Im immune to fear but also they cant see me.
Despair (Su): The mere sight of a drought bringer requires viewers to succeed at a Will saving throw (DC 48) or be paralyzed with fear for 1d4 rounds. Regardless of the outcome of the save, a subject is not again vulnerable to that brought bringer’s despair ability for 24 hours. The DC is Charisma-based.
Im immune to fear but also they cant see me.
Lucky for you then, you may have to intervene to save everyone else if they're paralyzed.
I'm not the greatest optimizer and I'm not capable of coming up with a stat block on the fly -- if Hamza wants Itko to help -- assume he's a Druid 12/Ranger 12. What are some crazy things we could assume he could do to assist? Is there something that he can turn into with wildshape or something?
I re-uploaded the map -- everyone make sure they're in the location they think they should be in the ROUND 4 pdf.
Thus, I propose the following:
1) We finish this encounter. We're already in the thick of it, and if we're going to ever be able to truly judge what our PCs are capable of so you can better design encounters(be they combat, social, or otherwise) we're going to need to actually play out a few combats.
However, you're right about how bogged down and tiresome it's gotten. My suggestion to help speed it up is to have the two earth drakes assist in actually killing/destroying the myceloids and the turrets, leaving the mummies and the dread wraith to us PCs.
Don't just have them drop some rocks on them, unless said rocks kill them. Also, don't just have the myceloids suddenly disappear or be called away, as that's kinda lame.
I believe you have 3 rounds of actions you could have them take, to help us out.
This is what I said. Yes, it is tiring. Yes we have been it at it for far too long. Yes, there are far too many foes for our capabilities.
But, I said we should finish fighting this encounter.
I also said you, as the GM, could help out us PCs, by playing your earth drakes and having them deal with the myceloids and blaster turrets. Which is really the major issue. As I said above, there's just far too many enemies for us. We just don't have the proper Area of Effect attacks to deal with them at this low a level.
I re-uploaded the map -- everyone make sure they're in the location they think they should be in the ROUND 4 pdf.
according to this map I am not where i should be. i should be on the left edge of the H-shaped illusion.
Also, is this invisibility purge from Miqeo? Since i took over the familiar and made it a PC, I no longer have that spell. How do you want to play that? Would it end early or should I dismiss it on my turn?
Thus, I propose the following:
1) We finish this encounter. We're already in the thick of it, and if we're going to ever be able to truly judge what our PCs are capable of so you can better design encounters(be they combat, social, or otherwise) we're going to need to actually play out a few combats.
However, you're right about how bogged down and tiresome it's gotten. My suggestion to help speed it up is to have the two earth drakes assist in actually killing/destroying the myceloids and the turrets, leaving the mummies and the dread wraith to us PCs.
Don't just have them drop some rocks on them, unless said rocks kill them. Also, don't just have the myceloids suddenly disappear or be called away, as that's kinda lame.
I believe you have 3 rounds of actions you could have them take, to help us out.
This is what I said. Yes, it is tiring. Yes we have been it at it for far too long. Yes, there are far too many foes for our capabilities.
But, I said we should finish fighting this encounter.
I also said you, as the GM, could help out us PCs, by playing your earth drakes and having them deal with the myceloids and blaster turrets. Which is really the major issue. As I said above, there's just far too many enemies for us. We just don't have the proper Area of Effect attacks to deal with them at this low a level.
The earth drakes already used their best attacks with the blocks of elemental earth. If you have some idea of what they might be able to do that would help, tell me.
Itko is a druid//ranger 12//MR 6. If you have some idea what he could do, tell me what too.
Cae and Vyse should be just to the right of the word "Zone".
Raxus should be to the right of Jimbli.
The earth drakes already used their best attacks with the blocks of elemental earth. If you have some idea of what they might be able to do that would help, tell me.
Itko is a druid//ranger 12//MR 6. If you have some idea what he could do, tell me what too.
What class levels or abilities do the earth drakes have? Do they have any innate casting, manifesting, ability to use kinetic blasts, etc?
I thought Itko was tied up using the artifact to keep the anti-magic aura going??
The earth drakes already used their best attacks with the blocks of elemental earth. If you have some idea of what they might be able to do that would help, tell me.
Itko is a druid//ranger 12//MR 6. If you have some idea what he could do, tell me what too.
What class levels or abilities do the earth drakes have? Do they have any innate casting, manifesting, ability to use kinetic blasts, etc?
I thought Itko was tied up using the artifact to keep the anti-magic aura going??
They don't have any class levels. They're 64 HD earthdrakes from the 3.5 conversion of Terrors of Athas on Athas.org.
Itko is tied up if that's important to keep active.
Everyone except Miqeo has got to roll 10 times for the myceloid spores and 5 times for the apprentice aura since there are still five of them. After everyone does that, I'll move on to the next bit.
Also, is this invisibility purge from Miqeo? Since i took over the familiar and made it a PC, I no longer have that spell. How do you want to play that? Would it end early or should I dismiss it on my turn?
Seb, did you catch this post from Miqeo? I did not realize that when he remade my familiar into his PC, that he no longer had access to Invisibility Purge.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
I thought Hamza had that spell -- then you just need to all roll 10 times for the myceloid spores and the dessication aura if you're still in range, and I'll decide on the apprentice actions next.
Nah, sorry if that wasn't clear. Things can easily get lost or confused in this game.
Also, thinking it over, I will probably end up giving Hamza four levels in his base gestalt classes, which will make him a stalker/harbinger 10.
Is that okay??
Everyone roll for the desiccation aura and then for the myceloid spores. I posted the rest of the villains' actions. You all have 3 rounds before an enormous force of reinforcements shows up. They're currently making their way down a 1,000 ft. hallway.
EDIT: Also, I guess miqeo gets an AoO if he so desires as the apprentices move through his threatened space.
How many hundreds of feet is the zig-zag?
How many hundreds of feet is the zig-zag?
optimally arranged, a contiguous path from one end to another would be 1000 squares of 5ft each. now, given that arrangement, and assuming they auto-succeed on all climb checks (they have a +18 on STR) but since they have no climb ranks, they don't have any signature bonuses for it. Assuming i didnt make sheer walls, which i didnt say i was, they could pass any relevant DC and accept a +5 to the check to move half speed. That puts them at approximately 50ft movement per action. Half the distance is 500ft, so that is 5 turns of double movement (charge and the like is not possible) in there as they climb around and up and down and try to find center. They don't have ranks in Survival either, but they have a high enough WIS that they will succeed on the check to not get lost in a mundane fashion.
Now, assuming they don't want to mess with all that, they could attack and break a 5ft section of wall and take a direct route. Given that there are 5 of them, optimally they could move as a unit 25ft per turn (first one attacks a wall and breaks it, next one moves through and attacks the next wall, so on and so forth. However, given that when those two I semi-control attack, they will attack allies instead. So the maximum speed they could achieve in a direct path to the center would be 15ft per turn. Then on subsequent turns the ones that saved earlier will make more saves until they eventually fail and i have all of them lost and attacking each other. This may not achieve much, as their attacks can only harm each other on critical hits as their fast healing will outheal their max damage otherwise. Well, unless they use power attack and such.
I hope this answers your question, if not lemme know.
Okay, then the ones who can tell its zig zagging try to attack the wall, and you can roll for that.
Alrighty, and so the other two will not attack at all, or will the three that can act direct those two to act, etc?
1 and 3 that aren't affected disappear below the blast doors.
I guess the others get an AoO as they move through their area. It takes them 1 move action to get to the illusion to begin with, so you need to take that into account for the action economy. 2, 4, 5 all try to claw through the wall.
1 and 3 that aren't affected disappear below the blast doors.
I guess the others get an AoO as they move through their area. It takes them 1 move action to get to the illusion to begin with, so you need to take that into account for the action economy. 2, 4, 5 all try to claw through the wall.
How do they get below the blast doors? They still have to get to the edge of the blast door, attack through the floor, and then open the door.
Though they are not affected by the look of the illusion, it still contains actual physical matter (shadowstuff) that they must break through. They can't just walk through unless they have some ability or line of feats that lets them charge through walls (of any material, i am aware of their sand glide ability which would not work here as shadowstuff is not sand) like the Kool-Aid man or something.
Also, I can't make the ones under my semi-control take AoOs. I can only control the targets of the abilities they otherwise choose to do of their own accord.
Okay then they have two attacks to try to get through; how thick is it? It looks like 10-15ft.
1, 3 will try to dig through.
2, 4, 5 will start zig-zagging I guess since they move so fast. It will still take them 3 rounds to get through 1,000 ft.
Okay, something was bothering me about the mummies, so I went back over the game play thread to see if I could figure it out.
1) I believe one of the mummies is being grappled by Raxus.
2) One of them has taken at the very least 918 from Hamza and his assassins. I know this is not enough to destroy it, but I'm not including any damage from the other PCs.
3) Hamza is right in the middle of them. Each of them that moves away from him provokes an AoO from him. Thanks to the fact that they are all Claimed via his Dark Claim class feature, even the withdraw action provokes AoO from him. Hamza has Combat Reflexes so he can make up to 11 AoO in a round.
4) I believe at one if not both of Tyren's minions will also get AoO on the mummies.
5) It's very possible the mummies will provoke AoO from other PCs as well.
I think this will all occur *before* they even manage to enter Miqeo's maze of doom.
Okay then apply those conditions as well and tell me what the current disposition of each is, then the assassins can go.
yeah Hamza and then add all the damage i said i did. yeah!
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Raxus is no longer grappling one. He threw it at another 1, doing damage to both.
Just sort out what's going on and then Hamza can post for the assassins.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
OK -- waiting for other AoOs, then we'll move on to the assassins.
I think after we finish the Kalidnay scenario we should do what Hamza suggested and decide where the rest of the campaign will go. This is my current proposal, which aligns with continuing the Legacy of Fire arc.
Kelmarane is a portal town (I'm emphasizing and expanding an idea that appears in some Dark Sun products where there are portals to the moons), which explains how it's a 'trade post' in the middle of nowhere. At one point, there was a network of portals that connected the two sides of the Sea of Silt and associated bodies, which was an important trade route.
In the ancient world, the Elemental Empire traded extensively with the Dragon Teacher Empire which was ruled by the Dragon Kings and their kobold servants, as well as the realms of the Lawkeepers, a subsidiary realm of the Dragon Teacher Empire that eventually became more independent. The Elemental Empire was ruled by Genies, Genie-kin, and Elemental Lords (psionist-elemental cleric advanced beings).
The former territories of the Elemental Empire are now the Realm of the Merchant Princes, a vast territory abutted by an ocean of Methane. The Million Isles of the Archipelago Empire of the Dragon Borys is the furthest extension of this eastward territory. The Methane Sea drops a mile into the Sea of Silt and cuts below the continental plate at the border of the two hostile bodies. The Merchant Princes overthrew their elemental overlords and their Sha'ir bound them as servants. Now, the Merchant Houses rule a contentious alliance of city states which conduct a hidden war of assassins for power in the region.
Kelmarane was once a portal town which connected a trade route from Balic, to Celik, to Kalidnay, to Kelmarane, to the City-State of Akirrush in the Land of the Merchant Princes, to Raam, to Yaramuke, to Urik, to Tyr, and back to Kalidnay. However, most parts of the portal network are now broken. Some function only one way. The portal from Akirrush to Raam only allows one way traffic from the east to the west, allowing the natives of the eastern lands to enter and occasionally settle in Raam, but no real trade. The gnolls of Kelmarane currently use this portal to ship slaves from the desert to Akirrush.
The Lands of the Merchant Princes is like a twisted version of Al-Qadim, and draws on Turkish, Arabian, Mongolian, Persian, and other analogues from traditional Muslim societies, though their is also a late Byzantine-esque city-state in the far north. The territories are not unified. They are divided between two philosophical alliances. The inner lands are host to the Idealists, also known as the Analysts or the Purists or Rigorists or Objectivists. Their philosophy is somehow related to the rigid lawfulness of Cytobarides' philosophy, practiced by House Nicephorus of Balic, Cae's house. Their schools are led by arch philosophers thought by their followers to be infallible. These inflexible adherents uphold a Kantian moral imperative above all else. The larger though looser conglomeration of the south is known as the Pragmatists or the Subjectivists. These have a looser social organization as well.
The inner lands of the Merchant Princes are harsh deserts inhabited, among other peoples, by the Dragonnewts and Malelairds, a race of aggressive duck-men.
The northern mountains are inhabited by multi-headed dog men with a complex occult philosophy that resembles esoteric Tibetan buddhism or bon-po. They are the inimitable enemies of the Merchant Princes, and are planning an invasion of the soft low-landers of the 'Thinking Lands'.
The city-state of Akirrush, which borrows heavily from late-antique Syrian and pre-Islamic Arabian inspiration: think Petra and other such sites, would be the stand-in for Katapesh.
If we go that direction, there's going to be more emphasis on the Arabian Nights kind of feel to the campaign, and, given the area, will probably have a healthy focus on economic issues and trade. I would also plan to incorporate part of the Frog Gods City of Brass in the part of the AP arc where the heroes visit the Efreeti city. In general, it would be like a really twisted version of Al-Qadim.
I'm giving another 24 hrs. for other AoO and then I'm moving on to Hamza's assassins.
OK time for ROUND 5. I'll repost the map -- where do I need to move Cae (and/or anyone else) to?
This is the first round of the three it will take the reinforcements to arrive. You'll have to devise a way to slip out or block them or 500 myceloids, some of them mounted on warbeasts, will appear. They are currently traversing a 1,000ft. tunnel.
Well i could try to sunder the tunnel entrance, collapsing it, to block them out.
As you update the map, could you please remove the images of our foes who have been destroyed? 3 mummies, and a bunch of myceloids are dead, and no longer need to be on the map.
This will be it less crowded and easier to pick out still standing foes, as well as spotting allies. It's standard procedure when using maps.
Also, where is Itko and our dread wraith BBEG?
You said Itko is tied up, is completely unable to do anything? There's a rather useful spell I would like him to cast, that I feel like he might have access to.
OK time for ROUND 5. I'll repost the map -- where do I need to move Cae (and/or anyone else) to?
Cae and Vyse should be just to the right of the word "Zone".
Raxus should be to the right of Jimbli.
As you update the map, could you please remove the images of our foes who have been destroyed? 3 mummies, and a bunch of myceloids are dead, and no longer need to be on the map.
This will be it less crowded and easier to pick out still standing foes, as well as spotting allies. It's standard procedure when using maps.
Also, where is Itko and our dread wraith BBEG?
You said Itko is tied up, is completely unable to do anything? There's a rather useful spell I would like him to cast, that I feel like he might have access to.
I think I already got rid of the dead myceloids. Kchac'Thraa is in the chamber below this cavern that Hamza and Miqeo were in the antechamber of a few moments ago before they teleported back beyond the blast doors.
Rokan, unsure how it works with psionics, but are you able to manifest additional powers due to the unchained action economy, wherein you get 3 standard actions a turn?
Manifesting is essentially "casting", but doesn't at least one of those actions have to be a "lesser" move action? Though I admit, I've been neglecting the "unchained" action economy with the standard one so deeply ingrained in my muscle memory.
I'm pretty sure casting is 2 AP.
I'd like to clarify real quick that the 28 Myceloids I knocked higher into the air were the ten over Tyren, the ten over Jimbli, and 8 of the ones over Rokan.
OK -- I'm ironing some stuff out with the rules document.
Here is a question -- there was an idea tossed around about something like Luck or Charm as an attribute. The basic mechanical concept of that statistic is encompassed in the Hero Points system -- Eberron and Arcana Unearthed and other sources did the same basic Fate Aspects/Cypher System Instrusions different ways. It can be an independent resource pool, or it can be at least partly tied to an attribute, such that the resource pool does more or less depending on what the associated statistic modifier is.
My inclination right now is to just make Charisma the luck/charm stat. Basically, that means your use of Hero Points is maximized by having a higher Charisma score -- that also gives Charisma something to do if it's not your caster statistic, since otherwise it's a dump statistic. That was also why I was allowing it to be treated as morale and used as an alternative health statistic calculator.
I think that sort of allows all of the attributes to actually have a meaningful function -- though Intelligence is still basically only significant for Intelligence-based casters.
Strength -- attack and damage rolls
Dexterity -- armor, ranged attack, Reflex saves; Initiative
Constitution -- Stamina pool; health, Fortitude saves
Intelligence -- Borrow an idea from 4e -- use Intelligence for AC and Reflex if higher than Dexterity.
Wisdom -- Will saves
Charisma -- Hero Points pool, "use their Charisma score in place of their Constitution score when calculating hit points, Fortitude saves, and any special ability that relies on Constitution(such as when calculating a breath weapon’s DC)."
Uhm, intelligence gives you skill points and governs all knowledge skills.
Charisma is social skills.
I suggest using level as key, that's way better.
I don't know what 'level as key' means -- can you elaborate on this?
Make the hero points pool dependant on level instead CHA.
Level 1 = 1 point.
Level 3 = max 3 points, etc.
I`m also gonna point out that with your ideas up there, you're essentially promoting abusing stat allocations.
So everyone only needs to have 2-3 good stats actually and it even could be reduced to 1 with some more tricks.
why are we reworking things?
Hey, I'm dumb. Only 4 myceloids over Rokan were knocked upward.
why are we reworking things?
I'm trying to finish the house rules document -- questions come up as I do that since I'm editing together multiple sources to create this document; I have to deal with rules interactions and figure out what some rulings mean.
I don't see this as 'reworking'.
Posting to all my games -- I'm nearing the compilation of the House Rules into a formal document: HERE is the file for inspection and comments. I think I've finished going through the magic system now.
Had some more time to work on this and tried to add in revised advancement tables and some other stuff; tried to add in some page breaks for tables and sections to make stuff easier to look at; Here's a repost
I'm trying to only include stuff I've made significant changes to and edited to the point that it's impossible to easily just reference the individual 3.5 and PF iterations.
I don't see any point in including classes, since everyone picks such a bewildering array of stuff, there's no way to include everything. I might include a couple of popular homebrew things like the unchained ninja or beguiler if there seems to be some great interest, but in general I don't see the point of that.
Same for races unless there's some obscure something everyone wants to see in there.
I recreated the advancement tables to account for the additional feats, as well as for multiclass variant characters.
I included a new section on archetypes to include the gestalt rules.
I need to put something like that in for mythic perhaps.
For feats, I think the decision to make scaling varieties an option is the best -- there are too many feats to rewrite everything to scale, and multiple scaling versions of each feat as well. I'm going to allow anyone to rewrite a feat they want in a scaling version if they so desire, and if it's accepted by the group, then it's fine, and it will go in this document.
Can Tyren please bot Amunet if she's not posted by tomorrow?
Also, I'll fix the map later. I don't currently have access to my desktop but I haven't forgotten.