twells's page

Lord Lupus the Grey wrote:

Em, I'm not saying, that fireball is the best for destroying a ship.

I'm just asking about it because it's damage is greater, than most siege engines at all, a d it's energy is FIRE vs WOOD.
Yes, I know, that the ship is a tough thing, but "this is magic": damage like from cannon, but with radius of 20ft. And it defenitly will kill some crew, destroy sails and start the fire + will deal some damage to the ship's body. I'm even not talking about black powder on board.

I'm just saying, that ship itself is not only the wooden body. And if you kill the crew - the ship is also dead. And if there is a fire on ship, it's not a 2d6 per round, it must be much destructive according to 360 hp of ship.

Thanks for help.

We will just use mass combat rules for spellcasting bonus -_-

First, Fireball is NOT like a cannon. Most of the damage from a cannon ball is physical damage from shrapnel. Fireball is just a brief explosion of energy.

Yes, in the real world a Fireball would set the ship on fire but in the real world a Fireball would set your clothing on fire too but you don't seem to be arguing for characters to be set on fire. In the real world a person hit by a fireball would be covered in 3rd degree burns and would find it difficult to even move much less continue fighting but I expect you don't want that to be emulated in the game.

In the real world, a brief conflagration of unconstrained fire like a fireball might not be enough to even light the rope or clothing on fire. Rope and cloth would take a somewhat sustained infusion of thermal energy to ignite, even if perfectly dry, which is not likely in the damp environment on a body of water.

Fregod99 completely ninja'd my post - full crit backstab on 20 mins of writing. Well done.

But essentially, what he said.

What everyone else has said, with a couple of extra items ...

Dragons are very long lived, intelligent, magical, and typically wealthy.

They will / should have minions: They will have a network of spies to inform them of various powers entering their domain. I had a dragon who had the local thieves guilds on retainer. They often have tribes of minions worshiping them (think kobolds, lizardmen, etc.) These minions, while not usually a problem for PCs, provide an area of notification for the dragon. Plus, a dragon is egotistical enough not to value these minions and through them away just to drain the PCs of resources.

They are magical, and use magic: They know remote viewing spells, and use them. They have magical items, and use them. They have had the time to hire spellcasters to make defensive spells permanent.

They are / should be ABSOLUTE masters of their lair: They have had YEARS to prepare. All the terrain should be designed in their favor. Appropriate protections should be in place to protect them: dimensional anchors, anti-magic, magic traps, squeeze points for breath weapons, lead-lines walls and doors, finishes which prevent movement through them, etc.

They are patient and devious. They have no issue with picking off players one by one. If a plan of theirs doesn't work, they have years to take revenge.

The party I ran against a dragon BBEG was unable to kill him in the initial encounter before he teleported out. The dragon seethed, and he harassed them for MANY adventures before finally taking his opportunity for revenge. He took pleasure in making their life hell. Sent assassins after them. Contracted hags to send them nightmares. Plagued them with illusions that made them questions of what was real vs. not.

The fear and respect for the dragon came as they became afraid to take on a challenges because he might show up to mess with them. It was great!

If I had run this as a 5-on-1 encounter, they would have destroyed him without the resulting fear and loathing.

The continuing advances from aging would only be by GM interpretation, as it does not appear to be RAW. I could not find anything that says you mental stats "reset" with each new reincarnation or resurrection.

Hello collective brain trust!

Given the errata which reduced the number of times Consume Spells and Consume Magic Items could be used per day (yes, I know it should have been 3 + CHA mod, but we are not here to argue that), I have been searching for ways to increase the number of points in my arcane reservoir. I have an Occultist Arcanist in PFS that I love to play and am not giving him up. Luckily, I did not dump CHA, so sitting at a 14 CHA, I am not in too bad shape.

So here are the ways I can see of increasing the points in the arcane reservoir:

Exploits:

Consume Spells: Add points equal to a spell clot given up for the day. Max use: CHA mod (min 1). Commentary: Most useful way to add points, but nerfed by errata. Not contingent upon actions by others.

Consume Magic Items: Add points equal to 1/2 the level of the spell contained in the item. Only spell greater than 1st count. Max use: CHA mod (min 1). Commentary: Useful way to add points, but nerfed by errata. Not contingent upon actions by others. Costs wealth.

Greater Exploits:

Counter Drain: 1 point per three spell levels on a successful counterspell. Only spells greater than 2nd count. Commentary: Very conditional source of points. Requires investment in the counterspelling exploits. Arguably, counterspelling is not the most efficient use of exploits and actions, although the arcanist seems to do it best.

Resistance Drain: End spell resistance to gain ½ point per spell level of a successfully resisted spell. Commentary: Very conditional source of points. Requires investment in Spell Resistance and Greater Spell Resistance, not normally considered strong exploits.

Siphon Spell: When using greater spell disruption, if the caster level of the spell is equal to or higher than that of the arcanist, and the DC of the dispel check by 5 or more, adds 1 point. If exceeds check by 10 or more, adds 2 points. Commentary: Very conditional source of points. Requires spell disruption and greater spell disruption exploit to select this exploit.

Feats:

Extra Reservoir: +3 points in arcane reservoir, and the max number of points increases by that amount. Commentary: Solid choice. Can optionally be retrained at higher levels when points are more available.

Race:

Gnome: Gain 1/6 point per level of favored class bonus. Commentary: You have to be a Gnome. 1/6 is not that impressive.

Are there any other items, tricks, traits or features which could assist in getting more points? This is my question to you.

Hello gaming world,

If I could impose upon your goodwill, I would like to tap your collective experience for some advise.

The Question is this: Is there any way to get Dex in place of Str for both to-hit AND damage for a Kensai wielding a katana?

I am not really interested in a scimitar for the Dervish Dance route, as I am pretty fixed on using a katana for flavor reasons. At most, I would consider downsizing to the wakazashi.

I could do a level dip if needed, but would prefer to stay single-classed.

Although my search foo is not perfect, I have investigated slashing grace as getting halfway to the prize.

Its a PFS build, so I've got that going for me.

Any help you can render would be most appreciated.

Sorcerer > Wizard as casting stat is based on CHA, hence said sorcerer will have much better luck with the opposite-sex, which is the true measure of power.

My logic is flawless ... you lose.

I have played a few casters in PFS. I stated them all out a 1st level. None of them died. None of them ha anything special at frist level to survive other than the normal full-caster stuff. This was all before re-training was allowed at second level.

Survivability is about putting yourself in the right position and not having some bad luck - not about stacking a first level character with a bunch of tools just to survive first level. Besides, any close calls are good character-builders in developing background and attitude.

Just make sure to get some healing in terms of a potion after the first adventure, and/or a wand of CLW after the second. Everything else is gravy.

I wold rule that it would work, because of this statement:

"Swarms made up of Diminutive or Fine creatures are susceptible to high winds, such as those created by a gust of wind spell. For purposes of determining the effects of wind on a swarm, treat the swarm as a creature of the same size as its constituent creatures."

I do not see why cloudkill would not work (AOE that can easily kill most diminutive/fine creatures in 6 secs), while gust of wind would, other than the fact that RAW, that is what it says.

Again, my $0.02.

I sounded like an encounter that would be formative in the development of a character. Having your behind handed to you every so often keeps the thrill relevant.

I had a character who was beaten up so bad in his early adventuring days by a huge earth elemental that even at level twelve, I fear them as a player. Every time they are summoned, I panic a little until they actually hit me ... then I see that my memory of that beating was much harsher than the actual beating.

Dragons can be tough, especially if they either have terrain advantages (think black dragon in a swamp or bog where all movements is restricted except his) or ability to use their aerial mobility. The last is especially true for huge or larger dragons with their fly-by attacks. It sounds like you put yours in a cave where they are confined and at their weakest. A challenging encounter, but not too tough.

Since you gave them an out, I would say you have done everything a good GM does for his players.

While battlefield control spells can be good, a poorly placed one REALLY will frustrate your primary damage dealers and unnecessarily extend combat time. Just keep this in mind.

I'd say ignore the haters and play what you want. I have a Barb/Monk/DD that I love to play and could care less if someone calls cheese.

One man's cheese is another's sandwich garnish.

Here's an odd tactic.

Fighting a creature with a bunch of Mirror Images up...
Close your eyes before you swing. You now have a 50% miss chance, rather than a 1 in X of hitting.

A useful tactic, but be prepared for a judge to rule that you are effectively blind for the rounds that you are "closing your eyes".

This may sound cliché, but I love dragons as antagonists. I play them to the top of my ability as a GM as the most cunning and capricious of opponents. I know they are not as powerful as a good chunk of the outsiders, but nothing seems to strike more fear into my players, or as much pride in the overcoming of a dragon encounter.

I had a party of players, naively, attempt to take out an old black dragon in his own swamp. They had defeated high CR level monsters and were quite confident that this would be only a minor challenge. They prepared well, but the dragon had minions and allies which alerted it to the party’s presence in its swamp. The dragon sent war parties of lizard men after the party to test heir strength and observe their tactics, identifying the melee crew and the spellcasters.

When the time for battle came, the dragon used minions to block / hinder the party’s movement. The dragon used the terrain to its advantage, using hit and run tactics from underwater and the air. The party was driven off after one of spellcasters was killed. The dragon then proceeded to harass them until they retreated from the swamp.

He held a grudge, and occasionally, just for fun, over the next few years sent assassins after the group, or hindered them in other ways. Eventually, the party finally killed him, and it was the most celebrated event for the players. We still talk about that dragon.

Slightly off of topic, but I just watched a "Mythbusters" episode where they used silver bullets. The silver bullets SUCKED, and could not even properly penetrate even close to lead or copper.

Not back to your regularly scheduled diatribe.

Question is, why do you want the party to take it out in one round? Dragons are supposed to be pretty terrifying. Player's might get the wrong idea about dragons if the encounter is too easy. Even a young one should be though of as a potential risk – especially if you do not kill it.

I personally play dragons with all the cunning I can muster as a GM. They are very perceptive and intelligent enough to know of their action-economy weakness versus a player party. They will always play to their strengths, and flee to fight another day if they feel that they even COULD be bested. Of course, being particularly vengeful and capricious, they might take to stalking the party to make life hard for them. Wage a war of attrition in the swamp, forcing the party to use the resources against co-opted minions or animals. Killing pack animals while the players sleep. Harassing them so they are constantly fatigued. Using tactics to prevent spellcasters from regaining spells.

Just my 0.02.