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 Recent Posts
....A possible solution is to have Paizo extend the user community section of their website to be more than just messageboards sort of like therpgenius.com. They would then maintain control of their intellectual property and have veto power over anything that's posted. I feel rather than hurting sales, having more material available for the adventure paths, particularly in the form of community contributions, would permit the AP's to take on a life of their own. The end result would be an increased interest in the series and selling more of the core product..... A darn good idea Pyrix. I think its clear to see what a benefit such a site is, and if Paizo was running it, all the better.
With reagrd to published and copyrighted gaming materials used online; I can definitely appreciate everyone getting paid for their work - although a part of me feels like the online gaming community is more of a support for Paizo and WotC, rather than a leech. Admittedly we share game material for free, but I for one got a renewed interest in gaming, and began buying both WotC and Paizo products because of an online campaign which I joined as a player. That campaign was The Shackled City. We played through the first adventure, before the campaign ended. It was enough of a taste for me to order back issues of Dungeon magazine, and run the adventure for a group of friends back home. This gaming group brought 3 old timers out of D&D retirement. Instead of dusting off their old 1st and 2nd edition books, they now went out and bought enough 3.5 literature to be able to play. Since that game, two of our players have become hardcore readers of both Dungeon and Dragon magazines, and one of them is now running Age of Worms online. Okay, admittedly, 2 or 3 new customers hardly changes the profit - loss accounts for Paizo, but maybe my experience isn't unique? I have since launched another Shackled City gaming group online, making use of every online resource I could find. Thanks to sites like rpgenius, I've put together a living, breathing city of Cauldron for our PCs to experience. I plan on taking full advantage of every scrap of artwork I've got in the big book, as well as anything else that pops up. That means, well..........posting it online, where my players can pretty much download it at will - now with DMs downloading maps, artwork and whatnot, it might have been naive of me, but I always assumed they owned at least some of the AP, otherwise they couldn't very well run it otherwise. But what about players downloading it? I'm assuming none of my players have bought the SCAP issues of Dungeon, or the HC, (or at least have refrained from reading it). So, am I crossing over some kind of copyright boundary with my players? If it was decided that the online sharing of gaming material between DM and players was a violation of certain copyrights, then to be honest - I and my gamers would suddenly have a greatly reduced need for a lot of Paizo products. I'll still be curious what kind of adventures people are dreaming up, but if I lose the right to use all those great maps and illustrations - running a published adventure online wouldn't be quite the boon it has been for me. It takes a lot of time and effort to DM online, more so than live, and being able to take advantage of other peoples work has made online gaming a much better experience, not only for me as a DM, but also for the players. At any rate, I plan on abiding by whatever the official policy is, once it becomes clear. I just hope that those now discussing it would take into consideration what it means to the online gaming community to be able to make use of the resources available.
Paizo's been great with all the PDF supplements. Would it be possible to extend this even more, enough to support the internet gaming community? Although the HC was pretty expensive as it is, I'd be willing to pay for a big PDF with all the artwork/handouts and so on, especially if I didn't have a scanner. By the way - when I say 'expensive' I mean 'expensive and worth it!'
I can't upload to rpgenius anymore, for whatever reason. I made a few contributions a while ago, but since then have not been able to upload. So....until I can find a place to host resources, I'm going to use free sites like this one; http://h1.ripway.com/rhizome1/index.html I've uploaded a zip file of the art work and maps from Secret of the Soul Pillars (chap 7) I've also added a zip file of the cover art from each chapter. If anyone has any requests, feel free to post them to this thread, especially if its something not yet posted to rpgenius. The site I used can only handle a measly 15 megs a day of traffic, so if it doesn't work for you, come back the next day - if it still doesn't work, I'll open up a backup download link. To James and the rest of the staff at Paizo - I'm assuming HC owners and magazine subscribers will be accessing the art, for printing, or for use on their campaign websites and so on. If there are any objections to any of this, let me know, and I'll pull it down.
I've got a lot of that stuff from rpgenius already posted on my site. Feel free to download the pics independantly from our forum, or else DL the zip files from rpgenius in the campaign artwork section. (our game forum)
(the stormblades thread - with minis)
All the NPCs have already been done, both as minis (Icebreaker) and otherwise,(Sean Mahoney). http://therpgenius.com/shackledcity/CampaignArtwork/tabid/201/Default.aspx The art and handouts file from icebreaker will have everything else in there. If there's still something you can't locate - I'll still scan it, or link it for you, just let me know. Otherwise, I'm going to get cracking on things that haven't been done yet.
I brought in two extra's, to help the PCs out - these were two fighters whose background was written so that they were on a mission to confront the golem. They would serve 'hopefully' to pad the party a bit as HP buffers maybe? We had close to a TPK in three rounds. It went something like this - keep in mind there are 7 PCs, and Arley there as well (although his spells are exhausted) -this is not completely in order, I'm just hashing through from memory here and leaving out unimportant actions; Arley charms the Drow Sorceror, and convicnes him they are on the same side - then flies up to activate the golem. The samurai charges the golem, completing his double move 10' from where it now stands. The dromite warlock blasts Arley with acid. Arley retreats. The golem catches the samurai with his sword (only once, during the full attack) and his whip - one samurai statue, made to order. The dervish leaps in, attempting to deactivate the golem by repeating what she saw arley do to activate him. The werebear charges. The halfling fighter tries to get someone to listen to him; waving his scroll of 'stone to flesh' around, and asking if anyone can cast it. The drow elf, is now dancing, as his cursed boots he found in Arley's stash begin to kick in; I throw him a huge favor, allowing concentration checks during the dancing, to allow him to perform hopefully, something useful in the fight. He makes a 27 on a concentration check to cast lightning bolt from a scroll - I hate making players feel impotent, so decide it's good enough (I know the DMG isn't so kind with these boots, but hey..I'm a softy) Lightning strikes th egolem to no effect causing a hum among the players who assumed it would slow him. The halfling arcane trickster moves in for a scroching ray, no effect. Everyone starts crushing into the stairway to get up to help the others. The golem directs a sword attack at the werebear fighter, and a whip at the dervish. He does 80 points of damage on the werebear, and turns the dervish into a statue. The werebear tries a sunder attempt (he's built around this particular type of attack) which would have been successful, if the golems weapons werent part of its body. He then backs away five feet, going for a healing potion. The spellcasters continue to crowd into the stairs, blasting various spells, etc. The dromite splats the golem with more acid. The golem rises up, heedless of giving the werebear AoO, and catches everyone in a 15' cone of flame, for 70 or so points of damage. Nobody makes their save except the arcane trickster. The dromite, trickster, and halfling fighter flee the scene. The drow sorceror, and were-bear lie dead on the steps, whle the two staues remain adjacent ot the throne.
I agree with all of those who stated reasons for not telling the players what to play. If they come up with 'round' characters, who have more personality than combat ability, so be it! The thing about Cauldron as a backdrop, it really supports so much more gaming than just what's written in the room descriptions and encounters. That said, I thought I'd use this thread to post the party make-up of a group that just melted through the first three adventures with ease. Our first three PCs were extremely effective!
These three overcame just about anything and everything I could throw at them. They were always at the suggested level for each chapter i.e. 1st and 2nd level in life's bazaar, 3rd level in drakthar's way, 4th level in flood season. And were done with a 27 point attribute buy, which you should all agree, isn't overpowered by any means. They were extremely effective. We had a rotating fourth, and sometimes fifth chair, some of these characters managed to make a contribution in battle and others didn't; these characters ranged from Human Wizard (zero help - run out of spells, and try to help out with a crossbow, as they race against time through whatever dungeon it might be) Half-Elf scout (zero help in combat - didn't have the firepower of the three main characters) Elf Druid (not nearly as effective as that wolf of his was) Human Fighter-Thief - Effective, though more so in support than in combat. Half-Orc Barbarian - Single-handedly carried a few combat sessions on his broad shoulders. Very effective. Human Monk/Psi-Warrior - cool character, but totally ineffective in combat, for anything other than a buffer. Couldn't hit anything, and the player grew very frustrated, throwing countless dice into the garbage.
Yes, for some reason the content doesn't seem to be present for all the new Flood Season (Chapter 3) artwork that appeared in the hardcover. If you can remedy, I'd be most appreciative . . . Let me know which specifically if you want to be sure you get what you're looking for (page numbers from the HC maybe?), otherwise I'll do my best to fill out the missing sections, although I still can't upload to that site....grrrr....
I could realy use a decent scan of the map of redgorge. Its a big file, and I haven't had the time to upload it to rpgenius yet. In the meantime, you can DL it from this link; http://h1.ripway.com/macabrevity/Redgorge.jpg I'm not all that saavy with the bargain basement scanner I've got here, so I can't say if this is the kind of quality you're looking for. There's another scan of this on rpgenius (I think)....
Ikor, are you using the natural rolls of 1 and 20 rules (i.e. auto fail and auto success)? If so, those Bodaks are a viable threat when your PCs are forced to make six Fort saves each round. Don't dis the Bodaks! Its a core rule, so we're using it. I suppose you're right...that's a lot of chances for a 1 to come up. Okay Bodaks, you've got your jobs back! IMC, I swapped out Arley's displacement spell for dispel magic, which I felt was much more practical for him. It sounds like you're on to the same tactics I used. Arley lured the PCs right up to the throne of the Terrible Iron Golem and then proceeded to dispel his 3 pursuer's fly spells. Down they gently dropped onto the throne platform and... well, you get the picture. Great idea...I love the way it played out for you! That's definitely a nice touch, and you're right...dicplacent? He's not going to bother going toe-to-toe with anyone. His main worries will be spell casters. Period. Nice spell swap. Assuming you've kept Arley's spell selection as written you could definitely go with the tactic you mentioned. However, you don't have to have Arley actually go up and touch the golem. Simply setting foot on the platform activates it. Keep him invisible and lure the PCs close. When they are close enough, have him land on the platform to activate the golem and then fly away. The golem activates and sees the PCs nearby... game on! I haven't changed anything on him...too lazy, since I'm running SCAP as well, and pouring a great deal of effort into it, I started Maure Castle as fun diversion, with the sole goal of having a game that I didn't have to put much creative energy into. (not saying there isn't room for it, its a great backdrop for an imaginative DM ). As far as "should you do it?" Most certainly! Arley is a cunning and EVIL creature and should be role-played that way. Don't wuss out! Great advice! I'll send them your way after the TPK! hehe, thanks Steve.
Any requests for artwork from the SCAP HC? I don't have the mags handy, so not sure if the art content is 100% identical, but if there's anything anyone needs uploaded to http://therpgenius.com/Default.aspx?alias=therpgenius.com/shackledcity
I know a lot of the early chapters have been done, but some of the higher level stuff is still missing. I'm more than happy to throw anything necessary up on the site. I just got done scanning the cover art from each chapter. I rushed through it, not paying too much attention to the file size, so the zip for all 12 chapters is pretty big, but still workable. If anyone's unhappy with the cropping, or quality...well, it comes as is. There was a problem with the uploading option, but I'll get it posted as soon as possible.
Our group is still on the first level. Arley the weaver has been hassling the PCs, but staying clear of any direct confrontations; he waited until they were locked into a death struggle with the fresco fighters, to attack the first time. Now I'm thinking of doing something really nasty, in fact its probably too nasty....but it seems likely that Arley would do something like this. He's drawn them into the throne room, in front of the golem. You think I should assume he's figured out something of the golem's activation? and flies up tapping it into life, before retreating? Or is that just too cruel? He has absolutely no other resources here, and has already lost any chance to parlay with the PCs, so it's either this, or full retreat. The Gnolls are cannonfodder for this group As for normally frightening Bodaks...most of these characters could make a DC 15 fort save using a d4 to roll it. So the Bodaks are completely useless....I've left them in their lair, to see if they get discovered and slaughtered or not, but otherwise I'm having them rest in torpor as it were.... So, do I show some restraint? Or let them suffer the consequences of entering the dungeon in the first place? Would Arley be clever enough to figure out the golem after all this time? As for our group, they're all 12th level (or at least ecl of 12), with a 32 point buy for attributes. Its a well balanced aprty, all WotC material, no outside sources (sorry Paizo!), so I'd say they are about average as far as what they can handle.
Thanks for the feedback. I'll start implementing that -20 on the snipe attack. I can appreciate game balance here, as without it, they would be extremely difficult for a low level party to overcome, but when I reason it out in my head, (game mechanics aside for a moment) I kind of feel like the skulks (as I understand them) would be able to snipe and hide, about as easy if not easier than run and hide. In fact, their ability to hide while on the move, really doesn't mean much to me, unless it somehow includes at least a bit of 'hide in plain sight'. What does it matter if they are running, if nobody has LOS? The only factor then would be move silently, and hide isn't even involved. Once they do move into someone's field of vision, what then? Anyway, I'm implementing the -20, and am going to pay close attention to shadowing in the dungeon, so I can be sure they have at least partial cover necessary to hide. Too bad they don't have max ranks in bluff, then that would solve all my problems. They would be able to actually use that hide while moving ability to some degree, without giving away their location.
I've run Jzadirune before, and didn't really take full advantage of the skulks residing there. This time around, I've been using them to haunt the PCs every step of the way, but a bit of debate arose as to just how effective peerless camoflage is, and I'd love some help... How would other DMs on this site interpret the snipe function of the hide skill. Would skulks take a - 20? Or does there ability to move, run, etc. with no penalties allow them to snipe with impunity? Also, do they need cover to hide? Or can they just press up against the wall in a semi to dark room, and blend right in unnoticed (at least with a +22 hide, you would think unnoticed....) Please, I need a lot of advice on this one, so I can restore order with a few of my players.
I'd love to have a look at any good campaign websites of people running this adventure, either irl or online. I'm currently running the game online, and although I do upkeep info and game logs on a forum; http://shadowdragon.kelticmoose.com/Forum/viewforum.php?f=73 ....there really isn't a whole lot to look at, as most of my time is devoted to running SCAP (also online). We don;t do any PBP on the site, and have only had three sessions so far, so needless to say, it's pretty bare right now. I'd love to see what other people are doing with this material...
((This is an extremely useful thread - any creations posted here are likely to find their way to my campaign's website - with my sincere appreciation)) Here is a tavern staff and menu, which can be dropped into any inn or pub to flesh it out. Menu - Drinks
Black Tea - 2 cp (free refills)
Wine List
Snacks
Meals
Staff - Plabius Burnbums (halfling proprietor) - He's short, he's grey-haired, he's always grinning, and never without a story to tell. Mon Cul (bouncer) - A massive stoop shouldered man of sorts. Many joke that there must be a bit of ogre blood in those veins, but when they do joke, they make sure he's not in listening range. Jartha (cook) - A big half-orc gal, who's so green, its assumed the half part is goblin or some other orc cousin. She's even tempered, and never messes up an order. It doesn't matter what you order in fact, because everything comes up greasy. Gabriella Matala (serving girl) - A slim figured and shy girl who can balance ten mugs of ale (one on top of the other) and bring them from the bar, upstairs, and back down, spilling hardly a drop. (She's done it before, honest!) Jabirah (serving girl) - A heavy set but 'still got her sex appeal' woman who doesn't take any crap from the customers. Gundha Draid (bar tender) - A big greasy guy, with a belly that keeps him from leaning over the counter. He's a willing listener, and an able advisor to all those who come to drown their sorrows.
I'm curious if any DM has ever encountered even the slightest bit of player revolt when going from Life's Bazaar; a game that follows to some extent this format; weird things happening in town (kidnappings) ----> investigate ----> find a secret door located in the shop of a local merchant (Ghelve's Locks) ------> which leads into tunnels under the city (Jzadirune and the Malachite Hold) -----> do a nice little dungeon crawl and defeat the baddie.........into Drakthar's Way, a game that follows to some extent this very same format; weird things happening in town (goblin graffiti) ----> investigate ----> find a secret door located in the shop of a local merchant (Orak's bathhouse) ------> which leads into tunnels under the city (Drakthar's Way) -----> do a nice little dungeon crawl and defeat the baddie. To be honest, I've already DMed a live group well past Drakthar's Way, and the issue never came up; although we had something like 6-7 months break in between the two installments. I'm now DMing an online game, and we've just started the dungeon crawl, which I estimate to take close to 12 sessions total when played online (assuming game sessions are between 3-4 hours). My introduction to SCAP was in an online game as a player, and we only got as far as the first installment, which took somewhere around 14 sessions. I've seen other camps in progress online, and it seems that 12 sessions is a good benchmark for the completion of the first adventure, the majority of which will be spent in the crawl. My current group isn't too picky, but they aren't used to such prolonged stays in one environment, and I'm wondering how they're going to react when I drop Drakthar's Way on them. I don't want to skip it outright though...as I think some of the NPCs introduced in the chapter have a lot of potential, and the showdown with Drakthar should be memorable. It turned out to be a great experience for my live group, after Orak was deposed, an unbelievable legal battle began for ownership of the bathhouse (I love DMing greedy players, they're so much fun, and so easy to torment!) I do think its a fun installment, with a lot of really great hooks for the DM and players. I'm curious though if anyone has decided not to run it for these same reasons, or had any bad experiences, with players losing interest because of the redundancy.
......SPIN City baby! I appreciate the advice. I think you're dead on with the spin city comment. As I read this, i just keep thinking my players aren't going to buy it, unless I put some effort building up to it. Otherwise, they are just going to be scratching their heads, feeling like one seemingly random and completely unconnected problem after another just keeps hitting them. One thing I'm brainstorming, is how Honest Minstrel is going to answer some of their questions, especially if I haven't given them reason already to assume some tension between Cauldron and Redgorge.
The players in my live game got really lucky against Drakthar. They just barely managed to overcome him, (lost two pc's in the fight) and this group is stacked (despite a 27 point buy - the players are built to kill - and a level higher than recommended, thanks to some side track sessions). Drakthar can do soooo much, and if facing 3rd level characters, the only thing that could possibly worry him would be a really tough cleric. The caves themselves are so dangerous, that Drakthar is likely to meet the characters after they are sorely beaten, and if any of the Blue Duke's minions happen to be in the mix during the encounter, it's got tpk written all over it. Compare this to Tongueater (who they haven't faced yet), he will be facing higher level characters, and even though he has nice DR, he's still going to get pelted heavily by our party psion. The drunk alleybashers aren't going to provide much challenge for my group, so its unlikely they will be too worn out when they find tongueeater. For toughest encounter between these two, I definitely vote for Drakthar! Hey Sean, email me with any questions or ideas you have if you do run Drakthar's way. I've got a lot of tales to regale you with from our live game. kaleth_tyr(at)yahoo(dot)com
During the eventual meeting with the Chisel, Honest Minstrel claims Skellerang is rumored to be preparing for an invasion of Redgorge. My players will definitely ask him a ton of questions, and I'm not sure i can answer all of them. I'm not sure about Skellerang's motives (both overt and ulterior) for invading Redgorge. I can deflect ay questions of 'how did you come by this info' but I want the tidbit to be believable. We haven't even started the online game yet (although my live group is well into flood season) but I'm just reading ahead, trying to get myself ready. I haven't read much further than demonskar though, so maybe the answers lie in following chapters. Still, anyone have any insight into this one? Its not clear to me if his motive would be hunting down Tercival? Or Maavu? Or what exactly..... And why a full scale invasion when the political repurcussions could be disastrous. He would need a good 'WMD' type ruse, wouldn't he? Maybe I overlooked something, but I'm known to do such things. I'd be grateful for any insight!
Thanks a bunch Tekno! I have to say, I am really looking forward to running this game, largely due to the sheer amount of support that seems to be out there. I've been running a homebrew online, and it's a LOT of work, let me tell you! I do plan on starting to contribute to the global SCAP effort at some point. I've been working on type-ups of the shaded room descriptions from the big book. If anyone has a need in this area (for online gaming) do let me know.
I can appreciate that. You're right, the individual pics suffice, but I just kind of like the group photo, even if it isn't really necessary.
I am busy setting up aa site for an online scap campaign, and am currently without a scanner. I'm curious if anyone here has managed to scan the big two-page group photo of all the Cauldron NPCs on page 344+345 of the big book? The key on page 343 would be useful too. If anyone would be willing to share this with me, I'd be happy to respond with whatever I can in kind. Although I don't have a scanner, I'd be happy to send you a few xml nodes (for online games) or text prep, or whatever help you might need with your own game.
As I continue to prep for my online game which will be launched sometime next January, I'd like to put feelers out there to see if anyone would be interested in being an adversary player for the camp. This role would not require the same commitment as playing and DM'ing the game does. You would be free to take days off at your leisure, and enjoy the game when you were in the mood for it. We have a gaming group that has been together for a year now, and will be closing out our ongoing campaign to begin SCAP. I may indeed recruit one or two more players for the game, but will not do so on this site (too many DM's and SCAP veterans here). The adversary player can have a lot of fun running friendly and hostile NPC's, and might even be able to develop his or her own recurring NPC as the game progresses. Our game is run using openRPG, let me know if you dont have experience with the software, and I can help get you up to speed. Our game will be hosted on this forum; So far I've only got stuff from rpgenius up there, but as time goes on, it will develop its own flavor. Feel free to email at:
I'll post the url for my site here as soon as its back online. The site is currently moving to a new name host, so it should take a week to get back online. Yes, 13:00 GMT is a real pain for anyone on the western seaboard, so I wont hold it against you if you start looking elsewhere! That said, the slot for an adversary player is going to remain open, as i think this game lends itself well to that sort of thing, since there is such a depth of NPC's available.
If anybody has the time and the inclination to run a SCAP game online, count me in as a player! It looks like you've already seen a lot of the surprises, especially if you frequent the SCAP resource on rpggenius. I'm going to be launching my game sometime in January, and while I'd be hesitant to offer a seat to someone who was already familiar with the game, I'm curious if you'd be interested in playing as an adversary. That would mean taking control of various NPC's over the course of the game, both villains and allies. Cauldron is a game with a lot of really nice NPC's and I'd hate for them all to share the personality of the DM. The other positive to this is my game is going to be offered first to members of my current gaming group, and only after that will i actually recruit any more players, (probably only 1 or 2 seats will be available). Let me know if you're interested, and i'll send you the URL for the site. Our group meets 3 sundays a month ((with one off)) at 13:00 GMT. That's fairly early if you're in the states, especially west coast, but we do have two players in Seattle, so it can be done.
I'm going to be running the shackled city AP online, with a gaming group that has been together for over a year now. I'm pulling out all the stops, to make it a great game, and am still in the preparation phase. I own the SCAP big book, and most of the magazines, but do not have access to all the pdf's. I am not looking forward to pre-typing up all the room descriptions for use in our online sessions (thats a ton of typing for me and my 30 wpm). Any ideas if there is a giant pdf to go along with the big book? (this has probably already been asked somewhere, so sorry for the redundancy here) I'd love to be able to cut and paste the descrips and various other details ((although I have found the rpgenius SCAP website to be a great boost, with lots of fantastic submissions - I plan on adding to it soon, hopefully!))
This particular session was part of side story developing away from the regular characters, with the foes all prepared long in advance before I saw the character sheets. In actuality, my setting couldn't have been less charge friendly (Kytons had strung up chains all over a descrated temple of Boccob, not to mention a few ice walls, courtesy of a Gelugon) and definitely didn't allow for much charging. The character had plenty on his hands, although he was able to find a stray bearded devil, kill it in 6 seconds, and also took a big chunk out of one of my ice devils before he actually killed his own dog jumping through a hole in one of the devils ice walls. Anyway, from the sound of it, none of you would be too concerned if an 8th level player dished out 80-100 hp's of damage in a single hit, since the circumstances necessary for that particular attack limit its usage. I'm personally concerned because of the effect it has on other players, when they start feeling a bit like Aquaman in a desert, and also find it a bit difficult when the very limitations of the character become a key struggling point between player and DM i.e. "Of course I can charge here, I only need 10' and I've got such and such a feat that allows....." and so on. I know these arguments are easily quelled, but I'd personally rather stick to play, and not have to resort to the "DM maks the rules" rule.
My personal response is to disallow the combination of power attack with spirited charge. As for all of you that have suggested that charge opportunities are few and far between.....well, I guess my dungeons are full of a lot more 10' spaces than your own. The halfling also uses ride-by-attack, to take advantage of the space behind the target, linining up his next charge (if there is any space). Although this isn't a factor, because since my creatures are all CR'ed for 8th level characters, none of them survive the first charge. Damage Reduction becomes meaningless in situations like this. Nonetheless, I can see plenty of ways to challenge the character. But is it really feasible that a lance would do more damage than a dragon's slam attack? Or a giant boulder? Or a cannon ball?
Skylark is right on here. In other words, the bonuses as calculated by the player are correct. In fact, he even wrote WotC afterwards, being a DM himself, and received a response that he had done the math correctly. No, the character is legitimate. I do appreciate all the repsonse though, and yes, any DM worth his salt can take the dog out, or make charging difficult, but I can't shake the strange feeling that settles on me, when an 8th level character does this much damage in one hit. In fact, he's not really one-dimensional as posted earlier, just if you take away his charge, he becomes a normal 8th level fighter...back in the saddle, he's superhuman. (super-halfling)
Actually we use an online game table, which allows for maps and minis, the whole bit. Its really a nice way to run a campaign.
As a DM, I understand this character is not invincible. The dog can be killed, the terrain can be structured to make charging difficult or impossible (although a halfling and dog could easily fit into many dungeon crawls). My question is not how to deal with it so much (I'm planning on a house rule that disallows use of power attack and spirited charge in one attack), I'd rather know if others feel like the spirited charge feat is out of balance. I'm confident that this character is by the book (3.5), but I think the writers clearly overlooked the potential for abuse here. I can see that a mounted charge should be a devastating attack, but the x3 multiplier from spirited charge means that creatures are going ot be making fortitude saves with every hit, assuming they survive. His use of ride by attack, means he can very often line up for a single charge each round, (terrain allowing). Anyway, I'd love to hear some feedback.
I've been running an online game for a year now, and we recently played a side session using new 8th level characters which focused on events away from the PC's. I gave my players a 32 point buy for attributes, and a budget for standard 8th level characters. One of my players created a halfling fighter who regularly churns out 60-80 points of damage per hit, and has the potential to do much, much more. At 8th level, this is extremely unbalanced for the other players, and also upsets the encounter difficulty level necessary to present a challenge for these one-time heros. Here is the character in question; He's a halfling fighter (wearing ogre gauntlets for 18 strength) who rides a dog and wields a lance. He has the following feats;
He also carries a +1 Lance. Now, his attack bonus with the lance looks like this: +4 strength +1 Weapon Focus +1Weapon Focus+ +8 BAB +1 Lance +1 Size =+16 to hit Damage looks like this: 1d6 +6 Lance (Two handed) +1 Lance +2 Weapon specs= +9 -The rules don't seem to negate the option of using a lance two-handed on a mounted charge, they merely give you the option to use it one-handed. So, on a charge, his attack looks like this: Charge (1d20+18) for (3d6+27) damage Now that's bad enough, but, watch what happens if we toss a +4 power attack in there: Charge (1d20+14) for (3d6+27+24) damage! The power attack is doubled for using the lance two handed making it +8 and then tripled for spirited charge for 24 damage. If he uses a full power attack, He does (3d6+27+48) damage!
I'm new to the boards, but would like to say that I would have a big interest in the Shackled City AP as a stand alone product. I've been participating in the adventure as a PC over the net, and am planning on running a version of it myself in the future, but I don't have much of the material, and its been a pain to try to track down back issues of Dungeon. I'd order them directly, but since I'll be moving from Europe to the States very soon, I don't have an adress to have them sent to.
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