Fidmeare's Tactical Notebook

Following the party's first combat in Ormkirk, while traveling into the foot hills of the Chelwick Ridge pursuing the goblins who escaped with eight hostages, Fidmeare takes the opportunity to give everyone a tactical review pointing out the things they did right and making suggestions for improving in the next battle.

Her first suggestion, one that she repeated over and over is that knowledge is power, and whatever you can learn about your enemy before the fight can be the most important factor in whether you win or lose. She then went on to offer ideas for each of you based on what she observed during the battle.

"Belator, you tried to get behind the enemy and strike from surprise which is an excellent tactic. But on unfamiliar and mostly hidden terrain you can run into what happened here, where you had to get around two or three burning buildings first. If nobody's swinging on you and you don't care about making some noise don't be afraid to run. Sometimes getting where you need to be is worth giving up the chance to swing right away."

"Fauve advanced as the gobbies pulled back keeping the pressure on but remember that eldritch blast of yours can hurt nearly anything it hits and you can fire it from more than 100 feet off."

"Grubsnout waded right in and went to work and that's the right instinct. But you and I fight a lot alike. For folk like us, when you start to feel that rage piling up inside you don't try to hold it back. Welcome it with open arms."

"Ivy kept herself well hidden which is doubly important for someone who can't wear armor and instead relies on stealth and mobility, but remember, anything that can't fly about like you, spends it's life looking forward or side to side. They almost never look up. I know you're stymied a bit by the dark, but turn that around. Even folks like me who can see in the dark can't see very far. Get over your target, and hit 'em from above then try and get out of their range before they can react. Never be where they expect you to be."

"Pike laid a trap for the gobbies which can be devastating by denying part of the field to them, especially a choke point like that bridge. But he didn't account for the possibility that their tactics were to constantly fall back and try to engage at range. If you can always try to watch your enemy before engaging them and see if you can figure out how they'll react to whatever you might do when the fight actually starts."

She finished of praising you for your instincts after the fight with Fauve using her magic to help extinguish the flames, and Ivy giving her healing potion to Connal O'Dowd's brother, adding "the fights not over when the fighting's done".