DreamLyrics™ Play-by-Post Forums Fantasy SKT: The Storm King's Thunder OOC thread

As I said, MikeD. the game is structured for everyone taking their turn and being able to react to what happens on the turns ahead of them. This was just an intellectual exercise in what it would look like if it was more realistic.

Sorry if you thought it was an accusation of how you were running the game, Just reacting to things here and at home <g>

Still waiting for Pavel to go but I will push on when I get back from golf tomorrow

Hit one for me!! It has been =decades= since I played golf <g>

Miales - Pavel can Misty Step to the same tree Zhu climbed I suppose.

He was aiming for the closest one. Range is only 30 ft so depending on the tree he's 15-20 dt up it

Zeim, I'd remind you of this post.

OK, so multiple waves.

Not 1. That is for sure. And you know me Zeim; this is just the appetizer.

A full sized appetizer meant to be shared or a tiny amuse-bouche that's just giving us a taste of the chef's culinary skills?

Did Bern call out that this is not natural? Can't recall.

Yep. And Aubric tried to look to see if he could see what was unnatural. Expecting to be asked for a perception roll if relevant.

Kriv's horse made the save with a 16. If half damage would have killed it anyway, was damage rolled individually for the first wave?

Kriv's horse took 6 points from the dex fail slip and fall. It took 10 points half damage after saving on the strength save.
Individual damage was not rolled for anyone. I never roll individual damage when something affects a group. Just like you make one roll for a spell.

On the plus side...
While your horse perished, I was impressed with your use of the action surge to move through the mud and provide advantage. When the DM is impressed, the player gets an inspiration point. You may use it at any time in this thread to gain advantage on a roll.

I was also impressed with the use of Web which gives Zeim an inspiration point.

This is not a reflection on any other moves to mitigate damage and stay alive, but credit to what I, as DM, thought were inspired ideas.

Aquadyne:

Quote

OOC: Can you elaborate on how that impacts the giant's movement? It's 50 feet away with a speed of 40, but can it move at all (or half with difficult terrain) other than the speed of the mud (which is...?). TLDR: will it be in melee range in 1 round or more than one round?

DM: Answer was in original DM post:

Quote

On the hill giant's turn it grabs tree trunk which stops it's slide down the hill.

----
Dugan:

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ooc: Can I move Davroar and his horse 1/2 movement to the west?

DM: Yes

And that is why you are the DM ... to make those tough calls <weg>

Nice! Well done guys!

Nem - Note that Boris is ensnared by the Webs and quite safe from being swept away. However he IS a horse, and so doesn't know that. I would think he would try to break free and so would make the DC save. Also note, those in the Web if you are attacked, attacks have Advantage on you and your own attacks on others have Disadvantage, but you can attack.

OOC 2 - Aubric is indeed in the Web.)

Aqua:
Zeim:
DM:
MikeD:
Zeim:

Nep,

Need some clarification on this rather cryptic quote. I want Aubric to "do something" so that the horses survive, but it's really not clear what is helpful or what is just cute roleplay and won't actually change rolls and allow the horses to survive, or if that's even possible given the circumstances.

What are the mechanics of what happens to the horses when they hit 0 hp, or take damage in excess of their max hp, during the mudslide?

Some specific questions:

1. Do we know what the next save will be and at which initiative or do we have to guess?

2. Do we know how many more waves will occur or do we have to guess?

3. It looks like Kriv's horse was pushed 10 feet when it hit 0 hp. Is that because it became prone when at 0hp and thus pushed? Or as a result of failing the str save so it was pushed before (or while) it died?

4. While Kriv's horse is only "mostly dead" and is technically making death saving throws, it cant make any saves so would the next impact of the mud potentially cause 20 damage, > max hp and insta-death?

5. Related, is insta-death generally true in this encounter for any creature < 7 hp if they have 13 max, and fail their save and take 20 damage (assuming more saves are coming)? It seems that given enough repeated waves, insta-death is somewhat a certainty and a DM way of forcing us to choose between keeping horses alive by burning spell slots, or keeping spell slots for the next thing you're going to throw at us and letting the horses die... amirite? ). More to the point, it's a generally understood "rule" that you just let creatures get to 0hp before healing, but the math I'm doing indicates I need to burn spell slots to keep them above 7hp. (Aubric has Channel Divinity to restore multiple creatures but it is limited to half max so I can't even get 'em to 7; Healing Word works for one but there are several and Mass Healing Word is 3rd level...) Am I misreading this and will I waste 3rd/4th level spell slots keeping horses alive because of a misinterpretation? Or is this really the intent and I need to choose between spell slots or dead horses on the dead horse path?

6. It's still really unclear to me what happens to the wagon if Boris goes down, or how much the web is helping him. Looks like Boris was cut free but possibly a misunderstanding (I'm waiting for my turn to get clarity on). Does Boris drag the cart with it if he hits 0hp? Is Boris super-special-keep-from-hitting-0-hp important or am I over-estimating his impact on the wagon (or am I not, and was Arus right to cut him loose)?

My understanding is:

1 - the Wagon is webbed solidly to the ground so isn't going anywhere.
2 - Boris is prone so isn't going anywhere unless he is freed from the web. He is likely to try to stand up and free himself from the webbing, but if he then tries to move he'd have to make a Strength check versus the Webs again to try to move the wagon.
3 - IF Arus cuts Boris' leather straps, then Boris could stand up, make a Strength check to get out of the webs, and move somewhere, BUT he'd then be subject to the next wave of mudslide.
4 - Other than the "Instant Death" rule (which honestly I have never seen used), typically the best plan is to let the horses drop to zero and then Arus can Lay Hands on them for 1 point each later.
5 - All of this goes out the window if the DMs goal is to make us travel on foot.

Well I am going to foil the DMs plan if that is the case and either have Sindar roll the whole way or crawl. Pbbbbtttt.

Or hands and knees or rolling, in Sindar's case.

Given that 200-400 hp damage per round is just "the appetizer" I'm going to assume Dead Horse path has that name for a reason and wish our equine friends a good afterlife. I don't think multiple waves are survivable for a max 13 hp creature without a massive expenditure of healing spells for the few that make however many saves are required (that are better left to the PCs), that I doubt we'll use with a completely uncertain follow-on threat.

Will make my move in the other thread.

Hmm.... Looking back at the thread, both Aubric's Horse and Boris also took that 6 damage from the initial fall (reflected on your summary) plus 10 points of damage even with the save (Boris took the damage but only Kriv's is marked as dead). Shouldn't Aubric's horse already be dead right now?

Should I have made a death saving throw for it? (Or perhaps healed it with my action?)

I've been floored these past 2 days by a stomach virus that I caught from my grandson. I'm better now.

As for all these OOC questions I'm not going to answer anything that asks "What's next?" That's for you all to figure out.

You are correct. Aubric's horse is down.

If your horse doesn't get washed down the hill then lay on hands won't work otherwise it will. Insta-kills are only for enemies and it's not a rule, it's a practice.