Non-DM Party Tactics

You only need to be out there for 4 rounds...I am almost completely undetectable while I'm moving, so only need the distraction once I'm at the door and working on it.

I got the impression from the OOC section of DannoE's post that they knew we were there. I guess we could retreat though. From the way the post read to me, they know we are there and are shooting at us...just have missed thus far (so we can fit on the map).

Playing the odds, it's not so bad. Here's what I suggest we do:

We crawl to the edge of the low-light area, pulling our shields with us. That will give us a prone bonus vs. shooting (+2) and the shields will give us a cover bonus (+2), meaning that the kobolds would have to get pretty damn lucky to hit us. They'd also most likely be shooting long range, for an additional -2 to hit.

That should get us to the 18 line without taking too much damage. The hard part is going to be getting to the gate and past the caltrops. For that, I have an idea:

Once we're on the 18 line and prone, everyone by Eduardo take a move action to get themselves to H 16, I 16, J 16, and J 17. Eduardo will be right behind, and he'll use his shout of triumph to slide the whole party, with the battering ram and the shields, right up against the gate. He'll then use his move to get as close as possible (possibly burning an action point in the process).

That should get us to the gate, with a shield and a battering ram, and with cover, with a minimum of exposure. Then three of us can work the ram, one can hold up the shield, and the last person can snipe the kobolds above.

I'm not sure we can crawl effectively with the tower shields. The idea is that we hold the shields above our heads, so we'd effectively be walking on our knees, if we could even hold them above us at all.

You can crawl with a regular shield in the game, so you can certainly crawl with a large one if you pass an endurance check.

I like where your head is at HFLep. Crawling gets us a +2 to defenses, but also means we move at half speed. If we haul ass, we make it there in two rounds and can ram it that 2nd round. If we crawl it's 3 rounds (and we can attack on 4th, unless someone can stand up as a minor), but we are harder to hit.

Your Shout of Triumph has merit too. I just hate wasting an encounter power (particularly an area effect one) on this. But let's do what we must.

I like the plan too.

We can't crawl while carrying a battering ram. Unless we're planning to discard it, it's no use. That, and the fact that we're more likely to be hit since the enemies get more attack rolls at us.

The problem, as I see it, is that any plan that reduces our movement means more incoming arrows. Even if the penalties are stacked (cover, concealment, possibly long range, but I doubt so), they will hit now and then. Add to that that a failed endurance test for those carrying the shield means no cover for that round. The fewer rounds we have to move, the possibilities of failed cover. Thus, I suggest we just move as fast as we can, double moves all the time.

Fortune doesn't need hands to attack, but she still needs standard actions, so she wouldn't be able to keep up with you if she did. It is, however, a possibility for her to lag a bit behind the others and fire off dishearten every round. It has two purposes. First, the -2 to hit will make it less likely that we'll be hit. Second, if they're not very tough, I might be able to kill a few. Even if they are replaced quickly, it will probably give us less incoming fire for the one round it takes to replace them. She does expose herself to more fire that way (no cover from the tower shields), but she's most likely a less priority target than those carrying an obvious battering ram.

When you get to the gate, you'll most likely need to discard the shields anyway. You need the strongest one (Gruunk) to work the ram.

Summarizing that plan, it'd work something like this:

• Tarner and Gruunk carry tower shields, as they are the only two that are trained in Endurance. Double move each round.
• Nurse and Eduardo carry the battering ram. Double move each round.
• Fortune provides "cover fire". Move and standard each round.

An alternate plan would be to have Nurse disguise as a drow and draw fire by pretending to be a commander. The main disadvantage with that plan is that he's (or she's?) not extremely tough, and might simply go down from the fire.

Fortune also has two flasks of oil. We might be able to do something by lighting the oil, but I have no specific plan yet that would grant us an edge.

I vote for the straight-forward plan myself.

I don't think we can double move with the tower shields. In fact, I'm pretty much certain we can't.

Other than that, I like the plan. You could toss your flasks of oil at the door, then as an Infernal Warlock Tarner could use one of his multiple Fire powers to set it alight (Hellish Rebuke, preferably, although Flames of Phlegethos might produce a much stronger flame)

(Also, Tarner isn't trained in Endurance. I don't think Warlocks even get that as an option. He just happens to have a racial bonus and a damn good Constitution score. :P)

Trying to burn the gate would be a bad idea. It'd take several minutes, if it's even made of wood. Meanwhile, we can't approach without risking fire damage ourselves.

I was more thinking along the lines of throwing oil at the walls when we get close and ignite it, to prevent the archers from hitting us.

Asked the question about the double move in the OOC thread.