The Closed Eye (DM: Halford, Judge: garyh)

[Dunamin]

[sblock=Short trip]I'll be travelling for the next 2 days or so. Sorry about the short notice.

Covaithe, feel free to NPC Woe while I'm gone so the game doesn't slow down!

EDIT: Oh, the round just updated. I'll try to squeeze in a post for my turn before I leave.[/sblock]

 

[Dunamin]

“Ow. Arrows, javelins, and now bolts – these cultists don’t appreciate the joy of variation!”

Woe drives his spear into the trap with a solid blow, then withdraws back the staircase and out of the line of fire to catch his breath.

[sblock=Actions]Woe attacks the same turret with Steel Serpent Strike, hitting AC 18, dealing 9 damage, and marking. Then he moves to safety at C2.[/sblock]

 

[KenHood]

[sblock=Woe's Hit Points]Woe should have 14 HP left if the crossbows inflict 26 HP damage.[/sblock]

OOC: Thievery. (1d20+8=22)​

"Find the control panel! It should be nearby!"

[sblock=Actions]Standard: Perception check. (1d20+4=12)
Move: to (C, -1).[/sblock]

[sblock=Atreus's Actions]Unless anyone objects...
Standard: Perception Check to find control panel.
Move: to (C, 0).[/sblock]

[sblock=Plan!]Let's make this easy on ourselves.

1. Withdraw to safety.
2. Get a barrel (or something else that will roll) and push it down the stairs, so that we can identify the location of any other spear traps.
3. Get a bed, table, or shelf -- something heavy that will fit through the opening -- we use that for cover, like a turtle shell and move down the hall to the crossbows.
4. We find the trigger plate and deactivate the trap.

That should keep us from getting plinked to death by this blasted trap.

For additional cover, we could set a mattress or two on fire and toss them down the stairs. The smoke should help, and we stay low under our cover with wet clothes over our mouths to limit smoke inhalation. The walls and floor are stone, so the stairs should catch aflame.

What say you, team? And Mr. DM?[/sblock]

 

[covaithe]

[sblock=ooc]

Woe should have 14 HP left if the crossbows inflict 26 HP damage.

That's on top of the 5 from the spears in G1. Sorry if that wasn't clear.

[cunning plan]

Sounds plausible. Everything depends on the details of how its implemented, of course, but it's worth a try. These crossbows are nasty.
[/sblock]

 

[KenHood]

[sblock=Need some information...]

1. If my mage hand were to take a knife and attempt to cut the strings on a crossbow, is an attack roll necessary or would it use Disarm Traps?
2. When we searched the house, did we find any mundane tools, specifically a hammer and nails?
3. Is there a keg or barrel inside the house? If not, is there a rain barrel outside the house? (That or a cistern were how they collect water in early societies.)
4. Which of these will fit through the trap door...
   • Bed (w/ frame)?
   • Shelf?
   • Kitchen table?

[/sblock]

[sblock=More ideas...]

1. To get the keg weighted, we can fill it with dirt. (Palindrome has a shovel.)
2. To prevent the keg from shattering as it falls down the stairs, we can reinforce it by binding with rope.
3. If we've got the tools, we should be able to build a 'mobile fort' by nailing or binding (with rope) boards from the shelf to the legs of a table or bed-frame.
4. To provide additional protection from crossbow bolts, we can layer the 'armor' on our fort by putting a mattress on top of the table/bed-frame and then putting another set of boards or table on top of it.

[/sblock]

 

[nerdytenor]

"I think Woe has the right idea," Tander says quietly. "Everybody out!"

Tander sends another divine bolt at the crossbow, attempting to lend some protection to Atreus at the same time, and then steps out of the dark to tend to Woe.

OOC: Sacred flame hits (what? hits?!?!?) ref 18 for 10 damage. If hit, Atreus gets 4 tmp hp. Move to A-1. Use healing word on woe - he spends surge/heals surge and an additional 8 hp.

[sblock=Tander Stat Block]
Tander Oaksmith, Human Cleric 1
Passive Perception 15, Passive Insight 20
AC 17, Fort 14, Reflex 15, Will 19
Resist 5 poison
HP 29/29, Bloodied 14, Surge Value 7, Surges 3/8
Speed 5, Initiative +7
Action Points: 1

Current Effects
none

Encounter Resources
Spiteful Glamor
Divine Glow
USED Healing Word One
USED Healing Word Two
Channel Divinity (Turn Undead or Divine Fortune)
Second Wind
Use Action Point

Daily Resources
Beacon of Hope
Cure Light Wounds
[/sblock]

 

[covaithe]

Round 2

Palindrome ducks back to safety around the corner, but can't find a control panel.

Woe's weight triggers the spears again, but, forewarned, he avoids them easily. He stabs the crossbow turret again, and runs back up the stairs to safety. (spears miss. I put him in C3 instead of C2, since the c'bows still have line of sight to C2, and it seemed like your intention was to get to safety.)

Tander prays for healing for Woe, then bathes one of the crossbows in divine flame. He, too, backs out of the stairway. (the crossbow would be bloodied, if it were a creature. Not sure what effects bloodied has on objects; probably none)

Atreus ducks away to safety, but he, too, cannot find a control panel.

Round 3

The crossbows, unable to target any enemies, track back and forth with a steady whirr. (the geometry of the situation is not entirely clear from the map, but I'll say that the crossbows can target people in squares A0-C2, with varying degrees of cover.)

[sblock=status and initiative]

spears at D1 deactivated
spears at E1, deactivated
spears at F1, deactivated
spears at G1, undamaged
Crossbow 1, 27 damage, marked by Woe, "bloodied?"
Crossbow 2, undamaged
Palindrome 27/27, one failed death save, <== You're up
Woe 28/40
Tander 29/29
Atreus 20/24 +4 temp

Resources used:
* Tander: surge x5, healing word x2
* Atreus: Surge x4, healing potion, AP
* Palindrome: Surge x6, healing potion, AP
* Woe: Surge x6, steel serpent strike
[/sblock]

[sblock=map]

[/sblock]

[sblock=barrels and mattresses and mage hand and such]
I'll allow a ranged thievery check with mage hand to disable the crossbow, at a -5 penalty. Which will make it very difficult, perhaps impossible. Also, you-the-caster will need to have line of sight to it, meaning it will have LOS to you.

The large bed, in the room you're in, will not fit down the trap door. The mattresses from the bunks in the other bedrooms will, though their frames are of wooden slats and would offer less protection. There are also standard wooden doors on all three bedrooms and the closet, though not on the kitchen or sitting room. The furniture in the sitting room is mostly padded upholstery, with relatively little solid material. The kitchen table is too large to fit through the trap door. The shelves in the kitchen are boards about 10"x4'x0.5", resting on slats nailed to the walls in a slight recess, like a pantry. The shelves in the closet were of similar construction. There is a rain barrel outside, half full of water. No tools or nails were to be found in the house.
[/sblock]

 

[KenHood]

I put him in C3 instead of C2, since the c'bows still have line of sight to C2, and it seemed like your intention was to get to safety.)

Thanks.

---

First...
We close the doggone trap door!

(Now we can work without getting shot.)

Next...
(If there are no objections from Tander.)

• We use one bunk bed set as our framework for the fort.
• We punch out the slats on the bottom bunk, but leave the top intact.
• We take down the doors, wrestle planks off the master bed and table for planks, and take down the shelves. (There should be a wood pile (for the stove and fireplace), and that means there should be a hatchet or axe somewhere to split wood for kindling. If there is, we'll use that to trim the wood. Otherwise, it's going to be magic missiles to punch holes and then snapping the wood along the 'dotted line'.)
• All told we have about 200' feet of rope, since everyone has an adventuring kit. We can also tear sheets and drapery for binding material. We can punch holes through the wood with magic missiles, so we don't need to waste a lot of tying material.
• We place one of the doors on the front of the bunk frame, leaving a gap about two or three fingersbreadth, so that we can see where we're going.
• Another door goes on top. The third on one of the sides. (We will not place anything on the rear, so we can exit with ease.)
• We fill in the rest of the sides with planks off the master bed and kitchen table.
• We place a mattress on top of the mobile fort and on front. Then, we take more planks and bind them over the top of the mattresses.

And that's the fort!

As for the rain barrel...

• Fill it with dirt.
• Reinforce with rope.

The plan of attack...

• The rain barrel is placed in front of the closed door.
• Woe, Tander, and Palindrome take position inside the fort, which is in front of the door, at (B, 1).
• Out of line of sight, using either the 10' pole or a plank, Atreus opens the trap door and pushes the barrel down the stairs.
• Still out of line of sight, Atreus moves back along the wall and enters the rear of the fort.
• All together, the part lifts from underneath the top bunk and shuffles down the stairs. (I am assuming that we can only move about half speed with this load.)
• Once we reach (E, 1), the boys set the fort down. Tander and Palindrome make ranged attacks through the viewing slit (since we don't need that much space to make our attacks). The others make Perception checks to find the blasted control panel.
• We move almost on top of (G, 1). Atreus and Palindrome disarm the spear trap. Tander and Woe hold up the fort--and make Perception checks to find the control panel.
• After the spears are disarmed, we settle the fort directly under the crossbows, so they have to shoot the roof, not us. Then, we make Perception checks until we find that blasted panel!

And one more thing...

• Palindrome casts Tenser's Floating Disk.
• We place a couple of goblin corpses on the disk.

And as the party moves the fort, the goblins will follow behind a few paces. Hopefully, drawing the fire of the crossbows because the goblins will be a more obvious target.

How's that?

 

[nerdytenor]

OOC:

Whoa, that's... impressive. If that will work, I'm fine with it. Don't want to make so much noise that we alert whatever is underground, however.

Another possibility, if less creative - all us ranged attackers do this until crossbows are 'dead':

Odd-numbered-turn
1) move into position
2) make ranged attack
3) drop prone

Even-numbered-turn
1) get up from prone
2) move away

Wash rinse repeat

 

[KenHood]

Out of Character

Okay. Let's see what the DM says about the A-Team Plan.

[sblock=Argh!]The update to the PHB says active Perception checks are minor actions. I could have used that standard action to attack the crossbow.[/sblock]