The Heist - OOC

[SuperVaderMan]

Survival to determine if trail goes upwind or down (Natural Explorer): 1D20+6 = [17]+6 = 23

[Dusk9]

It seems to curve to the right, but you can't get a good look without stepping out into the wind.

[SuperVaderMan]

Btw, if Kytiel has any other suggestions, that's fine. I know Veska's kinda been taking the lead here.

[Dusk9]

Spider, can you make a straight INT check please?

[spiderwrangler]

INT: 1D20 = [5] = 5


I will say that should the wind try to rip my weapon out of my hands, I'd be letting it go, as I can just reform another, rather than letting it drag me into the hall...

[Dusk9]

Persuasion check please, Mort.

[M0rtimer]

I was hoping it wouldn't be asked...

Persuasion: 1D20 = [8] = 8

[Dusk9]

Vader, make a Strength saving throw.

[SuperVaderMan]

Any advantage or bonus or anything from crawling? Or could this possibly count as an Athletics (Climbing) check?

But here ya go!
Strength Save for wind tunnel: 1D20+2 = [14]+2 = 16

[Dusk9]

Theis: Can you give me a Performance check, and a Perception check please?

Thinks: Now that Vatro is out of the inn, what are you wanting to do with Lucas? Were you going to accompany him back to his inn?

[thinkslogically]

Yeah, if Jax isn't getting much as information out of the guy as he was hoping, he'll probably cut the tour a little short and start moving things back to the inn. Not quickly enough to be super suspicious though - he'll still spend a few hours with the man, and wandering around town to get a bit of a feel of other aspects of the town, like guard patrols and uniforms and such. Also, he'll keep an eye out for any thieves marks.

[Dusk9]

@Spider: Does Kytiel want to react in any way? He can't see what's going on with Veska, but he can probably hear her cursing

[Dusk9]

So it's probably not going to come up any time soon (promise ), but I was thinking of introducing some rules for underwater combat. Just because being able to hold your breath for 2+ minutes normally is fine, but doing so while trying to punch someone/getting punched makes a lot less sense

Anyway, here's what I came up with;

Breath Meter: You have a breath meter equal to your CON modifier +1, doubled (minimum 1). For every 30 seconds (5 rounds) you spend submerged underwater, your breath meter decreases by 1. When it reaches 0, you must make a CON saving throw at the beginning of each of your turns. If you fail, you are reduced to 0hp and are considered drowning. The DC starts at 5 and increases by +5 for each successful save.

Whenever you take the attack action, take damage, or perform a strenuous activity, you must make a DC10 CON saving throw. If you fail, your breath meter is reduced by 1.

When you cast a spell with Verbal components, your breath meter is reduced by 3.

Thoughts? I tried to keep it close to RAW, but not quite as forgiving.

----------------------------

Also, some heads up for Theis/Vatro. I'm happy with you abusing Guidance (it is a powerful cantrip, and you used up your ASI to get it), but I'm going to be more strict about you using it in stealth/social situations due to the Verbal and Somatic components involved. In other words, don't be surprised if someone notices you casting a spell in front of their face

[SuperVaderMan]

It seems unnecessary to me, and probably too punishing. In a vacuum it might look okay, if a fight only lasts 2-3 rounds. Even then, there are already downsides to underwater fighting in that most characters are only moving half speed and will have Disadvantage to hit things (Veska only neutralizes these downsides thanks to her specific gear).

And if there are any scenarios that limit that already brief window for combat (like, say, getting ambushed by grabbing vines in an underwater tunnel you've been swimming through for a minute already), then you're almost as good as dead. You can hardly even use spells to extricate yourself from the situation.

If you really want to make water deadly, this could work? I'm not a fan, though, speaking as the player best equipped to deal with it.

[Theis2]

I imagine he casts it before it all starts and it then guides him through it, so if he sees guards in the distance he'll go to the side, cast it and keep concentration for near a minute, use the spell for that "encounter/skill check" and then move on. Casting it while talking to people seems a bit excessive xD

[Dusk9]

It seems unnecessary to me, and probably too punishing. In a vacuum it might look okay, if a fight only lasts 2-3 rounds. Even then, there are already downsides to underwater fighting in that most characters are only moving half speed and will have Disadvantage to hit things (Veska only neutralizes these downsides thanks to her specific gear).

And if there are any scenarios that limit that already brief window for combat (like, say, getting ambushed by grabbing vines in an underwater tunnel you've been swimming through for a minute already), then you're almost as good as dead. You can hardly even use spells to extricate yourself from the situation.

If you really want to make water deadly, this could work? I'm not a fan, though, speaking as the player best equipped to deal with it.

Assuming you have 12 CON, and get hit every turn, and fail every CON save: then it's a 2 round counter, yes.

However most of you have 14+ CON (sorry Jax), increasing that to 3 rounds minimum. DC10 isn't a hard number to make - assuming a +2 bonus, you'd only fail 35% of the time. So on average, that's 6-9 rounds of combat. Plus, even once you hit 0 breath, you've probably got 1-2 more rounds before you start actually drowning.

Also, note that it only asks for a CON save when you take the Attack Action, not per attack - so you'd only have to make one save for a multiattack. In fact, I'd probably limit it to one action save and one damage save per turn (so 2 max). Just so you you're not instantly drowning if you use your bonus action attack and get hit multiple times.

The main point of this was to remove the "it's okay, I've got 30 rounds left before I start having to worry about air" mindset that I feel the current rules promote. Especially when most combat's don't go beyond 5 rounds anyway.

(Oh, and I genuinely wasn't thinking of the vines when I came up with this )

I imagine he casts it before it all starts and it then guides him through it, so if he sees guards in the distance he'll go to the side, cast it and keep concentration for near a minute, use the spell for that "encounter/skill check" and then move on. Casting it while talking to people seems a bit excessive xD

That's fine, yeah. I was mainly referring to interactions where you have to make multiple checks in a conversation, or try to stealth past a surprise guard patrol in your alleyway

[SuperVaderMan]

It'd be better if enemy multi-attacks didn't trigger a save multiple times a round, yeah. I'm still not a fan of stacking this on top of the disadvantages water imposes already, but that'd at least make it a potentially-viable rule.

[thinkslogically]

So, the way I see it is that being underwater should be a really dangerous situation unless you've a) prepared (ie held your breath) or b) can breathe down there (via any number of magical items and potions etc).

I saw something online that treats holding your breath in combat the same as concentration, where losing concentration requires a CON save, before an immediate switch to suffocation rules.

Being pulled into the water could require a CON save to actually hold your breath successfully and not just be pulled into suffocating immediately.

[Dusk9]

That's another option. It's certainly simpler than my method at least. But I felt like it might be too unforgiving? Like, you fail one check and you instantly go from "I'm fine for 20 rounds" to "I'm 0hp in 2 rounds".

I wanted something more gradual, so you'd be able to react to slowly running out of air.

[thinkslogically]

Sure, and that's not a bad thing in a shorter game anyway, cos there's less opportunity to give out relevant gear thru the initial levels. Totally up to you and how deadly you want it to be. Three rounds of combat is a pretty long time is all, so it might not be as bad as it sounds. 5 mins of combat might as well be an eternity tho, I agree with you there

[spiderwrangler]

Are there tunnels going off to either side of the windy passage? If so, are they visible from one to the next?

[SuperVaderMan]

[Dusk9]

Sorry guys, had a pretty busy few weeks!

[SuperVaderMan]

So Veska's stuck for now? Can she check to see if she lucked upon the tunnel the trail leads to?

[Dusk9]

Basically, Veska's done her turn this "round", and I'm waiting for Kytiel to move (and take an action if he wants) before moving on to the next.