GM Endless Forms' Shattered Star (Inactive)

Game Master Mike Tuholski

Do you have Dodge yet?

No, but it seems that Ironhide would be better since I can't lose the bonus like I could with Dodge (being flat-footed, debuffed dex, etc). Unless I missed something... or I skip Steel Soul and take them both.

What are your current options for punching up AC and saving throws with magic? I'd say pick the one that you can't easily magic up.

I'll take Steel Soul then. I still have room to bulk AC with my Amulet of Natural Armor and Ring of Protection. My cloak is already +5 now.

But I think I'll swap Vital Strike for Ironhide. WHat would that cost me, EF? Can I use PPs for it? I know we can use them for something. EDIT : Can't do that as I used a bonus fighter feat to get Vital Strike. I can get Dodge I guess.

You can still swap them with 5 PP.

Done, I'll do that.

Any idea on the loot split yet? Looks like we have a big fight on our hands and I'm sure I'll be upgrading stuff.

Is there enough time for Bert to make an advanced pistol and have it enchanted to +1? Remember that he has the partial plan.

Yeah, that should work. You can take however much as you need.

Ok, I got all the loot extracted but I don't have all the values yet. I don't think I'll have time for that tonight though...

Sorry for the delay, the loot is looted!

It's 120k gp each but that is without taking out anything people might want. There are some good things in there, so look it over, and put your name in Col F and then change the Col E value to 0.

If there is no argument I'd like the Ring of Protection +4, I wish I noticed it before. I'll put the +3 version into the loot pile to replace it. I would then upgrade the +4 to a +5 ring.

I'll then upgrade my Amulet of Natural Armor from +2 to +5, giving me an AC 39 now. I'll also upgrade my weapon from +4 to +5. I'd also like to add Defending to the weapon as well. Of course, that is assuming a weapon can be enhanced that much, I have no idea if there is a limit.

So, can we say that AoO missed now? :)

EDIT: Oh, might as well get a Ring of Feather Falling. I'll keep the Swimming one, never know when it might help (though I keep forgetting I have it). Annnd, lets give my armor Light Fortification, just because I can't think of anything else to use the 11k gold for. If you have a better idea, let me know.

Re: weapons: Yes! You can only have a maximum numerical bonus of +5 but the special abilities and numerical bonuses together can have a maximum of +10 equivalent. So you can add five +1 abilities, two +2 abilities and a +1 ability, etc, above your +5 numerical bonus. (And if you wanted, you could have just put a +1 on your sword and then loaded up on nine +1 abilities if you found nine that were worth it....)

Hmm, I think I have +8 worth now. Not sure what else I'd want but we'll keep it in mind.

Argust, were you also going to use the manual of gainful exercise +3?

I was going to ask that as well.

Hmm, I was going to ask about that. So is that a consumable? How does that work?

Yes, it's basically a consumable and the bonus stacks with belts and such.

Well crappers, maybe I should then. That'll reduce my share of gold, I'll have to adjust.

I don't know--maybe Brelar should use it.

OK, I'll not get the light fortification on my armor then, no matter if I use it or someone else does.

Seems a bit of a waste on me :)

More so than a headband of mental prowess for Argust; one of those would come with an extra skill or three for him, at least.

So it seems I'll use it, OK.

Any suggestions for a feat for Bert? I was thinking of taking Additional Traits and getting Armor Expert and Fate's Favored--an effective +1 to all skills that ACP applies to along with +1 for his luck wouldn't be bad.

That actually sounds like a good combo. My only other suggestion would be Additional Rogue Trick, which is what I started doing with my archaeologist after a while.

Incidentally, is there a feat that turns an ability that normally activates with a swift action to a free action?

Incidentally, is there a feat that turns an ability that normally activates with a swift action to a free action?

Not that I've ever heard of. Swift actions are generally the limiting factor at high levels. It can pretty frustrating for some builds. I hadn't anticipated how much of a problem it would be for my Tetori Champion of Irori until he started getting to 7th level or so. He has to use his first swift to enter Snapping Turtle Style but then can't (as per his abilities) grapple as an immediate when someone misses him during that first round. During the second round he can declare smite as a swift or save it for the immediate grapple ability. But if he does grapple/pin someone, he needs his swift for Stunning Pin so sometimes it's better not to smite or use the immediate grapple option. Every round is really a tough decision on what I'm going to use the swift/immediate for. Absolutely limits his effectiveness than if he were able to do some of those as free actions. But then it would be pretty broken to use one round to enter Snapping Turtle style, declare smite, immediate action grapple the foe when they miss his high AC, then pin and Stunning Pin him on the second round. Probably more fair that he has to choose between those options.

Hey EF, the protean fight in Siege of Serpents got me to wondering something. Bert gets back grit if he confirms a crit with a gun, and he gets back panache if he confirms a crit with a rapier. Does that mean he can't recover grit/panache for attacks when fighting something that's immune to crits? (Or that there's a chance he won't recover any if he rolls well against a target with fortification armor?)

Hmm. I would say yes, that means Bert can not recover grit/panache against something that is immune to crits because there would be no way to confirm it. Same with an enemy who negates the crit through fortification or a similar ability.

And yeah, sometimes it just sucks to be a rogue. Always have a backup plan!

Concur

That was why I built László as an archer--high DEX and Deadly Aim buys a lot of damage per arrow.

Quiven has a backup plan... other party members. :)

That actually sounds like a good combo. My only other suggestion would be Additional Rogue Trick, which is what I started doing with my archaeologist after a while.

Did you ever take Clustered Shot?

EndlessForms wrote:

That actually sounds like a good combo. My only other suggestion would be Additional Rogue Trick, which is what I started doing with my archaeologist after a while.

Did you ever take Clustered Shot?

No, he relied on high knowledge skills and lots of ammo choices to overcome DR if he had to. Or if it was something tricky he just switched to spells because after about level 13-14 his spells (even the utility ones) were more worthwhile than shooting most of the time. The big guys were doing more damage so I focused on buffs, heals, and utilities like bard's escape. A few good enchantment spells now and then too.

Here are his stats if you're curious.

Sorry guys, the holidays took more out of me than I expected. I am back in the saddle again though...

Update:

I'll be leaving for Florida tomorrow to work on our fields down there for at least a week, probably closer to 10-11 days. While I'm there I won't be able to post as often as I normally do so my games might be running a little slow. I'll do my best to keep up though!

Hey everyone! Thanks for your patience. I know this game has been moving slowly due to my travels and that is unusual for me so I wanted to give you an unfortunate update:

I thought I was going to be heading home tomorrow but my trip has been extended so I won't be back until Friday at the earliest. Unfortunately that means my posting is still going to be very slow until then. We are putting in 9+ hour days in the field down here to finish our work as soon as possible and after that I just usually don't have the energy to update all of my games. I will do what I can though and thanks again for being patient!

Oof! Isn't grad school *fun*? Incidentally, I'll be passing through Madison this Saturday; doesn't sound as though you'll be around (or conscious, if you are around), though.

No worries EF. Thanks for the update! We'll be here when you are ready :)

Ooh, I think I will jack up my wisdom this time, saves are good. I think I'll also take Stunning Assault as my bonus feat. Any suggestions otherwise?

Sorry guys, another long day today. I hope to get caught up tonight or first thing tomorrow morning.

It's probably not a huge surprise to you guys that I've been struggling the last few weeks trying to keep in the game. I have just shut down the two Rappan Athuk games I am running in the hopes that having only this game on my plate will make it easier for me keep up with. We've come this far in the Adventure Path and I'd really like to see it through to the end. So this is my heads up for you guys that hopefully I can get back on track :)

EF, about how far are we?

All, any chance that we could do another hour or two session some weeknight to push things along?

That would be very difficult for me to pull off at this point probably. :(

@Brelar: no problem! I know you mentioned a while ago that you are very busy at the moment. If things are a bit trickier I don't mind botting Brelar to keep the action moving but in the current fight I think you guys are doing ok so I just skipped over Brelar's actions. No big deal though.

Re: how far are we?

I'd have to flip through the book again to get a more accurate estimate but I'd say we're about a third of the way through the book or close to it. In the previous books I was pretty liberal about skipping some encounters that I didn't feel were exciting or moved the plot along but with this book I've been a bit more conservative, although I did already skip one encounter in the flood sequence because I felt that was dragging on a bit and didn't have much cohesion. But I still think we'll pretty easily finish by summer.

Re: another speed-session

I could potentially do that if it were later but Brelar doesn't sound like he has time for that now and Karn has also been having trouble finding time to post. If your schedules happen to open up, I'm willing. But for the time being it sounds like we'll just have to keep chugging away at our current pace, which has been pretty good anyways.

Sounds good to me. I'm thinking that the next time I try to run an AP on the boards I'll do something like that to cut down on the time it takes. Maybe I'm just getting old, but spending more than two or three years on an AP doesn't appeal any more. I was in a Carrion Crown game that I had to drop due to lack of time, and it'd taken us something like four years to get halfway through Part 2. Granted, we were on our fourth GM, but even so.

And I'm also not the best poster child for this sort of thing myself, as it took me longer than that to get through Part 1 of Kingmaker. Granted, that one's a lot harder to cut bits out of, and I had had to slow down a lot to accommodate a couple of the better players who were having an excess of life...I'd still like to do better than that.

Well, when you do decide to run an AP like Kingmaker or Carrion Crown you know where to find me...

Likewise. I'm more likely to run one of the recent APs after I wrap up my Emerald Spire game--Mummy's Mask, Giantslayer, or (if I'm feeling really ambitious) Wrath of the Righteous.

Any of them would be cool by me, I don't even know about them, let alone played them.

I think it is fairly obvious that I have been struggling to keep up as well. Unfortunately, things continue to be extremely busy, time intensive for me, coupled with not having the energy to invest a couple hours late in the evening.