I was thinking about that but it is dark. Eagles only have low light vision. I don't know if it makes much sense.
It's not dark now, I just put four fires on the ground giving light to quite a large area. Otherwise, we all would have been worse off. I know it wasn't much but it helped a little.
[Warning: Rules Nerd Alert]
Well, the Falconer Archetype gives you two free bird only tricks, one of which is Distract.
Distract (DC 20; bird only): The animal companion flutters wildly around any enemy it would normally attack with the attack trick. It makes an attack roll against that enemy. On a hit, the enemy is shaken for 1 round.
Basically, your hawk can attack, forgoing damage for the shaken condition. Pretty good in my opinion. (I didn't see your tricks listed for your bird, but this one comes default with the archetype)
On the wolves targeting Fintan instead of his horse: going for the horse and tripping it would DEFINITELY hurt both the horse and the rider, but they are totally mechanically able to attack Fintan instead of the horse. Fintan counts as sharing the squares of his mount for all intents and purposes, so they can reach him from any angle. (The same applies even if you're a halfling riding a mammoth IIRC. Weird, I know.)
On the suggested houserule...
As for tripping riders... I figure that it is more difficult to trip a rider, than someone on foot. So here is what I propose:
1) if the trip succeeds, the rider rolls to stay mounted
2) if the rider fails the roll, he is tripped and takes an additional 1d6 damage from the hard fall (unless he succeeds an acrobatic roll?)The DC of the riding check would be 5+CMB.
Sort of a yin and yang sort of thing: you get a roll to avoid being tripped, but suffer more if the trip is successful, which makes sense given that you are mounted...
What do you think?
Well, after doing some digging, this comes from the 3.5 D&D SRD...
Tripping a Mounted Opponent
You may make a trip attack against a mounted opponent. The defender may make a Ride check in place of his Dexterity or Strength check. If you succeed, you pull the rider from his mount.
Pathfinder does not have anything of this nature, however. What if instead of having the defender roll against the attack with ride, they just have the option of using their Ride skill + 10 in place of CMD? I.E. in my case I'd have 17 effective CMD vs. the trip attempt. (Compared to the 18 CMD I have that becomes 16 when raging or 14 when charging and raging.)
That might make Ride too good, however. But I'd definitely still dish out fall damage (1d6) if he gets tripped off his horse. And on the flip side... His horse can still be tripped, and if it trips so does Fintan, and Fintan would take fall damage in that case as well.
Your call, GM. But if we go with rules as written for Pathfinder, the wolves would only have to beat his CMD (which is 16 at present).
Gosh, my dice stink, too.
This is where my knowledge of the system is proven to be insufficient: does difficult terrain make a second attack impossible?
Addendum:
I believe that you are referring to the rule that states that if your mount moves, you may only make a single attack, and not a full attack? That may be true, but I don't believe that has any effect on the attacks made by the mount...
Okay, so here's the limiting power on martials:
If you have multiple attacks, you need a full round action or another special ability to use them all. This should apply to natural attacks as well - Brave has two primary natural attacks (hooves), and can use both if able to make a full round action (standard + move spent together). Normally, a five foot free step lets you move 5 feet and full attack.
However, difficult terrain can't be five foot free stepped into. Instead, you spend double your normal movement. I.E., it takes 10 feet of movement to enter that square.
So, Brave and Fintan enter that square. Brave uses a Move Action to do so. Now Brave only has one attack.
Now, remember that Fintan and Brave should actually occupy 4 squares when together because Brave is a large creature. So, if there are two squares in front of Brave and one of them is difficult terrain while the other is not, it counts as difficult terrain for Brave to move through both of those squares. That's my understanding, anyway.
(Note: if we go into the caves, Brave would probably have to stay outside. Horses don't go in caves, yo, so Fintan would occupy a single square when dismounted.)
EDIT: Also, my dice are doing just well enough to succeed now that everyone else's dice are being evil to them. :/
Got it. Thanks!
On the wolves targeting Fintan instead of his horse: going for the horse and tripping it would DEFINITELY hurt both the horse and the rider, but they are totally mechanically able to attack Fintan instead of the horse. Fintan counts as sharing the squares of his mount for all intents and purposes, so they can reach him from any angle. (The same applies even if you're a halfling riding a mammoth IIRC. Weird, I know.)
I agree. My reasoning was that the horse was too big a target for the wolves to take down... Note that in the future, I will avoid trip attacks from the front, unless the creature is large or has reach. Makes more sense.
As for tripping a rider, let's try the rule that I proposed. I like it because:
1) it takes into account your CMD
2) it takes into account your riding skill
3) it takes into account the wolf's CMB
4) it gives you a chance to stay mounted, at a price
And off course, if the horse is tripped, then you take a fall!
As far as animals being too big to take down with trip, there's actually rules concerning that:
You can attempt to trip your opponent in place of a melee attack. You can only trip an opponent who is no more than one size category larger than you. If you do not have the Improved Trip feat, or a similar ability, initiating a trip provokes an attack of opportunity from the target of your maneuver.
If your attack exceeds the target’s CMD, the target is knocked prone. If your attack fails by 10 or more, you are knocked prone instead. If the target has more than two legs, add +2 to the DC of the combat maneuver attack roll for each additional leg it has. Some creatures—such as oozes, creatures without legs, and flying creatures—cannot be tripped.
This, too, is relevant...
Creatures that are size Tiny or smaller use their Dexterity modifier in place of their Strength modifier to determine their CMB. The special size modifier for a creature’s Combat Maneuver Bonus is as follows:
Fine –8, Diminutive –4, Tiny –2, Small –1, Medium +0, Large +1, Huge +2, Gargantuan +4, Colossal +8.
And CMB directly impacts CMD.
So, a wolf is Medium. It can trip Brave, because Brave is large-sized; but because Brave is large size, Brave has +1 CMD that's already factored in. Brave has 4 legs, so Brave gets +4 to CMD vs. Trip.
Given that, the wolves can trip Brave if they roll 21 or higher on their Trip rolls. This is shown on the stat block for Light Horses shown here.
Now, if the wolves wanted to trip an elephant, they literally could not. An elephant would be too big. Or if a badger wanted to trip a horse, the badger could not for the same reason. Etc. Remember: unless you have certain feats, you can only trip something 1 size category larger than you.
Also, tactically it could make a LOT of sense to trip the horse. One wolf attacks the horse; trips it. This makes it prone. The other wolves go for either Fintan or the horse with a +4 bonus now because they're prone. Suddenly, they don't look so dangerous. And it'd be easier for wolves to reach the horse rather than the legs of the rider - but again, they can do both. And if Fintan or his horse try standing up, they get attacked with AoOs. They can stay lying down to fight, but their enemies maintain a +4 bonus to attack against them, and if they crawl away they provoke.
I hope that helps!
As for tripping a rider, let's try the rule that I proposed. I like it because:
1) it takes into account your CMD
2) it takes into account your riding skill
3) it takes into account the wolf's CMB
4) it gives you a chance to stay mounted, at a priceAnd off course, if the horse is tripped, then you take a fall!
Alrightie! Works for me.
Oh, the main thing to note is that tripping the horse IS way harder than tripping Fintan given the horse's CMD. But Fintan's ride should make him able to resist somewhat, yeah. I'm looking forward to trying it out!
If it doesn't work, we'll try something else :)
Trial and error makes one better!
I don't have anything to buff CMD rolls D:
I don't think there are spells for CMD rolls...
Weeeeell...
You know how buffs to attack rolls buff CMB? Well, likewise, buffs to AC can buff CMD.
A creature can also add any circumstance, deflection, dodge, insight, luck, morale, profane, and sacred bonuses to AC to its CMD. Any penalties to a creature’s AC also apply to its CMD. A flat-footed creature does not add its Dexterity bonus to its CMD.
Yes, this makes CMD and CMB very complicated and confusing.
Oh, I guess I do then :D
He maybe busy with finals. He hasn't replied to any of the other forums we're in together for the past day or so, nor has he replied to my PMs to him.
After all his last one here was early morning yesterday.
I am just starting back a new module in College and am just getting back in to a rhythm. I owe so many people posts and am starting back now. I'm going to post one here then one on Times string. Then the others. Sorry guys.
Also Time I'll message you in a bit with my Overwatch stuff. :)
Keep your priorities straight...haha. Seriously, do what's important. Do well in School it will pay off. Cheers.
I figured it had to be something with college. If you hadn't come back in another day or so then I'd be worried! XD
It's cool man! I'm not going anywhere!
Edit:Also Braedan, I notice you did not reply to me here, answering my question with silents hmm? *smirks*
College... What a beautiful, simple life! Indeed, work hard. It'll pay off. Mind you, I was a terrible student, and I did pretty well!
Ha! Simple life? I wish. I am a 29 year old dude who is trying to finish up a degree he is only partially interested in. I'm up to my eyeballs in debt and the course is basically b~$#*@+s and will qualify me to do a s#@@ty job. But still... We will see how it goes. :P
Isn't that college anyways?
I can relate: I went back to school in my late 20s. Very expensive venture. And then I worked at the bottom of the totem pole for years. I was 30 and working as a production assistant, which is far from glamorous, and certainly not what you envision when you're at film school!
This too shall pass.
It's not college in Canada where it's basically (almost) free!
I'm just sick of making s+#~ty cash for working like a dog day to day so I know I need the course but still... True, I know it will pass. I'm not too worried.
I ended the battle as I was pretty sure that you all could handle a single wolf!
So CR 5 isn't so hard... Or is it hit or miss?
And all things considered, that wasn't too long!?
It was really hard for me to know what to do. I figured everything went out the window when Fintan nearly died in the first round and Braedan charged in to 'rescue' his brother again.
Braedan is sorely tempted to lecture everyone on the battles he learned about. The Danes Shield Wall, Setting Pikes to receive Calvary charges, Forming a Line but no one has seen combat like that and Braedan has only read about it in books and perhaps seen some illustrations. The Irish, Welsh and Scots were mostly skirmishers but here shortly everyone's going to see how real organized armies operate when the armored troops arrive from England and France.
And, as they say, the rest is history?
Just looking at my skills and it seems that Knowledge (Irish History) and Knowledge (Irish Culture and the Arts) may be a bit redundant. Perhaps combine them into Knowledge (Irish History, Culture and the Arts)? Anyway to combine those and allow Braedan to choose another Knowledge Skill? I didn't realize that they were trained only. I thought a Bard could make a roll on any Knowledge check like a Jack of all Trades kind of thing.
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They do. It's called Bardic Knowledge. You even get half your bard level, min 1, to the roll.
Thanks. I thought so but I looked right at it but didn't see it. lol
Lol! You're welcome. I actually had to have it told to me not too long ago because for some reason I though I got it at a later level! XD
Actually, I have been treating Culture & the Arts as Arcana, and history as... well, history...
Ok, well I'm pretty good at confusing myself so, there it is :)
Arcana is good then.
Honestly... Culture & The Arts would probably be Local, actually. Knowledge (Local) covers "legends, personalities, inhabitants, laws, customs, traditions," and "humanoids" according to the PFSRD.
Knowledge (Arcana) would be more about the mystical side of things. Sure, Local might provide you with information on the old legends, but Knowledge (Arcana) might involve things like magic potions, more specific details on magical substances, the nature of mythical beasts, etc.
I ended the battle as I was pretty sure that you all could handle a single wolf!
So CR 5 isn't so hard... Or is it hit or miss?
And all things considered, that wasn't too long!?
Fair enough on ending the battle early.
Yeah, CR 5 isn't that bad if it's the main fight of the day. Most groups of 4 can fight several battles a day of roughly their CR or less. A CR 5 encounter means you can't fight AS MANY battles in a single day, but it should feel risky and challenging for a level 2 party. But we also have 5 people, not 4.
The wolves were used well, and they DID almost gib Fintan in the first round. I expected them to finish him off, frankly, but I assume you were being merciful.
And no, it didn't take very long.
Also, in the future: if I can't post for some reason, assume Fintan's tactics are "avoid provoking AoOs, charge things while mounted if possible, elsewise stab with big pokey stick and Power Attack." Also, "body-block to protect injured party members regardless of own health." Finally, he'll do his best to obey others' orders.
Also: Padraic, Aoife, what HP are you two at? Also, I forgot to add the 1 HP the good Brother healed me for. Yay, 15 HP!
Healing time!
Oh, something you may want to use GM, since this campaign is light in magic, is a house rule we use in RL. It's called max healing, if you cast a heal spell out side of combat the healing granted is the most that caster can give. Because you're able to focus all you attention on those in need and are not distracted by combat.
Makes sense. I like it, outside of combat.
That being said, I may treat very serious wounds differently, for the sake of story...
Full disclosure, as it will undoubtedly come into play at some point: healing is a gift of God to his priests and his faithful. This means that it must be roleplayed. A priest can give the gift of healing. But it will only work if the subject accepts the gift, and praises God.
These are miracles, plain and simple. I cannot say enough: most priests cannot heal as the brother does, and so he is truly blessed like none other.
The same can be said for all his prayers: as a player, you must decide if you accept his blessing. And if you do, it means something.
Food for thought.
PS: this means that I reserve the right to negate any and all effects of prayers, circumstancially.
Such as Aoife, in her bitterness towards God, would not be able to accept it because she's lost her faith in him.
This doesn't mean that can't change, even old wounds can be reopened and healed properly, but it is an uphill battle. Mainly for the Brother. Because I think he'd be the only one to care. I feel like Braedan and Padraic would be like "Fool", Fintan would be worried but not overly so, and the Brother I just see being "No my child, come back to the light"
...which will make for some very interesting roleplay!!!
One could imagine a scene in which Aoife has fallen. She is unconscious and dying. O'Maille invokes the blessings of God, and saves her. She has now been the subject of a miracle. She has seen the light of God. But how will she react? Will she make peace with faith? Will she be bitter and angry, and resent O'Maille for having saved her?
We won't talk about what Braedan can do. Just waiting for everyone to go..."What the heck was that?" lol.
Will she be even more angry because it means that God could have saved her mother if he wished, this just means he was an ass and said no! Or will she understand that all have a time to go?
I honestly believe it will all depend upon when it happens. If Aoife is mentally, emotionally, and physically worn down it would have a totally different effect than if she was just badly wounded. It would also depend upon her attitue towards the Brother and when he would heal her.
We won't talk about what Braedan can do. Just waiting for everyone to go..."What the heck was that?" lol.
I don't know if Aoife would ask. Mainly because of he may take offence to it, after what he said she may not risk it.
So regarding the healing, I'll say I didn't heal Padraic unless he changes his mind. Also, do Fintan's wounds count as severe? If we go with the max out of combat healing, one cure gives him ten hit points putting him at 24/26. I'd stop there if that's the case.
24/26 would be good and Fintan would happily go forward like that.
BTW, Padraic has a unique combat option available to him with his given feats and stats: thrown TWF. He may not have Quick Draw, but if he opened a fight wielding a javelin + a dagger, he'd have a light weapon in his off-hand and thus take minimal TWF penalties. Assuming he's within 30 feet of a given enemy, he could hurl both weapons with the following attacks:
Main-Hand (Javelin): +5 attack, 1d6+3 damage, range 30
Off-Hand (Dagger): +5 attack, 1d4+2 damage, range 10
And in the following round he could draw whatever weapons he wanted during his move action. Dagger+Shortsword or Hurl+Shortsword, for instance.
Also, note that his spear isn't a Longspear, so unlike Fintan he doesn't have reach.
That is actually the build I was going with. I just never got to do it because of the surprise nature of the fight. Good eyes Fintan.