AIM Chat between Julian Hjortshoj and Kevan Hashemi 8/5/06, 9:01 PM hey big boy and hello to you Secret Note: You have 2 thunder-eggs 9:10 PM I'm not wearing pants sh.hhh don't tell 9:15 PM at 8th level, you get 16 spells, 4 of each level up to and including 4th 9:20 PM Ok, I wanted you to have a couple of lightening balls, but LB is 5th level, so I gave you 2 thunder-eggs. does the wizard already know about the special boat? can an albatross carry a thunder egg? Good question. He has the albatross spy-bird with Possession spell, he might have figured it out. Second question: yes, I suppose it can. It's a big bird. That's diabolical. The sails and rigging: I think we should roll a die to decide if the wizard knows about them, because it was done in absolute secrecy, with every effort made to conceal it. OK. that would certainly affect his spell choices So, what are the chances that, without any suspicion, and with no prior experience of such sails and ropes, your wizard could figure it out by looking at them through the eyes of his albatross? not great, I'd say, unless the albatross could land on the rigging 9:25 PM If the albatross did that, it might get shot. Which brings up the question: does the albatross have more dodging points than an ordinary albatross? why would it? You're in its mind, you feel what it feels, your prescience becomes its prescience, because you feel its prescient sensations, and react to them. do I have a space bridge thruster? I think you can decide matters like that: he certainly knows about the spell, and could get one from Gripp. 9:30 PM I think he'd have one. Verra useful. So, he has a thruster, but does not know about the rigging and sails unless he lands the albatross. 9:40 PM slice with a targeting sloenoid? 4th level? I think it's 5th, because you get rid of the space bridge AND you introduce a targeting solenoid. Let me look it up. Yes, 5th level. It's in the Variants table in the Laws of Magic. 10:00 PM how many dp do I have? and I assume that my main objective is to escape? 10:05 PM You have TOU 4, so that's 11 dp. If you see that it's not going to be easy, I suppose you would quickly decide that discretion was the bottom part of valerie. "better part of valor" I think 10:10 PM yes, that's it I'd like to send the albatross to examine the helm. What's it made of? Is it above deck? What is what made of? the boat, or the albatross. the steering wheel Oops, I see "the helm" sorry It's made of wood. I'm going to roll to see if they notice the albatross. Have you sent it over before, over the last two days? 10:15 PM presumably it was around, but would have been "acting natural" so as not to arouse suspicion Okay. I'm guessing it's a bird that shows up every now and then, as a single. found this online: So, when your albatross approaches, there's a chance they will take and interest in it. I'll say, "There's that albatross again," The first mate says. Talk about winging it. The albatross is an amazing glider. In windy weather, these ocean birds can stay airborne for hours without flapping their enormous wings. They've been known to follow ships for days to feed on garbage Perfect. The albatross left the Surprize for a while, then returned. "He's back," 10:20 PM Still a chance I have to say, "an albatross has been following the boat, and comes back." What's that chance? how about 1 in 3 otherwise they notice the dolphins Okay, I'm going to give them the 1/6 "you notice something" roll. There are indeed dolphins. I've taken out my headphoes for this Let me know when to put 'em back 10:25 PM Now You don't ever have to take them out 10:30 PM The helm is made of metal and wood. they mistook your albatross for another. I screwed up when I said the albatross had been with them the whole way. So now I say: there was one albatross,itleft, then yours joined a while later, when you spotted the surprize. Sometime we DMs have to do this sort of stuff. OK Now, the other albatross is going to come back. Let's see what happens... 10:35 PM There are 100 sailors on deck. Fifty have wooden shields. I will send the albatross back toward their boat with the intention of bombing the helm with a thunder egg 10:40 PM While he's in transit, I will cast a flash to distract them They are still 1000 m away. At what range is your flash effective? Well, 900 m now Good question, but it should still distract them even if it misses the boat So, 300 m it's pretty scary on deck. At what range are you going to launch it? It should go off shortly before the albatross descends So, whenever that is I don't know how fast they fly 1km You can make this play at 600 m if you like, but not at 800 m. also I'd have to release it from behind my sails so that they can't spot it the albatross that is 10:45 PM The AIM service could not send the message: A message or picture is too large to be transmitted. Okay. Next round, drop it. But, there's a complication. It's hard to cast a spell while you are possessing something, and also hard to deal with other people. Someone as experienced as this guy can do only one thing at a time, needs 20 s to get into possess. So, Flash has to be about 30 s before. OK What's your distribution of your four groups of twenty pirates. One group can sail the ship.\ one below decks The other 2 groups will stand on decks making obscene gestures Okay 1 sails, 2 gestures, 1 hiding 10:50 PM Okay, flash now? sure Grand Flash? just normal taget the front of the boat I'll roll 1d20, and it's that many meters * 2 from the target. 12 m range from helm. 100 sailors on deck, must be 10 on rear deck, but they are still out of range, I think. 10:55 PM didn't figure out if the albatross gets my dps Do you buy my argument that it would have some? If so, how about this: you can take 2 dp yourself in order to absorb a 1 dp hit. In other words, you can give it dps with 50% efficiency. 11:05 PM You don't want to lose this albatross. It takes months to learn to use another as proficiently. You can take 2 dp or lose it. PS. It has dps only when you are controlling it. OK, but how many rounds to they get? the albatross should dive quickly, no? Yes, Wicklow gets one more shot as it flies away, across the field of view. Needs an 11. ill dodge 11:20 PM what next? Oh: none of the sails or ropes caught fire in the explosion. That would make you wonder. so do I have a telescope? Yes 11:35 PM targeting solenoid penetrates wood. Or anything. I'll send the albatross back up with another thunder egg and try to flash the inside of the boat You could flash the below-decks. That would scare the hell out of them. even though it wasn't my idea where is it going to drop the egg? he's just circling How high? 11:40 PM hmm Remember: possess or flash, not both at same timee. about 50M up, but not flying right over He can just hang out while I flash? Yes, but he's going to get fired upon in 45 seconds. when he sees all of the bows, he retreats Okay.Now, switching to flash? de-possess Now flash? yes, unless that would cause the albatross to drop the rock No, but you'll be 1d12 meters away from the center of the lower deck at 200 m range. it's a big boat If you wait, you'll have a hit first time for maximum panic. 11:45 PM now is good albatross? still hanging out just out of range 11:50 PM what about another flash below decks? I have a 1 level up surrou nding sponge I'd like to target the helm again That's extra-big, right? You need to throw a bridge ring. that's enveloping--this is surrounding which is targeted Where is Amahte? No, enveloping is the one with the targeting solenoid. OK that one you need better names Okay enveloping extra-big, targeting at 50 m. Very good. You are welcome to suggest better names. 11:55 PM 3 m radius instead of 1-m. Extent of 1 m version is 5 m, so -10 hitting. But 3 m gives you +5. Your fighter level is 4, target is large +2. You need a 4. Can that be right. Wow. cool No, it's a 2. 12:00 AM albatross time. and we'll change tack albatross where? front deck And pirates firing? yes 12:05 AM volley now, then albatross? sounds right the albatross will take time to get overhead we'll turn our boat to pass along side the other You could come at the boat from behind just out of grappling range I mean the albatross could come from behind, as before, and be out of range of the sailors on the main deck. 12:10 AM but he wants to hit those sailors maybe release at 30M The ones on the aft deck, or main deck? wherever there are most the sailors hacking at the enveloping sponge are a good target, and the sponge may annihilate in the lightening ball. REally? Really. I was plannin to annihilate it manually but that's even better Okay. Let's give it a 50% chance if you make a good hit. Or do you want to go for main deck and then annihilate when more sailors are around the sponge? I have 3 annihilate spells couldn't figure out what else to do with the l4 spells Okay, envelope then annihilate. So you're going for the main deck. 12:15 AM going for the helm with the albatross it has a thunder-egg, or the annihilating ring. the thunder egg I couldn't change it mid stream I was planning to surround/annihilate okay when I get along side dropping at a height of 30M was my thought just want to hit the deck