I need to get to rereading ya'lls exploits etremly entertaining.
Heh I was going to write a post directed towards Elsir on the wisdom of patience and observation, but now...yeah....
I'm going to be available most of today (Saturday) if you want a lot of interaction with Vordekai.
I also realize now that I have made a game tradition: the PCs must meet the BBEG and have a conversation with them. They met the Stag Lord when he crashed the Taxfest celebration, and they met Hargulka at the centaur moot (which I alluded to in the last post). Now they're meeting Vordekai in the dreamworld. Be warned, though; he's been slumbering for millenia. He's considerably stronger in the dream world than in the real one.
I, for one, am suitably impressed by that Intimidate of Nikolai
Ignore me; I'm just rolling stats for elsewhere :)
(We're trying out 13th Age in my live gaming group and I'm prototyping a monk character)
Roll 4d6
Drop lowest
Nope, that was Akiro's job. He's not here right now.
I might be a little sparse for the next forty-eight hours. I have a murder trial starting tomorrow and I expect to be testifying for a significant amount of time over the next two days. Hopefully Elsir will finish his combat post by then so that I can keep the combat rolling.
Add another day to my testimony hiatus.
My suspect has been convicted of murder. Took a little longer than expected, but I will resume posting today.
Isaac. I think Borodin would actually get an AOO on the skeletal champion but I don't want to retcon my post.
Please adjudicate as you think is appropriate.
it appears that I forgot to make his concentration check as I normally do. your next concentration check will automatically pass. I think he is not long for this world anyway.
I'm trying to get a post in soon!
I blame myself for letting that dream interlude take so long. Hopefully, we'll speed things up. I've asked Kyle if he wants Elsir to return to Sanctuary (or to back Berrin up, to keep an eye on Pitax through divination magic) in order to put him on hiatus. This way, only having our active players (Jemini, Verik, Nikolai, and Borodin), we should spend a lot less time waiting and a lot more time playing.
Am I clear to move the group to Varnhold? If I don't hear otherwise from Kyle, I will move Elsir to the battle front and/or Sanctuary for research and divination. I can also use him to keep you guys updated as to the Pitax-Mivon war.
I'm good with a scene change.
I presume that some of y'all have been to Varnhold in the last few years, yes? Berrin would have definitely gone a few times.
Hoping for a post from Jemini, but I will get something up soon.
Gonna be out of town from Friday to Friday. Put on your ghostbustin' gear and don't cross the streams while I'm gone.
I have returned, so gameplay has resumed.
I crossed the streams Barcas.
Sorry for the delays. Houston has been hammered nonstop with rain for weeks, and Tropical Storm Bill is about to hit as well. I will try to carve some time out soon.
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Sorry for the delays. Houston has been hammered nonstop with rain for weeks, and Tropical Storm Bill is about to hit as well. I will try to carve some time out soon.
TS Bill? With all the floods last month that's got to be a problem, other than putting some temporary relief to drought conditions there.
Might have to trade your cruiser in for a boat.
Smite it, Jemini, smite it!
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When I post in a little bit I'll sort out everyone's current HP and get some rolls going for healing. I will probably only run 1x channel (leaving 2 left), three or so direct (subbed) cures, and the rest using the crafted CLW wand.
Kept my 3 channels, subbed out all my spells but AoE buffs and debuff removals, used the curing wand as appropriate. Those HP's at the bottom of my post should be accurate, so adjust your sheets/HeroLab profiles as needed.
I didn't expend effort to heal Jemini, though I certainly can if needed - I don't know what her current Oracle CLW spell use (5/5?) is or LoH uses left, though assuming it's done (0/9) today after the multiple channels and the haunt.
RPG Superstar 2013
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So...I'm not sure why everyone is leaving the combat? I guess I'll start thinking about a new character.
I offered a ranged weapon to Jemini to smite, and I attacked her because there's no elevation note on the map and she just flew down to touch me.
So..before Nikolai dies, I'd like to know if the has to roll spell resistance to get past the protection from evil effect, and whether anyone else is gonna fight her. The smite would beat her smaller DR and a few full attacks should be all we need.
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So...I'm not sure why everyone is leaving the combat? I guess I'll start thinking about a new character.
I offered a ranged weapon to Jemini to smite, and I attacked her because there's no elevation note on the map and she just flew down to touch me.
So..before Nikolai dies, I'd like to know if the has to roll spell resistance to get past the protection from evil effect, and whether anyone else is gonna fight her. The smite would beat her smaller DR and a few full attacks should be all we need.
Just to throw this out there in open discussion - Cromlich and I had agreed last round that we were going to show our characters backing up to the hall, in order to demonstrate a need to get out of the town square and bring the fight indoors - perhaps draw her into a corridor or such. Up until this very last round, she's clearly demonstrated she can just hang out up there and blow us apart from range no matter what we do. After she didn't swoop down from Jemini's first Antagonize (Diplomacy) and our non-empowered insults, I'm quite frankly surprised she came down to melee range with Nikolai...but then again I didn't know she had CL12 Slay Living either, so there's that.
Borodin is 20' away so he can easily attack next round (top of Round 6) - his last round (top of Round 5) she was 30' up in the air so there's no loss on his part. I'm sure he'll get back into it next, but with all the energy resistances my thought is that he's somewhat nerfed in his assault unless he gets a lucky crit-hit.
Verik tried to go for the burn on an 'Approach' Command - that would have been so very cool if he had got it done, but realistically it was only a 20% chance even after breaching SR with a Hero Point. I'm not ashamed of the attempt - a final 3d6 channel isn't going to mitigate the damage we're taking. If the valkyrie stays in melee in Round 6, I'll probably burn the last channel I have to Grayflame the blade and do as much damage as I can before falling. I won't have Verik run away from this one.
(Edited first paragraph to make it clearer where we were trying to move to)
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RPG Superstar 2013
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It's too bad that trick didn't work, but as you said, she probably would have made the save anyway.
I have scoured my cs for options, and I have rolled so badly these last two fights that I am really just out of everything but Power Attack, and feel like I haven't contributed much. 20 points helps a little at least. But we have to do that like six more times. : (
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Well it's not your fault you don't score a crit on demand to even the fight. I'm hoping Cromlich can get a good shot in next, and then at least Nikolai and Borodin might get an AoO opportunity if she moves to Jemini or tries to cast another spell-like ability from there. I'll keep an eye for a flanking setup if there's a chance for me to set that up next round.
You can start the process of leveling up to EIGHTH LEVEL! We will finish up the investigation of Varnhold. We will be jumping about four months forward to Calistril (February) 4713. You can bump your wealth to WBL for level 8, which is 33,000. The valkyrie had a +2 returning spear (reskinned as a scythe) and a +2 mithral breastplate, which is included in that wealth bump.
Jemini's leveled up. Major changes:
HP: 58 to 66
Cha+1: increases initiative, saves, AC, smite, skills
Smite: 3/day
Skills: +1 bluff, diplomacy, intimidate, and use magic device
Level 2 paladin spells: by default prepare litany of righteousness twice
Wealth: no changes (she's roughly at 44,000 counting everything); though if possible I'd like to at least get +1 armor and +1 shield.
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Hmmm...WBL is continuing to kill Jemini (and Nikolai I expect) due to certain items introduced early on. Which I suspect falls into the "not fun" category.
Though it would hurt Verik's crafting a bit and I'd have to redo some of his crafted stuff downwards, is there any possibility we can discuss a modified Automatic Bonus Progression from the recent Pathfinder Unchained book? Maybe where we keep WBL as-is but sub in that system w/ exception of armor and weapons (in other words IGNORE the armor/weapon attunement because it's counterproductive to the point of the alternate rules in the first place). Hand-waive out the cloaks of resistance/amulets of natural armor/rings of protection/stat belts & headbands and put them on the static level scale.
Just my 2cp on that to try and make WBL less of an issue with cool stuff we've had to dump or pass on in the game.
I would second that motion. If the party is fighting higher than average CR encounters, that extra bump would really help with options in combat.
Tony has suggested that we move to a system of automatic progression so as to improve the WBL issues that have caused some dissatisfaction. Let me know what you think of this:
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LEVEL--WBL--------BONUS------TIER
1------150
2------1,000-------Progression x2------1
3------3,000
4------6,000-------Progression x2
5------10,000
6------16,000------Progression x2------2
7------23,000
8------31,000------Progression x2
9------40,000
10------50,000------Progression x2------3
11------61,000
12------73,000------Progression x2
13------86,000
14------100,000-----Progression x2------4
15------115,000
16------131,000-----Progression x2
17------148,000
18------166,000-----Progression x2------5
19------185,000
20------205,000-----Progression x2
The Wealth by Level amount has been modified to account for the automatic increases.
Magic weapons, armors, and shields have a new progression. They cannot gain more than +5 in magical abilities. Enhancements can only be applied to masterwork weapons.
Bonus-Weapon Price---Armor Price---Shield Price
+1------3,000 gp------1,500 gp------1,000 gp
+2------12,000 gp------6,000 gp------4,000 gp
+3------27,000 gp------13,500 gp------9,000 gp
+4------48,000 gp------24,000 gp------16,000 gp
+5------75,000 gp------37,500 gp------25,000 gp
Resistance: Your experience makes it harder to catch you unprepared for unconventional attacks. Increase your Fortitude, Reflex, and Will saves by 1 as an enhancement bonus. You may increase this bonus to 2 by taking another resistance progression at the second tier, to 3 at the third tier, and so on.
Armor: You know how to utilize your armor to best defend against weapons. Increase your armor bonus by 1 as an enhancement bonus. You may increase this bonus by taking another armor progression to 2 at the second tier, 3 at the third tier, and so on. You must be wearing masterwork armor to gain this bonus.
Shield: You know how to utilize your shield to best defend against weapons. Increase your shield bonus by 1 as an enhancement bonus. You may increase this bonus to 2 by taking another shield progression at the second tier, to 3 at the third tier, and so on. You must be using a masterwork shield to gain this bonus.
Weapon: You know how to utilize your weapon to best attack your foes. Increase your bonus to hit and damage by 1 with one weapon per round as an enhancement bonus. You may increase this bonus to 2 by taking another weapon progression at the second tier, to 3 at the third tier, and so on. You must be using a masterwork weapon (or have Improved Unarmed Strike) to gain this bonus. You may take another weapon progression at each tier to apply a bonus to a second weapon per round in the same manner.
Deflection: You know how to dodge weapon attacks. Increase your dodge bonus by 1. You may increase this bonus to 2 by taking another shield progression at the second tier, to 3 at the third tier, and so on.
Natural Armor: You have a natural ability to shrug off weapon attacks. Increase your natural armor bonus by 1 as an enhancement bonus. You may increase this bonus to 2 by taking another shield progression at the second tier, to 3 at the third tier, and so on.
Prowess: Your experience has increased your talents. Increase one ability score of your choice by 2 as an enhancement bonus. You may increase this bonus to 4 by taking another prowess progression at third tier and to 6 at the fifth tier. You may take another prowess progression at any tier, increasing another ability score of your choice, and likewise increase the bonus at third and fifth tier.
This system has slightly lower WBL in the low and middle levels (and drastically reduced WBL in the high levels), but the effective WBL is actually considerably higher. I estimate that your effective WBL under this system is about 50K at level 8, rather than the 33K that is normal. Everyone should have the same static bonuses as before, but now with some extra gold with which to get relevant magical items. Let's just make sure it's roleplayed how you're getting these items, whether purchased or crafted in the four-month period by Verik.
Holy Longsword 12,315 gp
Elven Chainmail 5,150 gp
Everburning Torch 110 gp
Cloak of Endure Elements 1,000 gp
Ring ???
Amulet ???
Circlet of Persuasion 2,250 gp
MW Warhammer 312
MW Full Plate 2,650
MW Heavy Shield 1,170
MW Chain Shirt 250
Holy Symbol 100
MW Handaxe 306
Wand of CLW 375
Wand of Prot. Evil 375
MW Longsword 310
MW Crossbow 335
Pearl of Power 500
Scrolls 875
Cloak of Endure Elements 1,000
Equestrian Belt 1,600
Headband ????
Flaming Greatsword 3,350
MW Dagger 301
MW Composite Shortbow [+5] 775
Elven Chainmail 5,150
Belt of Thunderous Charging 6,000
Cloak of Fire Resistance 6,000
MW Chain Shirt 250
Keen Aldori Dueling Sword 1,820
Handy Haversack 2,000
MW Throwing Dagger 302
MW Composite Longbow 500
MW Thief Tools 100
Boots of Elvenkind 2,500
Spellguard Bracers 5,000
Belt ????
Amulet ????
Cloak of Endure Elements 1,000
MW Cold Iron Light Mace 310
Potions/Flasks 390
Still unsure how it works? Let's say a new character is being created at level 8. He would get 8 progressions. He is at Tier 2 maximum, so he can't pick higher bonuses than that. He's a fighter, so he picks Strength 1 and Constitution 1 for +2 to both ability scores. That's 2 progressions. He uses a bow and a longsword, but not at the same time (obviously), so he picks Weapon 1 for +1 to attack and damage. It applies to either weapon, so long as he only uses one of them at a time. [If he hypothetically dual-wielded swords, he could spend 2 progressions to get +1 to both weapons, 3 to get +2 to one and +1 to the other, or 4 to get +2 to both.] If he were to lose his weapon and pick up a new masterwork weapon that he is proficient with, he would get the +1 bonus to it. He gets Resistance 2 for +2 to all saves, Natural Armor 1 for +1 to his natural armor, and Armor 1 for +1 to his AC. (His armor is like his weapon. Any masterwork armor that he wears gives him the bonus, as long as he is proficient.) That's 8 progressions.
Now he has 31,000 gold pieces to spend. He enchants his sword with flaming for 3,000 gold, enchants his bow with icy for 3,000 gold. Both now count as magical items. With the 25K gold he has left, he can enchant a few suits of armor, start picking up some magical items, or whatever.
Let me know what your thoughts on this system are.
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I'm a big big fan of this. I think for our KM campaign this is even more FUN than Automatic Bonus Progression, because of the ability to make progression choices. The example provided is a great example, because even though I know what it is, it can still be hard to get one's arms around the changes.
Like Unchained's Automatic Bonus Progression (which I believe this system handles armor/weapon attunements soooo much easier and better by the way), the only "wrinkle" I see we need to self-police is in not going for a "golf bag" of variant energy-type or bane weapons, because the now-lower pricing for enchanting just the armor/weapon effects. It's meta-game and cheesy, and I think the players can have a mutual agreement to keep magic weapons meaningful and not go that route. I'm certainly fine for Isaac to come up with a short list of banned or price-adjusted effects if/as he feels appropriate with a system like this. Since we play with a more stringent magic item crafting requirement anyway (i.e. all the item creation requirements must be met), I think this poses less of an issue for our campaign.
Hehe, this will somewhat blow up HeroLab use, but we're all certainly able to calculate our statblocks and combat bonuses without the HeroLab crutch (or should be)!
You can use the Permanent Adjustments sections of the Personal tab to create the bonuses, I think.
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You can use the Permanent Adjustments sections of the Personal tab to create the bonuses, I think.
Yeah, I agree with you there that it's probably the best option. I do that now for our RotRL tabletop campaign that uses a modified (thrown out armor/weapon attunement) version of Automatic Bonus Progression. I think with respect to the armor and weapons specifically, it might be easy enough to just make them all +x to equal what one's progression tier is. I'm going to mess around with it on Verik this weekend.
EDIT: One small issue I found with perm adjustment out of the Personal Tab is that save bonuses don't have "Resistance" as one of the drop-down choices. Which is weird. I picked "Enchantment" bonus instead, but I did have to be careful if I happened to encounter something else item-wise that had a Resistance save effect (in my particular case a Sidhedron Medallion from RotRL).
I quite like the proposed system; but it probably needs adjustment: "prowess" probably needs to cover "free" attributes at higher tiers; since using the proposed system doesn't really cater for belts and headbands of perfection. It costs 18 progression steps to get +6 to all attributes - that leaves practically nothing for armor, shield, resistance, weapon, etc.
I propose splitting it into "mental prowess" and "physical prowess" and have each automatically affect all 3 mental / physical stats per progression level.
As a side note: Jemini wears a mithril (chain)shirt 1100gp, not elven chainmail - leaving her with 14225gp to play with.