Arivel unshouldered his enmagiced bow, slid an arrow into hand, strung it and fired. The nearest halfling ducked; the arrow whizzed into the window and stuck against the ceiling inside. The halfling reappeared, giving Arivel a noisy raspberry and slinging is stone at the enormous Rodger before ducking out of sight again.<br/><br/>The other two window-using halflings acted similarly, aiming stones with deliberateness at the foreheads of that tiger or Randal (they being the closest among those below, and seeming not yet as ready to dodge) before likewise shifting out of sight from those outside the windows.<br/><br/>There was a frantic pattering sound from behind the first-floor doorway moments before Rodger planted his forepaws against it and crushed it inward. The elephantine feline revealed a checkered anteroom, the first few rows of tiles sprinkled with tetrahedrally spiked caltrops. No halfling stood within, only a lone chair now broken amidst the scattered timbers of the door.<br/><br/>The foyer, ended where it intersected a crosshall, but a second set of doors there stood wide open to reveal, beyond, a greathall dominated by a long and stately dining table. Behind the furthest, almost thronelike seat at the head of the table hung a family crest recognized by Arivel and Kelsie (if they could see any of this around the tiger) as, indeed, the Huntsilvers'.<br/><br/>Midway down the many-tapestried front foyer, another hall ran to the right, affording access to an (as-yet-unseen) closet, a midden, and a guardroom like a tiny barracks. Facing this shorter hall, the front foyer was broken midway along its left side by an also-open door. Through it, a narrow slice of a parlor could be glimpsed, hosting bookshelves, at least one couch - and sprawled in the doorway, a young nobleman with his throat cut. The smell of bloods and liquor strong in the air through that door.<br/><br/><br/>Acting for Arivel:<br/>draw bow (move action) and standard attack at nearest halfling.<br/>Attack mod +9 (6 bab + 1 dex + 1 enhancement + 1 morale), dmg 1d8+2. This is a fine example of any-ordering: Kelsie's initiative was lower but presumably they'd want the buff before the attack; implicitly used a delay action to go after Kelsie.<br/><br/>The window halflings have cover (+4 AC vs all current PC positions) from the windowsills (as a 'low obstacle') - their bodies aren't completely visible. (Apologies if knowing earlier would've changd anyone's decisions.) Also worth noting that Rodger's size and reach put him w/i melee reach of the window halflings if he's positioned close enough in the horizontal plane (but due to said cover, as well as to the fact that Rodger is still flatfooed, their upcoming ranged attacks won't provoke AoOs)<br/><br/>I believe a mounted Kelsie with a reach weapon (such as a lance) could also reach them (from sufficiently close horizontally) -  normally I believe characters can attack on 5' cube above their own; a reach weapon adds a cube upward, and being mounted probably does. (The halflings are 15' above ground - two cubes higher than normal overhead attack reach). If you choose to do that Muse (I'm not necessarily recommending it) you might want to double check me on that though.<br/><br/>Arival atk 9+10r<br/>miss<br/><br/><span class="bbc_u">3w halfling</span><br/>sling atack @ Randal<br/>atk 29 dmg 19<br/>then moves or 5' steps out of sight of the PCs<br/><br/><span class="bbc_u">0w halfling</span><br/>sling atack @ Rodger<br/>atk 21 dmg 22<br/>same move<br/><br/><span class="bbc_u">4e halfling</span><br/>sling atack @ Rodger<br/>atk 22 dmg 16<br/>same move<br/><br/>Tagan: you may wish to make stat blocks (pre and post Awaken) for Rodger in Dora's sheet so I know his AC (to save time rolling damage on misses).<br/><br/>Note that none of the halflings are now in line of sight to the PCs - but for anyone who wants to, say, attack from outside rather than inside, don't forget about readied actions (declare intent to do X ifwhen a halfling pops out ahead). Not saying anyone in particular should do this; it just bears mentioning since i find some playes don't know about the ready- and delay- actions (and without it, pop-up antics like the halflings' would be abusive of the turn-based system).<br/><br/><span class="bbc_u">Rodger</span><br/>moves up to and successfully breaks down door<br/><br/>Breaking down a door is probably a standard action, although I didn't actually find that answer in the relevant SRDs. I'm guessing Rodger had to consume his move action to move up to the door, as I didn't get the sense from the previous posts that the party was putting a tiger in a 'party face' position when knocking on the door of a noble estate. As you can see I am positioning PCs so that Rodger had a clear path to get up to it, though, and wasn't blocked when his turn came up.<br/><br/>Normally, when a PC or sidekicks declares their actions but doesn't actually have initiative before the next NPC turn - such as Rodger's breakdown or Randal's Recitation - players should feel free to change their mind when their turn actually comes up. In this case I'm going ahead and assuming Rodger does the same thing, since 1. Tagan already rolled it and 2. the door status might have an effect on other PCs' decisions (in which case it saves a post cycle of Tagan confirming that's what Rodger does, me sayign the door breaks down, and then any dependent-on-that PCs acting. 3. The position of the Huge Rodger may also have a big effect on other PCs' actions, so I have in effect moved him already, as the first PC/sidekick turn of the upcoming round. Everyone else's turn for the upcoming round is still open.<br/><br/>It is probably worth noting that characters can move through squares occupied by friendlies (but not end their turns in these squares).<br/><br/>In fact, more generally players may want to sometimes do this (post a turn even when the NPCS have the next turn, for the sake of expedience / letting other PC's know what's coming - can be a good idea if you may not be online again for awhile), when they want to do something and feel pretty certain the next NPC turn wouldn't change their mind.<br/><br/>Caltrops (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/equipment/goodsandservices.htm): if it becomes relevant for your character and you wish to do your own roll, you may do the 'attack' of the caltrops. These have an attack mod of -4 instead of +0 thanks to the smashed door timber partially covering them (as if you had cover vs the caltrops' attack) (ad hoc on my part). I can roll their attacks for you (but note that your character's speed afterwards may depend on the result).<br/><br/>D = Dora<br/>K = Kelsie mounted on Large horse<br/>Ra = Randal<br/>R = Rodger (Large before Dora's spell, Huge after)<br/>T = Toria<br/>c = caltrops<br/>. = open squares<br/>X = obstructed squares (interior walls of buildings are not generally literally 5' thick; this is a rounding-up and also accommodates for the booksheles, couches, etc. that often make the edges of interior rooms somewhat obstructed from movement)<br/><br/>the immediate surroundings of the house (not shown) are unobstructed<br/>blank squares are unexplored; the house is in fact a complete square<br/>as always, a character need not post their full turn in one post, if you need 'feedback' part way through (success/failure of an action, new area your PC can now see after taking part of a movement action, etc.). Or you can post in a conditional/general way ('I move and if I see a halfling, I move to attack it')<br/>also, feel free to ask for more detail/clarification about what you can see already<br/><br/><br/><span class="bbc_font" style="font-family: courier;"><br/>13w X       X X X X X X <br/>    X       X . . . . X <br/>    X       X . . . . X <br/>10w X       . . . . . .        &lt;--    greathall (where Professor Plum                 <br/>    X       X . . . . X                   did it w/ the candlestick)   <br/>    X       X . . . . X <br/>    X       X X . . X X <br/>    X       . . . . . .          <br/>5w  X X . X X X . . X X X . X X<br/>    X . . . . X . . X . X . . X                          closet <br/>    X . . . . . . . . . . . . X    &lt;--  parlor | foyer |        | guardroom<br/>    X . . . . X . . X . X . . X                 <br/>    X . . . . X . . X . X . . X                          midden<br/>0 . X X X X X X c c X X X X X X .<br/>1e. . . . . . . R R R . . . . . .            <br/>  . . . . . . RaR R R A . . . . . <br/>  . . . . . . T R R R K K . . . .<br/>  . . . . . . D . . . K K . . . .<br/>5e. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .<br/>    6s        1s0 1n          7n</span>