Current Thoughts
Tonight
Someone with a good Hide/Move Silently needs to get up to Cavendish and snoop around to see what he’s doing. This could potentially wait until tomorrow, but we
need to know why he’s here and we need to do it without getting noticed. Here’s looking at you, Otto
Tomorrow
Tomorrow, Kuzan, Ishaq, and our other two highest-strength characters (Jervis and Tomas? Jervis and Dieter? Will folks weigh in with their Strength scores if they’re worth noting?) will teleport as many barrels as they can and turn a ship into a tactical nuclear device.
Possibly, we can create a sled of sorts using sails and wood (there’s more than enough of both) to haul more barrels around, but this runs a higher chance of being noticed as we get closer.
Meanwhile, others will need to prepare more rum bombs and sail nets. Some folks should figure out a plan for getting the undead to attack Cavendish’s camp.
Group 1 Kuzan, Dieter, Otto, 4th Ranged Combatant (Ianthe?)
Group 1 positions at the cannon ship. Dieter and Otto are there to fire the cannon, with Ianthe’s help if needed (she seems to know firearms well). 4th (Ianthe?) and Kuzan provide other long-range support in the form of rifles and spells.
When the undead get too close to the cannon, someone on the ship will light a fuse and Kuzan will teleport the party elsewhere.
Potentially, this group can have more people, but that makes escape difficult since Kuzan can only teleport himself and three others.
Also, Kuzan casts
undead bane weapon on the cannonballs for considerable added oomph.
Group 2 Lia, Andre?, Others (who?) -- Ranged combat
Group 2 positions in a different spot from Group 1 about the same distance away and uses long-range attacks like fireballs and other spells to create a crossfire.
Group 2 will be under the effects of Mass Fly so they can make an escape to a new position when undead get close.
Updated Sept 26
Group 3? Khalil? Other melee?
A group currently being developed that may attempt to lead Cavendish's enemies into a conflict with Cavendish's troops. To this end, Kuzan
might be able to imbue someone with a
hide from undead spell he can cast when crunch time comes. The spell is only first level, though, and as a result has a relatively low save DC.
Holes that need to be filled
1. Our objectives -- Our objectives are to survive and to cleanse the Ruse. Destroying/defeating Cavendish, while nice, is secondary. If it coincides with our primary objectives, then that’s great. If not, we need only to hold him off or avoid him until we can complete what we are here for. Chances are, once that’s done, we’ll have thwarted what
he is here for and he’ll leave.
1a. Cleansing? We still need to know exactly what the hell we have to do to cleanse this place.
2. The other undead – Simply put, the enemy of my enemy is my friend. We know now that there’s a lot of factionalism among the undead and many of them really don’t like Cavendish. They also don’t like us much, except as a meal. So we need to figure out some way to get them to attack Cavendish’s army and sow more confusion among the jerkface’s ranks. Thoughts? We could use some folks as bait and draw them into the conflict, but that’s very dangerous. Also from the words of the DM, it is not impossible that a person who is
very careful and
very diplomatic can negotiate with them. Charles, you up for the challenge?
Updated Sept 26 -- Andre has volunteered to visit one faction. Devereux has volunteered to visit another. Which person's going where, and will anyone visit the third? In addition, what does each group do? We know we need someone dealing with Cav's patrols. But we also could use a force in the front to "tank" for us.
2a. Plague Undead -- These died from scurvy and other diseases. Physically unimpressive save for the ability to spread virulent diseases by touch. Led by some kind of mage, so this group leader is likely intelligent.
2b. Beast and Mindless Undead -- A "great beast" leads these. Presumably this is the devourer. This creature leads a thrall of mindless undead. Possibly can be negotiated with if you can survive the mindless undead (sounds like a plan for Shroud of Undeath).
2c. Skinless Dead -- I am not sure what an Argus is and the DM is not here for me to pester. Apparently this group is the most intelligent, though. Not strong, but cunning. Possibly best dealt with by someone with equal cunning.
3. Cavendish’s objectives – As mentioned above,
someone needs to get in there and see what he’s up to. This is probably the most vital to our success because if we know what he’s doing, we can act against it. Otto, I’m looking at you here, but if anyone else has ideas or ability, it’s worth a look. Also, Kuzan’s Spot check is phenomenal (just shy of +20) and he can make Spot as free actions (so he can take 20). Give him the spyglass and it’s even better. He may be able to watch for a while and see if he notices anything about the larger picture that a spy up close might miss.
4. Captured monks – We’ve got a hostage situation that Cavendish can take advantage of. We can leave them there and hope for the best (they’re Cavendish’s cattle, basically, so he might not let them get hurt), or try to devise some kind of plan to help them. If we have undead allies, they might not be so “caring.” We need to get close to see how they are guarded.
5. Patrolling undead – Ianthe mentioned that only about half of Cavendish’s undead are at the Eye at any one time. The rest patrol the ruse. We need to figure out how to deal with this lot because if we don’t they will put a kink in our plans for assault. Also, these patrols tend to
capture rather than destroy other undead. We could possibly convince the “allied” undead to go after the patrols and take them out while we work on the main force. If we offer to free their buddies, they might be more inclined to help. (Charles?) If we make this offer, it would behoove us to get close and see how they are guarded.
Other Tidbits
1. Vampires – Vampires are “greater undead,” which makes them
very difficult to control, even for Cavendish. As the DM stated, if you have wounded vampires and large amounts of fresh blood, they might go out of control. The amount of blood is relative to how badly damaged they are and how shaken up Cavendish is. We'd need to get closer to know more or get a very accurate account.
2. Stealth – Ianthe said the undead are not terribly alert. This could suggest that the undead we’re facing have terrible spots and listens, but it could also suggest that Ianthe is just really damn good at sneaking. It is more likely somewhere in between which means we have a huge advantage for any sneaks that want to (and should) snoop.
3. Smilers – Learned by Lia and Kuzan via a Knowledge (Religion) check. Smilers are irreplaceable. The more we destroy here, the less Cavendish will have when we encounter him down the road. These things are brutally lethal in melee (huge attacks and damage), and are rather fast (40 feet). They also have high DR, good AC and lots of HP. However, they have no resistances, no SR, no ranged attacks (except a leap attack), and their saves are nothing special.
4. Zombies – Cavendish has a horde of zombies. We must not forget them. We need to get closer to know more or get a very accurate account.
NPCs and You
Ianthe -- Excellent stealth abilities, very good shot with a rifle. Also knows the lay of the Ruse quite well.
Dieter -- Jack of all trades, master of none. He's decent with a rifle or a longsword, but isn't as good a shot as Ianthe or as skilled in melee as Jervis. One major advantage he does have is he can help fire the cannon.
Jervis -- Melee demon on the same category as Ishaq. Can fight well but probably can't be trusted to save your life from a horde of zombies.
Devereux -- Useless in a fight. However, he can see the "wave" and is unnaturally lucky, so who knows what will happen around him?
This plan is obviously not set in stone yet. We still have many pieces we need to collect, so it is based on what we know so far. We will have to revise accordingly when we find out new information, or if better ideas are proposed. Please weigh in ASAP since we’re on an OOC as well as IC timer.
We still need to find out
how to cleanse the place, among other things, but this is most things so far.
I will attempt to update this post as more information is revealed and more things are found out.
