Hekazu

D&D 5e - High Seas and Tall Tales

The storm managed to surprise the many eyed freak of the ship, much to his disdain. Dyn'yer'zhead was the name of the Beholder who threw fish out of his hat as he judged the scenery before them. The sea had decided it needed to exist on the sky as well as below the boat. A peculiar sight, but something that only irritated Dyn further. The sea would stay where it was meant to be unless he said otherwise. He shook his magical cutlass towards the icy wolf shape, only to hear it shout at the crew. And it didn't help its case by barking orders, that was for sure.

The blast of cold air pushed brutally past the beholder, causing him to momentarily close his eyes and grit his teeth together. It was numbingly cold, but as it was over the Beholder sneered at the opponent and took a sharp breath, calling upon magical prowess within. And it came to him. The magic he had toiled to obtain from the secretive elves was once more his to command. This... elemental, as far as he could tell, would rue the moment it decided to bark orders at a superior being.

Dyn spat onto the deck, his gemstone decorated eyepatch right next to his largest eye glimmering in the freezing rain. "You think you can order me around? Inferior creature, learn your place! Be held by my might!" the Beholder bellowed as he released his spell in an attempt to stop the creature from acting so he could teach it how to behave around him the proper way: Beating the lesson into it.

Mechanics and rolls

Dyn does not budge from his spot movement wise.
Arcana roll to determine whatever that wolf thing is was 14.
Having Mage Armour already active, he uses his bonus action to begin Bladesong. This gives him the following benefits:

• AC is increased by INT mod
• "Walking" speed is increased by 10ft (totalling 40)
• Advantage on Dexterity (Acrobatics) checks
• All Concentration saves are made with a bonus equal to his INT mod
• Upon taking damage, he can now as a reaction expend a spell slot to reduce the damage taken by 5*lvl of slot

Dyn casts Hold Monster at the wolf elemental thing, demanding them to make a WIS save against his DC of 16 or be paralysed for as long as he concentrates on the spell (up to 1 minute). If it fails, the creature can repeat the save at the end of its turn, ending the effect on a success.

HP:42/62 AC:20 Bladesong active for 10 more rounds
Slots/expended:
4/1 1st
3/0 2nd
3/0 3rd
3/0 4th
2/1 5th

@JBRam2002

D&D 5e - Hoard of the Dragon Queen

Many of the concerns @The Harbinger of Ferocity brought up are also concerns of mine. While for the XP I'm fine with whatever the players would prefer (do voice your opinions about it so we can determie if changing would be appropriate), the decline in activity is indeed something I am not too fond of and I, too, would attribute it largely due to the inactive OOC section. This is further proven by the fact I asked for a couple rolls a few days ago and have yet to receive them from many. Were it not for the Game Jam, I would already have had to take control of not just one, but several player characters and I am not too enthusiastic about that.

This RP is a group activity and we can only really participate in it as a group. We have a set of rules we all agreed upon and I would love to see them followed. If inactivity continues, I am afraid I will have to free up player slots for other potential applicants. Let us hope it will not come to that.

@Lucius Cypher@Gordian Nought@Ryonara@Norschtalen

D&D 5e - Hoard of the Dragon Queen

@The Harbinger of Ferocity
Let's put it this way: Given how open the area is, you don't have anything particularly advantageous for your approach. On the other hand if the enemy is not expecting you to take said route, they might be disadvantaged on spotting you. This makes sense to me and I hope this short explanation can help you understand why I rule it as such.

D&D 5e - Hoard of the Dragon Queen

@Gordian Nought
I do believe some sort of an L formation was discussed OOC, but I would not hold it against you to have this brief tactics meeting IC. We could use a few posts in that category and it would only make sense to discuss the more complicated tactics beforehand.

By the way @The Harbinger of Ferocity, you were wearing heavy armour, right? You would be at a disadvantage on Stealth rolls if it is the case.

D&D 5e - The Lost Lands

Theodore had been preparing another bolt to be fired, but then... all this happened. The shadow hopped onto his back, only to be shaken off without much effort. At worst it might have hampered his concentration, but he had trained long enough to not be bothered by such attempts. As soon as he got his eyes off the little shadow, the huge shadow threw its orb at Thea and that impact looked nasty. The darkness spreading from it didn't make it appear any less so, but the flash of brilliant radiance the cut through those tendrils. The light that was the light to pierce the heavens themselves vanquished the leviathan. They had won...

Or so he had believed. As soon as the creature had burned away, so did the world around them. The steady pace the world had been disappearing in accelerated like someone had kicked it in the rear for slacking off at work, everything vanishing in a near instant, only with the sound of some great lock opening accompanying the destruction. Well, if they were to go down, at least taking down the forces of darkness as their last act of defiance was an achievement on its own right. The doors of light and the figure reaching for them were left behind, unwillingly as it was. Theodore still reached out in as futile of an attempt as the last shadow's attack had been. But no, his way went downwards.

The fall was long, a bit too long if one asked him. However, what would come as the end result he could not have expected: He found himself sailing through the sky of an unknown place in an unknown time and by some just as unknown force he did not sustain injuries as he collided with the ground and many of his bolts rained down around him. After a short slide in the grassy hillside, he sat up just in time to see the rest of the show unfold. Haemar tumbling down on his left, catching Wick after he had almost recovered. He was already about to go see if the two were okay, but then Thea came down. As with everyone else here, it was not done with the grace of an angel, but he still worried about the hit she had taken... and that landing looked rough.

Theodore decided he could gather his belongings later and took off to a run towards the paladin. Her blade fell dangerously close to her, but luckily it did not make direct impact. As he got close enough, Theodore called out "Thea, you okay?" The fellow Aasimar had only recently stopped, so she seemed to be still somewhat out of it. The ranger knelt next to her and shook her shoulder. "Hey, that was a bad hit you took back then... are you okay?" he repeated his question.

And then the glorious splash of Cesar introducing themselves to the lake happened, accompanied by Katia flying towards a nearby cluster of trees. Well, at least the two had something to cushion the fall. Now that he thought of it, he didn't hurt either. What was this all about? Had they not just fallen from a height that would surely kill a lesser man? Theodore would have smiled, were it not for his worry about his companions. The Kingdom of Light had to recognise its heroes. That was the only explanation.

@Zverda@The Harbinger of Ferocity

D&D 5e - Hoard of the Dragon Queen

@The Harbinger of Ferocity
While your route would not be the first one many would think of, the village ends around there, turning back into plains. There is very little cover over there, other than the darkness, so I would say no.

D&D 5e - Hoard of the Dragon Queen

If you all are willing to proceed with the plan provided by @The Harbinger of Ferocity, all I would need is Stealth rolls, your positions in the formation and Initiative to tell what will happen next.

So, unless there are any objections, plese provide these for me @Gordian Nought@The Harbinger of Ferocity@Norschtalen@Lucius Cypher@Ryonara

The escape from Wolfwing's lair

The gargoyle that had been sitting suspiciously still spread its wings again once Derrick had left its view. It did not turn to look for him, but hovered in the air, keeping an eye out on Kenza and Mistletoe who were closer to the torn webbing the wind pushed through. The hole in it would be sizeable enough for them to go through... It wasn't flying onto their way yet, but it was more active than it had been just a moment ago.

The door that led to the room had been nobody's centre of attention for a moment, but that would likely change as an unfortunately familiar creature flew through it, blue flames blazing among the floating fragments of black stone. "No further! The Maze calls for you!" it bellowed in its almost telepathic voice. The Jailor had found them. And, coincidentally, it was accompanied by only one gargoyle. It still carried the shackles that had chained it to the floor in the room where it had been awakened, their clinking being the most distinctive sound it made other than direct speech.

The webbing that had separated the hunters on one side of the room was quickly removed from the equation by a blast of the blue fire it had last used when attempting to strike at Derrick in the lower floors. The wings of flame and stone carried the creature towards the two hunters who the first gargoyle to arrive still had in its sights. If the hunters did not yet have a plan, they might want to figure one out soon. Real soon.

@Dusksong@Lord of Evil

D&D 5e - Hoard of the Dragon Queen

@The Harbinger of Ferocity@Gordian Nought
The mill is visible on the lower left corner of the map and given @Norschtalen's description of the route, I do believe you are still on the opposite side, only being able to see the raiders thanks to the fact the raven is out there. So yes, arrows would not be a suitable weapon from your current position. As for the flanking thing, it would be difficult, very much so. The only way of doing that would be to sneak by them and since they are not exactly close to the mill except when tossing a torch, they might well spot you mid attempt.

D&D 5e - Hoard of the Dragon Queen

@The Harbinger of Ferocity@Gordian Nought
There is a few of them, no more than four. All are humanoids, no kobolds in sight. They don't seem to be throwing out torches all that fast, perhaps preparing and throwing two or so every minute. The raven cannot tell more than this.