As promised a new discussion page. New gameplay thread will be up soon.
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Checking in.
Question: Should our chronicles have 150gp deducted from the total since we group paid for a Wand of EE?
Question #2: Elaril has finally passed the Fame threshold so he can buy his Headband. So Ill do that. But having never bought an Int boosting item before Im not entirely sure how it works. Do I get a new language known? Presumably I choose a skill and get 4 ranks in that skill (which don't stack with ranks Ive put into the skill before hand - if I choose one ive already trainied?)
For question 2, yes to both. The skill gained and language learned are set in the headband.
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Ah, no. Shield Wall is a big part of his style. I assume you were joking, but just in case, I thought I'd be clear. Anthys does not believe that the best defense is a good offense. Never has. He thinks the best defense is heavy armor and a strong shield. That is this character and his personality.
Anthys is unaware of game mechanics - he doesn't know how many HP he has, doesn't know he has the -Con buffer, and believes that any one hit could be lethal. I do play a character that uses a two-handed weapon with Power Attack, but he is a Gorum-worshiping bloodrager with something of a death wish. That's not Anthys.
I am also thinking of going into Knight of Ozem, which gets even more bonus feats than a fighter, 1 teamwork per 3 levels and 1 shield feat per 3 levels. So he's going to pretty much always use a shield. Maybe if there were a foe with really tough DR he couldn't get through, he might consider two-handing in desperation.
But I'm not looking for tips on how to do more damage. I have a pretty good idea of what I want to do with the character.
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Knight of Ozem also gets Disruptive and Spellbreaker; not all the time in use, but all the time in qualifying for feats. That means Ray Shield and Teleport Tactician. Also gets more skill points, and fits very well with his reasons for joining the Society.
But yes, losing Greater Tactician would be tough. And if Anthys sticks with fighter he could potentially take two Advanced Armor Training options, at 7 and 11. As well as be eligible to take two Advanced Weapon Training feats rather than one.
So it's a tough call.
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Anthy's last turn highlighted how good Shield Other is for our group to me. If Anthy's last round had been her round instead of his, Anthys would still be up and Berato would be negative but still alive, whereas without Shield Other Anthys would be dead and we would be hoping the Earth Elemental can finish her off ok.
We might want to see if we can figure out some way to get that spell cast more for extraordinary situations in the future. The best would be if we could someone get everyone to be able to cast it in a cycle, so any attack on any of us would split the damage across all of us to some degree. Coupled with our incredible defenses, it would make it extremely hard to outdamage Berato's ability to AOE heal us.
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Well, I hope Michiko is an extraordinary situation that we don't have to routinely prepare for. She seems crazy-tough with her phenomenal attack bonus and damage. I do think encounters like this validate Anthys's character concept, that AC matters and you can't always count on the best defense being a good offense. And he definitely survived the last attack due to his teammates - she'd have easily hit him if it wasn't for the bonuses he gets being adjacent to allies.
A Buffering Cap might be a good solution. Anthys could take 39 damage and 25 non-lethal and, while he'd be unconscious, he'd be alive.
The aesthetics of the Cap are not really good for his image, though. He'd look like a medieval Italian poet. Can he wear it under a helmet?
I can't see any easy way of Anthys casting Shield Other until much higher level (when he can maybe afford a Ring of Minor Spell Storing).
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Aha! Imbue with Spell Ability could be an option at higher levels. The rest of us might be able to UMD a wand if we can't cast it. Something to keep in mind for the more distant future. Making it so we don't have weak points to attack is how our group rolls, and an effectively semi-shared HP pool would be pretty sweet.
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Those sound like good options!
I think another thing I need to figure out personally is how to get Vindlér's attack and damage up to snuff. Level 5 will definitely help that, since I'll be getting Bane at that point. I'm also going to be looking at what kinds of enhancements I could put on his weaponry to be most effective. Right now a Holy weapon seems like it could be a very good idea.
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True Strike is a fantastic option for Vindlér. We fight a lot of humanoid opponents, so Trip and Disarm are great. Reposition, Drag, Bull Rush, Overrun, and Dirty Trick can also be situationally useful. True Strike is a nearly-guaranteed combat maneuver. If you can cast the spell, it's always good to carry bolas - even with the non-proficiency penalty.
While you will provoke AOOs for melee combat maneuvers, there are a couple of ways around that. One is to have Anthys provoke first, and count on foes not having Combat Reflexes. Another is just to get your AC high enough that the AOO probably won't land; like if you cast True Strike, Marcus takes that as a sign to use Aid Another on your AC immediately before your next turn. And another option is to use reach weapons or Enlarge Person.
Some of Vindlér's Judgments also get a boost at level 5, along with Bane. 'Justice' for attack rolls is a strong choice against most foes; for tough fights, there's already a sacred bonus to AC and saves through Lastwall Phalanx so those defensive judgments are redundant. The 'smiting' judgment would be good but I imagine a magic weapon is coming up soon on Vindlér's shopping list. If the enemy has poor AC, then Destruction for damage is good (already at +2, and goes to +3 at L6).
Holy weapons are quite expensive. It's a +2 equivalent bonus, and the weapon needs a base +1, so you are looking at a +3 total equivalent (18,000 gp). Nice for higher level, though. For a +1 enchantment (8,000 gp), Distracting and Limning look good against casters. Fervent, Huntsman, and Jurist are inquisitor-themed. Keen and Spell Storing are often good. Ghost Touch maybe not as necessary for those who can cast Cure spells.
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For complete parties like us, Greater Magic Weapon (1 hour/level) for 5th level wizards and 7th level clerics should be the preferred option for optimal money savings.
At 5th level Berato also gets Magic Vestment at 5th (1 hour/level; makes armor or shield +1; +2 at level 8!) so keep that in mind while you shop...
I'm not saying the whole party should rely on Berato and Elaril all the time, but... pretty much means you can save for that high level expensive item you've always wanted and we'll patch you through in between stat boost spells (bull's STR, etc.), armor enhancement bonuses and weapon enhancement bonuses...
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Also... from a tactical perspective it is better NOT to enlarge... the enlarged member (no pun intended) of the party gets more bonuses from those teamwork feats, but all remaining medium ants surrounding him get less bonuses. So tactically, reach weapon seems better than enlarge since our teamwork feats are defensive... so, everyone, including Berato, should carry reach weapons I think. I mean... from an RP perspective I love me my warhammer yay Torag yay, but really... I think a longspear is legit for a cleric yes?
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Well, the Shield Wall depends on us not using two-handed reach weapons. That's our always-on defensive buff. So there are tradeoffs. I think the best option for Vindlér using combat maneuvers with True Strike is to just count on high AC thwarting the AOO. Given the +20 from True Strike, he could even fight defensively when making the attempt for +2 AC (and if that becomes a regular tactic, the 3 ranks in Acrobatics to make it a +3 are well spent).
There are some neat warhammer things for Torag. The Deific Obedience, and the Sacred Hammer feat to channel spells like a magus.
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Like Berato, I just factored my Day Job in (20-24 is 20 gp, right?). That puts Anthys at 1507.5 gp.
No big purchases at the moment, though I am open to ideas.
I suppose a silver weapon is necessary. Bludgeoning doesn't take the -1 damage. It would be 96 gp net to replace the warhammer with a silver one. Maybe a cold iron dagger too (4 gp).
Cloak of Resistance is standard but boring, and Anthys can get around +7 from teamwork feats depending on who is adjacent (+3 Lastwall Phalanx, +2 Shake it Off, +2 Scion). That's even without asking for any spells from the party (like Prot Evil or Shield Other), and those spells make the cloak redundant. So I think I will hold off on the cloak for now.
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I'm going to start the saving process for a ring of tactical precision. It is going to be about 2 level's worth of income, but I will need that time to hit the right fame amount anyway and it is a huge boost to everything we do.
I think you have most of the basics covered Athys and I agree that you don't need to prioritize a cloak until much later in our career if ever. The big things I would consider for you would be to begin saving for a missile catching shield to render our party mostly immune to conventional ranged attacks, or a stat belt, or begin saving for your own ring of tactical precision.
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I think I need to turn my morningstar magical. That's would mean I don't have to rely on my spells or judgments to overcome magic-based DR and could use those resources for greater benefits (like casting Flames of the Faithful on my weapon).
I'm gonna go ahead and drop the 2000gp to make my morningstar +1.
Yeah, there came a point where I was running so many games that waiting for day jobs from everyone was slowing down the chronicle process, so I've started letting players fill in that block as well.
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What are your plans for taking teamwork feats, Elaril? Depending on what you may take, saving for a Ring of Tactical Precision could be a big boost. Also if you got one, Anthys or I could charge it with Scion of the Lost Empire for you, effectively giving you a swift action +3 to saves/skill checks/attack rolls.
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I often have my casters buy a few scrolls of spells just out of their reach (so 3rd-level spells in this case). The utility is very high and the DCs to cast from the scrolls are easy to make. Especially good for buffs or utility spells that don't have saves.
Haste, Fly, Dispel Magic, Magic Circle Against Evil, Communal Resist Energy, and Clairvoyance are some of the best in my opinion.
Anthys can also get a scroll of one of these for Elaril to use. Maybe he'll pick up a scroll of Haste.
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With regards to the earlier discussion on Greater Magic Weapon/Magic Vestment, one neat trick that we can potentially do at later levels is to use Allied Spellcaster along with Rings of Tactical Precision to pump the caster level, if we are not under time pressure to start a given day.
It would work like this: Vindler switches his latest teamwork feat to Allied Spellcaster, then charges a ring with it. He gives that ring to Berato, who also takes another ring (or two+hand of glory) and casts Greater Magic Weapon/Magic Vestment on people at +3 or +4 caster level. Vindler can also cast at the same bonus as long as Berato has at least one of each prepared. The rings are then returned, Vindler switches his teamwork feat back to whatever he needs it to be, and the rings are charged with a different feat. The only cost would be that Vindler needs to take Greater Magic Weapon/Magic Vestment, and I don't know if that would fit well with his plans for spell choices.
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He's assuming Rings of Tactical Precision stack.
You increase the bonus you give by 1, and increase the bonus you get by 1. So that's 1 from the feat itself, 1 from Vindlér's ring, and 1 from Berato's ring. That part I can see either way.
If Berato wears two rings does that stack even further? That part I wouldn't think so.
But this is all for a year down the road or more. Let's get on with our next adventure!
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Ok... now that I'm reading this better:
Both Berato and Vindler have Greater Magic Weapon: check
Berato takes Ring 1 from Vindler: gains Allied Spellcaster: check
Normally: would get +1 caster level --> done
But... because of the +1 give / +1 receive, we get:
Vindler giving Berato +2; and
Berator receiving the +2 and turning it into +3.
This means at CL 7th, Berato will cast Greater Magic Weapon at CL 10th (i.e. bonus goes from +2 to +3 at level 12 I think, but 10 hours vs. 7 hours is not bad... if not super.)
However... will Vindler have Greater Magic Weapon at level 7 or before?!?
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It's hard for us 9-level casters to go too deep into the 'Teamwork Experiment' so to speak... to be effective casters we must devote 'some' feats to that effect.
Plus those rings are dam expensive... so for a dubious return on investment, and all the complications if our group ever splits up, I'm not planning on a whole lot more teamwork feats and/or spending any amount of gold on those rings.
But I'm here with Scion and Shield Wall, and my cleric's healz and buffssssss! :P