Wilhem's page

Dren Everblack wrote:

My thoughts are:
- Most or all enemies will make their saves vs. his spells – he is a wizard.
- Enemies will cast mostly non-save spells at his character.
- His character will be attacked more often with weapons than spells.
- Whenever feasible I will make the rolls for him – secret saves and skill checks.

OK so the common opinion seems to be that what I have in mind is just as bad (if not worse) than what the player is doing. Are we talking only about the first of my ideas above, or do you dissappove of all of them?

I have to say all of them. I echo what many have already said: specifically targeting him is NOT going to solve the problem. The issue today is social, not mechanical. Therefore, a game mechanics approach simply represents hurdles for your friend to jump through. He will cheat more and bad feelings will inevitably develop.

If he really is a good friend of many years, then talk to him and treat him like an adult. Don't feel bad about it; you're helping him to become a better player. If he threatens to pull a Gone with the Wind, would you still think he's a good friend? On the other hand, if you don't want to ruin your friendship over a silly game, then let it be. I just hope this cheating behavior doesn't creep into other social activities such as splitting a bill. THEN you have a big problem.

WHO DARES TO DISTURB MY ONE AND HALF YEAR SLUMBER!?

A huge +1

Josh M. wrote:

The BBEG boss fight turned into the party beating down a defenseless old lady(cleric was elderly and female).

So, that's when you look at your players and say "you know, you guys are right--that's stupid. She doesn't have that item." and continue the encounter without it. Because, really, no one with half a brain would carry such an obviously self-nerfing artifact, unless it were cursed or they'd just gotten it and didn't know yet what it did.

If that's what everyone do, then this thread wouldn't exist and I wouldn't be laughing at all. I support DM fiasco.

STATS
Str 12 +1
Dex 18 +4
Con 14 +2
Int 12 +1
Wis 12 +1
Cha 9 -1

I would lower INT to 10 (Rogues already get plenty of skills but you don't want to be STOOOOPID), lower CHA to 8 (or 7, if you're a power gamer) and use those points to bump CON or WIS.

HP:11

I hope this includes the +1 from favored class. HP is important for a melee rogue.

Fort:+2
Ref:+6
Will:+1

Traits:
Adopted(Gnome)
Animal Affinity

The weakness here is the fort and will saves. I would pick another trait to give one of them a +1. Or I would pick something that bumps my init.

Feats:
L1(Human):TWF
L1:Weapon Finesse
L2:Weapon Focus(Shortsword)
L4:Combat Reflexes?
L6:ITWF
L8:???
L10:???
L12:???

I agree with the first three feats, but not combat reflexes. My recommendations:

Defense - dodge, TWD (or have a friend caste shield), mobility, defensive combat training, toughness, iron will, great fortitude

Offense - improved initiative, outflanked (with a friend)

GEAR:
Mwk Studded Leather
2x Mwk Shortswords
Mwk Backpack(Carry more loot!)
Dagger
Mwk Thieves Tools
2X Spring-Loaded Wrist Sheaths(Draw as immediate action)
Silk Rope
4X Drow Poison
204 GP

Yes to the items above. I thought the spring-loaded wrist sheaths + drow poison is a nice touch.

Right now the magic items I'm working toward getting are a Cloak of Elvenkind,Goggles of Night,and +1 Shortswords.I roleplay him as a shadowy killer that strikes from the darkness.

If shadowy killer if your theme, then cloak of elvenkind make sense, but I think adding the shadow (or whatever it's called) magic property to ur armor would be better. I would get a cloak of resistance for the shoulder.

Goggles of Night is a must have. I would get the best +X shortsword u can afford w/out adding other qualities to it (unless it's holy and u expect to fight all evil opponents). If u do end up with tons of gold, +1 shortswords of speed would be nice, but it's really easier to have ur wizard caste haste on you. I would eventually get the +4 belt to CON & DEX. Boots of Springing & Jumping (correct name?) is necessary since you move at 1/2 speed when acrobating.

To be a massive dmg dealing machine, look at the Scout and Swashbuckler archtypes, which allows u to deal SN in different ways and give you an extra feat. You can also multiclass into fighter for more sturdiness + feats, but that's another topic.

Also, if you've got new players (mostly), a good thing to do might be to involve more experienced players. That's hard, but a good part of tactics and game mechanics aren't obvious. You can't read the book and inherently realize some of the sneaky ways to position your PC, or to combine spells, or feats, or, or, or. Having a couple experienced players "show off" and help guide takes the load off your shoulders while giving examples of what works and what doesn't.

I think ultimately it comes down to your players wanting to get better. I am currently in a game that started off with 2 experienced gamers and 3 newbies. After 8 levels of "showing off" + DM assistance, 1 of the newbie is now trending toward average while the other 2 remained relatively inexperienced. The difference is that the 1 who got better really cared while the other 2 I feel just like show up and hit things.

So I say:
1. Explain to your players what your expectations are. They aren't going to be able to read your mind and understand how you feel w/out you telling them. If they care about your game, they'll try to improve with your help.

2. If things don't get better, recruit new people that you know are experienced and form a new, experienced group. If you don't have time to do two groups at once, take your beginner group to a certain point then end it.

Sorry if the point 2 sounds a bit harsh. Please understand that in no way am I saying your casual gamers aren't worth your time; there are other ways to stay connected with them in RL. But if an experienced group is what you're looking for, it is often easier to find the right people instead of trying to change someone. Life is too short to be not playing the kind of game you enjoy. Good luck!

I think it's for balance issues. According to the wealth by lvl table, you would hit $2K in the middle of 2nd to 3rd lvl. A +1d6 to attack at that point might be a bit unbalanced at that point (esp in the hand of a heavy dmg dealer).

I think the best solution is to find the weapon in your loot. My friends and I have a system where you can claim an item in the loot for 1/2 it's market price. This way, you'll be able to buy a +1 flaming by lvl 5, where a +1d6 die of dmg would have an impact, but not too much.

To be honest, our relationship did cause a rift in that group. One of my ex-boyfriends was part of that group, and though he had dumped me over half a year ago and had a girlfriend, my new relationship made him insanely jealous. He constantly accused my boyfriend of talking about him behind his back (which we didn't do, because we were much too busy talking about Battlestar Galactica), and demanded that we sit apart during game so as not to force our relationship down everyone's throat.

His behavior escalated into spying on me and breaking into my room, so yeah, I left that gaming group.

The insanely jealous part I can understand. The breaking and entering part? Ridiculous! I would demand that the current bf take care of the ex mortal combat style.

As per the title, can you do a swift action and immediate action in the same round?

The rules says:

"In a normal round, you can perform a standard action and a move action, or you can perform a full-round action. You can also perform one swift action and one or more free actions."

Also:

"An immediate action is very similar to a swift action, but can be performed at any time—even if it's not your turn."

The context of my question is:

Can a bard, after he has used arcane strike (swift action), use saving finale (immediate action)?

As the title says, I am wondering if the +1 to atk and dmg rolls from PBS applies to scorching rays, for example.

dotting!

1)Life's too short to put up with this jerk.

This.

Wilhem wrote:

UMD

Seriously? That's a lot of wands that don't take advantage of his caster level.

*shrug, obtaining spells outside of one's spell list, by RAW, is never meant to be easy or efficient. If you care about caster level then you can use UMD on scrolls, but the DC is much harder compared to using wands and you might have to make 2 checks.

UMD

Why don't everyone just house rule their version of tripping in their own games? I don't see a point on reviving this argument since neither side has been able to convince the other that they are absolutely right.

Dotting.

Does Exquisite Accompaniment works with bard feats such as Lingering Performance or Saving Finale?

Exquisite Accompaniment:

"You create a phantom instrument, a glowing construct of magic in the form of a portable musical instrument of your choice. The instrument floats beside you, moving as you move (even if you teleport). It cannot be damaged, but can be dispelled. The instrument plays as you direct, and as long as it plays, you do not have to expend rounds of bardic performance from your daily allotment to maintain an effect. Activating a bardic performance or switching to a new effect still costs a round of your overall bardic performances per day."

Linger Performance:

"The bonuses and penalties from your bardic performance continue for 2 rounds after you cease performing. Any other requirement, such as range or specific conditions, must still be met for the effect to continue. If you begin a new bardic performance during this time, the effects of the previous performance immediately cease."

Saving Finale:

"You must have a bardic performance in effect to cast this spell. With a flourish, you can immediately end your bardic performance when a creature within range affected by your bardic performance fails a saving throw, allowing the subject to immediately reroll the failed saving throw."

On one hand, the feats implied that you should be performing, not your instrument. On the other, the instrument pretty much plays for you and you are spending your bardic performance rounds to start it. So does it work with these feats? Thanks for the responses in advance.

Casting cloudkill + quickened resilient sphere might do the trick maybe.

It says you can breathe normally inside the sphere, so that might indicate it doesn't really block gas, so it might not trap the cloudkill at all.
It would block you casting it inside, obviously, but if you cast the cloudkill first, it might just move out normally.

This interpretation is pretty creative, but I am not sure being allowed to breath translates to the sphere doesn't block gas. It could just mean that you can breath the air that's trapped inside with you. Thanks for that thought though!

So aside from casting Cloudkill BEFORE the sphere, are there other creative ways to trap targets in the poison gas? Perhaps spiked pit then cloudkill...

Can I combine Resilient Sphere and Cloudkill into a prison of poisonous gas?

Resilient Sphere says "the sphere functions as a wall of force."

Wall of Force has this paragraph:

"Breath weapons and spells cannot pass through a wall of force in either direction, although dimension door, teleport, and similar effects can bypass the barrier. It blocks ethereal creatures as well as material ones (though ethereal creatures can usually circumvent the wall by going around it, through material floors and ceilings). Gaze attacks can operate through a wall of force."

My GM says he think to cast Cloudkill inside the sphere, the spell has to pass through the sphere first. I believe since it's a conjuration spell, you can literally just make the gas appear inside the sphere. Thoughts and opinions?

Along the same thoughts, can you summon creatures/swarms inside the sphere as well?

Don't forget to use scrolls and wands for spells that are on your SPELL LIST but are not your KNOWN SPELLS.

With a good CHA and decent investment in UMD, you will eventually (at high lvl) be able to consistently cast spells outside the sorc/wiz spell list. That's something a sorcerer is actually good at.

From an optimization perspective I would avoid picking a "theme". A sorcerer's limited spells known means you need to avoid doubling up on spells that accomplish the same thing. Avoid redundancy, you don't need wall of stone, ice, fire, or fireball, lightning bolt, magic missle, scorching ray, etc.

My list @ 6 would probably look like the following (with favored class bonuses) in no particular order and add blood line spells to flavor:

1: Color Spray, Grease, Silent Image, Obscuring Mist, Enlarge Person

2: Invisibility, Web, Scorching Ray

3: Haste

Don't forget Black Tentacles. And you might want to swap out color spray at higher lvl.

Here's a guide that Ogre wrote on spell selection.

Ogre's Guide to Sorcerer Spell Selection

I have never played a sorcerer, but a quick glance tell me that the Arcane bloodline has potential and the Stormborn bloodline is pretty flavorful.

For traits, I recommend Magical Lineage and/or Gifted Adept.

For full casters in general, I recommend jacking the initiative so you can unleash your magical might FIRST.

Let's it for now. Good luck!

p.s. don't forget to check out the Ultimate Magic

Wilhem wrote:

I am patiently waiting for 5/18 as well. Alas...

Don't mean to thread jack, but will bits and pieces of Ultimate Magic eventually make it onto srd? I noticed some mechanics from the Inner Sea book started to appear, but don't know if Ultimate Magic or Combat will be included.

Even if it does, I imagine it will won't be for a LONG time.

Work Area for Ultimate Magic.

Apparently this will change with the processing of new information.

Appreciated!

He appears to be literally saying that but effectivelysaying the opposite.

The way I actually read that ruling is that "you can make an unarmed trip attempt even when holding a non-trip weapon in your hand" -- because he says that without the trip property you can't add any of the advantages of the weapon to your trip maneuver. Since there's no mechanical difference between tripping unarmed and tripping with a longsword, calling it "tripping with a longsword" is really a misnomer.
And, since a non-trip weapon doesn't help your trip attempt in any way, I don't think a non-trip reach weapon even lets you trip non-adjacent opponents.

Agree with all your points except the last sentence. Taking Sean's entire second paragraph into account, it is clear that he is trying to convey there is no STATISTICAL difference btw tripping with a +5 long sword vs. unarmed. He did not contradict what he claimed in the first paragraph, that you can execute a trip combat maneuver with any weapon.

Here's a question of my own. Normally, if your trip maneuver fails by 10 or more, you are knocked prone instead. Does this penalty applies when you use a reach weapon to trip a non-adjacent opponent? I imagine that it does, but want to hear the opinions of others.

Instead of reading through a myriad of threads, pouring over interpretations and interpretations of interpretations, here is an official answer from Sean K Reynolds, Developer, on 03/15/11.

OFFICIAL RULING ON TRIP WEAPONS

The last paragraph that compares tripping between a +5 whip and a +5 long sword signifies that you can trip with all weapons.

Do I agree with this ruling? No. Is this as official as it gets? Yes.

I am patiently waiting for 5/18 as well. Alas...

Don't mean to thread jack, but will bits and pieces of Ultimate Magic eventually make it onto srd? I noticed some mechanics from the Inner Sea book started to appear, but don't know if Ultimate Magic or Combat will be included.

Even if it does, I imagine it will won't be for a LONG time.

One option is to get a MW alchemical silver blade (560), a MW cold iron blade (460), and an adamantine blade (3080). You also need a ranged weapon (MW Composite Longbow 1, 500). Throw in some mundane weapons (a longsword to use with a shield, and a dagger).

I would make the +3 weapon adamantine and stick with silver sheen. As for mundane weapons, I would get a short sword and 2 daggers. If you see a range weapon as being very useful, combo it with the magic oil.

So:

18380 +3 elven curved blade
5650 +2 full plate
5000 dusty rose prism ioun stone (+1 insight AC)
4000 +2 cloak of resistance
4000 +2 belt of strength
2000 +1 RoP
2000 +1 amulet of natural armor

Everything else on this list make sense, minus the ioun stone. I think 5K for 1 AC is too expensive. I recommend getting gloves of dueling instead, which increases your weapon training bonus by +2. What is RoP?

+2 full plate is pretty good, but base on the campaign, you might get plenty of cool full plates from dead enemies (I got a +3 Celestial Full Plate one time). If that's the case, you might want to stick with regular full plate until you can snag a better one from your victim. Just a thought.

WizardlyWizard wrote:

My DM said there was an official errata that limited the number of pearls of power a character could use per day. I can't find this anywhere.

Does anyone know if this is true, and if so could you provide a link?

My DM specifically believes it is 1 pearl/spell level/day now. If it is houserule fine, but he has stated it is official errata and I'd like the clarification if possible.

Hateful lies designed by the Man to keep players down. Fight the power, player.

+1 Bring the system down brother!

I'd reconsider your allotment of points, with a little bit of shuffling you can get (after the +4 Belt of Giant Strength) something like:

Str 20 (base 15, +1 at level 8, +4 from the belt)
Dex 16 (base 14, +2 racial)
Con 14 (base 15, -2 racial, +1 at level 4)
Int 13 (base 11, +2 racial)
Wis 12
Cha 8

These stats are much better, although WIS is still a bit lower than I would prefer. Maybe take 3 points away from INT and add that to WIS? You'll get an average INT of 10 (base 8, +2 racial) and a higher WIS. Is there a compelling reason to have 13 INT (like for feat qualification)?

Wilhem wrote:

I am not sold on high DEX builds b/c I found that at high level, the BBEG can pretty much hit anything.

This is a bit of a misnomer. There are levels where enemy/party ACs are low with respect to corresponding hitrolls. But these pass.

It can lead to parties that are VERY easy to hit which if taken into account can really hose them.

-James

I should have clarified that I don't believe in high DEX builds for FIGHTER and instead think it's more practical to simply slap on full plate. Unless you retain armor training (or get mithril full plate), then the AC from armor + DEX will complement each other nicely. However, for a fighter, I would not retain DEX at the expense at CON or WIS.

Another clarification is that while you can raise your AC high enough so that the mooks will have a hard time, the BBEG most often than not can always hit you, at least in my experience, especially at high level. I did not mean to suggest DEX is unimportant, period.

On a side note, how heavily invested are you in playing an elf? If not so invested, then I recommend switching to dwarf. You get:

- +2 to CON + WIS (exactly the 2 stats u need to survive)
- +2 racial will save against poison, spells & spell-like abilities (+4 if you get take the steel soul feat)
- +4 to CBD against bullrush and trip
- darkvision (need to see to survive)

Sure you're speed is reduced to 20 ft, but all the defensive bonuses you receive far outweighs a reduction of 10 ft in speed, especially if you expect to be hasted.

I am not sold on high DEX builds b/c I found that at high level, the BBEG can pretty much hit anything. Might as well sink ur ability points into stats that will always serve you (CON for HP and fort save, WIS for will save) instead of DEX. Unless you're a 2-weapon fighter, you'll get very little mileage out of high DEX (your hp will soak up any dmg you take from a failed ref save). The exception is initiative (mitigate with improved initiative) and maybe acrobatics. Personally, as a high dmg dealer, the most efficient thing to do is to slap on full plate and execute full attacks (instead of bouncing around with acrobatics). Failing that, your casters can either flush them out with magic or just take care of things on their own.

Wilhem wrote:

Switch DEX with CON. Dump CHA to bump WIS. I don't care how badass you are. 1 failed will save and it's GAME OVER.

It's an elf. Switching Con and Dex would cost him 7 additional build points.

Then I recommend getting a stat boosting item to increase CON. Low HP also quickly leads to GAME OVER, especially if you're a frontliner. Dump favored class bonuses into HP and leave things outside of combat to your skill monkey.

Switch DEX with CON. Dump CHA to bump WIS. I don't care how badass you are. 1 failed will save and it's GAME OVER. In a similar vein, get a cloak of resistance +5 ASAP.

Going first.

It's interesting that Lingering Spell does NOT affect creatures already in the spell's radius, but those who enter its area of effect on the 2nd round. If it had been the other way around, I would have recommended you to take it. Nothing like a spell that traps the enemies in an area (such as wall of force) combo with a fireball that does dmg for 2 rounds.

Base on experience, I would pick Improved Initiative as soon as possible. Spells with a decent dmg radius (and control spells too) work better when you go FIRST instead of later, when the baddies moved into melee range with your party. Therefore, I would pick up great spell focus later.

I also think that since you're an elf, you don't need to pick up greater spell penetration. Spell penetration by itself should be enough.

I would drop Still Spell and Lingering Spell. They just don't seem like metamagic feats that work very well with fireball.

Lastly, I know you're married to Fireball, but you should consider having Freezing Sphere as your concubine. She's just like fireball, except she caps at 15d6 and doubles the radius. Sure it's a higher level spell so you won't be able to fit as many metamagic feats on it vs. Fireball, but I think you'll be surprised at how infrequent you'll be casting your widened dazed quickened selective fireball. I think selective freezing sphere will get the job done most of the time.

Good luck!

Wilhem wrote:

I use heighten spell quite a bit. Sometimes I can't find a good spell at a certain level, so I just "promote" one of my existing spells to fill in the gap, especially if they are control spells that relies heavily on their saves. Heighten web is a good one and so is heighten grease. I think I might also heighten spiked pit instead of getting acid pit (which destroys the loot)...

I imagine you're a spontaneous caster? I can't do this as a wizard. D:

My character is actually a wizard and I use heightened versions of low level spells quite a bit. IMO, being able to grease the BBEG's weapon out of his hand is great at any level.

I use heighten spell quite a bit. Sometimes I can't find a good spell at a certain level, so I just "promote" one of my existing spells to fill in the gap, especially if they are control spells that relies heavily on their saves. Heighten web is a good one and so is heighten grease. I think I might also heighten spiked pit instead of getting acid pit (which destroys the loot)...

Do Lingering Performance and Saving Finale work together? More specifically, does Saving Finale requires the ending of a performance or merely the ending of a performance's EFFECT?

The language of Saving Finale is ambiguous and can be interpreted both ways:

"You must have a bardic performance in effect to cast this spell. With a flourish, you can immediately end your bardic performance when a creature within range affected by your bardic performance fails a saving throw, allowing the subject to immediately reroll the failed saving throw."

Lingering Performance is a feat that prolongs the effect of bardic performance after the performance has been ended:

[abbreviated version) "The bonuses and penalties from your bardic performance continue for 2 rounds after you cease performing."

Do these feat work together? Thanks in advance for the responses.

I am currently playing in a wizard. Here are my opinions:

1. Toughness as a feat

Getting extra hp from Toughness is not a decision I would make. You wizard has a decent CON and since he is not a front liner, high hp should not be a priority for him. In fact, what is more important for him is to go first so he can establish control with grease or color spray. Therefore, I recommend taking Improved Initiative as soon as possible.

Some of the other choices, such as spell focus, are not bad either. Keep in mind that at higher levels you'll need spell penetration. The need will be offset for a while by your elf's racial ability to penetrate SR, but eventually you'll need it.

2. Necromancy vs. Abjuration

I'll have to disagree with some of the other posters here. I found a lot of abjuration spells, especially those related to energy protection, to be very situational. Instead of memorizing them as standard spells, I would buy/craft scrolls (no penalty on crafting scrolls of spells from opposing schools). There are some good abjuration spells such as protection from evil and dispel magic, but again, nothing some scrolls or a wand could not handle.

Necromancy, on the hand, has some hidden gems. I have found that ray of enfeeblement, blindness/deafness, boneshatter, and most important of all, enervation, had consistent impact in my game. I cannot stress the importance of enervation. It synergizes with all your spells that have a save, making even low level spells (such as grease) potent weapons.

3. Longbow

A great call, especially at low level when ur spells are limited.

Lastly, I would recommend a bonded object such as a ring or amulate. I know that Treantmonk strongly recommended against it, but an extra spell a day from your spellbook (as long as it's not from ur opposed school) is no joke. It has saved my char's ass a few times.

Good luck and have fun!

Quote:

Now you have me baffled.

You have a problem with this players last character not getting along well with the group, and you have developed his new characters backstory as he was blacklisted by sailors (not the most ruly bunch, traditionally) for being to unruly for them?

This should all end very well... :-/

And I understand, I can see you smaking the side of your head saying, WTF?

However I try to make a game that is fun for all, granted the majority rule. I am, as well as others of our group, are trying to get this player to 'work' with us.

However I can see this in end not working out. I'm a nice person and well honestly that carries over to the game as well. Except when i'm a PC and the rogue at that! :D

But back to the player, after seeing several posts on this thread and thinking about it that much more I am becoming more acceptable to this being a player issue and one that might not go away; unless I talk it bluntly to the player or we as a group ask him to leave.

+1 I am glad that you recognized this is a personality problem instead of delving into the never-ending discussion of "right" or "wrong". When u do discuss it with that player, make sure that he understands it's nothing personal. Some people are just unaware of how their actions impact the rest of the group and it take a talk for them to get it. You yourself should also understand that not everyone mesh well together. If he keeps doing things that ruin the group's fun/in contrary to the group's style, then the best thing to do is ask him to leave. Good luck!

This thread reminds me of those "send this to 20 friends or your balls will spontaneously fall off" e-mails.

I once gamed with a psychopath who would blackmail people into hanging out with her, and used gaming as an excuse to spy on people.

We've all met some crazy people that do some crazy stuff, but this girl was so bad all we could was back away and ban her from any further contact with any of us. Having 5 different fully fleshed out online personalities(with pictures, comments from the other "personalities" with full conversations, etc) was just the tip of the iceberg for this psycho.

Wow, just...wow.

I think alignment is a bit of a red herring in this case. The real issue is that the PC is being a dick. If it were my paladin PC in a situation like that, he would probably tell the other PC to leave the party (if the rest of the party sided with the paladin) or he would leave the party himself and I would create a new, less honourable PC (if the rest of the party sided with the other PC).

I dislike the idea that you can't kick a jerk out of your party just because he has the letters "PC" tattooed on his forehead.

+1 I think the OP is going to have other problems down the line with this player, regardless of alignment or situation. You can argue all day about the def of good vs. evil, lawful vs. chaos, but the game ultimately resolves around a group of people COOPERATING to achieve a common goal. That is the root of the OP's problem. Don't be distracted by alignment fluff.

Note that 'Telekinetic Fist' is rubbish... look at the Transmutation sub-schools in the APG for better options. Shapechange if you're looking to use those high (for a Wizard) physical Ability Scores to do the whole 'melee Wizard' thing, or Enhancement for general and very nice extra boosty-ness.

+1, but I'll go with enhancement over shapechange. Shapechange doesn't get you the beastshape/elemental body spells sooner and ultimately what you really want is form of the dragon, which any wizard can take. I say use the enhancement powers to buff yourself then charge into melee with beast shape. It's something different than being the standard artillery.

As for forbidden schools, as a beast shape wizard I would drop divination (no need for true strike if you're fighting tooth and claw) and necromancy.

According to 2E Forgotten Realms, Dwarves sometimes would go and find a wife of another race (human) to help their depleted and interbred gene pool. The resulting half-dwarfs were just like dwarfs, except 6-8 inches taller. By the time they interbred back with dwarfs, the next generation had no outward indication that they were not a fully blooded dwarf whatsoever. I always thought that was funny, that dwarven genes were all so dominant, but I have an odd sense of humor sometimes.

You can find the information in the complete dwarven handbook for forgotten realms for 2E in a more complete and accurate fashion, as I am going from memory on this one.

I actually like this explanation quite a lot, even though it's from FR. It cleverly explains how an entire race is able to coexists with many other races, yet never produce (or hides very well) any halfbreed.

Did they give any stats on the half-dwarfs?

Dwarves don't have the right parts. They breed with their hair and beards... like Na'vi.

But my dragon age dwarf...

Having to persuade a character to spend gold in general means whatever you're throwing at them simply isn't challenging enough. A simple solution is make the campaign more gritty. When you're +1 weapon isn't doing it anymore, it's time to cash in the winnings and bring out the big gun.

As for your queen's party scenario, the players need to have an ideal that spending money is like an investment. Money spent now will transform into goodies for later. Now the goodies must be something they appreciate. A good weapon for the hack and slasher, tomes that gives extra spells/skill points to the gandalf wannabe, and a title/territory to the vain. Find out what they want and use it to make them spend.

SKULLCRUSHA wrote:

making a 10th level fighter, and am debating about using cleave and great cleave.

See if your DM will remove the targets must be adjacent requirement.

If so then cleave becomes useful, with it then it rarely will come up.

-James

+1 That adjacent rule really nerfed cleave. Power Attack (with a 2 handed weapon) is now more important than ever, especially with Furious Focus.

A level progression is harder to recommend for a Witch since most of her powers are derived from hexes and spells. Below are what I thought are relevant to the queen in Snow White.

Hex (aside from the 2 you already mentioned)
- Charm hex - perfect for the "Mirror, mirror on the wall / Who in the land is fairest of all" type
- Disguise hex - fits into where she disguises herself to kill Snow White.

Spells:

1st lvl
- Beguiling Gift - a poison apple, perhaps?
- Charm Person
- Command - fits into the arrogant theme
- Sleep
- Summon Monster I - why fight when others can do it for u?

2nd lvl
- Alter Self
- Enthrall
- Fog Cloud - smoke and mirrors, why not?
- Hold Person

I mostly stuck with charming and command spells. Alternatively, you can also invest in spells that debuff (weakens) your opponent, such as ray of enfeeblement or Pox Pustules (how dare you be more beautiful than I am!).

Patron
- Trickery - There's some good stuff in there. Transformation sounds cool, but you kind of don't want to get into melee. Up to you.

Hope this helps. Good luck with that queen!

I think the reason there are no half-halflings/dwarves/etc. is that the pairings happen so rarely that it's not plausible for them to be playable. Considering that the match up between a dwarf and human in and of itself would be incredibly rare, the chance of such a match up producing children would be even rarer, so much so as to be a cosmic event :P. Half celestials would be more common than half dwarves which is why they're at least mentioned in the bestiary.

Is there an good explanation on why a dwarf-human pairing is more rare than, let's say an elf-human pairing? Both races are ancient, with their "sacred bloodlines" that must not be tainted. Sure Dwarves can be insular, but elves are often depicted as the same. One can argue that you'll see more dwarves-human interactions since both races like to trade with each other. So how come there are no half-dwarves?

As for half-celestials, now we're crossing into divine territory. Is mating between humans and beings of another plane that common :p More common than pairing of beings that you're likely to see more often? Come on...