Admin, OOC, and Launch Discussion

Ox, nice setup on the rogue. Looks like Kray has a recon partner when/if needed, nice that we're both rocking +8 on Stealth. Thanks for making that info available too; good to know what Bryn's strengths/weaknesses are.

I like that the party has essentially added what seems to be equal parts brute force (Maeriks) and finesse (Bryn).

Also dig the art attached to your drop-down char sheet CB. It really helps me 'see' the character and picture the massive blows that Maeriks will (hopefully!) rain down.

Also, we should hammer out a marching order. Not sure how much will be swimming down there, but it'll be good to have one set to help move things along if the passage gets narrow.

A suggestion, off the top of my head, with priorities on Stealth and Perception toward the front to maximize seeing before being seen. I am all for cutting enemies down when they don't even know we're there.

1. Bryn (Alert + Stealth/Perception make him ideal for this spot; however, if you don't want it Ox, I'll take it... I don't want to just volunteer someone for the front)
2. Kray (Stealth and Perception)
3. Thorn (good fit here to have top notch investigation available closer to the front).
4. Maeriks (good fit here as a healer, insulated to an extent from surprise)
5. Ivor (hard as nails and thick with HP, good for covering the rear)

If we can go two wide, my suggestion would be to just fold in the ranks. 1 & 2 would be in front, 3 & 4 rank two, Ivor in the rearguard. Three wide would be 1, 2, and 3 in front, 4, then 5 (again, keeping the healer insulated).

Now, I don't know how much of this kind of detail is necessary, but we already lost two guys in our first and only real battle. So, my thinking is essentially this: we can't be too careful. Also, as I said, this eliminates posts spent trying to figure out who goes first in what situation, etc.

Obviously, when needed, we can make adjustments to the marching order depending on circumstance.

Thoughts?

Awesome scene. Going into the black...

Marching order sounds good to me. Maeriks' view of being a leader is that the leader is the person that has other people do things for him. He's happy to be in the middle.

However, I doubt that Maeriks will be able to cast much of anything while breathing ghost fish piss. Not to mention he has already used up both spell slots for the day. Remember our alligator escort?

Sorry for my absence, folks! Life.

Good stuff! I'm digging the LUBA and the underwater javelins. "Marching" order sounds good to me. Ivor grew up in a coastal village and so is a bit more comfortable in the water than the average guy. Would gladly take rear guard.

Hey guys, would you all be interested in organizing a live session some day? We'd all eek out some couple hours from our lives and get on Skype, Roll20, FantasyGrounds, Hangouts, or whatever and play some Dark Thrones.

Hey I'm pressing on with this, and inserting NPCs as it makes sense during the immediate swim line on descent.

1. Hinka
2. Bryn
3. Kray
4. Thorn
5. Rutcranna
6. Maeriks
7. Ivor

Copying previously posted notes from Ep 1 board on Tcho-Tcho "spear gun" for reference here also:

These are mostly just javelins jazzed up with detail and flavor.
But tossing in a few small adjustments just to make it fun:

They suffer -5 on Range ratings (both for normal and long range) when used above water.
They gain a +5 on Range ratings (both for normal and long range) when used underwater.
When used underwater, they do not suffer Disadvantage if fired within 5'.
When used underwater, Critical Hits deliver an additional die of damage (though modifiers not added for a third time) and the victim's Movement Rate is reduced by 1/2 during its next turn.

For all who staged up the underwater javelins, I'm good with saying that your PC has one "locked and loaded" in advance. So they have been swimming with one free hand and the other hand gripping the high end of the javelin near the head, with the wrist anchored band fully extended and effectively hooked onto the rear launch notch.

So the first one you can fire right away as an Attack.

Any further firing would call for drawing out another javelin, notching it in the band, and extending back into firing position. It's a tricky sequence, especially underwater. It can be done and you can fire every round, but this re-loading effort gobbles up a Bonus Action to complete. It also takes the full use of both hands.

Hi everyone, sorry -- I've also been a little gone. I'm back, and looks like just in time for a fight! As frightening as this might be, please try not to piss your pants in the water. We all have to breathe this stuff.

J - about how much space is there between each swimmer (assuming from the swim order above we're going in somewhat of a straight line)?

Are the players up now?

I'd say there is about 15 feet between swimmers.

All players are checked in on the boards and/or by PM. I think we are ready to rock.

But the first bit of action is in the hands of Ox and Jabes exclusively, as those guys are the initial line of contact at the critical first seconds.

Regarding the javelin, when making a roll am I considering myself proficient? And what ability stat am I using for damage?

I think proficient. Javelin is a simple weapon, we'll roll with that even though this is a specialized firing mechanism.

DEX mods.

As intriguing as that sounds, I've gotta say the reason I'm doing PbP is specifically for the convenience of schedule conflicts. Time is tight, which is part of the reason I've trimmed down to just one game on GP (with the one I'm GMing, Vanguard of Darkness, on what is perhaps a permanent hiatus).

Javelin Update:

Can't seem to keep peeling the onion back on these javelins.
Shooting from the hip, I can see that something I promised is completely unsustainable/unrealistic for these weapons: the Long Range.
I didn't think about the idea that ground thrown javelins have a long range of 120. Not going to happen underwater.

So, here's the revised UNDERWATER Range:
Normal: up to 30 feet
Long: 31-45 feet

So that means they are pretty solid accurate and effective for a good stretch, then they tank out on accuracy as the drag and thickness of the water slows them down and shifts their path.

Sucks, but regular thrown javelins would not even go more than about 10 feet underwater I'd bet. So I like to think these launchers at least get it back to being a regular short range option.

Oh well, with visibility being only 15-20', may not be much of an issue anyway.

[Jokes]Why are you guys always reminding me of my / Talius' bad decisions?[/Jokes]

Does Ivor's net work underwater?

Yes. Up to normal Range.
In fact, net is mentioned as one of the few ranged weapons that does NOT suffer Disadvantage to Attack attempts underwater. Trident is in there too.

"...the attack roll has disadvantage unless the weapon is a crossbow, a net, or a weapon that is thrown like a javelin (including a spear, trident, or dart)."

Good to know. :-) Thanks!

WHERE THE FUCK WAS IVOR WHEN TALIUS AND QIU WERE BEING KILLED IN THE WATER?!?

Ivor is gone fishin'.