OOTS #1298 - The Discussion Thread

[gbaji]

I feel like an awkwardly handled medium-scaled greatsword with no magic enhancement bonuses in effect is probably not really any more threatening than Calder's natural attacks would be.

It's been commented on before, but I clicked the quote button so...

In an AMF the greatsword does bog standard greatsword damage. Calder's claws naturally do the same base damage (or more) already, and he's proficient in their use. Also, I might argue against strength damage if holding an improvised weapon in an awkward manner like that as well (so likely less damage than he'd just do using his claws like normal). That doesn't preclude Rich having it stick into Bloodfeast anyway, because it's cool, but realistically that's not going to do a whole lot of damage.

Death ray? Since Sunny isn't a stock beholder, we can't be sure that he's got that. Beyond that, I am not sure how various editions handle the nuances for domination differently, but would that not cause Sunny to get another save versus domination? I think that Calder knows the limitations of his own powers.

Several comments made about the suggestion/dominate/whatever (not just yours). First. My assumption is that Calder can't actually use the ability while in the AMF, but can continue to issue commands to someone he's already dominated. And also, I'm assuming he probably can't issue mental commands while in the AMF, so having his throat constricted will be an issue for him.

As you say, he presumably knows how his own abilities work, and having Sunny point the AMF at him would be a potentially terminally dumb move if he didn't know that he could tell Sunny to change targets later while inside the AMF.

Additionally, I made note while reading that Calder used some very specific wording. He told Sunny to point the AMF at him, knowing that this would put those near him in the AMF along its cone effect inside the area as well. He very specifically did not say "point your eye at the wizard". I don't think that wording was accidental. Sunny isn't going to get a new save against pointing his powerful anti-magic eyeball at the evil red dragon. He will get one if he's told to point it at his friends and allies. Also, it effectively allows Calder to control where the AMF goes by simply moving relative to Sunny. So... very clever and deliberate instructions by Calder, and very good writing on Rich's part to include that little detail.

Agree on the "I don't think Sunny has a death ray". As mentioned previously, Sunny has desintigrate, which he seems to be hesitant to use on living beings. Agree that Calder is very much aware of what sorts of command he can safely issue to maximize the odds that he retains control of Sunny.

+1. What Calder is up against is the action economy.

Yeah. Which is kinda typical for Dragon fights. It's why "bring him to the ground" (or find a way to get into melee range in general) is often the best tactic against dragons (well, best available to most adventuring groups anyway).

Dragons do get a boatload of melee attacks though, so that's not always super easy. But yes, at a certain level (which, of course, varries based on how powerful the dragon is), a group of adventurer's whaling on the dragon will just plain out damage him, and defeat becomes inevitable. Dragons are very very effective just kinda landing in amongst crowds of "normal" level opponents, or even more powerful opponents if they've been damaged (and survived) their breath attack. But against a high enough level group, they must stay out of melee range.

As usual, Roy's making good tactical decisions for the team.


And perhaps less usually, Belkar is right there on the same page! Then again, Belkar's been itching to do this for like... forever, so this is more of a case of a broken clock being accurate twice a day.