OOC A Tide of Discussion: the d20 ToF OOC thread

Zanaek: Woot!

 

Skadi is spending two AP and tossing Air Walk on herself, Ragnar and Corrath, keeping one copy left over. Each lasts about 100 minutes, give or take casting time. If this battle lasts that long, I'd be surprised, because drawn-out fights are far more advantageous for the party since that gives them time to fully recover. Also, Magic Vestment on William, and Ebon Eyes on people who need it, with priority given to herself, Ragnar, and Corrath.

Since Ragnar and Skadi have Air Walk, they can probably carry one or two party members who can't hover.

Skadi has tailored her spell selection to allow her to employ a cunning strategy against Kharn known as "Sword to the Face". Oddly enough, the "Sword to the Face" style is equally effective against hobgoblins, giants, and dragons.

I don't think that stealth is really a huge concern for most of the party, given that the usual objective is to use Evelios to pump up the jam.

Speaking of, anyone seen Xan?

 

On the last point: I wish I'd seen Xan, because I miss her in the game Her last post was literally six weeks ago or more, though I can't see whether or not she's logged in recently. I gathered Darth RL was getting on top of her even with that.

Casting Ebon Eyes isn't necessary on Corrath, at least for now - half-elf under full moonlight means she sees as if it's daylight. Did you mean William instead? I'll assume one AP spent to recall one iteration of the spell, though, so that's a total of 3.

Either way it looks like the party reaches the ground in one round. I'll get to an update shortly, but for quickness -- can I assume people otherwise are casting their hour/level spells as applicable, the ones that apply buffs, so I don't have to bother myself with them?

EDIT: Post 9,999. I'll try and ensure 10,000 is an update.

EDIT THE SECOND: I so would have dug Evelios playing Technotronic.

 

I can thus delay my post until I know A) what is going on and B) what I can do

 

While we're talking buffs, once we're down the wall, Evelios will cast Resounding Voice, activate all of his jazzy Inspire Courage boosters, and will begin to Inspire Courage everything in a giant radius.

The tune?

Well, there's only one song that can encompass the sheer epicness of the upcoming battle. The struggle of battle. The urge to overcome.

I refer of course to Walk the Dinosaur.

 

Ramz, your musical choices always fill me with glee (when youtube deigns to work).

As a Blind Guardian fan, though, could I put in a request for Evelios to perform something that really is epic of theirs at some point?

 

I can probably swing that, although, fair warning, the odds of that song coming from Tales from the Twilight World are astronomically high.

 

I'm not bothering to recall a copy of Ebon Eyes, since Zanaek also prepared two copies. Ragnar and Skadi it is. She also has a Light at-will and is not stealth-friendly, so she can always cast it on her sword or shield (I think the sword already gives off blue light). It won't help with magical darkness, but that's why she has Blindsight and True Seeing.

 

Aww maaan, no Nightfall In Middle-Earth or A Night At The Opera?

If it's gonna be TftTW, though, at least don't make it Tommyknockers? I know just enough about the story it's based on to be genuinely uncomfortable listening to it.

 

All right, quick notes so you guys know where the numbers are heading right now:

Skadi casts Air Walk : cast on Ragnar, Skadi, Corrath. Skadi spends 2 AP to keep one memorised.

Skadi casts Ebon Eyes: one on Skadi, Ragnar.

Zanaek casts Ebon Eyes: one on William, Zanaek. NB: He also spends 1 AP to rememorise and cast on Evelios. Mitth, please confirm this is okay.

Evelios casts Haste: on all partymembers. Also casts Resounding Voice, Inspirational Boost to optimise Inspire Courage. Ramza, please note three items:
(1) if you're jamming with Words of Creation, it's doing nonlethal damage to you round by round -- please roll 3d4 for me.
(2) Also note that while your harmonising weapon will pick up the song and continue it for 10 rounds maximum even if you stop singing it personally, you're still being done 3d4 nonlethal damage per round. The sourcebooks are silent on this from what I can see, but Words of Creation has that control mechanism in it for a reason. If you or Light have a better argument please let me know. I suppose we could cook up the possibility that it does damage to the weapon instead, but at the moment I'm open to argument. If you end the harmoniser's effect -- a swift action -- then the bonuses still apply for 5 more rounds as a normal Inspire Courage effect does, and you won't be taking nonlethal damage in those rounds, of course.
(3) In that first round, assuming the party is going to just CHAERG~ at the giants using the Usain Bolt Haste-powered Run option in the first round, you won't be keeping up with them. Inspire Courage takes a standard action to initiate. Not that it matters a lot because you're also casting Resounding Voice which can be heard by the party half a mile away (or indeed through Rings of Communication), but I thought I'd make that clear.

William: Casts Overland Flight on self from scroll.

Hour/level spells cast:
William casts Greater Magic Weapon: If the Chain Spell effect from his Lesser Rod is used, this raises all +1 weapons in the party to +2. Cass, please confirm this course for me. I'm looking for confirmation because your rods and other toys have limited uses per day.
Greater Mage Armour: cast by William, on William. +6 armor bonus to William’s AC.
Skadi’s Magic Vestment: cast on William. +2 enhancement bonus on clothes for AC.

10 Min/level spells cast:
Healing Lorecall: from Zanaek. Can remove a dazed, dazzled, fatigued, exhausted, nauseated, or sickened effect in tandem with a Conjuration (Healing) spell. Also, CL is 13 for [healing] spells.
Mass Conviction: from Skadi. +3 morale bonus to all saves.
Magic Circle against Evil: from Zanaek. +2 deflection bonus to AC, +2 resistance bonus to all saves. Works on anyone within 10 feet of Zanaek.

Four other spells I'm not sure about. Light, can you please confirm for me: is Skadi casting Freedom of Movement, Girallon's Blessing, Mass Resist Energy, and Shield Other? These are all 10 minute/level spells, but I wasn't sure if you wanted to hold any of them back at the moment. Shield Other in particular needs you to specify a target if you're going to cast it.

TAG: Mitth, Ramza, Cass, Light

 

I'm on regular Inspire Courage at the moment - that extra +1 is handy for tight spots but the risk of collapsing in under a minute is too high.

Edit: Also, can I just say these pre-battle shenanigans are what always remind me the most of actual in-person DnD? I half-expect the pizza guy to show up right as we're finally going to roll.

 

I know, I know ... I'm sorry there isn't a more refined or streamlined way to do it...



...You ordered no anchovies, right?

 

I meant that as a compliment of sorts, it's nostalgic.

And hell no, I want all the anchovies.

 

Still: assuming the point of an RPG is to make people feel like they're actually inhabiting a role in a fictional world for a while, you're saying I've managed to authentically induce the feeling that people are sitting around a table in someone's living room/kitchen engaged in metagaming and OOC commentary regarding a fictional game which itself involves inhabiting a role in a fictional world for a while?

 

Chainspelling confirmed!

Also, I agree with Ramza; the final pre-battle crunching really gets me excited. It's like the countdown to AWESOME.

 

On a slightly more serious note: Ramza, just to clarify that the difference between Inspire Courage under Words of Creation vs. "normal" I.C. is +3, not +1. Under Words of Creation you're pumping out +9 to attack, damage, etc. Normal IC you're pumping out +6. The reason is because WoC doubles the base IC figure -- which because of the Vest of Legends in particular is a base of +3. Song of the Heart, Inspirational Boost and the Harper Token then add onto that. I don't mind if you don't feel the party needs the extra +3 to its rolls, but just in case you were under any misapprehension about the effect...

 

Wouldn't it be better to save the AP and use the Pearl of Power Level 1 to recall the Ebon Eyes? Since the pearl can recharge daily and the APs cannot, I think I'd rather save the AP for an emergency.

 

Ah, my CS said +7, hence my assumption that the difference was a mere +1. Still sticking with the base bonus for now.

 

Actually, if Cass spends an AP to boost the caster level of Greater Magic Weapon, it becomes CL 12, so +3 weapons for everyone.

Skadi's not casting Freedom of Movement or Shield Other just yet, but will eventually go with spending an AP on Mass Resist Energy to boost the caster level to 12 for a total of Resist Fire 30 for everyone after we deal with the giants. Girallon's Blessing is for her.

 

AP it is! +3 Weapons of Bashing for everyone.

 

Mitth: entirely your choice. Pearl of Power it is.
Ramza: I'll go check the sheet over. That figure would be wrong, but it might be left over from before when you got the Vest of Legends.
Light: noted.
Cassie: 1 AP gone, then, and +3 weapons for all. Which means, unlike the standard casting, everyone gets an upgrade to their sharp bits of steel.

 

Okay, update is updated.

Apologies in advance if you come across errors by me during the course of this battle, guys - there's a lot of factors to keep straight here, and I rely as much on your watchfulness as my own calculations to get it right.

As for the issue of visibility and what you'd be able to see others doing, I cast about on the net and found a nice representation of what 500 feet looks like:



This should more or less speak for itself, but each of the kids holding up a card is at a hundred foot increment, with the furthest back being the '0' mark. Giants 10 feet tall obviously are a bit easier to spot, but you can see how tricky it is (without a spyglass) to tell what others are doing at the distances we're talking about.

Over to you.

 

Is the far kid the zero point? Because I totally need glasses

 

Yes, that's what I just said

 

Well like I said, I need glasses