Let me know if any of this is obviously not going to work...
Able moves forward to stand directly behind Prythurkan. With the noise and his paranoia he expected to find trouble. Reaching past the Dragonborn, Able summons a blast of eldritch power toward the nearest...creature [green]. His spear is clutched in his hand so he is ready for when they draw near.
Since the enemy hasn't gone yet, I don't know if we have advantage or anything against them - rolling it just in case it applies.
I hadn't planned to take a cunning action, as I wanted to maintain the flank for Briana. If the monster went down, Eryndir will move one more square to K4 and use a Cunning Action to hide.
The monster stopped moving. You can decide if that means it is "dead" or not.
I've continued to refer to them in neutral terms because you definitely do not know what it is you're fighting in the dark. While you can see them as if you were in dim light, that means you're at disadvantage on Perception checks.
Unfortunately, 5e doesn't have hard and fast rules on using knowledge checks in order to identify traits about monsters. Pg 177-178 in the PHB offer this:
Your Intelligence (Arcana) check measures your ability to recall lore about ... the inhabitants of planes.
Your Intelligence (Nature) check measures your ability to recall lore about .. plants and animals
Your Intelligence (Religion) check measures your ability to recall lore about ... practices of secret cults
I periodically change my mind on what sort of action this would take. For now, I would allow the use of a Bonus Action to make an appropriate skill check to learn tidbits about these monsters. Thus far, you know they live in plant matter, erupt in pollen, shoot needles, and look like plants. I'll let you choose which Knowledge skill is the natural choice.
I'm also willing to listen to arguments about why the rule should go a different way.
All of that makes perfect sense. I'll stick with Eryndir using his bonus action to move one additional square and hide, and if he doesn't provoke an attack of opportunity, he'll draw a conclusion about what going immobile and inert means, at least as far as managing active threats goes.
In 5e, characters can move before and after they attack, so Eryndir is fine to move in this way. His total movement takes up 35 feet, due to the difficult terrain in J3 and K3, which is exactly a Wood Elf's base move. He spends his standard on the attack, then he uses his Rogue 2 ability Cunning Action:
Starting at 2nd level, your quick thinking and agility allow you to move and act quickly. You can take a bonus action on each of your turns in combat. This action can be used only to take the Dash, Disengage, or Hide action.
He uses his cunning action to hide in the thick brown growth (although he doesn't know it is brown because his darkvision doesn't show him colors). He is able to hide in this growth because of his Wood Elf racial Mask of the Wild:
You can attempt to hide even when you are only lightly obscured by foliage, heavy rain, falling snow, mist, and other natural phenomena.
That's a surprisingly complicated chain of events, but it checks out.
Now it is Cor'val's turn. I'm not sure I used enough apostrophe's.
Cor'val with move straight forward to E4 (ignoring difficult terrain due to Natural Explorer feature), drawing his bow as he moves. He'll then fire on the guy in M4 (green?), with advantage (also granted from Natural Explorer). 19 arrows remaining.
Also, questions regarding 5E combat:
A) Eryndir moved around the plant he was fighting; would that provoke an AoE, or not because he stayed within the plant's reach the whole time? Is it not by the individual square you start in, but the creature's entire reach radius?
2) Are there modifiers for firing into melee? Only entry I found said you'd have disadvantage on rolls if you were yourself threatened within 5ft.
3) I take it there isn't a bonus for flanking anymore, except where noted by specific abilities? I see the sneak attack trait depends on advantage on rolls or flanking, and I've noticed various other entries (such as a wolf's pack tactics ability). There's not a general bonus or modifier for flanking though, I gather?
Not a bad entrance to a campaign! A crit is just the die roll again, not the modifier. UA ranger is just such a great class.
You're right, you ignore the difficult terrain.
M4 is a weird orange/brown color. I'm not color blind but I don't know what shade that's supposed to be. Maybe a salmon?
Question A) Here's the text: You can make an opportunity Attack when a hostile creature that you can see moves out of your reach. This has been clarified to voluntary movement. You can't shove someone out of your buddy's range so that your buddy can get a free attack. Eryndir didn't move outside the monster's reach until it was inert, so he didn't provoke.
Question B) There is no difficulty shooting into melee, only shooting out of the melee you're currently in. You can freely draw/stow weapons on your turn, so engaging an archer doesn't just ruin their day.
Question C) We use the optional flanking rules from the DMG on page 251. In short, if you're flanking, you have advantage on your attack. Flanking is a VERY good tactic.
The Kenku named Bird makes a noise that reminds everyone of a roaring bonfire. He lifts up a curious glass jar that emits bright light for 30 feet and dim light for another 30 feet beyond the limit of the bright light. Bright light extends to column G, and dim light extends to column M.
This reveals the front line monsters who are rendered inert. They appear to be man sized beings that closely resemble ghille suits or animate shrubs.
The monster designated as blue erupts in needles, sending a cloud of death hurtling toward Brianna. As Brianna has used the dodge action, the monster's attack is at disadvantage.
Charn gets his shield and sword ready as he goes to I3, ready to protect Eryndir with his shield in case any of the plant critters try to avenge their recently stiff comrade. He readies an attack action if possible to swat any plant critters that decide to get into melee range with him.
For convenience, I've provided this picture of what it looks like for Caleb's turn. The lighting is as Caleb sees it, rather than as anyone with Darkvision would see it.
Caleb will cast bane on enemies #1-3, if all three are within the 30' of dim illumination cast by Bird's lightsource. If not, the spell will target as many of them as possible. He shouts, "War is the health of the State!"
"Every normal man must be tempted, at times, to spit on his hands, hoist the black flag and begin slitting throats." - H.L. Mencken
No thanks. His relatively high AC may be sufficient to insulate the people in the back who haven't moved up and may be disinclined to do so, but he wants to remain as close as possible to the action without stepping out of the light himself.
"Every normal man must be tempted, at times, to spit on his hands, hoist the black flag and begin slitting throats." - H.L. Mencken
Sorry - I've been distracted by holidays and old video games.
While I'm sure the cleric can actually do something helpful, Able feels compelled to attempt to help Charn. I'm going to roll a d20 for a heal check - not sure what to add to it (if anything).
IC:
Seeing Charn drop, Able moves over, dropping to his knees and raising his cloak like a shield. Hopefully hidden from sight will prevent him from being attacked again. Able looks for any way to help save the dying warrior.
Medicine checks are Wisdom based. The thing about rolling a 20 is that you did well regardless. Charn is no longer bleeding out but he is still at zero hit points.
It is my understanding that I can heal someone within 30' of 5x my current character level using Channel Energy because I chose the Life domain. Is that correct?
If so, I want to do so now for Charn and bring him back up to 10hp.
"Every normal man must be tempted, at times, to spit on his hands, hoist the black flag and begin slitting throats." - H.L. Mencken
That's right. You don't have to dump them all into Charn, you could spread them around. However, given his high AC and overall tankyness, and the fack that he was a bloody mess a second ago, dumping them all into Charn is a great idea.
The downside is that I totally misread initiative. It isn't Caleb's turn. It should go like this.
Cor'val is going to move forward to J4 and cast Hail of Thorns as a bonus action. He'll then fire at what looks like #7, in Q2.
I imagine Hail of Thorns causing the shaft of his arrow growing thorns like a rose stem mid flight, and if the attack hits, thorns like needles manifesting in the air above his targets and raining down on them like...well, a hail of thorns.
My spell dc against the enemies' Dex save for half of the spell dmg is 13, and the goal is to hit enemies 6, 7, 8, and the big guy in the back.
Eryndir's arrow plunges into the blight, rendering it inanimate.
Cor'val whispers a few words that hum with mystic might, but his arrow doesn't hit its mark. His next one, however, is going to be quite problematic for its quarry.
Bird advances: B3, C2, D2, E2, F2, G2. He opens his beak and creates the sound of a crackling campfire. The Kenku reaches into a bag at his waist and pulls out several vials - the bird brought alchemist's fire and has more than enough for everybody.
Of course, by tide turning, I mean that multiple volleys of needles, a veritable artillery barrage of ranged attacks, all end up plinking harmlessly off of armor. A complete lack of tide, as it were.
Let me know if any of this is obviously not going to work...
Able moves forward to stand directly behind Prythurkan. With the noise and his paranoia he expected to find trouble. Reaching past the Dragonborn, Able summons a blast of eldritch power toward the nearest...creature [green]. His spear is clutched in his hand so he is ready for when they draw near.
Since the enemy hasn't gone yet, I don't know if we have advantage or anything against them - rolling it just in case it applies.
Able, with his 20, crits.
A crit in 5e means you roll the dice twice, but you don't double the modifier. Please roll another 1d10.
Whoopsie. Not a nat20. I am the worst. Please take Inspiration, Able, as I cant read.
Able hits.
To be clear, Able move B1, C1, D1, E0, F0, G0.
Able attacks Green and rolls a 20, dealing 10 force damage.
Purple makes a quivering sound as it spreads out a pollen in the golden mist. That pollen appears to travel purposefully toward the other monsters.
Purple launches a volley of coniferous needles toward Eryndir. They are thin, green, and shockingly fast.
Purple moves M1, L2, K2, J2.
The wood elf is unscathed, but now is engaged in melee.
For convenience:
Eryndir will move I2-J3-K3 so as to be in flanking position with Briana and attack Purple with his rapier.
Damage
Eryndir successfully stabs the monster. He must have hit it at just the right angle, the creature becomes immobile and inert.
It is now Cor'val's turn.
I hadn't planned to take a cunning action, as I wanted to maintain the flank for Briana. If the monster went down, Eryndir will move one more square to K4 and use a Cunning Action to hide.
The monster stopped moving. You can decide if that means it is "dead" or not.
I've continued to refer to them in neutral terms because you definitely do not know what it is you're fighting in the dark. While you can see them as if you were in dim light, that means you're at disadvantage on Perception checks.
Unfortunately, 5e doesn't have hard and fast rules on using knowledge checks in order to identify traits about monsters. Pg 177-178 in the PHB offer this:
Your Intelligence (Arcana) check measures your ability to recall lore about ... the inhabitants of planes.
Your Intelligence (Nature) check measures your ability to recall lore about .. plants and animals
Your Intelligence (Religion) check measures your ability to recall lore about ... practices of secret cults
I periodically change my mind on what sort of action this would take. For now, I would allow the use of a Bonus Action to make an appropriate skill check to learn tidbits about these monsters. Thus far, you know they live in plant matter, erupt in pollen, shoot needles, and look like plants. I'll let you choose which Knowledge skill is the natural choice.
I'm also willing to listen to arguments about why the rule should go a different way.
All of that makes perfect sense. I'll stick with Eryndir using his bonus action to move one additional square and hide, and if he doesn't provoke an attack of opportunity, he'll draw a conclusion about what going immobile and inert means, at least as far as managing active threats goes.
In 5e, characters can move before and after they attack, so Eryndir is fine to move in this way. His total movement takes up 35 feet, due to the difficult terrain in J3 and K3, which is exactly a Wood Elf's base move. He spends his standard on the attack, then he uses his Rogue 2 ability Cunning Action:
Starting at 2nd level, your quick thinking and agility allow you to move and act quickly. You can take a bonus action on each of your turns in combat. This action can be used only to take the Dash, Disengage, or Hide action.
He uses his cunning action to hide in the thick brown growth (although he doesn't know it is brown because his darkvision doesn't show him colors). He is able to hide in this growth because of his Wood Elf racial Mask of the Wild:
You can attempt to hide even when you are only lightly obscured by foliage, heavy rain, falling snow, mist, and other natural phenomena.
That's a surprisingly complicated chain of events, but it checks out.
Now it is Cor'val's turn. I'm not sure I used enough apostrophe's.
Cor'val with move straight forward to E4 (ignoring difficult terrain due to Natural Explorer feature), drawing his bow as he moves. He'll then fire on the guy in M4 (green?), with advantage (also granted from Natural Explorer). 19 arrows remaining.
Also, questions regarding 5E combat:
A) Eryndir moved around the plant he was fighting; would that provoke an AoE, or not because he stayed within the plant's reach the whole time? Is it not by the individual square you start in, but the creature's entire reach radius?
2) Are there modifiers for firing into melee? Only entry I found said you'd have disadvantage on rolls if you were yourself threatened within 5ft.
3) I take it there isn't a bonus for flanking anymore, except where noted by specific abilities? I see the sneak attack trait depends on advantage on rolls or flanking, and I've noticed various other entries (such as a wolf's pack tactics ability). There's not a general bonus or modifier for flanking though, I gather?
Crit dmg. This doesn't include his +3 dex mod, correct? It's just the particular dmg die rolled again, and mods added to the combined dice total?
Not a bad entrance to a campaign! A crit is just the die roll again, not the modifier. UA ranger is just such a great class.
You're right, you ignore the difficult terrain.
M4 is a weird orange/brown color. I'm not color blind but I don't know what shade that's supposed to be. Maybe a salmon?
Question A) Here's the text: You can make an opportunity Attack when a hostile creature that you can see moves out of your reach. This has been clarified to voluntary movement. You can't shove someone out of your buddy's range so that your buddy can get a free attack. Eryndir didn't move outside the monster's reach until it was inert, so he didn't provoke.
Question B) There is no difficulty shooting into melee, only shooting out of the melee you're currently in. You can freely draw/stow weapons on your turn, so engaging an archer doesn't just ruin their day.
Question C) We use the optional flanking rules from the DMG on page 251. In short, if you're flanking, you have advantage on your attack. Flanking is a VERY good tactic.
The Kenku named Bird makes a noise that reminds everyone of a roaring bonfire. He lifts up a curious glass jar that emits bright light for 30 feet and dim light for another 30 feet beyond the limit of the bright light. Bright light extends to column G, and dim light extends to column M.
This reveals the front line monsters who are rendered inert. They appear to be man sized beings that closely resemble ghille suits or animate shrubs.
The monster designated as blue erupts in needles, sending a cloud of death hurtling toward Brianna. As Brianna has used the dodge action, the monster's attack is at disadvantage.
The storm of needles passes by the dwarf easily. The blue monster moves directly to Q4.
It is now Charn's turn.
As an aside, I saw this and immediately thought of Caleb.
Charn gets his shield and sword ready as he goes to I3, ready to protect Eryndir with his shield in case any of the plant critters try to avenge their recently stiff comrade. He readies an attack action if possible to swat any plant critters that decide to get into melee range with him.
Pink moves to K2, then launches a fusillade of needles at Charn.
The needles plunge deep into Charn's flesh, erupting in blood.
It is now Caleb's turn.
For convenience, I've provided this picture of what it looks like for Caleb's turn. The lighting is as Caleb sees it, rather than as anyone with Darkvision would see it.
Caleb will cast bane on enemies #1-3, if all three are within the 30' of dim illumination cast by Bird's lightsource. If not, the spell will target as many of them as possible. He shouts, "War is the health of the State!"
"Every normal man must be tempted, at times, to spit on his hands, hoist the black flag and begin slitting throats." - H.L. Mencken
Those are valid targets. Is Caleb moving?
No thanks. His relatively high AC may be sufficient to insulate the people in the back who haven't moved up and may be disinclined to do so, but he wants to remain as close as possible to the action without stepping out of the light himself.
"Every normal man must be tempted, at times, to spit on his hands, hoist the black flag and begin slitting throats." - H.L. Mencken
Grumpy's action.
Kairon advances. She can't be having any of that.
Green unloads on Prythurkan in I0, then retreats to Q0
Orange attacks Charn, then retreats to P5 (inside the ship)
Charn is down. Again. Dice hate that guy.
Prythurkan advances I0, J1, K1, L1. He swings on Pink 3.
Darusthanav, the kobold, spends a bonus action for an Intelligence (Nature) and a standard action for an Intelligence (Arcana) check. He doesn't move.
Brianna moves to J3 and attacks Pink 3 with advantage due to flanking with Prythurkan.
It will be Able's turn after I update the map and the narrative about what happened.
Sorry - I've been distracted by holidays and old video games.
While I'm sure the cleric can actually do something helpful, Able feels compelled to attempt to help Charn. I'm going to roll a d20 for a heal check - not sure what to add to it (if anything).
IC:
Seeing Charn drop, Able moves over, dropping to his knees and raising his cloak like a shield. Hopefully hidden from sight will prevent him from being attacked again. Able looks for any way to help save the dying warrior.
Medicine checks are Wisdom based. The thing about rolling a 20 is that you did well regardless. Charn is no longer bleeding out but he is still at zero hit points.
Pink does nothing of importance.
It is now Caleb's turn.
It is my understanding that I can heal someone within 30' of 5x my current character level using Channel Energy because I chose the Life domain. Is that correct?
If so, I want to do so now for Charn and bring him back up to 10hp.
"Every normal man must be tempted, at times, to spit on his hands, hoist the black flag and begin slitting throats." - H.L. Mencken
That's right. You don't have to dump them all into Charn, you could spread them around. However, given his high AC and overall tankyness, and the fack that he was a bloody mess a second ago, dumping them all into Charn is a great idea.
The downside is that I totally misread initiative. It isn't Caleb's turn. It should go like this.
17 Purple
16 Eryndir
13 Cor'val
11 Bird
11 Blue
8 Charn
So Purple doesn't do anything, and it is Eryndir's turn. I'm the worst. Happy new year.
Able may have the mistaken belief that his healing ministrations are far more effective than they actually are.
Eryndir will use his action to Attack by firing an arrow at Number 5. (With advantage, as he is currently hidden.)
Eryndir will then use 30 feet of his movement to make his way across difficult terrain through L4 and M4 into N4.
Finally, Eryndir will use his Cunning Action to Hide in Square N4.
Damage with the longbow and Sneak Attack.
Cor'val is going to move forward to J4 and cast Hail of Thorns as a bonus action. He'll then fire at what looks like #7, in Q2.
I imagine Hail of Thorns causing the shaft of his arrow growing thorns like a rose stem mid flight, and if the attack hits, thorns like needles manifesting in the air above his targets and raining down on them like...well, a hail of thorns.
My spell dc against the enemies' Dex save for half of the spell dmg is 13, and the goal is to hit enemies 6, 7, 8, and the big guy in the back.
Well, that's prolly a miss, but the spell lasts up to a minute with concentration, so the next shot that hits will prompt the extra thorns.
Eryndir's arrow plunges into the blight, rendering it inanimate.
Cor'val whispers a few words that hum with mystic might, but his arrow doesn't hit its mark. His next one, however, is going to be quite problematic for its quarry.
Bird advances: B3, C2, D2, E2, F2, G2. He opens his beak and creates the sound of a crackling campfire. The Kenku reaches into a bag at his waist and pulls out several vials - the bird brought alchemist's fire and has more than enough for everybody.
Then the tide turns.
Of course, by tide turning, I mean that multiple volleys of needles, a veritable artillery barrage of ranged attacks, all end up plinking harmlessly off of armor. A complete lack of tide, as it were.
It is now Charn's turn.
Charn isn't going to be very active on his turn, so is Caleb going to heal him with Channel Divinity?
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