Hey so I've been thinking about Thordak and actually I just found in the Advanced player's guide an option that I find pretty attractive: it's called the skirmisher class and replaces divine spells (which I've always thought a little weird for Thordak) with combat tricks. Here's the info. I'll wait on DMHW's approval and everyone's feedback.
Many rangers rely on spells, but there are some who eschew aid from divine powers for their own reasons. Skirmishers rely on their wits, their wisdom, and sometimes even instinct to aid in their quests. A skirmisher has the following class features.
Hunter's Tricks: At 5th level, a skirmisher ranger learns the use of hunter's tricks, which typically grant a boon or bonus to the ranger or a nearby ally. At 5th level, the ranger learns one trick, selected from the list below. At 7th level, and every two levels thereafter, he learns another trick. A ranger can use these tricks a total number of times per day equal to 1/2 his ranger level + his Wisdom modifier. Tricks are usually swift actions, but sometimes move or free actions that modify a standard action, usually an attack action. Once a trick is chosen, it can't be retrained. A ranger cannot select an individual trick more than once. This ability replaces the ranger's spells class feature. Skirmishers do not gain any spells or spellcasting ability, do not have a caster level, and cannot use spell trigger and spell completion magic items.
The following is a list of hunter tricks and their effects.
Aiding Attack (Ex): The ranger can use this trick as a free action when he hits a creature with an attack. The next ally who makes an attack against the target creature before the start of the ranger's next turn gains a +2 circumstance bonus on that attack roll.
Bolster Companion (Ex): The ranger can use this trick as an immediate action when his animal companion is hit with an attack or a combat maneuver. The companion's AC and combat maneuver defense increase by +4 for the purposes of that attack. If the attack still hits, the animal companion only takes half damage (if any). The animal companion must be able to see and hear the ranger to benefit from this trick.
Catfall (Ex): The ranger can use this trick as an immediate action when he falls 20 or more feet, ignoring the first 20 feet of the fall when calculating the falling damage. If the ranger takes no damage from the fall, he does not fall prone.
Chameleon Step (Ex): The ranger can move up to twice his speed as a move action. The ranger does not take any penalty on Stealth checks for movement during this move. This move provokes attacks of opportunity as normal.
Cunning Pantomime (Ex): As a standard action, the ranger can communicate with a single creature as if using the tongues spell for 10 minutes. Because the communication is slow and lacks subtlety, the ranger suffers a –4 penalty on all Bluff and Diplomacy checks relating to the creature he is communicating with when using this trick.
Defensive Bow Stance (Ex): The ranger can use this trick as a swift action. Until the start of his next turn, his ranged attacks do not provoke attacks of opportunity.
Deft Stand (Ex): The ranger can spend a move action to stand up without provoking attacks of opportunity.
Distracting Attack (Ex): The ranger can use this trick as a free action before he makes an attack. If the attack hits, the target takes a –2 penalty on all attack rolls for 1 round.
Hateful Attack (Ex): The ranger can use this trick as a free action when he makes an attack against one of his favored enemies. The ranger doubles the threat range of his weapon for this attack. This does not stack with other abilities that increase a weapon's threat range.
Heel (Ex): The ranger can use this trick as an immediate action when his animal companion moves. When the companion moves, the square it starts out in is not considered threatened by any opponent it can see, and therefore visible enemies do not get attacks of opportunity against it when it moves from that square. The companion must end this movement in a square adjacent to the ranger. The animal companion must be able to see and hear the ranger to take this movement.
Hobbling Attack (Ex): The ranger can use this trick as a free action when he hits with an attack. The target of the attack's land speed is reduced by 1/2 for 1d4 rounds.
Quick Climb (Ex): The ranger can climb at his full speed as a move action without penalty.
Quick Healing (Ex): As a swift action, the ranger can make a Heal check to administer first aid on an adjacent dying character. Alternatively, the ranger can administer a potion to an unconscious character as a move action.
Quick Swim (Ex): The ranger can swim at his full speed as a move action without penalty.
Ranger's Counsel (Ex): As a swift action, the ranger can grant all allies within 30 feet that are within line of sight and can hear him a +2 bonus on skill checks with a single skill of his choice. The ranger must have at least one rank in the chosen skill. This bonus lasts for 1 round.
Rattling Strike (Ex): The ranger can use this trick as a free action before he makes a melee attack. If the attack hits, the target is shaken for 1d4 rounds.
Second Chance Strike (Ex): When he misses with a melee attack, the ranger may reroll his attack at a –5 penalty. Using this ability is an immediate action.
Sic 'Em (Ex): The ranger can use this trick as a swift action. His animal companion makes one melee attack against an adjacent creature. The animal companion must be able to see and hear the ranger to make this attack.
Skill Sage (Ex): As a free action, the ranger can roll twice on any one skill check and take the better result. He must have at least 1 rank in that skill to use this ability.
Stag's Leap (Ex): As a free action, the ranger can attempt a running jump without moving 10 feet before the jump.
Surprise Shift (Ex): The ranger can move 5 feet as a swift action. This movement does not provoke attacks of opportunity and does not count as a 5-foot step.
Tangling Attack (Ex): The ranger can use this attack as a free action when he makes an attack. If the attack hits, the target is entangled for 1 round.
Trick Shot (Ex): As a standard action, the ranger can make a ranged attack that ignores concealment (but not total concealment), soft cover, and partial cover.
Uncanny Senses (Ex): As an immediate action, the ranger gains a +10 insight bonus on Perception checks for 1 round.
Upending Strike (Ex): The ranger can use this trick as a free action just before he makes a melee attack. If the attack hits, he may make a free trip combat maneuver against the target.
Vengeance Strike (Ex): The ranger can use this trick as an immediate action when an enemy adjacent to him hits an ally with a melee or ranged attack. The ranger can make a single melee attack at his highest base attack bonus against the creature who attacked his ally.
Personally, I think that the Ranger's spells are much more useful, but at the same time, we have a lot of spellcasting capability in the party already. If you like the skirmisher, check out also the Trapper archetype.
Don't forget that the Lantern Archon has DR10/evil, it should have only taken 5 points of damage.
I was thinking that the bonedrinkers bypassed that resistance since they were evil. However, I suppose you are right. Their weapons themselves are not evil. Edited and fixed. Thanks!
Thordak I would be fine if you wanted to become a skirmisher ranger. Just let me know what you decided to do.
Bofus,
Can you tell me what you think of these recordings? I am not sure how familiar you are with Nursery Cryme, but it was one of my favorites. The following are from Steve Hackett's Genesis Revisited II Album.
The Return of the Giant Hogweed
There are plenty more to listen to. Here is an interview Steve gave about his recording.
Here is an actual video from one of his recent tours.
Don't forget that the Lantern Archon has DR10/evil, it should have only taken 5 points of damage.I was thinking that the bonedrinkers bypassed that resistance since they were evil. However, I suppose you are right. Their weapons themselves are not evil. Edited and fixed. Thanks!
Yeh, alignment is a pain. For instance there is no "alignment" ability for weapons. If a weapon is intelligent, it gains the alignment and if it is some special weapon (Holy, Unholy, Axiomatic, etc.) then it gains it. There are other ways as well - Smite Evil, Terrain Dominance(outsider) (this is a Horizon Walker ability), and numerous others. There is also the Align Weapon spell. I am pretty sure that some monsters are specifically listed as having their attacks count as a certain alignment, but it will state as much in the monsters description.
DMHW: Yeah I think I'm going to go for skirmisher, it looks really Thordak, and I like it! Besides, I've never used the spells that much...
Hey folks, I am off to a concert in Montreal tonight. I'm leaving soon and will not be back until tomorrow. Enjoy the weekend!
Party on, have fun.
And we did! Man oh man! UK was phenomenal!! That was one of the best concerts we have ever been to! A small theatre with no bad seat in the house. The sound, the musicianship and the energy level were amazing! The drummer was a monster. He reminded me of a young Carl Palmer. The bass shook your whole body. That electric violin was out of this world! These guys rock! What an experience!
This is the piece The Only Thing She Needs which they played for their finale! A you tube video doesn't capture the moment, but you can get a taste of the energy that we experienced!
I knew you would have trouble in this dungeon without a healer. At one point I considered bringing Matthias back as an NPC. Ideally, we could get somebody who wants to play a good cleric.
yeah, the thing is, we need someone who basically IS Matthias!
Hi Guys, I am away at a conference today and posting will be light, but please feel free to dialogue and determine your next steps.
I think we should dip the thief in each pool to see what happens.
But, I can sssslllllloooooowwwww yyyyyoooooouuuuu dddddooooowwwwwnnnnn. Which will make you much easier to catch.
Well, we told my in-laws that we are planning on putting the house on the market in the next few weeks and moving back east before the end of summer. My father-in-law essentially said that he had always wondered why we moved to Chicago from Colorado 15 years ago. My mother-in-law, well, lets just say that her reaction was less hospitable. If they gave awards for passive-agressive commentary, I think that she would have gotten a gold today.
Anyway, here is to crossing my fingers and hoping that we can get rid of this place before the next major storm comes through and floods the neighborhood, or a tornado blows through and destroys everything, or some other natural disaster, other than my mother-in-law, strikes.
I was pushing for scorched earth, but that whole "insurance fraud" thing keeps getting in the way.
Congratulations, Tirion! I am impressed you made it out of the encounter with your mother in law unscathed. You must have earned some experience points for that! So do you have the job in NH? Have you found a place to purchase? Do you need to wait until your old place sells before you can purchase a new home? When do you move?
No job yet, I may start on my own as I have been. While it will not be quite what I want, I get the feeling that I need to make a presence in the state before I can really get into any of the positions I want. We both know that NH tends to view outsiders with a little apprehension, and while I am a native Granite Stater, I have been away long enough that I am no longer on the inside.
As far as where we are going, most likely Bow, NH, just outside of Concord. Close enough that you can come down and game and visit from time to time. I figure I will be about 20 minutes from Bofus as well. We have a number of homes that we like, we cannot buy until we sell this one. However, we can begin making offers, contingent on selling our home here in Chicago, as soon as we put this one on the market.
There is a class I need to take on June 5-6 in Concord. My in-laws, if my mother-in-law still acknowledges our existence at that point, are supposed to be taking to boys away for a week, so we will both be coming east and checking out the town and the lay of the land at that point. We are planning on staying until June 8 so that gives us two days to look at homes and the area.
I think that I interviewed for a job with one of your board members - Jim Normand.
Lol - no problem. Just thought that it was interesting when I saw your bank on his background.
And wish you own lovely wife a most happy mother's day. Get out and enjoy the day!
Happy late Mother's Day to all you east coasters. Ok, to your good wives that would be.
HP:
Ok, any thoughts on spells?
Black Tentacles is always good for level 4, I am open to other thoughts though. Greater Invisibility is also nice as Bofus can infiltrate and then backstab for several rounds before running.
I can gain a level 3 spell as a FC leveling bonus, I was thinking of Fireball or Lightning Bolt since I do not have any good boomboom spells. I can also swap out a level 3 spell. So far, slow has seemed to be less than my most powerful spell, so I can exchange that for something else or I can swap out a level 1 or 2 spell. I will have to look and see what is most useful.
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As fun as a dual-wielding rogue would be, i think I'm going to stay true to my orignal plan and keep Bofus a "true thief." Finding a +2 weapon isn't enough to change your build around. Now, if it were a +3 keen Acid Burst kukri, it'd be a harder decision...
Favored Class bonus: +1 skill point
Class abilities:
Improved Uncanny Dodge (cannot be flanked)
Rogue Talent: Trap Spotter (Whenever a rogue with this talent comes within 10 feet of a trap, she receives an immediate Perception skill check to notice the trap. This check should be made in secret by the GM)
Ability boost: Int, 16 total
Skills: +12 yo!!
+1 each in Acrobatics, Appraise, Bluff, Climb, Diplomacy, Disable Device, Knowledge (local), Linguistics (language: Draconic), Perception, SoH, Stealth, UMD
Leveling
- +1 Charisma <-- level 8, jack up those stats
Spells:
Level 4 - Black Tentacles
Level 3 - Fireball (FC bonus)
Level 3 - Protection from Energy (replaced Slow)
HP:
+1 HP
+1 Dex
+3 ride
+2 perception
+1 stealth
+1 knowledge, engineering
hp:
Favored Class: +1 hp
+1 Charisma
Skills:
+1 Diplomacy
+1 Perception
+1 Ride
Hey folks, so I'll be leaving for Germany on Friday, and I'm not sure what the internet situation will be for me this summer. I'll let you all know when I arrive and figure out housing, but if you don't hear from me for a while, don't be too surprised and feel free to RP me for a bit.
Viel Spass.
Bofus, That's too bad! But that is probably for the best. I am starting a three week June Intensive tomorrow and will mostly be on field trips for the next few weeks. Some days I may have plenty of time to get online, but some days it will be very little. No matter what, I hope to have an early morning post and an evening post. The mid day posts are the ones that will be in question. Let's just carry on and do the best that we can.
Well guys, the campaign has finished three of its five chapters. Two more to go. Are you interested in having me recruit some players to join in, or should we continue with just the four of you? It will fit with the storyline to add players in Brindol, but they have missed some of the drama thus far. However, I promise that this is only going to get more intense as we approach the ending of this epic campaign.
As a check in, how are you all doing? Are you still enjoying yourselves? This has certainly been a great adventure to DM. I am loving the campaign, but how is it from the player perspective? Are you feeling the suspense and the build up yet?
I am enjoying it. You do a great job as the DM and the campaign has continued at a fairly good pace. I think that getting someone with a divine and/or bardic slant would be good. There are so many buffing spells that we just do not have. I can cast Haste all day long, but do not have much else. Another witch would not be a bad choice, but we need someone who will post regularly.
Shifty or someone from my ToEE campaign might be good as most of them are consistent quality posters. We can probably survive on our own, but I do not think that some help would hurt.
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Im' loving this campaign. This is my first thief, and I really dig it!!
one of the reasons I am boosting UMD skill is so that we can fill in emergency gaps. I'm at the point where Bofus can use wands/staves/scrolls pretty consistently in combat, so it's a very viable option to buy a few boost items that we can afford.
that being said, a bard would be swell. (and, hopefully we can find someon in Brindol to recahrge our staff a little!!)
Aye I'm loving it. We need a cleric or bard or spellcaster that can help us stay alive a little better though, I think...
Hi all, DMHW kindly suggested I pop by and have a look at this rather nice campaign, and we have had a bit of a yarn about what might be needed.
At this point I am 90% certain a combat bard is on the cards, just trying to work out whether his skillsneed to remain really broad, or whether we have a shortfall in an area? Does he need to be a jack of all trades skill monkey? Dimplamancer? Knowledge guy?
I'm thinking more JOAT personally, as it SEEMS the Rogue has good sneakypeeky and face skills for that side of things... AND there's a Paladin.
Wot's a Jote? Mostly we need a healer an' a buffer Oi'd say
Well the Bards aren't the strongest healers in the world, butI have elsewhere professed my 'great love' of being the primary healabot when I already have too many :)
Clerics - boring to tears unless you dip Pally, but thats Winter.
Witch healer - boring to tears whenever undead or constructs appear - thats Victoria
Druids - Give up all your good stuff to heal instead , have Alcheringa suffering that fate.
Oracles - Don't get me started on Oracles, its still too raw :p
So the Bardbarian is born. Good buffage, some healage, all carnage.
1 Barb/7Bard.
The idea is to build something effective at casting and buffing, whilst mainataining survivability, high mobility, and the capacity to go bring the hurt.
I assume then that running a Jack of All Trades (broad skill monkey) is probably preferable than a specialist?
Oh and with wealth, was there a 'cannot spend more than X% on Y item' rule?
Sort of chill day at work now, so lots of time to back and forth on the matter :)
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Hey shifty! Glad to see you in another campaign!!
You are correct on the sneakypeeky--but I prefer the old-school "thief" to "rogue" if you please. :-) Bofus is definitely a thief. My skills are up-to-date in my profile if you care to take a look.
I think knowledge skills are where we're weakest. Between myself and the paladin, we've got face well covered.
I like the thoguth of your bardbarian--never heard of such a beast. (I've got a barbarian I was toying with taking a level of alchemist with...can't decide). I'd love to see that in action.
Again, welcome and I'm jazzed you're here. Hope you decide to stay. I really dig the Alcheringa character and look forward to what else you've got up your sleeves!
Of course I have Flofer, the Hellbard, or the Bardadin if you like...
Shifty we are delighted to have you and I look forward to meeting this Bardbarian! He just sounds plain fun to play!
Hey folks, I am away on a field trip Thursday (tomorrow) night and I will not be back until Friday night late. I will post when I get home again. In the meantime, this will give Shifty a chance to get his character in order.
Today I ran another session of the Sunless Citadel with Thordak, Mantooth and Matthias' players! This hasn't happened in about a year. Kazam! I have to admit, PBP is fun, but tabletop is truly a blast! We were laughing and reminiscing about how we started these characters four years ago when they were my high school students. Now, two have just graduated from college and Thordak is off to Germany for a huge adventure! Man, where does the time go?!