I’m totally fine with that.

I can cast Greater Invisibility on Nic before he moves, then have Ulfgar shift into Spider form.  I can't cast while shape changed, but I can maintain concentration on an already cast spell.  Greater Invis is 1 minute duration and doesn't break on attack like regular Invis.

I forgot to say earlier, Jenna used up a fair amount of spell slots in the last fight and iirc I can’t recharge without a long rest, so here’s what I have available

1 x Level 4
0 x Level 3
2 x Level 2
4 x Level 1

Just to clarify, Amaldaris has identified a Drow priestess and a Drow mage among the dark elves supervising the dig. I've also added some more details re the nature of their excavation.

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I can use dimension door to drop behind them with one other person, but that will take one of my two spell slots.  The other I figure I should hold for Counter Spell just to make sure we don't get hosed in mass.  Maybe both of them.

Slave revolt?

I like Ulfgar's plan.  Do you want Nic to take the priestess or the mage first?

@Corros - I lean toward saving your spells for defense, since you're so limited on slots.

I'm not trying to steer y'all away from an assault (death from above!), but keep in mind that characters not spider-taxied or spelled into position are going to require at least a turn to dash down the path from the current vantage to the cave floor. If I was a mean GM, I might even require AGL or Athletics checks to make it down quickly without eating shit. Also, none of the party NPCs are very good with ranged weapons, so that means that Gronk, Amaldaris, and Deepdelver- at the very least- are probably going to be late to the party.

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If I were less kind, I would suggest that Gronk break his fall on a Drow.  ;)

Hmm... Seems like with greater invis and dimension door, we can get three people into position, fairly easily.  Ulfgar might spider taxi in someone, or through wild shape, could just fly in as a bat or something, so that's 4-5.

Ok, throwing out some random thoughts for the rest...

1) What if Ulfgar-spider ditched the taxi idea and just went in trailing a spider silk behind him until he got to the middle of the room, then dropped down from a second silk and anchored the first one to create a zipline for the others?

2) Does anyone have any shrink/reduce size spells?  Ulfgar could perhaps talon one or two people if he took to Giant Eagle form, but the weight needs to be much less than a full sized person.

3) Ulfgar could ditch the spider stuff all together and cast plant growth to lock them all into a small radius (1/4 movement - no concentration), then hit the casters with sleet storm.  I can leave a small path in the 100' radius if we want to have a path forward to get somewhat close for melee.

Can we try some sort of psyops on them? I dunno, maybe someone stands up where everyone in the cavern can see them and yells at the top of their voice "Fools! You are too late! We already possess the Dark Heart! Flee, save yourselves while you can!"

Then see what happens. Maybe they'll attack us and we can use the high ground to our advantage, negate some of their numerical advantage. Or maybe they'll run away (unlikely, I know).

Or does anyone have anything that would make the other side think we're drow? Like some sort of illusion spell or something?

Alas.  Nic has disguise kit proficiency but didn't bring his supplies along.

Corros can cast polymorph, but that is one of his two spell slots for the combat.  Still, it could get us a lot closer and at least Amaldaris speaks Drow

A lot of clever ideas have been proposed. I think, at this point, all that's left to do is put bits and pieces together to make a final plan and start posting IC actions.

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I'm liking the invisibility/spider ploy.  Amaldaris can Slow Fall off the drop with minimal or no injury, so Ulfgar can carry another melee combatant - Gronk, by preference - into the fight.  That gives us spider-Ulfgar, Nic, Amaldaris, and Gronk in the first round or two, with Corros, Jenna, and Deepdelver coming in as quickly as they can Scooby-run down the path.

So, to sum up:

1.  Ulfgar casts Improved Invisibility on Nic.

2.  Ulfgar Wild Shapes into Arachnaphobia-form.

3.  Ulfgar "webs" Gronk and carries him in as a "prisoner" while Nic sneaks down the path.

4.  Nic initiates combat by stabbing the shit out of the priestess or mage - whichever we deem is more dangerous.

5.  Ulfgar and Gronk go all Boondock Saints from the ceiling while Amaldaris Slow Falls into the fight.  If possible, they descend into a location that cuts off escape, if they identify another entryway while getting into position.

6.  Jenna, Corros, and Deepdelver move down the ramp to enter the fight.

7.  Profit.

Refinements?

I don't think I have anything to add - I'll probably keep my last high level spell slot in reserve so I can cast Spirit Guardians jut before we go into Melee.

Corros will throw Counter Spell and Eldritch Blasts as necessary.  Fee free to puppet.

I recommend that Jenna use her amulet to cast Bless on the core four before the fight. Also, Amaldaris mentioned that Drow hate sunlight. If you have any spells or items that can generate sunlight, this would be a good time to use them.

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I don't believe we've actually identified the sword hilt for what it really is.

In reply to Nicolai Romanelli (msg # 512):

That seems good to me.

I think the only sunlight creating spells are Sunbeam and Sunburst, which are 6th and 8th level.  Daylight (3rd) doesn't technically count as sunlight in the RAW.  Also, I'd need a long rest to learn it as it's not prepped for today, even if there was a house rule that said it did.  8(

I know that some of you are AFK but I had the time to roll and write so I posted the turn. Once everyone is back IFK, we can start kicking IC ass.

I anticipate that this will be your toughest fight yet, with a good chance of a legit TPK. In that case, if y'all wish to continue playing, you will proceed as [temporary] slaves of the Drow.

I kind of hesitate to do this, because I don't want to encourage inattention or bail-out expectancy, but the Sun Blade should really come in handy this fight (because, in sunlight, Drow attack w/ disadvantage, and roll WIS checks at disadvantage too). I concede that there are extenuating factors that may have led to overlooking the process of identifying the magic weapon (RL distractions, choppy pacing) so I'm willing to cut y'all some serious slack and rule that, during your rest at the Deep Gnome ville, someone (Corros, most likely) ID'ed the weapon. Nic, being a sword-user, was the intended recipient of the Sun Blade, but both Gronk and Jenna have the required proficiency to effectively wield it as well. If Nic uses it, he won't be able to use his Sneak Attack feature, because the SB is not a finesse weapon.

If you're like, "no thank you- we don't need your pitty/charity Mr. sanctimonious DM," and would rather fight without it, that's fine too.

https://roll20.net/compendium/.../Sun%20Blade#content

Feel free to discuss tactics in the OOC, but do please refrain from metagaming.

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This message was last edited by the GM at 19:44, Fri 29 June 2018.

Just to confirm, we get one surprise round, followed by a round where we act first, correct?

Right now I’m leaning towards using the Wand of Magic Missles on the mage for guarantee hits if we only get one round.  If it’s two, is there any loose looking rock formations over any of the Drow groups?  Cuz Corros has a spell that’s really good at Shattering rocks.  And they are heavy and large.

Second, Gronk should take the SunBlade.

Yeah, as DM, I'm kind of struggling with the Surprise rule in this scenario. Technically, the Drow did notice the party's approach before the attack was sprung, but y'all definitely got the jump on them. Technically, I don't think Surprise is in effect, even though I said it was in the turn post. I suppose the Drow Mage was surprised, as it's one thing to spot an unidentified spider approaching, and quite another to be stabbed in the back by an invisible assailant. So, in lieu of a by-the-book application of the Surprise rule, the way I'm reffing this is that I'm not rolling initiative for this encounter- instead, all PC's get a turn before any of the Drow do. In effect, Nic gets two- the one I already resolved and Teg's next action- before the Drow get one. But, realistically, I can't see the enemy just standing around while the rest of the PCs move into position and attack, twice. Does that make sense? More importantly, does that seem fair?

Technically, all the Drow are under rock that could be dislodged. Gronk and Amaldaris both dropped into position near Drow that are close to the walls. Although they're both NPCs, it was not my intent for their actions to hamper potential moves of PCs. D8 and D9 are close to one another and far from any of Corros' allies. They are standing in front of a ground-level passage more or less directly opposite from the one from which the party just emerged. All the other Drow are dispersed or very close to allies (or potential allies- i.e. the slaves). I wish I was able to upload my sketch maps. As it stands, I don't know how, but I will look into it.

If Jenna or Nic don't want it, Gronk will take the Sun Blade.

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This message was last edited by the GM at 22:21, Sun 01 July 2018.

I'm fine with Gronk taking the Sunblade.

In reply to Raellus (msg # 520):

That all makes sense to me.  I'm kind of hesitant to use Shatter on two far away guards. With only two spell slots I'd rather be able to play spoiler than burn on on those two.  So I'll throw three magic missiles at the mage, maybe doing enough to mess her up and be ready to counter spell as a reaction for round 1, in the event that between Nic and Corros they can't finish him off.

In the interest of future moves, how many Magic Missiles does it take to break a chain? Or is the anchor point close enough to some bad guys that I can get at least one Drow and the chain with a Shatter spell?
This message was last edited by the player at 17:35, Sun 01 July 2018.