Group Tactics/Strategies

[Ilya]

Yes, we are. And if it's 90 pounds... I've got a sack, and if we divide everything well, I'm sure we can get out, copper and all.
I refuse to leave half the treasure behind. And there's no reason to be sorry. I was just checking to make sure I didn't have to count in any other weight.

[Caledonian Achilles]

May 29, 2008 19:44:19 GMT 1 achinca said:

Cal,
I thought that the previous round ray en enfeblement was the last one spell you had. Did you have two of them?
The group agreed NOT to rest and move forward which is why I have Brettnor out of spells.

The risk of Darax converting Urrtarr to his side was to great for the group to take.

I know you re weakened which is why the dragon is tiny. If you were at ful strength, the ddragon would be 1 CR higher (Very young).

in a word.... DRAT!

you are 100% correct. i only had the one spell left but assumed we had rested from my readings of the post. my bad.

and i agree with what ilya said about the treasure... even copper pieces can buy Odlin cold beautiful beautiful beer

[Caledonian Achilles]

is there going to be a break between adventures (i.e. we say GAME OVER, level up then start a new thread?) or is it continuous RPing?

considering that ppl are on holiday maybe a break is a good idea?

[achinca]

I will out of comission from 6/18-6/25 so we can take a break. As far as the adventure goes, when you go back to Barrow Edge, it will continues.
There is a certain situation with Jukia to be solved or something.

[Caledonian Achilles]

Woohoo! Achinca should be back tomorrow - but i will be away table-topping wed night

last week my eladrin warlord got his butt handed to him on a plate garnished with a side order of whoopass.

so i've decided to change class. am either going to go for a fighter or a rogue depending on what my buddy picks (he also had his dragonborn paladin smited so he's changing character too)

part of the problem is that we have 3 characters and the introductory module is written for 5 PCs so we are usually outnumbered 2 (or even 3) to 1

TPK avoided by a wandering cleric helping us out. he gets to heal you by hitting other people ?!

weird rule....you start every day on maximum hit points and all your powers recharge. yesterday morning the paladin was monged & weak as a kitten and the next he's ordering extra fries for his breakfast (so to speak)

[achinca]

That is a weird rule that you get full power at every day. It seems broken.

Another notch in the "I do not like it" column.

[Caledonian Achilles]

Last night we kicked ass!
We've decided that our adventuring group will be have ACES in the name as that represents our monograms.
If we get a gimmick like we all have pipes, then we can be SMOKIN' ACES or ACES HIGH

instead of a hodge podge of classes, we've constructed a party with one character from each of the 4 main roles:
cleric (leader) - augments the abilities of the rest of the group
fighter (defender) - soaks up damage and stops the big guys coming for the others
ranger (striker) - deals lots of damage to one target
wizard (controller) - deals damage to lots of targets, aka "crowd control"

Keep on the shadowfell seems to be written as a minicampaign. there a series of missions/quests - each usually about 2-3 encounters long

well we had fun but it does seem that the night is dominated by combat

when are we starting the new adventure?

[achinca]

Jun 26, 2008 17:30:18 GMT 1 Caledonian Achilles said:

when are we starting the new adventure?

The seed has been planted. Read what had happened to Barrow Edge. Based on your posting, you will have enough clue to go where the next adventure is awaiting you!!!!

[achinca]

Initiative in PbP:

Are you guys okay with rolling the initiative and playing constant as we have done since the begining? Or are you ready to try something?

Initiave will be based on the posting time. All heroes go first, bad guys go after. If you choose imporaved intitiative, you get to picvk another feat instead.

Or I am open to a new suggestion.

[puffthemagicdragon]

I would not be in favor of heroes always going first and bad guys after. Seems that would get a little boring. I'm fine with rolling.

[nodaisho]

I'm fine with rolling, I let whoever posted first get dibs on movement, usually, but I like the initiative rule, even though it always seems that when I don't forget to roll for init, I roll a 3 or 4.

[achinca]

I will keep the initiative as we have been doing it for this fight and the rest of the game unless an idea approved by all is suggested.

[Caledonian Achilles]

initiative throws up some special considerations in PbP

we've all seen this before particularly when the DM only makes one post per round:

party fights a mob of different monster types: initiative order
Hero A
Hero B
Monsters A
Hero C
Monsters B
Hero D

well for the players A & B there is no problem, they make a post and game on

but player C and D have bother. they are expected to post and predeict what the situation is when their characters have a turn

so what do we do? in table top everyone waits their turn and acts immediately, knowing what's happening just as they take their turn

in PbP where ppl only post once per day then we CANNOT do this




MY SUGGESTION
we go back to the days of basic D&D.
The DM makes one roll for the monsters
The party's caller makes one roll for the heroes.
This still needs to be tweaked in the new ear of surprise rounds, sneak attacks and flat-footedness

THERFORE:
everyone gets to roll initiative for the surprise round ONLY
actions are posted before initiative is even rolled, the DM rolls and actions happen as per initiative order. If you move to a square and a monster is gone then tough, same for the monsters (i trust the DM to not have to declare monster actions for the surprise round). this is only for the surprise round.
for every other round, monsters act last

[achinca]

The plus of rolling initiative is that it allows a monster to hit first, making the game more fun as it is more dangerous and the player better. The problem is thati n Pbp, a great post can be wasted because the monster the character attacked is already dead. This forces the DM to adjust the post which I do not particularly like.

A plus for having the bad guys go last is the simplicity of the method and no post will go to waste.

An hybrid solution is for the DM to roll initiative for ALL the mosnter (taking the highest initiative modifier) and STOP the action after the monster action to let the character act. So instead of stopping when everyone had acted, we stop when the mosnter has acted.

What do you guys think?

[Caledonian Achilles]

sure, am willing to give anything a try!