D&D 5E 5e CB's Stonefast OOC -- COMPLETE

[CanadienneBacon]

Thanks. Well-spotted. It's becoming clear to me as we progress that the skim reading I did of the .pdf is insufficient to sustain our current combat. We'll forge on with this combat with the beetles and then I'm going to sit down with the .pdf on Sunday afternoon. The entire point of my wanting to play Stonefast was to learn the 5e rules, so I suppose a re-read is timely.

 

[tuxgeo]

Something I noticed that we got wrong in this fight: moving through an occupied square (even an ally) is considered difficult terrain and costs 10 feet of movement for every 5 feet moved. That's a new rule to me and will suck in these 5 foot hallways. I would suggest we establish a standard marching order, leaving a square between each of us to allow for retreat.

So instead of costing 10' of movement to go past an ally, it would cost 15' of movement: 5' to get there, 10' to get past?
I can't see how that's any kind of improvement.

Edit to add: Alright, now I can see how it's an improvement: without spaces between PCs, a retreater would have no place to stop after using 25' of movement. (It's early here. I still need my coffee.)

How about this: we establish a standard retreating order, with which we withdraw to the 10'-wide cross-passages, and fight there?

 

[Forged Fury]

So instead of costing 10' of movement to go past an ally, it would cost 15' of movement: 5' to get there, 10' to get past?
I can't see how that's any kind of improvement.

If we put a 5' square between each of us in the marching order, it would allow the front-line to retreat if needed, since it would be no more than 20' of movement and everyone should probably have at least that much movement available to them. As we were lined up in the 5' wide hall fighting the first beetle, Colden couldn't have retreated at all without provoking an AoO. The first image is the problem I was trying to address. If he disengaged to avoid AoOs, Colden would have only been able to retreat to the square that Roscoe was occupying, which you can't do. He could use the Dash action to get away, but would draw an AoO in doing so.

To fix the problem you bring up, double up the characters on the ends as shown in the second pic. That would allow the frontline to withdraw behind an ally, regardless of whether they have a 30' or 25' move speed, since it would only take 15' of movement.

As a last alternative, we could put three deep at the front, then a space, then two. That way, everyone should have enough movement to get to the clear space to retreat if needed. Man, these 5' halls make life tough!

 

[CanadienneBacon]

A marching order that includes the five foot gaps in the second image seems to me to be the most economical use of space in a narrow hallway while still permitting withdrawal. I'm not playing, however, so ya'll will need to mull it over and let me know how you want to proceed.

A comment, however. Mechanically, I think I prefer the 3.x rule better. If your PC takes point for a party with five or six players in a narrow hallway, it's a commitment. You're locked into being the person in front. There's something gritty and realistic about that that appeals. That said, I don't care to houserule this one. We all came here to play some 5e, so it might as well be RAW so we get a proper gander at the system as a whole.

 

[Skarsgard]

I am happy for Colden to be at the fore taking hits, that is what he is good for. Forged Fury's second map is a good idea if we have a rogue type out acting as a scout. Having a gap between, for example the second and third person, gives them a safe haven to retreat to (keeping in mind each PC act as difficult terrain and it will take 10ft to clear each square. But with dedicate meat-shields out this becomes less of an issue but having a gap every few characters does ensure a safe place to retreat to if things go pear shaped.

 

[tuxgeo]

An alternative tactic is to retreat down the 5'-wide corridor to a more advantageous position, where all of the party members can attack the beetle at once:



In this image, what I'm imagining is for Fulgrim to retreat to just inside the doorway of the first antechamber, Roscoe to retreat to just outside that door but within the hallway, Eldon to retreat to the side-passage to the south, leaving room for Guran to retreat beside him; and finally Colden to retreat to the second antechamber and close the door behind him. If this works (a big/bold "if"), the beetle charges Roscoe; that leaves the beetle within melee range of Fulgrim, Roscoe, Eldon, and Guran all at once; and Colden can then re-open the door and surround the beetle from behind.

It doesn't have to be fully linear. The PCs can use the space at their disposal.

However, I don't know how the heck they could coordinate such a thing in the heat of battle; and Guran surely wouldn't think of it at all -- considering his INT of 10.

 

[Forged Fury]

I think it's really just an issue with the 5' corridors. The setup is going to be a little different (well, maybe not considering symmetry) everywhere we go. I just think it's advisable to leave some avenue of escape in case someone is taking a real beating.

As it stands, our current fight is in a 10' wide corridor, so it shouldn't be as bad.

 

[CanadienneBacon]

Thanks for the very fine discussion of 5e strategery. I'm getting a lot out of this talk.

 

[CanadienneBacon]

HoJo let me know that he's done playing. Without Eldon, the party currently sits at 4 players. Do you guys want a fifth player, or are you content with just four? If you want a fifth, I will recruit.

 

[Skarsgard]

Happy to keep going as is.