Neil: Reflections on a Narrow Escape

I thought I had prepared for the fight with the Drow officers. I accounted for defensive spells, magic resistance and their ability to dodge or shrug off attacks. I obviously overlooked some things. Where did I go wrong?

The wizard's globe . . . Yes, that was huge. I never even thought of that. We had them in our grasp, but could do nothing but beat on their armor. None of us have magic strong enough to bypass that defense. And their armor was great, better than any of ours. So physical combat was extremely difficult. What more could we have done on the ship?

Touch attacks? Heakun, magic was useless! How were we supposed to . . . alchemy? Ahhhh, Greek Fire! But that would set the ship on fire. A tangle-foot bag . . . little effect. Acid . . . minor damage, but damage. Thunderstone . . . hmmm . . . That may have helped. And I can use those with a sling. Perhaps I should invest in some non-magical goods. I guess my wand isn't perfect. But magic did rule that conflict.

Their evocations took us down pretty fast. Perhaps I should follow their example & defend myself from such destructive energies. But there's so many energy types. How do I defend against them all? The magic globe is nice, but immobile & short term, not to mention beyond my ability. Some of my companions were hurt worse than I. I guess being nimble helps. If I can't negate the spells, perhaps I can minimize their effect on me. I could boost my agility or toughness. This would allow me to better weather such magics. Resist Energy is nice, but limited to one person & one energy type. Yeah, bunching up for them wasn't a good move either.

Disrupt them . . . yes, yes, I tried. I couldn't. "The best defense against hostile casters is to stop them from casting." You've told me that a thousand times. My tactics didn't account for the globe aboard the ship or distance on the docks. I never got a chance to hit them while casting. The Web and Silence combo shut their cleric down for a couple rounds, but the wizard continued to pound us. I need something with range. Melf's Acid Arrow . . . That doesn't do much damage. Yeah, it last a few rounds, but I need more. Magic Missile is near useless against wizards. Fireball? I can't do that! Ok, ok . . . tomorrow morning I'm going to ask you for a Fireball spell (not that you'll give me one), but doesn't their magic resistance block those too? Maybe Alev or Rumus can suggest something. What I really need is a ranged touch attack with no magic resistance, yes . . . with some range.

Grapple him?! Perhaps you haven't noticed, but he was twice my size. I'd be like a kid wrapped around his leg.

What's that spell that entangles and hurts the enemy? Something like Web . . . yeah, that's it! Briar Web. What? What do you mean, you don't grant nature spells? I thought you governed all magic. Come on Heakun. Work with me here. I need some ideas I can pull off. Not a bunch of spell suggestions, you aren't going to grant me.

Yes, Sir . . . you're the boss. I'm just a little frustrated. I guess I'm not ready to take down such powerful foes yet. But they had to be dealt with. The city guard would have been slaughtered. Wait a minute . . . They were slaughtered. And those were "Elites."

::sigh:: It'd be nice to have the upper hand occasionally. An evil is rising to ENSLAVE us all, and they appear to have the advantage most of the time. Yeah, I guess our attack on the ship paved the way for Lady Aragain to finish the job. Well, at least that threat is gone now. I guess that's what really matters. The threat from within has been mitigated.

Now how are we going to improve my tactics? You're the god of magic, what are some good spells . . . that I can cast?

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