Outnumbered and naked, any advice?

[Starbuck_II]

We are breaking out of prison. Wrongfully charged, but not important.
What is is that we found our gear being worn by other prisoners.
There are 6 of them, 5 of us...
We have nothing but our class features. (well, I was able to keep my Psychoactive skin since I could turn it off so they didn't know I had it to take it).

Party: ECL 10
Human Adamantine warrior Warlock/Binder/Swordsage (me)
A Asherati Walker in the Waste
A Elan Psion
Dwarf Holy Knight (Pally/some Complete Champion Prc, etc)
NPC thief (no idea what class, but he picked the locks)
NPC Dwarf (Monk/Cleric/Sacred Fist)



Opponents:
Enemy Dwarf using our dwarf's warhammer.
Some Bard wielding my spiked Chain.
Lizardman using our dwarf's animated shield and armor.
Some Grey elf who uses my goggles and cast spells.
orc-bear (way he described) uses fists to kill. We think Monk.
Draconic looking elf that fights like a rogue.



We decided to try diplomacy before fighting. There was a chance they weren't evil (plus, I didn't think we could take them without our gear). But that gave them first strike.

So first round, Grey elf fireballed us. Then orc-bear killed the monk. Lizardman hold person (I think) the rogue and he got stabbed by draconic elf (but not dead). Enemy Dwarf attacks our dwarf. Bard dude seemed to be chanting something, but he didn't do anything yet (I assume summoning).

Walker used Ranged Slay Living (DMM) on someone I forget which (Grey elf or Dwarf).
I used Summon swarm on Grey elf and Orc-bear (they were standing near each other) doing 3 damage to elf and 6 to orc-bear (plus bleeding effect 1hp/rd).
They may make save nauseated (DM hasn't rolled yet).
And our Dwarf cast Spiritual weapon.

Don't know what Psion will do, but any advice?

DM is thinking he may have made the enemy too strong (I kinda agree as we are outnumbered). But assuming he doesn't change anything... what should we do?

 

[Shin Okada]

Run away, possibly get some descent gear. Then seek them out and attacking them one by one:. And retrieving your gear. Maybe?

 

[StreamOfTheSky]

Wait, the Monk/Cleric got killed the first round before he could even do anything? Wow...and I as going to say between the spellcasting and unarmed combat, he could do pretty well in that situation... I assume you're not completely out of your gear, otherwise the cleric wouldn't have his holy symbol, no one would have spell components, etc...

It sounds like a TPK, but if you want to try and win you need to murder the enemy casters ASAP. Which in this case...appears to only be the grey elf. That orc guy sounds dangerous as hell in melee, try to lay down some battlefield control to keep him the hell away while you butcher all his friends first. Anything that will lock him down for a while. Web, Entangle, rock to mud, etc... You probably won't be able to kill him quickly, and he will be devastating if he reaches more people, thus I suggest trying to separate him from the fight for a while until you've got better odds. Does the Psion know Time Hop?

Obviously, Disarm (or grease) to get some of your weapons back would help even the odds a bit. Does your PC know Insightful Strike? What warlock invocations?

The Paladin...should probably be a tank and use Expertise / fight defensive and just try to bog down some of the enemy melee fighters, focusing more on surviving their attacks and distracting them than trying to kill, self-healing when needed. Don't use total defense, though, without AoOs the enemies will have no reason to keep attacking him unless they're stupid. Which is possible, if your DM's fair about RPing mental scores accurately.

Bottom line is basically desperation focus fire. You need to reduce their numbers below yours as quickly as you can to have any chance of winning. Use all your high level spells that are useful, and have the psion nova the hell out of his power points very early. If you end up running out of good spells and PP, but half or more of the enemies are dead, you can let the non-casters handle the damage-dealing after that and limp your way to the finish. If you get killed before you can use all your high level spells anyway, it's not going to do the party much good.
I seldom advocate such reckless abandon and would want ot save resources for potential later fights. But this is clearly a very bad situation, and a definite life-or-death struggle. Don't hold back.

EDIT: Also, I have no idea what a Walker in the Waste is or does. The thief should just be ganging up on whoever you're focusing attacks on for flanking SA.

EDIT^2: Also, it sounds like your DM may have screwed you over unfairly. You say they got the drop on you because you tried talking to them first, and they attacked. You were aware of them. If they moved to attack, the DM should have called for initiative, not given them free turns. It's how the rules work, it's fair, and it's mostly realistic. In any Western gun fight, how often do you see the bad guy reach for the gun first, only to have the hero react, and draw and fire his gun first? That's...the initiative system at work.

 

[Starbuck_II]

Walker in the Waste is from Sandstorm.
Clerics who take the Prc Walker in Waste.

Well, the NPC was a PC who quit and left the party so I think the DM just needed a excuse to get rid of him, but yeah I was a little freaked when the monk died.

Yeah, I think they have their holy symbols: I haven't checked (and don't want to remind them if they can't because we need it).

Thief seems held in place so he might not be able to do much (Hold person uses up action to leave).
Yeah, we should have been aware...

I have see the unseen, Summon Swarm, Fell flight, and entropic Warding.
I have prepared maneuvers
1) Emerald Razor, 2) Shadow Blade Technique, 3) Sapphire Nightmare Blade, 4) Bone crusher.
Child of the Shadow: stance (move, I get concealment)

Drawback is without a weapon I'll provoke if I try a maneuver.
I do have Aym bound: so fire reist, flaming touch/halo of fire (enemy atttacks me takes 1d6 fire).

So I could just keep pounding someone weak with flame attacks till they drop and steal their weapon.

Psions attacks I know:
Telekinetic Force
Telekenetic maneuver
Entangling Ectoplasm
Energy Ray
Cranial Deluge
Psychic Crush
Dominate, Psionic

 

[StreamOfTheSky]

Ouch, not a terribly helpful list of powers for this...
Dominate seems like by far the best thing he could possibly do, especially if these thugs aren't really friends or anything. So that they can be told to attack each other without getting a new saving throw. It's really subjective and up to the DM sometimes, like if "hand over your weapons to us and go sit in the corner" is against their nature. Considering a freaking level 1 spell (command) can make creatures do things like lay down for the spell duration, at the very least you should be able to order things like that w/o a new save. With a ML of 10, the psion should be fully augmenting the power for higher save DC, if not more. I'd say paying 1 PP to make the duration 1 hour is essential. Beyond that, 2 PP to get two targets per casting ups the odds of making a friend. If he has any sort of ability to go beyond his normal ML in PP, he probably needs to pay +4 (11 PP total) to affect the draconic guy. Ideal targets (low will save) would be the dwarf and the draconic (if he has SA, he's almost guaranteed to have low base will). The orc guy you'd REALLY want on your side, since he does so much damage, but if he's actually a monk, you have no shot in hell of recruiting him. I also wouldn't put it past the DM to claim he's not a humanoid; insist on a knowledge check to know his creature type before wasting your action and PP. After that...even with high base will, wisdom is often a dump stat for arcanists, the elf makes a tempting target.

Telekinetic Maneuver is the other stand-out useful power. While getting the other people their weapons back quickly could be very helpful by using it for ranged disarm (especially if the DM's nice and lets you use a move action to float it over to its proper owner), I really don't think it's a good idea to use it early in the fight. You need to go for shock and awe, and just unload with overwhelming offense on the first rounds to have any chance. Sending your turn making one disarm check ain't gonna do it. Not to mention, being concentration-reliant, the psion would probably lose the power with all the enemies still up anyway. Use it after the tide's started to turn if needed. I'd normally say augmenting this power for the tiny extra bonus is NEVER worth it. But this is a special case, you guys need every advantage you can get, screw 5 minutes from now!

Ok, so he's a cleric. Any useful offensive spells? Or a remove paralysis for the rogue?
He's probably going to have to focus on healing. You're already at a numbers disadvantage, you can't afford to lose more people early. That said, the rogue sounds like he's just about beyond hope, and might be a action/spell waste to heal if he can't escape being held. Cast Delay Death on him if the cleric has it, otherwise maybe leave him. Or throw up really cruddy terrain around him so at least enemies going for the easy kill are left at a disadvantage after.

What is the environment like? If you could even pick up a bloody stick off the ground (preferably with reach; I forget if you provoke for using an improvised weapon), you could melee a little. The whole point of Emerald Razor is the PA damage anyway. As long as you can 2H your stick, who cares how much damage it does base (for the record, it should do at least club damage)? Granted, you'd be at horrific attack penalty. But this whole fight's kinda a hail mary pass anyway. Bone Crusher would also be a major help. I hope you have Adaptive Style, because the other 2 maneuvers you readied don't do much damage (Shadow blade tech could certainly help with improvised weapon penalty, of course), so you'll need to use the former 2 a lot. You don't really have much to offer for offensive invocations, and EB can't really do spike damage. With your flying tumbling(?), miss chance, etc... you should stay moving and try to draw some enemy attacks away from the other party members. Obviously, if you could just obtain a weapon you'd become much more dangerous. It doesn't even have to be a good one, just anything you're proficient in that's not improvised.

In terms of priority for killing the enmies, I missed the lizard man's whole hold person blurb. I'm guessing he's a cleric. That means he's both a caster and a healer. As we all know, it's imperative to Shoot the Medic First! Well, as long as you can kill things well into the negatives before his turn comes up, it might not be THAT necessary...

In all, I'd say kill the bard last. He has no way of hurting you that badly, and if he does (like with optimized inspird courage), his allies likely benefit, too. Sadly, unless you manage to squish him before he starts up the band, his bardic music bonuses will last 5 rounds after his soul leaves the earth. Which is too long. Since his biggest contributions will lst after he does, it's almost wasteful to go after him first instead of the people who can kill you very quickly. Bards are proportional in power to # of allies, anyway, so he'll be less of a threat the more of his pals you cut down. Just be careful of a nat 1 save roll on Hideous Laughter...

 

[Jeff Wilder]

Pace yourself, drink plenty of fluids, and definitely, definitely use protection.

Wait ... am I in the wrong forum?

 

[Starbuck_II]

Heh. Well, Elan's dominate worked on the enemy dwarf who gave our Dwarf back his stuff.

Our dwarf then attacked the lizardman. The Orc-bear then pummeled me, but I lived happily.

I have Aym's halo of fire on so Orc-bear took 1d6 fire damage.

I decided to risk it (activated Animal Devotion for +4 Str) and punch him back with ShadowBlade Technique (2 attacks, if lower attack roll one works +1d6 cold). "dragon Uppercut!" (like Ryu inStreet Fighter). This is in addition to 1d6 fire from Halo.

I'll find out if he attack of opportunity hits soon.

I could have 5 foot back and blasted him with Eldritch Blast, but as a monk (and me with 12 dex) I didn't like my odds.

 

[Dandu]

Wild Bill Hickok told tourists various exaggerated exploits of his, usually leaving himself unarmed with no manner of escape, and then stop talking. When someone would inevitably ask what he did then, he claimed "I was surrounded. What could I do? They killed me."