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Post by Gerto on Jun 15, 2005 13:31:05 GMT -5
Before a character dies, they have to bleed to -10 correct? That would give us 7 rounds before our wounded members would die. Should I help melee the orcs instead of attending to the wounded? I only have 1 hp, but it seems stabilizing can wait a few rounds until the sleeping orcs are killed and the melee orcs are dealth with.
I'd prefer to melee, but if the party desires, I will help stabilize.
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Post by foster1941 on Jun 15, 2005 13:52:18 GMT -5
The characters who are already unconscious won't die until -10, but if they go below -6 before being stabilized 'bad things' might happen at the DM's dicretion -- severe scarring, missing limbs, etc. As someone with a bleeding and unstabilized character, I'd prefer not to take that chance But the more important reason you should avoid melee is that someone who's dropped to below -3 hp by a blow isn't unconscious, he's dead (the way the rule works is that a character reduced to 0 up to -3 by a blow is unconscious and bleeding and won't die until reaching -10, but if he is reduced to -4 or lower by a blow he's dead -- no bleeding, no chance of revival). Since you only have 1 hp left your chance of getting killed outright is pretty significant, especially if these orcs have long swords or battle axes (1d8 damage).
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Post by Gerto on Jun 15, 2005 14:31:55 GMT -5
Okay, didn't know about that -6 hp condition. I will stabilize the closest party members then
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Post by Gorthakh on Jun 16, 2005 4:21:32 GMT -5
Hm. I'd failed to appreciate quite how badly wounded Gerto was.
Gorthakh doesn't have any STR-based combat bonuses, and Gerto's armed with a mace where I've got a spear. This means that in a non-charge situation, Gerto has the same chance to hit that Gorthakh does, and the priest actually hits harder. (The same applies to Finrod with his scimitar.)
Gorthakh's advantage in melee is that he has half-decent armour and a boatload of hp. He's optimised for surviving battles and taking damage, not so much for dishing it out.
Fortunately, Poppy's a single-classed fighter and even if she doesn't have STR-based bonuses, she gets benefits "to hit" with a longsword for being an elf. Also her sword hits noticeably harder than Gorthakh's spear.
We've got limited time to take down these 4 orcs before we get the other 7 breathing down our necks. We absolutely need to win this fight before the spells wear off, and it's not guaranteed that Poppy and Gorthakh will be able to manage it. In fact, all it would take is a couple of lucky hits from the orcs and we could lose.
All in all, I'd been counting on getting some help from the priests here.
Having said that, I think that bringing Gerto into the fight with 1hp is a serious mistake. We can't afford to lose Gerto, and Finrod's restricted to leather, so his AC may be such that he wouldn't survive the battle.
May I suggest using the command spell fairly early? You don't need to be in melee range for that, and there's no saving throw: It'll take out an orc for at least a round and improve our chances.
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Post by Gerto on Jun 16, 2005 8:22:31 GMT -5
I want to get involved in the fight, but having only 1 hp really makes me think. One hit and I am down, possibly dead, so I figure I should stabilize the last wounded party member. After that, I can join the fray. If I walk into melee, get hit, and go down, you have two wounded characters and absolutely no one who can help them. Its tempting to drop the command right away, but Gerto would want to stop his bleeding friends from dying first.
Also, I am thinking of memorizing 3 CLWs and forgetting about the Command. I think another heal would work alot better than Command. Or even bless...
EDIT: As I understand it: there are 3 orcs in melee, 3 sleeping, 4 entangled, and 2 dead.
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Post by Gorthakh on Jun 16, 2005 10:41:09 GMT -5
I like the fact that you keep command up, personally. It's the only spell we've got access to that's guaranteed to drop an ogre... even sleep only has a 50% chance with that. And orcs and ogres often come hand-in-hand.
If you want to drop command then drop it, but I'd memorise it with Gorthakh if you did.
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Post by foster1941 on Jun 16, 2005 11:20:29 GMT -5
Finrod's got a shield and a high Dex so even restricted to leather armor he's got a halfway decent AC (5), and with 5 hp remaining a single blow, even from a sword or battle axe, shouldn't be able to kill him, so I'll gladly have him join the melee if you think you and Poppy can't handle 2:3 odds is a timely fashion (we've got 9 minutes remaining until the Entangle spell wears off). Melora and Darian are both at -3 and falling. That means Gerto (or somebody) has 4 rounds in which to treat them, which leaves him a 2 round window in which to possibly cast his Command spell.
And FWIW I agree that with 2 clerics in the party Command is a better contingency spell to keep on hand than a sixth CLW spell.
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Post by Gorthakh on Jun 16, 2005 11:25:48 GMT -5
I think there's a risk that we might not take those orcs. Statistically Poppy and I'll beat them, but I think having one of the priests in melee will speed things up and reduce the risk further.
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Post by Gerto on Jun 16, 2005 12:21:01 GMT -5
I already posted I would treat the closest fallen party member. If the three orcs are still standing after that round, I can cast command, otherwise, finish up treating the bleeding PCs.
I will keep memorizing my command spell. Also, when I cast it, what should I say? Sleep? Fall? Explode? Do I have to speak in their native language? If so, I will ammend my post and pose the above question to Gorthahk as I treat Melora so I can be ready with an orcish word next round.
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Post by Gorthakh on Jun 16, 2005 13:34:07 GMT -5
Dangit, of course, you don't speak Orcish.
You have to speak the command in a language your target critter understands, and most orcs don't speak Common.
"Die" is a perfectly good command - takes one creature out of action for one round, which is about the most you can expect normally (although "Dive" is effective if you happen to be fighting near water...)
I'll have to teach you the Orcish for "Die!", which would fortunately be understood by goblins, hobgoblins and ogres as well as orcs.
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Post by Gerto on Jun 16, 2005 14:40:37 GMT -5
Well, no casualties on either side for round 3. Shall I use my Command spell now? I can use it on the one Finrod is fighting so he can run it through while it falls to the ground.
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Post by Gorthakh on Jun 17, 2005 3:16:34 GMT -5
Yes, use the spell!
That sleep lasts for five rounds, and we're about to resolve round 4. We'll have three more orcs incoming way too soon for comfort. I feel that we need to put these orcs down now.
Also Darian's still bleeding. Not enough active characters, too much to do...
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Post by foster1941 on Jun 17, 2005 13:24:07 GMT -5
If Finrod breaks off from melee with the two standing orcs to slay one of the sleeping orcs will he be opened up to an 'attack of opportunity' from either/both of those orcs?
If Gorthakh's right about Sleep only having a 5 round duration (and I'll assume he is, without having the book in front of me to check) then this upcoming round (round 5) is that last one before they wake up. Therefore Gerto and I need to kill 2 of them (allowing Darian to bleed down to -5). Then on round 6 1 orc will awaken (but should be at a disadvantage as he gets to his feet). Hopefully by that time Gorthakh and Poppy will have managed to kill at least one of the two they're currently fighting...
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Post by master on Jun 17, 2005 13:34:24 GMT -5
Finrod will be ok since the two orcs are already enganged with poppy and gorthack.
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Post by Gerto on Jun 17, 2005 14:02:13 GMT -5
So we are going to slay 2 sleeping orcs round 5. Then round 6, one orc will wake up and Finrod will engage him while I heal Darian. Is that right? Will Darian suffer ill effects from dropping to -6? Can I get an answer from the Master on that one? If he suffers ill effects, I am going to stabilize him first.
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