On the Road (OOC)

That is a lot of 'things'. A lot of them depend on other things and on other players.

Perhaps we should tackle them in order? Others can join in when they get round to posting, but we can do as many as seem reasonable until they do.
• Wild (you can converse with and attempt to command animals)

Don't there need to be animals around for you converse with and attempt to command? It does not seem to have a summoning component, so only the animals that are reasonable to be around during a battle are available. So pack- and draft horses?

You might be able to find more animals in the surrounding woods, but they are also likely to have fled during the ambush setup and the ensuing fight, so picking may be slim. And you would have to go out there.
To what end? As a distraction? As an attack? Something else?
These would definitely put Oli at risk.
You have some extra protection, so this seem like a reasonable and expected action.
Makes sense, and would be a free action. Then it would be up to Rook what happens.
I am not sure what this means, or what would be involved. Discuss it with LizzyPinkHood.
What does Meht know about Leesha? Would it make sense for him to be giving instructions to her?

Oh good!
OK, happy to wait a bit :)

Oh I don't think Meht is in a position to tell Leesha what to do, I was just thinking he could ask if she could do for the fallen guards what she just did to him, having felt its power.

Makes sense for the character. They don't need armor though so it would be pure roleplay fluff with no direct mechanical benefit.

Still waiting to see what Meht does, since it may affect Rook. Otherwise he's continuing as he has so far, exhorting the troops to move forward and watching for trouble.

OK cool - I was waiting for others to respond to my suggestions and then realised you were all probably waiting for me to follow through on what I'd already proposed: sorry about that! I'll post something after work.

If the only animals are likely to be the caravan's horses, I'll drop the Wild bit of the plan.

And if Leesha's blessing wouldn't help the fallen guards, I'll drop that too.

However LizzyPinkHood what did Leesha want to do with the captain's contradictory instructions - telling her to go to the wounded while pointing in the other direction? If she wants to get to the wounded at the front, Meht can try to back her up / help provide cover etc.

- "Protector's Blessing": Temporarily envelops chosen being with a mantle of protective magic (grants +1 Armor)

The +1 Armor will make a difference if you are hit, which is likely given what you are doing. The shield probably will help there too.
Armor is unlikely to help the guards, but we can work something in if LizzyPinkHood chooses to use that as part of her action.
Mechanical advantage from the pet comes with mechanical risk to the pet (though probably not risk of permanent loss except in extreme cases).
What effect are you wanting Oli to have on this scene? Maybe reduced risk to you? Maybe enhanced damage? Maybe something else?

I want the bandit to respond to a biting pain in the back of their neck in a way which gives me an opening to whack them with a hand axe.

If that goes well - e.g. if they startle and wave their arms around and drop their guard - I think it'd be both reduced risk and greater damage.

Fair enough. No problem having them focus on your pet enough for both those advantages. Most of the risk will be where they are focusing, as well, though, so Oli may be hurt enough to be a factor for a while going forward.

Yeah there's risk, but I reckon Meht and Oli would have hunted together before and had some practice at coordinated tactics.

So, straight roll with STR, or something else?

Yeah. Attacking with STR seems like what you are doing.
The pet adjust the position and effect, if you will excuse my Blades in the Dark parlance.

Hey, nice a 12.
What are you ultimately wanting to achieve? Anyway: You do it brilliantly or get something extra.

If your intent was simply to harm that closest bandit then go ahead and describe you and Oli completely taking them out in what ever way you want.

Ah good question.

Meht's intent is to try to turn the tide of the battle by joining it decisively - the closest bandit was just the most convenient starting point.

i.e. he wanted to accept Rook's urging and Leesha's blessing and throw his own energy into turning things around too.

You can take the kill and hope it galvanises others, or you can roll damage, take your chances on the kill, and add a an advantage to the NPCs.

Sorry, can you please unpack those two options a bit? I don't quite follow.

Either way you will 'turn the tide'.

You can guarantee the kill, which is simple enough given the fiction of your attack. If you do, the bandit will be dead, dramatically, but it is up to chance what effect that has on your troops of the enemy.

Or, you can focus on the effect it has (pick what you are after and narrate it) but will need to roll damage and might still have an enemy standing afterwards. If you do that you will definitely have an effect on your troops or on the enemy.

OK, thanks for that. I think the second option is what I'm after, because it's the effect I want, not the death itself.

What should I roll for damage?

Take whatever your weapon is and bump it up one category (light to martial, martial to great, ...) as a result of Oli's help.
Oli's portion will ignore any armor since he is going for the neck.

Would you prefer to impress/intimidate the enemy (they may make a 'moral' roll, depending on what the others do), or do you want to bolster your side, making them perform 'better'?