@DMs, boop in case you forgot, no worries if you've just been busy.

Conspirator will be updating his posts today.

*Reads announcement thread.*

Holy shit.

Take all the time in the world!

Boneclaw, you can indeed see Muzzrink after you move closer.
Tidelan, you can wildshape and attack before Muzzrink gets another turn.

And folks, its okay to roll your attack and damage at the same time you declare your actions-- in fact its preferred :)
This message was last edited by the GM at 19:34, Wed 29 July 2020.

I edited my post, sorry it took me two days to realize you edited your comment!

09:10, Today: Lukas Verbannt rolled 5 using 1d10+3.  Damage.

I didn't think a 13 hit!  My mistake.

A 13 doesn't hit, actually. Also, you didn't have advantage, since Muzzrink stood up right after you knocked him down. My previous reminder was for whoever posted the action they wanted to do, but didn't post any rolls.

I hope it's not me holding us up this time?

I think you're good...

it seems that the initiative order has a 'round break' in the middle (between Dorian's 1 and Lukas' 18)... so I think everyone except the enemies (and maybe Dorian) have posted actions so far.

If i understand correctly, I think we're waiting on the GM, right now.

Hey Lukas, how is your form still up? Crag cats have 34 HP and you've taken 40 damage? Did I miss that you used healing, at some point?

...

Speaking of (possible) mistakes, I realize now that since I'm exhausted (I can't see my bio lines from the dice roller or while posting, so I always forget it's written there), I should've had disadvantage on initiative, since it's an ability check.

@Conspirator how do you think we handle my error?
This message was last edited by the player at 15:39, Wed 05 Aug 2020.

I do believe Tidelan's almost right. I count 38 damage on Lukas at the start of his current turn, not 40 (16+11+5+6.) Since he didn't use a bonus action last turn, I'm willing to allow him to use a spell slot to heal retroactively, so we don't have to change as much.

Tidelan, ahead and reroll your initiative, and if it's lower, use the new roll. Also, let me know much DEX you lost when you changed from cat to bear.
This message was last edited by the GM at 16:01, Wed 05 Aug 2020.

16:03, Today: Tidelan Wavyrus rolled 18 using 1d20+2.  initiative re-roll.

Wow, is that the same number... or 1 higher? Damn lucky, lol.

As a bear my DEX is +0, but I rolled initiative as a cat, so even retroactively it shouldn't matter for that.

If you're wondering about DEX affecting my AC, my listed AC is only for Tidelan's water genasi form (if i could fit his other common forms in the line, I would). I assume you've been referencing his wild shape AC while shaped. They're different.

Druids are complicated, lol :)

1 in 400 chance of rolling 1 twice but there you go.
Really disliking the D&D system right now...

You've got cursed dice, BC - you'll need a young priest and an old priest :p

You are a young priest and an old priest, at least in relation to each other.

Yeah, but I'm saving my magic for Lukas, not Boneclaw's dice :D

I think you're up Tidelan.

Thanks for the heads up! I've posted :)

Man, moon druids are hard to balance encounters for! I knew I should have added more goblins, even if it would make the one you interrogated earlier into a liar (and pushed the encounter level even farther into the "deadly" category!)

You're absolutely right! On top of that, Tidelan accomplished all this in a single shape change (he burned his first one to be a legitimately harmless cat lmao).

Doesn't help the balancing that there's two of us, double-teaming the big bad (and virtually ignoring his legions of minions haha).

Honestly, IMO, the hardest part of dungeon-mastering is balancing encounters. A simple encounter can straight up TPK if things go really wrong, and an encounter made to represent life-or-death importance can be sweeped with little effort or resource expenditure, by a tactical party that rolls well.

On top of the challenge of altering an encounter's difficulty, depending on the makeup of the party, it can be hard to create an interesting fight!

---

For example, a barbarian could easily be stuck just chasing enemies around the map to get into melee with them, if everyone else has more mobility than they do.

An additional example, characters with low saves could easily spend several rounds under a simple magic  effect cast by an enemy, just because they need to roll incredibly high to save against a minor effect.

On top of those examples, picture a high-level battle between a party and a terrifying and monstrous opponent, say something on the level of dragon or pit fiend.

Now, imagine the party has a monk. That monk acts early? They can pretty easily keep the dastardly foe in stun-lock for several rounds... if they don't? They're still likely to burn at least one or two of their legendary resistances, paving the way for caster's to save-or-suck them off the map or out of the battle.

Also, literally any type of undead encounter is virtually child's play against a mid-level cleric and/or paladin. Turn/destroy undead clears those pesky minions, and a paladin can probably deal 200 radiant damage to a big bad in one turn with divine smites.

Finally, this doesn't just apply to high-level parties either, the reverse can be true for low-levels, especially. Imagine this; a simple encounter. Say, a dozen goblins, slimes or similarly weak-ass enemies against four or five 2ndish level players.

Should be easy, right? Well, if the enemies use basic tactics, and the key players mess up any of their important rolls, you can easily expect one or more players to straight up die just by getting stabbed a few times (keep in mind, they can't revivify as they are low level, so this is permadeath unless the GM uses deus ex machina, which sours the stakes of the game).

I have a lot more examples, but they're not necessary. Designing encounters is hard as hell.

Tidelan's reaction was enough to kill the fleeing goblin. The goblin engaging Dorian outside is the only one left. I'm tempted to call this fight right now, but I want to see if one of our clerics might actually hit something this turn ;)

I'm all about the peace and love stuff! :D

Lets just get home ..
This message was last edited by the player at 16:15, Thu 13 Aug 2020.

Aww... but there are successively bigger Redfoot camps further and further north until you find the Redfoot village ;) Surely you can't be tired of fighting goblinoids yet, right?

Right?

Well, at least release the prisoners. You deserve a chance to roleplay a bit, and (some loot) and I enjoy playing grateful goblins :)

A Russian goblin doll? :D