[D&D] The Lost Mines of Phandelver

[Plutonius]

Fair enough; thanks a lot.

See post #453.

Once you choose your spells, @ravenvii will continue the game.

 

[Scepticalscribe]

Very well then, I shall prepare spells for Magic Missile and Burning Hands. Add to that the spell for Sleep, which seems extremely useful in some situations. That makes it three out of the four I am permitted at this level.

An aside: Thoughts & advice on plusses or minuses of Shield and Mage Armour welcome, as several of you appear to be a lot more experienced than I am. For now, I am inclined towards adding the spell for Shield, but would be open to advice and suggestions if tendered.

 

[Plutonius]

Very well then, I shall prepare spells for Magic Missile and Burning Hands. Add to that the spell for Sleep, which seems extremely useful in some situations. That makes it three out of the four I am permitted at this level.

An aside: Thoughts & advice on plusses or minuses of Shield and Mage Armour welcome, as several of you appear to be a lot more experienced than I am. For now, I am inclined towards adding the spell for Shield, but would be open to advice and suggestions if tendered.

DP is more experienced with this edition but if you are asking me, I would go with mage armor (last 8 hours instead of one combat round). i.e. shield gives you an AC of 17 (reactive) for one round and mage armor gives you an AC of 15 for 8 hours.

One note: When using burning hands or sleep, tell Ravenvii that you want to aim the spells not to hit party members (the spells can hit both friend and foe if you aren't careful).

 

[Scepticalscribe]

DP is more experienced with this edition but if you are asking me, I would go with mage armor (last 8 hours instead of one combat round). i.e. shield gives you an AC of 17 (reactive) for one round and mage armor gives you an AC of 15 for 8 hours.

One note: When using burning hands or sleep, tell Ravenvii that you want to aim the spells not to hit party members (the spells can hit both friend and foe if you aren't careful).

That is very sound advice, and will be heeded.

Given how bruised we were in our first brief encounter with the goblins (or, misfortunate with the rolls of those accursed dice), am I to take it that our priority is to survive these early rounds in order to gain the necessary experience to add to our powers and skills?

 

[Plutonius]

That is very sound advice, and will be heeded.

Given how bruised we were in our first brief encounter with the goblins (or, misfortunate with the rolls of those accursed dice), am I to take it that our priority is to survive these early rounds in order to gain the necessary experience to add to our powers and skills?

Sounds like a good goal .

Have you decided what your forth spell will be ? They are both ok (shouldn't make a difference) just pick the one you like.

 

[Scepticalscribe]

Very well, for now, I will select Mage Armour as my fourth spell, as it appears that Shield only protects for one round of attack. Thus, Sleep, Burning Hands, Magic Missile, and Mage Armour are the spells I have chosen to prepare for now.

I assume that the instruction to @ravenvii to aim the 'attack' spells not to hit party members is to be given when we actually encounter obstacles such as enemies who will harbour ill intent towards us, and not before that. Shield has an advantage - in that it can be invoked at any time - and a disadvantage, which is that it affords protection only for one round of attacks. Something tells me that we may need protection for more than one round of attacks.

 

[Don't panic]

* Having finished his current watch duties, Count Lochaber sits at the fire and start cooking a thick slab of horse steak.
when it is ready, he proceeds to avidly devouring it, making sure he doesn't get any of the juices running all over his vest.
Then, looking at the Elf who has been fully absorbed in her papers for what seemed to be an eternity

> Say Mistress Syllin, that must have been a most difficult spell you have been working on there.
I can't wait to see it how it shall wreck havoc on our new "friend'' 's old buddies in the morrow!
​

* turns to the goblin who is still tied up, then partially unties him so he gets some degree of movements without being able to run. then goes back to his seat and tosses him some of the leftovers from his meal

> there you go, goblin.
do you have a name?
why don't you tell us about these traps you were talking about?
and lest you get some wrong ideas in that little head of yours, if you try to run or betray our presence, i shall not spare your life again.​

@ravenvii: how do you plan to run this, resource-wise? do we have to explicitly care about the 'menial' details (eating, drinking, refilling water, recovering arrows, cleaning/sharpening weapons, etc.) or are some/most of these tasks implicit other than for color purposes?

 

[Don't panic]

Very well, for now, I will select Mage Armour as my fourth spell, as it appears that Shield only protects for one round of attack. Thus, Sleep, Burning Hands, Magic Missile, and Mage Armour are the spells I have chosen to prepare for now.

I assume that the instruction to @ravenvii to aim the 'attack' spells not to hit party members is to be given when we actually encounter obstacles such as enemies who will harbour ill intent towards us, and not before that. Shield has an advantage - in that it can be invoked at any time - and a disadvantage, which is that it affords protection only for one round of attacks. Something tells me that we may need protection for more than one round of attacks.

the main disadvantage of Mage Armor is that, for it to be most effective, you'd cast before we start fighting, so you'd be throughly protected, which is good. However, it will use up one of your two slots, which means you are getting into battle with a single spell (at least until you level up), plus of course your cantrips and your weapons (which are still more than decent).
therefore, you will have to decide if you want to be protected, but less effective offensively, or the opposite. both work, and the decision is yours (this can be a tactical decision, a roleplaying decision or a combination of the two).

regarding some of the spells, like burning hands, you can't just say "I do not hit my friends" (although for this and some spells you will actually be able to start doing something like that as you level up and you learn "sculpting". it is described in your character sheet). the mechanics of the spells are included in the spell description, and in the spell section of the rules (both linked to or uploaded earlier in the thread).
in the case of Burning Hands, you project a 15 ft cone of fire from you hands (at ~45 degrees on each side). anything in the cone (friend or foe) will be hit. So it is up to you to position yourself to maximize damage to your foes and minimize it to your friend.
in the case of Sleep, you pick a target within 90 feet, and it works a the center of a 20-feet circle. everything in that circle is affected in order of hit points, until the strength of the spell is exhausted (in order of remaining hit points). so it can target your friends and even yourself (except in your specific case you are immune to its effects because of your Fey Ancestry). Again, it is up to you to optimize its effects

 

[Scepticalscribe]

* Having finished his current watch duties, Count Lochaber sits at the fire and start cooking a thick slab of horse steak.
when it is ready, he proceeds to avidly devouring it, making sure he doesn't get any of the juices running all over his vest.
Then, looking at the Elf who has been fully absorbed in her papers for what seemed to be an eternity

> Say Mistress Syllin, that must have been a most difficult spell you have been working on there.
I can't wait to see it how it shall wreck havoc on our new "friend'' 's old buddies in the morrow!
​

* turns to the goblin who is still tied up, then partially unties him so he gets some degree of movements without being able to run. then goes back to his seat and tosses him some of the leftovers from his meal

> there you go, goblin.
do you have a name?
why don't you tell us about these traps you were talking about?
and lest you get some wrong ideas in that little head of yours, if you try to run or betray our presence, i shall not spare your life again.​

@ravenvii: how do you plan to run this, resource-wise? do we have to explicitly care about the 'menial' details (eating, drinking, refilling water, recovering arrows, cleaning/sharpening weapons, etc.) or are some/most of these tasks implicit other than for color purposes?

Quite difficult, Ser Bartolomeus, in the timing and the mastery, both. Mayhap, I have it now.

(An internal aside to myself: I trust that the repast of steaks carved from horsemeat inadvertently donated by my slaughtered palfrey has gone down well…)

the main disadvantage of Mage Armor is that, for it to be most effective, you'd cast before we start fighting, so you'd be throughly protected, which is good. However, it will use up one of your two slots, which means you are getting into battle with a single spell (at least until you level up), plus of course your cantrips and your weapons (which are still more than decent).
therefore, you will have to decide if you want to be protected, but less effective offensively, or the opposite. both work, and the decision is yours (this can be a tactical decision, a roleplaying decision or a combination of the two).

regarding some of the spells, like burning hands, you can't just say "I do not hit my friends" (although for this and some spells you will actually be able to start doing something like that as you level up and you learn "sculpting". it is described in your character sheet). the mechanics of the spells are included in the spell description, and in the spell section of the rules (both linked to or uploaded earlier in the thread).
in the case of Burning Hands, you project a 15 ft cone of fire from you hands (at ~45 degrees on each side). anything in the cone (friend or foe) will be hit. So it is up to you to position yourself to maximize damage to your foes and minimize it to your friend.
in the case of Sleep, you pick a target within 90 feet, and it works a the center of a 20-feet circle. everything in that circle is affected in order of hit points, until the strength of the spell is exhausted (in order of remaining hit points). so it can target your friends and even yourself (except in your specific case you are immune to its effects because of your Fey Ancestry). Again, it is up to you to optimize its effects

In truth, re matters of pure and simple combat, at present, I am a lot less accomplished (and powerful) not to mention quite a bit less experienced, than most of my companions. I cannot conceive of a situation where I will be charging first and foremost to the fray, when there are more experienced warriors.

Re the Shield spell, what are the advantages of this spell; @Plutonius has already alluded to the disadvantages - it confers protection for only one round of assault and/or attack - of the spell, although that protection is considerable. Does use of this not also use up one of the two spell slots?

From what I can gather the Mage Armour spell confers protection for quite some time, even if it uses up a spell slot. Last skirmish out, I spent time frozen in indecision, not knowing what was going on, and then extremely comatose, until I was kindly revived by Master Veit Frostbeard, our thoughtful Dwarf cleric.

 

[Don't panic]

Quite difficult, Ser Bartolomeus, in the timing and the mastery, both. Mayhap, I have it now.

(An internal aside to myself: I trust that the repast of steaks carved from horsemeat inadvertently donated by my slaughtered palfrey has gone down well…)



In truth, re matters of pure and simple combat, at present, I am a lot less accomplished (and powerful) not to mention quite a bit less experienced, than most of my companions. I cannot conceive of a situation where I will be charging first and foremost to the fray, when there are more experienced warriors.

Re the Shield spell, what are the advantages of this spell; @Plutonius has already alluded to the disadvantages - it confers protection for only one round of assault and/or attack - of the spell, although that protection is considerable. Does use of this not also use up one of the two spell slots?

From what I can gather the Mage Armour spell confers protection for quite some time, even if it uses up a spell slot. Last skirmish out, I spent time frozen in indecision, not knowing what was going on, and then extremely comatose, until I was kindly revived by Master Veit Frostbeard, our thoughtful Dwarf cleric.

as overall protection in a prolonged or unknown encounter situation, mage armour is better.
the main advantage of shield vs mage armor, in my view, is its need-to basis. it does use a magic slot, but since you don't don it right away, so you can make a tactical choice during the fight to see if, for example using an offensive spell is a better use of that magic slot. there could be an encounter where you are never under direct attack (because you are behind friends in melee situation). in that situation armor is wasted, while, for example, an extra magic missile could have been very useful. also, shield is a reaction, which means that you can use it out of turn when needed if you get in trouble (provided that you have the slot).
i would say that mage armor is more strategic while shield is more tactical.

on a related note, remember you have Arcane Recovery

 

[Plutonius]

regarding some of the spells, like burning hands, you can't just say "I do not hit my friends" (although for this and some spells you will actually be able to start doing something like that as you level up and you learn "sculpting". it is described in your character sheet). the mechanics of the spells are included in the spell description, and in the spell section of the rules (both linked to or uploaded earlier in the thread).
in the case of Burning Hands, you project a 15 ft cone of fire from you hands (at ~45 degrees on each side). anything in the cone (friend or foe) will be hit. So it is up to you to position yourself to maximize damage to your foes and minimize it to your friend.
in the case of Sleep, you pick a target within 90 feet, and it works a the center of a 20-feet circle. everything in that circle is affected in order of hit points, until the strength of the spell is exhausted (in order of remaining hit points). so it can target your friends and even yourself (except in your specific case you are immune to its effects because of your Fey Ancestry). Again, it is up to you to optimize its effects

Since we aren't playing in person and don't have a battle mat with figurines, I'm assuming that @ravenvii will run the combat (position our characters, aim the spells, etc.) based on default request we make (i.e. @Scepticalscribe stating that she doesn't want to hit party members with burning hands /sleep). Otherwise, it would be near impossible to cast area of effect spells not knowing the exact position of enemies and friends.

To put it in simpler terms, @Scepticalscribe will just say that she wants to cast a sleep spell on the enemies. @ravenvii will will most likely figure out where to target the spell to maximize the affect and not hit the party.

 

[Scepticalscribe]

as overall protection in a prolonged or unknown encounter situation, mage armour is better.
the main advantage of shield vs mage armor, in my view, is its need-to basis. it does use a magic slot, but since you don't don it right away, so you can make a tactical choice during the fight to see if, for example using an offensive spell is a better use of that magic slot. there could be an encounter where you are never under direct attack (because you are behind friends in melee situation). in that situation armor is wasted, while, for example, an extra magic missile could have been very useful. also, shield is a reaction, which means that you can use it out of turn when needed if you get in trouble (provided that you have the slot).
i would say that mage armor is more strategic while shield is more tactical.

on a related note, remember you have Arcane Recovery

Hm. Interesting. Studying the entry under Arcane Recovery suggests that - until I level up somewhat - it may not be of much use for now. How is it supposed to work for a Level 1 Wizard, as the recovered spells are equal to - or less than half - of the level one is at? Does it mean that one can recover a single level 1 spell when my designated level usually allows me to select spells for two prepared spell slots?

 

[Don't panic]

Since we aren't playing in person and don't have a battle mat with figurines, I'm assuming that @ravenvii will run the combat (position our characters, aim the spells, etc.) based on default request we make (i.e. @Scepticalscribe stating that she doesn't want to hit party members with burning hands /sleep). Otherwise, it would be near impossible to cast area of effect spells not knowing the exact position of enemies and friends.

To put it in simpler terms, @Scepticalscribe will just say that she wants to cast a sleep spell on the enemies. @ravenvii will will most likely figure out where to target the spell to maximize the affect and not hit the party.

i suppose it's up to @ravenvii, but in case of tactical decision like this ones, it should be up to the player, on their turn.
in the previous skirmish, it was the player who decided which goblin to attack and with what, not the DM. i expect this to remain the same, including how she (or anyone else) positions herself with respect to others (in front, behind, etc.), and which of the enemy she is targeting.

That said, i do think there was some confusion (mostly as it was the first time for everyone) regarding relative positions of characters, and i am sure it will be better next time, especially if Ravenvii implements something akin to the 'battle status block' i was using towards the end
[doublepost=1456942986][/doublepost]

Hm. Interesting. Studying the entry under Arcane Recovery suggests that - until I level up somewhat - it may not be of much use for now. How is it supposed to work for a Level 1 Wizard, as the recovered spells are equal to - or less than half - of the level one is at? Does it mean that one can recover a single level 1 spell when my designated level usually allows me to select spells for two prepared spell slots?

it is rounded up to 1. you will get one slot back on a short rest at level 1

 

[Scepticalscribe]

i suppose it's up to @ravenvii, but in case of tactical decision like this ones, it should be up to the player, on their turn.
in the previous skirmish, it was the player who decided which goblin to attack and with what, not the DM. i expect this to remain the same, including how she (or anyone else) positions herself with respect to others (in front, behind, etc.), and which of the enemy she is targeting.

That said, i do think there was some confusion (mostly as it was the first time for everyone) regarding relative positions of characters, and i am sure it will be better next time, especially if Ravenvii implements something akin to the 'battle status block' i was using towards the end
[doublepost=1456942986][/doublepost]
it is rounded up to 1. you will get one slot back on a short rest at level 1

Right. So - if I understand it correctly - that means that I can replace one of my expended spells (must I have expended both?) after a brief rest and recovery period.

 

[Don't panic]

Right. So - if I understand it correctly - that means that I can replace one of my expended spells (must I have expended both?) after a brief rest and recovery period.

yes, but only once per day, not at every short rest. at this level, you effectively have 3 slots available (you only need to spend one to use arcane recovery)

 

[Scepticalscribe]

yes, but only once per day, not at every short rest. at this level, you effectively have 3 slots available (you only need to spend one to use arcane recovery)

Ah, okay. Fair enough. That makes some sort of sense now. Two active spell slots with one capable of being replaced after a 'day's rest'.

 

[Don't panic]

Ah, okay. Fair enough. That makes some sort of sense now. Two active spell slots with one capable of being replaced after a 'day's rest'.

after a long rest (like the one we just did, ~8hours), you will always get ALL your slots back (which increase with level)

after a short rest (~1hour), Arcane Recovery allows you to get back some slots (depending on level). you can use arcane recovery only once per day

 

[Plutonius]

after a long rest (like the one we just did, ~8hours), you will always get ALL your slots back (which increase with level)

after a short rest (~1hour), Arcane Recovery allows you to get back some slots (depending on level). you can use arcane recovery only once per day

I can't see her getting any rest with the rest of us around .

 

[Scepticalscribe]

after a long rest (like the one we just did, ~8hours), you will always get ALL your slots back (which increase with level)

after a short rest (~1hour), Arcane Recovery allows you to get back some slots (depending on level). you can use arcane recovery only once per day

Thank you, and very useful to know.

I can't see her getting any rest with the rest of us around .

Hm. Elves don't need sleep in quite the same way as other races are said to require it. Rest, recovery and recuperation, are, however, a somewhat different matter….

 

[Don't panic]

I can't see her getting any rest with the rest of us around .

speaking of rest, i am get a bit restive here...

 

[twietee]

You guys aren't waiting for me, right? As I said before: please exchange Bane with Guiding Bolt and the rest stays the same.

 

[Don't panic]

You guys aren't waiting for me, right? As I said before: please exchange Bane with Guiding Bolt and the rest stays the same.

nah, i think we are waiting for ravenvii.
but since we are at it, we are basically rested and ready for war, but it is about midnight. do we extend the rest to the morning or do we go at night? if we wait, i assume ravenvii can fast-forward to the morning directly

 

[twietee]

How is sleeping handled anyway? Do we have to take shifts?


Since I'm the vip-cleric so far I suggest sleeping the whole 8h!

 

[Don't panic]

How is sleeping handled anyway? Do we have to take shifts?


Since I'm the vip-cleric so far I suggest sleeping the whole 8h!

you definitively are the Most Important Cleric in the group so far
we don't have to take guard shift, but in general it is always a good idea to do so, especially when camping in the wild, near a goblin's hideout.
and now that you got your magyk ready, you better be sure that you are also taking your turn

 

[Scepticalscribe]

Well, let us enjoy this down time. Fresh adventures, replete with lurid expressions of wanton violence and unrestrained slaughter doubtless await us on the morrow...

For that matter, I think I may be suffering from a small bout of the D&D equivalent of PTSD after our bruising encounter with that gang of goblins…..