I was also going to say that when options are limited is when it can be really fun. That’s when looking the obscure items, less used actions, and alternative uses for items stand out a bit more. Like using terrain to our advantage, or wrapping the legs of AT-AT’s in cable, or using the wind to disperse a healing potion over many allies at once…

Anyway, I don’t think Hastos is to nerfed in this fight, just has to think outside the box. Maybe one of the fun mechanics the DM gave use to use feats could be twisted to greater leverage. 

Just to go up and help, distract...sometimes we just have to do a bit " ineffective " things. 

The bad strategi we choose here was to entet a poison gas area. 

Now we lesrned ;)

Today is messy... yesterday our dog jumped out of the car and nearly died. The wounds to his paws are severe, and the hospital bill depleted the last of our savings, so we're not sure how we can afford continued treatments, or even basic living needs.

I have a bunch of court room stuff to deal with today, because of the divorce, and I'm trying to compartmentalize and do what needs to be done, while keeping a brave face for the holidays. My roommate is shattered. We both love Yasha, but he's my roommate's dog. Please share my Ko-fi link with any friends, family, or social media link. I'm taking commissions for creative writing in hopes that I can raise money for vet bills, rent, utilities, phone service, and my own medical needs. I doubt I can close the gap on just tips alone, and we're both scrambling to find ways to make money outside of that. 

https://ko-fi.com/mickysofyne

I'll send you PMs of your holiday gifts before I head out today, but I don't think I'll be able to update the IC today.

Your holiday gifts have been sent. I'll try to post an update later today.

I am terrible sorry for all that happens to you recently :(

it seems to be stacking up. I wish you soon get calmer and better times.

Poverty is expensive. One bad thing is always catastrophic. I remember back when I was a six-figure earner during my first marriage, how my own money could make money for me. We nearly paid off our house in the first year. During the dissolution of our marriage, the house was sold for a massive profit. We were able to make advanced payments on our sports car, so by the time we sold that off, it actually had equity in it. My level of privelage back then was so high, that I didn't worry about the future. I left my ex-wife everything, because I didn't want to bother with a long drawn out divorce. It wasn't an angry divorce. We just weren't happy together, and I didn't want to punish her for that. I assumed I could just pack up my life and start over somewhere else.

I couldn't have been more wrong. 😅 Money makes money. So you kind of already have to be affluent to get more affluent. Without my connections and influence, I couldn't find clientele. Without clientele, I couldn't make money. I wound up bussing tables part time for minimum wage, and drowning in debt within my first year. It's been that way ever since. I finally started climbing the ranks in the restaurant and retail industry. By the end of that time, I was making a base income of $70k a year plus an anticipated bonus of another $30k. But it didn't feel like it, because we racked up so much debt and so many health problems, housing problems, car problems etc, that my entire paycheck was spent as soon as it arrived. Then I was rear-ended by an 18-wheeler, and lost the ability to work. We used the settlement to cover hospital bills and put a down payment on a house. It was a 4 bed, 2 bath for $1300 a month. To put that into perspective, I'm sharing a small one-bedroom apartment for $1500 now. But you need a down payment and good credit to buy a house that would coss less per month. We have neither. And I can't afford medical care, so I'm sick more days than I'm well. So even if I tried to go back into restaurant and retail, I wouldn't get past the first day without collapsing and losing my job.

So, problems pile up. The longer I go without health care, the worse my conditions get. The worse they get, the harder it is to work... even part time. So the money runs out. Then late fees accrue, reconnection/reinstatement fees accrue, and basic necessities  and utilities (clothes, food, furniture, phones) diminish or decay and need to be replaced. It's expensive being poor...

If we could've afforded good pet insurance, this still would've been emotionally trying. But Yasha would be able to get the medications, surgeries, and overnight stays he needs. But we can't afford even basic health insurance, which wouldn't cover this situation anyway. So everything is out of pocket, and we have to make choices about whether we risk getting evicted, or risk Yasha dying of necrosis. He might make it through. He's still young. But if the necrosis spreads, even if he survives, his paws may have to be amputated. And we won't be able to afford prosthetics. So the best and most humane choice within those limitations would be to put him down... which also costs money. Which could force us into making an awful choice should it come to that. Try to keep him as comfortable as possible until he passes on his own (which would basically be torture for him), or put him down ourselves. With proper treatment, there is a real chance most, or even all his paws could heal. Prosthetics could deal with the rest, and he'd live a full, active life. But without money... it's just a heavy expense that leads to the same awful outcome. We push forward anyway though.

My roommate cannot consider the possibility of losing Yasha. So the default is to provide him the best care we can. We may lose the apartment in the process, but Yasha dying is not an option until we lose everything else first.

MrUncleTio, I'm assuming you're Dashing and not attacking?

I don't see any attack roles, and at your current distance from Merkas, you'd need to move 35' in order to attack in melee. You can, if you wish, role an Intimidation check or a Performance check to "pull aggro". Basically, the Air Elemental is already frightened of Merkas. But you can sort of taunt it to try to make you a more enticing target. It can't move towards Merkas, so it can't use Whirlwind on him. But it can still use Whirlwind on you. So the other option would be to Intimidate it so it's reduced to melee attacks at Disadvantage. With your AC, you should be fairly safe.

Or are you using Misty Step as a Bonus Action, Moving the remaining distance, then attacking? Which is also something you can do.

Instructions unclear. I should add that it's pretty close to being defeated. A single successful attack with a magic weapon would probably be enough to finish the job.

Hey! Honestly, I was sure Merkas has just killed it! LOL. But just to be safe, I wanted to be close by in case it went for Merkas. Given the options, I’ll roll intimidation.

Everyone should've gotten their holiday gifts by now. Please add them to your inventory. If you wish to understand what they're capable of, a short rest will grant you enough time to Invesitgate them.

The air is currently clean enough to breath without rolling vs. Poison. But it's still very hot. You'll have to roll vs Heat every hour you're in this place. You've currently been in this hellscape for a little over a couple of hours. Enough to get poisoned and be relieved of the poisined condition (lasts one hour after you removed yourself from the toxic fumes). Now that the winds are subsiding, it will not be long before toxic vapors invade this space again.

Wow, 18 was half a crit hit? That Adamantine armor just paid for itself!

18 was the full damage.

If you take half damage, you receive 9 damage.

I'll be honest, 😅 When I'm posting, I always have multiple apps and tabs open. I currenlty have four open, but in combat, it's much closer to 12 tabs and 2 apps. Even if I have a rule memorized, I still double-check it to make certain I am doing it correctly. So the cross-referencing I'm doing consumes a lot of time. As a compromise, I assume you know your character better than I do. So, I clarify the damage amount and type, and you make the necessary adjustments. A lot of what your character is going through (conditions, encumberment, spell/consumable usage, HP) is on good faith.

Cool! I wasn’t sure, and was shocked if the total crit hit would have actually been 32! That would be… devastating!

With the GDA pushing northward, there is a faint, but increasing, likelihood of chromatic dragon encounters. It's part of a colonization tactic to secure bases with powerful dragons. This would be vaguely common knowledge to anyone involved in the war, but would especially ring true to Hastos.

If a dragon hedged out an ogre den, it would be a fairly powerful one. One that can secure the location for Dragon Army troops. Certainly nothing less than a Young Dragon, but most likely stronger.

Fighting a dragon thrills me. What kind of dragon we face? I guess a blue one would enjoy the terrain best. 

Up to you if you help Tana with her mission. But she's still "recruiting" as it were. The dragon's lair you're heading to is presumably empty. If yall are still struggling with elementals, I don't like your chances with a Young Dragon or stronger.

History check: 14 on Blue Dragons.

Hrothbert_Neruca I think it would be an INT check in this case. It's less magical, and more like... a password, so it's language-dependent, which is based on INT. Not sure if this is RAW, but the way I've always played it is:

If you have a summoning totem (like a stone, or a tooth), the magic requirement for summoning a creature is already paid in full. You just have to call it. In most cases, you need its true name, ilke with Sera's demon. But elementals are a weird cross between golems and genies. Think Pokemon vibes. "I chose you, Dust Mephit." Once it's summoned, it more or less follows your will to the best of its abilities. The more devious it is, the more likely it is to misinterpret your commands. But, in general, what you say is what you get. Until then, it just sort of stands there.

I'll PM you what Merkas retained from the word.

Quote from Inexorabletruth >>

Up to you if you help Tana with her mission. But she's still "recruiting" as it were. The dragon's lair you're heading to is presumably empty. If yall are still struggling with elementals, I don't like your chances with a Young Dragon or stronger.

 From my standpoint, I wasn’t so much struggling with the elementals as rationing what I have, we have a longer way to go and didn’t want to use up everything right away. 

But, dragons are formidable even for characters with twice our level so point taken, we will avoid attacking a bog blue dragon….for now

I'm gonna give everyone a chance to wrap up whatever talkinng, healing, regrouping you wish to do, before I segway into the next phase. But Tana's move speed with her long thick legs is 40' per round. So you might want to get hustling.

Hastos has Haste for a bit, does someone need help getting around? How’s Orr?