True, but there have been many examples of casters "dominating" the beastmass.
If the Fighter gets past the Pit Fiend, it could dominate the field too, well up until the Big-T, but for intent and purpose, knocking him down a few times might be considered a win.
Could a straight vanilla rogue do the challenge without custom magic items? I know a ninja could do this if they have their capstone ability, I'm trying to come up with different builds for this beastmass and the other one I'm trying to do.
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Straight vanilla rogue... Hmmm...
Sap Master + Shatter Defenses would deal a lot of damage, 20d6+20 per hit, with none of the monsters being immune to intimidate (though the shoggoth would be immune to SA). It boils down to: Can the rogue 1 round the tarrasque? Can he 1 round the Pit Fiend (and win initiative)? Can he get close enough to the gold dragon? Can he survive against all of the attacks of the shoggoth?
If he can say yes to those, he has a really reasonable chance.
One hit in a surprise round, unless the rogue has the feat (cannot recall the name at the moment) to make two attacks as a standard action, then he could do that in his surprise rounds.
the dragons and solar could give the rogue the most trouble, since they will have faster fly speeds. If the rogue goes that route.
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Shatter defenses makes the opponent flat footed to your attacks, so sap master would work with that. The Solar won't be much of an issue, due to the surprise round (get Sandals of Quick Reaction, you now have both a move and a standard action in the surprise round).
Now that I think about it, you could make a decent Archer rogue with Shatter Defenses and Sap Master, though it would be severely feat starved, especially early on (maybe a 2 level dip into Zen Archer?) and you'd have to find some way to make a distant foe shaken.
Though naturally, the ninja could do the same thing, but better O.o
Shatter defenses makes the opponent flat footed to your attacks, so sap master would work with that. The Solar won't be much of an issue, due to the surprise round (get Sandals of Quick Reaction, you now have both a move and a standard action in the surprise round).
Now that I think about it, you could make a decent Archer rogue with Shatter Defenses and Sap Master, though it would be severely feat starved, especially early on (maybe a 2 level dip into Zen Archer?) and you'd have to find some way to make a distant foe shaken.
Though naturally, the ninja could do the same thing, but better O.o
I know right, this just hurts rogues every where.
So Dazzling Display (full-round action) to Intimidate all opponents within 30 feet... Then again, it is just a prerequisite for Shatter Defenses and Intimidate doesn't look like it has a range.
So you might be able to intimidate at range then range sneak attack with items modifying your SA range. So not to worry about arrows, you could use a rifle (+1, distance) to target Touch AC out to 160 RI x 5 (800ft)
Hmm, I must have over-looked it, back to the books then their errata. (2nd printing of the CRB)
I just saw this amazing feat for gnome druids.
Just max out Bluff and you'd be golden to set up a druid/rogue combo.
Hmm, so let's see:
Half-Orc - +2 racial
Trait - +1 trait
Size Difference - -4 size
Feat - +4
Feat - +6
Ranks - +20
Trained - +3
Charisma 10 - +0
Total: +32
Not to optimized
Demoralize Tarrasque: DC 42
Great Gold Wyrm: DC 48
Chhulhu, Great Old One: DC 59 (though immune to mind-affecting effects)
Titan mauler with a ring a freedom of movement or a high CMD could do well here by reducing the melee range of opponents by 15 or more feet. Honestly with how its evade reach ability reads, it looks like it can give one opponent negative reach against him/her.
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My attempt with Chun, Tetori Urban Barbarian, Chun appears to be a young man of just over 6' height and a lean wiry frame. He carries a strange stringed stick that he constantly twirls and catches, whistling as he rides along on his broom.
Chun, Plumekith Aasimar
Ex Tetori/Qinggong Monk 17, Urban Barbarian 3
Str 18 (11 Base, 1 Book, 6 Belt)
Dex 36 (20 Base, 5 lvl, 5 Book, 6 Belt)
Con 20 (14 Base, 6 Belt)
Int 7
Wis 26 (16 Base, 4 Book, 6 Headband)
Cha 7
Hp 226
AC: 52 (10 + 13 Dex + 8 Wis + 5 Deflection + 4 Monk Lvl +
1 Ioun Stone + 2 Jingasa + 1 Monk Robe + 8 Bracers)
+5 w/ Barkskin (1 ki pt, 200 min), + 4 Fight defensive + 1
Haste) can get up to 62 easily
Initiative: + 21 (+1 competence, +13 dex, +4 impr init + 2
stone of good luck + 1 morale)
Traits
Fates Favored
Bred for War
Saves:
Fort:+27 (13 + 5 (Stat) + 5(Resist) + 2(Luck) + 1(Morale)
+ 1(Competence))
Ref:+ 33 (11 + 13 Stat) + 5(Resist) + 2(Luck) + 1(Morale)
+ 1(Competence)) (35 when raging)
Will:+28 (11 + 8 Stat) + 5(Resist) + 2(Luck) + 1(Morale) +
1(Competence))
Skills
Perception + 47 (Ranks 20, Trained 3, Wis 8, Comp 2,
Morale 1, Luck 2, Skill Focus 6, Item 5)
Acrobatics + 41
UMD + 21
Stealth + 39
Class Abilities:
Graceful Grappler
Inescapable Grasp (Negates Freedom of Movement,
Dimensional anchor)
Ki Pool, Monk Vows, 28 ki points
Uncanny Dodge
Improved Evasion
Diamond Body
Purity of Body
Ki Leech
Barkskin
Form Lock (+25)
Belt of Physical Perfection +6 144000 gp
Headband of Wisdom +6 36000 gp
Manual of Dex +5 137500 gp
Manual of Wis +4 110000 gp
Manual of Str +1 27500 gp
Furious Agile Dan Bong +5 98350 gp
Gaunts of the Martial Maneuver Grapple 4000 gp
Bracers of Armor +8 64000 gp
Ring of Protection +5 50000 gp
Monk's Robe 13000 gp
Cloak of Resistance +5 25000 gp
Jingasa of the Fortunate Soldier 5000 gp
Boots of Speed 12000 gp
Broom of Flying (X30) 54000 gp
Ring of Ki Mastery 10000 gp
Eyes of the Eagle 2500 gp
Wayfinder 500 gp
Stone of Good Luck 20000 gp
Flawed Green Prism IS 28000 gp
Cracked Dusty Rose Prism 500 gp
Dusty Rose Prism 5000 gp
Cracked Magenta Prism (Per) 800 gp
Scarlet and Blue Sphere (UMD) 8000 gp
Violet Thorny Ioun Stone 8000 gp
Amulet of Might Fists, Agile 4000 gp
Wand of Infernal Healing 750 gp
Potions of Invis and Water breathing and Lesser Resto ( 10k worth)
(867500/880000)
CMB for Grapple + 59 (BAB 20, Dex 13, Feats 8, Trait 1,
Insight 2, Gauntlets 2, Comp 2, Dan Bong 7, Grab 4, -1
Defensive) +4 when raging, +1 with Haste for +64
CMD 68 (BAB 15, Str 4, Dex 13, Wis 8, Monk 4, Feat 4,
Insight 1, Luck 2, Def 5, Monk Robe 1, Base 10)
+4 Defensive, +1 Haste for 73 situational
CMD vs. Grapple +5 BAB, +2 Imp grapple for 75 or 79
fighting defensive.
Feats Agile Maneuver, Improved Grapple, Celestial Obed
(Falyana), Improved Iniative, Weapon Finesse, Stunning
Pin, Greater Grapple, Rapid Grappler, Pinning Knockout,
Chokehold, Dodge, Skill Focus Perception, Crane Style,
Crane Wing, Crane Riposte, Exotic Wpn Prof Danbong, Skill
Focus Perception)
Round 1: Shoggoth (1 ki point for barkskin ahead of time)
Wins Initiative, readys to grapple shoggoth once it comes within range, Shoggoth moves up, Cacophany is saved except on a one, Shoggoth may trample (saves on a 3), or strike missing on anything but a 20. Round 2 move up, avoiding AoO via acrobatics and Grappling the ooze defensively. Ooze full attacks but misses on anything other than a 20, is then pinned next turn and nonlethal damaged until unconscious, only able to escape on a 20 which prompts regrapple and continue. Switch to lethal damage or leave it for the next contestant, hmm.
Round 2: Balor (1 ki point for barkskin if needed)
Balor Gets surprise round, figures its fiery body will prevent grappling so either full attacks (might get a crit for some damage but only one and it shouldn't confirm) then its grappled and unconscious in 4 rounds, Chun takes 30d6 of damage for about 105, heals up after fight. Note must make concentration checks of 69 + lvl of spell to cast Spells or SLAs.
Round 3: Pit Fiend (1 ki for barkskin if needed, 1 for initial charge)
Win Initiative, charge, activate grab, hit, grapple, one full attack sequence then pinned and unconscious. No SLAs with only a +27 concentration check.
Round 4: Tarn Linnorm (1 ki for barkskin, 5 ki for Inescapable Grasp)
Linnorm goes either charges or breathes, neither effective, move up grapple, full attack, maybe one crit that doesn't confirm, heal up later, pin, pinning knockout over 4 rounds, then cou de grace with a cold iron weapon as necessary.
Round 5: Ancient Gold Dragon (1 ki for barkskin, 1 for grab)
WIn perception, drink potion of invis on surprise round, get in charge range to charge and grab with ki point, choke until unconscious, concentration check means no spells or SLAs, may get a full attack, needs a 20 to hit.
Round 6: Solarr (1 ki for barkskin, 1 for grab)
Surprise round, Charge, Grab, following rounds put to sleep. Apologize later.
Round 7: Tarrasque (1 ki for barkskin)
Start Adjacent, win init, Haste, Rage, Grab tarrasque, pin and damage on first round. Note penetrate Epic DR win raging and can grapple tarrasque on a 2 when raging. Deal nonlethal damage. Slowly drag off to a cave and bury it alive, then DDoor out. Drag 90' a round using grapple rules.
Total Ki spent 15 if barkskins needed before each round, normally lasts 200 minutes. Regains 6 ki from draining all foes at the end.
My attempt with Chun, Tetori Urban Barbarian, Chun appears to be a young man of just over 6' height and a lean wiry frame. He carries a strange stringed stick that he constantly twirls and catches, whistling as he rides along on his broom.
** spoiler omitted **...
Looks good, though the pit fiend and balor have fore-knowledge of your character.
The pit-fiend could have a widened anti-magic field up waiting for your character. That is if it did, if not no worries.
If it happened to be that way, the pit fiend's AMF lasts for 180 minutes, 3 hours.
Inside the AMF, if looks like the grapple check is +32, can grapple the pit fiend on a nat 20. Looks like CMD is about 45, the pit fiend grapples with a +38, grapples on a 7 or higher.
Granted that is if it had the AMF up, so anywhere in that room is charging distance for the fiend so it could charge you afterwards and make a called shot to cripple the legs (or move action power attack + vital strike the legs).
Great build by the way (wish has been a constant thorn).
I have a couple of issues with Chun's entry, largely because you seem to have played some of the encounters rather stupidly. Bear in mind that the Balor and Pit Fiend both start with foreknowledge of your abilities.
The Balor can simply greater dispel your broom of flying which with a CL of 9 he auto succeeds at. He can then fly around out of range spamming dominate monster at you until he succeeds.
The Tarn Linnorm has a 100' flight speed and no reason to be anywhere near melee with you. Your speed is fixed at 40'. It can simply kite you around breathing at you every 1d4 rounds. You save on a 1 and only take half damage on a fail but you will lose eventually if you cannt reach your target.
The gold dragon has a flight speed of 250' and greater dispel magic. Expect to be grounded immediately and then kited with breath weapons. As with the Linnorm it takes a long time but no ranged options gives you problems.
Without any prep the solar loses due to surprise and the pit fiend almost certainly loses due to initiative. If they know you are coming the Solar is capable of Contingent AMF and the Pit Fiend could have various preparations with Wish.
The dragons would might frustrated because of the monk's improved evasion though and dive into melee without having knowledge of the character's abilities. Though fly-by attacks are certainly an issue.
However with crane wing he is still able to deal with single attacks from fly-by attack, this does not mean the dragons will get within the monks reach though. IF they do end up hovering though, the monk can still jump to get the opponents with an unarmed strike + grab then grapple.
I'd be worried about having Int and Cha damage or drain, followed by having Str damage. This is where the trouble with the gold dragon comes from. Every 1d4 rounds that it is left free, it can breath the cone of weakening gas, 10 str damage (Will for half).
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Do keep in mind that the Tarn Linnorm is not the brightest crown in the box, it only has an intelligence of 7. So, it might behave a little more animalistic towards creatures it doesn't consider as an threat (run in and claw it to death, level 20 characters are supposed to be rare, people of legend)
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In the dragon fight, the idea was that I spot him first getting a surprise round and pop an invis potion. This makes it very difficult for me to be spotted since while he has 60' blindsense i can charge and grab at 80' range. So once he gets close enough I charge and grapple and at that point it should be finished.
As for dispelling the broom that is indeed a problem and I am not sure how to deal with contingency AMF but that stops a number of the magic builds as well, depending on how the contingency is set up.
The basic premise for the build is that if I can grapple it, it cannot use its Spells or SLAs and with inescapable grasp up it cannot escape. Wondering on how to deal with the others, not sure how to avoid the surprise round or prior knowledge.
Wonder if a 1 level dip into diviner might be worth it just for BeastMass.
In the dragon fight, the idea was that I spot him first getting a surprise round and pop an invis potion. This makes it very difficult for me to be spotted since while he has 60' blindsense i can charge and grab at 80' range. So once he gets close enough I charge and grapple and at that point it should be finished.
As for dispelling the broom that is indeed a problem and I am not sure how to deal with contingency AMF but that stops a number of the magic builds as well, depending on how the contingency is set up.
The basic premise for the build is that if I can grapple it, it cannot use its Spells or SLAs and with inescapable grasp up it cannot escape. Wondering on how to deal with the others, not sure how to avoid the surprise round or prior knowledge.
Wonder if a 1 level dip into diviner might be worth it just for BeastMass.
Feather Token (tree) - A token that causes a great oak to spring into being (5-foot-diameter trunk, 60-foot height, 40-foot top diameter). This is an instantaneous effect.
Slap it against a wall/area facing the enemy and watch them dodge trees, that now provide you cover and possibly concealment.
Though I do like the grapple build of the Tetori monk, though instead of crane style, you could use the snapping turtle style as well to make an immediate action rather than an AoO from Crane Style.
As for surprise rounds, you could invest in a scroll or staff of Foresight.
Scroll of Foresight - 3825gp base - 7650gp market
Staff of Foresight - 400 gp × 9 × 17 = 61,200gp base = 122,400gp market; buying a staff that has 2 charges might cost 24480gp; so your foresight would last 170 minutes.
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I am not a big fan of turtle style as the defensive advantages go away when you are grappling, since they require a free hand. Crane Style offers the ability to increase your CMD and AC for a very small penalty to attack and if you use a swift to activate grab can mimic the grapple ability of the Snapping turtle style if you succeed on the riposte attack.
Ahh, I see.
Still a very good build, thanks for presenting it Taenia.
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I didn't make a full spell list, just put in the ones I was using for this. Leaves a lot of room for more utility and campaign relevant spells. Also, I didn't put a lot of thought into it beyond making sure she met prereqs, so possibly a different order.
Fahana Angelbane is a Spellbreaker Inquisitor. Since they last for 1 hour/level, and she has a caster level of 21, I'm figuring that it's reasonable to count her having bloodhound and countless eyes up before the fight. That said, they aren't really all that important to the fight, I suppose. Seemed like a good idea at the time.
Anyways. The build. Since she practically lives invisibly with her ring of invisibility and uses her alter self SLA to become an undine for the swim speed, she uses the start of the fight with the shoggoth to buff up. Consequently, the only buff not accounted for in the spoiler below is prayer from her crown of conquest.
Stats:
Str 42 (14 + 2 race + 4 levels + 6 enhancement + 5 manual + 7 rage + 2 alter self)
Dex 20 (14 + 6 enhancement)
Con 27 (14 + 6 enhancement + 7 rage)
Int 11 (10 + 4 enhancement)
Wis 22 (15 + 2 race + 1 levels + 4 enhancement)
Cha 6 (8 - 2 race)
Initiative: +12
Senses: Perception +34, all-around sight
Hit Points: 193 (253 raging)
Armor Class: 44; Touch AC: 28; Flat-Footed AC: 37
CMD: 52
Fort: +24; Ref: +16; Will +22 (27 raging; roll twice vs. mind affecting); all saves: +5 vs. enchantment spells, +4 vs. necromancy spells, +3 vs. illusion spells, +2 vs. conjuration spells, +1 vs. divination spells
Immune: Arcane abjuration spells
Spell Resistance 37
Movement: Speed 90', fly 60' (average), swim 30'
Base attack bonus: +15
CMB: +30
+5 falchion (Courageous, Cruel, Furious, Keen, Vicious): +46/+46/+41/+36 (2d4+2d6+4d6+52)
vs. Large or larger creatures: +5 falchion (Courageous, Cruel, Furious, Keen, Vicious): +47/+47/+42/+37 (2d4+2d6+4d6+54)
Traits: Prolong Magic, Reactionary
Feats:
1st Judgment Surge
3rd Improved Initiative
5th Power Attack
7th Weapon Focus (falchion)
9th Dodge
11th Intimidating Prowess
13th Big Game Hunter
15th Critical Focus
17th Cornugon Smash
19th Staggering Critical
Special Abilities:
Rage: +4 morale bonus to Str and Con, +2 morale bonus to Will, -2 AC. Morale bonuses increase by +3 from weapon to +7 and +5. 23 rounds.
Judgment: Various abilities. Effective Inquisitor level 23 (28 for one judgment per use). 7 uses per day, three judgments per use. Bonuses chosen during Beastmass combats: +5 profane bonus to AC, +5 profane bonus to attack, +9 profane bonus to damage.
Foil Casting: +2 to DC of defensive casting to threatened casters. Additional +2 to DC for one round after being hit by McKillington.
Greater Bane: +2 weapon enhancement bonus and +4d6 damage vs. chosen enemy type.
Stalwart: For effects that do a reduced effect on a Fort or Will save, take no effect.
Spells (Incomplete list; only spells used for this combat) (CL 21): divine favor, expeditious retreat, bloodhound, countless eyes, greater invisibility, greater dispel magic, spell resistance, true seeing, heal
Skills: Fly +28, Intimidate +39, Knowledge (Arcana) +24, Knowledge (Dungeoneering) +25, Knowledge (Nature) +25, Knowledge (Planes) +25, Knowledge (Religion) +25, Perception +34, Stealth +27 (+67 invisible stationary; +47 invisible moving), Swim +27
Equipment: cracked pale green prism ioun stone, ring of invisibility, belt of physical perfection, headband of mental prowess (Int and Wis) +4, ring of protection +5, amulet of natural protection +5, mithral breastplate +5, crown of conquest, boots of speed, cracked dusty rose prism ioun stone, wings of flying, orange prism ioun stone, dusty rose ioun stone, eyes of the eagle, otherworldly kimono, potion of haste x5, potion of cure moderate wounds x3, bag of holding type I, falchion (courageous, cruel, furious, keen, vicious) +5, shovel, 2173 gold pieces
Fahana's toughest challenge was the antimagic field from the pit fiend's wish and off of the ancient gold dragon. To deal with that is the reason I took the Spellbreaker archetype. Saw that the capstone specifically called out including immunity to area of effect spells.
Everything else was dealt with through a combination of high damage and high Stealth. The ring of invisibility is there mainly to let me get a couple buffs off before the shoggoth noticed me so I could go smashing away.
I added Cornugon Smash, Staggering Critical (with Keen on my weapon), Cruel to my weapon, and the crown of conquest to help mitigate my lowish AC by stacking some debuffs onto them.
On to the fights!
Seeking once more to prove her loyalty to the Demon Queen, Angelbane asks her patron for a challenge fit for the truly strong: Beastmass. Her dark deity grants her request, giving her a moment to prepare herself with her daily casts of bloodhound and countless eyes before sending Angelbane to the shoggoth.
She finds the critter deep underwater, at the edge of the 90' range, but being invisible, has a +67 Stealth check while stationary and so the shoggoth cannot see her yet.
Surprise round: alter self into an undine for the swim speed and +2 Str. Lasts 40 minutes thanks to the Prolong Magic trait.
Round 1: Angelbane wins Initiative with a +12 vs. a +11. She begins her buffing with expeditious retreat (lasts 21 minutes), and moves to a different spot, keeping away from the shoggoth but remaining within sight distance. She also uses her judgment, granting herself +5 AC and attack, and +9 damage to the shoggoth. The shoggoth, noticing the spell casting, but not seeing the thing that cast it (47 Stealth while moving vs. 33 Perception) swims its 50' toward the original casting spot. Angelbane is now, to her annoyance, within tremorsense range.
Round 2: Angelbane continues her buffing with spell resistance, giving her 33 SR (lasts 21 minutes), but stays still this time because she knows she can't stay away for a second round. The shoggoth, now knowing where Angelbane is, moves to attack (can't charge; Angelbane is at most 35' or so away at this point). It tries a slam against the Inquisitor, but misses with a 40 to attack vs. her 46 AC (no rage penalty yet).
Round 3: For one more round of spell buffing, Angelbane casts defensively to get in a freedom of movement (lasts 210 minutes), and rummages in her pack with her move action for a potion of haste. In response, the shoggoth attempts a full attack on her, missing with every blow.
Round 4: Angelbane chugs the potion of haste, provoking an attack of opportunity from the beastly ooze, which misses her once more. She waits for the next round as the shoggoth attempts move-through trample, hitting for 33 points as she fails her Ref save against it, but cannot engulf her as its CMB is just not high enough. While doing so, it tries a maddening cacophony against the Inquisitor, who makes her save with a roll of 38 vs. the DC of 22.
Round 4: Angelbane is almost ready to start chugging through these beasts! She casts her final buff, divine favor, on herself defensively to avoid the attack of opportunity from the shoggoth for another +3 to attack and damage. Frustrated, the shoggoth attempts to simply grab the annoying thing at its side, but fails the grapple check with a total of 49 vs. her 50 CMD, even discounting the freedom of movement.
Round 5: Ready to get it on, Angelbane turns on her bane ability against oozes, begins her rage, and makes a full attack against the shoggoth. Her first attack hits for 70 points of damage, and she Intimidates the ooze with a to make it shaken. The second swing crits for 139 points, which procs the crown of conquest's power to cast prayer on Fahana, giving her another +1 to hit and the shoggoth a -1 to attack (among other things). This triggers Staggering Critical as well, staggering the shoggoth. Third attack hits again for another 70 points, and the fourth attack crits again for another 139 points, killing the shoggoth. However, Fahana takes 14 points of damage from her Vicious enchant.
End of fight: Fully buffed; haste for two more rounds, divine favor for 8 more rounds, all other buffs remaining with 20+ minutes. 21 rage rounds remaining, 6 judgments remaining, 18 bane rounds remaining. 206 health left.
"Take me to my next challenge!"
Seeing the ease with which Angelbane smote the shoggoth, the Demon Queen sets her up against one of her foes' most prized commanders: a balor. Little does Fahana know, though, this balor has been looking forward to a chance to clash against one of the Demon Queen's toughest fighters, and knows what to expect.
Surprise round: The balor knows this is its best chance to get something in on the Inquisitor, but also knows her saves are too high, and she's immune to greater dispel magic. Instead of wasting an attempt on a spell, the balor uses its whip to entangle her. He hits against her flat-footed AC of 32 (no judgment yet) for 13 points of damage (she is down to 226 HP) and entangles her.
Round 1: Angelbane wins Initiative again (12 vs. 11), uses her judgment on the balor for her standard array, takes a five foot step up, and full attacks with her last round of the haste potion. Even without bane, all of her attacks hit, and since her weapon is effectively at a +7 enhancement bonus (+5 base, +2 Furious), it bypasses the balor's DR. Between all four attacks, she does 382 damage and drops the balor, but takes another 14 points.
Round 2: Angelbane CDGs the helpless balor on the ground, and takes 3 points from her Vicious weapon in the process.
"Give me a real challenge!"
End of fight: Everything but haste, will have to use boots from here on to not waste actions; divine favor for five more rounds, other buffs sitting at 20ish minutes, alter self still at 40 or so minutes. 18 rounds of rage left, 5 judgments left, 17 rounds of bane left. 176 hit points left.
The last fight being so surprisingly easy, Angelbane is set against a beast she might not be so familiar with: a pit fiend.
It has a few options normally: Targeted dispel, antimagic field, summons, some sort of wall or visual hindrance (deeper darkness, etc.), or trying to full attack. However, given its knowledge of Angelbane, it knows that she is immune to the first two, can counter the fourth with true seeing (even if it doesn't know for certain that she has the spell, it's intelligent enough to guess the possibility) or just going around a wall, and can't be hit by any of the pit fiend's attacks. So its only option left is to summon something to help, though it still knows this is only a delay tactic.
Round 1: This time, neither party has any surprise time, though the pit fiend gets to act first with a +13 Init vs. Angelbane's +12. It brings in the CR 19 immolation devil next to Angelbane to set it up for a full attack next round, and shoots off an ineffective quickened fireball (can't beat Angelbane's SR), because why not? Unfortunately for the immolation devil, this also sets up Angelbane for a full attack this round, which she gladly takes advantage of, choosing devils as her bane and using her boots of speed for a round of haste. Hits for a total of 382, dealing yet another 14 to herself (down to 162).
Round 2: The pit fiend thinks it might attempt to go for a grapple on the Inquisitor, and so it wishes for a true strike to use next round. Angelbane, in response, casts greater invisibility on herself to ensure her own safety against the devil, and moves into melee for next round. With her +47 Stealth against the devil's +33 Perception, she skates right in undetected. She also activates judgment on the pit fiend, granting her standard array of bonuses.
Round 3: The pit fiend readies an action to grapple as soon as Angelbane attacks and it knows where she is. However, since she still has full concealment against him, and so has a 50% miss chance, fails his grapple when she attacks (and even if it succeeded, freedom of movement prevents it). Fahana proceeds to full attack with another round from her boots of speed for 438 points of damage, dropping the pit fiend for good, but taking yet one more round of damage from her Vicious weapon.
Round 4: Being uncomfortably low, Fahana pops a heal on herself real quick, going back to full health.
"This was but a taste of real battle!"
End of fight: Everything but haste; 8 rounds left on her boots of speed, 1 round left on divine favor, greater invisibility has 18 rounds left, other stuff still sitting at many minutes. 14 rounds of rage, 4 judgments, and 14 rounds of bane left over. 253 hit points.
Ah, the great, lumbering tarn linnorm. Truly an unimpressive creature to the great Angelbane; it cannot hit her with its normal attacks, and its grapple is entirely prevented with her freedom of movement. The only real threat it has on her is the breath weapon, as her Ref isn’t high enough to save against it, but even then it can only use it every 2d4 (5) rounds.
Surprise round: The linnorm, knowing its main form of attack is melee, and seeing through the Inquisitor’s greater invisibility with its true seeing moves up twenty feet to put Angelbane in range.
Round 1: Tarn and Angelbane have the same Init bonus, but the linnorm has a higher Dex, so it goes first. The lumbering beast opens the fight up with a double breath weapon blast for 198 points of damage, putting Angelbane to 55 HP, the danger zone for dropping from rage. However, she does make the Fort save against the Str damage with ease. In response, rummages around and chugs her potion of cure moderate wounds for 12 HP, provoking an attack of opportunity from the linnorm, which misses her.
Round 2: Tarn makes a full attack at Angelbane in an attempt to smack her down, but misses with every attack. This time, she drops from rage, putting herself to 7 HP, but she then quickly casts a heal spell, going back to 157 HP.
Round 3: The linnorm attempts a grapple, but can’t make it stick with Angelbane’s freedom of movement still active. Wanting to keep her roll going, Fahana once again defensively casts, this time getting another divine favor going for 10 more rounds.
Round 4: Tarn linnorm, seeing its foe still standing, lashes out with a full attack, all of which miss Angelbane’s AC. In response, she uses another round of her boots of speed, enrages once more, makes her weapon dragonbane, and full attacks the hulk before her for 432 points of damage, slaying the beast with ease, but taking 14 points of damage from her weapon.
End of fight: Expeditious retreat, alter self, and spell resistance left with many minutes; 7 rounds left on her boots of speed, divine favor has 8 rounds left on it once more, greater invisibility has 13 rounds left. 12 rounds of rage, 3 judgments, and 12 rounds of bane left over. 191 hit points.
Amused by these games, Angelbane is sent off to take on the next in this series: the ancient gold dragon, long lived and powerful. Given its intelligence, I’m going to rule that it should actually have at least some knowledge of Angelbane and her abilities, though with its penchant for sleep and long periods of hibernation, it’s a bit out of the loop for specifics. So it knows the major things: Angelbane is dangerous in melee, immune to arcane abjuration spells, and highly resistant to most other spells and melee attacks.
Surprise round: Angelbane’s +47 Stealth check with greater invisibility, especially at a distance of 300 feet, is far more than enough to see the dragon before it sees her. However, at this distance, Angelbane is incapable of doing anything useful, so she spends her action flying 30’ closer to the dragon, and easily beats the frightful presence save.
Round 1: Angelbane is still undetected, but still too far away to do anything with the dragon. She flies another 30’ closer, and takes a potion of haste out of her pack to drink before she reaches the dragon. The dragon still hasn’t seen her.
Round 2: Angelbane chugs the potion, judges the dragon for her big buffs, moves 45’ closer this time, then shouts to the dragon, “COME AT ME, BRO,” to get its attention. Hearing the coming foe, but not being able to see it, the dragon casts true seeing and moves in the direction of the shout until he the Inquisitor is in range of his breath weapon for the next round. Distance: 60’.
Round 3: Finally being level with the dragon, and beating his -1 Initiative bonus with ease, Angelbane turns bane on against the dragon, charges him and makes an attack, hitting for 80 points of damage, taking 3 points in return. Attempting to drain Angelbane of some of her power, the winged lizard uses its Strength drain breath weapon. Unfortunately for him, Fahana’s +27 Fort is plenty high enough to beat the DC 31 saving throw.
Round 4: Angelbane makes a full attack against this iguana with a thyroid problem, dropping it from the sky with another 438 damage, taking 14 from her weapon.
End of fight: Expeditious retreat, alter self, and spell resistance left with many minutes; 7 rounds left on her boots of speed, divine favor has 3 rounds left on it once more, greater invisibility has 8 rounds left, haste has 1 round left. 7 rounds of rage, 2 judgments, and 10 rounds of bane left over. 191 hit points.
This is another one I decided to change a bit. Given it is pretty darn smart, and Angelbane’s acquired surname, I figure the solar has at least some knowledge of Fahana. The solar has difficulty getting accurate information on Angelbane, since its fellow good outsiders rarely live to tell tales when they meet her. However, it would know the same things I gave the ancient gold dragon.
Angelbane, however, also knows of the solar’s casting prowess, which is something of an actual danger to her, since it is divine in nature instead of arcane. This means she actually has to worry about its abjuration spells, most notably antimagic field and dispel magic. With that in mind, the solar is the only fight so far that has Angelbane at all worried – a creature truly her antithesis. She steels her mind and carries on (my wayward son?).
Surprise round: Angelbane tosses out a targeted greater dispel magic to strip the angel of any buffs it may have. Between the ioun stone and the kimono, Angelbane is able to beat the DC 31 caster level check against five of the solar’s buffs, stripping it of anything important. Angelbane also triggers her second-to-last judgment on the angel.
Round 1: Angelbane wins initiative against the solar, moves in close, and readies an action to counterspell any spell cast by the solar with another greater dispel magic. In response, the solar backs up with a five-foot step and attempts to cast an antimagic field to stop Angelbane in her tracks. This triggers Angelbane’s readied action, whereupon she uses her greater dispel magic and successfully counters the angel’s spell with a 39 vs. the DC 31.
Round 2: With her final round of divine favor, Angelbane triggers bane against angels and haste from her boots, then makes a full attack against the solar for 408 damage, putting it down for good, but dealing 14 damage to herself in the process.
Round 3-4: In preparation for her final fight, Angelbane drops from rage to cast heal, followed by another divine favor.
“My name has been well earned. Take me to my last battle, that I may prove my might one more time! Bring me in right next to my foe, so our fight is not delayed.”
End of fight: Expeditious retreat, alter self, and spell resistance left with many minutes; 6 rounds left on her boots of speed, divine favor has 10 rounds left on it once more, greater invisibility has 3 rounds left. 7 rounds of rage, 1 judgment, and 10 rounds of bane left over. 193 hit points (goes to 253 when raging).
As requested, Angelbane is transported to the tarrasque standing in front of its great head. After a moment of disorientation from the change in scenery, she gets right to the task at hand.
Surprise round: Fahana starts with judging the tarrasque and enraging herself, then takes a quick swing at the tarrasque for 65 points, dealing 3 to herself, and succeeding at the frightful presence check.
Round 1: Fahana follows that last attack with a hasted round of full attacks after triggering bane against the tarrasque for 408 more damage, with another 14 to herself. The tarrasque is, surprisingly to Angelbane, still alive, though it is sickened, shaken, staggered, and has a -1 penalty to (among others) attack rolls from the prayer cast by her crown of conquest. Restricted to a single action, the tarrasque lashes out, attempting to grapple the tiefling-turned-undine in front of it with its mouth to swallow her whole next round, but is foiled by her freedom of movement, even if it could hit her with her full concealment from being invisible.
Round 2: Fahana does another 408 damage with a second hasted full attack, dropping the tarrasque. It is more than 40 below 0, so it does not regenerate enough to get back up this round.
Round 3 onward: Fahana continues full attacking the tarrasque for as long as she can. Even after she runs out of haste, rage, and bane rounds, she’s still doing a few hundred damage a round. When she takes too much damage from the Vicious property on her weapon, she takes a round to cast heal, and gets back to it. Doing this should easily get the tarrasque down several thousand HP below zero. At that point, she takes out her scythe, and begins to CDG the tarrasque until she is confident it cannot regenerate in time to avoid having dirt shoveled into its mouth and nose, suffocating it and leaving it permanently unconscious.
End of fight: Some time, likely days, later, if we include the time for shoveling. Angelbane has admittedly probably rested more than just once, but I feel like that’s a fair call at this point. The tarrasque has long since been brought down, it’s just a matter of making it permanent (or as permanent as anyone can make it with the tarrasque). Probably has all her spells and health back.
Let me know if you thought any of the fights were done unfairly toward the monsters. The pit fiend and solar are my main concerns, as I'm not sure I entirely did their spellcasting justice, particularly the pit fiend's wish. That being said, I don't think there's anything any of them could have done to avoid their fates.
I think spellbreaker includes divine and arcane spells.Its just (for many editions) ALL spells were segregated into the wizard schools for some reason whether castable or not (suppose only wizards bother defining schools).
Nope. It specifically calls out arcane spells of the chosen school.
Impervious (Ex): At 20th level, a spellbreaker becomes immune to the effects of a single school of arcane magic. That school of magic must be the first one she picked for defense against magic (see above). Neither harmful nor helpful arcane spells of that school have an effect on the spellbreaker. If a spell of that school is an area of effect spell, the spell goes off as normal, but the spellbreaker is untouched by its effects. Once per day, as a swift action, the spellbreaker can grant this imperviousness to all allies in a 60-foot burst for 1 minute. This ability replaces final judgment.
Emphasis mine. This is also why Angelbane readied the greater dispel against the solar; its antimagic field and greater dispel would have actually hit and potentially stripped Angelbane of any chance to beat it.
*Edit* Though I just realized I missed that it had to be the school first chosen for Defense Against Magic -- my bad. Drop the divination bonus, and lower the others by 1. None of those came up, though, so it's not a huge deal. The only saves she couldn't make were the breath weapon and trample Ref saves, and Defense Against Magic doesn't do anything for that. No harm, no foul.
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There's some errors with your fights, but otherwise it's all good:
First, the Shoggoth is immune to critical hits, just so you know. A minor thing, but it does allow the shoggoth to live another round, which it probably uses to trample (given that was the only thing that has done anything to you thus far).
The Pit Fiend's True Strike automatically bypasses concealment, so it was able to hit you. I doubt he'd really try for a grapple, knowing how real Freedom of Movement is (many, many characters he's fought has had access to it). While I find truestrikeone of the few good options, I do believe there are stronger options for the Pit Fiend (though I can't find them ATM). Secondly, I think the Pit Fiend would move around a lot more, in an attempt to prevent full round attacks (even if it means taking the AoO).
The Dragon is also a highly intelligent creature, while not as intelligent as the Pit Fiend, it would use what it has to it's advantages. With this fight, initiative starts when you yell at it: that's the surprise round. The Dragon wouldn't charge headlong at an opponent it cannot see without being completely prepared, since said opponent beat it's perceptions (which is fairly difficult, even when considering invisibility). Using his 250ft fly speed, it would cast true seeing, among many of the other buffs it has, taking about 12 rounds to do so (every self buff it has). This was a problem my Magus had to deal with, as a fellow melee combatant. Fortunately, even if the dragon wanted to, Anti-Magic field would never be a hindrance to you: It doesn't extend past the dragon's body (though, your character doesn't care about AMF O.o). After buffing itself, it'd come for you, but once it saw you, it'd use hit and run tactics, waiting between recharges of it's breath weapon (something I was going to have it do against myself).
As for the Solar, everything looks right except the choice of Anti-Magic Field, the original fight entailed her trying to escape and then come back in a few rounds with more buffs, and possibly reinforcements. Regardless, you are able to put her down in one round while preventing her spell casting... Though I'm not sure if SLA's can be countered.
As for the character itself, I have a few questions: First, your +5 weapon doesn't grant +3 to your morale bonuses, it's only a +2 (until you put bane on it at least). Second, your weapon is already a +10, and so when you place bane on it, it becomes +11 (in bonuses), which isn't legal... Something has to be given up for it, just like the Magus and the Paladin can't make their weapons go above +10 (in total)
Other than that, everything looks good! Good job!
There's some errors with your fights, but otherwise it's all good:
First, the Shoggoth is immune to critical hits, just so you know. A minor thing, but it does allow the shoggoth to live another round, which it probably uses to trample (given that was the only thing that has done anything to you thus far).
Ah, I had missed that. Thank you. So put Angelbane down a bit more for that fight. Shouldn't change much significantly.
The Pit Fiend's True Strike automatically bypasses concealment, so it was able to hit you. I doubt he'd really try for a grapple, knowing how real Freedom of Movement is (many, many characters he's fought has had access to it). While I find truestrikeone of the few good options, I do believe there are stronger options for the Pit Fiend (though I can't find them ATM). Secondly, I think the Pit Fiend would move around a lot more, in an attempt to prevent full round attacks (even if it means taking the AoO).
Don't know how I missed the line about bypassing concealment. Thanks! The reason I had thought it would go for a grapple, though, is because a) it knows none of its spells can bypass the combination of Angelbane's SR and saves, b) it knows it can't hit with any melee attacks, and c) even with the possibility of freedom of movement being up, the grapple would be its best chance of preventing her actions. As for moving around, I figured it knew that would be a delaying tactic at best, but given the above, it wouldn't really increase its chances to beat Angelbane.
The Dragon is also a highly intelligent creature, while not as intelligent as the Pit Fiend, it would use what it has to it's advantages. With this fight, initiative starts when you yell at it: that's the surprise round. The Dragon wouldn't charge headlong at an opponent it cannot see without being completely prepared, since said opponent beat it's perceptions (which is fairly difficult, even when considering invisibility). Using his 250ft fly speed, it would cast true seeing, among many of the other buffs it has, taking about 12 rounds to do so (every self buff it has). This was a problem my Magus had to deal with, as a fellow melee combatant. Fortunately, even if the dragon wanted to, Anti-Magic field would never be a hindrance to you: It doesn't extend past the dragon's body (though, your character doesn't care about AMF O.o). After buffing itself, it'd come for you, but once it saw you, it'd use hit and run tactics, waiting between recharges of it's breath weapon (something I was going to have it do against myself).
I suppose that's fair. I was just trying to speed the combat up with the shouting at it. In that case, I guess Angelbane just flies straight to it without being noticed (even adjacent to the dragon, it doesn't see her while invisible), then full attacks and drops it.
As for the Solar, everything looks right except the choice of Anti-Magic Field, the original fight entailed her trying to escape and then come back in a few rounds with more buffs, and possibly reinforcements. Regardless, you are able to put her down in one round while preventing her spell casting... Though I'm not sure if SLA's can be countered.
Like I said in my post, I skipped that and just had the solar buffed from the start. Even if it did run off to buff first, I'd just throw my starting greater dispel when it returned instead of during my initial surprise round. Either way, it's basically buffless.
And so far as I know, the only reason you can't counter SLAs is because they have no components to recognize, but dispel still works since it doesn't require a check to identify the spell first.
As for the character itself, I have a few questions: First, your +5 weapon doesn't grant +3 to your morale bonuses, it's only a +2 (until you put bane on it at least). Second, your weapon is already a +10, and so when you place bane on it, it becomes +11 (in bonuses), which isn't legal... Something has to be given up for it, just like the Magus and the Paladin can't make their weapons go above +10 (in total)
Right you are about Bane -- I suppose drop Vicious from the weapon since it gives me less and deals damage to me; I only originally took it since it was untyped damage and didn't take a penalty from resistances. However, Bane doesn't actually increase the enhancement bonus of the weapon, it just raises its effective enhancement bonus against that type of enemy, or at least that's how I read it. Furious, on the other hand, raises the enhancement bonus by 2, making it +7 while raging. If Bane actually also increases the enhancement bonus, then I'd be getting +4 to my rage bonuses.
And if that's the case, then I only need a +4 tome and have some extra cash to spend. Not sure what on.
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Hmmm, I missed furious O.o
With the dragon fight, you'd still only get a surprise round, which gives the dragon the opportunity to flee at top speeds (1000 feet). Unless you had a method to prevent it from moving. OR you can get Sandals of Quick Reaction, but I always took the fight as the dragon is constantly moving until at least it sees you (It has to keep moving if it doesn't want to make fly checks every round)
The Courageous property is awesome, but be warned that it might get hit with the nerf bat soon: there's been a lot of talk in the rules forum about how it the pluses to moral bonuses might be meant to only increase saving throws.
I believe that a FAQ stated that SLAs such as the Pit Fiend's wish can count as either arcane or divine, whichever favors the character more. That's how SLAs grant early entry into PrCs, for example.
So it seems that the pit fiend's wish would be divine, not arcane. I don't believe Impervious would function against it, so the fiend has much better options than a true strike.
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Spell-Like Abilities: How do I know whether a spell-like ability is arcane or divine?
The universal monster rules for spell-like abilities states: "Some spell-like abilities duplicate spells that work differently when cast by characters of different classes. A monster's spell-like abilities are presumed to be the sorcerer/wizard versions. If the spell in question is not a sorcerer/wizard spell, then default to cleric, druid, bard, paladin, and ranger, in that order."For spell-like abilities gained from a creature's race or type (including PC races), the same rule should apply: the creature's spell-like abilities are presumed to be the sorcerer/wizard versions. If the spell in question is not a sorcerer/wizard spell, then default to cleric, druid, bard, paladin, and ranger, in that order.
For spell-like abiities gained from a class, use the spell type (arcane or divine) of that class to determine whether the spell-like ability is arcane or divine. If the class doesn't cast spells, use the above rule for spell-like abilities from race or type.
Ah, thanks for the clarification.
Hmmm, I missed furious O.o
Yeah! I thought it was a nice little bit of synergy between the two.
With the dragon fight, you'd still only get a surprise round, which gives the dragon the opportunity to flee at top speeds (1000 feet). Unless you had a method to prevent it from moving. OR you can get Sandals of Quick Reaction, but I always took the fight as the dragon is constantly moving until at least it sees you (It has to keep moving if it doesn't want to make fly checks every round)
Hrm. I guess I do only get the surprise round. However, outside of its true seeing range, it can't see me, so it has to get at least close enough for me to be within charging range in order to keep track of me to keep using its breath weapon. And if it somehow lasts the 121 rounds of greater invisibility that I have, I can bridge the gap with my ring of invisibility, reactivating it on the round after my charge/attack.
*Edit* Wait a second. I have the surprise round on it, then I go first on the first actual round of combat. So, I get adjacent to it, then:
Surprise round: Single attack, kind of irrelevant.
Round 1: Full attack before the dragon goes, dropping it from the sky.*/Edit*
If you think that doesn't work out, then I'll have to put some more thought into this. Not quite sure how to get around its move speed otherwise.
Also, I wanted to make a note for the solar: if greater dispel doesn't work for the counterspell for SLAs (and if its wish does count as divine because it's a divine caster), I can just run that one as specified in the original post. The surprise round I would saunter up, then round 1 would be a full attack before it goes, whereupon it takes a prolonged dirt nap.
The Courageous property is awesome, but be warned that it might get hit with the nerf bat soon: there's been a lot of talk in the rules forum about how it the pluses to moral bonuses might be meant to only increase saving throws.
That's a bit sad. I could drop Courageous in favor of Vicious, though. I'd lose a couple attack, which still lets me hit with all of my attacks against the entire Beastmass, but gain a bit of damage. Until then, Courageous it is!
It should be a lot of fun to try this out with my bard. The main issue I'm having though is boosting the save dc of performances. Many creatures are immune to some of the debuffing tactics usually used. Just need to finish buying items then he'll be going after beasts, with the addition of two more dragons (silver and red).
It should be a lot of fun to try this out with my bard. The main issue I'm having though is boosting the save dc of performances. Many creatures are immune to some of the debuffing tactics usually used. Just need to finish buying items then he'll be going after beasts, with the addition of two more dragons (silver and red).
I think Bard is a great choice. Seems difficult to pull off solo, with so many of the Bard abilities related to group benefits, but having high foreknowledge of your enemies, and a lot of solid buffs, is a great start.
As for your performance DCs, you could take Ability Focus for them. Other than that, I think you just have increasing your Cha.
Bardicus wanted to show the world that bards can be great, but no one would listen. So one night after getting drunk he took upon him a dare from a jester. He went forth to try the beastmass.
Bardicus Musicus
N Venerable (SoE) Male Human Bard 20 (Humanoid [Human])
Initiative +20; Senses Perception +27; Improved Low-Light Vision, Darkvision 120ft
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DEFENSE
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HP 183 (20d8+90); negate critical hit or sneak attack (turns to regular attack; immediate action; 7 times); fast healing 1, regeneration lost limbs, organs, other body parts
AC 46, touch 29, flat-footed 40 (+8 armor, +4 shield, +5 Deflection, +6 Dex, +5 Enchancement, +1 Insight, +2 Luck, +5 Natural); Concealment (blur-like effect; 20% miss chance), 1/day immediate action deflect ranged attack; +2 armor bonus vs. Outsiders (chaos, evil, good, law), 1/round deflect melee attack (immediate action; +2 shield bonus vs. melee attack); arrow deflection 1/round (R DC 20 + Enhancement bonus to negate attack)
Fort +23, Ref +30, Will +25; +4 vs. bardic performance, language-dependant, sonic effects; evasion
Immunities harmful vapors and gases (such as cloudkill and stinking cloud effects, as well as inhaled poisons), bleed damage; hostile polymorph effects (6 times; failed saves)
Resistances DR 2/— vs. Outsiders (chaos, evil, good, law), Magical Beasts, and Dragons; Fire 30
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OFFENSE
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Speed 30ft (6 squares); fly 60ft (good)
Melee +4 Agile Bane (Outsiders [chaos, evil, good, law], Magical Beasts] Spiked Gauntlet +26/+21/+16 melee (1d4+11 plus 2+2d6 vs. Outsiders and Magical Beasts/20x20)
Ranged nothing
SA bardic performance 56 rounds/day (swift action; DC 36 mod; countersong, deadly performance, dirge of doom, distraction, fascinate, frightening tune, inspire competence +6, inspire courage +4, inspire greatness, inspire heroics, mass suggestion, soothing performance, suggestion)
Bard Spells Known (CL 20th; Concentration +36; DC 24 + spell level [+2 Enchantment spells]):
6 (5/day) dirge of the victorious knights, fool’s forbiddance, greater shout, overwhelming presence
5 (5/day) deafening song bolt, greater dispel magic, frozen note, ki shout, resonating word, shadowbard, shadow walk, false vision
4 (5/day) dance of 100 cuts, dimension door, echolocation, freedom of movement, shocking image, virtuoso performance
3 (5/day) clairaudience/clairvoyance, cure serious wounds, dispel magic, exquisite accompaniment, haste, purging finale, see invisibility
2 (5/day) acute senses, allegro, alter self, cure moderate wounds, glitterdust, heroism, pyrotechnics
1 (5/day) anticipate peril, expeditious retreat, feather fall, magic aura, saving finale, summon minor monster, weapon wand
0 (at will) dancing lights, detect magic, ghost sound, light, mending, prestidigitation, read magic, spark, summon instrument
Bardic Masterpieces ancient’s flight (1 full round; 2 bardic performance rounds/round active; 5th level spell slot), at the heart of it all (5 full rounds; 5 bardic performance rounds; lasts 24 hours; 3rd level spell slot), clamor of the heavens (3 full rounds; 3 bardic performance rounds/round +1 each round; 5th level spell slot), pallavi of nirvana’s blossoming (3 full rounds; 3 bardic performance rounds; lasts 20 minutes; 4th level spell slot); rat quadrille (1 standard action; 3 bardic performance rounds; 10 minutes or 1 minute; 2nd level spell slot), the dumbshow of gorrac (1 full round; 2 bardic performances; 2nd level spell slot), the winds of the five heavens (3 full rounds; 3 bardic performances; lasts 200 minutes; 4th level spell slot), triple time (1 minute; 1 bardic performance; lasts 1 hour; 1st level spell slot); vindictive soliloquy (5 full rounds; 5 bardic performances; lasts 20 minutes or 15 bolts; 4th level spell slot), the canticle of joy (1 round; 1 bardic performance/round; 3rd level spell slot)
song of extinction (5 full rounds; remaining performances for the day; 6th spell slot)
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STATISTICS
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Str 10, Dex 24, Con 22, Int 22, Wis 14, Cha 38
BAB +15; CMB +17; CMD 34
Skills Craft (painting) +31, Knowledge (arcana) +28, Knowledge (dungeoneering) +28, Knowledge (engineering) +18, Knowledge (geography) +18, Knowledge (history) +18, Knowledge (local) +18, Knowledge (nature) +28, Knowledge (nobility) +18, Knowledge (planes) +28, Knowledge (religion) +28, Linguistics +18, Perception +27, Perform (comedy) +36, Perform (dance) +36, Perform (key-board instruments) +36, Perform (oratory) +36, Perform (sing) +36, Perform (wind instruments) +36, Spellcraft +27, Use Magic Device +36
Feats Noble Scion of War, Weapon Finesse, Craft Wondrous Items, Craft Magic Arms and Armor, Lingering Performance, Ability Focus (bardic performance), Harmonic Sage, Spellsong, Spell Focus (enchantment), Greater Spell Focus (enchantment), Dimensional Agility
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SPECIAL ABILITIES
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Languages Varisian, common, draconic, celestial, infernal, abyssal, thassilonian, necril, giant, azlanti, ancient osiriani, undercommon, aklo, auran, terran, ignan, aquan, aboleth, elven, goblin, orc
Traits Fate’s Favored
SQ bardic knowledge +10, jack-of-all-trades (use any skill, all skills are class skills, take 10 on any skill), lore master 3/day, versatile performance (dance [acrobatics, fly], comedy [bluff, intimidate], oratory [diplomacy, sense motive], keyboard instruments [diplomacy, intimidate], wind [diplomacy, handle-animal]), well-versed, necklace of adaptation (breath underwater, in a vacuum, or other airless environments)
Gear Clothing (traveler’s set), Headband of Aerial Agility (Cha) +6, Necklace of Adaptation, Vest of Resistance +5, Cloak of Minor Displacement, Vambraces of Defense (slotless), Bracelet of Second Chances, Rod of Absorption (25 levels filled; weapon cord), Mithral Chainshirt +4 (Defiant Outsiders [good, evil, law, chaos], Dragons, Magical Beasts], Quickblock Red Dragonhide Buckler (Greater Energy Resistance [fire]), Ring of Protection +5, Ring of Evasion, Ring of Continuation, Ring of Regeneration, Belt of Physical Might (Con, Dex) +6, necklace of natural armor +5hand of glory (2; slotless), headband of vast intelligence +2 (slotless), +4 Guardian Guantlet, +4 Defending Dagger, Jingasa of the Fortunate Soldier (slotless), Eyes of the Dragon
Other Gear Handy haversack (2), scroll of life bubble (2), bead of newt prevention (6), boundary chalk, concealing pockets (2), waterproof hooded lantern, candle of invocation, dust of dryness (filled beads; 8), elixir of vision, doom harp, eversmoking bottle, feather token (tree; 8), marvelous pigment (2), luckstone (+1 luck bonus on saving throws, ability checks, and skill checks), wasp nest of swarming (10), books read (+4 [Int, Wis, Cha, Dex, Con], +2 [Str]), Dusty Rose Prism (Ioun Stone), portable hole (2), opera script (100g)
Gold Left Over 139,252 (WBL 880,000 + 440,000 for having 2 crafting feats; Magic Arms and Armor, Wondrous Items were bought at half price)
Finding a Shoggoth was rather easy for Bardicus, but getting to him was another matter entirely.
Initiative – Bardicus 30
Initiative – Shoggoth 22
1st Round: Upon finding Shoggoth’s Lair, Bardicus casts Exquisite Accompaniment into his ring of continuation, then spends a swift action for the spell to continue his Fascinate Performance
1st Round: Shoggoth upon detecting the intruder charges out but once within the range of the bard’s fascinate ability it makes a will save (on a roll of 19 or less it fails), it sits in the water quietly watching Bardicus
2nd Round: Bardicus can now at his leisure buff and do what have you for the next 24 hours, because Shoggoth cannot do anything while fascinated until something distracts it or endangers the creature.
Buffs: Casts Freedom of Movement (200 minutes)
Buff: Casts Echolocation (200 minutes)
5th Round: Bardicus cracks his knuckles and then starts a new performance (which should not interfere with the ring of continuation’s fascinate performance), the Shoggoth now has to make a will save or die from enjoyment, after the performance he uncorks the eversmoking bottle
5th Round: Shoggoth fails the will save and dies from the deadly performance, out of sheer joy.
6th round: Bardicus is transported to the next fight.
Used this Fight:
2 rounds of Bardic Performance, 3rd level spell, 2 4th level spells
Knowing of Bardicus and his capabilities the Balor is quite confident that it can win. I mean come on, it’s a bard!
Though not knowing how Bardicus will appear may cost the Balor. The Balor knows that while flat-footed, it has a 50% of hitting the bard, when not flat-footed it drops down to 10%.
The balor also knows that bards tend to be squishy and can be eaten in many different ways, but doesn’t know quite know what the item held in the bard’s hand is, though it looks familiar, almost as if other opponents have had them in the past and knows targeted spells are absorbed into the rod.
Surprise Round Balor: The Balor grins at Bardicus “Your time to die has come mortal!” (Free action). Then if the Summon SLA is a standard action it summons a Vrolikai Demon (CR 19)
Then Initiative for Combat happens.
Initiative: Bardicus 30
Initiative: Demon, Balor 22
Initiative: Demon, Vrolikai 20
Round 1: Bardicus uses a move action to draw out a feather token tree from his handy haversack, then a standard action to throw it on the ground below the two demons causing a massive tree to grow beneath them
“Rule of Cool” is sounded as the Balor and the Vrolikai are impaled – might need some rules clarification on this one
-or-
(This is also what occurs if the Balor cannot use the Summon SLA as a Standard Action)
Round 1: Standard Action to Intimidate the Balor with Comedy (DC 27 vs. 46 assumed, succeeds on a 1 with Skill checks; minimum Balor is shaken for 4 rounds). Bardicus uses a free action with Kn (engineering) to use Harmonic Sage to increase the DC of Deadly Performance targeting the Balor. Deadly Perfromance now has a DC of 37, the Balor fails 65% of the time, good enough for this. The Balor dies and death throes with the other demon taking the 100 damage, well 90 due to resistance, Bardicus takes no damage (failing on a 1) because of evasion.
Round 1: The Vrolikai demon not being too happy about its friend dying tries a quickened enervate against Bardicus, but that gets absorbed into the rod he holds. Then tries a charge attack with its deadly knives, but fails on anything below 18.
Round 2: Bardicus tires of the demons attacks and casts Overwhelming Presence upon the demon (Will save DC 32, the demon fails on anything below 15), but it also has SR 30 (CL check 20 + 10 or higher; I make it 55% of the time). The demon is now helpless and prostrate, dropping all weapons.
Round 2: The demon attempts to regain its composure but fails.
Round 3: Standard action to cast shadowbard (inspire courage +4),
Round 3: The demon fails its save again.
Round 4: Bardicus coup-de-graces the helpless foe: (Regular Hit: 20 minimum damage [not reduced by DR]; 24 average damage [not reduced by DR]; 33 max damage [not reduced by DR], because this is a coup-de-grace, these damage values are doubled [treated as a critical hit], the minimum save the demon has to make is a Fort DC 50; the demon fails on anything below a 20.
Bardicus is whisked away to the next fight.
Used this fight: 2 bardic performance rounds, 6th level spell slot, (feather tree token?), 5th level spell
The Pit Fiend isn’t too worried about the bard beating the Balor, I mean come it’s a bard! But he has heard of this Bardicus, the bard who is not like other bards.
In this small room, starting apart these two brave combatants face off… Sorry it’s a bard facing a Pit Fiend (announcer laughs).
Initiative: Bardicus average results 30
Initiative: Pit Fiend averages 23
Round 1: Knowing that the pit fiend has wish, Bardicus takes action with a move to get closer (they are now 20ft apart). A standard action to Intimidate the Pit Fiend with Comedy (DC 30 vs. 46 assumed, succeeds on a 1 with Skill checks; minimum Pit Fiend is shaken for 3 rounds); Free action to use Harmonic Sage; Then Bardicus begins the deadly performance as a swift action, the performance has a W DC 37, the Pit Fiend has a rather pathetic will save for some reason, Will save +18 (+16 shaken), the Devil fails on anything below a 20.
Round 1: Pit-Fiend dies from the sheer joy of the performance.
If the Pit-Fiend goes 1st, it is any ones game because of wish, without wish the devil would have summoned a creature or used other tactics, but thems the breaks.
Used this fight:
1 bardic performance round
The Linnorm is enjoying a meal of the foolish would-be Linnorm kings that came to claim their prize when it is disturbed by a clamorous racket caused by a bard, this outright enrages the dragon to act.
While enjoying a walk through the Land of the Linnorm kings, the bard takes rest near a Tarn, though is quite surprised as a Linnorm rages to the surface and…
Surprise Round: The Linnorm Breathes a cone of acidic breath at the bard, R DC 32 (The bard fails on a 1 and is immune to the secondary effects), the bard is unharmed by this display of might (evasion).
Initiative: Bardicus 30 average
Initiative: Tarn Linnorm 22 average
Round 1: As a full round action bardicus commences a performance feared by dragons true or lesser; Ancient’s Flight (W DC 37) and as a free action replaces the fascinate performance from the ring with this new one, the Linnorm fails the save on a 16 or lower roll.
Affected dragons cannot use their mouths to attack or even speak except to recite Ancients' Flight, preventing them from using their bite attacks and breath weapons, casting spells with vocal components, or otherwise communicating vocally for the duration of the performance. The effect ceases as soon as you end your bardic performance.
Round 1: The Linnorm knowing the song from ancient times, it rushes forward in a rage to bite the bard before it can complete the performance, as it tries to bite the bard, the bard handily deflects the bite (quickblock buckler; immediate actions can be used during a full-round action(s)), the Linnorm needs a roll of 18 or higher to hit the bard 15% chance.
Round 2: The dragon now can only make claw attacks and a tail swipe as it joins in with the song “Ancient’s Flight”. Bardicus is quite upset at this dragon, being immune to most everything that he can do. So he punches the dragon twice!This can continue for 20 rounds doing minimum damage, the dragon cannot flee and it’s regeneration does not work. The dragon can only hit the bard on an 18 or higher, even then 1 attack that does hit can be deflected and any crits can be taken down to a regular hit.
Average Bardicus is doing 24/25 damage a hit, so that takes 16 rounds and at max damage its about 12 rounds, that’s just one attack hitting. On average Bardicus will be hitting with two punches (40/35).
So bardicus wins this longer fight and renewed shadowbard.
Used This Fight
3 bardic performance rounds, 5th level spell slot
Now this is interesting thinks the Gold Dragon, but upon hearing the song that the bard has going on “Ancient’s Flight” it makes a will save (W DC 37 vs. Will +24), the dragon fails most of the time so no spells and breath weapon or bite attack.
Both opponents can see the other, one because of its higher perception check, the other because of the size of the dragon. The dragon can clearly hear the bard as well.
Initiative: Bardicus 30 average
Initiative: Goldie 9 average
Round 1: Bardicus begins to walk towards the dragon, curious of what it might do, shrugging off the fear aura (W DC 30 vs. Will +25 (+29 with inspire courage); failure on a 4 (or a 1) or lower)
Round 1: Goldie keeps to the air, staying roughly 700 feet away (600 feet in the air, 100 feet away) and launches a sunburst at the bard (R DC 25 halves damage negates blindness vs. R +30 with evasion), the bard takes no damage and is not blinded, this surprises the dragon and lets her/him know that this is a dangerous opponent indeed.
Round 2: Bardicus uses a dimension door spell to get above the dragon then a swift action (dimensional agility) to use deadly performance (W DC 36 vs. Will +24); the dragon fails on an 11 or lower or 55% of the time, the dragon tumbles out of the sky from having heard the best song in the world.
Round 3: Before plummeting to his death, Bardicus is able to use an immediate action to cast feather fall to save himself from a hard landing.
Used during the fight:
3rd level spell slot, 1st level spell slot, 1 bardic performance round
Well this is interesting thinks Bardicus.
Surprise round: Not having heard Bardicus’ approach, the Solar remains in peaceful bliss until Bardicus moves to be within 20 feet of the solar and shouts “This is the greatest song in the world!”
Initiative: Bardicus averages 30
Initiative: Solar averages 19
Round 1: Bardicus uses a standard action to intimidate the Solar with Comedy (DC 29 vs. 46 assumed, succeeds on a 1 with Skill checks; minimum Solar is shaken for 3 rounds), swift action to perform the greatest song in the world for a deadly performance (W DC 36 vs. the Solar’s Will save +22), the angel fails on a roll of 13 or lower and dies from pure bliss and joy.
Used this fight:
1 bardic performance round
Well now this one should be interesting.
If we use the new Tarrasque from ISG book, then Bardicus will start off with clamor of the heavens to blind and deafen the big guy for the duration of the fight replacing the performance Ancient’s Flight in the ring.
If we use the old Tarrasque this will make it a bit more challenging.
In either case Bardicus will also use Pallavi of Nirvana’s Blessing to entangle the creature. (-2 attack, -4 Dex)
Then Rat Quadrille that lasts 10 minutes (-2 Attack, -4 Concentration)
Then Canticle of Joy (-4 attacks, saves, ability checks, and skill checks)
Intimidate Big-T (-2 saves)
Then Song of Extinction (If rolls result in a 10 then Big T fails)
Used in Fight:
7 bardic performance rounds, the remaining bardic performances in the day
I'm actually doing it by hand, I used the hero generator for a base and look at Bestiary entries to help divide the "character sheet" up into groups.
I also used the npc codex on the srd for reference as well
Hey Shasf, what program are you using to generate your characters?
Makes me wonder if I made a mistake on Bardicus.
This gave me a build idea... what about a dual-cursed oracle of life 8/antipaladin 4/holy vindicator 8?
the basic idea being that by having both positive and negative channeling, you can stack profane and divine ac bonuses with vindicators shield. dual cursed to get rid of natural 20's against you. if you think it might work I'll flesh out an actual build for the concept. with the good charisma saves and channel AC, the defenses should be good enough.
or, here's another idea - a destruction domain cleric who uses mythic past lives (samasaran) to get summon nature's ally 7? with the destructive aura, the 1d4+2 cyclopes you summon will auto-confirm their crits, and they can give themselves an automatic 20 for their first attack rolls.
I am not a big fan of turtle style as the defensive advantages go away when you are grappling, since they require a free hand. Crane Style offers the ability to increase your CMD and AC for a very small penalty to attack and if you use a swift to activate grab can mimic the grapple ability of the Snapping turtle style if you succeed on the riposte attack.
Did you know that as an assimar ot tiefling you can grapple one handed without penalty due to them not being humanoids
OK, I have the build ready, although I haven't done the battles yet. Tell me if you see anything illegal - it will save me some time. thanks!
Human variant channeling antipaladin 4/ancient lorekeeper oracle of life 9/holy vindicator 7
24 (17 base, +6 belt, +1 tome, -6 age)
24 (14 base, -6 age, +6 G.A.R., +6 belt, +4 tome)
16 (10 base, -6 age, +6 G.A.R, +6 belt.)
10 (7 base +3 age)
10 (7 base, +3 age)
36 (16 base, +2 race, +3 age, +6 headband, +4 manual, +5 level)
HP: 172
AC: 53, or 71 when fighting defensively (10 + 7 Dex + 9 armour + 1 dodge + 10 sacred + 8 profane + 1 shield + 5 natural armour + 5 ring of protection + 2 fighting defensively + 13 Osyluth's Guile)
flat-footed AC: 47
Touch AC: 56 (assuming Paddy is fighting defensively)
Initiative + 13 (possibly a problem)
Feats:
1st Racial Heritage(Elf)
Bonus Enforcer
3rd Dodge
5th Alignment Channel(Good)
7th Alignment Channel(Evil)
9th Osyluth's Guile
10th Channel Smite (Holy Vindicator Bonus Feat)
11th Quick Channel
13th Improved Initiative
15th Extra Channel
17th Improved Channel
19th Multiattack (I qualify by casting a scroll of polymorph or something for the 3 natural attacks)
Traits:
Reactionary
Sacred Conduit
Saves:
Fort: +32 (+11 base, +3 con, +5 resistance, +13 charisma)
Ref: +31 (+6 base, +7 dex, +5 resistance, +13 charisma)
Will: +32 (+14 base, +5 resistance, + 13 charisma)
Gear:
Manual of Charisma +4 110,000
Manual of Dex +4 110,000
Manual of Str+1 26,250
Headband of Cha +6 36,000
Belt of Str/Dex/Con +6 77,000
Ring of Evasion 25,000
Ring of Prot. +5 50,000
Scroll of G.A.R (2) 7,650
Celestial Armour 22,400
Amulet of Nat. Armour +5 50,000
cloak of Resistance +5 25,000
Handy Haversack 2,000
+5 merciful,spellstoring
armour spikes 98,000
+4 spellstoring
Amu. of Mighty Fists 150,000
Contingency Focus 1,500
Boots of Haste 6,000
Phylactery of
Positive Channeling 11,000
Phylactery of
Negative Channeling 11,000
Buckler Small Change
61,200 GP remaining
I probably chose my spells badly, but I only own the core rulebook.
Oracle Spells - also all cure spells:
0- I don't think these will matter in the Beastmass, with the exception of Read Magic.
1- Touch of Fatigue (Bonus), Sanctuary, Command, Tap Inner Beauty, Protection from Good, Protection from Evil (DC 24) 10/day
2- Mirror Image (Bonus), Spiritual Weapon, Resist Energy, Remove Paralysis, Weapon of Awe, Desecrate (DC 25) 9/day
3- Limp Lash (Bonus), Animate Dead, Deadly Juggernaut, Hydrophobia, Invisibility Purge (DC 26) 9/day
4- Stinking Cloud (Bonus), Greater Magic Weapon, Freedom of Movement, Summon Monster IV, Divine Power (DC 27) 9/day
5- Dimension Door (Bonus), Plane Shift, Righteous Might, True Seeing (DC 28) 9/day
6- Overland Flight (Bonus), Heal, Harm (DC 29) 7/day
7- Contingency (Bonus), Summon Monster VII (DC 30) 5/day
Antipaladin Spells:
1- Death Knell x3
skills:
Perception + 10
Intimidate + 36
UMD + 29
Bluff + 24
Base Attack Routine (fighting defensively): armour spikes +25/+20/+15/+10, 1d6+12, claw +22, 1d6+7+1d6 fire.
merciful weapon lets paddy deal 1d6 extra damage (all is nonlethal) and lets him do a free demoralize.
divine power adds 4 to hit and damage.
weapon of awe adds 2 damage to the spikes.
deadly juggernaut adds 1 to hit and damage for every kill in 14 minutes.
Greater Magic Weapon adds +3 to the spikes.
Righteous Might gives +4 strength while making me large - so +1 to hit, +2 spike damage and +1 claw damage.
Haste (with the boots) gives a fifth spike attack and a +1 to hit.
Smite Good (solar only) gives +13 to hit and AC and +4 damage.
Stigmata gives +3 sacred and +3 profane to attack damage, or AC - attack rolls in this case.
so with everything but Deadly Juggernaut and smite good active (because Deadly Juggernaut is variable and smite good only affects the solar) the attack routine becomes:
armour spikes +40/+40/+35/+30/+25, 1d8+23, claw +34, 1d8+12+1d6 fire
CHANNELING:
9 negative channels/day, 8d6. with variant channeling (Ale, Wine) it is instead 5d6 and causes 1 round of Nausea. DC 31
16 positive channels/day, 10d6. 6d6+1 round Nausea with variant channeling. DC 34
as far as I can tell, the phylacteries add their 2d6 AFTER the damage is halved from variant channeling, so the damage is 5d6 and 6d6 instead of 4d6 and 5d6.
Just tell me if you find anything illegal with the build.