Those who aren't familiar with the skald class should take a look at the rage song class feature. Each ally has a choice whether to accept its effects or not each round. In short:
+2 morale bonus to Strength and Constitution and a +1 morale bonus on Will saving throws, but also take a –1 penalty to AC. While under the effects of inspired rage, allies other than the skald cannot use any Charisma-, Dexterity-, or Intelligence-based skills (except Acrobatics, Fly, Intimidate, and Ride) or any ability that requires patience or concentration.
Performance combat checks will still be allowed. Erin in particular should read the rest of the entry, as it interacts with her own rage ability.
Lesser Spirit Totem also gives each character accepting the rage song a free slam attack against an adjacent living creature each round, which I will have them roll, but they use Pogug's BAB + CHA (+5) for the attack bonus. Damage is 1d4+3 negative energy.
By my reading, even unconscious characters can make this attack, since it is make by spirits surrounding them, and unconscious allies automatically accept the rage song. This is a really good ability for a skald since its effects are multiplied by the number of allies who accept the rage song, and I may have to dial it back a bit going forward, but for this encounter at least, it's in full effect.
Nice! Both Erin and Chi will accept the inspired rage, although Erin might switch to an actual bloodrage during the fight for the free performance combat check. Either way, she'll take her own bonuses and penalties.
Anyone want to do anything else? Any more planning?
Btw, everyone on both sides passed their initial perform checks, so everybody starts with an audience attitude of friendly (+1 morale bonus to attack rolls, combat maneuver checks, ability checks, skill checks, and saving throws). I'll have to set the DC higher next time. This does not stack with the morale bonus from Pogug's rage song, but does qualify for use with his Moment of Greatness spell. It does not apply to the Lesser Spirit Totem attacks.
Hm. It seems that armor class is largely irrelevant in performance combat. Evalee and Semsephiel are ready to go! (Semsephiel will be accepting the raging song, Evalee will not unless she gets dangerously low on hit points.)
Hm. It seems that armor class is largely irrelevant in performance combat.
How so?
Erin, there's no icon for Chi on the map. Were you planning to keep him tiny-sized? I'm not going to allow him to use Lesser Spirit Totem if he's hiding in your pocket (unless he wants to use it to attack you, I suppose...).
Come to think of it, I don't even think a tiny-sized creature is small enough to fit in your pocket. I regular squirrel (diminutive-sized) could do it, but not a flying squirrel. In a backpack, maybe...
I was thinking I'd keep him tiny-sized for now, and maybe have him grow big later if Erin gets into a thorny situation.
As for fitting in her pocket, aberrant bloodline familiars gain the compression ability, allowing Chi to squeeze into a space less than four inches across. In other words, the most adorable superpower ever.
But for now, could he just stay tiny and ride along in front of her on the back of the horse?
Nathaniel will not be accepting the raging song...he be needing his skills (particular Acrobatics), maybe. I'm ready. :)
I was thinking I'd keep him tiny-sized for now, and maybe have him grow big later if Erin gets into a thorny situation.
As for fitting in her pocket, aberrant bloodline familiars gain the compression ability, allowing Chi to squeeze into a space less than four inches across. In other words, the most adorable superpower ever.
But for now, could he just stay tiny and ride along in front of her on the back of the horse?
Works for me.
Succeeding performance combat rolls boosts attack rolls, but nothing increases AC. That and my characters don't have steller AC to begin with.
I'm not complaining, everyone gets the same bonuses or same chance to get them. I'm just saying that there won't be much swing and missing.
Well, I could always rethink the pulled punch rule, forcing most attacks to take a -4 to be nonlethal. That would make AC more relevant...
I'm afraid it would end up forcing people into nonlethal-focussed builds, though...
Ashak won't take the raging song for now. He doesn't benefit from the strength and I don't really want the AC penalty.
Edit: Totally forgot about the spirits, I will be taking the raging song.
@Nathaniel - You can use acrobatics while raging
Ohhhh, it says 'except' Acrobatics! In that case, I'll be accepting it! Thanks Ashak! :)
Succeeding performance combat rolls boosts attack rolls, but nothing increases AC. That and my characters don't have steller AC to begin with.
I'm not complaining, everyone gets the same bonuses or same chance to get them. I'm just saying that there won't be much swing and missing.
In case it helps with this, I've decided to make Combat Expertise a free feat for everyone. I don't like the way it stands in the way of a lot of interesting feats anyway.
should the spirits damage be pulled?
Eh. These guys have plenty of hit dice, I don't think a little negative energy will kill them. And since Pogug isn't leaving open wounds, I wouldn't presume that the audience can tell whether it's "lethal" or "nonlethal." But that's a GM call.
I think Halador is flat-footed until he acts, so you probably should add the sneaky damage, as well! :)
You don't have enough control over the spirits to pull their punches. They do full lethal damage.
I may also have to nerf Simeon. That was nuts. Sorry Ashak.
At least this is a nonlethal encounter.
Edit: and I just remembered a bonus that I forgot to include, but I'm not going to go back and change it now.
Well hot damn Simeon, I forget how powerful eidolons are. It's all good, probably should have been a bit more careful.
Okay, now I don't feel so bad about my attempt at becoming a flying avatar of death. This carnival is apparently a very dangerous place.
Yeah, I also had to go back and edit that at least 5 times before I posted because I realized that I had forgotten some extra bonus.
To give you a little peek behind the curtain, (as you may have already guessed) you're not supposed to be able to beat these guys. Not yet, anyway.
To give you a little peek behind the curtain, (as you may have already guessed) you're not supposed to be able to beat these guys. Not yet, anyway.
Is that a challenge? I'm taking that as a challenge. :)
It IS your turn...
Sorry, got a post up now. :[
EDIT
If Simeon is an unchained eidolon, his pounce means that he's at least level seven. (Of course, his third bite attack also told us this, but I missed that earlier because I just skimmed Simeon's attacks to the end to see if Ashak survived. But, Semsephiel's analysis in the gameplay still stands- he's tactically minded but has no ranks in spellcraft. He probably wouldn't recognize the haste effect.) It seems likely that the other champions are the same level, whatever his level is, so . . . yeah, this is a pretty tough fight. Anyone have any brilliant ideas? Going after the summoner might help, but would it work before the Leeroy Jenkins trying the dive-bomb gets knocked out? And then there's still two level seven (at least) fighter types . . . we're certainly not going to win this by throwing our statblocks at each other.
And the summoner still has another third level spell known . . .
We'll probably lose this, but let's at least lose it in style. There has to be something we can do with our resources and resourcefulness to give us a chance.
Actually, Simeon is not unchained, but after seeing how he performs, I might rebuild him as unchained (that or take a couple of levels off of him by multiclassing Zeera, I haven't decided). Because of this, some of your assumptions are wrong. The champions are not level 7.
Btw, I don't have a problem with the out-of-character puzzle solving. I enjoy doing it myself when I'm a player, even though it pisses some GMs off. I'm fine with it as long as all players remember that this is out-of-character knowledge, and don't make their characters act on it as if they understood the game mechanics.
I also prefer for levels to be thought of in-character in a more abstract way. It's fine for characters to understand that, for example, burning hands is an easier spell to learn and cast than flaming sphere, but more difficult than spark, and that characters of any given skill level typically know more of the easier spells and can cast them more often (assuming they can make the appropriate knowledge/spellcraft checks), but numerical spell/character levels are out-of-character concepts.
Yikes! Pogug, unless you've got some other trick up your sleeve, it might be worth using a cure spell to get Semsephiel back in the game.
Otherwise, in terms of tactics, Erin's main problem is that she can't really get past their front lines without provoking a boatload of attacks of opportunity. Chi might be able to squeeze through, so I'll see if I can use him as a bit of a distraction, to soak up a couple hits if nothing else.
Speaking of which, is there any way for our characters to tell how far Ashyr can realistically attack with that chain? You described it as 20 feet long, but I'm not sure whether that's just a bit of stylistic flair, or if passing anywhere near him will be a death sentence.
You've seen the chain reach 20ft, but it seems to take the entire length of the chain to do it. You can also tell that it takes a second to line up a shot though, since it has to be in the right part of its swing when it launches.
Launching the dart 20ft can't be done as an AoO (he doesn't threaten a 20ft radius with it), though you've already seen that Ashyr has more tricks up his sleeve than just swinging the dart, and I won't guarantee that he doesn't have more that you haven't seen yet ;)
Btw, if you've having trouble visualizing what Ashyr's fighting/performance style looks like (without the magic flame-throwing stuff), here are are some videos that might help:
If you can picture a mixture of those styles, you'll have a pretty good idea what I'm trying to describe with Ashyr's moves.
Don't forget to add your Performance Bonus, Pogug! :) Maybe we can at least take one of them out.
Sigh...1st level partial Will save spells are a bargain. I'm curious as to how all these champions are able to intimidate as a swift action. There's been so many additions to Pathfinder since I really read up on a rulebook I'm sure there's bound to be many.
Probably Hero's display
Bah. Turns out I mixed some things up in my notes. Those should have been move actions. The shaken condition hasn't meant anything until now, since the targets all went down in the same round. Retcon coming...
So, retconning to the correct swift action ability, it turns out Nathaniel is Panicked for 1 round rather than Frightened 1 and shaken for 2 more.
The other shaken conditions on Ashak and Semsephiel are removed, not that it matters unless somebody breaks out some healing magic (if nothing else, I suspect Evalee will be using Lesser Rejuvenate when her turn comes around).
I also prefer for levels to be thought of in-character in a more abstract way. It's fine for characters to understand that, for example, burning hands is an easier spell to learn and cast than flaming sphere, but more difficult than spark, and that characters of any given skill level typically know more of the easier spells and can cast them more often (assuming they can make the appropriate knowledge/spellcraft checks), but numerical spell/character levels are out-of-character concepts.
Hm. I agree with you about character levels (and you're DM, so I agree with you about everything else too, though I might try and change your mind first) but it doesn't make sense to me that people don't know the difference between spell levels or circles or whatever it's called in the setting. There are pretty distinct differences between them, after all, and spellcraft DCs depend on spell levels.
Is it fine for characters to understand that burning hands is an easier spell than flaming sphere, just as hard as magic missile, and just as much easier than invisibility as it is than burning sphere, and come up with classification for different tiers of spells?
Actually, Simeon is not unchained, but after seeing how he performs, I might rebuild him as unchained (that or take a couple of levels off of him by multiclassing Zeera, I haven't decided).
I assumed that since only unchained summoners were allowed for PCs, it'd be the same for NPCs. But, actually, I kind of like them being old-school summoners. Really drives home the fact that they're the champions, and it'll so much the sweeter when we're finally stronger than them.
Technically i’m still around, Evalee, though with a lost action and surrounded by hostiles I have no doubt your thoughts shall be prophetic.
Yeah, I disallowed non-unchained summoners for PCs in the interest of keeping PC power levels more even with each other. I didn't have the same concern when I was building the NPCs, especially since these ones were SUPPOSED to be overwhelming at first.
Technically i’m still around, Evalee, though with a lost action...
Yup. On paper, it's only down to even numbers. 3 PCs vs 3 NPCs. There's still that deadly eidolon out there, but his summoner is now exposed. It's true that Evalee's biggest class feature is currently neutralized, but she has the opportunity to do something about that. Getting him back on his feet would at least force an NPC to use their turn putting him back down, which might be just enough to allow you to take one of them down before it's over. I'll tell you that Erin VERY nearly took Ashyr down.
Remember, also, that any healing magic will heal the specified amount of lethal damage AND that amount of nonlethal damage, which makes it a little easier to get someone back up once they have been taken down.
Oops. I forgot that I know Lesser Rejuvenate Eidolon. I was just thinking I'm an arcane caster and I don't have a wands or any potions. You'd think that with only four spells I'd keep better track of them :\
Mind if I retcon my last turn?
It's true that Evalee's biggest class feature is currently neutralized.
I think at this level, Evalee is more Semsephiel's class feature than the other way around. x)
If that's what you want to do, I'm going to take that as intentionally failing a performance combat check, and say that Evalee loses her morale bonus as the crowd shows their disapproval with her basically giving up.
Oh, I expected as much. But Evalee has never been mauled by a two headed monster, or burned past conscious thought, or been crushed by what's basically a tree. I can't imagine her going up against impossible odds if it means getting hurt as bad as her comrades. (For the record, neither would I, personally.) Reviving Semsephiel, though, is a lot less risky, and if I can replay my turn I'll do that.
Oops. I forgot that I know Lesser Rejuvenate Eidolon. I was just thinking I'm an arcane caster and I don't have a wands or any potions. You'd think that with only four spells I'd keep better track of them :\
Mind if I retcon my last turn?
Please do.
Actually, now that I read Moment of Greatness can be used on the Will save I just made, i’d like to retcon use it to bump it up to an 11, which should save if it’s the war paint i’m thinking of. That will leave Nathaniel frightened, but still leave his weapon in hand. Is that ok?
That's fine.
Somewhat unrelated: Simeon has reach?
Speaking of which, I was slightly confused by Simeon's attacks. Judging from his attacks of opportunity against Erin's horse and Chi, he has at least a 15-ft. reach with his bite attack. But when he pounced at Ashak at the start of the fight, he moved up to just ten feet away before making a full-attack. Since the charge rules say that "you must move to the closest space from which you can attack the opponent," shouldn't he have ended his movement at least fifteen feet away, making his bite attack and forgoing any attacks that lack sufficient reach? If not, how exactly are you handling this? Since Erin also uses charging and reach tactics, this will be relevant to her future actions as well.
That's an interesting point. While as GM, I do get the final say, I am open to considering other interpretations of the rules at play. Let me lay out the way I originally interpreted things, and we'll see if there's a better interpretation that we can find together.
Simeon uses the quadruped base form. In addition to the evolutions provided by that base form, the relevant additional evolutions are:
Claws
Bite (a second bite attack, and the requisite head evolution)
Pounce
Reach (applies to one of his bite attacks)
Simeon also has Enlarge Person cast on him currently.
Now, there are a couple of interactions here that require a little interpretation. First, obviously, Enlarge Person is written with humanoids in mind, but the eidolon version of the Share Spells ability is clearly intended to allow two types of spells to be cast on eidolons: personal spells and spells that target humanoids. (I actually have a summoner character in another game who is an outsider, so she can cast Enlarge Person on her eidolon, but technically can't cast it on herself!)
Second, (though I now see that it is not the actual wording one the page), I interpret the reach evolution to double an attack's natural reach, meaning that (like a naturally large creature, the the eidolon has the ability to use the attack in question against enemies that are up to 10ft away, unlike a medium or small reach weapon, which can usually target creatures 10ft away but NOT ones who are adjacent. There are exceptions like the whip, which can target creatures up to 15 feet away (which I think is totally unrealistic BTW, because in reality you have a better ability to attack a person within arms reach using a polearm than you do using a whip, but that's neither here nor there).
Enlarge Person doubles the eidolon's size, which doubles the reach of all of his attacks. Now, I realize there are some large creatures that only have 5ft reach, those classified as "Large (long)", and this distinction has never made a lot of sense to me, but best I can figure, the intention of this distinction is that some creatures, such as a horse, barely meet the definition of a large creature. A horse's space should really be two squares, not four, but that would require facing, which is not a concept in pathfinder, so all creatures that are too large to fit in one square take up four squares. A horse shrunk to half its normal size so that it fit into a single square would not reasonably be able to attack a creature 5ft away. Simeon does not fall into this category, so although he uses the quadruped base form, he stands mostly upright, and I'm considering the enlarged Simeon to use the "Large (tall)" statistics.
Third, to Erin's question, can a character with a reach attack charge to within the reach of a different attack? By a strict reading of RAW, you might be right, and I'll admit that I hadn't considered this until you brought it up. I was considering Simeon to be using his pounce ability, but since the pounce ability modifies the charge action, if a charge must be made with a character's longest-reaching available attack, one could interpret that to mean that pounce can't be used by a creature with one attack that reaches further than the others. More specifically, Simeon COULD full-attack at the end of his charge, and he would even get to use the same attack a second time because he is under the effect of a Haste spell, but he would have to forego his additional attacks because he is required to take his attack before they are in range.
I did some searching, and the best consensus I could find is that a character with multiple available attacks may choose which attack to resolve a charge with. One specific thread I found used the example of a character holding a longsword in his main hand and a whip in his off hand. It seems absurd to say that the presence of the whip means that he can't charge to attack with the longsword, and instead must end his attack at the edge of the whip's range. The rules (as well as real-world physics, probably) would require that if he wanted to attack with the whip, he would have to stop at the whip's maximum range, but he should still be able to decide to use his broadsword for the charge, and to charge to within its range (assuming he can get that far by moving twice his speed). The RAI, as I see it, for the wording "You must move to the closest space from which you can attack the opponent," (which, by the way, is also ambiguous because a perfectly reasonable interpretation of those words is that you must move as close to the target as you can without getting TOO close to use the weapon) is to clarify (poorly) that you must choose a space to attack from that falls on a direct line between you and the target, attacking in the direction of your charge, rather than trying to run alongside or even past your target and then turn to attack them.
So that's the logic I've been using. As I said, if anyone disagrees, I'm willing to hear them out.
The RAI, as I see it, for the wording "You must move to the closest space from which you can attack the opponent," (which, by the way, is also ambiguous because a perfectly reasonable interpretation of those words is that you must move as close to the target as you can without getting TOO close to use the weapon) is to clarify (poorly) that you must choose a space to attack from that falls on a direct line between you and the target, attacking in the direction of your charge, rather than trying to run alongside or even past your target and then turn to attack them.
So that's the logic I've been using. As I said, if anyone disagrees, I'm willing to hear them out.
Oh yeah, that's perfectly reasonable, I was just trying to make sure I understood the way you were running it. Thanks for clarifying! This interpretation could actually be helpful to Erin as well. When she gets her bloodline power next level, for instance, she'll be able to use her polearm to attack enemies ten or fifteen feet away from her. This way, it looks like she'd be able to charge and end her movement ten feet away, so the target wouldn't be able to escape her threatened area with a 5-foot step.
Enlarge Person doubles the eidolon's size, which doubles the reach of all of his attacks.
This part did leave me scratching my head a bit. Is that really how size increases work? This FAQ seems to indicate that Large creatures get a base reach of 10 feet and any other effects like the reach evolution are added on afterward. So maybe Simeon would only have a reach of 15 feet? I'm honestly not sure.
Oh, and just for future reference, isn't Chi immune to trip attacks while flying?
Sorry again if this comes across as confrontational, that's not my intention at all. This fight is loads of fun to watch even as we're getting hammered. I'm just trying to get a few things straightened out for my own personal sanity.
This part did leave me scratching my head a bit. Is that really how size increases work? This FAQ seems to indicate that Large creatures get a base reach of 10 feet and any other effects like the reach evolution are added on afterward. So maybe Simeon would only have a reach of 15 feet? I'm honestly not sure.
Reach weapons (like Semsephiel's flying blade) double a creatures natural reach, but checking again, the eidolon ability does say "add 5 feet" instead of "double". Logically, it seems like doubling in size should double that 5 feet, but I'll run it as 15 feet from now on.
Oh, and just for future reference, isn't Chi immune to trip attacks while flying?
Hmm, well, when I try to search for "Can a flying creature be tripped?", the answer seems obvious, but it seems equally obvious that it should be possible, and even relatively easy, for a creature twice his size who successfully attacks him to disrupt his flight in the process, especially considering that he's really only gliding (that is, he can't gain altitude, or even completely avoid losing altitude). It seemed to make sense at the time, but I probably should have forced a fly check instead. I'll think harder about how to handle it if it comes up again.
This fight is loads of fun to watch even as we're getting hammered.
I'm glad to hear you say that. I've been dreading smacking down characters who aren't really able to fight back, but the next thing I have in mind is going to be narratively difficult if you don't all end up unconscious. Nathaniel comes back this round, maybe he can do enough damage that I don't feel too bad about it...
Honestly I've been on both sides of this scenario many times. The classic "you are not a jedi yet" sort of encounter, and this has been one of the most enjoyable and well executed smack-downs I have been in.
It's a hard move to pull off flawlessly.