"If you are the one who can take care of the archers, go on Vrox" Khessa agrees.
"As for your strategic condideration," the blonde arcane warrior explains "it holds, but I am afraid that, seeing only a handful of people attacking, not a whole srmy, the Nefarious Duo's forced might prefer to charge and swarm us, instead of closing gates for defence. That's why I tried to think of a contermeasure for the swarming".
"If they'll close and defend," the tall adventuress shrugs "we just finish conquering the towers, then we can fly or teleport to bypass their defences and open the way again".
"If you are the one who can take care of the archers, go on Vrox" Khessa agrees.
"Oh," Vrox says breezily, "I'm happy to let Clarac take care of them! But I thought that I (or someone else) could at least make it harder for the other archer to shoot at her while she attacked the first guard tower."
That's why I tried to think of a contermeasure for the swarming".
"Ah! I beg your pardon," Vrox says with a graceful bow. "I see now. Yes, I think that you have the measure of the Enemy. If they are as arrogant as Prince Markova and his squadron were, then they may open the gates and attempt to crush us before we reach the castle. And since we slew his son, the Duke may be angry enough to order such a hasty attack. Of course," he adds with a mischievous smile, "they might think twice about their chance of victory if Tyk plans to throw down the horn of the wind demon he slew as a challenge."
"Well," Khessa summarizes "so Clarac takes care of the two archers, while Vrox supports her. In the meantime, we try to do short work of the other forces defending the two towers. If the castle forces try to come out to swarm us, we make sure to block them on the bridge; if the castle forces close in on defense, we finish capturing the towers first, then we take care of them. Up to Master Akkron when and if to use his dragon".
And, if no one has any objections, the blonde arcane warrior leads the party on the offensive according to the agreed plan.
As you move down the road, the sides of the mountain pass get steeper, and more sheer. Then as you round a curve, the castle comes into view, and palls of smoke is rising from it as if it had been under attack. The pass opens up to the front gate house and towers. From what you can see, what doors it had were battered down by something or somehow. Dead bodies of men-at-arms lay broken upon the field, having tried in vain to stop the attacks.
As described by the aerial recon, two large Bloodletter demons prowl the front gate, black swords at the ready. At the top of each tower, a lone man-at-arm, and in a line before the demons and facing you are eight more men-at arms.
As you move down the road, the sides of the mountain pass get steeper, and more sheer. Then as you round a curve, the castle comes into view
[[OOC: Nice map!
When the party first rounds the curve and sees the gates, how far away are we from the men-at-arms and the demons?
Has the party been spotted yet?
How tall are the guard towers?
The cliffs are more sheer here, but are they climbable?
From the earlier map, it looked like the pass and cliffs perhaps open out onto a flat, open space for some distance in front of the guard towers? If that's true, far is it from where the pass opens to the field and the towers themselves?
I'm mostly just trying to determine when various locations will be within range of various spells and of Vrox's longbow. That'll also tell me how many times Vrox will be able to fire his bow before the melee fighters can close range.
As you move down the road, the sides of the mountain pass get steeper, and more sheer. Then as you round a curve, the castle comes into view
[[OOC: Nice map!
When the party first rounds the curve and sees the gates, how far away are we from the men-at-arms and the demons?
Has the party been spotted yet?
How tall are the guard towers?
The cliffs are more sheer here, but are they climbable?
From the earlier map, it looked like the pass and cliffs perhaps open out onto a flat, open space for some distance in front of the guard towers? If that's true, far is it from where the pass opens to the field and the towers themselves?
I'm mostly just trying to determine when various locations will be within range of various spells and of Vrox's longbow. That'll also tell me how many times Vrox will be able to fire his bow before the melee fighters can close range.
]]
Your approach is masked, they don't see you yet. From where you are, you have thirty feet to the front line of the men-at-arms. Guard towers are twenty feet high. The cliffs are scalable though challenging. The open space is fifty feet from the opening of the road to the tower. The space opens up in a circular fashion spreading away from the road then curving towards the guard towers. There are brush and trees that can conceal at the very edge of the opening. You do not see anyone or anything on the battlements behind the guard tower.
Khessa evaluates distance and positions... She smiles: "If I run to a side, I can get all the men in a Cone of Cold - just to greet them properly, you know. Well, come on, let's just do it".
Alfred, behind her, is ready to Haste her at any moment...
[[ OOC: Khessa ready to start the fight. If we all slso are... Shall we roll for initiative? Or we surprise the forces? Or...? ]]
[[ OOC: Khessa ready to start the fight. If we all slso are... Shall we roll for initiative? Or we surprise the forces? Or...? ]]
OK. Vrox would like a couple of rounds to prepare.
Before they begin, if Vrox can see the archer on one of the guard towers, he'll start by casting Hunter's Mark, targeting that archer.
When they're ready to start, Vrox will use Nature's Veil to become invisible before sneaking forward to get within 20' of the tower where the archer that he marked is. If he's 20' or less from the tower, the top of the tower should be ~28' away.
At the start of his next turn, Vrox will become visible again as Nature's Veil will wear off. He'll immediately Misty Step to the top of the tower (initially standing atop the parapet, for example). Then he'll attack the archer and move off the wall to close distance with the archer.
Since Vrox will be close to the Men-at-Arms on the ground before he uses Misty Step to get up to the guard tower, he'll just need to coordinate with Khessa to ensure that he doesn't get caught in her Cone of Cold. He'd like to time it so that he moves to the guard tower just before she casts Cone of Cold. (That is, if he is acting before her in the round, he would Misty Step up to the tower on his turn before she moves into the field to cast Cone of Cold.)
Vrox also points out that, while a Bloodthirster demon was happy to engage Tyk in melee combat last time, they are winged demons. It's possible that one or both of the demons will take to the sky in this fight. If one of the casters has a way to restrain the demons or to prevent them from flying, they may want to keep that spell ready. Otherwise, what's to stop the demons from going after Clarac on her pegasus or fleeing into the castle or grappling one of the party members and dropping them into the ravine between the guard towers and the castle?
Oh, OK Vrox, don't worry. Khessa can orient the cone however she wants and the cone is pretty much as long as the enemy line (60'), so she can avoid allies in pretty much any circumstance, as long as we're all on the same side of the enemy line (e.g. everyone in front and no one behind). So you don't need to coordinate with her too much.
As far as flying demons are concerned, Khessa does not have a spell in her repertoire that would prevent them from doing so entirely - however: 1) Khessa does have some spell ready with which she could either hold or grapple them - and in both cases their speed would become 0 and they would plummet. 2) Considering that they are bloodthirsty demons, they probably will just happily face those who rush them. 3) Anyway, if they tried to focus on Clarac, Khessa's spells didn't stop them and Clarac was in trouble, she could always land, close to the party, forcing the demons to do the same, if they wanted to continue fighting her. In that case, we would be forced to eliminate the archers in another way, but we still wouldn't be forced to leave any of us alone against the winged demons. 4) If they can grab someone and then fly up and throw them over the cliff (which takes time though, I think) Khessa can cast Feather Fall, if she's not too far away. And if not, we always have to consider that we are all high-level characters, with a high number of HP - this means that even the most spectacular of falls would probably end with the unrealistic scene of the character getting up slightly bruised and brushing off the dust off his back, not with a body reduced to pulp and smashed to the ground. Not beautiful, but not deadly either.
I can't offer more than that, but personally I'm confident.
"Do not worry about the flying demons," Clarac says to Khessa. "In fact, I hope they both pursue me. Few beings are as fast as Wetherbee, and even if we become cornered, I fear no demon. Indeed, it is they who should fear me." She looks over to Wetherbee. "We will take off the same time as you cast your spell."
OOC: Clarac can try to Turn the demons; she is also permanently under the effects of Protection from Evil and Good, so they would be attacking her at disadvantage.
Well, in case the battle is actually about to begin: Khessa, before the battle, upcasts Arcane Hand using a 6th level slot, while Alfred casts Haste on her.
Then, she plans to run alongside the enemy line to freeze them with a Cone of Cold, as her first battle turn.
As they approach, Tyekanik grips his axe and pats the net on his waist saying, "I can try to keep them here if they try to take flight."Also, seeing the army asks the others, "Would this be a good time call the warriors from Valhalla? Will there be a larger force inside?"
Sure, no worry. I've got Vrox's plan for before we start and then how to get up onto one of the guard towers. That way, he can hopefully defeat that archer and take his spot on top of the guard tower, where he can snipe at the enemy below.
Also, seeing the army asks the others, "Would this be a good time call the warriors from Valhalla? Will there be a larger force inside?"
"I don't think that we'll need them in this first fight unless a larger army suddenly issues forth from the towers or from the castle," Vrox reasons. "The garrison -- at least those on the field in front of the guard towers -- looks smaller than the force we just defeated with Prince Markova. If we can take the castle, we'll hopefully find clues about what has happened here and whether there is a larger army, either within the castle or somewhere on a battlefield nearby. I would wait and save the summons for when we face truly overwhelming numbers. Or a foe who can disable the wizards and Saintess, however briefly."
"I personally think that it would be ideal to summon the dragon if a massive army comes pouring out of the castle," Akkron says. "That way we'll be able to wipe most of them out at one time, without having to carefully aim around our allies. The other nice thing about using the dragon is that its presence can terrify our enemies and keep them from approaching us."
Unless the party's plans change a lot before we "go", here's what Vrox is doing.
Initiative: 10
Two rounds before they all attack:
If Vrox can see the archer on one of the guard towers, he'll start by casting Hunter's Mark (1st level slot) targeting that archer.
Movement: None. Staying behind cover until the whole group is ready to attack. Action: None. Or hiding. Bonus Action: Cast a spell (LVL 1 slot) Hunter's Mark on the archer on the guard tower nearest him. (Range is 90', so I think he's in range.) Free Action: Object interaction - stow his shield
Bonus Action: use Nature's Veil to become invisible Movement: Sneak forward to get within 20' of the tower where the "marked" archer is Action: If needed, dash to get within 20' of the tower. If not, then he will hide once he finishes moving forward. Free Action: Item interaction - Equip longbow
First round (i.e., when Khessa and Tyk emerge from cover, and everyone attacks):
At the start of his turn, Vrox is no longer invisible. Since he is within 20' of the tower of his marked archer, the top of the tower should be ~28' away. Vrox will use Misty Step to get up to the tower, then he'll be attacking that archer. I'll roll for the attacks once we get to that round.
This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
As the others prepare for the fight, Tyekanik gets a grin and waits for Vrox' signal to charge. Stepping out of their scouting location he roars as he grows to nearly 20 feet tall, charging forward past any of the smaller soldiers to right between the two large demons.
Initiative 22
Action: Attack: 32 Damage: 67 Attack: 30 Damage: 59 - Attacks made recklessly (so adv to hit him after), and with GWM -5 to hit. + 20 if a crit (due to Brutal Critical) - If any crit or he kills anyone, extra attack as BA due to GWM: Attack: 27 Damage: 60
As the others prepare for the fight, Tyekanik gets a grin and waits for Vrox' signal to charge. Stepping out of their scouting location he roars as he grows to nearly 20 feet tall, charging forward past any of the smaller soldiers to right between the two large demons.
Initiative 29
Action: Attack: 24 Damage: 66 Attack: 25 Damage: 62 - Attacks made recklessly (so adv to hit him after), and with GWM -5 to hit. + 24 if a crit (due to Brutal Critical) - If any crit or he kills anyone, extra attack as BA due to GWM: Attack: 29 Damage: 66
Top of round one:
You charge through the men-at-arms that don't react normally like they would have they been themselves. You brush them aside, and your axe sings as two great wounds appear on the demon as it roars at you.
This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
Vrox: Round 1
At the start of his turn, Vrox briefly becomes visible again on the ground, longbow in hand, near the guard tower where the archer whom he marked is stationed. He looks to the top of the tower, and as he steps forward, the air around him seems to sparkle as though he's surrounded by a cloud of diamond dust that reflects the sunlight in thousands of tiny motes of light. His form wavers for a moment like something seen in a mirage, and with a hop, he disappears along with the sparkling cloud. To Vrox, it's like taking a step, but to an observer, he vanishes from the ground only to reappear at the top of the guard tower, standing on the parapet wall.
Vrox hops nimbly down off the wall onto the tower's "roof" and fires two arrows at the archer. Then he moves...
Movement: (depends on whether he kills the marked archer) If he kills the archer, he moves (up to 40') to position himself behind a merlon that faces the other guard tower to gain cover from that archer. If the archer does not die, Vrox moves to engage the archer in melee, which should also impose disadvantage if the archer attempts to use his bow. Bonus Action: Cast a spell (Misty Wanderer feature) Misty Step to move to the top of the guard tower Action: Two attacks with Dragon's Wrath Longbow (150/600) Attack 1: 21 Damage: 17 (magical piercing, including HM dmg) + 11 (radiant) = 28 (total) Attack 2: 35 Damage: 20 (magical piercing, including HM dmg) + 12 (radiant) = 32 (total) If Vrox hits, the first attack that hits does an additional 5 (psychic), or if it was a critical hit, 7 (psychic) Free Action: (only if the archer is still standing) Item interaction - draw his obsidian dagger
"If you are the one who can take care of the archers, go on Vrox" Khessa agrees.
"As for your strategic condideration," the blonde arcane warrior explains "it holds, but I am afraid that, seeing only a handful of people attacking, not a whole srmy, the Nefarious Duo's forced might prefer to charge and swarm us, instead of closing gates for defence. That's why I tried to think of a contermeasure for the swarming".
"If they'll close and defend," the tall adventuress shrugs "we just finish conquering the towers, then we can fly or teleport to bypass their defences and open the way again".
"Oh," Vrox says breezily, "I'm happy to let Clarac take care of them! But I thought that I (or someone else) could at least make it harder for the other archer to shoot at her while she attacked the first guard tower."
"Ah! I beg your pardon," Vrox says with a graceful bow. "I see now. Yes, I think that you have the measure of the Enemy. If they are as arrogant as Prince Markova and his squadron were, then they may open the gates and attempt to crush us before we reach the castle. And since we slew his son, the Duke may be angry enough to order such a hasty attack. Of course," he adds with a mischievous smile, "they might think twice about their chance of victory if Tyk plans to throw down the horn of the wind demon he slew as a challenge."
"Well," Khessa summarizes "so Clarac takes care of the two archers, while Vrox supports her. In the meantime, we try to do short work of the other forces defending the two towers. If the castle forces try to come out to swarm us, we make sure to block them on the bridge; if the castle forces close in on defense, we finish capturing the towers first, then we take care of them. Up to Master Akkron when and if to use his dragon".
And, if no one has any objections, the blonde arcane warrior leads the party on the offensive according to the agreed plan.
As you move down the road, the sides of the mountain pass get steeper, and more sheer. Then as you round a curve, the castle comes into view, and palls of smoke is rising from it as if it had been under attack. The pass opens up to the front gate house and towers. From what you can see, what doors it had were battered down by something or somehow. Dead bodies of men-at-arms lay broken upon the field, having tried in vain to stop the attacks.
As described by the aerial recon, two large Bloodletter demons prowl the front gate, black swords at the ready. At the top of each tower, a lone man-at-arm, and in a line before the demons and facing you are eight more men-at arms.
[[OOC: Nice map!
I'm mostly just trying to determine when various locations will be within range of various spells and of Vrox's longbow. That'll also tell me how many times Vrox will be able to fire his bow before the melee fighters can close range.
]]
Your approach is masked, they don't see you yet. From where you are, you have thirty feet to the front line of the men-at-arms. Guard towers are twenty feet high. The cliffs are scalable though challenging. The open space is fifty feet from the opening of the road to the tower. The space opens up in a circular fashion spreading away from the road then curving towards the guard towers. There are brush and trees that can conceal at the very edge of the opening. You do not see anyone or anything on the battlements behind the guard tower.
Khessa evaluates distance and positions... She smiles: "If I run to a side, I can get all the men in a Cone of Cold - just to greet them properly, you know. Well, come on, let's just do it".
Alfred, behind her, is ready to Haste her at any moment...
[[ OOC: Khessa ready to start the fight. If we all slso are... Shall we roll for initiative? Or we surprise the forces? Or...? ]]
OK. Vrox would like a couple of rounds to prepare.
Since Vrox will be close to the Men-at-Arms on the ground before he uses Misty Step to get up to the guard tower, he'll just need to coordinate with Khessa to ensure that he doesn't get caught in her Cone of Cold. He'd like to time it so that he moves to the guard tower just before she casts Cone of Cold. (That is, if he is acting before her in the round, he would Misty Step up to the tower on his turn before she moves into the field to cast Cone of Cold.)
Vrox also points out that, while a Bloodthirster demon was happy to engage Tyk in melee combat last time, they are winged demons. It's possible that one or both of the demons will take to the sky in this fight. If one of the casters has a way to restrain the demons or to prevent them from flying, they may want to keep that spell ready. Otherwise, what's to stop the demons from going after Clarac on her pegasus or fleeing into the castle or grappling one of the party members and dropping them into the ravine between the guard towers and the castle?
Oh, OK Vrox, don't worry. Khessa can orient the cone however she wants and the cone is pretty much as long as the enemy line (60'), so she can avoid allies in pretty much any circumstance, as long as we're all on the same side of the enemy line (e.g. everyone in front and no one behind). So you don't need to coordinate with her too much.
As far as flying demons are concerned, Khessa does not have a spell in her repertoire that would prevent them from doing so entirely - however:
1) Khessa does have some spell ready with which she could either hold or grapple them - and in both cases their speed would become 0 and they would plummet.
2) Considering that they are bloodthirsty demons, they probably will just happily face those who rush them.
3) Anyway, if they tried to focus on Clarac, Khessa's spells didn't stop them and Clarac was in trouble, she could always land, close to the party, forcing the demons to do the same, if they wanted to continue fighting her. In that case, we would be forced to eliminate the archers in another way, but we still wouldn't be forced to leave any of us alone against the winged demons.
4) If they can grab someone and then fly up and throw them over the cliff (which takes time though, I think) Khessa can cast Feather Fall, if she's not too far away. And if not, we always have to consider that we are all high-level characters, with a high number of HP - this means that even the most spectacular of falls would probably end with the unrealistic scene of the character getting up slightly bruised and brushing off the dust off his back, not with a body reduced to pulp and smashed to the ground. Not beautiful, but not deadly either.
I can't offer more than that, but personally I'm confident.
"Do not worry about the flying demons," Clarac says to Khessa. "In fact, I hope they both pursue me. Few beings are as fast as Wetherbee, and even if we become cornered, I fear no demon. Indeed, it is they who should fear me." She looks over to Wetherbee. "We will take off the same time as you cast your spell."
OOC: Clarac can try to Turn the demons; she is also permanently under the effects of Protection from Evil and Good, so they would be attacking her at disadvantage.
Well, in case the battle is actually about to begin: Khessa, before the battle, upcasts Arcane Hand using a 6th level slot, while Alfred casts Haste on her.
Then, she plans to run alongside the enemy line to freeze them with a Cone of Cold, as her first battle turn.
Khessa's Initiative, if needed, is 19.
...So let's hope it's not needed! Lol!
As they approach, Tyekanik grips his axe and pats the net on his waist saying, "I can try to keep them here if they try to take flight." Also, seeing the army asks the others, "Would this be a good time call the warriors from Valhalla? Will there be a larger force inside?"
PbP 🎲: Tyekanik; Moneo Noree; Korba Muris; & occasional DM:
Sure, no worry. I've got Vrox's plan for before we start and then how to get up onto one of the guard towers. That way, he can hopefully defeat that archer and take his spot on top of the guard tower, where he can snipe at the enemy below.
"I don't think that we'll need them in this first fight unless a larger army suddenly issues forth from the towers or from the castle," Vrox reasons. "The garrison -- at least those on the field in front of the guard towers -- looks smaller than the force we just defeated with Prince Markova. If we can take the castle, we'll hopefully find clues about what has happened here and whether there is a larger army, either within the castle or somewhere on a battlefield nearby. I would wait and save the summons for when we face truly overwhelming numbers. Or a foe who can disable the wizards and Saintess, however briefly."
"I personally think that it would be ideal to summon the dragon if a massive army comes pouring out of the castle," Akkron says. "That way we'll be able to wipe most of them out at one time, without having to carefully aim around our allies. The other nice thing about using the dragon is that its presence can terrify our enemies and keep them from approaching us."
Unhappy that the market got rid of individual purchases for one-off subclasses, magic items, and monsters?
Provide feedback!
Unless the party's plans change a lot before we "go", here's what Vrox is doing.
Initiative: 10
Two rounds before they all attack:
If Vrox can see the archer on one of the guard towers, he'll start by casting Hunter's Mark (1st level slot) targeting that archer.
Movement: None. Staying behind cover until the whole group is ready to attack.
Action: None. Or hiding.
Bonus Action: Cast a spell (LVL 1 slot) Hunter's Mark on the archer on the guard tower nearest him. (Range is 90', so I think he's in range.)
Free Action: Object interaction - stow his shield
Concentration: Hunter's Mark round 1 of 600
Marked Target: Archer on the tower
One round before they all attack:
Bonus Action: use Nature's Veil to become invisible
Movement: Sneak forward to get within 20' of the tower where the "marked" archer is
Action: If needed, dash to get within 20' of the tower. If not, then he will hide once he finishes moving forward.
Free Action: Item interaction - Equip longbow
Concentration: Hunter's Mark round 2 of 600
Marked Target: Archer on the tower
If needed for hide or just avoiding notice while invisible: Stealth 32 (advantage from Shadowfell Brand Tattoo).
First round (i.e., when Khessa and Tyk emerge from cover, and everyone attacks):
At the start of his turn, Vrox is no longer invisible. Since he is within 20' of the tower of his marked archer, the top of the tower should be ~28' away. Vrox will use Misty Step to get up to the tower, then he'll be attacking that archer. I'll roll for the attacks once we get to that round.
As the others prepare for the fight, Tyekanik gets a grin and waits for Vrox' signal to charge. Stepping out of their scouting location he roars as he grows to nearly 20 feet tall, charging forward past any of the smaller soldiers to right between the two large demons.
Initiative 22
Action:
Attack: 32 Damage: 67
Attack: 30 Damage: 59
- Attacks made recklessly (so adv to hit him after), and with GWM -5 to hit.
+ 20 if a crit (due to Brutal Critical)
- If any crit or he kills anyone, extra attack as BA due to GWM:
Attack: 27 Damage: 60
PbP 🎲: Tyekanik; Moneo Noree; Korba Muris; & occasional DM:
Top of round one:
You charge through the men-at-arms that don't react normally like they would have they been themselves. You brush them aside, and your axe sings as two great wounds appear on the demon as it roars at you.
Vrox: Round 1
At the start of his turn, Vrox briefly becomes visible again on the ground, longbow in hand, near the guard tower where the archer whom he marked is stationed. He looks to the top of the tower, and as he steps forward, the air around him seems to sparkle as though he's surrounded by a cloud of diamond dust that reflects the sunlight in thousands of tiny motes of light. His form wavers for a moment like something seen in a mirage, and with a hop, he disappears along with the sparkling cloud. To Vrox, it's like taking a step, but to an observer, he vanishes from the ground only to reappear at the top of the guard tower, standing on the parapet wall.
Vrox hops nimbly down off the wall onto the tower's "roof" and fires two arrows at the archer. Then he moves...
Movement: (depends on whether he kills the marked archer)
If he kills the archer, he moves (up to 40') to position himself behind a merlon that faces the other guard tower to gain cover from that archer.
If the archer does not die, Vrox moves to engage the archer in melee, which should also impose disadvantage if the archer attempts to use his bow.
Bonus Action: Cast a spell (Misty Wanderer feature) Misty Step to move to the top of the guard tower
Action: Two attacks with Dragon's Wrath Longbow (150/600)
Attack 1: 21 Damage: 17 (magical piercing, including HM dmg) + 11 (radiant) = 28 (total)
Attack 2: 35 Damage: 20 (magical piercing, including HM dmg) + 12 (radiant) = 32 (total)
If Vrox hits, the first attack that hits does an additional 5 (psychic), or if it was a critical hit, 7 (psychic)
Free Action: (only if the archer is still standing) Item interaction - draw his obsidian dagger
Concentration: Hunter's Mark round 3 of 600
Marked Target: Archer on the guard tower