Framed (again)

Kolson wrote:Equipment: We divide the smoke bombs between us three. If I'm counting right, that should be 2 a piece.

Posted a little something in the main thread.

Higaide is now down to 11HP.

Should we retrieve Javan and bail, or press the attack?

I don't think there's much to accomplish by sticking around, and we can probably use the crowd to our advantage for the time being. Not to mention that reinforcements can't be far off.

If we stick and take these guys on, i may have to start burning charges in order to throw them at each other, and i'd rather save those for when it's REALLY vital (they don't replenish but by some form of RP, and that's basically all i know about it).

Advoc is in the process of finishing them off. It will take three rounds and I already posted, so I can't change it.

They could kill us in that many rounds. If the Desperation move can be delayed on its third round by holding action, we can throw down those smoke bombs to ensure that they remain trapped or psyched into staying inside the smoke for whatever reason like before. Advoc could hold action at round 3 if the smoke is still there, and then bring it to bear on every enemy he can. The enemy seems to be unfazed and focused on killing us first, so I'm sure the smokebombs will not be avoided, and given how many we have, cannot be avoided, if we can spread them over a large area.

First, though, Higaide and I will need to bullrush our way out, moving with the targets for as far as our strength roll will let us. Simply running away, if we can, will provoke an oppy from every enemy who got close enough to swing at us. This will provoke an oppy for each of us as we do it, so I will be designating my target as the +1 from Dodge. We will not provoke any more oppies from anyone else with this action. It is a standard action, and then we will run to avoid being close to the enemy while they flail about in the smoke bombs, which we can toss at our feet. Running from the enemy we bullrush will provoke an oppy. Dropping an item is free, activating it just before dropping it is probably swift.

D20srd.org says: "Swift actions usually involve spellcasting or the activation of magic items"
I take this to mean mundane items as well, if they're as simple as "pulling the pin" and dropping them.

I would like to know if a Desperation move is an action that can be "held" at any time during the next three rounds when it's been started. I would also like to get a head count on the enemy.

The additional health is 2 * level for temporary HP. You cannot hold action on a Desperation if it's already blown. There are still 7 soldiers engaging you with one fleeing for a few more rounds.

Oh! I thought you meant that Past is Dead would take three rounds to charge up or something. Nevermind. Suddenly I'm feeling more confident. Now I just need to know if smoke counts as concealment against Past is Dead.

New plan
Zeiss, have Advoc roll Deception to pretend to be my aspect. Maybe that'll give the soldiers cause for second thoughts regarding my display of aggression.

I'm going to Full Attack the guy I just knocked prone while fighting defensively, taking a -4 Attack and +2AC to negate the AC penalty from Rage. Out of the enemies that chose to attack me, I'll chose the one with the best backstab position as my designated target to Dodge, +1AC vs him.

K, you should use Wholeness of Body.

I doubt Advoc can roll for deception since he's busy shooting bolts of light at the soldiers.

Rory wrote:K, you should use Wholeness of Body.

I'm not sure you realize how stupid i feel right now. I'd been looking forward to this ability since i made the character, and it totally flew over my head once i had it.

14 extra HP won't do much, but it's better than nothing.

I'm for using another round of smoke bombs, while we're at it. It's what they're here for, afterall, and we need it. Unless it interferes with Advoc's killing of the past.

Considering I took 59 and I'm still standing with 97(83+14), I'd say it's a welcome bonus. It means I can keep on fighting when I should be Down if necessary, but if that happens we can't run. We'd have to kill them all before reviving me with a Heal check if you wanted to keep me alive, because Kolson doesn't have the Revive spell, and that Heal check is on you, just so you know there's no pressure.

Uh, Wholeness of Body only works on me, though.

Wholeness of Body isn't the Heal check. You have Heal +11.

Yeah, but is it actually possible to go and do a heal check in the middle of a fight? I mean, treat an actual wound on a person while 6 armed dudes are rushing you?

A healing check is just a full round action. 6 seconds of frenzied bandaging.

No, K. I was saying I'd be counting on you for the heal check if we end up having to kill them all(meaning the fight would be over) to bring me back from downed without the penalty from moving quickly to escape them, in which case I would be making fortitude checks every 6 seconds.

Dude, i'll be very happy to bring down the heal on you and anyone else once we're not under fire, so yeah. No problem.

Now, i wish there was a way to know just how throw resistant these guys are. It's a big problem when you're low on HP and have to decide whether to burn a very finite resource (Charge) and can't tell how necessary it is, or risk a very bad situation (Getting downed here and now).

Now, i know i should make my own decisions, but i'm the guy who never used magic in KH, because the MP frigging ran out.

Man, I just used my frigging Desperation attack. Its gone for the week. Go for it.

It wasn't going to be useful against tanks anyway.

Before that, do we wanna use more smoke bombs or what?

You really should. Long enough to keep them in place. I don't think The Past Is Dead needs visibility anyway. Advoc can probably sense the enemy and stuff. Magic. Probably.

Well, probably no harm in waiting for Arch's confirmation on that, just to be safe.

It looks like the monk healing won't be needed yet. It's a 1/day power so that's probably for the best. What I said my actions are will be part of the DM's next post in combat.

Arg. DM made me post. Can't I be lazy for once?

Arch, is there a way to estimate how tough a task will be before i decide to commit a charge to it?

@Higaide: Depends on the task.

Rory wrote:

Arg. DM made me post. Can't I be lazy for once?

No. :p

Say, grabbing and throwing a heavily armored soldier at another one in the vicinity? I just don't know how strong Higaide is at this point, and don't have much of an inkling on what his own gut would tell him.

I'd say his gut instinct is he has about a 50% chance of success.