Can't believe its been a year, Harlan. Gratz!
I'll just leave this here...
Wow! They finally did it... that will snuff half the forum rules threads! =)
Hah, yeah forgot to put that, we fly out on the 7th and return on the 16th. I can't believe it's already been a year, we're going to have some fun and relax.
GMNom- seeing as I've got a silver fist upgrade thanks to Paizo, would you mind if the amulet gave me claws instead for use against DR/slashing ?
That's fine.
....yeah, actually. That was a bit much, especially with the frustration of pretty much having all our actions shut down for a large number of rounds.
All I can say is, whew, I am glad she is dead and that's over.
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I've enjoyed this AP, but found the whole tower thing more than a little rail roady and just a PC screw. I'm all for a challenge, but really?
level 1- level drain to hose party ability
level 2- possible weapon destruction for more hosing
level 3- after the party finally gets up to speed against all the flying encounters, create a convoluted encounter to hose them again.
kinda weak, but there's got to be a clunker in there somewhere. I'm just ready to move on to the next book and see what Pett comes up with. He's one of my favorites : )
Agreed. That its out in the middle of nowhere where these are basically unfixable for several levels is just icing on the cake - I'm ready for Tian-Xia.
Also, LOTR Directors Cut marathon today at the cinema. Feel free to NPC both of me until tomorrow afternoon if I don't respond.
Huh, I knew the Katiyana fight would be a challenge, and I did tweak it from the printed version to enhance the crystal mechanic, but I never perceived it as a "PC screw". There were limits on flying, but could be overcome with patience and ingenuity (which you did), and overall it required teamwork... a couple folks had to do grindwork to enable one or two to fight, not just everyone bumrush and pound the baddie.
I can understand your point of view, but I like encounters that create different kinds of stress. I would never deliberately screw you guys!
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I can understand your point of view, but I like encounters that create different kinds of stress. I would never deliberately screw you guys!
Not a comment on you at all, GMNom. You're doing a fantastic job!
just player grousing about some design decisions that feel a little too contrived for this one little episode in an otherwise really awesome AP.
I just want to make it clear, I am totally enjoying the game. just a minor gripe. : )
Yeah, its cool... and I'm aware the chapter is very 'railroad-y', but that's a given since its a "go from here to there" adventure. I try to keep things spicy and interesting, though. =)
I sorta get the idea that we're supposed to feel that way. Halfway through our travel, middle of the polar ice cap ... we're tired and irritated and ready to be done. It's the right feeling, yeah?
Kinda stalled here... what's the plan?
Scroll:
Breastplate:
Headband:
Unholy Sumbol:
Scroll:
Breastplate:
Headband:
Unholy Symbol:
I'm here... was waiting on the group's decision RE: the crystal room. If you're leaving it, I'll press on with the caravan.
The impression I was under was that we wanted to rest and come back to it - at least, that was what Heng and Maeve wanted, Parity just wanted to leave it alone, Harlan's out, and Mal's being strangely quiet.
We should loot the diamonds for my restore spells. I don't have planes or I'd roll. Returning Sunday.
One reason I'd really like to have Mal make that identification roll. It gives us a better idea of what we might be up against. I've got a fair chunk of resources left since a lot of them weren't very useful against Katiyana, but not knowing how they might stack up here I can't make a very good call.
Typing up the rolls is a pain on the iPad but I have a wand of CLW we can use to top off any injured. Charges are on my sheet note used and I'll update later.
Sorry all, I have been very busy lately, I am retiring from the Navy and trieng to get everything ready by friday.
Congrats, squid!
Thank you.
'grats! I wish I could retire, even to just a new job.
Yeah, congrats on the retirement!
For everyone, things are pretty busy and hectic this time of year, so don't feel any (significant) pressure to post. I'm already finding it difficult to check/post regularly. We'll just keep moving at whatever pace works for the next couple weeks.
Happy Holidays, in advance! =)
Yeah, I turn 40 this month, but retiring from the military does not mean no more work. Just means you don't have to work so hard.
Congrats Mal. My mother retired from the Air Force after 23 years and now she's going to retire from her second job next year. I can't even imagine.
The first is that, well, it's the first time she's really had to face the idea of permanent consequences for herself. Sure, dying was always on the table, and she's been hurt, but that's not quite the same thing. (Actually, I think she has some genuine masochistic tendencies.)
The second is that this encounter was also the first time there's been a fight without any sort of good reason behind it. Katiyana wasn't doing this for any real reason Maeve could comprehend. The Five Storms want to rule the world, and even if Maeve doesn't grok why you'd want to it's at least something she can see where there's a reason they want it badly enough to fight, even to the death.
And the third is the energy drain itself. The two above would probably just have her depressed and thoughtful, but there's an actual force inside her that's twisting her up inside, and even if it won't actually go any further it's messing with her thought processes and removing some of the normal inhibition on acting on her anger. I know this isn't technically an effect of energy drain, but I do like to RP this kind of stuff if it comes up.
I honestly forgot that you all got energy drained until we got back to the camp. Bit there is a definite sense of weariness in general.
Indeed, good stuff Maeve! I have no major combat encounters planned for a bit... if you were waiting for a chance to RP with the NPCs or each other, now's a good time.
For the item identifications:
* headband of mental superiority +2 (Use Magic Device)
* scroll of cleanse
* +2 breastplate of light fortification
* Unholy symbol of Sithhud (has the properties of a periapt of health)
Hmmm, the headband is certainly nice for Maeve, I think I'll let others have a go at it first.
Also, considering retraining Crane Style to Archon Style, but I'm not sure how that would work with Maeve's increasing reliance on miss chances over AC for defense.
Parity would only use the Charisma bonus. Way better for Maeve.
Consider this formally asking: How would the following feats work with miss chances or other defenses (like Mirror Image)
You have trained thoroughly to protect your allies from harm, even if it means temporarily sacrificing your own safety in the process.
Prerequisites: Combat Expertise, Improved Unarmed Strike, base attack bonus +2 or monk level 2nd.
Benefit: While using this style, as a standard action, you can actively protect adjacent allies from a single opponent that you are currently adjacent to. This grants any adjacent allies a +2 dodge bonus to AC against that opponent's next melee attack (as long as that attack comes before the beginning of your next turn), but causes you to take a –2 penalty to AC against that opponent until your next turn. The dodge bonus persists even if your allies move away from you, but still only applies against attacks made by the opponent that you designated upon first using this ability.
Archon Diversion (Combat)
You are able to throw yourself in front of danger to protect your friends.
Prerequisites: Archon Style, Combat Expertise, Improved Unarmed Strike, base attack bonus +4 or monk level 4th.
Benefit: The penalty to AC for using Archon Style to grant nearby allies a bonus to AC against a single opponent decreases to –1, and you can spend a move action instead of a standard action to use this ability.
Once per round while using Archon Style, when you have at least one hand free, you can divert one melee weapon attack that would have struck an adjacent ally and take the blow in your ally's stead, using your own AC to determine whether the attack hits you. Whether or not a diverted attack actually hits you, the ally you protected can make an attack of opportunity against the diverted opponent. You expend no action to divert the attack, but you must be aware of it and must not be flat-footed.
You must declare that you are using this feat after your opponent has declared the target of its melee attack but before it makes its attack roll.
Archon Justice (Combat)
Your righteous indignation knows no bounds, and foes that attack your companions soon learn the error of their foolish ways.
Prerequisites: Archon Diversion, Archon Style, Combat Expertise, Improved Unarmed Strike, base attack bonus +8 or monk level 7th.
Benefit: You no longer take a penalty to AC for using Archon Style to grant nearby allies a bonus to AC against a single opponent, and you can spend a swift action instead of a move action to use this ability.
Whenever you take damage from using Archon Diversion to divert an opponent's attack toward yourself, any allies threatening your opponent can make an attack of opportunity against the diverted opponent.
o.O
Wow, that is really overpowered... I'm usually pretty open minded and accepting with the RAW, but this smells of poorly designed 3PP. I'm surprised it's in an official Pathfinder product, but they occasionally let a couple slip past the goalie.
The ability to immediately force one to seven AoOs, with no save or check, at essentially zero cost... I think that's ridiculous.
...wow, I didn't even see that on the last one. Actually, just the ability to move it down to a swift action and ending the AC penalty is easily worth a feat on its' own. I'd probably still take it if that were the case - One provoke from Diversion is plenty, I agree.
EDIT: Actually, I think I was also manually inserting the Crane Style requirement to be fighting defensively - I would accept that this also requires you to be using CE as well as the Archon Style itself - pretty much guarantees you're not hitting anything while you're using it.
For example, the Order of the Lion cavalier has a similar ability:
Notable differences... 15th level required vs 7th for the style; no AoOs of any kind. It does mention the loss of concealment bonuses also.
I did a quick search on the forums, but I didn't find any related threads. I'm surprised no one has picked up on this. Am I missing something?
One thing you're missing is that the Archon Style is against a single opponent whom everyone to benefit is in melee against - it doesn't help if people aren't standing right up close to them. It also only works on melee abilities.
I think the most honest comparison here is the Crane Style feats, because it's essentially an inverted version of that - Crane Style has most of the same benefits, but giving them to others instead of taking them yourself, and at the cost of not attacking at all or only getting a single attack per round until Archon Justice - at which point it's still a swift action which can still be quite valuable given the Immediate Action economy involved.
Really, the only one that seems overpowered even on reflection is Archon Justice, which seems to have just been tossed in there for the sake of having a third feat.