Catch the wave!

[Stormfox]

So in my latest game (SpVM of Vehumet, Poison Arrow Gatling Gun in process), I'm facing Ilsiuw on Shoals:5, and she casts her water wave at me.

I block it with my buckler.

Just trying to work out the logistics of that...you've got your wee spriggan with a shield that's maybe 8 inches in diameter, tops, and he's able to completely hide behind it from a towering breaking wave.

Should the water wave be blockable at all? Maybe only with a large shield?

[Zicher]

(SpVM of Vehumet, Poison Arrow Gatling Gun in process)

Off-topic, but it's great to hear of any success with both this build and the appropriate term for it

[Stormfox]

(SpVM of Vehumet, Poison Arrow Gatling Gun in process)

Off-topic, but it's great to hear of any success with both this build and the appropriate term for it ;)

Thanks. Ilsiuw was the worst threat down there, so the rune was no trouble (and I'd already grabbed the Swamp rune).

I splatted later thanks to an ice dragon in Vaults and a complete lack of cold resistance. Poison Arrow was still at Honeycomb hunger at that point so it was more like a double-action revolver than a gatling gun, but there's no arguing with the effectiveness of the build. Rather anti-climactic to die that way after the epic fight with Mara a couple of Vault levels prior...especially since I had just learned Blink and that made things entirely too interesting when he created an illusion of me. (On the other hand, when the illusion blinked away, that gave me plenty of room to head upstairs and wait it out.) Abjuration is a must for taking down the illusionary Maras.

[Sprinter]

Just trying to work out the logistics of that...you've got your wee spriggan with a shield that's maybe 8 inches in diameter, tops, and he's able to completely hide behind it from a towering breaking wave.

Maybe he used buckler like a surfboard

[GameKnut]

It doesn't seem so terribly unreasonable to me. Follow my logic for a bit.

Humans are medium-size. In a medieval setting, they're probably five-and-a-half feet tall.
Halflings are small, and are half the size of humans (duh). They average out to be a little under three feet tall.
Spriggans are tiny, the same size as a cat (or felid). It wouldn't be terribly unreasonable to assume that they're half the size of a halfing. That puts them at roughly 16 inches tall. (Incidentally, this means spriggans must be incredibly strong for their size, being able to use broad axes and long swords, albeit not without significant training.)

Suddenly, an 8-inch diameter shield looks pretty good. Surely, the average spriggan could hide behind a buckler. They'd probably get soaked, sure, but they could likely protect themselves from the brunt of a wave.

The real mystery is how a human can block the same wave with the same buckler.

[danr]

If one is going to try to bring realism into this - you can't block a wave from pushing you. The only thing that will stop you moving is if you can anchor yourself somehow. A buckler / shield just creates a bigger surface area for the water to push against.

We should send this in to mythbusters: "Okay, get a cat, a buckler, and a wave pool. Strap the buckler to the cat and ..."

[Grimm]

I'd pay money to see that.

[Zicher]

(SpVM of Vehumet, Poison Arrow Gatling Gun in process)

Off-topic, but it's great to hear of any success with both this build and the appropriate term for it

Thanks. Ilsiuw was the worst threat down there, so the rune was no trouble (and I'd already grabbed the Swamp rune).
Abjuration is a must for taking down the illusionary Maras.

... Under Vehumet, you were bound to have Abjuration by the time you met Mara, weren't you?

[Stormfox]

Abjuration is a must for taking down the illusionary Maras.

... Under Vehumet, you were bound to have Abjuration by the time you met Mara, weren't you?

Oh yes. I had it and used it liberally. Ironically the fact that I was able to kill Mara may have led to my death from the ice dragon -- killing Mara was how I felt safe to proceed in Vaults. Otherwise I would've turned around and hit a different part of the dungeon. (And then Mara would've been even harder to handle given how your illusion scales with your own power...)