I was thinking that there would be some benefit to do a postmortem on our combat from last session. As a group, I think our characters may want to discuss how we should/could do things differently the next time. I think that there might also be some value in optimizing our characters based upon what we now know the outside to be like. Things like equipment and spell selection come to mind. It would be nice if we were collectively aware of our assets in case someone see and opportunity that someone else may have missed.
I believe that our characters would benefit from more training with fighting together. This would help to learn synergies and weaknesses. We have the opportunity to role play this during our next session and if the players find it valuable, we could also "roll play" it to practice combat for the players. Jon is on board but we need to give him some notice to prepare if we plan to do an actual Danger Room-like, attack to stun session against other friendly adepts.
It is really a matter of how much game time that we want to spend. I could go either way. Playing out a mock combat might eat up much of the session time but might work well to knock off the rust. It might also be a good opportunity to experiment with the other advanced combat options.
I'm in. It sounds like fun, and offers both immediate and long-term benefits. I'd be OK training like this for a full session or even two. Quinn thinks we'd be crazy not to better prepare ourselves now that we have clearer picture what we're up against.
ReplyDeleteTactic suggestions
ReplyDeleteQuinn
- Flameweapon lasts Spellcasting+5 rounds, which should be most of a combat. Must touch so Taurba or Ermin may want to 'charge up' before engaging in melee.
- Earth Darts, use on a target that Ermin or Taurba is about to hit, so they get the advantage of the reduced physical armor. 20 yard range.
- Woodskin, assuming you have this now, and are keeping renewed whenever we are out adventuring.
Oren
- Monstrous Mantle Melee +2 Attack, +2 Damage, +2 Physical Defense, lasts Spellcasting(4) rounds. Must touch, so Taurba/Ermin may want to 'charge up' before engaging in melee. Maybe one gets Flame, the other Mantled?
- Ephemeral Bolts, should focus on targets hit by Cetheral's Spirit Darts to take advantage of reduced Mystic Armor. Reduces either Sensing or Willpower rolls, if anyone else's abilities can take advantage of this, let me know. 20 yard range.
- Arcane Mutterings only works out of combat.
- First Impression, Diplomacy, Etiquette, Discern Truth effective negotiating abilities. Charisma is Oren's primary stat (20), so these all have a good chance of being pretty effective.
- Flight can keep Oren out of melee, but as we saw last combat, not out of ranged combat. May need to find a compromise, or keep using something like the cart as cover.
Cetheral
- Spirit Dart use against a target who will be attacked by Oren as it reduces Mystic Armor by 2. 20 yard range.
- Astral Spear is longer range attack at 40 yards and does more damage (WIL+4), but requires a thread, so may be best used when combat is planned ahead of time.
- Frighten hits opponent with a -2 per success on every test. Might be useful with sufficient rank. Takes a standard action and must be in close proximity though, so should be careful using. Note that trying to recover is a Willpower test, which Oren's Ephemeral Bolt would give them an additional -2 on.
- other spells/talents?
Ermin
- Danger Sense, Manuever, Avoid Blow, high Phys/Myst Defenses good for being ready for ambushes, when negotiations go wrong, etc. May be a good person to have at Oren's side when he makes initial contacts.
- Be ready, find opportunities for Oren to use Monstrous Mantle and/or Quinn to use Flameweapon.
- Note targets of Quinn's Earth Darts, armor reduced for two rounds.
Taurba
- Hit stuff. Don't get hit. Seems pretty good at both so far, so I'd stick with this strategy. :^)
- Ditto regarding buffs and Quinn's Earth Darts.
- Flasks of oil. Does throwing weapons count for this? If so, maybe combined with Flameweapon? There's nothing that says it can't be cast on ranged weapons, but I would think you would only do one at a time (unless Jon says you could Flameweapon, say, Ermin's quiver of arrows). Otherwise, maybe we set up some Molotovs (wicked, but with a cap) that you could take from your belt, light with your flaming axe and throw as a standard action.
Until/unless play proves this foolish, I'd say Flameweapon is cast on the bow, which lights fired (pun somewhat unintended) arrows. That lets archers take advantage of the spell and keeps the 1 weapon per casting mechanic. No lighting the party's communal quiver.
ReplyDeleteSo cool it's hot! So a ranged tactic could be to have Taurba lobbing oil while Quinn applies Flameweapon to Ermin's and/or Cetharel's bow.
ReplyDeleteCould Quinn use Flameweapon while someone is drawing their bow to fire? In other words could they do this in the same round if they coordinated or would it have to take two rounds?
The tactic works, but I wouldn't recommend it. What you described requires 3-4 characters coordinate in doing things they're less effective at to produce little benefit.
ReplyDelete1. Quinn is doing the most appropriate thing here, but do you want to use Quinn's time Flameweapon'ing 1-2 secondary weapons or buffing primary weapons?
2. Taurba has Throwing Weapons as a skill, so he's a good choice to lob oil, but he'd likely do far more damage throwing a weapon. Also, if we're talking about throwing range, the target is nearby. At that range, he'll often be better off charging.
3. Ermin has a bow, but no skill or talent to go with it. There's nothing wrong with taking a few shots on an enemy far away, but once the enemy is in oil range, Ermin's usually better off closing for melee.
4. Like Ermin, Cetharel has a bow, but no skill or talent in using it. She's far better off spellcasting in almost every situation. She'll hit more often and (likely) do more damage. The bow is good for longer distances, but if the target's in throwing range for oil, they're probably in spell range.
Let's say you get 3-4 characters coordinating to do the oil thing -- Quinn casts the spell, Taurba lobs the oil, Cetharal hits the target with a flaming arrow (Ermin yelled "Hwwwwaaaaah!" so vigorously before shooting, he blew out the Flameweapon and sent his arrow off course.) -- what do you get? Well, Cetharel hit, but doesn't have the strength to do much damage, though Flameweapon adds a d6 to that. Flaming oil does about step 6 for a couple rounds, but physical armor applies every round.
That being said, if you're fighting something that's difficult to melee with, and has a high Mystic Defense and a susceptibility to fire...
As for your second point, I don't see any reason why it should take two rounds. Quinn has to cast first, but you can jigger your initiatives to make it work.
Ah, I didn't realize that oil did so little damage in ED. In AD&D seems like it was 3-18 which was more than most weapons with a burn over a few rounds.
ReplyDeleteDid anyone else have any abilities I didn't mention (maybe some being added with second circle) or other tactics they'd like to add?
ReplyDeleteI'll be adding the "Mind Fog" spell - target forgets what to do for 9 rounds, but it requires a thread and range is a short 10 yards, so probably more useful against a smaller number of stronger opponents. They recover with a WILL roll, so would also be good to use after hitting with Ephemeral Bolt that gives -2 to WILL rolls.
ReplyDelete