Assuming the magic users don't finish him off, I'll do the same thing as before: two attacks with the waraxe, +10/+5, +4 damage.

Up at nearly 4 AM? That's a dedicated DM. :)
posted by Scholeologist at 4/01/2004 09:09:00 AM

(The 3.5 PH at least just says you get a critical hit on a coup de gras, but you have to roll the damage.)
posted by Scholeologist at 3/31/2004 08:22:00 AM

Oh well, you can't coup de gras them all. Sometimes 3d10+12 just isn't enough. :)

mmm...critical hits are still delicious, even when you get them on sleeping opponents. :)

I whack the wolf with my waraxe in both hands twice: +10/+5 attack, +4 damage. Assuming he's still around when my initiative comes up. As soon as he drops, we hightail it out of there.

posted by Scholeologist at 3/31/2004 08:20:00 AM

(FYI, if you take more than a 5' step, you can only make a single attack. Multiple attacks including two-weapon attacks require a full-round attack action.)

Oops, sorry. I used to know that, but somehow confused myself while I was reading the rules for charging. I think the sentence "Even if you have extra attacks, such as from ... using multiple weapons, you only get to make one attack during a charge" should be followed with "(just like every other >5' move, dummy)". I would have found that helpful -- otherwise my inner munchkin starts thinking "Hmm, does that means _sometimes_ you can move and attack more than once?" :)

Barik will help deliver coups de grace to the sleepers, then: "Well done! I hope our friends have been as successful as we! Now, we should hurry to join them -- if we can maintain the ruse that there were only three of us, all on horseback, that may discourage vigorous pursuit. Let us leave these as they fell -- the orcs might think it was our friends who slew them, and they didn't have time to look for spare coins."

When we get going, Barik will happily go at the maximum speed the other two are willing to go.
posted by Scholeologist at 3/30/2004 09:03:00 AM

Yay, other guys! (Team Warhorse is taking righteous vengeance for Emerelda, Lightfoot, and Drusilla's unnamed horse!) And Barik thought you needed help... :)

So we've got a sleeping wolf, a sleeping orc, and a confused, bloody, and weaponless orc 15' away from me, right? I run over to him and whack him (well, try anyway) with both axes: +8/+7 waraxe/throwing axe, +7 damage.
posted by Scholeologist at 3/30/2004 04:21:00 AM

[Bob's TB] Uh-oh. I'm starting to get excited about this fight. That's almost always a bad sign. :)
posted by Scholeologist at 3/29/2004 03:37:00 PM

Aww, Dru...I didn't know you cared. :)

Barik...you are supposed to be the tactical genius of our group...
[Barik's TB] Hm. Tactical, yes, though not a genius. If I thought our friends could survive four of these wolf-riders, I would have adopted her plan in a minute. If I thought we could chase them down and assault them around or before they ran into our cavalry, then too we'd do better to hold off for now. Had I thought to tell the cavalry to turn and fight once they were out of sight, right here -- then we would not have gotten so separated. As it is, we can do nothing to help them with the riders they face, but I think we must help them with these here.

if I got yelled at for rushing in when we battled the Goblins...
[Bob's TB] The only problem with the way Dru handled the Goblins was going in invisibly herself, instead of sending someone with a little more armor and weapons...I have a particular battle-hungry, arguably death-obsessed dwarf in mind... :)

"I no more wish to face the main body of this orc parade than you -- but we are out of their sight, and our combat with these two will be over one way or the other long before they top the ridge. They will never see us alive -- if we succeed against these two, we will be away before they get here, and they may well think our riders killed both sets of outriders. If we do not succeed, then I fear these outriders will kill both sets of us. Either way, the century will not concern me.

"If you want to attack these two from behind, just as they pass here, that's a perfectly reasonable plan. But if you mean to catch up with them on foot, I do not think we have the fleetness. If we do not stop them now, they will reach our friends, weary from battle, long before us.

"Let us position ourselves wisely, then, if you are going to join me. I would think you would take cover behind those rocks over there, the better to fire your fine crossbow with them unaware. I imagine you can fire from some ways off. If you are going to cast a spell on them, would it be best to wait until after they run into the tripwire?

"And lastly, don't show yourselves if you don't need to. Even should I fall, if I take one of them with me, it will be worthwhile. They will run back to the army or onward toward our friends, and you can revive me if I am not past reviving. Then we will pursue our friends, and perhaps we will squeeze their weakened forces between us, as you suggest."

Just to be clear, I've got the tripwire (which I set up anyway) and I've got both my axes out - no healing potions involved (yet). If Dru wants to attack from behind, I can either stand in front of the tripwire like before (so I'll be on one side of them, and she'll be on the other), or I can adjust my position to suit her. And we are back to the Power Attack -- +10/+9 damage (assuming I get a bonus of +2 for striking from invisibility -- the Power Attack's +8/+9 damage otherwise).
posted by Scholeologist at 3/29/2004 01:00:00 PM

Bob, you've never tried to race a horse, then, over either short or long distances.
Actually, my real life experiences suggested that real horses are faster than D&D horses, so I had thrown my intuition out the window. (Some back-of-the-envelope calculations will shortly be posted on the trollkien blog, in case you're curious.) Also, let me make a little announcement in general: if you want to chat about the game, or related stuff, send me your email and I'll invite you to post on that blog. We can use it to avoid "interrupting the flow" here, if you want to put in a little story about your character's childhood, or a list of your favorite feats, or whatever.

[Barik's TB] Once these riders pass us, we'll never catch up, and we're subjecting our friends to 4 wolf-riders. Granted, they'll be finished with the first two before these arrive, but even so, it does not suit me to have my friends fight for me while I hide and do nothing. I may well fall to these two, but I will give Grell, Linnam, and Bishop a much better chance against what's left of them, and Drusilla can collect my body afterwards.

"Fine! You hide! I have to at least hurt these two before they get to the others, or slow them down. I don't know if I will stand for long -- but afterwards, if you can put aside your opinion of me, I would appreciate a little healing, and we can catch up to the others with your invisibility intact.

"Besides, I wouldn't want to get between you and Slthm -- the two of you deserve some quality time together, just the two of you."

I don't drink the CLW then, but I proceed with the tripwire anyway. If it seems reasonable to try to chop off a leg or two of one of the wolves, I do that -- but if that's a crazy idea, I keep with the same plan as before.

[Barik's TB] I wonder what the wolves will do, if I kill their riders. Run back, or eat me? With my luck...
posted by Scholeologist at 3/29/2004 06:54:00 AM

I didn't realize the horses moved so much faster than us.

"Once we're over the ridge and out of sight of the main body, let's turn around and wallop these two wolf-riders following us.

"I don't know what magics you two might want to weave, or if you'd rather strike with weapons. Drusilla, you might want to take aim with your crossbow from the side of the road. I will stand in the middle of the road, and wait until they are upon me to strike. Whatever magics you do employ, 'twould be best if they are not loud booming things, or make great flashes of light -- we must keep the main column convinced there are only three ordinary riders, of little interest to them. Then, even with the loss of a few troops, I expect they'll go on about their business and waste no more time on pursuing us."

[after we go over the ridge a little bit, at as good an ambush point as is available]

"Here, note my foot prints...I am right here [stomp one foot a little]. Please don't try to fire through me! Just so you know, I plan to go after the orcs first, then the wolves."

Is there time (and a place) to tie a tripwire across the path? If there is, I do that, letting the others know. We can attack after the wolves hit it (and hopefully fall down and throw their riders). I'll stand in the road, about 10' on the other side of the rope. Heck, if there's still time after that, I drink one of my CLW potions (I assume I didn't heal any damage overnight in camp.)

Hopefully we'll catch them by surprise. For my first attack, I'm going to power attack one of the orcs with my battle axe (I draw one of my throwing axes too, but if we get a surprise action, I'm just going to swing the waraxe.) normally +10 to hit/+7 damage vs. orcs, +2 to hit (invisibility), -2/+2 power attack, so +10 to hit/+9 damage.

After that, (while I'm visible), I just full attack as much as I can: +8/+3 with the waraxe, and +7/+2 with the off-hand axe, +3 damage vs. wolves, +7 vs. orcs.

-------

Regarding Linnam's comment about going a little south: "Unfortunately, although I would guess they'll come this way, they could just as easily continue south, and either way, there's a decent chance that outriders would spread wide enough to run into us. And, as Grell said, we have no time to spare. We would be better off if we can get across in front of them, with as little fuss as possible, so that they don't consider us worth pursuing."

As for the OOS timeline stuff: "Agar's team were on foot. However, this is why I expressed my concerns earlier -- we are _not_ keeping pace with them. At the rate we've been going, even with all the horses and assuming no more costly delays, we would not arrive at the Gate, with its undead guards, until the day after the Flail rises. And I did not know that this consecration will take a full day also...

"I agree with you that we must strive to do all we can before the Flail appears...we must make great haste. I am willing to leave earlier and march for longer, if that would help, although I worry that the horses might suffer from long travel. Though I am not happy about it, I will continue to ride on your horse -- at least for part of the day.

posted by Scholeologist at 3/28/2004 02:31:00 PM