GM Rednal's War of the Burning Sky (Inactive)

Game Master Rednal

Yeaaaaah, most martials are pretty focused on combat and dealing damage. XD; I'd be willing to consider Path of War's more mundane options, or perhaps a different third-party supplement if it really fit in and added flexibility.

Rage-based classes do exist in the setting - quite explicitly so - although they're eyed somewhat warily by everyone else. (I mean, y'know. They can go berserk and smash stuff. Nobody wants their stuff broken. XD)

So are we recruiting a new person?

I second that question.
Specifically: Did you have someone in mind?
We could complete the exchange programm and ask Vincent from the Planetary Campaign if he wants to join in here, otherwise-

Well, if you want to ask them, go ahead. XD It's easier than running a re-recruitment, at least.

Tchakar, checking in. Any ideas how I'll be brought into the campaign?

I strongly recommend that the existing players check the fey village before wading into the lake. 8D

Oh, sure, Umbriak get all soggy then you send him back...

Eh, he probably needed a bath anywa- I-I mean, it makes more sense this way.

"I'll have ye ken I am very par-tic-u-lar about me person hygiene. Ye dinnae get to meet many folks who wish to date ye if ye smell like an iron foundry and sweat. Well...no, ye do, but I know the alchemical secrets of yon bubble bath, and have a mighty duck to bath with me."

"Looks more like a mighty bath crow than a bath duck!", Farod commented non-chalantly, taking a look at Umbriak next to Tchakar.

"I always preferred showers, thank you. I like the way it sparkles as the water falls."

I've been reading up on the campaign thread so I can understand where I'm coming into the game, but I've been buried in work a bit this week (just coming back from vacation and stuff piled up). I'm at page 15 now, sounds like you guys have had an eventful adventure so far, not to mention a bit of a rotating cast. Not unlike how Legendary Planet went, but without the brutal flaming skeletons.

Well, this game has quite a lot more fire than Legendary Planet did. XD That was just bad luck there.

(Although, admittedly, it was fairly evil for a first-level encounter... Good warning for the rest of the AP, though, I guess. XD)

I had fun and now we have a cool story. And I'd expect more fire from a campaign with "burning" in the title.

Oh, yes.

I mean, in case the giant burning forest wasn't a hint, this is very much a fire-themed game. XD Among other things, expect to face enemies that use (and are immune to) it. Aaaaaaaaand don't expect to find, buy, or craft any null fire gear. That'd be a little too easy.

It's why I took a fire theme! Extra fire damage will definitely be super useful!

...wait...

I'm good with finding 3 Ribbons/Null-Status-Effect-Gear.

That said, I wanted to be of firey draconic descendance, but...yeah, DD taking both sides of Gestalt kinda dumped that idea ;)
Just saying I wanted some fire theme as well :P

Finally caught up with the gameplay thread. I'm not sure about introductions, but here's an idea...

Having read through things, you know everything relevant. XD As for your intro, well... let's just say I gave the party some hints for a reason. (I am trying to leave it open for you to portray in-game, though!)

Sounds good :D

Does it count as above the surface enough not to impose penalties for non-piercing weapons?

How far behind is Umbriak? I assume I need to just keep swimming, just swimming?

I was going through my character sheet and just realized I had this. If you need it, I've got a potion of touch of the sea to get you moving quicker in the water.

Indomitability has reached the surface. If you're attacking it from there, there are no underwater penalties to worry about.

(It moves 25 feet/round through the water, by the way. Umbriak needs another two move actions to reach shore.)

Silly sounding question, but does the damage bonus from bone fists apply to my fists?

Bone Fists gives a bonus to natural weapons. That means claws, slams, bites, and so forth. It does not apply to Unarmed Strikes (which are not natural weapons).

That's what I thought, but wanted to check, since "fists" is literally in the name and it's a bit silly. The downside of being monk-like with monk unarmed damage, but not actually having the monk unarmed strike class feature I guess.

How many more rounds until Umbriak hits the shore? I've been swimming for three rounds, if that makes any difference.

Given his speed, one more round. ...Slow movement is awkward like that. (He'll need another move action - at least - to reach Indomitibility once he reaches the shore.)

He's not that slow, interestingly. He actually has 30ft normal movement, what with the Barbarian movement and all. He's just slower in the water because of water halves movement.

Tchakar, just wondering, is there a specific reason you do non-lethal damage?
I am specifically wondering regarding the clause of magical effects removing an equal part of that pool - I think there's some table variance on wether Fast Healing respectively Regeneration apply, but if we use both lethal and non-lethal damage, we may double whatever healing effect it has going-.

I deal significantly more damage as nonlethal, thanks to Knockout Artist and Sap Adept. If nonlethal is effective, it ends up being my best option when I can charge.

Also, I haven't seen anything yet to clearly indicate if the enemy is actually healing, or just has regenerative DR.

Looking at stuff again, I think I may have calculated my damage incorrectly for the first attack (should be 2 less), but now that I've been hit, the damage is correct, thanks to my campaign feat making him my preferred foe.

Did Knockout Artist get changed? The Table text says 2 damage/die but the feat text now says 1 damage/die?

Looks like it didn't get errata or FAQ, just a mismatch in the book that has permeated online sources as well.

It has DR. Knockout Artist is from...?

Feat from Ultimate Combat.

It's probably best to go as-written, offering 1/die. (That's still a very decent damage buff for a feat, despite the narrowness of its use. XD)

Aye, since it is only applicable if the enemy is denied dex, it is narrow...
That said, if you can apply both of them, with 2d6 sneak, thats 4 more damage you do, right?
If it has Fast Healing or Regeneration 5 or higher, than that still means we're potentially doing less damage than if we all aim for the same pool. And I can't deal nonlethal without a penalty on my attack...
But I see where you're coming from - at higher levels of Sneak Attack, that will add to it nicely while giving us the option to not kill. Seems good. Thanks for explaining-

Also, I certainly don't hope it's regenerative DR.
It did, however, turn to look as Farod launched an arrow at it - though the arrow didn't get very far before it was pushed out of the creature's hide, and the injury healed a moment later.
was the response to the first, 6-damage arrow. If this thing has 10 DR, that will not be a pretty fight with the potential damage output it delivers.

According to the books, DR can be expressed as a very tough hide that is hard to damage, or something like instantaneous regeneration (except when hit by certain materials). The second example is usually what I've seen described for things like fey creature's DR/cold iron: wounds from cold iron disrupt a fey's natural affinity for life.

Also, Rednal said it was DR upthread =P

Yeah, this is my first time playing the sap-type rogue, and I've always liked unarmed combatants, so it seemed like a natural fit. The scout archetype helps me activate Knockout Artist, Sap Adept and later Sap Master, since it deals sneak attack damage as if the target was flat-footed when I charge (or later, move 10 ft.). Later on I'll be able to pick up the invisibility ninja trick, which will help as well, since the target will actually be denied their DEX.

Anything too strong defense-wise would just be cruel at this level. XD Especially given that gore/hurl combo it has. No need to worry about that.

I know how DR is expressed flavorwise, that's not what I was trying to mention...I said that it nulled 6 damage, and most DR is in increments of 5. Meaning it either should have 5 DR plus some fast healing or regen, or it would have 6+ DR(likely 10 or 15) which would invalidate a good number of attacks and attack styles except heavy-hitting single-strikes. While those are popular, certain group compositions might be unable to effectively combat it.
(That rapid-shotting archer? Barely scratching it. The dual-wield rogue? Even with sneak struggles to get past it. The Sword-Board-Pala-Tank? No chance, and Smite fails. Wizards won't have the HP or spell slots to reliably solo at this level....etc)
So, yeah, what I was saying was that I sure hoped it has low DR and some auto-healing(which only applies once per round...or twice in our case), rather than high DR and no autohealing(which applies against every single attack).

Ah, gotcha.

I'm more concerned about getting deaded, especially if he ever crits. That gore hurts... D:

How far away is he right now/am I threatened?

Movement is as described. At the very least, though, I don't think you're immediately threatened.

Technically, we could use some of those spears and brace them against a charge. With their reach, the ready action should get off before he attacks for decent damage. But then, if we do that, only I get to shoot and damage him while he rampages around, and he can simply run off if things get bad for him, then come back later.

So yeah, been pondering, but I don't really see any great options, either.

The reach is brutal, and I keep ending up out of range. I'll have to try coming in with acrobatics. Charging puts it at a -10 and unlikely to be successful, so no bonus stuff, but still better than getting squashed. Hopefully I can get a flank from our giant dwarf, or I'll be doing a whole lot of nothing.

Doesn't help that if he hits, he basically automatically(with that bonus...+17, seriously?) gets to relocate you at will, allowing it to move without worry, while it gets to utilize it's reach.
Nasty. No idea how non-gestalted characters not getting max HP per level are supposed to even survive this.

Doesn't help that if he hits, he basically automatically(with that bonus...+17, seriously?) gets to relocate you at will, allowing it to move without worry, while it gets to utilize it's reach.
Nasty. No idea how non-gestalted characters not getting max HP per level are supposed to even survive this. Unless me missed something, or messed up by not trying to slit it's throat before bonding with the stick or something.

It's a very nasty enemy, yes. If it helps, though, you've actually done quite a lot of damage - enough to spook it and make it change up its strategy. You'd definitely have slaughtered it if it just stood in place to trade blows.

Also, one of you DOES have the weapon that basically beat this guy the first time around...

That's OK, I've spent...what...9 rounds running after this guy, and I've managed to punch it once, so it doesn't look like the sword will be especially relevant.

...and Umbriak is going to start getting Teleport Sphere abilities because this fight has been a barrel of no-fun.