Already resolved in post #552. You can get off one last shot, but this is at serious point-blank range.
And…
You skewer its shield. It prepares to attack.
Glee’s turn awaits his arrival.
Antinor attempts to strike at one with his spear. It dodges the attack.
wonders when his dagger turned into a spear. 
Can I collect my arrow at the end of the fight?
If they don’t kill me?
It’s magic!
Or, long day. Let’s re-roll:
Nice chest stab. It has an injury level of 2. It still stands, but is wounded.
Gargun1
Gargun2: IL2 in chest, still fighting
Gargun3
Gargun4
Gargun5
Gargun6: IL3 in mouth, unconscious
If you can find them, and they are undamaged.
I should probably explain the rules of engagement here. These are simlipfied because we’re doing this via text and not in person with hex paper and figurines.
Normally, a hex is five feet. You can be adjacent to anyone with in the next hex, up to six friends or foes. Being next to a foe is “engaged.”
That’s too complicated for text, so let’s say this: To engage a foe, you must move to within 5 feet of him. He is engaged as well. For him to disengage, he must either neutralize you or outrun you. Either one is a move that takes an entire turn. (Engaging includes an attack, but the engaged foe usually has a defense.) To disengage, you may not bump into another foe.
You can be engaged with multiple foes. You can attack only one per turn. You can defend against any number of them, but there is a penalty of -10 to your defense for each one over the first one. That is, if:
-You are fighting one Gargun, you are -0 at your defense.
-You are fighting two Gargun, you are -10 at your defense.
-You are fighting six Gargun, you are -50 at your defense.
ETA: You can choose to ignore some attackers, but you defense then becomes an Ignore – poor choice.
Obviously, fighting back-to-back with friends is a good strategy, as is ganging up on foes.
Currently, Antinor is engaged with Gargun2. All other combatants are disengaged.
if glee does not ring in soon, he’ll be played as attacking/defending with the closest engaging foe.
(N.B. I thought I had a spear and shield)
I don’t understand where we are standing with relation to hexes, nor where the gargun are.
I’ll go back to back with Antinor.
We should arrange ourselves in a circle, with NAF (he’s the one that’ll be doing the healing, right?) in the spot that has four of us adjacent to him.
Good plan. I support it. Rugger and Glee should probably take the positions closest to the attackers, with Antinor and Koldanar further back.
- Tdn, I can confirm I have a shield:
Post 369: Glee: NAF1138, I see that (in the control thread) I have a 112 in Shield. Could I take yours, just for now?
Post 375: NAF1138: Of course you can.
-
I’m having misgivings about the rules of engagement. As you say, “These are simplified because we’re doing this via text and not in person with hex paper and figurines.”
Agreed - and also there are 5 players posting from different time zones without consultation.
Therefore I think using a ‘Melee order’ is going to seriously slow things down, without any benefit.
For example, if one of us is busy for a day, then that round of combat takes over a day. Or if a player early on in the order doesn’t post early on, everyone else just has to wait for them. -
I’m unsure about the numbers in Harn too:
552 glee END=15 25#/15 = 2*5% = 10% penalty to all actions
What is 25 in this equation? If it’s the tent, can I drop it in combat?
Next I have a 112 in Shield. Is this a %? Does it apply to attack and defence? How does it alter when combined with this:
567 (If) you are fighting two Gargun, you are -10 at your defense
Also:
567 You can choose to ignore some attackers, but you defense then becomes an Ignore – poor choice
Ignore does sound bad. How bad is it in % terms?
- I don’t know how to interpret the hex system when we don’t have any figurines to look at, nor what this series of posts means in terms of where we and the opposition all are relative to each other:
552:The creatures are on you
556: They are now at REALLY CLOSE RANGE.
561: You can get off one last shot, but this is at serious point-blank range.
567: Currently, Antinor is engaged with Gargun2. All other combatants are disengaged.
You obviously know where we are exactly at all times:
429: Koldanar: takes the nearest Party member by the arm
430: Tdn: That would be glee.
But we don’t know any of this - we didn’t even have a marching order…
- Previous SDMB roleplaying threads have all used the system of the players giving general instructions and the DM resolving the whole thing in one (or maybe two) posts.
This sort of thing:
569 (Santo Rugger) We should arrange ourselves in a circle, with NAF (he’s the one that’ll be doing the healing, right?) in the spot that has four of us adjacent to him.
Then you give an exciting description of the combat and the games zips on.
N.B. If instead using the melee order given, this would become:
glee I move forward to act as front line
Santo I leave room for NAF in the middle
Antinor I move forward to act as front line
Koldanor I leave room for NAF in the middle
Gargun1 attacks
Gargun2 attacks
Gargun3 attacks
Gargun4 attacks
Gargun5 attacks
Gargun6 attacks
NAF I move past all the attackers and stand in the centre of the circle
How does he get there safely?! :eek: 
So many questions! Let’s take them one at a time.
Yes, I remember that. You have a shield.
Agreed, and I’m open to something that lends itself to this medium better.
One reason I want to enforce rules of engagement, however, is to keep track of things and to keep them from tangling, in my own head as well as yours. In the last combat we had, things got pretty confused, and I’m sure a few things got a little messed up. If we all keep engagement rules in mind – even if we don’t strictly follow them – I think that will make it a little easier for all of us to keep track of who is who.
It’s partly the tent and partly the weapons and clothing. I’ve assumed (without telling you, of course) that you’ve dropped it and have decreased your penalty accordingly.
The 112 on shield is indeed a percentage. Using a shield for attack carries an additional 5% bonus. For defense there is a 20% bonus, so you have a wimpy 132% chance of defending yourself. (All weapons have similar bonuses, mostly on attacking – a shield is just another weapon, one that’s superior for defense). You have a -5 for encumbrance (you dropped the tent), so your chance at defending yourself is 128%. Sounds like a can’t-lose situation, but keep in mind that any roll of 96-100 is an automatic failure. Even so, you’ve got some room to spare, so you could actually take on four Gargun at once, for an additional penalty of 30%, putting you at a mere 98%. (In reality, 95%.)
If you start accumulating injury levels, each one incurs an additional 5% penalty to all actions.
The Ignore option reduces your defense to effectively 0%. Actually, you don’t even get to roll the dice at all.
As far as where you all are, sorry for the vagueness. Suffice it to say that the clump of critters charged the clump of you guys. Santo fired upon them as they closed. You may now engage them (and arrange yourselves) as you see fit.
That sounds like a great idea. NAF can get to safety because you all think it’s a good idea for him to do so. In three rounds, you can pretty much arrange yourselves any way you want to.
I hope that makes things as clear as mud.
I am assuming from how I attacked that The gargun are between me and you guys (is this correct, tdn?). If thats the case, I’ll stay behind / flanking them in hopes of distracting them off of you all.
Helps for me. The numbers aren’t really my thing, but its good to know that there is a system in place.
I am going to keep myself as safe as possible without actually being so far away I can’t help if needed.
That is correct. And you have succeeded in distracting one of them. It has engaged you.
NAF, can we say that you’re a good 10’ behind the attack line? Or do you like the surrounding idea better? FWIW, I think that glee alone can keep several of them occupied for a while.
I would say that 10’ will work for me. I can be more potentially usefully that way I think.
OK.
glee, can I assume that you’ll be poking one of these guys with your spear? On your say so I’ll go ahead and resolve that.
The it’s the Gargun’s turn. I need to know from each of you what you will do for defense, by default. Your options are:
Block with your best weapon (shield if you have one)
Dodge
Counterattack
Ignore
Block is probably your safest option. Counterattack is the bloodiest. Dodge is usually a bad bet. Ignore is always a bad bet.
Block with shield
Block with my weapon(s)
If it comes to it, I will block. Hopefully they are still too far away for it to be an issue.