The Unseen Servant forums

Alethan wrote:

thirdkingdom wrote:Yeah, I've started to delete those posts. It is a bit of a pain in the ass for me to do, since I have to do them one at a time. But don't worry, frobozz. I'll take care of it. In the meanwhile, the to-do lists can be posted here, OOC. The "Standards" thread was supposed to be for situations/procedures that you guys do over and over. Such as a night watch rotation, or standard marching order, or what you guys do when you come to a closed door.

TK, at the top of your screen (when scrolled all the way up), just above the "Go To Page..." part on the right-hand side, do you have a link in [] brackets for a Moderator Control Panel? I didn't know if that was an option if you are just the moderator of a thread or not. If you do have that, you can use the functions under that link to select and delete multiple threads at a time.

If not, and you ever have a lot of edits to make, just let me know real quick what you want and I can do it for you.

Ah yes, that was much faster. Thanks for the tip; I need to remember to invoke my mod powers more often.

thirdkingdom wrote:

Alethan wrote:

thirdkingdom wrote:Yeah, I've started to delete those posts. It is a bit of a pain in the ass for me to do, since I have to do them one at a time. But don't worry, frobozz. I'll take care of it. In the meanwhile, the to-do lists can be posted here, OOC. The "Standards" thread was supposed to be for situations/procedures that you guys do over and over. Such as a night watch rotation, or standard marching order, or what you guys do when you come to a closed door.

TK, at the top of your screen (when scrolled all the way up), just above the "Go To Page..." part on the right-hand side, do you have a link in [] brackets for a Moderator Control Panel? I didn't know if that was an option if you are just the moderator of a thread or not. If you do have that, you can use the functions under that link to select and delete multiple threads at a time.

If not, and you ever have a lot of edits to make, just let me know real quick what you want and I can do it for you.

Ah yes, that was much faster. Thanks for the tip; I need to remember to invoke my mod powers more often.

Just doing my job to help make your job easier, sir.

Just wanted to note, before we get any further, that Marodin's memorized 2nd level spell is back to Hold Person.

I've also adjusted Drudsa's memorized spells on the Characters thread, as I usually do.

I ran a quick check of our HP/AC numbers prior to starting our first battle to make sure everything was up to date. I noticed two things:

@Bouv: Does Tratiln have a shield? I did not notice one on his character sheet. If he has one, then he should be AC 3; if not, he should be AC 4 (this takes into account the -1 dex penalty).

@Sulldawga: Semele (now with plate mail, shield, and the +1 dex bonus) should drop from AC 4 to AC 1.

frobozz wrote:I ran a quick check of our HP/AC numbers prior to starting our first battle to make sure everything was up to date. I noticed two things:

@Bouv: Does Tratiln have a shield? I did not notice one on his character sheet. If he has one, then he should be AC 3; if not, he should be AC 4 (this takes into account the -1 dex penalty).

@Sulldawga: Semele (now with plate mail, shield, and the +1 dex bonus) should drop from AC 4 to AC 1.

I have his regular AC as 3 and then no shield/rear as 4. Did I post it wrong someplace else?

Has there ever been a discussion on having a party caller? With this many people in the group, I think some situations warrant having one.

For example, with the current gnoll situation, it sounds like we're not really sure what to do. It's a surprise round and TK is going to push forward in a few hours, whether or not we've decided what we're going to do. In cases like this, I think it is important to have someone in the group who can jump over to the OOC thread and say, "Hey, here is the situation. We have to figure out what to do and we have until XX:XX time to figure it out. Give me some quick ideas and I'll post the general consensus action based on your responses. Unfortunately, if you don't respond then you don't get a vote."

Otherwise, we're going to fumble these opportunities...

Bouv wrote:I have his regular AC as 3 and then no shield/rear as 4. Did I post it wrong someplace else?

Naw, those numbers are correct if he does carry a shield. I was just commenting that there is no shield listed on his equipment list, so I was not sure about his actual AC.

Alethan wrote:Has there ever been a discussion on having a party caller? With this many people in the group, I think some situations warrant having one.

For example, with the current gnoll situation, it sounds like we're not really sure what to do. It's a surprise round and TK is going to push forward in a few hours, whether or not we've decided what we're going to do. In cases like this, I think it is important to have someone in the group who can jump over to the OOC thread and say, "Hey, here is the situation. We have to figure out what to do and we have until XX:XX time to figure it out. Give me some quick ideas and I'll post the general consensus action based on your responses. Unfortunately, if you don't respond then you don't get a vote."

Otherwise, we're going to fumble these opportunities...

I think it might be a good idea to have one or two authorized party callers who can provide clarification to the DM (upon request) about the party's general consensus. A post from a party caller may not be needed in every situation in which the majority vote is obvious (and perhaps may not be needed at all unless the DM specifically asks for clarification to be able to move things forward). Having deadlines by which to vote is always helpful. That way, if you happen to miss the chance to vote, you just go along with the majority's decision, and that way TK can post IC whenever he is ready to post IC.

frobozz wrote:

Bouv wrote:I have his regular AC as 3 and then no shield/rear as 4. Did I post it wrong someplace else?

Naw, those numbers are correct if he does carry a shield. I was just commenting that there is no shield listed on his equipment list, so I was not sure about his actual AC.

Ah. Well he does, two in fact (one on the horse as a spare!). Thanks for pointing that out!

frobozz wrote:

Alethan wrote:Has there ever been a discussion on having a party caller? With this many people in the group, I think some situations warrant having one.

For example, with the current gnoll situation, it sounds like we're not really sure what to do. It's a surprise round and TK is going to push forward in a few hours, whether or not we've decided what we're going to do. In cases like this, I think it is important to have someone in the group who can jump over to the OOC thread and say, "Hey, here is the situation. We have to figure out what to do and we have until XX:XX time to figure it out. Give me some quick ideas and I'll post the general consensus action based on your responses. Unfortunately, if you don't respond then you don't get a vote."

Otherwise, we're going to fumble these opportunities...

I think it might be a good idea to have one or two authorized party callers who can provide clarification to the DM (upon request) about the party's general consensus. A post from a party caller may not be needed in every situation in which the majority vote is obvious (and perhaps may not be needed at all unless the DM specifically asks for clarification to be able to move things forward). Having deadlines by which to vote is always helpful. That way, if you happen to miss the chance to vote, you just go along with the majority's decision, and that way TK can post IC whenever he is ready to post IC.

Agreed. It isn't going to be something we need for every action. Or even every other action. But situations like this - or when the party seems to be lagging (like four or five days of ambivalent posting where nobody really does anything) - are certainly good candidates for someone stepping up and providing the gentle nudge the group needs.

"like four or five days of ambivalent posting where nobody really does anything"

that's us in a nutshell

TK, I think we may need some clarification on mounts.

Mount speed: According to the rules, 'unencumbered' riding horses move at 80'/round, ponies at 70'/ round. For a riding horse, 'unencumbered' equals less than 3000 cn weight carried (this should also take into account the rider's weight). Lanny weights 150 lbs (1500 cn), and with all of the equipment he and his horse are currently carrying (he is now wearing plate mail while the chain mail is being identified) he is now slightly above 3000 cn, so technically this drops his mount speed to 40'/round. I imagine that most of the PCs in plate mail will also move at the slower speed of 40'/round on horseback because of the weight of their equipment. Is this correct? One approach we could use to simplify things (and to prevent over-obsession with encumbrance) would be to assume that those in plate mail move at 1/2 their mount's listed movement rate (40'/round riding horses, 35'/round ponies) while those in no armor or leather armor (or magical chain mail armor, since that weighs the same as leather armor) can move at their mount's full movement rate (80'/round riding horses, 70'/round ponies).

Mounted combat: I could not find any mention in the DD Rulebook about attacking from horseback (whether casting a spell, shooting an arrow, or swinging a sword). Are there penalties for doing so? Does it matter whether or not one has the riding skill?

I will follow up with a suggested plan of action for our current situation but just needed a little more information.

So heres the situation as I see it.

1. We've surprised some gnolls

2. We're on horseback

3. Due to the surprise round, spellcasters cannot cast spells (so we can't put them all to sleep)

Now, I doubt we'd be able to maintain surprise, even trying to sneak or get closer. We do have horses and metal armor after all. And trying to get off our horses, hid both them and us in the underbrush and try to sneak closer just doesn't seem possible while maintain the element of surprise. So here's what I suggest:

1. Those with bows fire off some arrows

2. Those without bows charge on their horses to get into melee range

3. Drusda stays somewhere in the middle in order to cast spells

sulldawga wrote:"like four or five days of ambivalent posting where nobody really does anything"

that's us in a nutshell

Only every now and again.

Bouv wrote:So heres the situation as I see it.

So here's what I suggest:

1. Those with bows fire off some arrows

2. Those without bows charge on their horses to get into melee range

3. Drusda stays somewhere in the middle in order to cast spells

Sounds good to me!

Alethan wrote:

Bouv wrote:So heres the situation as I see it.

So here's what I suggest:

1. Those with bows fire off some arrows

2. Those without bows charge on their horses to get into melee range

3. Drusda stays somewhere in the middle in order to cast spells

Sounds good to me!

Seconded.

To clarify, Marodin won't close to melee range and dismount, he'll close and attack on horseback.

A couple comments on Bouv's plan:

Bouv wrote:Due to the surprise round, spellcasters cannot cast spells (so we can't put them all to sleep)

Not necessarily true. The question I asked TK about mount speed is important here, because if no-armor Drudsa can move 70' on his pony (at the pony's normal unencumbered per-round speed) and then cast a spell, then some or all of the gnolls will actually be put to sleep during the surprise round. Conversely, if spellcasters are charging in on foot, it would not be possible for them to get into spell range and cast during the surprise round.

Bouv wrote:So here's what I suggest:

1. Those with bows fire off some arrows

Note that no one is currently within bow range. Even Lanny's superior-range longbow can only hit a long-range target from 265'.

I didn't think he no-spells had to do with range. Maybe I'm mistaken on that.

Bouv wrote:I didn't think he no-spells had to do with range. Maybe I'm mistaken on that.

Bouv, I guess what I meant to say was this:

Each PC can either get a base movement plus 1 attack or a full charge (3x base movement) and no attack, in a single round. In the case of Drudsa, since his mount is 'unencumbered', I believe that Drudsa should be able to move at the pony's base movement rate (70'/round) and still enable Drudsa to get 1 attack (ie. casting the spell) during the surprise round.

I know this is a little complicated, as we have never tried mounted combat (or even mounted movement during a battle situation), but it is probably better to figure out the base movements of our various mounts now, as I'm sure situations like these will come up again and again in the future.

From DD Rulebook p. 148:

Armoured humans will typically move
at a speed of 20’ rather than 40’, and
unarmoured humans carrying packs
containing food and gear will typically
move at a speed of 30’ rather than 40’.

Similarly, although rider-less horses can
move at 80’, a horse with a saddle and
rider will typically move at a speed of
only 40’.

In the last sentence, by "typically" I think they are referring to horses carrying the extra weight of heavily armored characters, compared to those carrying riders with no armor or light armor (who presumably can move at the mount's full movement rate). TK, if I am wrong about this, please let me know.