Remind me never to piss Dorric off 
Just to explain a bit…
Johannes, Quentin and Dale all have metal Armour and Shield, making them hard to hit in melee.
Johannes’ permanent **Protection v Evil **(10’ radius) gives further defence against all attacks (melee, missile + spell) from the bad guys.
Dale was the third person to attack the Decanus (and next the Soldier.)
Once someone is facing two opponents, further attackers gain a Flanking bonus (+10% to hit; victim cannot use their Shield or Dexterity against the Flanker.)
Dorric’s Backstab is a Thief special.
The Thief first needs to make a Sneak roll (combining Hide + Move Silently) and (if successful) gets +20% to hit and does multiple damage (currently double - it increases when the Thief reaches higher level!)
The Thief cannot Hide when under observation, so this attack needs to be well thought out (usually the Thief only gets one chance per combat).
Once he’s struck, the Thief is somewhat at risk - he only has Leather Armour and medium hit points.
At low levels, the MU types need to be careful in combat. They have no Armour and low hit points.
However once the party goes up levels (by gaining experience through roleplaying and combat), the MU’s spells become very useful.
Talking of experience, the party shares everything (this applies to treasure too.)
So when you win a combat, all benefit.
When Johannes makes a heartfelt speech (see post #91), or the MUs use their Familiars wisely, everyone gets experience too!
A reminder - use this thread to discuss things, state your intended actions and ask me questions.
The Game Thread is for your character to speak.
I then use both threads to decide what actually happens, and publish.
Currently your characters have a few immediate things to consider:
- Crumlin wants your help in seizing the moment of victory to impress the crowd (look at your Skills and use your imagination!)
- you can see that the only traces left of the fallen Soldiers are a) an plumed Empire helmet b) an Empire trident c) bloodstains
- you have a last chance to come up with a party name (Jornilsson couldn’t cope with ‘Crumlin’s Chosen Combination’, so you’re currently ‘Crumlin’s Chaps’…)
Later on, there will be topics to consider such as:
- what will the rest of the Empire patrol do now?
- why does John Smith think he knows Dorric?
- why does Mayor Crumlin want Dorric’s salesmanship?
To celebrate, John will communicate to Sneakerpuss that the cat is to hop up on his head and raise its paws high in the air, acting as if it played a part. Meanwhile, John will just fold his arms and look calm…with just a slight grin on his face.
Dorric knows a bit about showmanship. He will hold the killing daggers high in the air for all to see and then dramatically use prestidigitation to make them vanish. He will then bow to the whole audience and gesture to the rest of the party and introduce them to the crowd making sure they all get applause and are acknowledge for their more important role in the fight. He will take special care to introduce the familiars.
I’ll write you up a speech and PM it to you if you like so you can integrate it into your next game post.
How does the group feel about crumlins company instead of crumlins chaps? Short snappy but with a more serious about military feel.
This sounds great.
You’re welcome to post the speech here, so it can be fully appreciated!
Like it. Got a nice historical feel; a little mercenary, but it’s short, accurate, and snappy.
Dale knows nothing about showmanship, so he’ll line up sliently behind Dorric, so as to give his speech a little more authority.
Speech, feel free to cut or modify to suit the needs of your next in game post.
This will be after Dorric vanishes his daggers.
"Ladies and Gentlemen thank you! I would like to take this opportunity to introduce the fine party that make up Crumlin’s Company.
First I would like to introduce the fantastic spell caster who struck the first blow against our foe. The fantastic force with the mundane name, I give you John Smith. And not to be forgotten his fine feline friend Sneakerpuss! A round of applause for them both please ladies and gentlemen!
Next allow me to introduce to you the only member of our party who is even shorter than I. But don’t let his size fool you, as he is a powerful magician in his own right. Along with his fine familiar Jinx his presence is critical to the Company’s continued success. I give you all, the finest gnome I know…PLIXICAN!! A round of applause for Plixican and Jinx please!
Next I am proud to introduce my two oldest friends in the company. First Dale the cleric who delivered the final blow to the Decanus, and who is just as skilled a healer as he is a fighter. Then Quentin the ranger, the epitome of the strong and silent type. He is both of those things, but he is also a brilliant ranger. Ladies and Gentlemen, two of the party’s key specialists Dale and Quentin. Their strength carries our party along! a round of applause please!
Last but certainly not least, the Palidin of Hamindal who trained with the great Versifal de Calaiston, of whom I am sure you are all familiar. The devout fighter and fierce believer. A huge round of applause for the most successful warrior in this fight. The fighter of all evil and defender of good both great and small…JoHANNNNNNEEESSS!
Thank you again on behalf of all of Crumlin’s Company. My name is Dorric the scout and it has been our pleasure to be here today."
Add this to the end of the speech please.
“Can I please ask you for one final round of applause for mayor Crumlin, Jornilsson and of course, the Empire soldiers without whom none of this spectacular display of fighting would have been possible. Thank you!”
After the speech Dorric will quietly suggest that the group takes a bow but doesn’t milk it and that they all get the heck out of this horrible arena and reconviene somewhere where they can regroup out of the public eye.
Plixican will wave his staff as his name is mentioned, with Jinx cawing on top of it, and is much in agreement with Dorric’s idea to get out and regroup somewhere quieter. The rest of the Empire patrol may not like this.
Dorric is 85% to use Presdigitation (to ‘vanish’ his daggers.)
He needs 1-17 on a d20 (= 20 sided dice), and rolls a 9 = success.
I’m happy to explain the Potions and Scrolls in this thread if you need more information.
I will give some numbers:
- Shocking Grasp does damage of (d8 + your level); so d8+1 at present. It adds to any weapon damage
- Strength gives Fighters +10% to hit and +3 extra damage (on top of the weapon); for others (e.g. Thieves), it’s +10% to hit and +2 extra damage (for each weapon, so ot works for both daggers…)
- Cure Light Wounds restores d8 hit points (same as Dale’s spell)
- Spirit Hammer attacks like a normal hammer, doing d4+1 v man-sized opponents
- Monster Summoning 1 brings 1-4 allies (there’s a selection, but they’ll all be like having extra 1st level Fighter(s))
- Acid Arrow does d6 (arrow) + d4 (acid) damage. It always hits
Sorry if I didn’t make it clear about the value of the magic items.
For example, Shocking Grasp is a 1st level MU spell, so is worth half of invisibility (a 2nd level MU spell.)
Using a Potion or a Scroll is an action - the same as Casting a spell or striking a blow.
The forthcoming combat will be in the same Gladiator Arena as before (grass / path / building / bushes.) Let me (or Appleciders!) know if you want the map reposted.
Assuming that the party goes to the abandoned building quickly Dorric is going to try climbing up the walls to high ground to make his first attacks with his sling. If the party stays where they were the last time he will continue to use the bushes for cover. Either way he is going to try to stay hidden and attack with his sling to start things off.
Quentin’s going to keep the Strength potion and ditch the Shocking Grasp.
Also, he’ll fight with his sword this time around, instead of mace and shield.
Party, how confident are we? My inclination is not to use the Strength potion for this one.
Johannes will accept the armour and shield and return the potion of shocking grasp. As for the upcoming fight, my choices are limited but I’m confident we can take them provided we are tactical about it. With seven of them, there’s a greater chance they can flank us and attack the John Smith or Plixican…I’m prepared to stand front and center again, but we need a plan to cover our flanks.
I’m tempted to make use of the monster summoning scroll, if only to provide extra numbers to keep them all busy.
That would be a great idea, provided you can actually cast it. If so, a few monsters magically appearing *behind *the enemy soldiers while they’re engaged with us should help swing things in our favour nicely
I like the discussion of party tactics. 
Just to clarify:
-
Dorric has a base of 80% to Climb Walls.
However he noticed last time that the pillars of the abandoned building are slightly corroded and thus offer extra hand and footholds for a bonus of 15% (i.e. he’s = 95% to succeed) -
Quentin does more damage with his Two-Handed Sword, but his defence is slightly weakened by not using a Shield (-15%).
He knows his health is tremendous and that a Two-Handed Sword can slightly unnerve opponents… -
Monster Summoning (like any other spell) doesn’t take long to cast (it’s instead of e.g. striking a blow.) The Monster(s) appear next to the Caster and are then under his mental control. It can be cast just before the combat begins.
You can assume the rest of the day and night will pass safely - so please just let me know in this thread:
- what spells Dale, John and Plixican will load in their minds
- whether each of you are taking your Potions + Scrolls into the combat
- any more tactics (e.g Dorric wants to know if the party are advancing to the abandoned building, or setting up the same formation as before…)
- what spell (if any) you will cast in the round before the combat begins
N.B. If you need it, the Arena Map is in the Game Thread, post #103
Can Dale, rather than casting the spell from the scroll, simply memorize the spell and be able to prepare it later?