RPG Superstar 2013 Top 32
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Fear not! Fatespinner has kindly stepped into the breach and I now have a copy of the pdf. I shall peruse it this weekend and we can get going next week. Those goblins shall quake!
Yes, and, while I do not typically condone 'skirting the law' regarding such things, Aubrey is a Charter Subscriber as well and I have this post to defend the legality and 'kosherness' of my actions. "Neutral Good" indeed.
Let's get this mess behind us and get on with the game, shall we? ;)
I stand at the ready.
OK - we will be kicking off on Monday. Think about why your characters are in Sandpoint (already dealt with motly) and why they are hanging about during the consecration ceremony of the new temple there.
Vethran is going there out of morbid curiosity. He's probably going to keep to himself, watching from the back of the crowd, but he'd show up mostly because there's nothing better to do in town for him at the moment.
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RPG Superstar 2013 Top 32
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Aubrey- do you have the Complete Champion book? I just bought it, and while this is a bit off, the Ordained Champion PrC seems just perfect for Alwyn. It also gives me an excuse to ramp up his destructive tendencies a bit. ;D
I <3 the Ordained Champion PrC. It's what every paladin wishes he was.
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Aubrey- do you have the Complete Champion book? I just bought it, and while this is a bit off, the Ordained Champion PrC seems just perfect for Alwyn. It also gives me an excuse to ramp up his destructive tendencies a bit. ;D
I do have that - don't know about the PrC specifically, but if it meshes with the character it should be OK.
Hmmm...these civilized sheeppeople are all gathering about and bleating. What's that about? Brother, let's go take a look.
Wonder if my gods will be represented in this temple.....
Sheepfolk try to trap their gods in a square house. Hudak thinks they might be fools.
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I was watching a little "Last of the Mohicans" and noticed that the bad guy Mogwa talks about himself in the third person.
"Mogwa will put Greyhair's children under his knife. So that before he dies, he will know that his seed will not continue."
I think Hudak might talk about himself in the third person too.
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I am nearer to the front of congregation(so I can see over the longshanks) watching the ceremony with some interest and sadness, my sister spoke of Desna often and used to feel that her dreams were blessing from the Goddess. The pain quickly turns to a slightly seething anger.
Lighten up, dude. You're an ulcer waiting to happen. ;D
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I am nearer to the front of congregation(so I can see over the longshanks) watching the ceremony with some interest and sadness, my sister spoke of Desna often and used to feel that her dreams were blessing from the Goddess. The pain quickly turns to a slightly seething anger.Lighten up, dude. You're an ulcer waiting to happen. ;D
You'll love my latest post;P
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Nice. Are you going to be one of those weapon fetish guys who cries after killing off someone? "I'm sorry! I don't know why I'm always so angry! *sob*"You'll love my latest post;P
Nope. I am a hater of giants and will slay them without compunction or remorse. Dravite has a 6 charisma so I am playing him as a person with a ton of anger in him that he contains and lets loose by focusing it upon all giants, who slew his family and made him watch. Dark and damaged, he uses the pain of his loss by turning it into a white hot fury which propels him into battle with whatever enemies he should face, with his main goal being the eradication of all Giantkin.
He speaks but doesn't try to keep communication lines open, and is often short with people (I know, funny, he's a dwarf, short). He doesn't try to shun people or be rude but his broken life has too narrow of a focus for him to worry about other people's feelings being hurt by a slightly rude comment. That may change in the future, but for now he a good, if slightly rude and disturbing, person.|
RPG Superstar 2013 Top 32
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I'm looking forward to incinerating something in the near future. Perhaps several somethings.
Vethran is a total wallflower. He won't talk to anyone unless spoken to... and even then he'll talk about very boring things (unless you're a rabid scholar yourself).
Also, I made an edit to the character sheet - I ditched the cross-class ranks of Tumble because I didn't feel that he would've had any exposure to that kind of training before and swapped it out for max ranks in Decipher Script.
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RPG Superstar 2013 Top 32
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Thinking about this goblin encounter: if I can catch the little bastards all in a nice cluster, they will be hopelessly toasted. 3d4 damage from a level 1 caster is nothing to sneeze at, especially with a DC 15 Reflex save needed to take half damage. I'm gonna roast these bastards so bad!
2 for 2, they all die
Upon my hook no place to hide
gobbies all burned and bled
drive my hook right through their head
Too dumb to run from certain doom
stinking pyre shall be their tomb
"kill the dog and chop the horse?"
Their penalty is death, of course.
Dravite Schorl
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RPG Superstar 2013 Top 32
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I hate you so much, Aubrey. :)
Just curious, though, why do you dislike Reserve feats? They're hardly overpowered (since most of their effects are pretty piddling) and it allows a spellcaster to do something other than blaze through his spell slots (especially at low levels) while still contributing at least something to the fight.
That said, if you truly loathe them, I'm not going to insist. I can think of other feats that will do me all kinds of good, I just thought that the Fiery Burst one would fit the flavor of the character well (not to mention boost his effectiveness just a tad).
Oooh, more new avatar pics, and this one fits L'oj so well. The age, the expression, and the armor are all right.
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Just curious, though, why do you dislike Reserve feats? They're hardly overpowered (since most of their effects are pretty piddling) and it allows a spellcaster to do something other than blaze through his spell slots (especially at low levels) while still contributing at least something to the fight.
That said, if you truly loathe them, I'm not going to insist. I can think of other feats that will do me all kinds of good, I just thought that the Fiery Burst one would fit the flavor of the character well (not to mention boost his effectiveness just a tad).
The problem is more aesthetic - if these feats were around, how come no one was using them before? (That said, I have a sneaking suspicion that they are a way of softening us up for some of the likely changes to the magic system in 4E.) As my objection is more fluff than crunch, I'm more willing to let you take it as a result.
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The problem is more aesthetic - if these feats were around, how come no one was using them before? (That said, I have a sneaking suspicion that they are a way of softening us up for some of the likely changes to the magic system in 4E.) As my objection is more fluff than crunch, I'm more willing to let you take it as a result.Just curious, though, why do you dislike Reserve feats? They're hardly overpowered (since most of their effects are pretty piddling) and it allows a spellcaster to do something other than blaze through his spell slots (especially at low levels) while still contributing at least something to the fight.
That said, if you truly loathe them, I'm not going to insist. I can think of other feats that will do me all kinds of good, I just thought that the Fiery Burst one would fit the flavor of the character well (not to mention boost his effectiveness just a tad).
My difficulty is with Tome of Battle lately. My group that I run Savage Tide for is 5th level and the Crusader/Barb and the Swordsage/rogue/warblade are cranking out 30-40 damage a round if they don't crit. The Barb I can understand but the Rogue guy (TWF)gets in his stance that allows him to sneak attack constantly, and uses a maneuver that gives another 2-3d6 damage and he is tossing like 10 dice on the table. BBEGs are going down in 2 round even if I max their hit points.
I have changed my tune for ToB, it will be banned from all further games.Reserve feats I just look at as always being there just not in widespread use (most mage-types tend to prefer other feats, like Maximize, and other metamagic). I like them like I feel about combat wands, they allow a caster to keep being a caster instead of trying to draw back a crossbow and firing off a worthless shot against an unhittable foe.
FH
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I quite like the flavour of ToB, though I have never actually used it in anger, so I don't know the ramifications.
I liked it as a player, but I use alot of things for flavor and usually build good PCs instead of the best Character Op combo possible. But when you combine it with powergaming and min-maxing the potential for abuse is astounding. Every single round the Rogue gets to use his sneak attack because he stays in a certain stance. Every person that is on the same monster as him gets a +2 to attack, not even flanking. Then he throws in a manuever that adds 2-3 damage dice to his attacks and gives a bonus to hit, combined with TWF, and he is hitting as hard or harder than a power-attacking barb with a greatsword. He had one round last night that he did over 70 damage with one of the 2 strikes being a crit.
How do I keep a bad guy around with that kind of damage at 5th level being dealt consistantly by a rogue/swordsage/warblade? He kills everything but BBEGs in one round.The Crusader/Barb gets into the middle of combat in a certain stance and every foe either must attack him or take a -4 for their attacks. Then he uses some "mountain hammer something or other" and Bang! 30-50 damage. Then he needs to use his lesser attack manuever that only lets him do 30-40 damage, by then the combat is all but over. Luckily he hit less often than the rogue(yeah, that makes sense), but he hit last night in one round for over 70 also.
I've checked the books and it looks like they are using all the maneuvers and stances correctly so I really don't know what to do.
If I hit them with tougher stuff they are just gonna level quicker.
Oh well, I will optimizing the monsters soon. See how they like a monster with levels as a crusader or swordsage, max hit points, and the best armor and weapons possible. With a pet rust monster and a sundering barbarian wielding an adamantine greatsword (and a potion of enlarge). That'll learn 'em.
Hope it doesn't get that far though.
FH
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I liked it as a player, but I use alot of things for flavor and usually build good PCs instead of the best Character Op combo possible. But when you combine it with powergaming and min-maxing the potential for abuse is astounding. Every single round the Rogue gets to use his sneak attack because he stays in a certain stance. Every person that is on the same monster as him gets a +2 to attack, not even flanking. Then he throws in a manuever that adds 2-3 damage dice to his attacks and gives a bonus to hit, combined with TWF, and he is hitting as hard or harder than a power-attacking barb with a greatsword. He had one round last night that he did over 70 damage with one of the 2 strikes being a crit.
How do I keep a bad guy around with that kind of damage at 5th level being dealt consistantly by a rogue/swordsage/warblade? He kills everything but BBEGs in one round.
The Crusader/Barb gets into the middle of combat in a certain stance and every foe either must attack him or take a -4 for their attacks. Then he uses some "mountain hammer something or other" and Bang! 30-50 damage. Then he needs to use his lesser attack manuever that only lets him do 30-40 damage, by then the combat is all but over. Luckily he hit less often than the rogue(yeah, that makes sense), but he hit last night in one round for over 70 also.
I've checked the books and it looks like they are using all the maneuvers and stances correctly so I really don't know what to do.
If I hit them with tougher stuff they are just gonna level quicker.
Oh well, I will optimizing the monsters soon. See how they like a monster with levels as a crusader or swordsage, max hit points, and the best armor and weapons possible. With a pet rust monster and a sundering barbarian wielding an adamantine greatsword (and a potion of enlarge). That'll learn 'em.
Hope it doesn't get that far though.FH
Yeah, it's a bit tough being a DM under those circumstances. I guess the way you get around it is to stop the PCs getting to the BBEG - flight, intangibility, displacement, balcony, mooks or whatever. And consider attrition - while they may get their manoeuvres back quicker than spells, there are limits to what they can do. I'm sure you are up on this, but even if it is slightly (or more than slightly) frustrating, if the players are having fun it is probably a good result (ah, such a great cliche!). And if you play with power-gamers, this sort of thing will happen - my real world group are definately in this camp, though they don't have this particular book.
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Also, I tend to hit them with high CR encounters anyway as a matter of course. I'm not that interested in having them stroll through 13 encounters at or near their level in EL, I'll normally hit them with two or three encounters at three or four above their level, and maybe close together if I'm feeling mean. They found it stretching, didn't often get killed, but went close a few times. So they enjoyed it, and I enjoyed it since I wanted them to bleed but not actually die.
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Potion of Displacement and a Potion of 'Damage Shield'.
You miss a lot, and when you do hit, you take damage for it.
If they are that tweaked for damage output, they probably are not for damage resistance.
Or, one of my favorite home brewed spells (a bit higher level than a 5th level BBEG) Burning Blink, you blink around per the spell blink, leaving behind a Fire Burst, per that spell. I think it was 5th level or 6th level, but a reasonably competent BBEG could have the scroll.
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What stance is he got?
Just curious. I like the ToB, but have ne'er actually tested it under fire.
Also, if the ToB was used as a major source for enemies, would that help leveling out the playing field?
The Crusader is using Iron Guards Glare (-4 to baddies hitting your buddies), and the Swordsage/warblade/rogue is switching between Island of Blades (you and allies flank all adjacent foes) and Punishing Stance (Attacks deal extra 1d6, but AC is -2). The bit@h is things like Rabid Wolf Strike (+4 to hit/+2d6 damage), Claw at the Moon (+2d6 damage with a jump check), Mountain Hammer (+2d6 damage, overcomes DR and hardness), and Sapphire Nightmare Blade (opponent is flatfooted, +1d6 damage with Concentration check).
I mean sure they can each only be used once a round but when the rogue is in Isle of Blades he gets 2d6 sneak damage and he adds a strike like rabid wolf strike for a +4 to hit(with flank too)and additional 2d6, on each strike of TWF, usually both attacks hit, for weapon damage +dex mod (+5 or 6, he has the shadowblade feat) +4d6, with each attack! So 8d6+10 + the base weapons' damages. At 5th level.Yeah I could start tweaking all the bad guys to use ToB stuff but Damn is that gonna be some work. I am running the Savage Tide so I didn't really need a bunch of prep and now I am trading designing adventures for optimizing villians that will probably extend their lives by 1 or 2 rounds. I have been throwing in some environmental stuff but the party has things like swift fly, boots of translocation, and various other things to bypass physical barriers. They did that after one or two times of me throwing in an environmental obstacle. Just a tough group.
In the future my games will be core +PHB2 only. Duskblades are good but only for a round or 3 a day, not every single combat.
Oh well, live and learn, guess I need to throw a few ToB baddies in to beat them up a little and maybe let them know how it feels. I don't want to destroy them, just challenge them.
No DM vs. PCs thing here, on my part anyway.
FH
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Hey Heathy, after our next battle in town, we are gonna need to throw down! I figure weapons tossed away and a bare-knuckles fight should do it. Kinda a test of spirit and a garnering of respect for Hudak and Dravite, ending in a longterm, ongoing, verbal sparring (mostly playful, not spiteful)between the dwarf and Hudak who are actually becoming great buds. Whadda ya think?
FH
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I don't know how you're supposed to read threads here at Paizo and not get spoilered out.
Minor adventure spoiler (I think it's minor, I don't know.)
In fact ,I don't know why I spoilered it. Everyone else in our game prolly read it too.
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I don't know how you're supposed to read threads here at Paizo and not get spoilered out.
** spoiler omitted **
Minor adventure spoiler (I think it's minor, I don't know.)
In fact ,I don't know why I spoilered it. Everyone else in our game prolly read it too.
Wow! They actually wrote Hudak INTO the adventure? Amazing, looks like he is immortalized in written word.
BTW- for anyone thinking I may have negative thoughts towards gays, just know that I don't, never have, and I am very vocal in my "live and let live" attitude. I could care less that the Ex-governor of New Jersey was gay, or the recent senator, the problem I have with them is that they lie about it, are lying to thier family members, and are dishonoring thier marraige vows. Wouldn't matter if they were caught with women or men to me.....disclaimer over.
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