[OOC] Around the Campfire (OOC Chat)

[Coeur de Lion]

I think we were woefully unprepared for what we may have fought. The fact that only Ubel could see the Consumer and we had no control over the battle meant it was only a matter of time.

The Consumer's 3 goes per turn made a huge difference and it could basically slide and move us wherever it wanted (as he had to roll very low to miss most of us). It was able to shrug off every single effect we tried with ease. His phasing and insubstantial qualities meant his manoeuvrability was far greater than any of ours and it was easy for him to slide a PC away from the group.

I know Adran suffered from the fact that the concealment and the -2 penalty on radiant attacks basically stopped him from using his 30th level item (He need an 18 in this case to hit with a ranged attack, of which I tend to roll very few). Also, he had diversified his powers to cover several different types of opponents and had very few "Solo" type powers.

The Consumer's defenses were very good so we definitely all needed buffs to have a good chance of hitting, but we didn't have anyone to provide them.

[masternate]

Yeah I have to agree, the lack of knowledge and lack of tactics at the beginning really destroyed us. And the Consumers ability to move twice a round was a big problem too, because we had to spend alot of time trying to corner him.

I doubt we did much to scratch him in the end.

I think one of the problems could have stemmed from the fact that we just made lvl 30's off the bat. If we were playing through the game from lvl 1 - 30 we would be able to see what powers work well in certain situations. I know I didn't fully understand all my powers and trying to juggle them was quite difficult.

All in all though, I think it was a good test of what lvl 30 can offer us, and a big thank you Hugga for the opportunity to play through it.

cheers

[Coeur de Lion]

Originally Posted by masternate

I think one of the problems could have stemmed from the fact that we just made lvl 30's off the bat. If we were playing through the game from lvl 1 - 30 we would be able to see what powers work well in certain situations. I know I didn't fully understand all my powers and trying to juggle them was quite difficult.

Definitely! I think we all struggled a bit with that. Also highlights that any high level character should have some way to see in the dark and be able to out-manoeuvre the enemy

[Admin Sedracus]

I echo your thoughts - especially the consumer's ability to save against any ability at the start of both its turns nullified our attempts to lock him down.

[hvg3akaek]

Yep, I definitely think that coming in at level 30 made it harder for the group to work together - not knowing how to fully use your own powers was hard, not knowing how to merge together as a group and boost others abilities was also very challenging!

Another big thing with the 'new 30th level characters' was that as a DM, I didn't know the powers, either! I admit, that helped me play the Consumer better - not playing him based upon what I knew of your abilities. For example, when Fred TPed towards the end, I was quite surprised :P The downside was, of course, that I had to forever check up on rulings and powers I had never seen or used before, and that in itself caused some things to drag out.

The "only one player who can see in the dark" thing really surprised me, I would have thought more could have done that - or at least had low-light (which would have negated his concealment). The multiple-actions thing is pretty impressive, but for a solo to really be a solo, it definitely needs that. If he had only one action a round, even if the actions were 'bigger', he would have been easily held down.

I also think that, had we been seven people around a gaming table, the experience would have been a lot different. More opportunity to discuss tactics, to correct mistakes (such as the early-on negating of other PC's actions), and of course, to not miss player's turns, would have allowed the battle to end much more favourably for you.


In all, it was a fun learning experience But I'm not sure I'll rush back in to DM a epic game online - it's quite hard work!

[hvg3akaek]

Originally Posted by masternate

And the Consumers ability to move twice a round was a big problem too

Originally Posted by Admin Sedracus

especially the consumer's ability to save against any ability at the start of both its turns nullified our attempts to lock him down.

eh...he actually acted *three* times a round. On initiatives 45, 35, and 25. It just so happened that the 45 and 35 ones had no PCs in between them

[masternate]

Ah I see. That's just insane to the max.

[hvg3akaek]

Well, considering he only had three lots of actions, compared to the six lots of actions the party had (or, the five sets of actions five standard creatures of his level would have), it doesn't seem *too* unreasonable...


his ability to gain an action point when someone else used one also helped him out a lot!

[masternate]

True but I would think his Teleport at Will, Shrug of Save effects, Dominate (pulling people effect), and the attack he had would more than make up for that.... unless he was alternating between them each round in that case, upside down parabola face

[hvg3akaek]

His TP was only 4 squares, so with his size, he could have been quite locked down - as Phil suggested - by placement of some of the spirits. But yes, one free save vs anything each turn was awesome. All solos need something like that, instead of being able to be locked down so easily!

[Admin Sedracus]

Aye, but that would've been one less effect it would need to save against at the start of each turn, if I'd attempted to negate the teleport with my spirits - and it would just've shifted/moved then.