In the Intest of aid

oh yeah! I can certainly differentiate that!

me too... Thanks Chris!

I'm glad I didn't go with Sam's first impulse. I had the distance to the MF way off

I will serve
I will be of service

Okay, back on track then.  Thanks Chris!

As far as we got, Kruhl will cast Bless on Sam, Hawkes, and Abagail.  Hawkes inspires Kruhl with a pep talk (d8)?  Sam casts Invisibility on himself to follow Kruhl at 10', but then scoots up the ramp.

Kruhl holds a torch aloft with a shield in hand. He walks down the ramp to Q-3. The shrieker at E-9 turns towards The source of light, but has not yet identified Kruhl as an enemy.

Josh, how far do you want Sam to move?  Remember that the rubble is difficult terrain, meaning double the cost of movement in those squares.  With a double move he should be able to reach X-13.

Abi, Hawkes, or Crispy?   Anything to declare before dice start rolling?

yes, X-13 is fine for Sam. Thanks!

Hawkes readies his rapier and one of the skull bombs given to him by an Inbutu witch doctor (shatter). If he can “ready” an action after taking a bonus action to inspire, then he will target shatter on the second largest cluster of baddies after Crispy fries the larger.

Crispy is ready to go...

Initiative?

Hawkes finishes his inspiration and holds his rapier and skull ready, should Crispy let loose on a group of baddies. And Crispy waits for the other shoe to drop....

The shrieker at E-9 gazes at Kruhl and finally decides his presence is worth noting. It erupts into a cacophony of incoherent babbling.

Let's do it gents. Roll for initiative. Stat blocks as well please.

Chris wrote:Kruhl

saves: Cha +12, Wis +8, all +4 from aura. Dex +9 (shield master)
Passive Perception 14
Auras: Protection (cha to all saves 10ft) and Hatred (+cha damage fiends\undead 10ft)
Spell\channel save DC = 16

AC = 20 (breastplate +1, shield +1, dex +2)
HP: 82/82

Paladin Spells
1st = 3/4
2nd = 2/3

Warlock 2/2

HP: 87/87

Initiative
Result of the throw of dice "1d20 +4" :

18 + 4 = 22

Sam's initiative and so forth:

Roll(1d20)+5:
18,+5
Total:23

Ha! I will see your 18 Mr. Carbone and raise you.

AC: 19
HP: 84 -
Movement: 30’
Initiative: +5
Saves: Dex and Int.

Invisible currently, armed with his rapier

Pyriannix "Crispy"

HP: 59/59
AC: 17
Hit Dice 4d8/7d6
Ki: (3/3)
Sorcery Points: (7/7)
Spells:
1st: (4/4)
2nd: (3/3)
3rd: (3/3)
4th:(1/1)
Spell DC: 15

Initiative:
Roll(1d20)+3:
15,+3
Total:18

Rob and Alan roll initiative please and post statblocks. Thanks!

Captain Hawkes

AC AC 18
Hp 74/74

Spell save 15
Passive perception 14
Passive insight 17
Spell Resistance
Cannot be surprised
Immune to stun

Spells:
1:4
2:3
3:2

Inspiration 3 x
Maneuvers 4
Adv. persuade 1
Adv. Con save 1
Wand 7

Result of the throw of dice "1d20 +5" :

2 + 5 = 7

Abigail: Sea-Elf Fighter

AC: 18
HP: 74/74
Pass Perc: 14
Init: +5


Initiative roll: Result of the throw of dice "1d20" : 4 + 5 = 9.

Abi's bow is in her hands and arrow nocked.

Initiative
Sam - 23
Kruhl - 22
Mindflayer - 20
Crispy - 18
Floater/Shriekers - 12
Abagail - 9
Hawkes - 7

Kick it off, Sam!

here ya go in bigger format

I think Sam can double move (and dash) to V-22 (including the rough terrain).  That will be his action for now

Chris wrote:Kruhl

saves: Cha +12, Wis +8, all +4 from aura. Dex +9 (shield master)
Passive Perception 14
Auras: Protection (cha to all saves 10ft) and Hatred (+cha damage fiends\undead 10ft)
Spell\channel save DC = 16

AC = 20 (breastplate +1, shield +1, dex +2)
HP: 82/82

Paladin Spells
1st = 3/4
2nd = 2/3

Warlock 2/2

HP: 87/87

Kruhl knows his role as the bait and wiggles appropriately on the line....


Kruhl holds his current position, feigning interest in some markings on the wall with his torch. He keeps his shield towards the E-9 shrieker and takes the Dodge action.

Dodge

When you take the Dodge action, you focus entirely on avoiding attacks. Until the start of your next turn, any attack roll made against you has disadvantage if you can see the attacker, and you make Dexterity saving throws with advantage. You lose this benefit if you are incapacitated (as explained in appendix PH-A) or if your speed drops to 0.

done

Sam, lets have a Stealth check as you move among the rubble.  I know you're Invisible, but that doesn't mean you are also silent.

Kruhl raises his torch closer to the wall, baiting masterfully as he tends to do.

The Mind Flayer atop the platform turns to survey the room, prompted by the shrieker's noise.  He nods toward the flame and chants softly as he lays his hands on the dwarven body laid in front of him.

Crispy's turn.




Initiative
Sam - 23
Kruhl - 22
Mindflayer - 20
Crispy - 18
Floater/Shriekers - 12
Abagail - 9
Hawkes - 7

Am I not posting the slides at the same size as Chris?  I'm using the same PPP as he modded for me and am just moving the tokens at this point. How exactly do you post it in "bigger format"?

Crispy will advance to X8, attempting to stay hidden in the rubble. He will ready a fireball spell. The trigger will be when at least three shriekers are within the spell’s 20’ radius.

Stealth check:
Roll(1d20)+7:
20,+7
Total:27 (boo, wasted crit, but hopefully hidden)

Fireball
3 evocation
Casting Time: 1 action
Range: 150 feet
Components: V S M (A tiny ball of bat guano and sulfur)
Duration: Instantaneous
Classes: Sorcerer, Wizard
A bright streak flashes from your pointing finger to a point you choose within range and then blossoms with a low roar into an explosion of flame. Each creature in a 20-foot-radius sphere centered on that point must make a Dexterity saving throw. A target takes 8d6 fire damage on a failed save, or half as much damage on a successful one. The fire spreads around corners. It ignites flammable objects in the area that aren’t being worn or carried.

d'oh, I should have remembered that.

Sam's Stealth check:

Roll(1d20)+13:
11,+13
Total:24

Sam moves silently enough to not betray his position. Crispy conjures the arcane power of his Fireball, but stops short of its release. Do be sure to mark off the spell slot whether the trigger condition is met or not. It does appear to me that if you centered it at O-15 or so that you would tag those 3 shriekers with a 20' radius sphere.

Does Crispy want to let that fly, or hold off?

Wasn’t sure with the stairs. Let’s get after it:

Pyriannix "Crispy"

HP: 59/59
AC: 17
Hit Dice 4d8/7d6
Ki: (3/3)
Sorcery Points: (5/7)
Spells:
1st: (4/4)
2nd: (3/3)
3rd: (1/3)
4th:(1/1)
Spell DC: 15
Breath Weapon: 15' Cone of Fire 3d6 1/rest
DC: 12 vs Dex for 1/2 damage
Buffs:
Elemental Affinity: Add CHR bonus to fire spell damage (+3)

Fireball centered at O-15:
Roll(8d6)+3:
1,4,3,5,3,6,3,5,+3
Total:33

And since this is no longer a readied action Crispy will burn two Sorcery Points to quicken another Fireball centered at M-15:
Roll(8d6)+3:
6,6,1,2,1,5,5,5,+3
Total:34

That should soften them up a bit. Finished.

Hoo boy, that's a hot tamale! Crispy lets fly with back-to-back fireballs. One cenetered to the East of the first flight stairs (which hits 3 of the shriekers) and the other centered at the bottom of the first flight stairs (which hits 2 of the 3 same baddies). The shrieker at N-14 took the full brunt of both blasts and is summarily incinerated. The shrieker at R-15 remains, albeit badly burned from the first Fireball. The shriker at the top of the stairs was caught by both blasts, but managed to shy away from the brunt of the second spell.

Baddies turn tonight.




Initiative
Sam - 23
Kruhl - 22
Mindflayer - 20
Crispy - 18
Floater/Shriekers - 12
Abagail - 9
Hawkes - 7

Gah. Meant for the second blast to hit N-25, but I’ll stand by my typo.

Crispy's blasts rock the room, causing loose rubble and clouds of dust to fall from the recently destroyed roof and wall sections.  Terrain does not change at the moment.  The shriekers all snap to attention and the volume in the cavernous hall rises to unexpected levels.  They begin advancing on the currently identified threat.

The floater at the top of the second flight of stairs fires off 3 beams from its eyestalks towards Crispy before it begins pulsing and moves back and out of view.  Please roll the following SVs (color coded for ease of tracking):
Yellow = IntSV
Blue = DexSV
Green = ConSV

Abagail please!




Initiative
Sam - 23
Kruhl - 22
Mindflayer - 20
Crispy - 18
Floater/Shriekers - 12
Abagail - 9
Hawkes - 7

Int:
Roll(1d20)+0:
10,+0
Total:10

Dex:
Roll(1d20)+6:
6,+6
Total:12 (If this fails, his Stout Belt off Agility grants an automatic pass (1/day))

Con:
Roll(1d20)+4:
15,+4
Total:19

Abigail: Sea-Elf Fighter

AC: 18
HP: 74/74
Pass Perc: 14
Init: +5


Abigail makes a dash down to P-4, next to the boulder.

Action Surge to make a longbow attack at the foe at L-6.
Attack: Result of the throw of dice "1d20" : 13 + 12 = 25
Damage: Result of the throw of dice "1d8" : 2 + 6 = 8P.

Extra Attack at the same baddie (if he's still up, otherwise at the next foe within LoS): Result of the throw of dice "1d20" : 17 + 12 = 29.
Damage: Result of the throw of dice "1d8" : 1 + 6 = 7P.

She takes cover by the boulder.

The yellow beam slams into Crispy, causing 30 psychic damage.  The blue beam flies right behind it, but Crispy feints just in time to avoid it, thanks to his belt.  The green beam also lands squarely into Crispy's side and he begins to feel lethargic, but he steels himself in the moment and shakes off the effects before they develop any further.

Fleet of foot, Abagail darts from cover to cover without issue.  She draws 2 arrows from her quiver and launches them in rapid succession towards the shrieker at L-6.  Both of them sink deep into the formless blob of eyes and mouths, causing the shrieker to cry out in pain.  She seems to be out of sight of the majority of enemies in the room as she presses her back against the large slab of stone.

Cap'n Hawkes, you may proceed.
Edit: I must've loaded the wrong maps.  Everything remains the same except Abagail's position, which I will fix tonight.




Initiative
Sam - 23
Kruhl - 22
Mindflayer - 20
Crispy - 18
Floater/Shriekers - 12
Abagail - 9
Hawkes - 7

Captain Hawkes

AC AC 18
Hp 74/74

Spell save 15
Passive perception 14
Passive insight 17
Spell Resistance
Cannot be surprised
Immune to stun

Spells:
1:4
2:3
3:2

Inspiration 3 x
Maneuvers 4
Adv. persuade 1
Adv. Con save 1
Wand 7

Hawkes moves to x-13 and drops a shatter spell at p-19.

I don’t have book text I can paste in right now. New phone. Can someone help me out with Shatter? Post text and roll damage accordingly.

Attributes
Shatter
2 Evocation

Casting Time: 1 action
Range: 60 feet
Components: V S M (A chip of mica)
Duration: Instantaneous
Classes: Bard, Sorcerer, Warlock, Wizard
A sudden loud ringing noise, painfully intense, erupts from a point of your choice within range. Each creature in a 10-foot-radius sphere centered on that point must make a Constitution saving throw. A creature takes 3d8 thunder damage on a failed save, or half as much damage on a successful one. A creature made of inorganic material such as stone, crystal, or metal has disadvantage on this saving throw. A nonmagical object that isn’t being worn or carried also takes the damage if it’s in the spell’s area.
At Higher Levels: When you cast this spell using a spell slot of or higher, the damage increases by 1d8 for each slot level above 2nd.



Result of the throw of dice "3d8" :

7 + 7 + 5 = 19

Thx Chris!

Hawkes scrambles in the rubble, but can't quite get as far as he thought he could (difficult terrain). Nevertheless, he is able to cause a strong sonic assault that affects the shriekers at N-21 and S-19. The soundwave seems to bother the shrieker at N-21 moreso than it's counterpart.

What do, Sam?





Initiative
Sam - 23
Kruhl - 22
Mindflayer - 20
Crispy - 18
Floater/Shriekers - 12
Abagail - 9
Hawkes - 7

just give me until tonight.

Very busy today

Sam will scamper to T-27

Sneak Attack: casting Firebolt at the Mind Flayer

Sam is Invisible, so advantage on the attack: Sam is still buffed from Bless (+1d4 for attacks and saves)

Bless d4:

Roll(1d4)+0:
2,+0
Total:2

Roll(1d20)+6:
2,+8
Total:10

Roll(1d20)+6:
16,+8
Total:24

lol.... uh, the second one I think

Damage

Roll(2d10)+0:
7,6,+0
Total:13

Sneak Attack damage: 5d6

Roll(5d6)+0:
1,5,5,5,6,+0
Total:22

Total of 35 damage (13 fire?)

Save DC: 14 for half

Sam will then move to T-29 via Dash as a bonus action (which should give him some cover unless the Flayer moves forward.

Done

AC: 19
+2 Studded Leather:
Saves: Dex. & Int. Immune to Magical Sleep and Advantage vs. Charm spells
HP: 84 -
Movement: 30’
Initiative: +5

I think Sneak Attack only applies to finesse and ranged weapons, yes?

well I had done it this way repeatedly in the past....

Here's what the text says: "The attack must use a finesse or a ranged weapon."


Since ranged weapons basically suck, I don't know what the point of that is?  But again, this was acceptable in the past... let me know if you're ending that.

Frankly, it makes any attacks by an Arcane Trickster rather pointless and Sam wouldn't have done his action the way he did.

Your call man (I'm not trying to be difficult, just let me know if you're not allowing the Sneak Attack damage. I'll remember that going forward)

If you've done this in this chapter before and I haven't checked it before, I apologize. I should've caught it.

I feel like WotC has balanced this game pretty well, so I'm inclined to go with RAW here. I'm not sure Arcane Trickster. I urge you to read the flavor text under Arcane Trickster to get a better idea of my thinking.

All that being said, you do ha e a 9th level archetype ability called Magical Ambush that gives your targets DIS on SV vs your spells, so that's a good thing to mention.

Go ahead and roll your turn back if you wish. I'd rather take the extra day to get it right.

Edit: additionally, the defense of "I've never gotten caught before" is pretty funny.

lol... I could just have gotten it wrong. Sorry man, I get this game confused with Pathfinder rules all the time.


I'm not a fan of ret-cons. You can just dump the SA damage if you want. He wouldn't have been able to do what he plans for next round anyway. It's fine.

And actually, I don't think the Flayer gets a Save anyway since it's a Cantrip. But if he does, it's definitely at a disadvantage.

Let's just move on with an attack roll of 26 and 13 fire damage coming his way; with no save (according to the text anyway)

Sam will keep his other actions as they are. I'll be better at getting the rules right

This confusion is probably my fault.  Josh has certainly done this when I was GM and I allowed it.  I didn't notice that it said "ranged weapon" as opposed to a "ranged attack".  

I know my son Anthony has used this as a player, with an Arcane Trickster, in Rise of Tiamat.  I may have even suggested it to Josh based on what Anthony did in our table top group.  Again, I probably didn't read it closely enough.

I agree with Joe that we should play RAW.


@Josh - just make a ranged attack instead of a cantrip?
instead of flat 2d10, you would do d8 + Dex with a bow and +5d6 SA

damage is much better just using a weapon



EDIT:   @Joe - what is the enemy at L-6?   has it been hit at all yet?  (Kruhl is up next)

Sam doesn't carry a bow.  He has two pistols but I'm not sure about the range on those (in this particular circumstance anyway).  It's not a big deal for now. I will keep it in mind in the future.

Just an observation... unless I'm just totally missing something here.  Ranged weapons don't really seem to be all that great in this game.  I don't think they "suck" so much as they just seem underwhelming when compared to melee attacks. Which just seems wrong IMHO. But oh well

ranged weapons are in a better place than they have been in any other game!

you get to add your DEX to damage
Sharpshooter is the single BEST feat in the entire game
rangers\fighters can take Archery for +2 to ranged attacks (better than other fighting styles at +1)

a ranger\fighter with a long bow can easily out-damage a Barbarian and do it from range

a ranger\fighter with crossbow expert, 2 hand crossbows, and sharpshooter is just totally broken, lol

ah, well then, I stand corrected.

I haven't really explored them at all

@Chris:  The shrieker at L-6 took 2 arrows from Abagail for a total of 15 damage thus far.
@Josh:  Ah yes, I always want to think of Firebolt as a spell, but it is indeed a great damage cantrip.

Sam rushes the upper level of the hall, hurling a flaming mote that tags the Mind Flayer square on the shoulder before pressing himself against the hunk of stone.  The target flinches as it bursts upon impact and sends out a shower of sparks.

Go ahead Kruhl.




Initiative
Sam
Kruhl
Mindflayer
Crispy
Floater/Shriekers
Abagail
Hawkes

Joe, do you care if I equip Sam with hand crossbow?

I would have done it long before if I had the whole ranged sneak attack thing figured out. He won't be using it any time soon but I just wanted to ask.

Josh, didn't you say you aren't a fan of ret-cons?

That's why it behooves us to read the rules carefully. And getting ideas for (legal) builds is just a Google search away.


I screwed the pooch myself when building Abigail, since I missed that a bunch of her Arcane Archer abilities are powered by INT. I didn't look closely enough, and gave her dump stat intelligence, instead boosting her CHA. Now I'm trying to find ways to boost her INT until the next ABSI. That's why she grabbed the Headband of the Pupil from party treasure.

At least she's hot.

Chris wrote:Kruhl

saves:  Cha +12, Wis +8, all +4 from aura.  Dex +9 (shield master)
Passive Perception 14
Auras:  Protection (cha to all saves 10ft) and Hatred (+cha damage fiends\undead 10ft)
Spell\channel save DC = 16

AC =  20   (breastplate +1, shield +1, dex +2)
HP: 82/82

Paladin Spells
1st = 3/4
2nd = 2/3

Warlock 2/2

HP: 87/87

Kruhl does a knight's L-shaped move, past Abi, to M-5.  He drops the torch and draws his warhammer as he moves.  

2 swings with the warhammer at shrieker L-6

warhammer +2 =  +10 1d8+12  x2 attacks

Result of the throw of dice "1d20 +10" :

13 + 10 = 23

Kruhl uses a Divine smite 1st level paladin spell

is this thing a "fiend"?

damage:
Result of the throw of dice "1d8 +12" :

5 + 12 = 17 magic\bludgeoning

smite:
Result of the throw of dice "2d8" :

6 + 5 = 11 radiant

if fiend
Result of the throw of dice "1d8" :

4 more radiant

*28 total or 32 if fiend


2nd swing
Result of the throw of dice "1d20 +10" :

2 + 10 = 12

probably a miss, lol

damage if needed
Result of the throw of dice "1d8 +12" :

5 + 12 = 17



updated for spell slot used

Chris wrote:Kruhl

saves:  Cha +12, Wis +8, all +4 from aura.  Dex +9 (shield master)
Passive Perception 14
Auras:  Protection (cha to all saves 10ft) and Hatred (+cha damage fiends\undead 10ft)
Spell\channel save DC = 16

AC =  20   (breastplate +1, shield +1, dex +2)
HP: 82/82

Paladin Spells
1st = 2/4
2nd = 2/3

Warlock 2/2

HP: 87/87

uh, it's not really a ret-con. It's standard equipment, non-magical, and it's not a complete re-do of the character. And this was a mistake on all sides Rob.

But that's why I asked the GM instead of just doing it. It's fine if he says no