Our group once encountered a Rakshasa and his minions. He was way beyond our pay grade and the GM expected us to turn around and get the heck out. He was our BBEG at the time. Our sorceror remembered that we had a scroll of sleet storm and cast it between the Rakshasa and us. Then our Dwarven Monk ran around it and grappled the Rakshasa, preventing it from casting while the rest of the party dealt with the minions. When the combat finished the GM told us the session was done because he hadn't expected us to fight, let alone win and he had nothing prepared for that. We all had a great time though, including him.
One character I had potentially had the opportunity to break the game. We had just become demigods (back in 3.5) and I realized that I would potentially gain the ability to turn any metal into another (potentially unlimited wealth). The GM okayed it with the warning that spending too much might draw unwanted attention. Sadly, we never did continue the campaign so I've no idea how it would have gone.
On of my favourite derailing a BBEG encounter was in my first campaign. I was playing a Psion Uncarnate (3.5 again) and our group came up against some kind of Were-Boar giant thing. This GM I later learned is a) a pathological liar and b) always wants to win, so he will cheat. The big bad shows up, we're trying to figure out what the heck to do and one of the other players leans over and asks, 'you have ego whip right?' I went incoporeal and was able to do 1d4 charisma damage a round against this thing. In rage it tried to lash out against me but couldn't hit me and a few rounds later it was comatose. That was the day I discovered how crazy ability damage is.
Yeah, ability damage is nuts. In 3.5, I had a Tome of Magic shadowcaster build that could one-round great wyrm dragons with no equipment. Because ability damage/drain. I think it also relied on Luck feat re-rolls for insurance, but basically it just spammed Dex damage/drain and did a coup-de-gras with a summoned creature or familiar.
So in a 3.5 game I played a Warmage (blaster sorcerer) with the Versatile Spell Caster Feat. The Versatile spell caster feat is a feat that allows you to convert spell slots into other spell slots, basically giving you spell points.
The GM had the party in this huge underground desert tomb full of puzzles, I also knew the Shatter Spell. Versatile Spell Caster combined with a spell that breaks things pretty much made me a magic sonic screw driver. So instead of actually solving the puzzles, I used Shatter solve/break every single puzzle the GM created.
I ran a d20 Modern/Future Firefly campaign, and the Companion was a Charismatic Hero with so many class features boosting her skills, she had +20 to Bluff, Diplomacy, and Intimidate. It was scary!
Also, she was played by kind of a creep, so yuck.
I've abused wall of force to horrifying effect. That spell is bonkers.
Also Grease. That spell is pure comedy.
I've abused wall of force to horrifying effect. That spell is bonkers.
Do you mean you've separated enemy forces or stopped enemy movement to great effect several times? Or are you talking about doing weird stuff like cutting dragons in half with the wall's edge?
One man's abuse is another man's Monday.
The former. Divide and conquer as they say.
Though I have also used Wall of Force to block a dragon's breath weapon as a readied action. That was pretty insulting. GM was kind of...well, taken aback.
The former. Divide and conquer as they say.
Though I have also used Wall of Force to block a dragon's breath weapon as a readied action. That was pretty insulting. GM was kind of...well, taken aback.
I've done exactly that on one occasion. The breath weapon did hundreds of damage...and didn't bring down the wall. The GM was pissed.
Just posted something about this, actually. Deadhand stylist master of many styles monk, with deadhead master at 6th level, because you don't need to meet the prerequisites for the feats. So a 6th level character dealing 8 negative energy levels with one punch from pummeling style is pretty darn scary. I only got away with it because everyone else is overpowered as well.So first off, sorry for the slight de-rail, but I haven't really been keeping up with everything pathfinder for the last year, and already I feel like I'm forgetting some of the stuff I already knew, but I though Master of Many Styles only let you take the actual style, as in Deadhand Style, not Deadhand Master. I thought the starter feats were the only actual style feats, and the follow up feats were actually just combat feats. Anyone willing to clarify for me?
also, as far as i could tell from the feats description, if he could get ahold of it early or not, still caps out at two negative levels total. and being a swift action to use the ability, could only do it once per turn.
I've always wanted to do a readied action to cast wall of force as a Dragon is on a strafing run. I think by the rules they could stop? But I'd argue something going at 250ft (clumsily) in something like 6 seconds that weighs in the region of a great many tones could probably not stop his flight at the drop of a hat and so should present as a pigeon that flew into a window pane.
EDIT: I've never broken a campaign but I kept one on the rails because my Mesmerist had sky high diplomacy and bluff which kept saving the party arsonist I mean sorcerer from getting thrown out of towns for talking about all the previous towns she had burnt down.
Funny I should run into this now of all times. Why I just happen to be writing a guide/discussion on how to break the Whitesmith :)
Sadly its not ready quite yet and will take a bit more time before I post it, but if you want a sneak peak, you can find it here.
Once its done and up, I'll post a link :)
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Funny I should run into this now of all times. Why I just happen to be writing a guide/discussion on how to break the Whitesmith :)
Sadly its not ready quite yet and will take a bit more time before I post it, but if you want a sneak peak, you can find it here.Once its done and up, I'll post a link :)
You, my friend, are a menace to society. :D
You, my friend, are a menace to society. :DFunny I should run into this now of all times. Why I just happen to be writing a guide/discussion on how to break the Whitesmith :)
Sadly its not ready quite yet and will take a bit more time before I post it, but if you want a sneak peak, you can find it here.Once its done and up, I'll post a link :)
XD
Sushhh!. Dont tell the GM @_@Edit: you can see why I am not worried about being underpowered as a Whitesmith. If I feel that way then I have many, many ways to boost that power. No, its better to start off weaker and then go up from there.
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You, my friend, are a menace to society. :DFunny I should run into this now of all times. Why I just happen to be writing a guide/discussion on how to break the Whitesmith :)
Sadly its not ready quite yet and will take a bit more time before I post it, but if you want a sneak peak, you can find it here.Once its done and up, I'll post a link :)
XD
Sushhh!. Dont tell the GM @_@
Edit: you can see why I am not worried about being underpowered as a Whitesmith. If I feel that way then I have many, many ways to boost that power. No, its better to start off weaker and then go up from there.
(Your secret is safe with me!)
Oh yeah, I can't wait to see what you pull off...
There is nothing in the rules that allow the "readied action" combat action to take place outside of combat, or, specifically, before initiative has been rolled.
That is not how the rules work.
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Heres an excerpt from the guide I am reading;
The Whitesmith gains an ability called Personal Refinement, which allows a Whitesmith to cast an Enhancement on a piece of equipment in his hands and then maintain the effect without concentration or spending a Spell point. The Whitesmith then uses this ability to animate an object for an indefinite amount of time. Finally the Whitesmith combines this with the Enchanted Animation feat, allowing him to infuse an animated object with a single-use Sphere effect that he can create by spending an additional SP.
The Cheese: you basically spend 2 SP to grant an object a 1-shot use of one of your Sphere abilities that it can use at a later time.
The Negitives: this does have the drawback of requiring a non-trivial amount of SP expendure. First off, you must spend 1 SP to animate the object. Then you must spend 1 SP to Enchant the object. Then you will often want to Spend 1 SP to enhance or extend the Sphere Effect. Finally some Sphere abilities require you to spend additional SP, so you will have to supply those. All told, you may be spending 2, 3 or more SP per object, and that can easily limit you to one or two castings in an adventuring day. Each casting is also single use.
Lastly, the Whitesmith is a Low Caster and while you may be able to keep up to an Incanter with your Spell pool, you simply do not have many Spheres and Talents to give to your animated objects. You will be able to spam a precious few abilities but you would not have much diversity.
The Lindberg X( Do you know what one thing that Pathfinder is loathe to give? The ability to "save up" spells from one day to another. Because you ignore the normal duration on Animate Object, and instead allow it to last from day to day then this does exactly that. Spend 2 SP today and save an effect. Tomorrow your SP refreshes and you have a "free" dormant spell ready to cast! It gets worse then that...
The object you animate becomes its own creature. It has its own hps, saves and intiative. It is a creature seperate from you. This also means, among other things, that it has its own actions! Let that sink in for a moment. You alone can only cast a single spell per round. 5 people together could cast 5 spells in a single round.
If you Enhanced 10 constructs with a Destructive Blast, then all 10 constructs could cast Destructive Blast at the same time.
Ditto for massive Cure castings.
Now each casting is a one-shot-and-done but the only cost is prep time.
And for a final question; how long can a Construct concentrate for, if that was the only thing it did >:D
The Application: this trick would most likely be best utilized by a Whitesmith 1/Incanter X multiclass character. 1 level of Whitesmith is all you need to aquire Personal Refinement and then the Incanter would gain significantly more talents and bonus feats to give yourself a very wide selection of Spheres and Talents to abuse this trick with. Its one thing to have on-demand, free action heals and destructive blasts, its another all-together to have access to multi-target Mind Controll coupled with widespread Telekinesis and Baleful Polymorph. You can also grant your armor the ability to Enhance your natural armor/natural attacks and task it with maintaining it with concentration.
To take this a step further, I would give my Incanter the EWP: Shuriken feat. Now I have entire stacks of readily availible and light objects that I can animate. Whats more, because they are treated as ammunition they then can be drawn as a free action meaning I can "Command" the object with: "When I draw you, activate yourself against the target I point you towards!" command, giving me easy and justifiable free-action casting. Chuck the Shuriken afterwards for dramatic effect :P
That has the potental to bust any campaign >:D
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I played a Tetori Monk with EWP Garrote and completely ruined a carefully constructed boss fight. We were mercenaries off to rescue an heiress from a bunch of bandits. They had made their camp in the middle of clearing that was in turn in the middle of a thick patch of underbrush. There was one clear path in and out and so they would see us coming.
I split my monk off from the party and set off through the underbrush in stealth mode, sucking the twofold land speed reduction because hey, I was a monk. I came out of the underbrush on the opposite side of the clearing from the path my friends were coming up. The bandits were read for them and hiding in various positions.
I clearly remember sticking in character and asking, "Alright, which of the bandits is the best dressed?"
The DM said, "That one, hiding behind the wagon,"
"I move and grapple him with the garrote, he cannot speak and begins suffocating."
About this time the rest of the party come trotting around the corner and the bandits spring their trap... except their leader isn't there to toss the vial of alchemical substances on the bonfire and blind the mercenaries. In fact no one knows where their boss is.
I'm just sitting there as the party lays into the unprepared bandits, choking this rogue to death with a garrote. Finally, a couple of bandits do notice and try to free their boss but I am a Tetori and so my AC is absurd and definitely not lost while grappling and they can only watch.
Suffocating in combat takes a long time, by the way.
Suffocating in combat takes a long time, by the way.
Yes. Yes it does. >:) Gotta love the Tetori Cruise Missile!
Suffocating in combat takes a long time, by the way.Yes. Yes it does. >:) Gotta love the Tetori Cruise Missile!
It's something I keep in reserve for when my DMs get a little too attached to their caster bosses. At high levels the effectiveness falls off but that is remedied by having a party with your own halfway decent caster on hand to counter magic-buggery.
I once managed to ruin the GMs shocking betrayal twist. We had been fighting some ogre mages and the Gunslinger was knocked out in a patch of Darkness but managed to stabilise and get up due to his fast healing.
A number of encounter's later and the party is attacked by a roper. My squishy arcanist panics and throws a mythic, maximised, empowered fireball (I was given a super powered metamagic rod). Of course it destroys the fire vulnerable roper but due to my brain deciding to fail me I managed to confuse the 20ft radius spread for a 20ft diameter and caught the gunslinger in the blast, killing him.
At the moment he died the illusion failed and he was revealed to have been an ogre mage. The real gunslinger had died in the Darkness and was replaced by a player controlled ogre mage. The player was given the instruction to continue along with the party until we face the beholder, at which moment he was to reveal his true nature with a casting of Prismatic Spray. What worked in the GM favour was that the character didn't have much by way of personality so nothing seemed out of the ordinary.
