Anti-climactic is just another term for 'well-planned'. ;)
Well this boss was real hyped, then we got to them and found out that we absolutely could not face her toe to toe...so the fight basically devolved into just mean, and my anti-magic talisman(wizard) while the other two just sat outside making sure the door stayed closed (final battle was set in a 15 by 15 foot room...it was so dumb).
For your 2 year adventure to wrap up in such a manner was...meh.
Alikia DID get to crit a Jabberwoky with a vorpal sword though on a nat 20! First turn! First attack! Sub boss dead! No one even passed the knowledge check on it. We dubbed it the Goober Dragon and continued on. The DM had ordered some take out just before the fight expecting it to take an age (as high level battles with strong foes tend to do).
Well, that is the specific foe vorpal swords are meant to counter. Snicker-snack!! One hopes she went gallumphing back.
Very nice! Reminds me of my first truly amazing kill in a tabletop game. About fifteen years ago I was in a party of sixth-level adventurers that ran into what was basically a lesser balor and we were too new to gaming to realize we needed to run.
Two of us died in the first attack, and when I attacked it to try and distract it while the other two ran, I rolled three consecutive natural 20s, which that GM had a houserule for: if your crit confirm is a nat-20, you get a third roll, and if that's a nat-20, it's a "divine intervention" insta-death, no matter what it is. So my 6th-level druid took down a level 15-16ish demon in one hit. Was pretty awesome.
Of course, the druid died when the thing exploded in its death throes, but the GM thought it was so awesome that he reincarnated me as a same-level centaur, which the party halfling promptly stared using for his mount. Good times...good times.
Very nice! Reminds me of my first truly amazing kill in a tabletop game. About fifteen years ago I was in a party of sixth-level adventurers that ran into what was basically a lesser balor and we were too new to gaming to realize we needed to run.
Two of us died in the first attack, and when I attacked it to try and distract it while the other two ran, I rolled three consecutive natural 20s, which that GM had a houserule for: if your crit confirm is a nat-20, you get a third roll, and if that's a nat-20, it's a "divine intervention" insta-death, no matter what it is. So my 6th-level druid took down a level 15-16ish demon in one hit. Was pretty awesome.
Of course, the druid died when the thing exploded in its death throes, but the GM thought it was so awesome that he reincarnated me as a same-level centaur, which the party halfling promptly stared using for his mount. Good times...good times.
LOL! That sounds like Always Sunny in the Forgotten Realms! :D
Alikia. What you doing in the minotaur encounter?
Now that camping season is over and wife and I are home for the winter, I will try to post at least once per day on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and once over the three day weekend (Saturday, Sunday, Monday), so we can move the game along at a somewhat faster rate.
-- david
DRB, can I apply my +5 bonus from Trapfinding to the UMD checks for the pressure plates, since that bonus applies to disarming traps as well as finding them?
Alikia. What you doing in the minotaur encounter?
Now that camping season is over and wife and I are home for the winter, I will try to post at least once per day on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and once over the three day weekend (Saturday, Sunday, Monday), so we can move the game along at a somewhat faster rate.
-- david
I will poke Alikia for an update.
I apologize, our little one is starting to stay awake longer and I'm easily distracted by their needs. I will try to get back on a more regular posting schedule. Baby photo
Understand, and cute looking baby picture....
Looks like she's cheering a good dice roll. ;) RL comes first. And y'all have more storm on top of you, so again, stay safe.
Speaking of storms, my powers been out since last night, so bot as needed.
FYI, I am recruiting for a Return of the Runelords PbP. Here is the LINK.
Aerianna, Alikia ?
I have to admit I'm not entirely certain -- since Alikia is before everyone but Hyram in the initiative sequence, did our actions from last time go off? This is important for Aeri, so I know whether or not her weapon is under the effects of her Divine Bond ability. Even then, unfortunately, I was assuming she could reach the minotaur with her longsword, which would mean (presumably) that the damage and intimidation weren't done to the one that was closest to her.
The first time we heard Vang's name.
Sorry for my absence the last couple of days; I've been sick. I'll have an in game post up tomorrow.
Well, everything went quite well with the cataract surgery Wednesday, and at my first followup appointment Thursday, the doc said I can drive and go back to my computer, so I'm back! Game post coming soon.
Yay! Glad to hear everything went well with the surgery!
Woohoo! Congrats on everything going well!
Checking in. Let me know what you wish to do; withdraw, cautious, bold; and I'll move the game forward.
Bold! :D
Well, Aeri's opinion is pretty clear -- bold. ;) Just Erzo to answer, and of course Arueshelae's thoughts.
Well, it looks like bold is the winner. You have three options. Two double doors in the room and a set of stairs back in the main entrance area .
Which way?
-- david
To boldly go where no one else (except demons) have gone before!
As an FYI, my computer has given up the ghost, so I'm working off the PS4 web-browser. (Fun fun.) If I mess up, it's just me messing up without access to my HeroLab. Fortunately I thought to make copious notes ... ;)
Hope everyone had a Happy Thanksgiving. We had a very busy weekend, and I am running very late today. Will have a post either tonight or tomorrow morning.
-- david
Happy belated Thanksgiving to all my gaming buddies!
I am running a Serpent's Skull game that has ha some openings. We would probably need a fighter and cleric. We currently have the following:
Vanaran Male Monk
Human Female Witch
Catfolk Male Rogue
The link to the Recruitment thread is here.
What an odd and interesting party...
I will be unable to post from 12/23 evening to 12/28 afternoon inclusive. Sunday / Monday at the hospital (part time job). Christmas Day is with friends all day, and the next three days are driving to Boston MA (4 hours) and spending it with my wife's brother and his wife. I will not have my laptop, so I do not have my PDFs, notes, macros, etc. with me.
Have a happy and safe set of holidays, everyone!
I will be visiting family from 12/23 until New Year's Day so bot me as necessary.
Have a safe celebration! Ezro and I will be heading out of town for Christmas day, and the 29th and 30th of December.
Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!
And to all a good night!!
Merry Christmas to all my gaming buddies!
Back from Boston. Got an email from my boss at the hospital, and he forgot to schedule for Monday 12/31 which is my normal 1/2 shift, so I'll be back to normal posting starting January 2nd.
I have a party of dwarves I'm running through Giantslayer and they just lost their cleric. If anyone is interested in playing a healing type character who must be a dwarf? The gameplay thread is here. They are currently 6th level.
Sorry for the delay — work hell and under the weather. Will get a post up tonight.
This Saturday I will be visiting family for two weeks. I will try to post but feel free to bot me as necessary.
Travel safe, and have as much fun (and tolerance) as possible!! But declare the target of your smite first!! :D
I understand the fact that you need to change your movement, but was the comment " A good tactical move on Ezro's part, but strategically ... hm. " necessary? I have become more and more frustrated with my limited options as fighters run in willy-nilly and forcing casters into a more support-oriented role. I want to be able to do damage in this campaign too, but due to the fact that 99% of monsters in this campaign having some form of resistance, if not an out-right immunity, to acid, poison, or fire, I'm unable to contribute in that way. I have tried to keep allies out of negative spells, but if front line characters continue to run into combat with little disregard, someone, someday will end up getting fireballed, cloud-killed, or worse.
I am interested to hear how you were going to charge through a line of enemies to get to Vang?
If Aladir is causing you any hesitation, don't worry about avoiding reflex-based saves on his account. His reflex is high enough that he can pretty much dial in most of them. I try to keep him mostly ranged, but I've only got about fifteen arrows left until we get back to a re-stocking place, so I'm having to keep him in melee at the moment.
I understand the fact that you need to change your movement, but was the comment " A good tactical move on Ezro's part, but strategically ... hm. " necessary? I have become more and more frustrated with my limited options as fighters run in willy-nilly and forcing casters into a more support-oriented role. I want to be able to do damage in this campaign too, but due to the fact that 99% of monsters in this campaign having some form of resistance, if not an out-right immunity, to acid, poison, or fire, I'm unable to contribute in that way. I have tried to keep allies out of negative spells, but if front line characters continue to run into combat with little disregard, someone, someday will end up getting fireballed, cloud-killed, or worse.I am interested to hear how you were going to charge through a line of enemies to get to Vang?
First, let me apologize for what I said; it was indeed unwarranted as it was written. I confess I haven't been 'playing well with others', either as part of a team instead of a solo front-liner, nor as a player, as on review I have to admit I seem to have been hunting 'spotlight time' instead of backing up the rest of you and sharing the spotlight as a good player does. For that, you have my apologies.
I would like for Aerianna and Hyram to form a more solid front line of the 'bulwark against which evil crashes and will not prevail' sort; that was one of the reasons I picked up 'Tactical Genius', so that Hyram and I might get together and work out tactics that would enable us to work well together, whether shoulder to shoulder as a shield-wall buffering the spellcasters from advancing hordes as the 'casters rain down death and destruction, or a pack attack on a solitary danger, whatever need be done. Unfortunately, we went straight into this, and I never took the time to get into it, and for that, too, you all have my apologies.
I will say that though Reflex saves are my worst, I am willing to take a hit or three if I throw myself into it, as I've been doing. (I actually have a cloak of quick reflexes, which allows me to spend mythic power to reroll failed Reflex saving throws, so that can help.) So drop the bomb on my rushing-forward self, and I'll hope I can take it. ;)
In reference to the charge, well, it would / could have been relatively easily stymied -- the 5' step would have taken Aeri into the first row, and the extra move action (granted by you, in fact -- that mythic haste is amazing) would have gotten her through the diagonal and behind the row, at which point 1 MP for a Fleet Charge would have taken her into close combat with Vang and Jerribeth. Truth is, the way Fleet Charge reads, it might not be an actual charge, but I do prefer to read it that way -- because then her Divine Fighting Technique would have activated, giving everyone a +2 sacred bonus to attacks, saves, and skill rolls for 1 minute. Since bless is a morale bonus and prayeris a luck bonus, this would stack.
Going back to what I said, the 'hm' was meant to be a thoughtful and 'revising plan' sound, not 'you messed me up' -- but I do agree it sure as heck came across that way, and for that I'm sorry to all of you. I promise to do better in the future -- of this very combat, in fact.
The barrier is likely to give us a moment's respite, granting all of us cover (+4 AC and +2 Reflex saves), but we should definitely have a plan on what to do -- with a note that Aladir is on the other side of it, so we might want to plan quickly. Right now, all I got is what in Shadowrun we call 'geek the mage first', and while Aladir's doing just that to the wizards he's surprised, Vang and Jerribeth have relatively free rein right now, even if they cannot (hopefully) escape. I admit that I'd prefer they not get the chance to use the expanse of their abilities, but my system mastery of Pathfinder is still relatively on the low side, and Hero Lab is a major crutch for me, so right now I'm a very 'whackety-whack' sort of player. (And Aeri is a pretty good whackety-whack sort of character, though I think I may need to make some revisions.)
Thank you for apologizing, I appreciate it. I will try to give the benefit of the doubt in the future and ask for more clarification before I jump to conclusions.
I can always dimensional step people across the barrier and set you (Aerianna) and Hyram up for a better tactical position?
@Aladir, I understand about the lack of arrows, I will keep your reflex save in mind for the future.
Never fear to give me a whack across the nose; I usually deserve it, and after initial reaction (which is often on my phone) I usually take the time to step away and consider the thing rationally -- and from the other person's point of view.
Right now, Hyram's having weapon problems, and unfortunately the dimension-step thing would take a round away from us as well ... I honestly am not sure what the best move would be. We don't know yet of Vang is anchored, though the anchoring is evident on Jerribeth.
That being said, I think your best actions would be to focus on the foe; Aeri can use lay on hands upon herself to heal some of that damage, and then advance through the blade barrier.
If you want to nail Vang and Jerribeth, and after a glance at your spell list, I'd go with something that isn't affected by any SR they have, and which can incapacitate them -- and damage is a bonus. That'd suggest black tentacles, and though they may have a pretty high CMD, the tentacles have a CMB of your level +4, so +15, which should have a decent shot of being a pain in their rear. If you want to lock down one of them, Chains of Light could work really well too -- total incapacitation if they fail that reflex save.
If you go after the mooks, BT could still work, and well -- since it has a 20' radius AoE, that could basically take down all the mooks, and especially likely the entire mage cohort.
If you go with BT, Aladir and I have pretty high CMDs, so with just a little bit of luck, we can avoid them and close with Vang and Jerribeth; if you go with Chains of Light on one or the other of them, we definitely need to close, because they get a save every round, and they'd be likely to make it within the next 2-3 rounds.
Basically, I think we need to close with and damage Vang and Jerribeth as quickly as possible -- an extended spell duel is at least as dangerous for us. My plan, just FYI, was to use 1 MP for that Fleet Charge, then the last one to regain a smite, then declare a smite on Vang -- which would let Aeri hammer both of them, either one that's not locked down, or else back-and-forth to make it harder for them to cast. Everyone having smites on them means bonus to attacks (of any sort, or so I think it reads), plus bonus damage (same), and Aladir, I gave you evil-outsider-bane arrows, use 'em!! ;)
Hyram sucks as a damage dealer but is great as a damage taker so I usually just throw him in the thick of enemies and figure he can last until our damage dealers thin their ranks.
As your doctor, I cannot recommend this continued behavior. I might have to raise your co-pay.
My plan with Aladir was to lock down that row of spellcasters at the back; even if they might not be as powerful as Vang or Jerribeth, four additional casters could put out a lot of firepower (figuratively speaking); by moving behind them, Aladir is forcing them to either cast in melee and risk an AOO or not attack. With a Dex bonus of +7, he's got plenty of room to spare for stabbing several of them.
I daresay you've done it. ;) Happy Easter, everyone, and ... what's up next?