I had a hard drive crash and lost all my prep work and notes.
I've recreated or can fake most of it. However the cavalry encounter is something I've never done before, so I'm not terribly familiar with the rules and builds.
Next game session this weekend starts with the PC's fighting a cavalry unit. Halflings riding lizards with lances, bucklers, and composite shortbows. All of them appear to be equipped identically and even look very similar like the same family. That is really all the PC's know for sure though they think at least one of them has some casting capability.
What I remember:
There is one that is a sorcerer level 11. I can't remember exactly which method it used, but it had an animal companion for the lizard mount. Spells were mostly group buffs and distraction.
The others were all cavalier level 11.
Enough feats to be very dangerous on a lance charge.
Bows are a backup if something out of reach.
They had different teamwork feats so that when they bestowed them on allies, they would all have a bunch of them active at the same time.
Note: This is supposed to be a very dangerous potentially lethal fight for the party. I expect them to win, but it is completely reasonable if there are 1 or more deaths among them.
So here are my questions:
1) Which lizard/dinosaur would make the best cavalry combatant (I don't really need the gecko wall walking for this)?
2) What are the minimum feats really necessary to be dangerous with a mounted lance charge?
3) Which teamwork feats would be useful for this group of mounted charging lance wielding lizard riders? If useful, I am even willing to take more than the ones that the cavaliers get for free.
4) Any particular spells I should consider for the sorcerer?
5) Any other suggestions or recommendations?
6) Got any similar builds handy?
3) Ok, been doing some reading on the teamwork feats. I can see all of these being useful. So I'll have to figure out how to pair down the list.
Cavalry Formation
Coordinated Charge
Distracting Charge
Escape Route
Pack Attack
Seize the Moment
Shake It Off
Stealth Synergy
Improved Spell Sharing
Improved Swap Places – Swap Places
Intercept Charge
Share Healing
Lookout
Outflank
Paired Opportunist
Precise Strike
Shield Wall
Shielded Caster
Sylvan Bloodline Sorcerer, I take. For spells, Communal Stoneskin, Animal Growth, Phantom Steed (in case players go for the mounts first), Whip of Centipedes for a reach weapon...
You could totally make some Roughrider and Dragoon Fighters with the Animal Ally feat to change it up. The Roughrider would move in, swift dismount and full-attack, perhaps harrying a caster or shooter, while the Dragoon would be more acrobatic than the rest.
Sorry, 4 cavaliers and 1 sorcerer.
PC's are level 11, but I think 1 of them may have just got enough xp for level 12.
I'd rather not have fighters. I want to have a bunch of teamwork feats that they can all share as cavaliers.
I meant Pack Flanking not Pack Attack.
I plan on them staying together in formation, so Shake It Off should be amazing.
Would Improved Spell Sharing work with drinking a buff potion? That was what I was thinking.
For Share healing, again I was thinking potions. But it probably isn't worth it.
Stealth Synergy may not be great. But I was thinking circle of invisibility then striking from an unexpected direction. And with using the best of 10 stealth rolls, it should still be fairly decent.
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I would probably add a small warband of halflings instead of 5x level 11 NPCs. For example, 12x CR6 halflings and single higher level sorcerer. Sometimes it's difficult to justify such high level NPCs, all in one place and if PCs reap through half of the warband, it's good enough reason for them to disengage and retreat.
If you wish to make combat slightly simpler, you could assume that there is so many of them that they always retain the effects of 2 Teamwork Feats for example and -2 to AC due to challenge.
Probably not advice that you were looking for, but those were my initial thoughts.
Adam
This is a particular situation. The party already knows they are going up against a small team that is very well trained to operate as a unit. The cavalry is almost certain to have at least a round to buff prior to the action starting. So they can get the tactician ability going.
I was just re-reading the tactician ability. For some reason I was thinking it was an instantly give all the teamwork feats. But it only gives the free ones and I think it is only 1 at a time.
So to be able to give coordinated charge one of them would have to have taken another teamwork feat with one of his regular feats.
I'm thinking that I'll have all the cavaliers take shield wall since it doesn't need to be shared with the mounts or the sorc.
Anyone have any thoughts on order or archtype for the cavaliers?
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Coordinated Charge has it's weak points. Your GM is gonna have to remember and track constantly swift/immediate actions and you might not be able to do it each time. Even if you do take the feat, remember that striking characters with +25 to hit for 3d8+80 damage per one strike might be a little to much let alone two times in a round. It has high chance of hitting low armored characters or casters for 90% of hp and leading them to death in next strike.
There is also a difference in challenge when using mounted combat. Level 6 cavalier with Spirited Charge and Power Attack deals already 3d8+50 damage per charge with good hit chance (~ +15 or so). Two or even one of those is enough to down instantly low armored characters or casters.
Adam
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Anyone have any thoughts on order or archtype for the cavaliers?
Halflings usually have Order of the Paw but if you are searching for the bad guys, Order of the Cockatrice is the one.
If you are picking between Teamwork Feats, I recommend Shake It Off. It's easy to track and shares bonus with your mount.
Ok, I forgot that to be riding lizards they need to be the Beast Rider archtype. So then Order of the Beast makes sense.
XP 9,600
Halfling cavalier (beast rider) 11 (Pathfinder RPG Advanced Player's Guide 32, Pathfinder RPG Ultimate Combat 36)
N Small humanoid (halfling)
Init +2; Senses Perception +13
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Defense
--------------------
AC 13, touch 13, flat-footed 11 (+2 Dex, +1 size)
hp 76 (11d10+11)
Fort +9, Ref +6, Will +4; +2 vs. fear
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Offense
--------------------
Speed 20 ft. (15 ft. in armor)
Special Attacks banner +3, cavalier's charge, challenge 4/day (+11 damage, mount gains +3 to hit while cavalier threatens), greater tactician 3/day (Coordinated Charge or Shake It Off, swift action, 8 rds), mighty charge
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Statistics
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Str 18, Dex 14, Con 12, Int 10, Wis 10, Cha 11
Base Atk +11; CMB +14; CMD 26
Feats Coordinated Charge[UC], Mounted Archery, Mounted Combat, Ride-by Attack, Shake It Off[UC], Shield Wall[APG], Spirited Charge, Trample, Trick Riding[APG]
Skills Acrobatics +2 (-6 to jump), Bluff +4, Climb +5, Diplomacy +4, Handle Animal +16 (+20 to force this mount into an Unnatural Aura.), Intimidate +4, Knowledge (nature) +4, Perception +13, Ride +15 (+19 to force this mount into an Unnatural Aura.), Sense Motive +4, Survival +4 (+9 to follow tracks), Swim +5; Racial Modifiers +2 Perception
Languages Common, Halfling
SQ beast's skills, halfling cavalier/samurai, mount (allosaurus (charger) named Allosaurus AC), order of the beast, wild empathy +11, wild mount shape (11 hours)
Other Gear 4,556 pp, 9 gp
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Tracked Resources
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Beast's +11 (4/day) (Ex) - 0/4
Greater Tactician (Coordinated Charge or Shake It Off, 8 rds, 3/day) (Ex) - 0/3
Mounted Combat (2/round) - 0/2
Wild Mount Shape (beast shape II, 2/day) (Su) - 0/2
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Special Abilities
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+5 dam. when make AoO vs challenged foe. Add +1/2 to the cavalier's effective class level for the purposes of determining the damage he deals when making an attack of opportunity against a challenged foe.
Animal Companion Link (Ex) You have a link with your Animal Companion.
Banner +3/+2 (Ex) Allies who can see your banner gain +3 save vs. fear & +2 to hit while charging.
Beast's +11 (4/day) (Ex) +11 to damage target, -2 AC vs. others when used, mount gains +3 to hit bonus while cavalier threatens target.
Beast's Skills +5 +5 to follow tracks.
Cavalier's Charge (Ex) Mounted charge grants +4 to hit and -0 AC rather than +2/-2.
Coordinated Charge You may charge the same foe when an ally does
Fearless +2 racial bonus vs Fear saves.
Greater Tactician (Coordinated Charge or Shake It Off, 8 rds, 3/day) (Ex) Grant the use of your teamwork feats to all allies in 30 ft.
Mighty Charge (Ex) Double weapon's threat range while charging and execute a maneuver if you hit.
Mounted Archery Ranged weapon penalty when mounted is halved to -2 or -4.
Mounted Combat (2/round) Once per round you can attempt to negate a hit to your mount in combat.
Ride-By Attack You can move - attack - move when charging mounted.
Shake It Off Gain +1 to all saving throws per adjacent ally
Shield Wall +2 to shield bonus if adj ally with same feat has a tower/heavy shield or +1 for smaller shields.
Spirited Charge Double damage when making a mounted charge (triple with a lance).
Trample Your target may not try to avoid your mounted overruns.
Trick Riding No penalty for riding bareback, and in light armor no Ride checks needed for DC 15 or less.
Wild Empathy +11 (Ex) Improve the attitude of an animal, as if using Diplomacy.
Wild Mount Shape (beast shape II, 2/day) (Su) Mount can shapeshift into different creatures
The first has Shake It Off and Coordinated Charge as his free teamwork feats.
The second has Distracting Charge and Escape Route as his free teamwork feats.
The third has Pack Flanking and Outflank as his free teamwork feats.
The fourth has Stealth Synergy and Lookout as his free teamwork feats.
With 2 swift actions everyone including the sorc and the mounts will have all 8 of those.
For the animal companion I took the charger archtype.
Allosaurus (charger) (Pathfinder RPG Bestiary 2)
N Large animal
Init +4; Senses low-light vision, scent; Perception +8
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Defense
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AC 30, touch 13, flat-footed 26 (+5 armor, +4 Dex, +12 natural, -1 size)
hp 62 (+18)
Fort +8, Ref +10, Will +5; +4 morale bonus vs. fear and emotion effects.
Immune fatigue
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Offense
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Speed 40 ft.
Melee bite +13 (1d8+8 plus grab), 2 claws +13 (1d6+8)
Space 10 ft.; Reach 10 ft.
Special Attacks pounce
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Statistics
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Str 26, Dex 18, Con 14, Int 2, Wis 15, Cha 10
Base Atk +6; CMB +15 (+19 grapple, +17 overrun); CMD 29 (31 vs. overrun)
Feats Charge Through[APG], Endurance, Improved Overrun, Multiattack, Power Attack, Run, Valiant Steed
Tricks Air Walk, Attack, Attack, Attack Any Target, Combat Riding, Come, Defend, Down, Guard, Heel, Sneak, Throw Rider
Skills Acrobatics +8 (+12 to jump with a running start, +12 to jump), Intimidate +4, Perception +8, Ride +4 (+6 to stay in the saddle), Stealth +6, Swim +12
SQ air walk, attack any target, barding training, combat riding, indefatigable, mounted challenge, sneak, throw rider
Other Gear +1 chain shirt, bit and bridle, blanket, feed (per day) (2), military saddle, exotic, saddlebags
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Tracked Resources
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Feed (per day) - 0/2
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Special Abilities
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Air Walk [Trick] The animal can be ridden through the air when affected by spells.
Attack Any Target [Trick] The animal will attack any creature on command.
Barding Training 2 Worn armor -2 check penalty, +2 max DEX.
Charge Through You can make a free overrun as part of a charge.
Combat Riding [Trick] The animal has been trained to bear a rider into combat.
Endurance +4 to a variety of fort saves, skill and ability checks. Sleep in L/M armor with no fatigue.
Grab: Bite (Large) (Ex) You can start a grapple as a free action if you hit with the designated weapon.
Immunity to Fatigue You are immune to the fatigued condition.
Improved Overrun You don't provoke attacks of opportunity when overrunning, and foe can't choose to avoid you.
Indefatigable (Ex) At 6th level, a charger becomes immune to fatigue. This ability replaces devotion.
Low-Light Vision See twice as far as a human in low light, distinguishing color and detail.
Mounted Challenge +5 +5 to damage target, +1 AC vs. others when used
Pounce (Ex) You can make a full attack as part of a charge.
Power Attack -2/+4 You can subtract from your attack roll to add to your damage.
Run Run 5x your speed in light/medium armor or 4x speed in heavy armor and keep Dex when running.
Scent (Ex) Detect opponents within 15+ feet by sense of smell.
Sneak [Trick] Creature stays hidden.
Throw Rider [Trick] Attempts to throw creature riding it to ground.
Valiant Steed +4 vs fear/emotion effects & to push you into unnatural aura. Wounds don't increase push DC.
Anything you don't like or don't think will work reasonably well?
I haven't really started buying gear yet. Any suggestions?
I will make the sorc next.
...
Incidentally, you should give all of your cavaliers Horsemaster's Saddles, if you don't already intend to.
Where is that at? I'm not finding it.
Ok, here is what I have so far for the sorc.
Halfling sorcerer (wildblooded) 12 (Pathfinder Player Companion: Animal Archive, Pathfinder RPG Ultimate Magic 70)
N Small humanoid (halfling)
Init +6; Senses Perception +6
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Defense
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AC 12, touch 12, flat-footed 11 (+1 Dex, +1 size)
hp 81 (12d6+36)
Fort +7, Ref +7, Will +9; +2 vs. fear
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Offense
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Speed
Sorcerer Spell-Like Abilities (CL 12th; concentration +18)
. . At will—fleeting glance (12 rounds/day)
Sorcerer (Wildblooded) Spells Known (CL 12th; concentration +18)
. . 6th (4/day)—true seeing
. . 5th (6/day)—phantasmal web[APG] (DC 23), communal stoneskin[UC], tree stride
. . 4th (7/day)—apparent treachery (DC 20), lesser globe of invulnerability, poison (DC 20), shocking image[UC]
. . 3rd (7/day)—deep slumber (DC 19), haste, invisibility sphere, major image (DC 21), communal resist energy[UC]
. . 2nd (8/day)—glitterdust (DC 18), haunting mists[UM] (DC 20), hideous laughter (DC 18), hypnotic pattern (DC 20), pilfering hand[UC], shadow anchor[ARG] (DC 20)
. . 1st (8/day)—anticipate peril[UM] (DC 17), entangle (DC 17), liberating command[UC], magic missile, silent image (DC 19), true strike
. . 0 (at will)—arcane mark, dancing lights, detect magic, detect poison, ghost sound (DC 18), haunted fey aspect[UC], message, read magic, spark[APG] (DC 16)
. . Bloodline Sylvan
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Statistics
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Str 12, Dex 14, Con 14, Int 10, Wis 10, Cha 22
Base Atk +6; CMB +6; CMD 18
Feats Boon Companion, Combat Casting, Eschew Materials, Greater Spell Focus (illusion), Improved Initiative, Mounted Combat, Quicken Spell, Spell Focus (illusion)
Skills Appraise +4, Bluff +10, Fly +2, Intimidate +10, Knowledge (arcana) +7, Knowledge (nature) +4, Perception +6, Ride +4 (+8 to force this mount into an Unnatural Aura.), Spellcraft +7, Use Magic Device +10; Racial Modifiers +2 Perception
Languages Common, Halfling
SQ shared vigilance, woodland stride
Other Gear 5,000 pp
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Tracked Resources
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Fleeting Glance (12 rounds/day) (Sp) - 0/12
Mounted Combat (1/round) - 0/1
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Special Abilities
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Animal Companion Link (Ex) You have a link with your Animal Companion.
Boon Companion (Animal Companion) +4 levels to calc familiar/animal comp abilities (max of your HD).
Combat Casting +4 to Concentration checks to cast while on the defensive.
Eschew Materials Cast spells without materials, if component cost is 1 gp or less.
Fearless +2 racial bonus vs Fear saves.
Fleeting Glance (12 rounds/day) (Sp) As a standard action, turn self invisible as greater invisibility.
Greater Spell Focus (Illusion) +1 to the Save DC of spells from one school.
Mounted Combat (1/round) Once per round you can attempt to negate a hit to your mount in combat.
Quicken Spell Cast a spell as a swift action. +4 Levels.
Shared Vigilance (Ex) A bodyguard and its master both gain Alertness as a bonus feat whenever they are adjacent. This ability replaces share spells.
Spell Focus (Illusion) Spells from one school of magic have +1 to their save DC.
Sylvan Your magic shows a kinship to that of the beast-talkers and shapechanger fey.
Woodland Stride (Ex) Move through undergrowth at normal speed.
And his mount.
Allosaurus (bodyguard) (Pathfinder RPG Bestiary 2)
N Large animal
Init +4; Senses low-light vision, scent; Perception +10
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Defense
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AC 27, touch 13, flat-footed 23 (+4 Dex, +14 natural, -1 size)
hp 79 (+30)
Fort +9, Ref +11, Will +6 (+4 morale bonus vs. Enchantment spells and effects); +4 morale bonus vs. fear and emotion effects.
Defensive Abilities uncanny dodge
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Offense
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Speed 40 ft.
Melee bite +14 (1d8+8 plus grab), 2 claws +14 (1d6+8)
Space 10 ft.; Reach 10 ft.
Special Attacks pounce
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Statistics
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Str 26, Dex 18, Con 15, Int 2, Wis 16, Cha 10
Base Atk +7; CMB +16 (+20 grapple); CMD 30
Feats Light Armor Proficiency, Multiattack, Run, Stable Gallop, Toughness, Valiant Steed
Tricks Attack, Attack, Attack Any Target, Break Out, Defend, Down, Get Help, Guard, Guarding, Hunt, Sneak, Throw Rider, Track
Skills Acrobatics +8 (+12 to jump with a running start, +12 to jump), Perception +10, Stealth +7, Swim +12
SQ attack any target, break out, devotion, get help, guarding, hunt, shared vigilance, sneak, tenacious guardian, throw rider, track
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Tracked Resources
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. . -none-
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Special Abilities
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Attack Any Target [Trick] The animal will attack any creature on command.
Break Out [Trick] Chews through bars and bindings restricting itself or indicated creature.
Devotion +4 (Ex) +4 morale bonus on Will Saves vs. Enchantments.
Get Help [Trick] Attempts to bring back people it considers "help"
Grab: Bite (Large) (Ex) You can start a grapple as a free action if you hit with the designated weapon.
Guarding [Trick] The animal has been trained for guard duty.
Hunt [Trick] Hunts or forages for food to bring to handler.
Low-Light Vision See twice as far as a human in low light, distinguishing color and detail.
Pounce (Ex) You can make a full attack as part of a charge.
Run Run 5x your speed in light/medium armor or 4x speed in heavy armor and keep Dex when running.
Scent (Ex) Detect opponents within 15+ feet by sense of smell.
Shared Vigilance (Ex) A bodyguard and its master both gain Alertness as a bonus feat whenever they are adjacent. This ability replaces share spells.
Note: Activating the master's Shared Vigilance ability will activate this ability, too.
Sneak [Trick] Creature stays hidden.
Stable Gallop 1/2 AC penalty for charge, lessen rider penalty on ranged att and +4 to movement conc check.
Tenacious Guardian (Ex) At 3rd level, a bodyguard can always act in a surprise round (though it remains flat-footed until it acts). As long as its master is adjacent, a bodyguard remains conscious (though it becomes staggered) when its hit points fall below 0. While below 0
Throw Rider [Trick] Attempts to throw creature riding it to ground.
Track [Trick] The animal will track a scent.
Uncanny Dodge (Ex) Retain Dex bonus to AC when flat-footed.
Valiant Steed +4 vs fear/emotion effects & to push you into unnatural aura. Wounds don't increase push DC.
Hmm... That makes sense i will drop lookout for Paired Opportunist and trick riding for combat reflexes.
And it makes sense for a military unit.
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I still recommend going of with lower level cavaliers. Spellcasters can nullify your encounter with regular lv2 or lv3 spells and not including that, I have a feeling that encounter will be TPK or will be simply shrugged of without much trouble. Spells like Fly, Invisibility, etc. still work and party can just avoid the combat entirely. Keep in mind that 4x cavaliers and sorcerer are CR +4 encounter which is potentially even harder due to animal companions.
Your biggest enemy in general are spells. If you know your players and what spells they use, you can create more appropriate encounter then. Keep in mind that cavaliers are weak against flying enemies.
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Just to let everybody know, it went just about perfectly!
The action opened with the cavlry team invisible and a major image of them charging around to the players flank.
Tank moved to block the illusion. Party wasted some AoE spells on the illusion.
Then the invisible cavalry charged into the new group flank. Luckily some terrain features still protected the really squishy casters. But the tank and the psychic warrior did each eat a surprise group charge.
Escape Route meant they were never taking any of the AoO the party was expecting to dish out.
Shake It Off meant they were very likely to make their saves.
The cavalier plus Pack Flanking plus Outflank meant they were often hitting even the ultra high AC tank and psi warrior.
All of them having 9 teamwork feats really opened the eyes of the players.
The tank and the psi-warrior were actually getting close to dead and I was starting to get a bit worried that I made the encounter too tough. Then their druid enveloped the whole area in wall of thorns.
Very clever use of the spell. Usually the party would be upset at losing their mobility like that. But in this case the other side had the mobility advantage and it completely stopped all the charges. So to hit rolls lost much of their big bonuses and damage/hit went way down. It also broke up the formation since they had different rolls on the strength checks to move through the wall.
The tank finally got close enough to get a solid hit on the sorc. He had to behave a lot more defensively. And the archer started taking down the cavaliers.
After all the party kept saving vs the enchantment and illusion spells and 3 of the cavaliers were down, the sorc surrendered for the unit.
Two party members got mauled. They got a good demonstration on how effective a group working together (both tactics and build wise) can be very effective. At the end of the night they were actually talking about building the next PC's to mesh together, taking some teamwork feats, and planning how their spells could assist each other rather than just themselves. Put a good scare into them. But they still won and fell pretty special. Just about perfect.