Ireth
Mythic Scribe
Haha, yeah. "Tend" meaning "make sure he's dead". XDDD
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- Thread starter Steerpike
- Start date
A check? What kind? I suppose it would be one of Baldhart's secondary attributes, though.
- Thread starter
- #263
Heal checks are generally WIS-based in d20 games 
Oh… wow! INT, I'd stand a chance, but even if I rolled a 20, it would be reduced to 18 thanks to Baldhart's foolishness. So is that a 5% chance or 0%? Not that I'd waste a turn on 5% odds.
Nihal
Valar Lord
On the bright side, there is one bandage hanging off her backpack. She used it to tie her spear. *trollface*
Sparkie
Dark Lord
Yo, Ankari! Those little notes in your links make me laugh. Keep it up!
Ah, man! Now the pressure is on!
Ireth
Mythic Scribe
Sparkiiiie! If you've got time, Cadell could really use a healer before he bleeds out, please and thank you! ^^;
@Ireth LOL!
Sparkie
Dark Lord
Oy, a cleric's job is never done...
I thinkif you're within 15 feet, you can get to Cadell without "fleeing" and getting shredded by wolves. Back off slowly. I think Cadell will live even if it takes two turns, but if two wolves free-attack you, you and Cadell might both die.
That or Mauve has to run to both of you with her sack of Band-Aids.
EDIT- Ankari, I'm picturing a little note attached to the arrow lodged in the goblin's chest. He reads it then dies.
That or Mauve has to run to both of you with her sack of Band-Aids.
EDIT- Ankari, I'm picturing a little note attached to the arrow lodged in the goblin's chest. He reads it then dies.
Nihal
Valar Lord
So, it's a WIS check to patch up someone, uh? I think Mauve will set his stump on fire if she's the one trying stabilize him, her WIS isn't a prime. (Who would have guessed this, she's sooo wise!)
Well, Mauve's chance of not mummifying her still-bleeding allies are ten percent better than Baldhart's inevitable failure.
Got that Sparkie? The Band-Aid Brigade can't be trusted. If Rydh and Cadell fall, the wisest person on the field is Sir Matthew, whose hands will be covered in wolf slobber. Back away slowly from the wolves, crouch low behind the dwarves, and make sure both of Rydh's shoelaces are tied. He can't afford to fall!
Got that Sparkie? The Band-Aid Brigade can't be trusted. If Rydh and Cadell fall, the wisest person on the field is Sir Matthew, whose hands will be covered in wolf slobber. Back away slowly from the wolves, crouch low behind the dwarves, and make sure both of Rydh's shoelaces are tied. He can't afford to fall!
- Thread starter
- #274
Bleh. Just getting ready to make a post when someone pokes their head in my office to ask about a project. Probably be lunch before I can do it!
Sparkie
Dark Lord
At least you have an office. I share an office with my boss, which is why I spend most of my time out in the warehouse!
Anyway, Rydh will be getting to Cadell one way or another. One condition, however: Our new unofficial rallying cry will be "Gummy Bites!"
Bites what? Applesauce? Amaroq punched out most of Gummy's fangs.
Yes, punched. Front hooves don't kick, they punch. Dora the Kentauride was my character in Golden Axe II, so I can easily visualize the difference between front and rear hoof attacks.
Yes, punched. Front hooves don't kick, they punch. Dora the Kentauride was my character in Golden Axe II, so I can easily visualize the difference between front and rear hoof attacks.
Sparkie
Dark Lord
Was that game any good? I didn't get to play it.
I have it on an emulator.
Well, you know... it's one of those games where you go into an arcade with a pocket full of quarters and see if you can prevent dying enough that you win the game before your pockets are empty. I only played once in the arcade. I remember liking it, but couldn't change a dollor fast enough for the 10 second countdown, so the final boss killed me.
I only got my revenge in recent years, thanks to that emulator.
Well, you know... it's one of those games where you go into an arcade with a pocket full of quarters and see if you can prevent dying enough that you win the game before your pockets are empty. I only played once in the arcade. I remember liking it, but couldn't change a dollor fast enough for the 10 second countdown, so the final boss killed me.
I only got my revenge in recent years, thanks to that emulator.
- Thread starter
- #279
Posts coming tonight. I'm getting hammered at work at the moment (and I don't mean in the fun way).
Well, what I had hoped was that the mounted riders would either (A) pick up the dwarves—at least the out-of-action one that was being carried, or (B) provided enough of a disruption by charging through the wolf-riders that the others could achieve some separation and make it to the comparative safety of the walls.
Unfortunately, that didn't happen. In part this was because no one seemed to think of it initially (let's face it, no one even remembered he had a horse until Hiljikki reminded them…); in part it was because the dwarves didn't cooperate in the matter (though, apparently, the one being carried was dead, if not initially then by the time he was dropped); in the biggest part it was because the relative distances between riders, dwarves and wolves didn't work out that way.
It seemed that Baldhart had something along those lines in mind when she first stopped at the entrance to the courtyard, to urge the dwarves onward. When it became apparent (to her) that they'd need help to make it to the courtyard, she charged. Then Rydh did. Then Ankari did—enough to close the range, at least. Then the dwarves stopped running, and things pretty much had to play out where they did.
So that's what ended up happening.
Option 4, by the way, would have been to circle your wagons: those on foot link up with the dwarves, everybody faces outward, and moves as a group at whatever rate the enemy permits based on their actions. Those on horses threaten from the outside, forcing the enemy to split their attention (more or less what did happen), face attack from the rear, or focus most of their effort on the riders and allow those on foot to move a bit more freely… or to gang up and take out their remaining opponents that much more rapidly.
Not if the enemy doesn't realize you're behind it until he gets too close.…
Had things suddenly gone from two riders and a berserker (plus dwarves), apparently trying to flee to cover, to being surrounded by six more people armed with missile weapons, spears and spells, in a well-prepared ambush, we might have won on pure psychological grounds, those attackers not immediately incapacitated turning and fleeing. Also, cover is quite useful if you don't feel like being flanked.
Never underrate cover even in a melee. It can act as an extra shield; it can narrow your front, preventing some of the opponents from acting (if they're numerous enough), allowing you to take them on a couple at a time instead. In the case of something like a doorway, it completely eliminates any mobility advantage the enemy might have: his only choice is to come straight at you… certainly, a mounted charge is going to be stopped cold, losing all benefit of momentum, if it does not break through with its initial attack.
In fact, yes, Hiljikki doesn't care for melee engagement in the least. She may carry a spear, but in large part that's because it provides her some separation from the enemy, or at least the ability to thrust from the back ranks. It's a short spear, so she has to be snugged up fairly close to the front rank to be really effective… though in fact a six-foot haft is sufficient to strike into the enemy's second rank, if you've got two shield walls pressed up against one another (admittedly, something we aren't likely to see any time soon). Still, fighting from a doorway, that extra pokey thing the other guy needs to worry about can be decisive.
It's amazing what you can do with just a six-foot spear from the second rank. Let alone a longer one: effectively, every three feet allows you to be one rank farther back. Most games don't recognize this—they seem to think that every combatant must occupy a separate five-foot square… which may make it easier to place your miniatures, but which is far from true. In fact, a shield wall will have roughly three people every five feet (well, probably closer to two and a half, in most cases: five every ten feet)… at least if it wants to maintain its coherence, it will. In close formation fighting, you should quite literally be shoulder to shoulder: you should be touching the people on either side of you. In all likelihood, you'll actually be chest-to-back, as you turn your bodies… in which case, three people per five feet is not only realistic, it can be exceeded. For pike formations or phalanxes, you'll be only marginally looser: make it two people per five feet, if you want the second-rank pikes to be able to stick out between the front-rankers. (The first rank goes low, hip-height; the third comes over their shoulders; the fourth holds its weapons in an overhand grip, and comes in over their heads. Yes, I did say "fourth" rank. I've done pike-square drills, too. They're fun.
) True, when you're packed in that tight, your offensive options are limited as well; the added protection, and the massive difficulty the enemy has in dealing with it, more than makes up for it. You don't even need to try to stab the other guy with your spear. You can use its threat to distract him, wave the point in his face, foul his weapon, hook his shield, put the point in his shield and push (pinning it against his body largely neutralizes its usefulness), hook any projecting part of his armor, stick it between his legs… I've done all of these or watched them done. And that's just with a spearhead that's no more than an inch, rarely as much as two inches, wider than the shaft—not a specialized hooking weapon. I've watched a coordinated pair of sword-and-shieldman and spear rip a shield wall apart: spearman hooks one shield, swordsman kills target, suddenly there's a gap where the rest of the wall expects to be protected; repeat as rapidly as possible.
One of the most effective tactics is to simply lay the shaft against his weapon arm and bear down. If he can't swing, he isn't long for this world.
Of course, you can also stab with it. Depending on how he's armed and how the person you're backing up is armed, the enemy might not even be able to see the spear point, if you go low: he may know it's there, but can't keep track of it until he realizes it's wedged into his hip, leg or groin. If he wants to try to keep track of it, he's going to end up with very little attention to spare for anything else: pretty much his only option is to back off and make your team come to him. Or go high, over your comrade's shoulder, and keep thrusting it at his face: he will see it, and if he doesn't respect it, he's toast.
Now… having said all that, it does help if the front- and second-rank people are practiced in working together.… It doesn't take much, though: basically, the front-ranker dictates where he's going to attack (generally high: head, arms, torso), the second-rank one uses whatever space he isn't using to do whatever is useful, and the front-ranker watches for the second-ranker to create opportunities. If the second-ranker is fighting on the enemy's shield side, the front-ranker is waiting for the shield to get fouled; if on the enemy's weapon side, he's watching for the enemy's weapon or weapon arm to be engaged. Alternately, the front-ranker can be the one fouling the enemy, creating openings for the spearpoint to strike home—which is somewhat safer, as the front-ranker can concentrate on defense, though it is potentially slower, as the spearman has fewer targeting options due to having to work around his comrade's body.
Along similar lines—and again, realistic, though not all that romantic, not what we like to envision for our "fantasy" warriors: three on one is instant death for the one, if the three give it even a moment's thought. Guys on the sides make no attempt to score hits: they don't fight the enemy, they fight the enemy's arm closest to him. One pins down his weapon, or at least engages it and blocks any attempt at its use, the other does the same for his shield/off-hand weapon… guy in the middle is facing a helpless opponent and rings his bell or runs him through.
There's a lot about real combat that doesn't get reflected (accurately, or at all) in game rules. Still, if we create the proper situations, I imagine Steerpike will give us some benefit of the doubt.…
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