RED OAK: Return to the Pass of the Hounds

[Longman]

There is nothing you could tie them onto.

If you really think mage hand will work, go for it. (Might help to read the spell description first, though.)

RE: The animate spell - if Tiana makes a decent spell roll (level plus int bonus) I'll let her do two animate spells at once.

[Woe]

Oh doinks. You are correct. I fused mage hand and animate, and got 10#/level. That's waaay more useful for me than what you described. Hmm... will keep thinking how to get those shields up there. Would iron spikes work? They aren't exactly quiet, but...

Decent spell roll against what DC? She would get +4 on a d20 vs... DC18? DC6? I'm not sure how that mechanic works.

[Longman]

What you are attempting with two spells would probably be DC 18. This, a 14 would be needed. The first spell would definitely work, no rolls required. It'd be casting the second spell that might be tricky. If you failed on the roll, you couldn't cast two spells at the same time. No spell point wasted.

But here's a thought - the distance between the two holes is only about 10 feet. So if you could stick two shields together with a wooden plank in between them, you could have only one object that needed moving with the animate spell, rather than 2.

[Woe]

Swamped at work and haven't had the time to put together the quality plan. What you suggested won't work either because the shields are 5# each, and a plank to hold them would add another few pounds. The spell's limit is 10#, so a slightly different plan is needed. Are there any less-than-10# planks that are perfect for the planned blockage?

[Longman]

Why do you keep reverting back to that 10# figure? There isn't a spell that has a ten pound limit. Mage hand has 1 pound, Animate is 25 pounds per level.

What you are trying simply won't work with mage hand. It will have to be the animate spell.

The maximum length for an animated object using the animate spell is normally 5' and the weight is 25# per level. I'll waive the length criteria and say you can make a single object out of two shields that will get the job done.

Let me know your plan when work clam down and we'll see if you can pull it off.

[Woe]

Why do you keep reverting back to that 10# figure? There isn't a spell that has a ten pound limit. Mage hand has 1 pound, Animate is 25 pounds per level.

Because I'm an INT-8 idiot and trying to do a decent job posting when I should be worrying about work.


Ok! Trying this again:

== THE PLAN ==
1. Freya/Anna: mine the bridge -- loosely wrap rope on the floor as tripwires, and rig a pulley system back to the barricade. Kilian suddenly has a vision about a block and tackle approach, but he's busy with...
2. Kilian and Bruce will restore the barricade.
3. Tiana and Talin will mount/tie the shields onto a plank. If there's an alternative to the shields, that'll do better.
4. Abigall stands guard.

When that's all done, they will discuss who is going to trigger the golems. Abigall is the best choice if she can mouseshift and then bolt back through the tripwires unseen.

Dwarves in front, good archers in next row, Anna and Tiana in the back row. Someone (Kilian, if Abigall doesn't want to do it) will walk across slowly until the golems start up. He'll then avoid the ropes while retreating back (can he do that in a single round?) as TIana (animates) raises the shields. Archers will pelt targets and eventually Kilian will too.

Whew! Do I have a sound plan now?

[Longman]

A random roll indicates some other small items that would do to block the windows, so you can keep your shields.

You can certainly rig up two sets of rope, at 10' intervals, on the bridge. This is a success. These can be tightened at the critical moment. Sounds like Anna would be the one the one to pull the trip wires while Tiana had spells ready.

Your plan sounds OK. Abigall's royalty roll is a 2, the best possible. I know she isn't a full NPC but I used the loyalty roll anyway. She is prepared to go over the bridge.

If you want to go ahead, say aye!

[Woe]

"Bah. She just be a timid mouse girl. One hit from dem blasts and she's a fried mouse girl. I'll do dah dib running." Looking at Talin, he mutters resignedly, "If I keep up all dis running, I'm gunna be as fast as an elf." He'll tighten his weapon belt, pull out his shield, and slowly start across the bridge.

Bruce can use the crossbows until Kilian returns.

[Longman]

OK - sig updated. Still late morning on the 28th of August. You have used 2.5 EP so far today.

Tiana uses the animate spell (1SP) to get the wooden object in position below the holes. This does not trigger an attack from the robots.

Kilian moves cautiously over the bridge. He gets to the spot where the robots animate, just as Tiana raises the object to block the holes. Sure enough, one of the big metal guys comes out and talks to him in an unknown language, like it has the last 2 times. Obviously their programming is pretty static.

Round 1 -

Kilian runs back at this point, carefully avoiding the ropes. Yes, he can do that in one round.

The robot charges forward to attack him. Anna does a decent job of timing the first rope pull, and the robot's legs do get snagged in the rope. It makes its saving throw and does not fall over, but it cannot proceed past the rope this round. It is about 20' from your barricade.

It raises its arm, shoots at Kilian and misses.

The archers open fire - I take it you are all back behind the barricade?
Talin hits and does 1hp.
Freya rolls a nat 20 and does 6hp.

This robot had already taken 5 in a the previous fight. You are not sure if they heal or not.

Bruce has his mace out in case anyone gets into combat range.

You can see there are two more robots on the other side of the bridge that are moving into position, probably to shoot you, like they did last time. The two robots in the room with the firing holes have not been seen so far.

ROUND 2

Anna takes up her bow and shoots from the back row, taking a safety penalty - and missing.
Kilian gets his crossbow and fires, missing.
Freya also misses, the arrow bouncing off the robot.
The robot attempts again to escape from the rope, and fails again. But it does not fall over, and steadies on its feet. It tries to shoot at the dwarves behind the barricade. An interesting 'click' sound comes from its right arm - and no magic missile comes out.

Talin shoots it and hits, doing 5 hp. The arrow goes straight into its neck and it falls over.

Tiana is still buy holding the board up. If she wants to cast another spell while holding it up, she would have to make a check to see if she can do that (Level plus int bonus, beat a 15).

Abigall is back behind cover and there is no room for her to act.

The two robots on the other side of the bridge have taken full cover. They fire at you, from behind the old gateway that used to hold the portcullis. Both shots miss hopelessly.

You can't hear anything from the robots in the room with the holes. They don't seem to have fired at the board.

What happens now? You have killed another one. Do you advance and see if you can lure another one out?

[Woe]

No point changing the past, but Bruce was supposed to use the crossbows. Kilian might need to have words about what it means to be a dwarf with the "I ready my mace" guy.

"Wot you dink dis plan works a dird time?" says Kilian. He'll wait for the firing to stop, then a bit more, then with his shield up, he'll advance again. Before advancing, he'll make sure that Tiana still has enough time left on her spell.