Eppie, peering into the darkness, doesn't move her shield in time to stop the arrow. "OW!" she yells, shaking her head to ward off the static. Blinking rapidly behind her goggles, the goblin pushes off the fog that tries to cloud her eyes. Pyx lets out a horrified screech. "Shush," Eppie mutters, and clambers out of her hiding spot to find a new and hopefully better one.

Stealth: 27 (if we aren't starting initiative yet)
Wisdom Saving Throw: 18
Initiative (if needed, with advantage): 22

Pinion, the near silent autognome gives off a whirl and a buzz when he senses the Hunter has sprung.  "Assistance is required!"

Init: 7

Erik thinks, "Remember: we don't want to play hide-and-seek with this opponent.  The Hunter may be hidden, but he'll have to reveal himself to attack.  If you can do anything to cut off The Hunter's escape or to lock him down or stun him, focus on that first."

Hunter Initiative: 10

(Seriously, how do you roll that badly WITH ADVANTAGE AND A +5 DEX MOD?!)

Eppie, hidden in a new spot now, squints into the darkness and tries to figure out where the Hunter is. She grimaces, unable to see him, and puts a gloved hand on her goggles and one on her revolver, squinting as she waits to adjust the focus of her goggles as soon as she spots her assailant...

Perception: 20
Bonus action: Readied Hunter's Mark as soon as she visualizes him

Looks like Simon and Eppie go first, followed by the Hunter, then everyone else... Eppie readied her action for the instant the Hunter shows his face. So it looks like it's Simon's turn. I think we determined previously that everyone besides Eppie was too far up the path to attack the Hunter by normal means, but, being a Tabaxi (that is to say, having Feline Agility) and a Rogue (Cunning Action), I think it's reasonable to say Simon could close the distance... though he would still need to figure out where the Hunter is (or just toss out some kind of AoE and hope for the best).

Simon will move in closer but will hold his action of shooting his pistol until he can see the hunter. Simon will use his BA to hide. 

Stealth: 16

The stealth check unfortunately is not enough to beat the Hunter's keen senses...

The nasty jungle cat draws his bow and lets an arrow fly towards Simon! From his hiding spot, he's able to attack with extra precision...

Longbow vs. Simon:
Attack: 28 (14, 28), Damage: 9 + 31 (sneak attack, piercing)

Surprisingly, the Hunter does not use his bonus action to hide this time. Instead, he notches and fires another arrow and fires a second time...

Longbow vs Simon (again, Eppie's stealth did beat his passive perception):
Attack: 24, Damage: 12 (piercing)

With that, he uses 45ft of movement speed to retreat down the tunnel, making sure he is out of reach again until further notice and chuckling the whole way. It seems he's using hit-and-run tactics to soften the party up a bit... Eppie is able to cast her Hunter's Mark that she readied, and Simon can attack with his pistol as he readied that action as well.

making sure he is out of reach again

(OOC: I assume that that meant out of melee range.  Will you let us know how far away we are from Eppie and The Hunter at the point?  We have some speedy characters who may be able to close some distance, and a few of us have spells or attacks with a range of ~100 ft.  I'm curious whether anyone can both get in range and make a useful action this round. 

Also, where is Simon in relation to the others?  Even with the temporary HP, I suspect that The Hunter still dropped Simon with that second hit.)

Quote from Ben_Evolent >>

making sure he is out of reach again

(OOC: I assume that that meant out of melee range.  Will you let us know how far away we are from Eppie and The Hunter at the point?  We have some speedy characters who may be able to close some distance, and a few of us have spells or attacks with a range of ~100 ft.  I'm curious whether anyone can both get in range and make a useful action this round. 

Also, where is Simon in relation to the others?  Even with the temporary HP, I suspect that The Hunter still dropped Simon with that second hit.)

 The Hunter was already a way out from Eppie (I'd say probably about 20'). Everyone else was, if I remember correctly, around 100-200' down the tunnel waiting to ambush him when he passed Eppie, which he decided not to do as soon as he realized that there was an ambush waiting for him. So, as he was already about 20' away, and his movement speed is 45', he's at least 165' away from everyone but Eppie (whom he is only 65' away from) and Simon (who presumably covered enough distance to be within 60' of the Hunter's original position, so that would put Simon within about 105' of the Hunter).

Simon is dropped before he can take his shot

Quote from Mister_Whisker >>

Quote from Ben_Evolent >>

Will you let us know how far away we are from Eppie and The Hunter at the point?  We have some speedy characters who may be able to close some distance, and a few of us have spells or attacks with a range of ~100 ft.  I'm curious whether anyone can both get in range and make a useful action this round. 

Also, where is Simon in relation to the others?  Even with the temporary HP, I suspect that The Hunter still dropped Simon with that second hit.)

 The Hunter was already a way out from Eppie (I'd say probably about 20'). Everyone else was, if I remember correctly, around 100-200' down the tunnel waiting to ambush him when he passed Eppie, which he decided not to do as soon as he realized that there was an ambush waiting for him. So, as he was already about 20' away, and his movement speed is 45', he's at least 165' away from everyone but Eppie (whom he is only 65' away from) and Simon (who presumably covered enough distance to be within 60' of the Hunter's original position, so that would put Simon within about 105' of the Hunter).

(OOC: Let me be more clear about what I was trying to ask.  I'll assume that the party was 120' from the fork in the tunnel when Eppie notified them.  Eppie was 5' from the fork down the other tunnel, and the Hunter attacked Eppie and hid about 20' from her, which would put him about 15' before he reached the fork. 

I thought that the party started to hurry toward Eppie as soon as she said that she had been spotted.  The Hunter attacked Eppie and hid while we abandoned stealth and just charged back to the fork.  Then the current round started.  Is that right?

I'm just trying to figure out whether Erik spent the whole round while Eppie was being attacked dashing back to her.  That would put him 50' away from the fork in the tunnel at the start of this round and ~110' from The Hunter.  But since The Hunter didn't hide this round, Erik could get into range to use his Lightning Launcher this round.  Or are you saying that we started the current round still 120' from the fork? 

If we did spend that first round dashing back, that means different things to different characters.  For example, after 1 round of dashing, Simon would have been just 60' from the fork at the start of this round, and using feline agility, he would have made it right to the fork before he was hit by The Hunter.  If he does go down, that puts him too far for Erik to help this round but close enough to help next round.

Pinion is fast and would have dashed ahead of everyone without using any ki points.  At the start of this round, Pinion would be just 20' short of the fork and ~80' from The Hunter.  That would give him some very interesting options this round at the risk of engaging The Hunter all by himself, and it also means that The Hunter is in range of Pinion's lantern so that the party can see him.

I think that Adams is the slowest and would be starting this round ~60' from the fork and 120' from The Hunter.  But if Adams just wants to attack, I think that he has some options for very long range attacks now that he has line-of-sight on The Hunter.)

I'll go with yes, you could use your lightning gun to try and zap the Hunter if you're in range.

Quote from Mister_Whisker >>

I'll go with yes, you could use your lightning gun to try and zap the Hunter if you're in range.

(OOC: OK.  Going with the way I described it above and assuming that the whole party simply dashed back toward the fork as soon as Eppie contacted us, here's a janky map with 5' squares that I created in Rollz just to see where everyone would be at the end of The Hunter's turn in round 1. 

Positions aren't exact.  For example, I'm not exactly sure where Eppie is and whether she still has line-of-sight to The Hunter.  I also started everyone at exactly 120' from the fork, but based on the party's marching order, Adams should probably be a little to the right of Erik and Toa for example.  Anyway, it's a good approximation for figuring out who's in range for what on their turn this round.

IIRC - it's currently Adams's turn.

• ✔ Simon (23)
• ✔ Eppie (22)
• ✔ The Hunter (10)
• ⭐Adams (9)
• Pinion (7)
• Erik (6)
• Toa (3)

I'll wait until after Adams and Pinion post because Erik's action might actually depend on what they do.

)

Adams will advance and with his rifle take aim and fire. He uses 1 grit point for ADV with each shot.

1st shot (18 to hit with 28 Damage =17+ 10 + 1);

2nd shot (27 to hit with 19 Damage =15 + 4)

Simon will shoot his gun before dropping to the ground, 

Attack: 25

Damage: 17 + 23 (Sneak Damage)

A soft hum builds into a steady tone as Pinon gears up for break neck speed.  In an instant, the small monk bursts ahead with his bullseye lantern.  The mechanical monk is heading toward the Hunter or rather, the wall to the left.  Before closing within reach, Pinon leaps up and scales along the left wall just high enough to avoid the hunter.  The small monk drops down some 10' behind the hunter, holding the lantern facing further down the corridor to prevent the hunter from hiding easily...

Pinion calls upon his ki and assumes a patient defense, awaiting the Hunter's attack with the other hand ready for an arrow...

Erik

Erik isn't as fast as the others, but he continues flying back toward the fork, leaning forward with shield in hand and his feet a few inches off the ground.  As he approaches the fork, Erik slows down to get ready to fire at The Hunter, whom he can now see in the light of Pinion's lantern.  He sees Simon drop after firing his shot and calls out for the Eppie and anyone else who currently can't see Simon, "Simon is down!  I can help him if no one else can get to him."  But since he cannot get to SImon, and he doesn't think that any of his spells would be particularly effective in this case, he simply raises his free hand, and lighting flashes down the icy tunnel toward The Hunter (twice).  

Movement: 35' (flying) toward the fork.  At the end of his turn, Erik is still about 15' short of Simon and 75' from The Hunter.
Action: Two attacks with Lightning Launcher, range (90/300)
  Attack 1 against The Hunter: 15, Damage: 12 (lightning)
  Attack 2 against The Hunter: 26, Damage: 11 (lightning)
  If either attack hits, the first hit does an additional 5 (lightning) damage (or 7 (lightning) damage if it was a critical hit)
Free Action: Talking.

Concentration: Enhance Ability, round 9 of 600

I don't think anyone was within 5-ft of the Hunter when Simon shot him, so I don't think Sneak Attack applies.

Several shots ring out, and twin bolts of lightning hurdle towards the Hunter! The lion-like creature manages to dodge the worst of it from Simon's attack (used Uncanny Dodge), only to be hit twice by Adams and once by Erik. The Hunter has taken a lot of damage, but he still seems like he's more than capable of fighting on...

Toa is up!

Chasing back to gain ground on the Hunter, Toa grins in rueful admiration of their elusive leonine adversary.  He hunts well indeed.  Worthy of respect.  A fellow son of Tūmatauenga...  if only he was a nicer guy!

Instinctively, without thought, Toa had used his Echo to dash during the previous round when everyone was running back:
- Echo started 30' to the east already, having been in the rear.
- (Free) Move echo 30' further east (60' total).
- Bonus action swap position with echo (costs 15' movement).
- Dash, would normally be 70' further, but with 15' movement used, it is 55' further.
- Total movement prior to this round:  60' + 55' = 115' east.
- So assume 45' east of Erik's position on above map.
- Echo vanished at end of prior turn.
(All of the above happened on the previous turn).

Finding his quarry in sight, Toa begins a solemn, grunting chant as he charges blithely past Simon's bleeding body.  Someone else would have to heal or revive his sneaky, fallen companion, or if not, the ancestral spirits would honor Simon with feasts on the sunny shores of the afterworld.

For once, Toa does not summon his echo.  Beginning his Rage, he dashes 70' further east (14 squares east) to finish in melee, 5' north of the Hunter.  Toa's smile as he raises his maul is not unfriendly.  Respectful, even.  But his attacks are Reckless.

Movement:  Sarting 45' east of where he is shown on the map, Toa dashes 70' further east (14 squares E) to finish 5' north of the Hunter.
Bonus Action:  Toa Rages
Action:  Toa dashes (see above).
Second Action:  (Action Surge) Toa attacks the Hunter Recklessly with his maul.  (2 attacks, no 3rd attack from Unleash Incarnation since echo is gone).

Maul attack 1 to hit Hunter:  27
Maul attack 1 damage including Rage:  12 bludgeoning

Maul attack 2 to hit Hunter:  26
Maul attack 2 damage including Rage:  8 bludgeoning (ugh - rolled two 1s on 2d6)

Forced Movement from Crusher feat:  Toa swings left to right, backhand, and on a hit, the Hunter is smashed 5' West, still in melee, now SW of Toa.

Ancestral Protectors:  until Toa's next turn, the Hunter has disadvantage on all attacks against any target other than Toa.  Against Toa, attacks would have advantage due to Reckless Attack, except ranged attacks within 5' would also have disadvantage, making those a straight roll.