, if you're looking for a house rule to add... ).
But what else are we going to fight around here that's safer? Do we go pick a fight with the gargoyles? Go up against more level-draining undead?
We could just say screw it, go home, and retire. Which is about what we'd have to do as adventurers if we let some spiders scare us away. But then again, those sound like famous last words.
Thing is—Markd has those spectral soldiers, right? You'd think they'd at least be good for spider killing if nothing else, right?
onlyme wrote:as the pc gets higher, the opponents should get higher.
Unfortunately, in an open sandbox, like this, that isn't necessarily the case. Characters can (and I think have) step into an area that is way below or way above their difficulty level. It's on them to try and figure out if such is the case. Like I think, based on type and number of creatures they've come across, the party dealing with the demons is either too small or too low-leveled to complete it without significant challenge (e.g. having to return to town many multiple times for refitting and healing and spell recovery). I think a small party marching up into the orc territory could very easily get overwhelmed and KIA'd. Same with the ruined city with the sapper tunnels on all sides around it.
I have a feeling this party is in an area that is bordering on just a bit too high for us. A healer with Neutralize Poison and Winnie at 2 or 3 levels higher than where she sits currently would make for a much better party build. If Markd didn't have that dagger... or is it the staff? and somehow take control of the wraiths, we would have had a good chance at a TPK and helping to repopulate the wraith population at the keep.
Personally, Bandy's chances with poison are pretty high. With his Penderyn longsword (+2 saves vs. poison), he needs to roll a 4 or higher to make his save. But I realize nobody else is likely even close to the same comfort level with fighting venomous creatures, so if the rest of the party would rather tackle something else, I'm fine with that. It seems Markd's staff is the perfect tool for fighting gargoyles, but Bandy is short and has no magical ranged attacks and so that isn't his ideal enemy to fight. But I'll go wherever and fight whatever everyone else wants to fight.
Can we tell how many spiders there are? If we had a few AOE methods of attack, I'd be more apt to try and fight the spiders...
(There has been one TPK in this sandbox so far - Carcharoth's venture into basement of the Goblin Tower. That seemed like a lot of bad rolls helping with the TPK.)
If Winnie was allowed to strike first we'd be better off too. But Beith forbids such things for her coven. And knowing the party she is with, she would know if she incapacitates the spiders the rest of the party will swoop in and kill them. Also, if the spiders are a random encounter, then they are on the list of random encounters. We might not get the jump on the next set.
I'm fine trying to scare them off with fire though. Or turning around and trying something else.
We haven't had a lot of eager support for messing with the spiders.
Markd couldn't get his spectral followers to fight them, could he? They'd be able to kill the spiders without getting hurt at all. I get why Marullus might not want us to have them available for every fight, but maybe we could have them as an option—for example, we could use them to get around a threat, but we don't get XP for it. Something like that?
If not, I'd hate to have a PC die because we pressed our luck. Fingers has been mulling going home anyway. Maybe we should just leave, fight any gargoyles that try to mess with us, and head back to town? It won't be a very lucrative expedition, but neither will it be fatal.
Dang. Unlucrative is Winnie’s middle name.
Seeing everyone's resolve fade over the spiders, Winnie offers a different plan. Markd and Hengist, you said you might fare better against the undead of the city, but worry about the gargoyles. I can cast magical missile four times for every 8 that I sleep and study. How much food do you all have still? Because I would be willing to target them day after day, setting their souls free, until they are gone, leaving the world a better place in the process. My invisibility spell would disappear daily, but perhaps Fingers would be willing to loan me his cloak until the task is complete, so I can surprise them each day and not draw attention to the party or the spectres.
A cowardly path, but if they are all that is keeping us from moving into zombieland, I'm all for it. And Winnie becomes useful!
"What's to stop 'em from fighting back when you hit 'em?" asks Fingers. "I mean, even if you can kill—er, release—one before it knows what hit it, all its friends will go after you, right?"
It's entirely possible that the gargoyles are the least dangerous things here.
Fingers looks hesitant—whether that's about the plan or about lending out his cloak, it isn't clear. "I, uh, don't think the cloak works that way. If I try to stay hidden, it helps me stay hidden. But I don't think it lets me stay hidden after I attack something."
It's not a bad idea, though. How big are the gargoyles? Maybe we could use Winnie's magic missiles to "pull" them into a space where we can fight only a few at a time?
I believe the spectres mentioned there were about 20 left, but I don't know if that includes the few we've killed already, between this and other missions.
If she could target them (while invisible) though a window, she could cast 4 magic missiles and then release them at the same time, then duck back into cover as she rematerializes. If any see her and try for the window, Markd could be ready with the staff. And then Winnie could cast Web to further protect us.
The spectres should probably stay or of sight so the gargoyles just think we killed then all. Maybe. At any rate, we don't want to start a war between them.
we could use them to get around a threat, but we don't get XP for it. Something like that?
Yes, that's how all "units of troops" work, Markd,'s spectres included. If they solve your problem, it doesn't grant XP, but the problem is resolved.
Final answer - spiders or gargoyles?
The gargoyles also are divided between the three parapets. (The wizard tower, the central keep, the guard/gargoyle nest tower, in order from North to south.)
). 
But Beith forbids such things for her coven. And knowing the party she is with, she would know if she incapacitates the spiders the rest of the party will swoop in and kill them. Also, if the spiders are a random encounter, then they are on the list of random encounters. We might not get the jump on the next set. 
