Off-topic chatter

[Kuroimaken]

Not that kind of movement, but it could be liable to end the same way...

[Agita]

My excuse is that my right arm currently hurts because I just got out of my written German exam. I should be fine in an hour or two, though.

Having to write everything twice (one concept and one clean copy) is a pain in the ass. Or, more accurately, the hand.

[PhaedrusXY]

Sorry guys. I've been hella busy. I'll try to get something up later today.

[Agita]

Holy shit, I made a post!

<<Hrmm. Keep in mind that that's when I'm at my full size. But I understand nonetheless.>>

Remember that worg? IIRC, Cade was at shrunk size back then. But I may be misremembering.

[Agita]

Is there a spot in the adjacent chamber or in ours where Marlowe could get out of the water? My ranged attacks aren't going to be very useful under the surface.

I just had an even better idea. Raoul, how about some Fly for your buddies?

[VennDygrem]

I don't think you can fly through the water.

Seriously though, planning on hovering over the surface?

[Agita]

I don't think you can fly through the water.

Seriously though, planning on hovering over the surface?

Yeah, pretty much. We'd probably even get higher ground bonuses!
Although magical flight without wings is basically just 'moving through space'. It should be theoretically possible to fly through the water, perhaps at a slower speed since it's denser. The only real reason I don't want to be moving through the water is because I'd need to hold my breath and the massively reduced speed that puts the skum at an advantage. Attacks aren't as much of a problem, since daggers can deal piercing damage, which ignores underwater penalties.

[Bozwevial]

However, I get a -2 penalty to attack rolls per 5 feet my bolts travel, plus being able to move in three dimensions is tremendously helpful for a ranged attacker. After all, no one ever looks up...

[PhaedrusXY]

Oh boy. I've never ran an underwater encounter before!   Ok, so non-piercing attacks get a -2 attack penalty and do 1/2 damage, right? And ranged attacks take a -2 attack penalty for every 5 feet of water they pass through? And Fire spells are ineffective without a high Spellcraft check, and even then the surface blocks LoE. Invisibility is ineffective, but Spot and Listen functions normally.

Swim checks basically let you "fly" in the water, but only at half your movement rate. You do have perfect manueverability, though. A Fly effect would let you move without a swim check, but I think you'd still be limited to half movement unless you also had FoM.

[VennDygrem]

Actually, movement is "quarter or half" for those without FoM or a swim speed, unless you're waiving that.

[Agita]

Haste is counted in rounds/level, not minutes or hours, so I don't think so.

Well, he put the Haste on us in the room with the fake hydra, so it hasn't been all that long.

[VennDygrem]

How many rounds has it been? It lasts what, 8 rounds at this level? That's less than a minute. Not that I'm against having haste pre-cast, but it's more likely then to run out mid-fight. I'm perfectly willing to let him cast it on us again pre-fight if need be.

[PhaedrusXY]

You guys move slowly as hell in the water, though. I think I'll say that having Fly active is basically like having a swim speed, except you still only move half your normal fly speed with a move action, or up to your normal Fly speed as a full round/double move.

These chambers are 100 feet across, and you've crossed I think two since then. So no, I don't think Haste would still be active, unless the ones with swim/fly speeds are going out ahead of those without.

Now, if you're flying above the water, then you can of course move your normal fly speed. I'm not sure how many of you can do that, though. I got the impression that most of you were swimming/walking on the bottom.

[Kuroimaken]

I'm pretty sure I was walking; as I recall, Fly has a ridiculously short duration, unless it's the Overland Flight spell, which I do not have in my list (Travel Domain's 5th level spell is Teleport, not that I'm complaining).

[VennDygrem]

Ok, hopefully those skill checks will remind you guys that Cade is at least a little more than just a big meat-shield.

[VennDygrem]

I thought that whenever someone attempted to cast a spell on you, the target was aware of it (though not necessarily aware of what the spell was without a spellcraft check); Alternatively, I could have sworn there was some stipulation that when someone tries to read your mind, you were aware of the attempt. I'm not sure where I saw that though. Still, since it's an area spell, even if that was true it might not count anyway. Who knows. *shrug*

[PhaedrusXY]

I don't think you guys would even know he tried, success or not, would you?

Actually, the rules are not that clear about that. I'd think that if there was even a reflexive attempt at resisting, one would know.

I disagree, and thought that's generally the way people ran it...

So... here is a rules quote I found on it:

Succeeding on a Saving Throw

A creature that successfully saves against a spell that has no obvious physical effects feels a hostile force or a tingle, but cannot deduce the exact nature of the attack. Likewise, if a creature’s saving throw succeeds against a targeted spell you sense that the spell has failed. You do not sense when creatures succeed on saves against effect and area spells.

So it looks like creatures that succeed would know someone tried something, but they wouldn't know what or who. I have never seen anything anywhere that said that a creature who fails knows anything. So from now on, that's exactly how I'm running it. If you fail, you know nothing, unless there is some obvious effect like a fireball burns your face off. If you save, you feel a tingle. That's it, unless you have some means of further discerning what happened.

So none of you know what was done. Those who resisted know something was tried on them. Those that failed haven't got a clue. Please update your posts to fit this, and sorry I didn't clarify it from the beginning. If it's helpful, I can delete the original posts.

[Kuroimaken]

Hmmmmkay.

[Agita]

Raoul should think about something that will weird the Aboleth out. Hmm... what would terrify a tentacle monster?
Try thinking about consentual sex between two average humans of opposite gender in the missionary position.

[Kuroimaken]

I thought that's what the code Boobiesboobiesboobiesboobiesboobiesassboobies stood for.