Cliffhanger or: We are all going to die

[Rumo]

Last night's 3.5 D&D session ended in a rather unfortunate way. Our Level 3 group, consisting of a Wizard (me), a bow Ranger and a Fighter got trapped inside an orc-infested dwarven mine, and while desperately being on the look of a place to rest opened the door to the boss room. There await us (well, rather charging than waiting) an axe-wielding ogre and his two wolves. The four orcs in the back do not make the situation seem any brighter.

Fighter and Ranger have full hitpoints, but unfortunately I have used up all my spells except for a Color Spray and some cantrips - as a symbolic act of resistance, Touch of Fatigue carried out by my hummingbird familiar might come into equation.

The Ranger wields a Composite Long Bow, Rapid Shot with Dex 18 and 1D8+4 damage is possible. She also has a Tanglefoot Bag and a Wand of Cure Light Wounds. AC 18.
The Fighter has a Greatsword +1 with Str 17, Cleave, nothing else that is noteworthy I'm afraid. AC 16.

Both are standing at the door and welcoming the chargers. A few steps behind I am contemplating my options. I could flee and hide behind a huge dwarven statue, sleep, get Invisibilities, Expeditious Retreats and other useful spells back, and try to leave the place unharmed. Or I can stand and ... uh, stun the ogre for one round.

Is there any chance to survive this as a group? Any resource that I miss? Ideas would be very much welcome!

[(Un)Inspired]

Catch both wolves or a wolf and the ogre in your colour spray then have the fighter and the ranger go to pound town on the ogre.

If you can catch both wolves then it's essentially the three of you versus just the ogre.

If the 4 thugs in the back of the room engage you guys as well then get ready to make a new wizard and prepare rope trick next time.

[Nirhael]

Hopefully you'll get to go first, let's hope your hummingbird's Initiative bonus is enough, drop a Color Spray on the Ogre and both Wolves and with a little luck, that'll take out both Wolves and stun the Ogre for a round. Use your familiar's Touch of Fatigue on it and tell the Fighter to start wailing on him.

If your Ranger goes before the Fighter or has Precise Shot, have her help out the Fighter with killing the Ogre as fast as possible, if not, I'd probably go with Rapid Shooting the Orcs. At 1d8+1 HP with her 1d8+4 damage she has a fair chance of dropping them... assuming they're standard Orcs, two rounds would seal the deal.

The Tanglefoot bag can be used to disable the Orcs for a while if the Ranger has Precise Shot and can focus on the Ogre, it'll buy enough time to take it out. If the Ranger doesn't have Precise Shot and is going to take out the Orcs instead, use the Tanglefoot bag on the Ogre to make it an easier target or hold onto it in case the Orcs are more beefy than MM standards.

The Wolves will be disabled for four rounds at worst, which should be enough time to take out the Ogre and probably even the Orcs, so just take them out at the end.

That's all assuming Color Spray lands though, if it doesn't, Tanglefoot the Ogre and wolves then have the Fighter take out the latter while the Ranger picks off the Orcs. It should be able to hold long enough to take out the lackeys, hopefully.

If your DM has a tendency to use non-standard monsters, these would probably not work though. Oh and that's all assuming you're planning to fight and don't want to/can't just run away.

[Xervous]

How big is this door that you have opened? If it is small enough to use as a bottleneck, the fighter could plug the hole and fight defensively to give himself a higher AC. The archer should sit right behind the fighter and continuously dump arrows into the enemies.

[Rumo]

So many good ideas, thank you. Just came to my mind that the Ranger only shoots for 1D8+2 though, unless the target is an orc.

The door is 2 squares big and the wolves are rushing in first. At the moment the two door squares are blocked by Fighter and Ranger. Unfortunately the Ranger rolled a 1 regarding initiative (1+4=5). I got a 20, adding up to 26. (And there isn't even a hummingbird initiative bonus involved, I did not know that there exists anything about this animal and we improved reflex +2 for him). Won't do me much good I'm afraid.

My understanding is that my hummingbird can only deliver touch attacks. It would be wonderful if he could deliver a Color Spray from a desirable position, but that's not possible, right? So maybe the Color Spray should better be held back in case the miracle happen and they slay the ogre?

Defensive fighting sounds interesting, but wouldn't that be a waste of resources with a great sword and 2D6+4 damage? On the other hand I suppose having -4 attacks vs +2 AC isn't bad anymore when you have multiple attackers against you.
Is maybe Fighter and Ranger holding that 2 square entrance a possibility? Wouldn't allow more than either 2 wolves or the ogre in, right? In that case, what would be the maluses for Long Bow use in close combat?

[Nirhael]

What Cantrips do you have left anyway? Some of them could make this encounter relatively easy.

What're the four Orcs in the back doing? Are they unaware of your presence or just hanging back for some unknown reason?

Previous post went with typical murder hobo mentality of kill everything, but maybe you can ignore the Orcs for now if there's a decent reason.

[Rumo]

What Cantrips do you have left anyway? Some of them could make this encounter relatively easy.

What're the four Orcs in the back doing? Are they unaware of your presence or just hanging back for some unknown reason?

Previous post went with typical murder hobo mentality of kill everything, but maybe you can ignore the Orcs for now if there's a decent reason.

What cantrips are you thinking of? I don't have Daze, no Enchantment and no Evocation school. 2xTouch of Fatigue, 2xDetect Magic, Acid Splash.

The Orcs in the back are not charging, but they are ready to join the combat in the unlikely case that we can slay the Ogre.

[Nirhael]

Yeah those Cantrips won't be helping out much, but it's good that the Orcs won't be acting till the Ogre goes down, the encounter's even easier that way.

I also remembered wrong about Color Spray, I was under the impression that 4 HD+ was the breakpoint for single round stun. If the Ogre has the standard 4 HD from MM, then you're looking at a minimum of two rounds of stun so I suggest running in and spraying on the Ogre and the two wolves then have your friends focus the Ogre down, two round should be plenty to take it out.

Wolves can be cleaned up afterward since they'll be stunned for a minimum of four rounds if they have MM's 2 HD, by the time the Orcs get here everything else should be dead.

[Rumo]

Oh, somehow I had assumed that the ogre would be stunned for only 1 round. With 1D4+1 I see there is a reasonable chance to disable him for a while.

I wonder how to get into position to cast the spell. The space before the door is blocked by the Fighter and the Ranger. Maybe it can work like this: Round 1, I (highest ini) have hummingbird deliver Touch of Fatigue or drink potion of Mage Armor. Charging enemies attack Fighter and Ranger. Fighter strikes back. Ranger (lowest ini) takes a step back, shoots twice. Then I take her former spot and boom, Color Spray. Getting this exposed, even though I have 24 hitpoints it might make sense to opt for the potion in round 1.

On second thought, we might be able to survive this. :smallsmile:

EDIT: It came to my mind that I need to pass a Concentration check of 16 (=roll an 8) in order to be able to cast my spell. Solution: The ranger takes another step back, fires only one arrow, and then I position myself so that there is one empty square between me and the enemies.

[Coidzor]

If you go in front of your party members, stun the ogre & wolfies, you should be good as long as the orcs aren't taking potshots.

[Rumo]

The nice thing is: I do not even have to be in front, thanks to the Cone Shape, which is just pefect for the situation. Fighter is in front. Ranger takes two steps back. I go diagonally behind the fighter and spray. I hit the empty square next to the Fighter, the two squares in front of him (wolves), and the two squares behind the wolves (ogre).