You are slowed from exhaustion for half an hour after berserking; you cannot rage during that time. Berserking at the beginning of a long fight can be two-edged, obviously.
Colour Spray victims always receive a saving throw if they are higher level than the caster (or have more hit dice than he has levels), although not necessarily a very good one. The spell will however affect 1d6 victims regardless. I view the sentence
as a bad piece of drafting directly contradicted by the effects later listed for creatures of higher level than the caster, and poorly reconciled with the “1 to 6 creatures will be affected” clause (carried to its logical conclusion, this would mean a 6th level caster could potentially affect only a single 1HD creature!) and this sentence was dropped in 2nd Ed. Of course, that’s assuming that it is possible to catch many creatures (and not your own side) in its area of effect.[/color]
The good people of Woolverton find lodgings for you - uncomfortable, but considering the state of the town at present they can be fairly said to be doing their best. Osvald continues musing and muttering until the rest of the party tell him to go outside until he can learn to shut up.
While outside, Osvald looks up at the sky and gasps. There is a bright ring around the full moon - a rare and awe-inspiring sight. He looks long at it, lost in a moment of quiet splendour amid the slaughterhouse smell of the town, and turns to where the moon’s light shines full on the chalk downs to the North. He seems to see a white glimmer on a distant hilltop before a cloud drifts over the moon.
Next morning, Guern the Hunter arrives - a leathery-skinned South Country man with gleaming black eyes and a half-savage dog that snaps and snarls suspiciously at the strangers, though it stays close by its master’s side. He grunts, a man of few words, as the situation is put to him. Casters, you may replenish your spells - either post a revised list or “No change”. There is (on the “waste not, want not” principle) fresh roasted lamb for breakfast, but if you object to being given flesh torn by wild beasts to eat they will find you some hard bread and sheep-milk cheese.
Not for the most part. Chalk hills are mainly grass country. There might be caves, though.
Just one clarification, please - when Ulf is slowed, is it both movement and attacks?
I assume Ulf can make a reasoned decision whether to enter Rage, but once he’s in it, he can’t stop until:
all enemies are dead or helpless
the Rage expires (currently 7 rounds)
Whilst Ulf understands the attitude of the rest of the party, he does pop out, partly to comfort Osvald but also to suggest that Osvald could use an Unseen Servant to pour oil, then send in a Flaming Sphere?!
Ulf adds that this may all be too complicated and he hopes Osvald won’t get too stuck on this one spell…
(DM, can an Unseen Servant pour oil over an opponent?)
Ulf asks Ivar if this is a religious omen.
Ulf is excited by the thought of combat against worthy opponents (in the sense of dangerous, not moral).
(DM, if anyone is hugged by an Owlbear, can they use weapons? If Ulf is hugged, can he use the ‘Aspect of the Bear’?)
[ol]Yes.[li]Exactly right.[]It can pour oil, but is unable to do anything that would require an attack roll - so it cannot effectively pour oil on a moving object. It’s ideally suited to pouring it on a stationary one, though.[]They have a random chance to have an arm free. Otherwise I’ll allow a “Bend Bars” attempt once per round to free an arm.[/li][*]Ulf could use his bear claws just fine, regardless. (Don’t count on a savage aberration being susceptible to the Fear effect, though.) Similarly, Jorund’s electric blast is a pure effort of will - he could use it even if he were paralysed or held.[/ol]
Osvald will change his spells for the morning:
Spells Loaded:
0) Flare x2, Dancing Lights, Detect Magic x2
Shield, Magic Missile, Colour Spray x2
Flaming Sphere x2, Mirror Image
As for the Lamb- this “Waste not, Want not” principle is delightful! Osvald will certainly feast on his favorite dish: fresh roasted lamb! He has just the morning tea to go along with it!
He has no objections to the flesh torn by wild beasts issue- “for what are we, but a few steps away from the animals ourselves?” Osvald will fill his belly on the lamb and Tea happily content.
During the breakfast though, he will privately tell the other in the party of what he saw- a ringed Moon, and a white glimmer on the Northern Hills.
Do the villagers or Guern know what is to the North? Anything special on those hills? (He will tell the towns people/Guern not of the White Glimmer on the hill, but only of the ringed Moon)
Osvald does not know if we can trust this Guern fellow yet, and so his worth remain to be seen. Of course, Osvald shows no notion of these paranoid thoughts while he happily feasts.
“Pretty moon good for fighting . . . we have good luck today, only storm better me think. Lamb good but tea not good on fighting day . . . should have mead . . . We look at shiny under moon after stop baddies?” After eating more of the villagers supplies then would be prudent of a thinking man Jorund lets out a large beltch and gathers his hammers to make battle.
[QUOTE=Malacandra]
[ol]…They have a random chance to have an arm free. Otherwise I’ll allow a “Bend Bars” attempt once per round to free an arm.
[li]Ulf could use his bear claws just fine, regardless. (Don’t count on a savage aberration being susceptible to the Fear effect, though.) Similarly, Jorund’s electric blast is a pure effort of will - he could use it even if he were paralysed or held.[/ol][/li][/QUOTE]
Thanks for all that!
I quite agree that Owlbears will be far less frightened, but I’m using the Aspect because it’s the best attack I’ve ever seen when ‘pinned by a crushing hug’.
Oh, and my instructor who knew about Owlbears was G. Y. Gax …
Ulf suggests to Bjarni and the others that:
the marching order is (front to rear) Guern + dog / Jorund, Bjarni + Ulf / Osvald + Ivar / Henrik + Redbeard
when we fight, Guern + dog retreat while Henrik + Redbeard move in front of Osvald + Ivar
we aim to catch some of the Owlbears asleep or off guard, because fighting six or seven Owlbears at once is going to be risky (just how we Vikings like it )
Please could the casters give their preferred spells (obviously it depends on the exact battleground, but it really helps Ulf decide when to go Berserk!)
I’m going to try throwing 2 of my hammers first to keep them at a distance then go in dual weilding. I’m going to hold off going berserk untill at least half are gone, if we’re fighting all of them at once. If I get caught before going berserk I’m going to try and break out first before using the lightning blast. If I’m already berserk then I’ll hit them with my aspect first. If it is a smaller group I’ll go berserk after throwing the hammers. Either way I want to call my aspect as soon as I got berserk but hold off on the blast untill it is needed. Good plan as far as marching orders
Yes, (again depending on where we meet them) Ulf will try to get a bowshot or two off first.
He’ll then try to hit with his Pole Axe (biggest damage v large), but soon expects to be pinned.
Then, since his Bend Bars is below 15%, he’s not going to take damage while trying that, but will immediately go Berserk. And hope we win in 7 rounds! :eek:
If there’s one enemy, Ivar will throw javelins (using Odin’s Arm if possible) and let the melee fighters finish the enemy off (unless the enemy is so tough as to require massive effort on everyone’s part. Owlbears, though, I’m expecting to be not too much trouble for this party if they’re alone.)
If there’s two enemies and we have time to prepare, use Chant.
If there are more than two enemies, use Bless, then Hold Person if it works, then Spiritual Weapon, then javelins.
[COLOR=Blue]Hold Person is for humanoids only.
Owlbears are a cross between the two animals in their name (neither of which you can Hold).
Just a suggestion - if we have two combats in one day (and you have spare slots), 2 x Chant is very useful[/COLOR]
Ulf agrees that a single Owlbear against our party is going down quickly - though he cautions that a hug by the Monster does lots of automatic damage.
(DM, can you rule whether other party members can safely hit an Owlbear that is hugging one of us?)
He prefers that we somehow tackle the group of 6-7 a couple at a time.
Although Ulf thinks he can take one (or even two) Owlbears himself by going Berserk, he will need to rest after that.
This is not cowardice - Ulf simply doesn’t want to finish up like the sheep! :smack:
Osvald’s strategy will be simple at first: if we can ambush the Owlies, and we’re at long range: he will try to start off with a flaming sphere, preferably before our fighters can reach the Bears. However, once the Fighting begins, he’ll pull back w/ Ivar, and try to stick with Colour Spraying the closer ones that are NOT being attacked by our Fighters- ie: pick off the ones standing out and away. If the distance thing continues (ie: the casters are safe), then a magic missile would do best to try to pick off any wounded but still angry OwlBears (Can I hit an Owlbear that’s hugging someone w/o hurting the victim with this spell? If so then, this may be an option).
If the fight does not go well, and the bears are closing the distance: ie: they’re at mid-range and getting closer still w/ no opposition. Then we’re going to have to cast Mirror Image, and pull out the old spear (and hope that the bears charge me, so i get that spear bonus).
Also, if things get hairy in close quarters STILL , then we pull out the Flares and run like hell to get back behind the fighters, and keep the bears at midrange again, and repeat with the spear to deal with a charging owliebear.
should there be huge problems (IE: Plan Z), use the Flaming Spheres and oil to create a large firey area between US and THEM, and we flee for our lives back to the village.
I think you have a plan here. I’ll advance the plot until I need your intervention, running with the notes you’ve given me. Just to confirm FYI,
A hugging owlbear (and similarly massive monster with a victim in its embrace) can normally be targeted safely by melee weapons; in very confined quarters where it’s impossible to get round the monster and must engage from directly in front there would be a risk of hitting your friend. Missile weapons are riskier, but generally safe if you can move round for an actual rear shot as the monster is big enough to make an effective shield. [color=blue]Magic Missile has no risk of hitting the wrong target if you can see even a handspan of the right one - it is phenomenally accurate and discriminatory. There are a number of defences against it, but it’s very unusual for a MM to hit anything but what it’s aimed at. glee is right about Hold Person, Ivar, but I’ll load one for you (and an extra Spiritual Weapon as you specified) as it is a very good spell to have on you if you do happen to encounter a human(oid) opponent - owlbears might not be all you meet today.[/color]
More to follow!
