Darkness Rising

[MarbitChow]

The alternative is to raise skeleton archery on the walls (They have 2AP so we can make them well armed and give them support & co-ordinate) and rely on their natural arrow defence plus what bonuses Bill can give them.

Note that as of this rule set, skeleton archers only get 1 AP.

[Werebiscuit]

The alternative is to raise skeleton archery on the walls (They have 2AP so we can make them well armed and give them support & co-ordinate) and rely on their natural arrow defence plus what bonuses Bill can give them.

Note that as of this rule set, skeleton archers only get 1 AP.

ach...I really need to keep up with changes to the mancers spells

[Swodaems]

If Bill is going to be in a hoard with his uncroaked, that is going to have an effect on his ability to be part of the group downing faeries. He won't be able to stack with me or any other warlord, so he'll only be getting my hex-wide bonus, giving him a Com of 7. (I think the rules imply that a living warlord cannot join Bill's hoard, even if Bill would be the only one gaining benefit from the arrangement.) That means he shouldn't be one of the casters activating one of the tower's 2 ickypron spells. He would only have a 10/36 (27.77) chance of croaking each of his 3 faerie targets.

Vinny would become a better choice than Bill for activating the ickypron spell if he was stacked with me, despite the fact he moves after the faeries. At 10 com, he would have a 26/36 (72.22) chance of croaking each faerie targeted. (That same 26/36 chance applies to any faerie target Vinny hits with the stored 2G1C spell. If Vinny stacks with me and uses the tower energy, he can only add another 1d6 to his fire attack because of his level. With 10+3d6, there is a 62.50% chance of him downing a single 4 def faerie provided it has no bonuses besides its -8 ward.)

If Bill wants to be in a hoard and still down Faeries, he should probably be using the tower's energy to increase his 2 fire attacks to either 7+(4d6,5d6,or6d6). This gives him a (66.44%,~90.40%,~98%) chance of croaking each of the 2 def 4 faeries he can fire at. (MarbitChow, if Bill has 6 or less uncroaked, can he still stack with a living warlord and his uncroaked?)

(MarbitChow, when you said it takes a full round to open the gates, does that mean I can order the gates to be opened at Com=6 on round 1 and start having the ground forces move thru it as soon as Com=6 on round 2? Will the forces inside still be protected from fire attacks while the gate is opening? Does opening the gate consume anyone's actions?)

Depending on if the gumptons are dodging while they advance and if they stacked with a level 2 or 5 warlord, they can have either 15, 17, 20, 21, 23, or 26 Def. After making an action besides dodge, they are limited to the 15, 17, and 20 options.

[0beron]

Vinny would become a better choice than Bill for activating the ickypron spell...[and]...if Vinny stacks with me and uses the tower energy, he can only add another 1d6 to his fire attack because of his level. With 10+3d6, there is a 62.50% chance of him downing a single 4 def faerie provided it has no bonuses besides its -8 ward.)

I'll do this if it's deemed the best choice. I'm currently planning to be at the base of the tower, but if there is room at the top for me in the CW's stack, then just Tod can determine which square I'm in.

[MarbitChow]

(MarbitChow, if Bill has 6 or less uncroaked, can he still stack with a living warlord and his uncroaked?)

Living warlords can't join a Horde. Bill can't be in a Horde and a Stack at the same time. If Bill is leading a horde, he can't get a leadership bonus for himself. Bill, a warlord, and the Uncroaked CAN form a stack, but then they don't get Bill's bonus, just the warlord's. (Note: the rules for Bone Warlord had not been updated to reference Horde instead of Stacked. This has been corrected to match Thriller.)

(MarbitChow, when you said it takes a full round to open the gates, does that mean I can order the gates to be opened at Com=6 on round 1 and start having the ground forces move thru it as soon as Com=6 on round 2? Will the forces inside still be protected from fire attacks while the gate is opening? Does opening the gate consume anyone's actions?)

Opening the gates at Com:6 on round 1 will allow units to move through on Com:6 round 2. Once it starts opening, units behind it have Cover instead of full protection. When it is completely open, it no longer provides Cover.

[Swodaems]

Turn 8:
7 x Melee unit = Tod, please specify which you think are most strategically important.

Turn 9:
Tod, is it better to conserve juice for the battle or to ward some of the newly arrived units?

For your second question, I'm going to suggest letting Junetta place -8 wards on the turn 9 units. Those only cost 2 juice a piece and, if Junetta does it, she will still have more juice going into the battle than you. As far as determining what other units get -16 wards, you'll probably want to change your turn 6&7 selections since MarbitChow updated the unit reference in response to your post. You have the choice of warding any 21 of our 47 non-turn 9, unwarded units with -16 wards and Junetta will -8 ward the rest. (MarbitChow, I was somehow off by 8 units in my post earlier, so Junetta will only have 125 juice to spare during turns 6,7,&8.) I think a couple of those -16 wards should probably go to Brick and Vinny. (I also have an odd plan that may be helped by having 2 of the

Also, looking over the reference, I just noticed that our side's up keep is currently increasing at a rate of 100 per turn. To this, I only have 2 responses. First, AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH, WE'RE DOOMED. Second, shouldn't the loss of a 1 UP imp during turn 7 have decreased our upkeep by 5 during turns 8&9?

I do have a few more questions that I would like for MarbitChow to answer. (And some last minute RP to get in.) Hopefully these will be the last.

(MarbitChow, if Bill has 6 or less uncroaked, can he still stack with a living warlord and his uncroaked?)

Living warlords can't join a Horde. Bill can't be in a Horde and a Stack at the same time. If Bill is leading a horde, he can't get a leadership bonus for himself. Bill, a warlord, and the Uncroaked CAN form a stack, but then they don't get Bill's bonus, just the warlord's. (Note: the rules for Bone Warlord had not been updated to reference Horde instead of Stacked. This has been corrected to match Thriller.)

If Bill starts a round stacked with a Warlord and some uncroaked, will the stack automatically become a hoard if the Warlord uses his action to destack? Or would Bill need to use his action to recreate the stack as a hoard?

If a dodging unit is Bull rushed, does it stop dodging?

Will a stunned, calmed, immobilized, or incapacitated unit still be able to stop enemy units from passing thru adjacent squares? And how do units with those conditions react if bull-rushed?

Now for the last minute Rp. (Did we end up ignoring the whole 'trying to hide the thinkamancy item and artifact from Charlie' ordeal? I honestly don't know if my bracer is in Dis or Tenebris during turns 6,7,&8. Some of these ideas assume I've had it with me all along and should be ignored if I don't. Other go the other way.)

Turn 6: We've gotten the name of the side of Ix from Wandereus and Junetta, so, before I head back to Dis, I suggest that Creperum try to use his crown to thinkagram the ruler or chief warlord of IX to see if we have enough information to get thru. (I already used both of the bracer's daily thinkagrams by calling an imp and Yuri.) If we don't, I ask the archons how much detailed information about Ix will cost when I return to Dis. (Are contracts a natural magic in this game, or do they need a mancer of some sort? If they need a caster, I ask how much Charlie charges for notary services in case we ever want to negotiate with Ix, Breatheairia, or someone else.)
Since, Creperum gets 5 thinkagrams per Turn as compared to my limit of 2, we also arrange to have him call me regularly for the next few turns. (I'll take opportunities to step outside the hex if need be to hide receipt of the thinkagrams from the Archons.)

Turn 7: This is when we get to see the stats and names of the elven force for the first time, so I plan to take advantage of it in an interesting manner.
If need be, I pass any information of Ix that we received from the Archons to Creperum on his regular call. The fact he can do more thinkagrams than me makes him better suited for handling our diplomatic efforts for the moment.
(If I have my bracer with me, I use one of it's charges to try and call Zoltarus Loquacious, the former predictamancer of the elves. I want to know if he is still around. (I half expect for him to be the King in Green. I quarter expect him to be a possible ally, and the other quarter expects the thinkagram not to go thru.) If the call goes thru, and it doesn't go to the King in Green, I tell Zoltarus that I have the diary he left in Sunshine Dale and ask him if he wants it back.
I use the other charge of the turn to send a thinkagram to Amandaria, Armolad's mount. (You know a plan is going to reach epic levels of silliness when it requires you privately talk to a woman's mount.) I try to make Amandaria either like me a little bit or hate me with great passion.)

Turn 8: (I call Amandaria again. Same attempt to make her like or hate me me as before.) (If we need a notary for contracts, I ask if Charlie is willing to freely extend the alliance period of the contract by a Turn, (and shorten the non-aggression period by the same,) so that one or more of the Archons may accompany me to a meeting with the elves on turn 9 before the Archons head back out into the field. Charlie's notary services may be needed there.) (When Creperum calls me, I tell him exactly what I intend to do next Turn. If he disapproves, none of the following matters, but if he approves, it's time for some fun. I also get any information he has found out about the Breathearia/Ix war.)

The morning of Turn 9: I set out on one of the 3 mounts that arrived on turn 8 and go 6 hexes toward the invading army. I get off and walk into the 7th hex on my own. Armolad's force is in the 8th hex so we can do the parley thru the hex barrier trick. Cupid and 2 of the non heavy PCs can join me if desired.
My opening line to Armolad is, "Greetings and salutations, Lady Armolad. Please signal Lady Areolawyn and ask her to please connect us to The King in Green if he is willing." (Areolawyn is female, right?) "I have business that should be discussed with him."
(After the King in Green joins in and I have greeted him politely,) I then say, "I'm going to be blunt and tell you that I'm here to seek peace terms that are more favorable to us than to you. If the force I'm looking at is any indication, you can't really afford to be fighting us at the moment." (I glance at Armolad to make this last line seem like a jab at her.) "You have another war going on with the side of Ix that is eating up your resources." (If Creperum was able to find anything out about how the elves are doing against Ix, I add in a few details of the war while playing them as negatively as I can. (IE. If Creperum tells me the elves just captured and colonized an Ix city, I say they just stretched their army even further than before.)) "You can't really afford to be fighting us at the moment."
"Let us leave the contract speak behind for right now. We can get to that later. My offer amounts to this: peace for 50 turns in exchange for Rainbow Springs and agreements to sell Logan's Run and Scarlet Hills with its associated mine relatively cheaply should we raise the funds during those 50 turns." (I offer prices that are only slightly more than the upgrade cost they paid to get those cities to their current levels plus a little extra for any garrison units they have to leave behind.) (Note: As a character, I am hoping to be eventually be bartered down to Logan's Run and an agreement to sell Scarlet Hills at a fairer price. (There is no way they let us have Rainbow Springs. It connects to far too many of their other cities.) As a player, I've read this Darths and Droids annotation on how cultural differences can affect trade and know this talk can only end one way.)
(Oh, if I have my bracer with me and Armolad starts giving me trouble, I do a trick with it in order to embarass her in front of her men. I look sternly at her and deliver the line, "Kneel before Tod." At the same time, I use the bracer to initiate a thinkagram between her and myself. An image of me that no one besides her can see will pop up in front of her saying the exact same thing. I terminate the thinkagram after delivering the line. Her over reaction should be funny.)
After the talking ends, I use my one remaining move to head back to the 6th hex and remount the naughty kitty I rode there on and it carries me back to Dis.

[The Colonel]

*looks at swod's plan*

Wow, you are indeed approaching the acme of skill. I completely support your plan. No really, I do.

[0beron]

OOC I hate it, and I want it to fail because I wanna level. I doubt they'll accept anyway because 1) in-game they're proud, and 2) out of game we know marbit is prepared for a battle, he's not gonna totally scrap that idea. Sorry, I'm just being honest. Clever plan, but this game IS a bit more combat oriented than that.

[MarbitChow]

shouldn't the loss of a 1 UP imp during turn 7 have decreased our upkeep by 5 during turns 8&9?

I've stated before that I'm not going to fully define or micromanage upkeep, and all numbers are approximate. If it makes you feel better, you can imagine that you're actually getting a few extra shmuckers each turn, but it doesn't really matter.

If Bill starts a round stacked with a Warlord and some uncroaked, will the stack automatically become a hoard if the Warlord uses his action to destack? Or would Bill need to use his action to recreate the stack as a hoard?

Bill will need to use his action to take over the horde.

If a dodging unit is Bull rushed, does it stop dodging?

No.

Will a stunned, calmed, immobilized, or incapacitated unit still be able to stop enemy units from passing thru adjacent squares? And how do units with those conditions react if bull-rushed?

Stunned, Calmed, Immobilized: Stops enemy units. Resolve Bull Rush as normal. Bull Rushing a Calmed unit breaks the Calm. Incapacitated: Does not stop enemy units. Bull Rush as if Dodging. (Since rules are locked down right now, I'm not going to make any additional changes, but we can discuss adding modifiers to Bull Rush based on these actions in the future.)

Results of Tod's & Creperum's Info Gathering and Tactical Diplomacy
Tod had his bracer the entire time, but kept it hidden in his Purse except when he was securely away from prying eyes.

Turn 6: Creperum contacts the Ixian ruler, a female Queen named Maude Dibs. Creperum introduces himself, stating that they appear to have a mutual enemy in the Breatheairians, and hints that some mutually-beneficial arrangements might be made in the near future. He informs Tod that Maude expresses interest but appears very cautious, as she has never heard of the Tenebrisians before now. Maude suggests that she be allowed to send a few units into the region to substantiate the claims, and Creperum replied that he will consider the offer and respond in a few turns. Buffy informs you that Charlie can provide a detailed dossier on Ix for the low, low price of 25,000 shmuckers, non-negotiable. Partial information will not be released, Buffy informs Tod, because she's sure that Tod is such a capable and intelligent Warlord that, given limited information, he'll surely be able to fill in most of the blanks on his own, gaining the full value of the dossier for a fraction of the cost. She smiles and bats her eyelashes.

Turn 7: Tod sends a Thinkagram to Zoltarus. Tod is barely able to begin introducing himself before Zoltarus sharply cuts him off, shouting "Too soon, too soon!" and breaks the connection. Attempting to initiate a Thinkagram to Amandaria simply fails; beasts are not capable of higher-order thinking that Thinkagrams require.

Turn 8: Charlie agrees to unconditionally convert a single turn of the non-agression pact to an alliance that will terminate at the beginning of the Breatheairian turn on Turn 9.

Turn 9: Cupid, Tod, Brick, Bill and Rona make their way out towards the Elven army. Once parley commences, Armolad glares haughtily at Tod's request, but after a few long moments, Tod receives a Thinkagram from the King In Green.

Tod: "I'm going to be blunt and tell you that I'm here to seek peace terms that are more favorable to us than to you. If the force I'm looking at is any indication, you can't really afford to be fighting us at the moment. You have another war going on with the side of Ix that is eating up your resources. ... My offer amounts to this: peace for 50 turns in exchange for Rainbow Springs and agreements to sell Logan's Run and Scarlet Hills with its associated mine relatively cheaply should we raise the funds during those 50 turns."

The King In Green: "You arrogant upstarts! I will crush your pathetic side!" The King terminates the Thinkagram.

Tod and company mount up and head back to Dis. Shortly after arriving, Tod receives a Thinkagram from King Creperum:

Spoiler: show

[Werebiscuit]

Need to delete this post - misclick on quote button

shouldn't the loss of a 1 UP imp during turn 7 have decreased our upkeep by 5 during turns 8&9?

I've stated before that I'm not going to fully define or micromanage upkeep, and all numbers are approximate. If it makes you feel better, you can imagine that you're actually getting a few extra shmuckers each turn, but it doesn't really matter.

If Bill starts a round stacked with a Warlord and some uncroaked, will the stack automatically become a hoard if the Warlord uses his action to destack? Or would Bill need to use his action to recreate the stack as a hoard?

Bill will need to use his action to take over the horde.

If a dodging unit is Bull rushed, does it stop dodging?

No.

Will a stunned, calmed, immobilized, or incapacitated unit still be able to stop enemy units from passing thru adjacent squares? And how do units with those conditions react if bull-rushed?

Stunned, Calmed, Immobilized: Stops enemy units. Resolve Bull Rush as normal. Bull Rushing a Calmed unit breaks the Calm. Incapacitated: Does not stop enemy units. Bull Rush as if Dodging. (Since rules are locked down right now, I'm not going to make any additional changes, but we can discuss adding modifiers to Bull Rush based on these actions in the future.)

Results of Tod's & Creperum's Info Gathering and Tactical Diplomacy
Tod had his bracer the entire time, but kept it hidden in his Purse except when he was securely away from prying eyes.

Turn 6: Creperum contacts the Ixian ruler, a female Queen named Maude Dibs. Creperum introduces himself, stating that they appear to have a mutual enemy in the Breatheairians, and hints that some mutually-beneficial arrangements might be made in the near future. He informs Tod that Maude expresses interest but appears very cautious, as she has never heard of the Tenebrisians before now. Maude suggests that she be allowed to send a few units into the region to substantiate the claims, and Creperum replied that he will consider the offer and respond in a few turns. Buffy informs you that Charlie can provide a detailed dossier on Ix for the low, low price of 25,000 shmuckers, non-negotiable. Partial information will not be released, Buffy informs Tod, because she's sure that Tod is such a capable and intelligent Warlord that, given limited information, he'll surely be able to fill in most of the blanks on his own, gaining the full value of the dossier for a fraction of the cost. She smiles and bats her eyelashes.

Turn 7: Tod sends a Thinkagram to Zoltarus. Tod is barely able to begin introducing himself before Zoltarus sharply cuts him off, shouting "Too soon, too soon!" and breaks the connection. Attempting to initiate a Thinkagram to Amandaria simply fails; beasts are not capable of higher-order thinking that Thinkagrams require.

Turn 8: Charlie agrees to unconditionally convert a single turn of the non-agression pact to an alliance that will terminate at the beginning of the Breatheairian turn on Turn 9.

Turn 9: Cupid, Tod, Brick, Bill and Rona make their way out towards the Elven army. Once parley commences, Armolad glares haughtily at Tod's request, but after a few long moments, Tod receives a Thinkagram from the King In Green.

Tod: "I'm going to be blunt and tell you that I'm here to seek peace terms that are more favorable to us than to you. If the force I'm looking at is any indication, you can't really afford to be fighting us at the moment. You have another war going on with the side of Ix that is eating up your resources. ... My offer amounts to this: peace for 50 turns in exchange for Rainbow Springs and agreements to sell Logan's Run and Scarlet Hills with its associated mine relatively cheaply should we raise the funds during those 50 turns."

The King In Green: "You arrogant upstarts! I will crush your pathetic side!" The King terminates the Thinkagram.

Tod and company mount up and head back to Dis. Shortly after arriving, Tod receives a Thinkagram from King Creperum:

Spoiler: show

[The Colonel]

Why do I feel like we're going to end up a proxy state in a proxy war?

[Werebiscuit]

OOC Cr*p in a sandwich... we really don't have a good handle on information security. Oh well.. that's what comes of trying to play one side against the other, sometimes they both decide to work against you instead. At least the damage is long-term. We'll probably have chances to ruin their cease fire.

However it doesn't help us with our short-term problem. We now need to focus on who we target....and how...when their siege begins /OOC

[ETheBoyce]

So Tod just screwed us <_< but that aside I think Ix oculd probably provide ud with some major support even from the other side of the Elves assuming they're willing to spend some money. Their casters probably have better relations with the MK so I they could probably provide for a number of NPC casters to join us, a Lookamancer so we can choose which city is least defended or just providing for the use of the Turnamancer for a while could give us some major advantages.

T. Coil will approach both Wanderus and Junetta with questions about the leadership they are about to face as well as calling upon his own memory about any usual tactics of Armolad.

[0beron]

So Tod just screwed us <_<

yuuuuuup! *scowls* Vinny hopes that if diplomacy is ever required again, Yuri is in charge of it again.

[Lord of Monies]

An interesting meeting for Brick to have witnessed. First off, would any of us had a better look at their warlord to see if she was holding any magic items? That was something the sacrifical Zed never got the chance to check for. With 5 of us there, one of us must have been able to tell, surely.

Also, technical question here. Can I guard, interpose, AND bodyguard the same target in a single round? Would make for some pretty big protection to Coil if I can.

[MarbitChow]

An interesting meeting for Brick to have witnessed. First off, would any of us had a better look at their warlord to see if she was holding any magic items? That was something the sacrifical Zed never got the chance to check for. With 5 of us there, one of us must have been able to tell, surely.

Yes. Armolad is wearing a Shockamancy-negating dollamancy cloak, and a Ward potion and a pair of Renew potions are on her belt.

Also, technical question here. Can I guard, interpose, AND bodyguard the same target in a single round? Would make for some pretty big protection to Coil if I can.

From Bodyguard: Cannot be used with Guard and Interpose. (Link to the rules is in my signature, and Bodyguard is in the Additional Abilities section.)

[The Colonel]

Did we get a full glance at the enemy stats?

[0beron]

Armolad is wearing a Shockamancy-negating dollamancy cloak.

Marbit, can you explain the details about that based on Vinny's knowledge? Is it like the single-charge cloaks I make (like Slately's in fact haha?) or is it a custom magic item that'd be permanent?

[MarbitChow]

Is it like the single-charge cloaks I make (like Slately's in fact haha?)

Single charge.

[0beron]

"Since the cloak is single charge, then I think our best choice is to have me use up a single charge from the tower to hit her with Shockamancy. That way I have something to do, and we don't waste a more valuable caster's action to strip the cloak from her. After I do, T. Coil can open up a can o' whop ash on her."