Battle of umbrage hills

[Shocker]

Put down notes for a discussion later.

[Shocker]

I need to study effects of spells more closely to avoid misunderstandings

[Siryuu]

Can we include suggestions?
 

[Shocker]

14 minutes ago, Siryuu said:

Can we include suggestions?
 

I intend this space to be an open exchange about the experiences in this encounter.
 

as I have stated multiple times, this also a learning experience for me, so I want to hear from all players what they liked, what they disliked and what we might change for the next one.
 

That means, I’ll listen to suggestions as well as constructive criticism. I won’t make any promises in incorporating anything, but I will listen and reflect on the points offered.

[CraterShip]

Positive one - the map is a great addition and I really like the tokens you created for us

[Shocker]

2 minutes ago, CraterShip said:

Positive one - the map is a great addition and I really like the tokens you created for us

Thank you i think having the chance of marking spell effects on the map is useful as well.
i can upload your tokens if you want them.

[tyrtaeus]

Regarding spells, concentration spells can be canceled by the caster at any time, a spell is deemed concentration in the duration section of the spell. Breaking concentration can be done by attacking the caster and forcing a DC 10 or DC half the damage received, whichever is higher. The entangle spell doesn't last a full minute unless maintained. It's definitely a fun mechanic to mess with casters for you to mess with

[CraterShip]

Overall, I think this was a successful and pretty quick battle. I don't really have any complaints to voice over how anything was handled, I like the map and the tokens. I will await the DM to roll initiative next time, and maybe put tokens on the map to start based on how we're moving?(in a line, scouting ahead, etc).

[JubalBreakbottle]

Really unexpected outcome for 1st level characters. Map and tokens are great.
 

I think you’ll find that individual initiative is heavy as the game goes further from start. RL will delay all of us, such that generally PBP run block initiatives to be more time optimal. Good guys post in order of RL then a GM post of bad guys. GMs fall into two camps. PC actions happen in order of post, or the GM takes creative liberty with the order to optimize for the players as if they were at a table.
 

again, I suggest GM posts always include who’s up, so players don’t have to scroll through many posts to find out that it’s their turn.
 

well done all!

 

cheers

[Shocker]

31 minutes ago, JubalBreakbottle said:

Really unexpected outcome for 1st level characters. Map and tokens are great.
 

I think you’ll find that individual initiative is heavy as the game goes further from start. RL will delay all of us, such that generally PBP run block initiatives to be more time optimal. Good guys post in order of RL then a GM post of bad guys. GMs fall into two camps. PC actions happen in order of post, or the GM takes creative liberty with the order to optimize for the players as if they were at a table.
 

again, I suggest GM posts always include who’s up, so players don’t have to scroll through many posts to find out that it’s their turn.
 

well done all!

 

cheers

You had suggested the block posting before, and it’s something we likely will need to just try to get the experience in it. From my perspective the individual initiative gave me a bit of extra structure to plan for. I had started in the second round to include the who is next in my postings, and I think that is something likely to stay around.
 

as for block initiative with the whole party going before the poor innocent monster, I’m not so sure i want that kind of advantage out, all the time. But we might end up with blocks, intersected by the monsters turns based on initiative. We’ll see how that works.

[Shocker]

Ok here for the after action review, I was thoroughly impressed how well you worked together, taking down a monster that could have killed any of you with a single hit. The one claw attack that missed Vadania would have removed 9 of her 10 hit points.
 

I think the battle map worked reasonably well, but we need to get a bit clearer on where people move to, the encounters are going to become more complex, and no less deadly.
 

@Akwehawkhad expressed the desire to describe his attacks in more detail, and I’m very much in favor of that, just leave the effect on your target for me.
Example

The heroes fast sword work was something the bards would still sing in centuries about, as with a fast movement with the sword he struck for the manticores head

 

this might turn into

In the last moment the creature ducked, and the sharp steel missed the head, cutting of some of the leonine mane

or

steel struck flesh, ripping a deep wound into the creatures neck.
 

From that perspective it’s good that all of you had posted both attack and possible damage with your rolls. I’ll try not to role play your character in my response, but dealing with the damage is something I enjoy.
as I have shown, I’m not getting into your moments of glory, if the foe goes down that is all yours to narrate.

[Shocker]

Another point that we will need to pay attention to in the future is marching order, let’s make sure that we have defined that in the future, long before we get into a fight, but traps or ambush will play a role later, and I will need to know who is where.
 

 

please use this space to let me know, what worked for you and what didn’t the adventure is full of encounters, and we all want to have fun with them. I might experiment a bit more with maps, as i was using only a small cut out for this, to have a reasonably good view.

[Shocker]

this is an alternative way how i was tracking the map,

not as good looking as the tokens, but allows for a much larger map

 

[Siryuu]

First of all, I found the battle quite entertaining and smooth.

The initiative worked pretty well “in vanilla”, let’s see it against a larger number of enemies! Here I would only suggest making the initiative rolls public, if possible.

I appreciated the teamwork during combat, DM intervention included, it allowed us to pull the strategy to keep the blows coming.

Akwehawk’s aiming for a more vibrant narrative sounds great! If you can make each attack sound epic, I’d like to see it indeed.

Regarding the map, there is a platform called rolz.org .It’s got a tabletop; you can place tokens in there and you can upload your own map (image) and adjust it so the grid works as intended.

Thanks for the spectacle!

[Dorik]

On 8/23/2023 at 6:13 AM, Shocker said:

Another point that we will need to pay attention to in the future is marching order, let’s make sure that we have defined that in the future, long before we get into a fight, but traps or ambush will play a role later, and I will need to know who is where.
 

 

please use this space to let me know, what worked for you and what didn’t the adventure is full of encounters, and we all want to have fun with them. I might experiment a bit more with maps, as i was using only a small cut out for this, to have a reasonably good view.

Well when it comes to opening doors; locks then our resident Rogue Gilavar I would imagine be the first on the scene for obvious reasons. For infiltrating and getting in undetected leading the way would possibly be Vadania our Monk. I would imaging magic-wielders like my Sorceress Makaria; and Katya would be taking up the rear in a frontal assault. With Vala our Paladin and Reitan our Cleric more or less in the front ranks?

But that's just my opinion anyhow and there aren't any hard and fast rules here. Could we have a compass pointer on the map in our next encounter? I feel I could describe my characters vector more accurately then. But I love the tokens and the map and think they are great.

I like the idea of describing ones attack and as a magic wielder would need to utilize the gesturing, language and effects of a particular spell. Her eyes blazon red like fire; steam rising like a mist from her pores. Her hands making circular shapes in the air;"Arakne, doom ra ka," she yelled.

The fireball began as the size of her fist then was hurtling towards the group of creatures; enlarging to the extent that on impact encompassed twenty feet in diameter!