KC's Age of Worms

Game Master Kobold Catgirl

Would now be a good time to bring up the artifacts we've picked up? Possibly for purposes of finding a smith/crafter comfortable with taping one to a klar for Farrukh.

Also, are martial maneuvers open to anyone that might be interested?

No, currently, that'll be treated as a Warder-only class feature. Farrukh's the only pure martial, anyways.

Bummer. I ask because you can pick them up at a limited capacity with a feat. Path of War is amazing for martials of all kinds.

No problem. I have a feeling that characters like Farrukh are up to taking a major battering later on if they don't have countermeasures. Zyrxog alone is a cause for alarm, since he's too smart to not be at least somewhat aware of what he can take advantage of when facing a martial. :P

Yeah, that's been my experience as well. I've been getting slammed hard, and the last pure martial I played at high levels (Crokus, my Barbarian) took a horrid beating as well.

Crokus was lucky enough to have a competent healer glued to his ass much of the time (and enormous saves due to pre-nerf Courageous and Superstition), but we have nobody that good at it and I wouldn't ask them to anyway since that's not fun to most people.

I see the good will save but what other 'martial problems' does warder address?

Besides having a better will save, Tanith faces all the same struggles Farrukh does. He can't fly, his only reach option is the masterwork bardiche he bought at 2nd level, he struggles with high DR, and (fully buffed) his AC is roughly the same as Farrukh's.

Should I be looking for ways to buff my AC as well? I have been considering combat expertise.

1.) Warder gives combat options to deal with foes who are both dangerous and can't be taken out with a single full attack (Smashing Shell can potentially Daze, Armiger's Mark applies MASSIVE penalties to-hit and unavoidable spell failure chance for all casters, etc.)

2.) It gives actual battlefield control options (Defensive Focus gives me a 10 ft. radius of AoOs, and a 20 ft. radius of Difficult Terrain).

3.) A relatively low level boost (Bronze Knuckle) allows me to bypass ALL DR.

4.) It gives me a few utility options in combat for when I can't otherwise contribute, or if we need it in a bunch. A couple of Golden Lion Maneuvers are my favorites. Discipline of the pride lets me share one of my Feats with everyone within a 30 ft. radius for 3 rounds (Blind Fight for instance. Or any Feat I can pick up with an AP with KC's permission) and Tactical Strike lets me create an "avenue of safety" for a cornered ally, something we run into a lot (I can hit a guy and grant a nearby ally the ability to move 10 feet for free without provoking AoOs).

Honestly it's not the BEST option, but it IS the best option available I can take without changing Farrukh's fundamental inner workings and flavor (He'd still be a completely mundane/pure martial character who TWFs with sword and board and handles all trap finding responsibilities, though the latter will be slightly impacted by not having Perception as a class skill and losing Favored Terrain).

AC is, honestly, the least of our worries. If I were you I'd start preparing Air Walk as soon as you're able (Unfortunately 12th level for you). Your saves are rock solid, and your AC is often better than mine due to buffs, so your only real detriments are being able to reach certain enemies, overcoming DR (remedied in many cases by some lower level spells, like Bless Weapon), and general utility (at least partially fixed by switching up your prepared spells).

Tanith is a really solid character IMO. You have a lot of options, you just kind of have to dumpster dive the Cleric list for them.

Edit: Huh, apparently Bless Weapon is Paladin only.

Ah well, we should all buy some oils of it anyway. 50 gp is a steal for that effect.

Scrolls to be made:

Lesser restoration (CL 3=75 gp)
Remove curse (CL 10=375 gp)
Remove disease (CL 10=375 gp)
Remove fear (CL 8=100 gp)
Remove paralysis (CL 8=100 gp)
Create food and water (CL 5=187.5 gp)
Water breathing (CL 5=187.5 gp)
Stone shape (CL 5=187.5 gp)
Endure elements (CL 1=12.5 gp)
Align weapon (CL 3=75 gp)
Gentle repose (CL 3=75 gp)
Make whole (CL 3=75 gp)
Speak with dead (CL 5=187.5 gp)
Will need upwards of 2000 gp, which I can at least get from my share of the evil longsword. Not sure if there's anything else to be sold.

Anyone want any scrolls not on this list?

Communal Align Weapon would be great if Astraden could do good alignment. We need a way to beat DR/good for the whole party. I suppose Tanith could start prepping it.

Do we already have scrolls of remove blindness? Scrolls of restoration would be good to have on hand too for the next time a couple of us eat a face full of enervations.

Anyone have any requests for extracts to keep as standard? I'm thinking fly and displacement would be near the top of the list.

1.) Warder gives combat options to deal with foes who are both dangerous and can't be taken out with a single full attack (Smashing Shell can potentially Daze, Armiger's Mark applies MASSIVE penalties to-hit and unavoidable spell failure chance for all casters, etc.)

I agree. All of that stuff is great. Isn't that stuff just as relevant for Tanith?

2.) It gives actual battlefield control options (Defensive Focus gives me a 10 ft. radius of AoOs, and a 20 ft. radius of Difficult Terrain).

Again, I agree. That stuff is great.

3.) A relatively low level boost (Bronze Knuckle) allows me to bypass ALL DR.

That was the exact stance I had my eye on for Tanith.

AC is, honestly, the least of our worries. If I were you I'd start preparing Air Walk as soon as you're able (Unfortunately 12th level for you). Your saves are rock solid, and your AC is often better than mine due to buffs, so your only real detriments are being able to reach certain enemies, overcoming DR (remedied in many cases by some lower level spells, like Bless Weapon), and general utility (at least partially fixed by switching up your prepared spells).

I don't disagree that there's solutions to the classic martial problems but they all take up fairly limited resources and actions which are already spent troubleshooting. In the last two encounters Tanith wasn't able to get into the fight until round three because he spent the first two rounds either healing himself or assisting others (with blessings, remove fear, channel, etc). I don't mind spending rounds buffing/healing (I knew what I signed up for when I picked warpriest) but as we get higher level and combat gets even more fast and furious, the solution to 'martial problems' shouldn't be to spend more turns not-fighting.

Anyone have any requests for extracts to keep as standard? I'm thinking fly and displacement would be near the top of the list.

A barkskin or two for Farrkuh on the regular would be good. He only has an amulet +1 so a beefy +4 barkskin would do him a lot of good.

Tanith continues to appreciate his shield extracts. =)

Alright--in that case, I should set about getting a scroll of barkskin to put in my book.

I could also take the Combine Extracts discovery and give blends of Shield & Barkskin to our front-liners. :)

Okay, I wasn't aware of communal align weapon. I've already got one scroll of remove blindness/deafness, never used, so I'm not sure we need another.

Restoration's a bit weird with the material component. I can certainly make a scroll for the cheap version, though. And I should probably top off my diamond dust store anyways, just in case one of us gets a permanent negative level.

Does Tanith actually qualify for Combat Expertise?

He will. I was going to pick up this gem next level anyway.

Don't worry about the communal align weapon. Tanith can start prepping it. Channel vigor wasn't terribly exciting anyway.

If you can find a spellcasting-advancing prestige class that gives one of those class features, I'm interested.

It occurs to me that I never replied to this.

I didn't see any full casting PRCs that offered aura of courage but the old 3.5 courage domain gave access to one. I believe Olidmmarra had access to it back then. If you're open to retraining a domain and KCs gives it his approval that could work.

Sundakan wrote:

1.) Warder gives combat options to deal with foes who are both dangerous and can't be taken out with a single full attack (Smashing Shell can potentially Daze, Armiger's Mark applies MASSIVE penalties to-hit and unavoidable spell failure chance for all casters, etc.)

I agree. All of that stuff is great. Isn't that stuff just as relevant for Tanith?

Ah, was that the question? I was just addressing "How does Warder fix that?".

All of that stuff would help Tanith as well, but it's IMO LESS needed. When you have time to buff (which is most of the time, when we're not scried & fried), you have solutions to most of those, and in a pinch can cast your buffs as a Swift.

Your Remove Fear was clutch in the last combat as well. That could have gone bad had three of us failed.

What I'm saying is, you currently bring a lot more to the table than Farrukh does. You could use a little boost (I wouldn't mind you taking martial Training) in some areas, but not nearly as much.

Yeah, in terms of in-combat power and versatility, Tanith seems much more effective than the rest of us. It's all from careful building, but giving Farrukh some special stuff to even things out wouldn't be a bad idea.

Last combat seemed like a fluke - Astraden shone a lot in pure spellcasting, while Tanith was excluded from his normal role by a need to buff. We were divided, so Eben and Rodrigo's usual first-round actions were less than effective, and they couldn't shoot or spellcast safely due to melee threats. I wouldn't use that combat to predict future ones, since usually we are the ones coming in buffed to the gills.

(Aside: Carina and Farrukh, maybe, had their usual roles, but Farrukh's usual role being "take a few turns in combat and get hit with a nasty status effect" is not a good one.)

Are there any crafters in town with the 3.5 dragoncrafter feat?

We could make cloaks of acid resistance for everyone on the cheap with Ilthane's remains.

Where is that feat from?

3.5 Draconomicon. All the info is here. Disregard. That site's info is all wrong.

The original Tanith (my Living Greyhawk character from back in the day) had a suit of dragoncraft fullplate.

Here's the relevant ones from the book:

Dragoncraft Armor or Shield: Dragoncraft armor and

shields are masterwork versions of armor and shields
crafted from a dragon’s hide that also grant energy resistance.
A suit of dragoncraft armor or a dragoncraft shield
grants the wearer resistance 5 against a specific type of
energy, as appropriate to the dragon (acid for black, copper,
or green; cold for silver or white; electricity for blue or
bronze; fire for brass, gold, or red). This resistance is treated
as an extraordinary (and thus nonmagical) feature of the
armor. It doesn’t stack with any other energy resistance (of
the same type) possessed by the character.
In addition, dragoncraft armor is treated as one category
lighter for purposes of movement and other determinations.
Heavy dragoncraft armors are treated as medium, and
medium and light armors are treated as light. Armor check
penalties are reduced by 2 (including the 1-point reduction
for masterwork armor or shield). Dragoncraft armor has the
normal maximum Dexterity bonus.

Dragoncraft armor can be hide armor, scale mail, halfplate,
or full plate armor. Dragoncraft shields can be light
or heavy.

Dragoncraft Price: 3,000 gp (light armor); 6,000 gp (medium
armor), 11,000 gp (heavy armor); Dragon Part: dragon hide;
Skill: Craft (armorsmithing); Weight:same as ordinary armor
or shield

Dragonhide Mantle: A dragon’s hide can be rendered

flexible enough to wear as a cloak. Crafting a dragonhide
mantle requires as much hide as a suit of hide armor, and the
mantle must be created to fit the wearer’s size.
A dragonhide mantle grants the wearer resistance 5 against
a specific type of energy, as appropriate to the dragon (acid
for black, copper, or green; cold for silver or white; electricity
for blue or bronze; fire for brass, gold, or red). This
resistance is treated as an extraordinary (and thus nonmagical)
feature of the mantle. It doesn’t stack with any
other energy resistance (of the same type) possessed by
the character.

In addition, the wearer of a dragonhide mantle gains a +2
circumstance bonus on Intimidate checks against dragons.

Dragoncraft Price: 3,800 gp; Dragon Part: dragon hide; Skill:
Craft (leatherworking); Weight:same as ordinary hide armor
of appropriate size.

Thanks. I used to have the Draconomicon, but I think I sold it recently. I'll look over that stuff tomorrow.

Wasn't there also a table for converting dragon size to armor size, somewhere in a Dragon issue?

Probably that one June issue I don't have. :P

It's in the Draconomicon. I think a huge dragon is enough to make four cloaks.

Gark's talking about something from Dragon magazine, actually. I remember the article and issue. I also don't own the particular issue.

Also, remember, Ilthane was specifically stated to be worth less for materials than a normal dragon of her size, on account of her warped body. This is your dragon. This is your dragon on alchemy. Any questions?

Well Taninth's hoping to get a pair of gauntlets, boots, and kilt out of the hide. If we can get some items with mechanical perks that's just bonus.

Okay, let me see if I have everything.

Tanith is looking to acquire a large number of new available spells, and to have his dragonhide crafted into something useful.

Farrukh is heading to the library.

Eben is looking to find a druid.

Anything I missed?

I hadn't put much thought into custom items yet.

As far as 3.5 cleric spells I was considering the following.

1st

Conviction
Resurgence

2nd

Close Wounds
Divine Protection
Healing Lorecall

3rd

Anti-Dragon Aura
Cloak of Bravery
Conviction, Mass
Resurgence, Mass
Weapon of the Deity

4th

Delay Death
Recitation
Sheltered Vitality

Antidragon Aura: This is a tricky spell to dig up. You can't find anyone in town with such a spell. Someone could potentially research it, actually creating the new spell (costing 3,000 gp and a few Spellcraft checks).

Cloak of Bravery: This one will require more effort. 3,000 gp and some Spellcraft checks.

Close Wounds: I'll allow this being found in the local library (the perusal of which will be explained shortly), but as a 3rd-level spell. It's essentially a weaker, more convenient Breath of Life. To adjust for the new spell level, I'll raise the maximum bonus per caster level to +15.

Conviction: This, too, can be found in the library.

Mass Conviction: Ditto.

Delay Death: This one will require more effort. 4,000 gp and some Spellcraft checks.

Divine Protection: This one can be found in the library.

Healing Lorecall: This one can be found in the library. One small modification: When determining the amount of damage healed by your conjuration (healing) spells, you can substitute your total ranks in Heal +3 for your caster level.

Recitation: This one will require more effort. You're stacking on a lot of different types of bonuses here. 4,000 gp and some Spellcraft checks.

Resurgence: This one can be found in the library.

Mass Resurgence: This one will require more effort. 3,000 gp and some Spellcraft checks.

Sheltered Vitality: This one will require more effort. 4,000 gp and some Spellcraft checks.

Weapon of the Deity: Gorrim will teach this one to Tanith for free.

Ones that "require more effort" can potentially be researched for the price I list with them (plus a week's effort). Alternatively, you might be able to get some of them from Manzorian himself, though he might want something in return. You might also be able to search the library for them (there are older sections of the library the librarians can guide you to, as will be explained in the Gameplay tab).

I'm essentially treating the spells marked as requiring more effort as treasure, since access to them is potentially gamechanging (especially with ones like Sheltered Vitality, which make you immune to Kyuss worms).

Oh, is Carina still hoping to learn to craft syringes?

Also, guys, have you compiled the loot from the last adventure yet? The Lootlist doesn't look up-to-date.

Oh, is Carina still hoping to learn to craft syringes?

Yep. That can be part of her retraining her Gunslinger level into an Alchemist one, I think.

Also, I'm going to look for a scroll of barkskin while I'm at it.

Tanith doesn't have spellcraft. Can research dependent spells be outsourced (as in does Tanith have to actually make the spellcraft checks)? What do you mean by counting them as treasure? What's the cost for spells found in the library?

I believe the loot list is up to date. There wasn't a ton of treasure in the dungeon minus the pile of artifacts at the end.

1. Yes, you could have Astraden handle it, or you could potentially hire someone.

2. I mean that I'm making them cost money to obtain, like other "treasure".

3. Like I said, the perusal of the library will be explained shortly when I write up Farrukh's arrival there. It doesn't cost anything inherently because you aren't making new spells, you're just finding explanations of old ones.

1. Sweet.

2. Ah, that's reasonable. I thought you were suggesting that they required gold, spellcraft checks, and they were somehow going to be counted against our wealth somehow.

3. I await said explaineding.

3. Why couldn't you worship a god of patience like Rao?

It turns out I'm a fibber. The loot list is missing a few things.

Was there a price tag on those special bracers or are they an artifact too?

3. Why couldn't you worship a god of patience like Rao?

I tried but I got bored too quickly.

Did someone identify them?

I believe Astraden did. Bracers of Harsh Lessons right?

Costs the same as standard Bracers of Armor +5.

In light of loot being a little slim this time around, I'm thinking we should skip doing a formal breakdown and just evenly split the cash we've got to work with from selling the few things we do have.

With that in mind we're looking at 6691.66g each before the scroll repository cut. Astraden, how much did you need to scribe all those scrolls?

Rodrigo is happy to muddle about until the plot picks up again. I don't really have any ideas for him to go on personal errands, he's too shallow. He'd just find the nicest pleasure house he could afford and wait there until it's time to start risking his bum for dat chedda again.

Oh my gosh, Gravity Falls was such a good show.

I was planning to make the scrolls out of my own cash, since they're adding versatility for me.

That said, the total cost is going to be 2475 gp with communal align weapon 187.5 gp and cheapo restoration 450 gp, and without normal align weapon. To top up my diamond dust to 1100 gp worth, I'm buying another 200 gp worth, bringing the total to 2675 gp.

Wasn't someone taking the bracers? Carina?

And agreed, it was a very good show.

I could make use of those bracers, certainly.

It'd even free me up to customize my actual armour with different enchantments. :)

Sorry, I've been loafing on actual updates. Soon!

With Carina nabbing the bracers and taking a bit out for Astraden's scrolls we're at 4162.5g each.

And, yes, GF was great. I'm glad it got a legit ending. I'll have to use 'I keep flexing out of my sweater' at some point.

Farrukh is ready to show off how average intelligence and a little dedication can pay off, yeehaw.

To clarify for my math, is the party paying for the full scroll cost+diamond dust, some fraction thereof, or is Astraden paying for it?

Jelani, is that a "I'm too busy to post except in necessities" or a "I can't think of anything to do?" Because Astraden is interested in spending some downtime with him (and not entirely just to watch locals' expressions when they see his wings).

I think I've accounted for the bracers now--the armour bonuses don't stack, right?

Right.