What Gruxx provided this morning will last you through supper, so you don't need to supplement with anything tonight. However, with the idea that you could find something tonight eat tomorrow or another day ...
On his way back from filling the buckets, Glynquinal walks the opposite way around a fallen tree and discovers a large cluster of mushrooms growing on the rotting trunk.
Ian looks around the campsite, and while there are signs that it was used recently, he doesn't find anything which would indicate a trap or that anyone lingers in the area.
Ian, you'll want to roll a new perception check for your watch. :)
Having enough food from Gruxx's successful hunt Glynquinal takes the large bunch of mushrooms he's gathered and tucks them away for later. Having seen to the oxen, he places himself in a comfortable position with his back to one of the wagon wheels, and sits down to enter his resting trance.
"I may have heard of that song," the Herr Doktor Professor says to Glynquinal, "but I am not really a song-and-dance type of bard. My field of study is folklore -- myths and legends and the like"
Over the campfire that night, the Herr Doktor Professor narrates the tale of Agatha, the banshee that haunts the village of Conyberry (mentioned in the Drizzt Do'Urden books). He adds a tale he has heard ("Or perhaps one I have made up," he says with a sly smile) about the time the High Paladin of Ilmater tried to destroy Agatha with vials of holy water. "But the holy water caused neither smoke nor spark on the ghostly undead," the High Paladin reported. The High Paladin left Conyberry convinced that Agatha was immune to holy water, not realizing that the villagers, who felt protective towards their local ghost, had replaced his holy water with well water while he slept.
After telling his tale, the Herr Doktor Professor readies for sleep. If there is no change in the order of watches, he will take the third watch with Grux as before.
This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
Super secret DM roll: 7
As Glynquinal, Gruxx and Herr Doktor settle in to rest, Ian sits by the fire to keep watch. About 30-45 minutes after the others have stopped tossing and turning and appear to be resting comfortably, Ian hears some noises to the southeast which cause him to turn and look. To his horror, six wolves are stepping out of the woods into the clearing, their eyes on him.
Your first combat situation. At this point, your DM would normally ask for you to roll initiative. Initiative determines how soon you move each round. Your character sheet tells you what modifier to add (or subtract) from your d20 roll, but it's always your DEX modifier ... unless you have a magic item that boosts your initiative. As DM, I roll initiative for the bad guys. General rules are each kind of creature has the same initiative so they all go at once. Some DMs will roll individual initiative for each creature. I have done this in the past, but it can slow combat because if I have to post between every post (or around that often), you all could be caught waiting for me if I'm busy. So, I'm not going to do that for this campaign. Also, since it helps move combat along, I'm also going to roll initiative for all of you as well. I also do something a little different from other DMs: I like to roll the HP of each foe so that they might be a little lower or a little higher than the suggested HP. This adds a little interest.
You each need to get used to updating your character sheet. For instance, Glynquinal, you didn't put the mushrooms you collected anywhere (that I could find) on your character sheet. Use the sheet to your advantage. Don't make yourself remember stuff. During combat, you NEED to keep your HP updated. DMs I've played with in the past have supplied this information regularly during combat. What I've found is that it promotes laziness, so I'm going to expect you to keep up with your own HP. If you are hurt and want someone to heal you, you need to say so. (You're allowed six seconds of speech per turn as a free action.) You also need to keep track of used spell slots and other abilities like bardic inspiration, rages, and misty step. Gruxx, a barbarian note: it's easy to forget that if you don't attack a hostile enemy or take damage before your next turn, your rage ends. So, make sure you don't enter your rage too early, and make sure to attack a hostile enemy or take damage each turn to keep your rage going.
Post what you want to do on your turn. You get an action and a bonus, and you can move. You don't have to do them in that order, and you don't have to move all at once. If you're not sure if you can do something, ask. This will sometimes slow down combat, but that's OK. We're ALL learning. If you're afraid you won't be on again for a while, and you don't want to hold up other players, you may pre-post. Even if it's not your turn, you can say what you'd like to do on your next turn. If something that happens before your turn negates your pre-post, I will hold up the game to ask if you still want to do that or ask you to change your post to account for the changed circumstances. I will ask you to post pre-post actions in a spoiler so that the others players will hopefully not metagame and act in accordance with what would essentially happen after their turn. For instance, if Herr Doktor pre-posts before Ian and rolls a huge hit that will kill an enemy, I would ask Ian to ignore (if he read) the spoiler and act as though he doesn't know about Herr Doktor's impending kill. It's hard, but it's the right thing to do.
Initiative roll: 57
You'll notice in the Round 1 summary (each round will receive one of these to keep you up to date on stuff you need to know) that each of you is "prone". If you're lying down or sitting, you're prone. All this means is you have to use half your movement to stand up. So, Ian, your movement is 35 feet. You would use half (17.5) to stand up, leaving you with 17.5. In D&D 5e, you always round DOWN, so that means you have 15 feet of movement left.
Round 1: Ian (prone), Black Wolf, Blue Wolf, Green Wolf, Orange Wolf, Red Wolf, Yellow Wolf, Herr Doktor (prone), Gruxx (prone), Glynquinal (prone)
The order is the order of turns. It just so happens that Ian rolled the highest initiative and gets to go first, which is appropriate for the narrative. After he goes, the six wolves will go. You'll notice the map has letters and numbers to indicate the grid squares. When you are moving (you can move up, down, left, right, and diagonally), please indicate the square you move to. Note that all of you are size medium, so moving "through" another player is considered difficult terrain. When moving through difficult terrain, it costs you 10 feet per square instead of the regular 5. You cannot move through an enemy, but you can move through a dead enemy (also difficult terrain). I also allow players to stand in the same square as dead/unconscious characters (friends or foes). Also, I rule it's not double movement to ENTER a square of difficult terrain, it's double movement to EXIT a square of difficult terrain.
Glynquinal having taken his resting trance against he right side of the wagon back to the wheel, is not centered around the fire. Assuming the wolves noticed him, and knocked him prone, he would stand up, and draw his short sword readying himself for action. Casting Misty Step Glynquinal would poof out to the top of the wagon.
Ian stands up, and attempts to wake the others by say " Gruxx, Doktor, Glyn, wake up, look to the southeast, but dont make any sudden moves" in a loud-ish whisper. Ian will take out his longbow, and with his remaining distance, move stealthily to the trees next to him for cover, and (because of his Mask of the Wild abilities as a Wood Elf) will attempt to hide, even though only lightly obscured. Once hidden, Ian will once more attempt to alert his friends to wake up (if they arent already) with another loud-ish whisper, and let loose an arrow at the orange wolf, in an attempt to scare the pack away by drawing first blood.
(not sure what is necessary in this moment - i dont think it takes a roll to move or attempt to hide, but I really dont know, so I will roll my attack on the wolves with the longbow)
Hearing Ian call out a warning Glynquinal wakes quickly, stands up, and uses Misty Step to appear on top of the wagon with his Short Sword in hand. Surveying the scene he looks to Herr Doktor, and Gruxx to see if they are awake and alert.
OOC: OK, I'm going to stop using the spoilers. I wonder if some of you aren't reading them. :) First of all: Happy Thanksgiving. I am still stuffed.
1) I already rolled initiative for all of you; that's how I know the order of combat. Some DMs do this, some don't — I do. So, none of you needed to roll initiative.
2) I did miss where Glynquinal said he was sleeping against the wheel. I apologize. You rolled to determine which side. That's fine, but do you think he would have been sleeping on the opposite side of the wagon from where the others were sleeping? It's possible, but does it fit with his character? For now, we'll go ahead and say it's true.
3) Let me talk about misty step. If you really want to use it, that's fine. Make note that you can only use it once per short rest. (By the way, I see that you checked it off on your character sheet, and I'm very excited to see that.) While it is once per short rest as opposed to long rest, meaning you'll normally be able to use it several times a day, are you using it in the best way right now? I would encourage you to think of misty step as an escape plan. Normally, when moving by an active enemy (away from them), they can make an attack of opportunity, meaning they have the option to use their reaction that round to roll an attack against you as you move by/away. However, if you use misty step, you appear in another square, and they don't get to take that attack of opportunity. Like I said, it's kind of like an escape plan. (By the way, you all have a chance to take attacks of opportunity — AoO — when an enemy is within 5 feet of you and then moves away from you as well. They can move AROUND you, staying within 5 feet, and it doesn't trigger the AoO.)
4) Ian, hiding is an action. Your mask of the wild just means it is easier for you to hide (the roll you would make doesn't have to be as high and/or I will allow you to attempt to hide in places I wouldn't allow others to hide). So, you're going to need to decide if you hide or if you attack.
5) Speaking is a free action, so it is perfectly acceptable (and commendable) that you spoke to wake everyone else up on your turn. And now you can either hide or attack.
6) If you roll a natural 20 on an attack roll, you get to double the amount of damage dice. So, if you roll a natural 20 and you normally roll 1d8+4, you would roll 2d8+4 (you only double the amount of dice, not the modifier). If you are a Critical Role watcher, you know that they double the dice result instead of doubling the amount of dice. I think this is a Pathfinder holdover. The rules for 5e are to double the amount of dice. There is code to accomplish this: Attack: [ roll]1d20cs=20+2[ /roll]; damage: [ roll]if([roll:-1:critical],=0,1d8+4,2d8+4)[ /roll]. If you want, you can copy and paste this, altering the attack modifier, damage dice and damage modifier. Built into the code is to watch for critical (natural 20) and double the dice if it happens. If you don't want to copy and paste, Ian could have edited his post and just rolled a second d6 after the existing rolls. Again, don't try to alter the existing dice or put any new dice rolls before any existing dice rolls, but he could have put at the END of the existing post something like, "NAT 20! WHOO! Here's my additional roll: [ roll]1d6[ /roll]" and I would know to add that result to the 9 that he rolled. Note that the additional roll does not include the modifier because the modifier doesn't double. So, Ian, if you want to attack instead of hide, go ahead and post that second d6. However, if you want to hide, I'll use the first roll, the natural 20, and say that you hide so well, it is like you have become invisible.
7) Glynquinal, Herr Doktor and Gruxx: On your first turn, which technically comes after the wolves move (which will happen after Ian decides if he wants to hide or attack), you will be awake because Ian awoke you during his turn. On your respective turns, you can each use half your movement to stand, then you will need to decide if you move before and/or after you act. If you do, let me know where you move to. Remember to count your squares; each is 5 feet. You can use up your movement or not — up to you. Decide if you're going to attack if you can be within five feet of an enemy or further if you are using a ranged weapon. If you're using a ranged weapon, know the distance that is acceptable. (If you have questions about that, let me know.) Know that if you want to use a ranged weapon, but a wolf is right beside you (in the next square), that a ranged weapon fires at disadvantage at close range. That means you roll 1d20 twice and keep the LOWER result. When you use the dice roller (dice icon) and tell it to roll at disadvantage, the result will look like this: [ roll]1d20da[ /roll]. But again, if you move away from an enemy (from 5 feet to further away than 5 feet), they can make an AoO against you as you move away from them if they choose (and still have their reaction for that round).
8) If you don't want to attack on your turn, you can ready an action or movement on your turn. That means you declare what you want to do before your next turn if something specific happens. For instance, you could say, "I ready to attack with my daggers if a wolf comes within 5 feet of me." Then, the first wolf that moves within 5 feet of you triggers that attack and you will attack them before they do anything else. Or you can not use all of your movement on your turn and say, "If an enemy comes within 10 feet of me, I want to move away from them the remainder of my movement." Then, if a wolf moves toward you and gets 10 feet away, you will move away from them the remainder of your movement for that round before the wolf does anything else. They still might get close enough to attack you if they have more movement left than you do, but you get the point.
I know this is a lot of information. Please feel free to ask questions. In order to move along with combat, Ian needs to decide if he's hiding or if he's attacking. Either way, he should let me know where he moves to (give me a square letter and number). If he is attacking, give me another d6 roll so I know how much damage he inflicted on the orange wolf. After he gives me that information, I will act for each of the wolves, and then the sleepy heads can act (if they're still alive — mwuahahahahahahaha!).
9) One more note: You can only have equipped the things you can hold at the time. So, if you're holding a one-handed sword and a shield in each hand, you shouldn't have a shortbow equipped as well. Drawing a weapon and/or donning a shield is a free action. However, to switch weapons, you have two main options: You can sheath/put away the current weapon and draw the second weapon, but sheathing/putting away a weapon uses an action. You would then be able to draw your other weapon, but you would have used your action for that turn and couldn't attack. The other main option is to DROP the current weapon and draw the second weapon. Dropping a weapon doesn't use your action, so you would still have your action after drawing the new weapon. You just have remember to go pick up the dropped weapon later, or you leave it behind and no longer have it.
So, Ian, if you're keeping watch with your shortbow ready, you shouldn't have your daggers nor your rapier equipped. You others, since you're sleeping, you (technically) shouldn't have any weapons equipped, though if you always use one weapon, it's not unusual for you to keep that one weapon equipped all the time.
OOC - DDP thanks for the good info. Ian will decide to attack from the cover of the tree, and NOT use his action to hide (what is the roll to hide, just a d20? any modifiers?). the additional damage is 5 and he moved to square K6.
Since HDP's action comes after the wolves' movement, the character will rise from prone (using up half of his movement), survey the battlefield (free action), then likely use his standard action to cast a spell. I'll probably use Sleep or Faerie Fire (dependent on the battlefield dispositions: I don't want to catch Grux in the Sleep spell, and I wouldn't want to accidentally Faerie Fire an ally). Afterwards, if there are no wolves adjacent to HDP, he will move 3 squares to E7. If there are wolves adjacent to him, he will stay in place in H6.
This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
OOC: Ian, to hide, you would roll a d20 and add your stealth modifier (+7).
DM's super secret roll: 58
Ian stands up, and attempts to wake the others by saying, "Gruxx, Doktor, Glyn, wake up. Look to the southeast, but don't make any sudden moves," in a loud-ish whisper. The elf takes out his shortbow, and moves to the tree next to him for cover. Once under the tree's canopy, he lets loose an arrow at the largest (orange) wolf, in an attempt to scare the pack away by drawing first blood. The arrow strikes the wolf in the eye. Ian expects the wound to be a mortal blow, but the wolf does not drop.
A second super secret roll: 8
The entire pack begins to growl like mad and four of them, including the huge (orange) one advance.
The smallest (black) wolf and one of the two next smallest (blue) wolves do not move, but growl and bear their teeth menacingly.
One of the two a little bigger (green) scrambles up to Ian (L6) and attempts to take a bite out of the elf (attack: 20), but Ian is able to use his shortbow to deflect that wolf's bite.
The huge (orange) wolf shakes its head violently, blood flying everywhere, then it flies forward to exact retribution. (attack: 14; damage: 8) The wolf gets in under Ian's defenses and takes a huge chunk of flesh out of Ian's leg, wounding the rogue mightily.
Another second-smallest (red) wolf runs forward (H7) and attempts to take a bite out of Herr Doktor. (attack: 15; fumble roll: 4; self-inflicted damage: 3) The wolf bites down on the bard, but it bits down on something very hard on his person. This not only protects Herr Doktor from any damage, it breaks some of the wolf's teeth, causing it to yip in pain.
The last (yellow) wolf also runs forward to attack Ian (L5). Because of its pack mates harrying the rogue, it bites with advantage (which the orange wolf should have as well, but it hit without it, so no big deal). (attack: 8; damage: 10) It also bites Ian on the leg, and the rogue drops to the ground unconscious.
Herr Doktor's turn.
A note about "fumble roll". If you roll a 1 for any attack or skill check, I will have fun with it. For attacks, I refer to a fumble chart. I'll either tell you to roll a die to determine what the result is or I will roll it for you. For the wolf, the chart told me to roll a d10 and the result (1) says this: "The attacker snaps one or several teeth / claws on its target’s weapon or armour, or nearby surface. They receive 1d3hp of damage, and furthermore they must subtract the result of the same d3 roll from damage done from this attack from now on. (Ignore for tail attacks)." So, I rolled a d3 and it received 1 point of damage. There are different charts for melee attacks, ranged attacks, natural attacks (which is what a wolf's bite is), etc.
This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
The Herr Doktor Professor scrambles to his feet.
Ian's timely warning woke him from a sound sleep, allowing him to shove his sheathed rapier into the jaw of the wolf attacking him, breaking its tooth.
He sees the rogue has paid a price for his bravery -- fallen beneath the attacks of three wolves.
But the Herr Doktor Professor knows that in all the good stories, the brave ones always get back up again. He speaks an old magical rhyme in Ian's direction:
"Clay lies still but bloods a rover, Breath's a ware that will not keep. Up, lad! When the battle's over, there'll be time enough to sleep!"
Bonus action: Cast Healing Word at Ian. Heal 7 hit points.
Ian says that he will take the first watch
What Gruxx provided this morning will last you through supper, so you don't need to supplement with anything tonight. However, with the idea that you could find something tonight eat tomorrow or another day ...
On his way back from filling the buckets, Glynquinal walks the opposite way around a fallen tree and discovers a large cluster of mushrooms growing on the rotting trunk.
Ian looks around the campsite, and while there are signs that it was used recently, he doesn't find anything which would indicate a trap or that anyone lingers in the area.
Ian, you'll want to roll a new perception check for your watch. :)
Having enough food from Gruxx's successful hunt Glynquinal takes the large bunch of mushrooms he's gathered and tucks them away for later. Having seen to the oxen, he places himself in a comfortable position with his back to one of the wagon wheels, and sits down to enter his resting trance.
"I may have heard of that song," the Herr Doktor Professor says to Glynquinal, "but I am not really a song-and-dance type of bard. My field of study is folklore -- myths and legends and the like"
Over the campfire that night, the Herr Doktor Professor narrates the tale of Agatha, the banshee that haunts the village of Conyberry (mentioned in the Drizzt Do'Urden books). He adds a tale he has heard ("Or perhaps one I have made up," he says with a sly smile) about the time the High Paladin of Ilmater tried to destroy Agatha with vials of holy water. "But the holy water caused neither smoke nor spark on the ghostly undead," the High Paladin reported. The High Paladin left Conyberry convinced that Agatha was immune to holy water, not realizing that the villagers, who felt protective towards their local ghost, had replaced his holy water with well water while he slept.
After telling his tale, the Herr Doktor Professor readies for sleep. If there is no change in the order of watches, he will take the third watch with Grux as before.
He rolls for his Perception check: 8
Ian thanks Herr Doktor for the tale, and readies himself for the first watch.
Perception: 10
Grux says, "Ah, nothing like food from the wild and a nice night out in the wilderness. Wake me for my watch"
Perception: 8
Super secret DM roll: 7
As Glynquinal, Gruxx and Herr Doktor settle in to rest, Ian sits by the fire to keep watch. About 30-45 minutes after the others have stopped tossing and turning and appear to be resting comfortably, Ian hears some noises to the southeast which cause him to turn and look. To his horror, six wolves are stepping out of the woods into the clearing, their eyes on him.
Your first combat situation. At this point, your DM would normally ask for you to roll initiative. Initiative determines how soon you move each round. Your character sheet tells you what modifier to add (or subtract) from your d20 roll, but it's always your DEX modifier ... unless you have a magic item that boosts your initiative. As DM, I roll initiative for the bad guys. General rules are each kind of creature has the same initiative so they all go at once. Some DMs will roll individual initiative for each creature. I have done this in the past, but it can slow combat because if I have to post between every post (or around that often), you all could be caught waiting for me if I'm busy. So, I'm not going to do that for this campaign. Also, since it helps move combat along, I'm also going to roll initiative for all of you as well. I also do something a little different from other DMs: I like to roll the HP of each foe so that they might be a little lower or a little higher than the suggested HP. This adds a little interest.
You each need to get used to updating your character sheet. For instance, Glynquinal, you didn't put the mushrooms you collected anywhere (that I could find) on your character sheet. Use the sheet to your advantage. Don't make yourself remember stuff. During combat, you NEED to keep your HP updated. DMs I've played with in the past have supplied this information regularly during combat. What I've found is that it promotes laziness, so I'm going to expect you to keep up with your own HP. If you are hurt and want someone to heal you, you need to say so. (You're allowed six seconds of speech per turn as a free action.) You also need to keep track of used spell slots and other abilities like bardic inspiration, rages, and misty step. Gruxx, a barbarian note: it's easy to forget that if you don't attack a hostile enemy or take damage before your next turn, your rage ends. So, make sure you don't enter your rage too early, and make sure to attack a hostile enemy or take damage each turn to keep your rage going.
Post what you want to do on your turn. You get an action and a bonus, and you can move. You don't have to do them in that order, and you don't have to move all at once. If you're not sure if you can do something, ask. This will sometimes slow down combat, but that's OK. We're ALL learning. If you're afraid you won't be on again for a while, and you don't want to hold up other players, you may pre-post. Even if it's not your turn, you can say what you'd like to do on your next turn. If something that happens before your turn negates your pre-post, I will hold up the game to ask if you still want to do that or ask you to change your post to account for the changed circumstances. I will ask you to post pre-post actions in a spoiler so that the others players will hopefully not metagame and act in accordance with what would essentially happen after their turn. For instance, if Herr Doktor pre-posts before Ian and rolls a huge hit that will kill an enemy, I would ask Ian to ignore (if he read) the spoiler and act as though he doesn't know about Herr Doktor's impending kill. It's hard, but it's the right thing to do.
Initiative roll: 57
You'll notice in the Round 1 summary (each round will receive one of these to keep you up to date on stuff you need to know) that each of you is "prone". If you're lying down or sitting, you're prone. All this means is you have to use half your movement to stand up. So, Ian, your movement is 35 feet. You would use half (17.5) to stand up, leaving you with 17.5. In D&D 5e, you always round DOWN, so that means you have 15 feet of movement left.
Round 1: Ian (prone), Black Wolf, Blue Wolf, Green Wolf, Orange Wolf, Red Wolf, Yellow Wolf, Herr Doktor (prone), Gruxx (prone), Glynquinal (prone)
The order is the order of turns. It just so happens that Ian rolled the highest initiative and gets to go first, which is appropriate for the narrative. After he goes, the six wolves will go. You'll notice the map has letters and numbers to indicate the grid squares. When you are moving (you can move up, down, left, right, and diagonally), please indicate the square you move to. Note that all of you are size medium, so moving "through" another player is considered difficult terrain. When moving through difficult terrain, it costs you 10 feet per square instead of the regular 5. You cannot move through an enemy, but you can move through a dead enemy (also difficult terrain). I also allow players to stand in the same square as dead/unconscious characters (friends or foes). Also, I rule it's not double movement to ENTER a square of difficult terrain, it's double movement to EXIT a square of difficult terrain.
So, Ian, you're up!
Glynquinal having taken his resting trance against he right side of the wagon back to the wheel, is not centered around the fire. Assuming the wolves noticed him, and knocked him prone, he would stand up, and draw his short sword readying himself for action. Casting Misty Step Glynquinal would poof out to the top of the wagon.
Glynquinal Initiative 6
Herr Doktor Professor rolls initiative: 6
The elves might have to spend an action to wake up the human and half-elf; otherwise, it'll be two against six instead of four against six.
Ian stands up, and attempts to wake the others by say " Gruxx, Doktor, Glyn, wake up, look to the southeast, but dont make any sudden moves" in a loud-ish whisper. Ian will take out his longbow, and with his remaining distance, move stealthily to the trees next to him for cover, and (because of his Mask of the Wild abilities as a Wood Elf) will attempt to hide, even though only lightly obscured. Once hidden, Ian will once more attempt to alert his friends to wake up (if they arent already) with another loud-ish whisper, and let loose an arrow at the orange wolf, in an attempt to scare the pack away by drawing first blood.
(not sure what is necessary in this moment - i dont think it takes a roll to move or attempt to hide, but I really dont know, so I will roll my attack on the wolves with the longbow)
longbow attack (+dex): 23
longbow damage: 9
OOC
NAT 20! WHOO! do i need to roll something else? or will you just multiply the damage?
Hearing Ian call out a warning Glynquinal wakes quickly, stands up, and uses Misty Step to appear on top of the wagon with his Short Sword in hand. Surveying the scene he looks to Herr Doktor, and Gruxx to see if they are awake and alert.
Gruxx will stand up and draw his Glaive. He will do as told and not move at this time.
Initiative: 17
OOC: OK, I'm going to stop using the spoilers. I wonder if some of you aren't reading them. :) First of all: Happy Thanksgiving. I am still stuffed.
1) I already rolled initiative for all of you; that's how I know the order of combat. Some DMs do this, some don't — I do. So, none of you needed to roll initiative.
2) I did miss where Glynquinal said he was sleeping against the wheel. I apologize. You rolled to determine which side. That's fine, but do you think he would have been sleeping on the opposite side of the wagon from where the others were sleeping? It's possible, but does it fit with his character? For now, we'll go ahead and say it's true.
3) Let me talk about misty step. If you really want to use it, that's fine. Make note that you can only use it once per short rest. (By the way, I see that you checked it off on your character sheet, and I'm very excited to see that.) While it is once per short rest as opposed to long rest, meaning you'll normally be able to use it several times a day, are you using it in the best way right now? I would encourage you to think of misty step as an escape plan. Normally, when moving by an active enemy (away from them), they can make an attack of opportunity, meaning they have the option to use their reaction that round to roll an attack against you as you move by/away. However, if you use misty step, you appear in another square, and they don't get to take that attack of opportunity. Like I said, it's kind of like an escape plan. (By the way, you all have a chance to take attacks of opportunity — AoO — when an enemy is within 5 feet of you and then moves away from you as well. They can move AROUND you, staying within 5 feet, and it doesn't trigger the AoO.)
4) Ian, hiding is an action. Your mask of the wild just means it is easier for you to hide (the roll you would make doesn't have to be as high and/or I will allow you to attempt to hide in places I wouldn't allow others to hide). So, you're going to need to decide if you hide or if you attack.
5) Speaking is a free action, so it is perfectly acceptable (and commendable) that you spoke to wake everyone else up on your turn. And now you can either hide or attack.
6) If you roll a natural 20 on an attack roll, you get to double the amount of damage dice. So, if you roll a natural 20 and you normally roll 1d8+4, you would roll 2d8+4 (you only double the amount of dice, not the modifier). If you are a Critical Role watcher, you know that they double the dice result instead of doubling the amount of dice. I think this is a Pathfinder holdover. The rules for 5e are to double the amount of dice. There is code to accomplish this: Attack: [ roll]1d20cs=20+2[ /roll]; damage: [ roll]if([roll:-1:critical],=0,1d8+4,2d8+4)[ /roll]. If you want, you can copy and paste this, altering the attack modifier, damage dice and damage modifier. Built into the code is to watch for critical (natural 20) and double the dice if it happens. If you don't want to copy and paste, Ian could have edited his post and just rolled a second d6 after the existing rolls. Again, don't try to alter the existing dice or put any new dice rolls before any existing dice rolls, but he could have put at the END of the existing post something like, "NAT 20! WHOO! Here's my additional roll: [ roll]1d6[ /roll]" and I would know to add that result to the 9 that he rolled. Note that the additional roll does not include the modifier because the modifier doesn't double. So, Ian, if you want to attack instead of hide, go ahead and post that second d6. However, if you want to hide, I'll use the first roll, the natural 20, and say that you hide so well, it is like you have become invisible.
7) Glynquinal, Herr Doktor and Gruxx: On your first turn, which technically comes after the wolves move (which will happen after Ian decides if he wants to hide or attack), you will be awake because Ian awoke you during his turn. On your respective turns, you can each use half your movement to stand, then you will need to decide if you move before and/or after you act. If you do, let me know where you move to. Remember to count your squares; each is 5 feet. You can use up your movement or not — up to you. Decide if you're going to attack if you can be within five feet of an enemy or further if you are using a ranged weapon. If you're using a ranged weapon, know the distance that is acceptable. (If you have questions about that, let me know.) Know that if you want to use a ranged weapon, but a wolf is right beside you (in the next square), that a ranged weapon fires at disadvantage at close range. That means you roll 1d20 twice and keep the LOWER result. When you use the dice roller (dice icon) and tell it to roll at disadvantage, the result will look like this: [ roll]1d20da[ /roll]. But again, if you move away from an enemy (from 5 feet to further away than 5 feet), they can make an AoO against you as you move away from them if they choose (and still have their reaction for that round).
8) If you don't want to attack on your turn, you can ready an action or movement on your turn. That means you declare what you want to do before your next turn if something specific happens. For instance, you could say, "I ready to attack with my daggers if a wolf comes within 5 feet of me." Then, the first wolf that moves within 5 feet of you triggers that attack and you will attack them before they do anything else. Or you can not use all of your movement on your turn and say, "If an enemy comes within 10 feet of me, I want to move away from them the remainder of my movement." Then, if a wolf moves toward you and gets 10 feet away, you will move away from them the remainder of your movement for that round before the wolf does anything else. They still might get close enough to attack you if they have more movement left than you do, but you get the point.
I know this is a lot of information. Please feel free to ask questions. In order to move along with combat, Ian needs to decide if he's hiding or if he's attacking. Either way, he should let me know where he moves to (give me a square letter and number). If he is attacking, give me another d6 roll so I know how much damage he inflicted on the orange wolf. After he gives me that information, I will act for each of the wolves, and then the sleepy heads can act (if they're still alive — mwuahahahahahahaha!).
9) One more note: You can only have equipped the things you can hold at the time. So, if you're holding a one-handed sword and a shield in each hand, you shouldn't have a shortbow equipped as well. Drawing a weapon and/or donning a shield is a free action. However, to switch weapons, you have two main options: You can sheath/put away the current weapon and draw the second weapon, but sheathing/putting away a weapon uses an action. You would then be able to draw your other weapon, but you would have used your action for that turn and couldn't attack. The other main option is to DROP the current weapon and draw the second weapon. Dropping a weapon doesn't use your action, so you would still have your action after drawing the new weapon. You just have remember to go pick up the dropped weapon later, or you leave it behind and no longer have it.
So, Ian, if you're keeping watch with your shortbow ready, you shouldn't have your daggers nor your rapier equipped. You others, since you're sleeping, you (technically) shouldn't have any weapons equipped, though if you always use one weapon, it's not unusual for you to keep that one weapon equipped all the time.
OOC - DDP thanks for the good info. Ian will decide to attack from the cover of the tree, and NOT use his action to hide (what is the roll to hide, just a d20? any modifiers?). the additional damage is 5 and he moved to square K6.
DDP: Thanks for the heads-up and clarification!
Since HDP's action comes after the wolves' movement, the character will rise from prone (using up half of his movement), survey the battlefield (free action), then likely use his standard action to cast a spell. I'll probably use Sleep or Faerie Fire (dependent on the battlefield dispositions: I don't want to catch Grux in the Sleep spell, and I wouldn't want to accidentally Faerie Fire an ally). Afterwards, if there are no wolves adjacent to HDP, he will move 3 squares to E7. If there are wolves adjacent to him, he will stay in place in H6.
Also:
Happy Thanksgiving everybody!
OOC: Ian, to hide, you would roll a d20 and add your stealth modifier (+7).
DM's super secret roll: 58
Ian stands up, and attempts to wake the others by saying, "Gruxx, Doktor, Glyn, wake up. Look to the southeast, but don't make any sudden moves," in a loud-ish whisper. The elf takes out his shortbow, and moves to the tree next to him for cover. Once under the tree's canopy, he lets loose an arrow at the largest (orange) wolf, in an attempt to scare the pack away by drawing first blood. The arrow strikes the wolf in the eye. Ian expects the wound to be a mortal blow, but the wolf does not drop.
A second super secret roll: 8
The entire pack begins to growl like mad and four of them, including the huge (orange) one advance.
The smallest (black) wolf and one of the two next smallest (blue) wolves do not move, but growl and bear their teeth menacingly.
One of the two a little bigger (green) scrambles up to Ian (L6) and attempts to take a bite out of the elf (attack: 20), but Ian is able to use his shortbow to deflect that wolf's bite.
The huge (orange) wolf shakes its head violently, blood flying everywhere, then it flies forward to exact retribution. (attack: 14; damage: 8) The wolf gets in under Ian's defenses and takes a huge chunk of flesh out of Ian's leg, wounding the rogue mightily.
Another second-smallest (red) wolf runs forward (H7) and attempts to take a bite out of Herr Doktor. (attack: 15; fumble roll: 4; self-inflicted damage: 3) The wolf bites down on the bard, but it bits down on something very hard on his person. This not only protects Herr Doktor from any damage, it breaks some of the wolf's teeth, causing it to yip in pain.
The last (yellow) wolf also runs forward to attack Ian (L5). Because of its pack mates harrying the rogue, it bites with advantage (which the orange wolf should have as well, but it hit without it, so no big deal). (attack: 8; damage: 10) It also bites Ian on the leg, and the rogue drops to the ground unconscious.
Herr Doktor's turn.
A note about "fumble roll". If you roll a 1 for any attack or skill check, I will have fun with it. For attacks, I refer to a fumble chart. I'll either tell you to roll a die to determine what the result is or I will roll it for you. For the wolf, the chart told me to roll a d10 and the result (1) says this: "The attacker snaps one or several teeth / claws on its target’s weapon or armour, or nearby surface. They receive 1d3hp of damage, and furthermore they must subtract the result of the same d3 roll from damage done from this attack from now on. (Ignore for tail attacks)." So, I rolled a d3 and it received 1 point of damage. There are different charts for melee attacks, ranged attacks, natural attacks (which is what a wolf's bite is), etc.
A note about falling unconscious. Read this: https://roll20.net/compendium/dnd5e/Conditions#toc_15. Ask questions if you have any.
OOC: crud, I'm unconscious in my first attack. How embarrassing.
The Herr Doktor Professor scrambles to his feet.
Ian's timely warning woke him from a sound sleep, allowing him to shove his sheathed rapier into the jaw of the wolf attacking him, breaking its tooth.
He sees the rogue has paid a price for his bravery -- fallen beneath the attacks of three wolves.
But the Herr Doktor Professor knows that in all the good stories, the brave ones always get back up again. He speaks an old magical rhyme in Ian's direction:
"Clay lies still but bloods a rover, Breath's a ware that will not keep. Up, lad! When the battle's over, there'll be time enough to sleep!"
Bonus action: Cast Healing Word at Ian. Heal 7 hit points.