DreamLyrics™ Play-by-Post Forums Fantasy SKT: The Storm King's Thunder 3H - Second night in Yartar

(OOC - Yes, but remember she can do 2 Misty Steps in a round as it's a bonus action. So it seems like one of two concepts:

1:
A- Move 15' down the ladder (followed immediately by someone else)
B- Cast the Racial Misty Step (Bonus Action) and teleport whoever is behind her to the ground
C- Cast another Misty Step (still a Bonus Action but in this instance as a regular action) to teleport herself to the ground

or

2:
A- Cast Misty Step on whoever wants it as a Bonus Action and teleport someone to the ground, right under the ladder next to Arus
B- Move 15 feet down the ladder
C- Cast another Misty Step (still a Bonus Action but in this instance as a regular action) to teleport herself to the ground
D- On the turn of the person who she teleported down, they move off to one side to make room for the next person

Now, if we can only move 15 feet down the ladder (or via rope) in a turn, then at best I see:

Round 1:
Arus moves 15 feet down the ladder

Round 2:
Arus moves to the ground
Zhu teleports Davroar or Sindar down then joins them
Davroar/Sindar move off to one side
Kriv jumps down
Bern moves 15 feet down a rope

Round 3:
Bern reaches the ground
Whichever of Davroar/Sindar did not teleport moves 15 feet down the ladder

Round 4:
Davroar/Sindar reach the ground
Jaliera moves 15 feet down

Round 5:
Jaliera reaches the ground


Unless someone has a means of overcoming difficult terrain or Davroar still has a Shape Change left?)

OOC: But when she does her 1st misty step, she must see the location which she won't be able to unless she's at the point I marked. Arus and Bern will be occupying the only squares she sees unless you wait for them to move or be banished to another plane of existence first .

[ooc:

Is the ladder vertical with the rungs attached to the wall as depicted, or is it an actual ladder leaning against the wall?

Just a thought to draw any readied fire or spells, perhaps we should drop or lower by rope one of the dead Kuo-toa right before the first person appears in line of sight of the enemy?

I measured a 5 x 5' square on my living room floor and if the people would hug tight to the ladder, someone with decent strength could lower the dead body by rope, keeping it just out of sight until we are ready to go.

Note that Davroar has his two shape changes back after the short rest we had. If the room is flooded he can shape change into a snake or something else, so he will not need a water-breathing potion.

I would think Sindar has more powerful offensive magic and should be teleported. Going by Zeim's idea can Davroar in round 4 reach the ground and still cast his summon animals spell? ]

[OOC Jaliera does not climb but should be able to manage rungs ]

(OOC - Nep - she can move and do 2 Misty Steps. One for somebody else and one for herself. OR she can do the first one straight down. She can see the ground at the bottom of the ladder from the top of the hole. Then move. Then do the second one off to one side.

...., if its not clear, call me when you get a chance. It will take 5 minutes to explain.

Oh, and while we're at it here's another concept I need DM rulings on. Cast Web at the bottom of the hole, filling the last 10 feet or so high. Everyone jumps into the web, which slows, or stops, their fall. She then dispels the Web once everyone is down. I think I need lots of DM rulings on that idea.)

(OOC - Nep - Note that I said she would do the first spell after Arus but BEFORE Bern went down. That leaves space. And the person she Misty Steps can move away on their own turn to make space for Bern. Also, any comment on the Web thought? People can voluntarily fail saving throws so they could all ensure they get caught by the web and not hit the ground.

Dugan - Why not summon the animals while you're up top, having them appear down below and have then run to attack the enemies to create a distraction while we're climbing down instead of waiting?

BTW, if no one likes these ideas she'll just climb down on her turn. Just tell me when you want to her to go.)

[[ I am still ... 'chafing' ... at the idea that using a rope is no faster than climbing down the ladder <sigh> I'll challenge any of you to a race to see which is really faster <weg> ]]

(OOC - MikeD - I agree, for someone skilled at it it should definitely be faster. If you're unskilled <shrug> , it'd still be faster but not much safer than just jumping.)

[[ Yeah and so ... how would an established adventurer not have any skill on a rope?? Just askin' <wink> ]]

(OOC - Yeah, except the rules state that climbing is considered difficult terrain movement (ie. 15 feet per round) It doesn't differentiate between climbing up and climbing down. Perhaps they should, or they should have a benefit for being Trained in Athletics, but they don't.)

[[ Except ... the DM can make his or her own 'adjustments' to the rules to fit the situation <g> ]]

[ooc: Zeim, casting the summon animals while up top was my original idea until Neptune clarified that there is a 15 foot shaft before it opens out into the room. I suspect Davroar would have to at least be past the half-way point on the ladder to direct the animals to attack the two groups by each wheel. And with no idea of when initiative is decided, I would rather have Davroar with both planted firmly on the ground rather than half-way on ladder casting a spell. ]

<Bern>

With a shrug, he grabs the rope and starts down, taking his time. He doesn't want to have a problem while he is looking to see what he can see.

Dugan - Range is 60 feet. You can see the ground 30 feet away at the bottom of the ladder. Why do you not think you could cast it from above? You can give the animals instructions to attack all Kuo-toa in the room and they get to move on the turn they appear (on their turn in the order) and run forward to attack. Yes, they would take up space on the ground, but that is why you should summon them first, before even Arus goes down, so they can move away to attack while we are descending, to provide a distraction.

So why can't he summon them in the 2 squares directly down? The idea is to summon them before anyone else goes down to create a distraction so no issue with space. Just summon 2 creatures and tell them to go attack the Kuo-toa. I see no issues. It doesn't work as a distraction if he does it AFTER somebody goes down there.

He has to see where to direct the animals.

No he doesn't. He just has to see where he summons them into. That's it. All he has to do then is give them directions. They do not have to be in sight after they are summoned as long as they can follow his directions, and I suppose stay inside the 60 foot range of the spell. "Attack the Kuo-toa until they're all dead" should be good enough to cover the whole encounter (or until there are no more Kuo-tao, at which point they just defend themselves). He summons them at the bottom of the ladder, tells them to "attack the Kuo-toa", and off they go, running to do his bidding. He is not attacking the Kuo=toa, where he has to be able to see his target. His summoned animals are. Davroar does not need to see where they go.

As a concentration spell, if you want to say they have to be within the 60 foot range all the time then he would have to do that, but there is nothing in the spell about them having to remain in line-of-sight. They just have to be able to hear his commands, which can be shouted. I suppose they might just stop before they moved beyond the 60 foot range then and defend themselves until he moved closer.

I also don't read anything that says you can't give them a command that takes multiple rounds to complete (you can't give them multiple commands, but a single command that takes more than one round to do should be fine). "Attack the Kuo-toa until they're all dead" covers multiple rounds. However if you want to rule he has to give them the same command over and over again every round then he can just shout from where he is. His voice should easily carry 60 feet. He doesn't even have to know if the Kuo-toa are all dead or gone. If the animals can't carry out his command, because they've already killed all the Kuo-tao for example, then they just defend themselves.

Research I've done supports the "no need for line of sight as long as they can hear shouted commands" concept.

[ooc: Neptune, I see Zeim's point. Could I not just command to two groups, "You crabs attack any creature your size or bigger you see to the {right, left}. If attacked by any creature then retaliate." However if the 60 foot range is as far as the animals will go then I guess Davroar would have to be down there at the base of the ladder in order for the crabs to actually engage the enemy. ]

Best example is a trained guard dog. If you order it to "attack" you don't have to stand there and repeat "attack, attack, attack" every few seconds. It will continue to attack (its last order) until you call it off. It will also chase its target around corners, thru doors, and across fields even if that takes it out of your line of sight.

According to the provided map, the Kuo-toa are about 60 feet away (45' on the hypotenuse) from the top of the ladder, so Davroar should not even have to descend to do it unless they move further away. He also can specify Kuo-toa as Jaliera told us they were there. Or even just "animal #1 run to the right and attack the first living thing you see and animal #2 run to the left and attack the first living thing you see."

Go ahead and do what you plan on doing. Planning is all fine and dandy. Let's see what happens when you do it

So guys, two different concepts we have to choose among. Arus going down first and trying to talk while the rest come down versus sending summoned animals to attack and cause a distraction while the other climb down. Don't think we can combine them. Once we send animals to attack, Arus isn't going to be able to talk.

Ready an action to summon the animals, trigger Arus is attacked.