[OOC] D&D 5e - Hoard of the Dragon Queen

[Hekazu]

Parum is up next, @Ryonara.

[Ryonara]

@Hekazu posted!

[Hekazu]

I like the portrayal of fear on this one. Well then, next up is Kyra @Norschtalen!

[Ryonara]

Yeah I kinda of cheated a bit and looked into my monster manual, and an adult dragon is at least a CR 16. And unless he's actually an illusion or something, I really don't think any one of us stands a chance against it. In-Character and Out of character I am seriously considering trying to just avoid the dragon at all cost. Live to fight another day and all.

[Hekazu]

@Ryonara
While I am not exactly appreciative of you going and looking things up from the MM, the info you have is indeed correct. In a fair fight, the party would stand no chance against an adult dragon. I'll have to withhold any further knowledge of the situation to myself as to not ruin the encounter.

Just... could you please not pull out the source material and use the raw mechanics information for metagaming? I trust that the plan of "living to fight another day" could have been formed from the storytelling alone.

[Lucius Cypher]

Ah, so it's not a glorious fight to the death, David vs Goliath, against impossible odds? /sarcasm

Even without looking it up I knew we were outmatched. I've been playing long enough to know an adult dragon is at least a foe meant for a party of level 5, if they have lots of money and are well optimized. I am pretty curious how I survive, since if Orchid does manage to climb off someone is going to have to die first. I guess the big question is if Orchid could latch onto the creature which is a definite maybe.

I never fought an adult dragon in 5e before, but if they're suppose to be as tough as other adult dragons in stuff like pathfinder and such, I'd say he would have an ac of roughly 20 or so and a high enough strength/athletics to shake off Orchid even if he rolls a 20 (which makes his athletics a 25). Might be more if I use the bardic inspiration to boost it.

[Norschtalen]

*Bop's @Ryonara on the head with a squeaky hammer*

No metagaming! This isn't a fourth-wall adventure! Though those can be fun too as long as the GM likes those kinds of shenanigans. I'll work on a post ASAP!

[Ryonara]

I'm sorry. I won't do it again, promise.

[Hekazu]

Well, I see the situation is resolved. Thank you for your cooperation.

Now then, it would be my turn. Let's see how this goes...

[Lucius Cypher]

Btw, currently working on making this battlemap! I'd ask if I could see all the maps we'd have combat at so I can make a grid for it, but that could make for spoilers. What is the exact size of an adult dragon? I wanna say huge (3x3), but I vaguely remember one adult dragon I fought in pathfinder was 5x5 (Not including wingspan).

[Hekazu]

Btw, currently working on making this battlemap! I'd ask if I could see all the maps we'd have combat at so I can make a grid for it, but that could make for spoilers. What is the exact size of an adult dragon? I wanna say huge (3x3), but I vaguely remember one adult dragon I fought in pathfinder was 5x5 (Not including wingspan).

@Lucius Cypher

You would be correct, they are of the huge size category. Given the vertical nature of this combat, using a battlemap may prove difficult, but if you want to have one, do it by all means!

Next up we have Torus and their hawk. @Gordian Nought, feel free to join the fight!

[Lucius Cypher]

@Hekazu

Cool.

Also even though it's not quite in range yet, could I still have Orchid throw his harpoon? Even though it's outside of 30 feet, he can try to hit fifty. Normally that'd be with disadvantage but with Parum's magic it's a neutral chance.

[Hekazu]

@Hekazu
Also even though it's not quite in range yet, could I still have Orchid throw his harpoon? Even though it's outside of 30 feet, he can try to hit fifty. Normally that'd be with disadvantage but with Parum's magic it's a neutral chance.

@Lucius Cypher

Sure thing, what was the length of the rope again? Oh, exactly fifty feet. How convenient. Let me make a few rolls to see how that ends up, you can throw in an interlude post with that information if it works out...

That would be an 10 (with the +2 I forgot from prof.) on the throw, so it misses. You'll have another chance on your turn though (if you've got another one ready to go), given where it has "stopped" per in combat rules.

[Lucius Cypher]

Yeah, Orchid prepped his harpoons (currently 2/3) for this. I'll give it another shot on my next turn. Question though, is there anywhere on the keep that Orchid could throw his harpoon and then scale? I'm going to guess the dragon wants high ground and is going to cheese us from the top of the tower. RPG logic tells me we must then climb up the stairs to reach the dragon, but Orchid is a Totem Warrior. Thus, he'll climb from the outside, scaling via harpoons until he can reach the dragon.

Also that should be a +5, not a +3. It's STR+Proficiency (3+2), right?

[Hekazu]

@Lucius Cypher
Oh, I made a small mistake in my rush. Well, a 10 is still not cutting it as unfortunate as it is. As for the climbing, the tower is quite harpoon proof given it is part of the keep wall, but it's rough enough to climb without any aid. If he also uses a harpoon for aid whenever he can, I'd say that is an Athletics check to scale the wall at 2/3 speed. Got to not say the DC out loud or you could not benefit from Bless and inspiration... which is also something you could have technically used for your reaction... let's just leave them for your turn, yes? The occasional troubles of Forum based TRPGs

[Lucius Cypher]

I figured that against a dragon, if it's not at least 15+ On the die it's not worth blowing the extra bonuses. It I have some idea of what to do now!

[The Harbinger of Ferocity]

This was unexpected, the sheer number of responses and activity in the meta here in such a short time compared to the norm, but certainly not an unwelcome one. I admit I was and am fairly certain we are not meant to kill the dragon conventionally, but as to what we are supposed to do beyond that I am curious to see given we are still playing first level characters. Either way, that whole ordeal already resolved, it just confirms to us to not be foolish. Orchid is excused; he is a half orc barbarian, so if the plan is not partially insane, I would question if he is metagaming.

Also it bears mention that Bless lasts as long as you concentrate on it up to a minute, @Norschtalen. So between your character's and Parum's doing our odds of affecting the dragon are much better.

[Lucius Cypher]

I'll admit thinking for Orchid can be hard sometimes despite his fairly low intelligence. Unlike say, physical strength, I can write something like "Orchid is strong enough to lift this 200 lbs thing over his head". But when it comes to something like smarts of charisma, that does rely a bit more about your personal ability to critically think or communicate.



For Orchid, I have to remember that he's not quite so... Cerebral. I wouldn't say he's "stupid" so much as he's uneducated, and because he never had a proper education he never developed the thinking skills most would. He's much more experimental and instinctual, hence the slight wisdom. Take his leather making for example. He has no way to teach someone his skills or explain what he's doing; he simply lacks the understanding of what his actions do. But he does have a general idea that if he does a certain few things, he can make a skin or hide into a useful sheet or piece of equipment.

Now as I said, it's not as though he's stupid, and he's not always reckless. True he is a barbarian and charging head first into the fray would be a barbarian thing to do. But Orchid also knows that stealth and sneaking as merits, as well as disguises and deception. This isn't because he's some street-smart rogue, but more because he's a natural hunter who understands that most predators don't roar and stomp when they hunt, but lie in wait and attack when the prey least expects it. Even the mighty bear or the king of beasts, the lion, don't enter their hunting grounds with boisterous noise and an air of intimidation. If they're actually good, you wouldn't even know they were there at all.

[Norschtalen]

@The Harbinger of Ferocity

I know, but depending on how things go I might have to change the spells. Kyra may try to cast sanctuary to protect the guards since this is her home after all. I would assume she knows some of these people dying.

@Lucius Cypher

I know that website! I do like the commentary about them. Personally if I was ever a GM I would expect my players to put some effort into making a reasonable argument. For something like a knowledge check if they do well I would be willing to give them information the player them self might not be aware of, like the abilities of a Adult Blue Dragon, but I wouldn't tell them how to utilize that information. That's up to the player to make use of the knowledge they have, and the player should be able to have a sound argument for their diplomacy.

Pointing a knife at someone's neck might work if you're trying to intimidate, but it's not going to work for bluffing. At the same time, I don't care if you have a Diplomacy of a +40, you're not going to convince your enemy to give you their weapons unless you're using magic to compel them. Especially when they're skeletons.

[The Harbinger of Ferocity]

@Norschtalen, I only made mention of it owing to the phrasing you used with it. I was unsure if you thought it a spell that would be discharged as some similar ones are. I would not want us to unintentionally use it once and be done with it. Sanctuary also does not have a duration of concentration, so you could actually do both.

Orchid has yet to ever strike me as truly stupid, uneducated certainly, but not an idiot as many often play a barbarian, @Lucius Cypher. Bold, to a fault, I would say if I had to choose one word that embodied him well. There's a fine line between fool and barbarian, as I would say with all the other tropes of Dungeons and Dragons; the traditionalist, unswerving lawful paladin one being notorious as is the rogue who steals anything not nailed down or attempts to bluff the most unreasonable of things and act surprised when it fails. Then there's your female drow that somehow always choose to wear the skimpiest of dress and court just about anything... despite being female drow.