Dr Lucky

Arhena the Fabulous's page

10 posts. Alias of Jiggy (RPG Superstar 2015 Top 32, RPG Superstar 2012 Top 32).


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Dark Archive RPG Superstar 2015 Top 32, RPG Superstar 2012 Top 32

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Well, now that I've officially won, I can really drop the bomb:

In response to the common assertions that C/MD is merely the result of "magic marts" or GMs being too liberal with access to new spells, I decided to secretly place some extra restrictions on myself. First, the only spells in my spellbook are those gained from leveling up, so that even if the GM is a dick and in 7 levels you never find a single new scroll and never encounter a single settlement where a new spell could be found for scribing and never loot a spellbook with a new spell, you can still do what I did. Second, I crafted all my magic items myself, so that even if the GM never drops any wizard-relevant loot and doesn't have any "magic marts", you can still do what I did.

Additionally, in response to common assertions that C/MD is only a result of there not being enough encounters in a day so that spellcasters are able to "nova" too reliably, I further restricted myself by needing to be as resource-efficient as possible. Of all my daily spell volume (by spell levels per day), I used only 9 out of 41 levels' worth of spells, and consumed 262.5gp worth of consumables. That's about 22% of my daily resources, and about 1% of my WBL. And that's for soloing an encounter with a CR something like 1-2 over my "APL".

Furthermore, continuing in accordance with this idea of a reasonable wizard build, I didn't even build for this fight. If you check out my profile, I actually built very generically, even going so far as to learn and prep spells (and scribe scrolls) that have no relevance to this fight whatsoever (like endure elements or comprehend languages).

So, to sum up:
A generic and well-rounded wizard,
Who did not have spell availability catered to him,
And who did not have access to magic-marts,
And who only spent a hair more than a fifth of his daily resources,
Was able to easily solo a CR=level encounter that was specifically built to try and kill the wizard.

And combat is only like 20% of the C/MD.

Dark Archive

GM's eyes only:

Arhena replies only with another volley of magic missiles.
Magic missile: 4d4 + 4 ⇒ (3, 4, 4, 4) + 4 = 19

He then drifts 30ft in the direction of his starting position, but keeping his current altitude.
Stealth: 1d20 + 29 ⇒ (12) + 29 = 41

Dark Archive

GM's eyes only:

In keeping with his usual pattern, Arhena fires off a blast of force.
Magic missile: 4d4 + 4 ⇒ (4, 3, 1, 3) + 4 = 15
Arhena then drifts lazily and silently (and pantslessly) 30ft N-NW while rising about another 5ft.
Stealth: 1d20 + 29 ⇒ (12) + 29 = 41

Dark Archive

Hey, don't forget the pants!

Dark Archive

GM's eyes only:

Arhena bellows out, "COWARD! You hide behind brute force and forged steel, because you know you cannot even hope to contend with me in equal combat! Fly up puny fighter, or I will bring you down like the lame duck you are!"

Then as a move action Arhena removes his pants, letting them fall to the ground. Once they leave my possession, they become visible.

Arhena then fires off another blast of force:
Magic missile: 4d4 + 4 ⇒ (4, 4, 3, 3) + 4 = 18

Finally, he takes a 5ft step diagonally north and upward so she still can't hit me if she targets my last known square. Auto-succeed the "move less than half speed" Fly check. I should be up to, what, 30ft altitude by now?

Stealth: 1d20 + 29 ⇒ (7) + 29 = 36
Begin round 4 of greater invisibility.

Dark Archive

That sure looks like an awful lot of actions there...
EDIT: Also a lot of arms, both nocking an arrow and drinking a potion.

Dark Archive

GM's eyes only:

Arhena lets out an exaggeratedly loud yawn, then fires another blast from his wand.
Magic missile: 4d4 + 4 ⇒ (2, 1, 4, 4) + 4 = 15

Arhena then crosses his legs in a decidedly relaxed manner and drifts 30ft straight south, and slightly upwards.
Stealth: 1d20 + 29 ⇒ (16) + 29 = 45

This begins round 3 of greater invisibility's duration, for the record.

Dark Archive

GM's eyes only:

On the square of my starting position? No, I was moving in a counterclockwise arc, rising as I went. Like, same distance from the center of the arena as I started, but not the same space. Like the end of a clock hand, but going counterclockwise. Sorry if I wasn't clear.

Dark Archive

GM's eyes only:

With an invisible flick of his wand, Arhena fires off some bolts of force at his enemy:
Magic missile: 4d4 + 4 ⇒ (2, 2, 3, 4) + 4 = 15
Using one of my 50 charges, not a spell slot. I've got adventuring to do later today!

After zapping his opponent, Arhena floats casually off the ground, shifting to a semi-recumbent position as he drifts through the air.
As a move action, I move 30ft. Going diagonally upwards at 45 degrees, and circling counterclockwise. Since my move speed is 60ft with fly, this means I'm going no more than half speed, so Stealth has no penalty. Additionally, I don't believe there's any Fly checks needed for this basic movement, but if so, having fly active gives me an extra +3 bonus, and I already auto-succeed most Fly checks.
Stealth: 1d20 + 29 ⇒ (3) + 29 = 32

Dark Archive

For DM's eyes only: three rounds of preparation:

Round 1: Move action to pull out my bonded wand, standard action to cast see invisibility.

Round 2: Move action to pick my nose, standard action to cast fly.

Round 3: Move action to scratch my butt, standard action to cast greater invisibility.

Initiative: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (14) + 6 = 20

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