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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Cyber-Dave" data-source="post: 6928257" data-attributes="member: 82132">So, I got another game in. This time around, after we interrogated one of the survivors from the raiding party that we lured out of the slaver's fort, we discovered that the villagers we went to try and save had already been sent to market at Zhentil Keep. Moreover, they had been sent about a day go, and their trip would only take them a day and a half total travel time, so we didn't think we would be able to catch up with them before they would get to market; the caravan would be moving at caravan speeds, but with a lightly encumbered gnome in the group and no horses, we wouldn't be moving any faster. So, we used a nearby river to escape without leaving a traceable trail and took a long rest. The next morning we debated over what we should do next. In the end, we decided to hunt down some nearby gnolls and try and lure them to the slaver's fort in order to get the gnolls and the slavers to kill each other. Our camping spot was close to an old battle between some gnolls and slavers, and it hadn't rained since that battle, so I tried to track down the gnolls for the group. As a result of a bad roll, I lost the trail. Primeval Awareness, however, let me know that a large group of humanoids was coming towards us from the east (opposite the fort, which was to the west of us). I rolled a poor check when using my DM's house-rules to pinpoint the exact number of incoming foes. As a result, I knew that there were between "25-50" humanoids incoming, but I didn't know the exact number. We looked for a decent hiding spot on the plains. Our best option was a set of large rocks. We used them for cover and hunkered down to see what would pass us by. A group of about 18 slavers (8 cavalry and 10 infantry/archers) were leading 10 slaves back towards the fort. Unfortunately, as a result of a few bad stealth checks spread out amognst the party, they spotted us (or at least spotted something that caused them to send a small contingent of riders and archers to check our hiding spot out). We hunkered down and waited for them to get within 120 feet of us. At 120 feet, both our primary archer and I started to launch bolts at the riders and our spellcasters (arcane domain cleric and wizard) start launching magic missiles at them. During the ensuing fight, we used range to strong effect and destroyed the opposition. When the few remaining riders tried to run away, we gave chase. The two surviving riders ended up booking it for the fort and leaving the infantry that were guarding the slaves behind. We killed all the slavers, saved the slaves, and escorted them back to the town they were taken from. Observations of Note:1) Sure enough, this game's encounters highlighted the stark contrast between my theoretical damage and my actual damage in praxis. I kept my wolf hidden behind the rock while our group used its ranged potential to attack the slavers. My wolf's low HP made it too much of a risk to send him running out against them; they would have cut him apart with arrows. Thus, while our fighter/barbarian did run out and deal some damage to a couple of riders as they reached us, my wolf didn't add any damage to this week's encounters. Likewise, when attacking with just my hand-crossbow, my character's ranged abilities were overshadowed by our archer's specialty and our caster's use of spell slots. When I hit, my damage was decent, but without using Hunter's Mark it wasn't great, and I made most of my attacks with disadvantage, so missed more than a few times as well.2) Being small and being able to ride my wolf was a huge boon. I was able to use my wolf's movement to close distance and attack when the slaver's tried to run. If I had been a human with a longbow, I would have dealt more damage this fight, but would not have been able to close range and chase after the runners nearly as well. All in all, the result was a wash. Either way, I would have been effective; I would merely have been effective at different things. Either way, the end result of this encounter was likely to have been the same.Overall Opinion So Far: I'm really enjoying the new beastmaster so far. I don't feel overpowered or underpowered. Sometimes I shine. Sometimes I don't. When I shine, considering the group's overall use of resources, I do not think I have shined to an absurd quantity. For the most part, we have almost used Primeval Awareness by the rules as written. Even if my DM had told me the exact numbers today, the end result would likely have been the same. I still think, however, as it rubs so many people the wrong way, it should be tweaked just a little. My DMs adjudication of it didn't make it feel worthless and didn't make it any less fun.</blockquote>

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