DM Salsa Presents: The Jade Regent (Inactive)

Game Master AdamWarnock

*whistles innocently* Huh? Did you say something Salsa?

Okay, back to mechanics stuff. I'll fully admit that I didn't expect the group, if Soli were selected, to be as focused towards melee combat as we are. Though I still want to stick with the general idea of Soli protecting her friends (and NPCs) from harm, it looks like it may work better in the long run if I rework my stats a little to bump her Dex and go with the Combat Reflexes --> Bodyguard chain of feats with the glaive. I'll need to drop the Sacred Shield archetype if I do that since Soli won't be using a shield in the first place, but that's okay. As long as I can stick to the general 'spirit' of my concept, I don't care as much about how I get there from a mechanical standpoint.

I'll also drop the oracle idea; it would've been cool but with this particular party and setup it won't be very practical or effective. No biggie, I'll just shelve that idea for another character :)

Re: mechanics in general - I'll admit that my system mastery is probably only average and I don't have much experience with higher level play (past about 5th/6th level or so) so bear with me if I get things wrong or stumble a bit at times.

I wasn't kidding when I said I tend to focus more on flavor than mechanics. Soliana's changes sound good to me.

Damage is always going to lag in a 1-handed combat style (unless you're a swashbuckler). Grabbing your longsword in 2 hands will help when you're not worried about the extra 1 AC, but the -1 to hit from the buckler isn't great with a 3/4 BAB. Power attack will be worth the investment (although, again, you'll have to be mindful about your bonus to hit). The biggest things for you will be using the enchantment ability of sacred weapon and divine favor to boost both attack bonus and damage.

If you want to optimize a bit more, it may be worthwhile for you to switch to the scimitar. Sacred weapon will have it up to longsword damage pretty quickly and with keen you should be scoring a fair bit of extra damage from crits.

Looking at feats beyond that- shield focus will make your buckler more effective when you use it. Most importantly, you can take fighter only feats with your warpriest bonus feats so things like weapon specialization and greater weapon focus will just always make your attacks better. If you want to make use of intimidate in combat there are whole threads about it in the advice forums, but feats like intimidating prowess or skill focus will certainly help.

Hope that's helpful, if you have any more specific questions feel free to ask (or PM me).

Thanks for the advice. It sounds in some ways like what I was thinking. It's going to get progressively harder for me to hit as my BAB lags, so tending to that will probably be more important than DPR. There are good reasons to ditch the buckler (but I've got a really sweet custom buckler so it's hard to let go of). :)

You're right about scimitar of course, but I've been using them quite a bit and I'm rather sick of them at this point. Too bad a rapier can't be two handed, although I understand why. I'd like to keep weapons somewhat aligned with Cayden so longsword and buckler is a decent choice. It has a long dueling tradition and fits her Ulfen background as well. One option I've really considered is going with an estoc. It's sort of a giant two handed rapier if you use it as a strength weapon, and has the same critical range as a scimitar.

I'll definitely be taking power attack at 3rd level. I usually wait because before then it seemed to me that hitting is more of an issue than extra damage. But by 3rd it's indispensable. I'll look into intimidate more, Vigny has a little charisma to work with and I'm not looking to do anything terribly fancy with combat, just stay in the game as levels increase.

I'll do some more looking around and keep thinking about it.

@Soliana: Hm, well I hope I didn't talk you out of using sword and shield or multiclassing if that's what you'd like to do. That wasn't my intention at all. I just wanted to point out that a reach weapon might work well if you wanted to be a defender. But there are also shield feats that let you do it too. Those are more oriented toward augmenting another's AC , so a different kind of defense, but they're there if you would rather go that way. Just wanted to point out that reach is good for defense.

Likewise multiclassing isn't a bad thing to do, but will impact offense for you more than defense. You'd likely need to compensate some for it.

Sorry guys late to the party as usual :)

@Soli: Echoing everything that's been said I reckon the direction your going-in fits in far better... You could consider the Divine Defender archetype for some teamwork/armour based buffs down the line? You'd lose Mercy and switch your Divine Bond to your armour - but that might befit the tank/defending feel? My 2 runes worth :)

@Vigny: To improve your Intimidate ability - then Intimidating Prowess can't be beat (for low CHA/High STR builds). With similar characters as yours I tend to select a trait that provides an Intimidate boost... either a +1 or effect bonus. Also might be worth thinking about? Sticking with the longsword makes sense - and I'm all for flavour over optimisation. If your planning to switch hit with your sword/buckler then bastard sword also makes sense (see her tenaciously wielding a large blade made for a huge Northman!). 2 more runes worth lol.

Jerukh will be a real mixed bag regards combat - I've not played an alchemist before, so they'll be a degree of feeling out as I explore the class and link to Jerukh's ethos/development etc. If forced into melee (and having to defend/support his companions) mutagen will be a go-to. Mechanically it'll boost his STR to 20 (will typically go Strength) and flavour wise it'll be Jerukh tapping into his orc blood (reluctantly).

As the group relationships grow stronger I'll potentially be selecting Blood Vengeance as a feat - nice flavour connected his bond to the group/friends vs his "orcish" nature.

Will also need to be aware of how my bombs and splash weapons will affect things - particularly if I'm having to effect combat in melee whilst you ladies are scrapping with our foes!

No worries Vigny, I generally don't get too hung up on real specific mechanics for most of my characters and I like to try and be flexible. Your suggestion about how we'll hopefully end up fighting as we get used to each other made sense to me and I think my proposed retooling of Soli would fit that sort of thing better than sword-and-board.

Regarding multiclassing and such, I liked the idea but in retrospect I think it's something that I would need to plan a character around from the get-go so I could make the DM and potential party members aware of it earlier. Not to mention most oradin builds/ideas that I've seen really are geared more for fulfilling a healer role anyway.

I just want to say that my advice was just intended to help people think about options. Emi is definitely built for flavor and not optimized... She's statted like more of a casting focused magus but one of her archetypes reduces her spells per day, and bladed scarves are cool/interesting weapons but certainly not optimal.

I'm glad to offer whatever advice I can on how to realize your vision for your character, but at the end of the day it's your character and your vision. I really think that as long as we learn to work together we'll be fine even if we have no full casters and no heavy hitters. I mean, in theory the AP is doable with 4 characters on a 15 point buy. So stay with what you want to play.

Yeah, you guys should be fine long enough for you to figure out how to work together. I mean we're dealing with goblins and I never tend to play them in an optimal way.

And I've never been uncomfortable with powerful PCs, it gives me more room to get creative with the encounters.

On another note, Bastard Sword and Board is fun. :D If I were to ever switch what weapon Joanna uses in combat, I'd go that route.

I do love bastard swords, but the extra feat for one handed use is a little hard to swallow. Might be worth it in this case to be able to switch one to two handed, but only an average of 1 point damage difference. Estoc is attractive for the crit range along with the extra point, but it would always be two handed. I could use the extra feat I save for weapon specialization and have better damage with longsword.

From a personality and RP standpoint I'm very wedded to my current traits, so I doubt I could really switch out for anything to help with intimidate. BUT, I can tell you where Vigny will be saving some of her few points for diversion to intimidate: Knowledge Religion. With a religion where most of the theology, such as it is, is collected from bar table graffiti and common aphorisms, there's no much point I'd say. Besides Vigny isn't among the brightest bulbs and it's hard to picture her with books.

It's no worries, I promise! Sometimes I'm bad to over think things or suffer analysis paralysis when it comes to character options so I definitely appreciate the suggestions. I also try to view the build advice that most folks give as them trying to help you build the character you envision while still ensuring that you're effective enough that you'll have fun with it - and after thinking about it I feel that I'll probably have more fun in the long run by making a few of the suggested changes :)

And on that note I adjusted some stats (lowered Con, raised Dex), swapped to the Combat Reflexes feat, and took Oath of Charity & Oath of Loyalty which I think fit pretty well for a Shelynite paladin!

Sounds like a plan to me. :D

Also, been working on some prep and apparently HeroLab has done some major improvements to spellbooks. It made me so happy when I found out. Next time I build a wizard, things are going to be a little easier.

Regarding Reiko's build... If you're curious, you can see some of the feats I'll be taking under my Advancement spoiler (though the list is less than half complete at the moment). But here's the gist:

I'm going to be alternating between Samurai and Monk for awhile. I don't do glass-cannon builds. Reiko will become a fast, durable, and highly mobile fighter with a skill package that makes her good at recon, stealth, and at least decent at breaking & entering. If I build her right, she should be able to intercept baddies, set flanks, pull off some fun dirty tricks, and acro in/out/through trouble spots as needed.

I'll be taking many of the typical fighter feats when I can to make her a solid damage dealer. For at least a few levels, AC is her soft spot. Levels in Monk and strategic STAT increases will help with that as we go along.

Okay, first combat. Hope you guys like this little ambush. I've enjoyed myself so far. :)

Yep! And first attack in combat. Hope it actually makes contact! o_O

Ah the suspense! Actually, I normally include a status spoiler for both my own reference and yours. Are there any strong feelings one way or another?

I'm not bothered one way or another.

I'll buy a bedroll and blanket, some trail rations, and a cheap wineskin (full) before we leave.

Regarding spoilered AC/etc, I don't do it in all my games but when I have it seems to keep combat running smoother.

Righto, I'll go ahead and get that up.

Almost forgot about this. Reiko, Vigny, can you put your HP, AC, saves, perception, and initiative in your character's class/race/gender bar like Emi, Soliana, and Jerukh have theirs? It makes it a little quicker to do combat posts and I find it useful as a player. You can put it after your class if you want to keep all of that in the front.

Here's how I tend to do mine.

HP: 12/12 | AC: 17/11/16 | F +3, R +1, W +0 | Per:+6, Init: +3 | Channels or other limited use abilities: 6/6, Arrows: 20

Fyi guys, I am on vacation and working on a tablet that I want to smash against a wall. I apologize for the terse and non-colorful posts.

Ouch. I hope the vacation is helping with the no smashy. Sorry to hear about the tablet woes. My distaste for touchscreen keyboards is probably why I'll always have a laptop or something else with physical keyboard.

No worries Reiko; I hate mobile posting but have gotten used to doing it on my Kindle which is much more tolerable than trying to use my phone.

Other than tablet woes, I hope the vacation is going well! :)

I feel your pain- I had surgery 6 weeks ago and have pretty much been restricted to one handed typing on my phone since then...

Of course, I have one of those giant iPhones so it's practically like posting on a kindle.

I normally don't use a tablet or use a tablet with a keyboard. This is a new tablet, no keyboard, and the spellcheck is overzealous so it changes everything in [] at the drop of a hat. I'm hoping it will start adding my game-based []s soon.

Vacay is going well, though I am at a hospital now - nothing major just an irritating issue. TMI?

Re: AoOs - I'm not a rules fanatic. I just noted that your post said the gobbos were 10' away so I figured they did more than 5' moves.

Not TMI at all; sucks you have to be there during your vacation time :(

Speaking of AoOs, Salsa is there any way you want me to handle those since Soli does have the Combat Reflexes on top of a reach weapon?

*edit* Verukh, I'll chip in that other 25 gold if needed; forgot to respond to that earlier.

I'd also put in 25 gp earlier. If we have the extra 25 as well maybe an extra antiplague would be a good idea?

@Reiko: Ah, I see. Sorry, I didn't mean to confuse anyone. If I'm right (which is never guaranteed) if a creature is adjacent to you, they are considered 5 feet away, so if they take a 5 foot step, then they are now 10 feet away.

Also, hope everything's okay. Sorry to hear you had to visit a hospital for any reason. :(

@Soliana: I'll let you know if you can get an AoO, so you can roll them. If you want, I can roll for those when I do the round recap to keep from having to retcon everything.

@Jerukh: Was that attack for your readied action in the first round?

Antiplague sounds good to me!

And I'm good with you rolling the AoOs Salsa, as long as it doesn't become too big of a hassle for you.

@Salsa: It was - but me being out of synch means its probably easier to make it his round 2 option chief (I'm not precious about missing out if it means the game/story flows :)

Which of you ladies are carrying the Cure Light Wounds potions?

Anti plague would cost us 50 gold... which means we're 25 short by my reckoning? Not sure if Emi or Reiko could chip in?

I can chip in 60.

I'm out of the hospital and doing well. Thanks! This won't slow me down any. Just a minor surgical intervention.

In terms of position rules (which I may be wrong), adjacent means right next to / in the next square. Anyone can hit from that distance save for something Like tiny creatures with a range of zero. When you take a 5' move, you end up 5' away (1 square distant), which prevents most melee weapons of average size from hitting - save reach weapons or the lunge feat. You can take a free 5' step to get adjacent to the guy who fled from you. At low levels this makes no difference because no one has iterative attacks. At higher levels the difference between catching someone with a free 5' step and a 10' move action is the latter prevents you taking a full attack action and gaining the iterative attacks. I think that is how the rules work. If I'm wrong, lemme know. Or if you prefer to run things another way, that's cool with me. It kinda sounds like you are just extending the range so that a 10' distance on a map acts just like a 5' distance in how I understand the rules. In which case, it is exactly the same principle with just the distances being measured slightly different.

Okay combats over, I'll post a wrap up, unless you guys want to say how you put the gobs down, later this evening. Jerukh's bomb took enough out of them that the next three hits killed a goblin.

...she says timidly, "Jerukh... I don't think I can cut off the ears for the sheriff... You hafe anatomy training, could you please do it for us?"

Don't know why, but this reminded me of when I was living at home with my Mom and sister when they'd ask me to wait on them and it made me chuckle.

Jerukh and I are practically cousins, so it's not entirely dissimilar, lol.

Okay, just so I have this straight, the marching order appears to be:
1. Jerukh
2. Reiko
3. Emi
4. Soliana
5. Vigny (Viggy or Vigs seems like an appropriate nickname, by the way.)

Any objections or alterations?

Jerukh, would you prefer to be #2 since you have ranged bombs?

Works for me. #2 is good for the ranged option.

I'm fine taking the rear. I can't nickname myself though. That is just unforgivably lame. One must allow what happens to happen. :p

That marching order is fine with me :)

I'm still working a bit on finding Soli's 'voice' but I wanted to say that the current situation with everyone makes me giggle every time that I think about it :)

I'm liking it as well. :)

Vigny, do you have RL experience with snakes? because the 'I am a branch' is actually the right thing to do.

No, but l came close to stepping on a rattlesnake in the desert after dark once. Scared the crap out of both of us! I just figured I wouldn't be getting it off without handle animal, and I didn't think snakes bite things that don't move.

As of today, it's been one month since we started, so I'd like to know how I'm doing so far and if the pacing is good.

Also, I hope you guys enjoyed my little twist for Walthus's Cabin. Vigny's portrayal of a tree branch was Oscar worthy. :D

No complaints here. Keep on keepin' on!

I'm enjoying myself and the pacing so far seems pretty good :)

No complaints here

I'm fine with everything.

I am also thrilled, and humbled, to have my performance considered Oscar worthy. My method was to look at many trees as we tramped through a disgusting swamp. I would like to thank those trees for the inspiration they gave me.

Many thanks for the supporting work of Fredricka. You were a pleasure to work with. You helped me sharpen my improve skills, and you could always be counted on to do the unexpected.

I would also like to thank my companions, who did not jostle me or yank snakes off me during my performance. My deepest gratitude goes out to Sandru Vhiski, without whom I would never have given my performance. He is my sun and moon.

Finally, I would like to give a very special thanks to that great Drunkard in the sky. Keep on doing what you're doing!

Kanye runs on stage and...

finds himself swept into the blonde's arms, then dipped low, while her tongue searches for his tonsils.

Lol, wow.

Ain't nobody stealing my moment, and it seemed more pleasant(?) than knee-capping him.

If in doubt always kneecap lol.

@Salsa: Pacing is perfecto. Good blend of characters and the time taken to bring alive the environment as much as the encounters has been appreciated.

Still trying to nail Jerukh's "voice" - but enjoying the journey :)