Loot list (mostly) updated.
Thanks!
Steadfast Gut-Stone? That's an interesting item. Gives you some protection against crits, that's not bad.
Dust of Appearance is great once Greater Invisibility comes into play. It is best to give it to somebody with a really high Perception or the ability to cast See Invisibility. We would definitely struggle with invisible foes.
A Tree Feather Token has all sorts of uses.
And another +1 Buckler if anybody wants one. It's good for archers since it doesn't apply a penalty when shooting a bow. Benedict already has a +1 Buckler (Kining's, actually).
I think we need to also wait for William to update before moving on.
My buckler is masterwork. I will try to post my update in the morning. It’s done, just not posted.
+9 HP
+1 BAB
+1 Fort
+1 Dex
+7 Skill Points (4 class, 2 Int, 1 Race): Craft: Bows +2, Kn: arcana +1, dungeoneering +1, Linguistics +1 (Draconic), Perception +1, Spellcraft +1
Feat: Weapon focus: bow
I've got a buckler so the +1 buckler would be an upgrade.
William should take the buckler if I’m getting the chain shirt. That’s a huge jump for me right there.
OK, here's Aerel's updates:
+1 BAB and Fort (of course)
+6 hp
+1 Wis
New feat: Weapon Focus (longbow)
+6 skill points (craft (traps), disable device, perception, stealth, survival, swim)
And apparently I need to drop some gear due to weight. Having a cave to stash it in/friends to share it with should take care of that.
My AC comes to 19 after changes, but that's miles better than my 16 from before, so I'm not complaining.
Your AC should be 20, right Aerel? Because you are getting Grum's old Belt of +2 Dex. That makes your Dex a 19 (maxing out the armor).
Oh! I missed the Dex belt, that would indeed make my AC 20. *sniff* You guys take such good care of me.
So, does anyone happen to have trapmaking tools? Or masterwork thieves’ tools? Asking for a friend...
I think Aerel is ready.
Well, this is a sad state of affairs. Aerel's strength is 10, which is so low that in order to wear the chain shirt and carry the buckler, he can carry almost nothing else or he reaches medium encumbrance and his Dexterity mod for AC is limited to +3. Worse, he takes an ACP of -3 rather than the -1 that the chain shirt itself imposes.
I really don't think it's realistic for him to run around with nothing but armor, buckler, bow, and arrows, so right now he is just owning it and is geared up normally.
In a pinch in the field, he can drop things and fight without the extra gear, of course, raising his AC, speed, and skill bonuses.
EDIT: Scratch that. Armor, buckler, and bow are all I can carry and stay under my light encumbrance limit. Anything else - including the belt of dexterity - pushes me over.
So I'm on the lookout for a mithral chain shirt or an enhancement to strength.
Nah, I made this bed and I'll lay in it. I'm just being grumpy about unintended consequences.
So does not taking the chain shirt and its extra 15#. It’s not like he’s unable to pick up his backpack, he’s got average strength.
This is the character I created, that’s a flaw I designed into the build. This is the part where I live with that decision. I mostly brought it up to explain why my AC is still not going to be 20.
In fact, if someone can get full benefit from this armor and wants to trade, I would accept something lighter. Melee is not where I want to be in any circumstance. The only reason I have a melee weapon is I took it off a dead hobgoblin.
Benedict will be able to craft wondrous items next level, and we can buy some items from the Darklands trader. So a Belt of Str is certainly possible, or Muleback Cords. Or scrolls of Ant Haul. Actually, a +1 mithral chain shirt is within our current means... might just take a couple of weeks to get it.
Let me know what you are doing for gear for Aerel. If the belt is too heavy for you to wear, William could use it.
I have medium encumbrance, no matter what, whether I wear the belt or not. That said, I am fine with William getting the belt if that's the party's wish.
Well, what if you stuck to your leather armor for now?
Amkarang could switch back to the +1 chain shirt for the time being. Then we would all have 30' move in case we get in trouble.
(Amkarang does not have Armor Training so he is slowed by a breastplate.)
That's absolutely fine. I will be doing the classic mage armor technique - standing behind someone with armor. I will switch him back to leather armor.
Sorry for all the trouble.
Aerel's been updated to reflect the return to leather armor. The magical chain is all yours, Amkarang!
Alright.
I am just waiting on a GM ruling on those bonus feats that the Players Guide mentioned. I am good to go whether we use them or not.
All right; I've considered the Player's Guide recommendation. I don't have the requisite book that contains the militia rules set, so I won't be using those. And generally, I've found most decently-optimized PCs rarely struggle that much in most APs. However, since this is an all-fighter game, I'm inclined to let you choose from the suggested list of feats, with a couple exceptions and additions.
Alertness, Athletic, Deceitful, Fleet, Great Fortitude, Improved Initiative, Iron Will, Lightning Reflexes, Magical Aptitude, Persuasive, Self-Sufficient, Stealthy, and Toughness.
The way I see it, the ones I've struck are just too good, and worth a regular feat. No one will take anything other than Iron Will or Improved Initiative. Hardly anyone take the other feats, so I figure those will be a good addition and help shore up the Fighter's lack of skill points.
Everyone ready to head to the war camp?
In your current level (four), but not retroactively. Since you've been playing with those already.
So a question to the group - what bonus feat are you selecting for your character and what's your reasoning? I am 95% sure I know what I'm doing, but I like to hear what others are doing and why.
Regarding the loot list, I finally had time to look. There appears to be an unclaimed masterwork backpack at the top of the list. May I claim that? EDIT: Some experimentation seems to indicate that would improve my carrying capacity by 5#. Every little bit helps.
There also appear to be a number of studded leather armor, presumably stripped from dead hobgoblins. If we've had time to repair them and get the goblin stink off of them, I think Aerel could use it for a slight AC bump. EDIT: The MW backpack would offset the weight difference, so the net change would be +1 AC and -1 on several skills. Not sure I care for the trade since I'm trying to be a skill monkey, but the AC is likely more valuable.
Was there anything specific about the "arrows of exceptional make" beyond masterwork? Do masterwork bonuses stack for bows and arrows in your game? I am not sure they do, RAW.
Think I'll take Toughness too. Ready to move forward to the camp.
Most of those bonus feats look good to me, but I think Persuasive is the best choice for Benedict.
Sneaking and sniping the MO I'm working on, so Stealthy is my choice.
Aw, I thought Persuasive was Diplomacy and Bluff.
I guess I'll go with Deceitful. Get that Bluff and Disguise up.
Aerel has been updated to reflect the masterwork backpack and studded leather armor along with the bonus feat.
Did anyone have any input on the question about the "arrows of exceptional make" with red fletching? Are they masterwork or magical? And does using a masterwork bow to fire masterwork arrows stack for a +2 to attack?
I finally found those in the module. They're +1 flame arrows.
Unfortunately, the +1 for masterwork does not stack, nor does masterwork and magical stack (though the +1 arrow adds to its damage).
I didn't think it would, but I'd rather ask now rather than in the middle of the fight.
Let's try to sell the following (sale price noted):
Fine Woolen Cloak (100)
27 small semiprecious stones (27)
Gold dust (100)
Silver cup (15)
Darkwood butterfly carving (20)
Leaf-shaped gold pin (150)
The gem Everburning Torch (250) (we would still have another torch)
Onyx (50)
Silver locket (25)
2 Platinum rings (100)
Wooden Flute in Silver Case (125)
Geode Periapt (25)
Wolf Fang Necklace (100)
Gold Holy Symbol of Iomedae (100)
MW longsword (157.5)
Aquamarine necklace (150)
Geode (25)
Ironfang medallion (100)
Ruby (250)
Those are all fairly portable things, not bulky armor, so I imagine the trader can accept them. That nets us 1,869.5 gp. Plus our coins and our amethyst/aquamarines gives us 2,697.65 gp.
A Mithral Chain Shirt is 1,100 gp. We could get one for Aerel with no problem, and still have 1,597.65 left. Benedict is planning to take Craft Wondrous Item next level, so I don't mind saving up for crafting components.
Anybody else have any pressing purchases? Basically 1,600 available.
Masterwork thieves' tools or masterwork trapmaking tools aren't necessarily pressing, but they are on my wish list if those are useful skills to the party.
Given the use we’ve gotten out of Benedict’s shapechanging, we could consider buying a wand of Recharge Innate Magic. It basically lets you use SLA’s again if you cast it. We’d need some UMD for it though:
Okay, how about 100 GP for MW Thieves' Tools, and 75 for a portable alchemist's lab. We have 200 gp of alchemical crafting components going unused. And 55 for MW trapmaking tools. That's 230, leaving us at 1,367.
What about trap components? Traps cost 250-1000*CR, a third of that being the materials cost. So a CR3 trap, even a cheap and simple one, costs 250 gp of materials, maybe up to 1,000. I think a good immobilizing trap could be useful to protect the caves in our absence and I wouldn't want to skimp on that.
Amkarang, good idea, but I don't think that spell would recharge a 2nd-level SLA. A Hat of Disguise is only 1,800 and could work.
Okay, I went ahead with selling that stuff (taking it off the sheet), and buying the mithral chain shirt, the tools, and 500 gp worth of trap components. Just so we can move on with the adventure. Let me know if there are any problems with that.
Nope, I'm completely fine with that. Let's get going! Mayhem awaits!
(By the way, you mentioned disguising yourself as Fahrak, but alter self doesn't work for disguises of individuals. FYI.)
So I'd be relying on my mundane Disguise skill? That's not as good, but it could work. Well, we'll see. Might be better to disguise myself as a generic hobgoblin anyway since I wouldn't know the things Fahrak knows.
I removed the gear that the lost PCs had. And I allocated the 10 potions of CLW (2 to each PC) and the 7 Alchemists' Fire (2 each to the archers, 1 each to the rest of us).
Grum, Amkarang, you should each take a +2 Str Composite Longbow. We had found 3, Benedict took 1, William already has 1 of his own, and Aerel can't use it. We might do better to engage the enemies at range as much as possible, even though neither you two nor I are specialized for that.
Benedict is taking one of the Steadfast Gut-Stones and one pouch of Dust of Appearance.
Aerel has been updated to reflect the new gear. He's leaving a fair bit of gear in the caves in his old backpack and using the masterwork backpack while they are on the trail.
|
For lvl5 I plan to take Advanced Weapon Training Feat for...well, Advanced Weapon Training. Which one should I pick?
The fighter can forge a spiritual bond with a weapon that belongs to the associated weapon group, allowing him to unlock the weapon’s potential. Each day, he designates one such weapon and gains a number of points of spiritual energy equal to 1 + his weapon training bonus. While wielding this weapon, he can spend 1 point of spiritual energy to grant the weapon an enhancement bonus equal to his weapon training bonus. Enhancement bonuses gained by this advanced weapon training option stack with those of the weapon, to a maximum of +5. The fighter can also imbue the weapon with any one weapon special ability with an equivalent enhancement bonus less than or equal to his maximum bonus by reducing the granted enhancement bonus by the amount of the equivalent enhancement bonus. The item must have an enhancement bonus of at least +1 (from the item itself or from warrior spirit) to gain a weapon special ability. In either case, these bonuses last for 1 minute
This is amazingly good. Why? With a +1 Weapon I can, as a standard action, add BANE to his weapon. That’s so good.
The fighter gains a +1 shield bonus to his Armor Class. The fighter adds half his weapon’s enhancement bonus (if any) to this shield bonus. When his weapon training bonus for weapons from the associated fighter weapon group reaches +4, this shield bonus increases to +2. This shield bonus is lost if the fighter is immobilized or helpless.
+1 AC (with added weapon enchantment) is nothing to laugh at. Grum doesn’t use a shield, so this is quite useful. This makes his sword into a shield! That’s really good.
Just not sure which one to take at lvl5 and which to take at lvl9...
I'd do Warrior Spirit at 5th. Probably would even if it was just Bane but you could also do Ghost Touch for example. Or Keen, or Limning.
Defensive Weapon Training is also good but you can take other non-restricted feats for a +1 AC in the near term (like Dodge, which is better as it helps touch AC and CMD). DWT could give a +3 at 9th if Benedict manages to craft Gloves of Dueling.
Just my $.02.
|
|
And worth more than two cents it is!
If I can get a +1, then twice a day Grum will do:
To Hit: +13 (+5 BaB +4 Str +1 Enc +2 Bane +1WT)
Damage: 2d4(base)+1d4(Fire)+2d6(bane)+18
The breakdown for the +17 being: +6 (Str) +6 (Power Attack) +2 (Arcane Strike) +1 (Enchantment) +1 (Weapon Training) +2 (Bane)
So roughly 30 damage per Hit. Which really isn’t bad.
The intensity of my house moving has ratcheted up considerably. Please stand by.