Question from Team Spirit regarding prep time: You will typically have prep time. You will often get to choose your next mission from a few options. More research to find missions might give you more options as well. So you will often have prep time. But every now and then you'll get thrown into something to keep the intensity up. Some encounters will cater to your strength while some will push you to adapt to cover your weaknesses.
Teams that have their builds 90% assembled (just a few skill points, gp, spell known, etc to move around still) may submit a draft team to me for comments if they want. The draft include links to each alias and a description of what team synergy will look like in two examples of each kind of situation:
1. Two different kinds of combat
2. Two different kinds of social
3. Two different kinds of exploration
This doesn't have to be lengthy or a lot of work but a little thought here will go a long way toward showing me a team is mentally engaged and open to feedback. That said, feedback is a two-way street and I heartily appreciate it at every stage. Again, there's time to do these things. I know life is busy and I want to make sure that the quality of the final, chosen team is not compromised by rushing. Once the campaign starts, the pace will be pretty fast.
Believe my bloodrager was originally part of spirit Me'mori though if you or alma think I need to adjust it to better fit just let me know.
Ah, thanks. I felt I was missing someone, but hadn't seen them brought up recently. My apologies for forgetting. I'll do the roundup.
- Storm Runner - Suli Bloodrager
- Alma The Soulborn - Deathless Ghost
- ??? - Ifrit Ninja
- ??? - Human Spiritualist(Seeker of Enlightenment)
Uncertain:
I add this because the ideas were posed, but no concrete statement was given, as there was more queries about whether or not they'd fit, not a concrete statement of "They're part of the team"
- Lerina - Elven Swashbuckler
• Quadiran Highlander, UC Monk/Barbarian(?)
- ??? - ???
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@hustonj: looks good!
@Swordwhale: That's fine by me. A passionate player behind a good class will do well. As for the prone target, yes it could come up, but I think having a dedicated archer will be good, especially for spellcasters in the back (readied attack to disrupt spell!).
As far as the team comp, it looks like we've settled on the following:
- Rorek55 - Karuum Chaney - Half-orc fighter (lore warden) 1
- Captain Moonscar - Lo'Laan Jin - Half-orc hunter 1
- hustonj - Basheer - Human bard 1
- Dystopiandream - Ashivla al-Feraz - Human time thief 1
- Swordwhale - Zen Archer Monk
So when Swordwhale gets finished with the zen archer, we'll be good to go! I'll begin writing some preliminary situations for everyone's review, and when we've got everyone's buy-in I will put them to the GM to review our team for suggestions!
Reviewing, I think the only glaring weakness we have is against swarms, since no burning hands and such. Anyone have any suggestions to deal with these?
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We have a bard, so if the bard player could learn the sleep spell, that would help out early on vs swarms. Another way would be to invest in some alchemical fire/acid flasks. It wouldn't be great damage per say, but its a quick, cheap fix to dealing with lower level swarms. I will say, Karuum will likely focus more on disarming foes that use weapons than tripping at the start. (since disarming weapons still get the +2 bonus on CMB but tripping do not for some reason) I'll be decent level 1-2, but the build should really start to shine around levels 3-4 when I can do better damage (about 2 more at level 4, and 4 more at level 5. per hit) And by that time I'll be threatening out the full length.
The bonus applies to both trip and disarm.
Deft Maneuvers (Combat)
You are skilled in a variety of dextrous combat maneuvers.
Prerequisites: Dex 13.
Benefit: You do not provoke an attack of opportunity
when performing a trip or disarm combat maneuver. In
addition, you receive a +2 bonus on checks with trip and
disarm combat maneuvers, and you can make a Bluff
check to feint in combat as a move action.
You also receive a +2 bonus to your Combat Maneuver
Defense whenever an opponent tries to trip or disarm you.
Normal: You provoke an attack of opportunity when
performing a trip or disarm combat maneuver. Feinting
in combat is a standard action
I see how I misread what you were saying. Thanks for clarifying!
Believe my bloodrager was originally part of spirit Me'mori though if you or alma think I need to adjust it to better fit just let me know.
Nothing wrong with that. :)
I did not clarify either of these points before but some people seem to have correctly assumed these to be the case:
1. Unchained classes allowed.
2. All races of 20 rp or less allowed. Some will fit the theme more or less well (e.g. androids don't fit well).
Updated campaign info to include these points.
I should have time tomorrow to get my ninja sorted out
The only spell on my list that might work on Swarms was Burning Sands, which is OK, otherwise Oil is a cheap way to deal with swarms.
For swarms, I don't think sleep would do much good seeing as how the majority of the diminutive or smaller swarms are vermin, and immune to mind-affecting spells. They are the absolute bane of my witch.
@hustonj: You might consider picking up a couple scrolls of sleep or forced quiet and memorizing the other.
@Swordwhale: 300 gp to buy whatever you please. This was under character creation details in campaign info but I know there's a lot of info there.
Hit points are max first, half+1 (which is the same as average rounded up) at each subsequent level. I forgot to put this in there so thank you.
** spoiler omitted **
1. You won't want to provoke extra AoOs every turn. But often that will be fine.
2. Biggest problem would be dedicating your move action to that every turn. Your call.
3. The shield's encumbrance will still be a serious consideration.
None of these seem like automatic deal-breakers if I were building the character. Just pointing out things you've probably already considered.
** spoiler omitted **** spoiler omitted **
** spoiler omitted **
** spoiler omitted **
Refluffing it to be a wall of sand goes a bit too far as it makes the shield unrecognizable as a piece of mundane equipment.
Believe my bloodrager was originally part of spirit Me'mori though if you or alma think I need to adjust it to better fit just let me know.
Ah, thanks. I felt I was missing someone, but hadn't seen them brought up recently. My apologies for forgetting. I'll do the roundup.
** spoiler omitted **
Still need to sort out background, but the mechanics should be done.
This is Browman's ninja
Hi Team, Swordwhales artillery has arrived.
He's not yet fully done mechanically (2 feats are missing) atm, but he has skills, class stuff, background, traits and basic offense/defense stats.
Probably enough to start our discussion?
***
Actually .. I am considering to have him take the vow(s) of silence and truth for more Ki. He's not a talker anyway with 7 Cha, so silence is gold in his case anyway.
I think it can make for some interesting RP to flesh out how he is communicating with you guys. Sign language? Clicking sounds using the tongue and fingers? Writing on a block he is carrying?
Its rather optional so I can not do that if you are against it. But I think it might be great?
@GM: Gotcha. How are your thoughts on retraining? E.g. Zen Archer provides several archer feats at later levels as bonus feats. I have two feats left for level one to take, so I consider gaining one of them now, retraining it once I get the bonus feat from zen archer. Legit?
@Amari: Retraining is fine according to the normal rules. I intend to track downtime as a consumable resource just like other things. In addition, retraining a feat does cost some gold and require you to find someone to train you, which is probably not too hard.
But you can't take vows as a zen archer because you have replaced still mind, which vows also replace. I've seen some people rule that the ZA can take vows but it seems a pretty clear case of illegal archetype overlap to me.
I'm planning to go raw on encumbrance. I love dumping strength too but it should have its downsides. Now, to be realistic, I'm not going to personally re-check everyone's encumbrance very often. But I'll be keeping an eye on it and if it seems too high I'll calculate the total weight a character is carrying.
Haha. Yeah you're planning to be a caster with a 45 lb tower shield so...
I wouldn't worry about the little gear if it's pretty clear that you're in the medium load range. You might not want to be carrying a medium load though. Just a tip. -10 move speed and -3 extra ACP hurt quite a bit.
@Amari: Looks good! Maybe Amari didn't go all the way through the Vow of Silence process, but still tries to adhere to it?
I was thinking about synergies between the builds and thought we might benefit from a smaller scout team within the team to probe dangers ahead of the rest, specifically a two or three-man stealth team with stealth synergy. Ashivla could replace precise shot with stealth synergy, and maybe Amira could take it too? Perhaps another person (Basheer maybe) could take it? Lo’Laan’s animal companion already has an enormous stealth bonus. Just thinking out loud here. What does everyone think?
On a separate topic, I will try and finish up the situations for our submission review today, although I’d need everything firmed up on the stealth angle for the Exploration situations before I finish.
Now, to be realistic, I'm not going to personally re-check everyone's encumbrance very often. But I'll be keeping an eye on it and if it seems too high I'll calculate the total weight a character is carrying.
And for those without a str score....
Dex based?
Interesting idea.
I can probably fit it in.
I have two feat slots semi-open with lots of ideas of how to fill them.
Stealth synergy is very powerful since everyone would need to roll bad to flush us.
Now, to be realistic, I'm not going to personally re-check everyone's encumbrance very often. But I'll be keeping an eye on it and if it seems too high I'll calculate the total weight a character is carrying.And for those without a str score....
Dex based?
*Rubs forehead at adjudicating 3rd party material* Well I would say that con makes more sense as a sub for str but you have cha as a sub for con... So cha counts as your strength score too. Why not?
Neat. :)
Interesting idea but there are two problems with this.
1: From this FAQ, I understand that armor proficiency (shield) is different from martial weapon proficiency (shield). So taking martial weapon proficiency (shield) still leaves your summoner with the problem of not being proficient with a shield as armor.
2. You can't bash with a tower shield.
Possible solution: You could take the shield proficiency feat as well and do this with a heavy shield (which you can bash with). I doubt you want to go this route as it is a 4 feat investment (shield proficiency, martial weapon proficiency (shield), weapon focus (shield), dazzling display. But if this appeals to you, go for it.
Not using skill unlocks. Trying to keep the number of variant rules reasonable to make management and book-keeping easier for everyone.
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All right everyone, sorry for the delayed response here. Easter weekend is always a bit hectic with a two-year-old (EVERYONE wants you over at their house so she can pick up easter eggs!). Here are the proposed situations and how we as a team might resolve them. Let me know what you think, if anything needs to be changed. If all looks good, in a day or so, I will flip this to the GM for review.
_______
Combat 1: Showdown
A rival group of Taldan spies faces off with the party on an empty town street. Two archers are on the rooftops and three others are on the street, two fighters with greatswords and a lone wizard in the back. Team Deft Maneuvers finds themselves out of position, all down on the street.
Amari starts to pick apart the archers up top. Basheer starts to inspire his fellows in combat. Ashivla, Karuum, Lo’laan and Serenity move forward into battle. Ashivla and Karuum disarm the greatswords and allow Lo’laan and Serenity to bypass the guards and get to the wizard, dispatching him quickly. Cleaning up, Amari and Ashivla will provide cover from the archers as the Basheer, Karuum, Lo’laan, and Serenity trip and dispatch the weaponless fighters. Then, if the archers are still alive and haven’t fled, the team will climb using grappling hooks and rope.
Combat 2: The Temple
A cult of Norgorber has installed itself within a local temple of the Dawnflower, selling state secrets to Qadira’s enemies. The team has had time to scout the location. Amari has climbed up to a window perch and uses it as a sniper’s nest. Ashivla and Basheer pick their way through the pews toward the priests, stealthily stealing their holy symbols and spell component pouches before combat begins. The rest of the team charges in and dispatches the priests in a flurry of combat. Perhaps a sorcerer adherent gets off a lucky vomit swarm. The team then all draws their alchemist’s fire or acid flasks and bathes the swarm in splash damage.
______
Social 1: The Dinner Party
A known assassin is hiding amid nobles at a dinner party. Basheer takes the lead, impressive everyone with his diplomacy and skills at bluff, lying about his noble house. Ashivla aids Basheer. Lo’laan and Amari keep watch for suspicious behavior. Karuum searches for clues the assassin might’ve left behind.
Social 2: The Hostage Negotiation
Once business partners, one man has taken their split hard and has kidnapped his old partner and is threatening to kill him in a run-down flat, the windows all covered with cloth. The city guard has the building surrounded, but does not want an influential patron’s blood on their hands, so the Shadows are sent. Basheer steps in as negotiator, asking questions and getting to know the man through good diplomacy. Amari uses a grappling arrow to ready a rope tied to Karuum. Basheer will use message to give progress reports. Upon saying a specific code word, if things go wrong, Karuum will swing over through the window, burst through, and disarm the man with his whip.
______
Exploration 1: The Scout Team
Ashivla, Basheer, and Amari, through their Stealth Synergy feat, scout ahead of the others amidst the twisting corridors of a dungeon. Ashivla disarms any traps they encounter, and Basheer messages back their progress, or if any combat occurs. (At level 3, Lo’laan and Serenity will also join the stealth synergy team due to the hunter’s teamwork feats).
Exploration 2: Fort Creature
A ramshackle fort lay on a strategic river, poisoning everything downstream for the villages there. The creatures that inhabit the fort are strange, twisted things. Basheer identifies them and Lo’laan manages to cast comprehend languages to see what they are talking about. The team sees a hidden entrance behind a waterfall and uses it to get in the back way. Basheer might even cast disguise self from a scroll to look like the creatures, and be escorting “prisoners” back through the complex to their leader.
Thanks for putting that together, Ashivla. Glad to hear your kid had a fun Easter. XD
Cool composition! Thanks for the work.
@Showdown: Actually in such a situation, I would rather pick on the mage. Either by flurry him to death asap, or by using prepared actions to shoot him as he casts, doing damage and hopefully doing enough damage to break his concentration.
While the archers are dangerous, a mage can likely shut down the fight in much more nasty ways. If the bypassing part works in round one though, the proposed strategy is perfect.
One note to keep in mind: Amari is much more capable to hold his ground in close combat than most archers due to unarmed combatant and good physical attributes. He even threatens (and can AoO) while wielding using his bow (since monks can fight unarmed even with both hands occupied - "beware the monks kick-to-the-criticals!" coupled with decent AC and HP. Actually, unarmed atk&dmg is very close to my ranged capabilities at low levels.
So it is not essential for me to stay back as you would normally expect an archer to do. Starting with level 4, I don't provoke anymore for shooting while threatened. At that point, I will probably accompany the frontline - adding a couple of kicks to your generated yummy-AoOs-chaos. While shooting someone a hundred feet away.
As a side-note, I am also capable of treating your wounds - the old way.
@GM: Don't pushing, but skill unlocks are a great way to make skills more interesting and helping non-casters do cools things out of combat. They are usually 'hidden' by a feat and unchained rogues will get some for free (it is part of the UC redesign) so you may be interested in this subsystem as you stated that it is your goal to bring martials up. Just as a heads-up.
I'll consider implementing it at a later point. Not for now.
@GM: Thanks! She certainly did.
Team Deft Maneuvers:
- Ashivla al-Feraz – Time Thief
- Karuum Chaney – Fighter (Lore Warden)
- Lo’Laan Jin & Serenity - Hunter
- Basheer –Bard
- Amari Al’Fahd – Unchained Monk (Zen Archer)
________
Combat 1: Showdown
A rival group of Taldan spies faces off with the party on an empty town street. Two archers are on the rooftops and three others are on the street, two fighters with greatswords and a lone wizard in the back. Team Deft Maneuvers finds themselves out of position, all down on the street.
Amari starts to pick apart the wizard in the back with flurry. Basheer starts to inspire his fellows in combat. Ashivla, Karuum, Lo’laan and Serenity move forward into battle. Ashivla and Karuum disarm the greatswords and allow Lo’laan and Serenity to bypass the guards and get to the wizard, quickly finishing them off. Cleaning up, Amari and Ashivla will provide cover from the archers as the Basheer, Karuum, Lo’laan, and Serenity trip and dispatch the weaponless fighters. Then, if the archers are still alive and haven’t fled, the team will climb using grappling hooks and rope.
(At higher levels, Amari will shoot at point-blank range while capitalizing on Attacks of Opportunities from tripped opponents.)
Combat 2: The Temple
A cult of Norgorber has installed itself within a local temple of the Dawnflower, selling state secrets to Qadira’s enemies. The team has had time to scout the location. Amari has climbed up to a window perch and uses it as a sniper’s nest. Ashivla and Basheer pick their way through the pews toward the priests, stealthily stealing their holy symbols and spell component pouches before combat begins. The rest of the team charges in and dispatches the priests in a flurry of combat. Perhaps a sorcerer adherent gets off a lucky vomit swarm. The team then all draws their alchemist’s fire or acid flasks and bathes the swarm in splash damage.
______
Social 1: The Dinner Party
A known assassin is hiding amid nobles at a dinner party. Basheer takes the lead, impressive everyone with his diplomacy and skills at bluff, lying about his noble house. Ashivla aids Basheer. Lo’laan and Amari keep watch for suspicious behavior. Karuum searches for clues the assassin might’ve left behind.
Social 2: The Hostage Negotiation
Once business partners, one man has taken their split hard and has kidnapped his old partner and is threatening to kill him in a run-down flat, the windows all covered with cloth. The city guard has the building surrounded, but does not want an influential patron’s blood on their hands, so the Shadows are sent. Basheer steps in as negotiator, asking questions and getting to know the man through good diplomacy. Amari uses a grappling arrow to ready a rope tied to Karuum. Basheer will use message to give progress reports. Upon saying a specific code word, if things go wrong, Karuum will swing over through the window, burst through, and disarm the man with his whip.
______
Exploration 1: The Scout Team
Ashivla, Basheer, and Amari, through their Stealth Synergy feat, scout ahead of the others amidst the twisting corridors of a dungeon. Ashivla disarms any traps they encounter, and Basheer messages back their progress, or if any combat occurs. (At level 3, Lo’laan and Serenity will also join the stealth synergy team due to the hunter’s teamwork feats).
Exploration 2: Fort Creature
A ramshackle fort lay on a strategic river, poisoning everything downstream for the villages there. The creatures that inhabit the fort are strange, twisted things. Basheer identifies them manages to cast comprehend languages to see what they are talking about. The team sees a hidden entrance behind a waterfall and uses it to get in the back way. Basheer might even cast disguise self from a scroll to look like the creatures, and be escorting “prisoners” back through the complex to their leader.