D&D Meta Thread

[Alice]

Haa, Kashtan had to give away the big secret. So I might as well tell you everything.
I would have fallen off my chair laughing if Joy had made the troll attack us - only to see it getting maimed in one turn.
Frankly I dunno if it works and you'll probably nerf something after that but yeah, I have 3 attacks but deal 4x damage with Flurry of Blows + Hand of Harm combined for 1 Ki point.
The big gamble is Cat who will put everything in Heavy with her Greatsword. But she needs advantage for that so I flank the Troll and attack from behind.
Ashley will summon Nixie and have her attack. I'm afraid she can't summon her early because that boom would ruin the surprise (or can it work as distraction?) In any case that's not a problem. We have Surprise so even if her first attack is weak, she'll shine in the next round.
The real game-changer is Yulya. She will attack as soon as she notices that the troll is injured and will use her Ring of Quick Casting to cast 2x Toll The Dead and amplify it with her Goblin Staff. That's 2D12+6 necrotic damage. While Cat, Nixie and me have advantage, I think this won't apply to Yulya. Does she have inspiration? That would be a good time to use it.

Well, that's my glorious plan. If the Troll survives the surprise, rinse and repeat. We can uphold that for 3 rounds and only be stronger when Ashley rallies Nixie. Cat needs to take the first hit from the troll and survive. I gain 2D6 hp each round from her Path of the World Tree so I should be good. I think we're a great team with Emboldening Bond and Path of the World Tree combined.

Continued plan - if we manage to down the troll we catch the beastmaster as hostage, then retreat for the night into the Cat igloo some place away. I have one more surprise but it will remain one until it's time.

For now the crucial steps is luring the Troll to where Cat is and where the crossbowman can't shoot us during combat.
And that Ashley summons wasps as distraction and to find the beastmaster. We gotta make sure he doesn't make a run for it.

[Τamamo]

I was afraid the troll would go after Ashley and not Cat. How far can that thing smell?
I see no point in attacking now. The troll is out of Yulya's reach and within the crossbowman's reach. I say we simply do nothing for another turn. Let him go N or NE.

[Our Angry Bear Brain]

Cat has a higher stealth which includes scent, the troll has enhanced scent perception and rolled poorly and the cutoff just happened to be enough to smell only Ashley and Yulya. Frankly I couldn't remember where you wanted the troll to go or not, I let the dice decide that.

[Τamamo]

Obviously the encounter should happen where Cat is or N of that between the trees. I assume he will go NE now towards Ashley and Yulya. Yulya is well hidden but Ashley must be careful. Better move further W. Actually the only important thing is that the Troll goes somewhere that's obscured from the bandit's line of sight and within Yulya's 60ft spell range.

[Our Angry Bear Brain]

Noted.

I read that as a DM I should TPK at least once early on, I know Alice will have a fit... I'm liking this idea more and more.

[Alice]

Orcas-tier
Remember, total destruction may be fun for the moment but is followed by an eternity of boredom.
Accept the way of the Winged Creature and preserve fun by keeping your players alive

I was thinking of throwing a stink bomb at the Troll to keep him from sniffing us out, but that's exactly what we want for the moment. Keep walking in our trap!

Btw, if there's no snow under the trees, does the area still count as difficult terrain?

[Our Angry Bear Brain]

>Difficult terrain under a fir tree?

I'll forgive you since most of Europe has no trees, yes you are basically crawling under the tree, whether the terrain is difficult or not, if you're crawling it's half speed.

Also let me save you a little waste here, whether you use a stink bomb or smoke, it will only last one turn because of the wind. For the purposes of Vanilla reasoning, 21+mph wind will disburse any cloud in 1 turn. The wind here is approaching 50mph in gusts. The stink or smoke will be completely ineffective.

[Kashtan]

>tpk
im confident about the troll but if the guys that hunted us last time show up we got a problem without Summer. so lets get rid of the troll and beastmaster and then gtfo

>stink bomb
if you throw that disgusting acid into the guys face he shouldnt be smelling anything else for a while. but yeah we dont need it rn

[Τamamo]

Plot twist!
Do you think we can talk to them? Well, it's not Cat's problem. You try, if it fails we know what to do.

[Kashtan]

SheShe said everything we face right now is an enemy. it sounded good first and Yulya had high hopes but cmon. theryre the bandits with the brooches.  talking to the guy will reveal our position. i wish Ashley had gone further W instead of back E. if the troll follows her we have a problem.

[Alice]

Yeah indeed! She should have gone to Yulya! If she drags the troll further east I'm mad. And what's with the wasps? Is the troll a wasp magnet or what?  Summon them as far NW as possible along the edge of the map! We gotta find the beastmaster!

[Our Angry Bear Brain]

The wasps, as I described, are pushed 50ft south by the wind regardless of what direction they go. They would have to fly directly against the wind to stay North, and thus wouldn't travel West at all. The best you can get is the hypotenuse of a triangle West.

[Ashley] I get vague directions like "spam wasps" and "get out of there" I have nowhere to go, Joy said if I try to walk through a tree I will be spotted. So tell me what to do, I'll wait.

[Kashtan]

ok guyse this doesnt work!
we gotta revise our movements or things will end in carnage. and not the good kind of one.

see pic related



Yulya and especially Ashley gotta move west so the troll doesnt go further east where the red X is.
its irrelevant if the troll notices you he can smell you in any case. important is that Alice and Cat stay hidden.
Cat has 60/2=30 movement through difficult terrain with feline agilty this turn. shes not the problem and can get the troll.
Alice only has 40/2=20 movement bc she will needs the rest for flurry of blows. she needs to go further east. only where i put her can she reach the troll even if he goes northeast which we wanna avoid. bandit could shoot her if she goes through the leafless tree but better than nothing.

so Ashleys gotta dash we told her to move more west before. risky but the only way. she doesnt need to do anything else this turn. next turn summon nixie and have her attack with all of us. i have changed Yulyas post to move her west

[Alice]

Hey, you're right!
Good thinking!

I hope Joy agrees to our changes but the move wasn't made yet. So I will revise my position to the one you suggested. That should keep the troll within 20ft of me. I hope he doesn't step on me. And that Ashley's alright. The crossbowman shouldn't be able to see and shoot her behind the trees. If she's heard, thats' fine! We want the troll to go there. Even better if he thinks he's smart and tries to cut off Yulya and Ashley's escape route to the west.
Go West, Mr. Troll, Go West!
https://youtube.com/watch?v=LNBjMRvOB5M

Does he have a name? He's the bandits' friend! He needs a name!

[Our Angry Bear Brain]

The troll's name is Harvey Epstein. He was found on an island with a lot of yoing aspiring actresses *and actors.*

The changes are fine, I didn't read them yet.