Everyone knows who I am. I have no privacy, and several kingdoms have banned me from entering them.
My first-level offensive spells are mostly good for killing flies.
I miss sleeping in a bedroll under the open sky instead of in an extraplanar mansion.
#level20problems
Now I want to run a game where everyone is playing level 20 characters. The nostalgic wizard gets the gang back together to hang up all their fancy equipment and do some low level quests for old time's sake.
That is a lot of fun. A nod to "old school dual-classing" is also doable. Have the 20th level characters cashier their swag, pick a completely different type of class and go to town in a new AP/campaign. Allow retraining to pick up entirely passive feats (saving throw feats, toughness, endurance, run, godless healing etc) then start over with a big pile of hp, nice ability scores (inherent boni are fun like that) and have a blast. 15 minute adventuring days should be far less of an occurrence. :D
Treppa, how is the Soylent thing working out asides from the dreadfully long backorder? I've been curious about it as I find it rather appealing to simplify the domicile's foodstuffs once we eat out the ridiculous backlog of stores in the freezers.
I quite like it. It tastes like thin pancake batter, but taste isn't the point. One packet of Soylent for $7 each day is quick to make and quick to drink. I feel full and healthy and the calories and nutrition are all done for me. A pitcher will last unspoiled for 2-3 days, so if you only want it for, say, breakfast and lunch and to eat a normal dinner, you can use the pitcher over 2 days. Or you can mix up individual meals one at a time with The Scoop.
It's easy. I'm lazy. We're the perfect couple.
:) Awesome. Glad to come across people that have been using Soylent successfully.
(a) Somethings Should Not Be A tribe of kobolds that worship Shub-Niggurath are picking off outlying farmers and their families for appropriate sacrifices by stealth, trickery and guile. They leave booby traps behind to thwart nosy neighbors picking up their trail. The kobolds' goal is to "seed" several Dark Young in their turf to wipe out the annoying human settlements.
Depending on the APL, they're going to hopefully thwart the ritual before it is concluded, or they're going to tangle with one or more Dark Young. Best way to run something like this is to establish a timeline, during which other more mundane events are occurring. Let's see how well the players pay attention.
Are the PCs up to the task, or will a thing out of nightmare rampage through the budding kingdom?
(b) Winter is Coming or has Just Arrived. Go all Game of Thrones if you like with certain death encroaching by way of a horde of spawn-inducing frozen undead horrors, or keep it simpler. Especially for groups that lack access to plot-thwarting magic, a massive prolonged blizzard entrapping them in a creepy castle during the winter holidays is prime fodder for setting up a gaggle of "small stories" all interlocking. It snows and snows and snows, dropping a dozen feet of snow during the course of a few days. Combine The Shining, Clue, Castle Ravenloft and The Thing.
Using this for higher level groups it's not a matter of the weather so much as it is a matter of how many important NPCs they can keep alive and well until the weather breaks. If the characters have access to weather control spells, perhaps a particularly nasty creature is able to counter their magic with its own. A hag coven, wendigo or just a yet-to-be-revealed BBET has decided to test the capabilities of his/her/its potential foes with lesser, disposable minions. One may (or may not) possess information that gives the heroes their first clue to the lurking threat.
Will the PCs be able to save the lords and principle players of the realm, or will these persons be murdered by rivals and/or picked off by a hidden horror?
(c) Dead Reckoning An organization of bored gnomes with low moral standards, strong clannish bonds, the Fell Magic racial trait and a surplus of ambition have decided that it's time to take over for themselves. They're fond of Necromancy and during the course of Other Events have quietly been amassing an army of armored and armed zombies (variants as the NPCs are capable of, although brain-eating zombies are recommended). Perhaps these charming chaps are the gnomes that have traditionally taken care of funeral arrangements, wakes and holiday ball/party planning.
Current events have taken a toll on the trained guards et al - i.e., all of the NPCs with respectable armor and weapons training with those that knew how to handle siege engines being particularly prized. Once they feel that they have enough of a force, they stage a coup of their own. A dozen or so 3rd level clerics or 4th level oracles with lesser animate dead can field a force of at least 100-200 zombie shock troopers with skeleton archers providing ranged firepower. An extended clan of 30-50 could directly command a much larger force, especially with access to Command Undead (feat) and command undead spells. Liberal use of desecrate and a choice voidstick makes this a nasty adventure for a lower-level group to contend with. The gnomes don't know the true power of a voidstick, or they'd be bending all of their resources to acquiring a great many of them.
Will the adventurers twig to any discrepancies as Clan Fellgnome prepares its master stroke, or will a horde of brain-eating undead pour into the Holiday Ball with indiscriminate hunger?
(d) Running Amok A supposedly simple premise: a powerful demon able to possess others gets it in its head that the local orphanage or school house is a prime source of entertainment. Not by endangering the children or bringing them to harm ... oh no. By using the urchins as the hands that its skills bring to bear. Sabotage, poisonings, sneaking in to acquire blackmail materials, starting up stampedes, many things are possible.
Can the heroes determine what is going on and stop the fiend before it unleashes a fire in the crops shortly before harvest time? If it succeeds in doing so before they track it down and stop it, how will they handle the potential famine?
Treppa, how is the Soylent thing working out asides from the dreadfully long backorder? I've been curious about it as I find it rather appealing to simplify the domicile's foodstuffs once we eat out the ridiculous backlog of stores in the freezers.
5 players works well too in my experience and in some ways is preferable to only 4. If nothing else, when the RLM shows up and noms on one player, the game should be able to continue with minimal interruption.
RLM=Real Life ?Monster?
We recently added a fifth player to our Serpent's Skull game. I kinda resisted it, because it's supposed to be my "run with minimal prep" game, but it's working alright so far. One of the original players is chronically missing so the fifth player ensures they're always at least at the power level the book expects. But as they gain more system mastery (and assuming the absent player changes her ways), I'll have to add more enemies to compensate.
At least we don't have NobodysHome's scheduling issues :O
Monster, yes. Or Manager. Or Mayhem-and-foolishness. Take your pick.
With newer players, a 5th is no big deal as you've seen. Give them a couple-three AP's under their belt and then you can bring on the pain. ;)
If the gaze's range was greater than 30 feet (it isn't), and if it had a speed better than 20' (it doesn't), I'd be more inclined to agree. A DC 15 Fort at 6th level is usually at worst a 50/50 proposition before factoring in basic tactics like averting one's gaze.
The fairness of a basilisk encounter is heavily dependent on the specifics of the encounter and how the dice went for the players. If the encounter's design sets the PCs up at gaze range, the encounter CR is much harder.
Under fairly typical encounter circumstances, the PCs - especially with anything remotely decent in Knowledge (arcana) available to them - should have twigged to the danger and adjusted their tactics accordingly. i.e., fragged the thing from outside of 30'.
They didn't, two characters are now statues and the survivors have to get a little creative to solve that problem. Can we help the OP instead of bickering about supposed 'encounter fairness', please?
Basilisks and medusae are mean like that. However, all is not lost.
basilisk gaze attack details wrote:
A creature petrified in this matter that is then coated (not just splashed) with fresh basilisk blood (taken from a basilisk no more than 1 hour dead) is instantly restored to flesh. A single basilisk contains enough blood to coat 1d3 Medium creatures in this manner.
Load your buddies and the basilisk's corpse in a cart and head to a town that has a 9th level cleric lying around. Any distance is doable with the cleric's access to gentle repose every few days (to preserve the basilisk's carcass) and create food and water to provide chow. It's just a matter of how far you have to go. Once there, either hire the break enchantments to be cast or take the plunge, cough up a 5k gp diamond and the 450 gp in cash for the spellcasting service to drop a raise dead on the basilisk. Kill it, drain its shiny new reserve of fresh blood and smear it on your petrified buddies. It would be preferable from a cost standpoint to pay for the break enchantment spells, but those are not guaranteed to work, nor are your buddies guaranteed to make the Fort save to survive returning to flesh via break enchantment. The basilisk blood should not pose that risk, one hopes.
I wouldn't go as far to call it "objectively" better. Character development aside, V is a blaster and an enchanter. Xe* is exactly the sort of wizard who would want to target xir enemies with impunity while hiding behind the safety of invisibility. Whether it is worth the extra spell levels is debatable, but V *could* get good use out of it over invisibility.
*man, writing with gender neutral pronowns feels wierd
Use They/Their/Them.
Gender neutral pronouns that have existed since the modern language was codified. And nearly all of my non-binary friends prefer them, to boot.
They/their/them are plural, correct? What is the gender neutral singular pronoun besides "it" that would work well? I'm really curious in the "I want to know so as to better communicate" form of curiosity.
Originally, "you" was second person plural in English; "thee" and "thou" were the correct singular forms (used in the same manner as "me" and "I"). Using "they/them/their" in place of "it" (which has connotations of non-personhood) is a possible shift in language use for a gender-neutral pronoun that has become more popular.
Coolness, thanks! This is going to take some getting used to, as I agree about "it" being reserved for inanimate objects. "Someone" will suffice for the singular it seems, as "they" and "them" come across as plural, with "their" being both singular and plural. Neat stuff.
What about nearby towns that have access to raise dead? Have them cast it on the basilisk whose corpse's blood you've drained, grease it quickly, drain it of blood and try the basilisk blood thing again on your buddies?
All of the HD cost onyx, based on their "animation cost" in HD. A small or medium zombie has 2 HD (cost 50 gp). An ogre zombie has 6 HD (cost 150 gp), but if you make it an alchemical zombie variant it costs 300 gp (12 HD 'cost'). Stack on fast zombie for an alchemical fast zombie it costs 450 gp (18 HD 'cost').
Some of those lost would be watching/attending a football game today. Honor them all, by remembering the fallen and enjoying a game to spite those that would have us live in fear.
I wouldn't go as far to call it "objectively" better. Character development aside, V is a blaster and an enchanter. Xe* is exactly the sort of wizard who would want to target xir enemies with impunity while hiding behind the safety of invisibility. Whether it is worth the extra spell levels is debatable, but V *could* get good use out of it over invisibility.
*man, writing with gender neutral pronowns feels wierd
Use They/Their/Them.
Gender neutral pronouns that have existed since the modern language was codified. And nearly all of my non-binary friends prefer them, to boot.
They/their/them are plural, correct? What is the gender neutral singular pronoun besides "it" that would work well? I'm really curious in the "I want to know so as to better communicate" form of curiosity.
"They/their/them" works perfectly well when you want to refer to someone, but you're uncertain of their gender.
Coolness. Seems odd that they/their/them applies to an individual, but I'll happily take it!
I wouldn't go as far to call it "objectively" better. Character development aside, V is a blaster and an enchanter. Xe* is exactly the sort of wizard who would want to target xir enemies with impunity while hiding behind the safety of invisibility. Whether it is worth the extra spell levels is debatable, but V *could* get good use out of it over invisibility.
*man, writing with gender neutral pronowns feels wierd
Use They/Their/Them.
Gender neutral pronouns that have existed since the modern language was codified. And nearly all of my non-binary friends prefer them, to boot.
They/their/them are plural, correct? What is the gender neutral singular pronoun besides "it" that would work well? I'm really curious in the "I want to know so as to better communicate" form of curiosity.
I've said it before and I'll say it again: Bards are the most OP class in the game.
They can be, especially if they're able to gimp along until they get Versatile Performance.
Starting at 2nd level = convert 1 set of Perform skill ranks into TWO sets of skill ranks at no cost ... hell yeah.
By 10th level a bard can invest ranks in 3 skills and wind up with Cha-based awesomesauce in SIX skills. And they still have 3 other skill ranks/level plus INT bonus (if any) plus favored class bonus (if applied) etc. etc. ... oh yeah, let's bring on some pain.
Lots and LOTS of Extra Performance, plus a few masterpieces ... yikes.
Maybe he isn't the type of player who gets enjoyment from seeing his subtle machinations on party have effect on the enemies as they tear them apart?
Seriously, why don't people like playing buffers more often? :D
I was pawing through the masterpieces the day I posted the above comment. With the several that can benefit from Lingering Performance and that some of them just look like a lot of fun, I know my back-up plan if my current character gets turned into toe jam. Especially once you hit 7th level, the fun really gets going!
" Lemme get this straight, you let loose a riff on your git box as a move action that sets all the bad guys on fire, doing something else nasty as a swift, take a 5-foot step and STILL have a standard action?! " "Yep."
Surprised that Deady McDeadDead doesn't roll up a bard themed to whatever musical taste suits his fancy. Then he could make himself useful ramping up the rest of the group's ability to bring on the pain with assorted reactive abilities (countersong, distraction, et al) - and wait until he gets within range of those awesome masterpieces!!
The gunslinger built on all 10s - the player had only applied racial ability score modifiers having entirely forgotten about the character's point-buy pool. Dangit I can't remember the name...
5 players works well too in my experience and in some ways is preferable to only 4. If nothing else, when the RLM shows up and noms on one player, the game should be able to continue with minimal interruption.
Found Nationwide to be pretty reasonable pricing-wise, quite a bit better than GEICO, Progressive, Allstate and Liberty Mutual. No idea how they handle accidents/car wrecks, which is a trend I fervently hope continues until they pull my drivers license for being too old and crotchety.
Edit: Ragadolf, insurance companies are gonna bone us no matter what. Usually they're gentle about it, sometimes they're not... ;)
World geography questions do not imperil the Presidency. Lunacy and greed do. ;)
Not recognizing the largest city in one of the biggest current conflict zones that he'd have to be deal with as President isn't a trivial "world geography question".
Of course, if they'd asked anything that tough of Trump in the forum last night, maybe we'd be able to judge between the two.
Considering many Americans are pretty bad at geography, this should not come as a surprise. Syria may not be trivial in terms of foreign policy, but it's also not the #1 geopolitical concern.
Now, if he couldn't pick out China or Russia on a world map, it would be a much greater concern.
Spellcasting services costs suggest that a timely arrival aboard the Kelpie's Wrath elsewhere to return him whence he came via the Eye of Abendengo - i.e., delivered by Besmara's Herald itself - would be but a portion of the plunder 'tithed' to Besmara by the PCs.
A bit of fun could be had with the divinations used to track him down going squirrely as they indicate multiple plane shifts before his whereabouts start 'pinging' closer and closer to wherever they're calling port.
The DCs are low enough that use of the Heal skill could alleviate the diseases (not sure about the infestations). The worry I have is how long it is going to take a group to get through. It looks like they only have a week...
Now we know what happens to all of the barely-worth-it zombies Necromancers cut loose once they have access to ogres. They wander off, join a Zombie Union and eventually strike.
Slumber Hex characters are in for a bad time in this chapter. I hope that trend continues throughout the rest of the AP.
One of my players will be running a sleep-casting mesmerist capable of stacking up to -6 on saves vs. sleep (at level 1). Worse: mesmerists can take away mind-affecting communities from NPCs... even undead, constructs, etc.
So I have that to look forward to.
Well ... at least not until 3rd level it looks like. So you can enjoy that not being an issue for the first 2 levels! ;)
Sap Master Rogue.
Grab a level of Snakebite Brawler and 5 of Scout Unchained Rogue. Take Dragon Style by way of rogue talent(ninja trick(style master)), Sap Adept and Sap Master, Bludgeoner, Power Attack and a +1 merciful Earthbreaker. Charge (through allies and terrain.) Assuming your hit connects, you should be nailing your target for 2d6 + 1.5(Str) +6 + 2d6 + 8d6+8 nonlethal damage, or 12d6 + 1.5(Str) +14. Assuming an 18 strength, you're hitting for an average of 62 nonlethal, plenty to OHKO most any 6th level appropriate foe, provided it's not immune to non lethal or sneak attack.
But, needs moar damage and less points of failure.
Standard Shocking Grasp Magus.
With a +1 spellstoring pointy object (with empowered intensified shocking grasp loaded), cast empowered intensified shocking grasp, walk up, spellstrike to deliver. Conservative estimation assuming level 8: 1d6 + Str + 1.5(10d6) + 1.5(10d6) = ded target most of the time. That's around 104 average electricity damage.
What if I want my party to get in on the fun?
Dazing Fireballs.
Take the metamagic reducing traits of Wayang Spellhunter and Magical Lineage, selecting Fireball. Take Dazing spell metamagic feat. Pump your Fireball DC with everything else you've got. Cast Dazing Fireball from a 4th level slot. If they fail their reflex save, they're dazed for three rounds while you finish them off at your leisure. If you need more rounds to mop up, cast another Fireball. In addition to the usual (arcane) suspects, this can also be done effectively by certain species of Cleric (Theologian, Ecclesitheurge.) Make sure to grab Selective Spell to avoid nuking (and dazing) your allies!
Now I want to see a party of all three of these run around...
I mean, monsters have hit points. How you want to deplete them in a round is up to you. Save or Dies work, buckets of damage work, action denial effectively removes the 1 round restriction... Just stick them with the pointy end.
Out of curiosity, how is an 8th level Magus attaining CL 10th on his shocking grasp?
Ordinarily I go with using the quick-n-dirty method of XP for groups of 4 or 5 in an AP, i.e., don't change anything, divvy by 4 and award it to all 5. Where it says each character gets ## xp, give 'em that xp. It is more important that the characters attain levels on-track than not.
The treasure deficit balances itself out over time in my experience. Just go with the flow. If you feel they're lagging, adjust as necessary.
Alternatively, use the automatic bonus progression system from Ultimate Campaign, removing/modifying treasure accordingly (usually by stripping magical enhancement bonuses off of everything). This is probably the easiest method to keep PC gear on track.
Well ... if your your players like their characters and you don't mind some handwavium, perhaps their Serpent's Skull characters get mind-swapped by Yithians for 5 years and wind up gibbering and gearless in an asylum to kick off Strange Aeons?
It's sad that, in either presidency, a strong argument could be made for dictatorial governance. After all, with "this is what happens when the people govern..." as an opener, I could even see such things being compelling. I'm never going to buy it, of course, but it still makes me sad that it could be presented and used to make a reasonable-looking case.
I'm personally hoping that, once whatever major abuse happens does, regardless of the candidate, impeachment and dismissal are handled quickly, and that the Vice is better. I'm not holding my breath. Similarly, I'm hoping that the weight of the office gives pause to whomever wins it, and maybe causes them to change course so the inevitable abuse doesn't occur. I'm similarly optimistic about results. (I'm not, in case it wasn't clear, at all optimistic.)
LOL. NobodysWife feels the presidency should be chosen by lottery. "OK, who wants to be president? All of you guys? OK, you're excluded. Now, everyone else? The person with ticket #1356256 is now dictator for 4 years..."
I like it, except it wouldn't be so easy to exclude those who WANTED the position.
I would say that affirmation is by way of strenuous protestation by the lottery recipient. Perhaps by requiring threat a lawsuit if the lottery persists in assigning office.
Of course ... one has to wonder whom oversees the Presidential Lottery... ;)
--------------------
DEFENSE
-------------------- AC 16 (20), touch 10, flat-footed 16 (+6 Armor, +0 Dex, +4 Dodge against giant subtype, +0 Sacred) HP 13 (1d8 + feat + CON)
Fort +5 Ref +0, Will +6
Resist DR 1/- against creatures and attacks with the electricity type.
--------------------
OFFENSE
-------------------- Spd 20ft. can’t be modified by armor or encumbrance Melee Sacred Weapon DMG 1d6; Greatsword +2 (2d6 + 3);
--------------------
STATISTICS
-------------------- STR 14 (+2) | DEX 10 (+0) | CON 15 (+2) | Int 14 (+2)| Wis 17 (+3) | Cha 12 (+1)
Feats: [BONUS] Weapon Focus (Warhammer)
[BONUS] Toughness
1st Fight On
Traits:
Secret Knowledge - +2 to one knowledge skill and that becomes a class skill. (Dungeoneering)
Mountain Guide - +1 to knowledge (geography) and Survival checks when in mountainous areas. Knowledge (geography) is always a class skill for you.
Storm-Touched - You gain DR 1/— against creatures and attacks with the electricity type.
Impatient (drawback) - You can’t delay or ready actions, and if you are the last of your allies to act in a round of combat, you take a –1 penalty on ability checks, attack rolls, saving throws, and skill checks.
--------------------
Skills
-------------------- Class Skills:2 + INT + 2 BG + 1 favoured class
Blessing
(Weather) Wind Barrier major At 10th level, you can create a barrier of fast winds around yourself for 1 minute. This acts as a wind wall on all sides of your square, protects you with feather fall, and doesn’t interfere with your ranged attacks.
Defense Racial Traits Defensive Training: Dwarves gain a +4 dodge bonus to AC against monsters of the giant subtype.
Stability: Dwarves gain a +4 racial bonus to their Combat Maneuver Defense when resisting a bull rush or trip attempt while standing on the ground.
Unstoppable: Some dwarves train from a young age to outlast orcs on the battlefield. They gain Toughness as a bonus feat and a +1 racial bonus on Fortitude saves. This racial trait replaces hardy.
Feat and Skill Racial Traits Craftsman: Dwarves are known for their superior craftsmanship when it comes to metallurgy and stonework. Dwarves with this racial trait receive a +2 racial bonus on all Craft or Profession checks related to metal or stone. This racial trait replaces greed.
Stonecunning: Dwarves gain a +2 bonus on Perception checks to notice unusual stonework, such as traps and hidden doors located in stone walls or floors. They receive a check to notice such features whenever they pass within 10 feet of them, whether or not they are actively looking.
Senses Racial Traits Darkvision: Dwarves can see perfectly in the dark up to 60 feet.
Offense Racial Traits Hatred: Dwarves gain a +1 racial bonus on attack rolls against humanoid creatures of the orc and goblinoid subtypes because of their special training against these hated foes.
Weapon Familiarity: Dwarves are proficient with battleaxes, heavy picks, and warhammers, and treat any weapon with the word “dwarven” in its name as a martial weapon.
Archetype - Forgepriest:
Armorers of exquisite skill, forgepriests take inspiration from their deity to produce the most perfect weapons and armor they can, the better to equip the armies of the faithful.
Blessings
A forgepriest selects only one blessing.
Forge Mastery (Ex)
A 2nd level, the forgepriest adds a bonus equal to half his level to all Craft checks to make metal items, armor, and weapons.
(This benefit is gained from the altered version of blessings, above.)
Bonus Feats
A forgepriest can select item creation feats in addition to combat feats when he gains a bonus feat.
This ability alters bonus feats.
Craft Magic Arms and Armor
At 3rd level, a forgepriest gains Craft Magic Arms and Armor as a bonus feat.
This ability replaces the bonus feat gained at 3rd level.
Creator’s Bond (Su)
At 4th level, when a forgepriest uses his sacred weapon ability with an item he created personally, he can expend two uses of his fervor ability to increase the bonus granted by 1. Once the forgepriest has the sacred armor ability, he can also use this ability in conjunction with that.
This ability replaces channel energy.
Heat of the Forge (Su)
At 6th level, a forgepriest gains fire resistance 5. At 13th level, this resistance increases to 10.
This ability replaces the bonus feat gained at 6th level.
VMC Sorcerer:
You trace your heritage to fierce and proud spirits of storm and sky, and living lightning sings in your veins.
Bloodline (Stormborn): At 1st level, she must select a sorcerer bloodline. She treats her character level as her effective sorcerer level for all bloodline powers.
Bloodline Power: At 3rd level, she gains her bloodline’s 1st-level bloodline power.
Thunderstaff (Sp): At 1st level, you can touch a weapon as a standard action, giving it the shock property for a number of rounds equal to 1/2 your sorcerer level (minimum 1).
At 9th level, you can confer the shocking burst property instead, but the duration of the power is halved.
You can use this ability a number of times per day equal to 3 + your Charisma modifier.
Improved Bloodline Power: At 7th level, she gains her bloodline’s 3rd-level bloodline power.
Stormchild (Ex): At 3rd level, you gain resist electricity 5 and resist sonic 5, and treat wind effects as being one step less severe.
At 9th level, you treat wind effects as being two steps less severe and gain blindsense 60 feet against concealment from natural or magical fog, mist, or weather effects.
Blood Feat (Enlarge Spell): At 11th level, she gains one of her bloodline’s feats or Eschew Materials.
Greater Bloodline Power: At 15th level, she gains her bloodline’s 9th-level bloodline power.
Thunderbolt (Sp): At 9th level, you can command a stroke of lightning to strike from above in a 5-foot-radius cylinder 60 feet high. The thunderbolt inflicts 1d6 points of damage per sorcerer level; half of this damage is electricity and half is sonic. A Reflex save (DC 10 + 1/2 your sorcerer level + your Charisma modifier) halves this damage. Creatures failing their saves are deafened for 1 round.
At 9th level, you can use this ability once per day, at 17th twice per day, and at 20th three times per day.
This power has a range of 120 feet.
True Bloodline Power: At 19th level, she gains her bloodline’s 15th-level bloodline power.
Ride the Lightning (Sp): At 15th level, as a full-round action you can become a living lightning bolt and move in a straight line up to 10 times your speed.
You do not provoke attacks of opportunity while moving in this way.
Creatures or objects in your path are affected as by your thunderbolt power.
Creatures do not block your movement but solid barriers do unless they are reduced to 0 hit points.
You can use this power once per day for a number of rounds equal to your sorcerer level.
About Ingra:
1. Character Insights
Ingra runs the risk of coming across kind of gnomish in that she isn’t as stoic and serious as people view dwarves. Mostly because dwarves aren’t like that around other dwarves, they have a certain sense of humor and she just never really bothered to learn to surpass it around outsiders. Took too much concentration away from what she wanted to focus on, whether that was a piece of armor or a bit of information. She is an all-in kind of character. Whatever she is doing, whatever aspect of her life, she never does anything half-heartedly. Her view of life can be seen in her fighting style, she follows through in all situations (Advancement plans follow the Cleave feat tree)
Ingra is very confident and optimistic, one could say. She is always moving forward, even if she fails, she never dwells or doubts herself, just swears colourfully in dwarvish, while mulling over what went wrong so she can fix it. Problems are meant to be fixed, not dwelt on. If they can’t be fixed, then really what’s the use of them? She is very much enough elbow grease and a little know how can solve most problems.
Ingra is just tall enough to wield her greatsword with little issue, standing at a decent 4’8”, taller than a lot of female dwarves. She has a great pride in her appearance, almost as much in her abilities. She has grown her dark grey hair, a trademark of her clan, down to her hips, wearing it in a thick assortment of braids (think like Rapunzel from Tangled).
She has modelled her life around 2 core figures: Kord and Lord Damon Gunter. She was a young adult when the siege on Brindol took place, and absorbed the stories that reached her home in the Hammerfist Holds like a sponge. Just like that her whole life changed. Her family knew of Kord, their name often being mistaken for followers of his, but like most dwarves they mostly worship Moradin. To honour her family’s, and homelands, patron god, she learnt to use the Warhammer along with her Greatsword, Weapon Focus (Warhammer) and pays respects to both.
Key memories: When she first saw lightning (she was awe struck), her brother taking her down into the mines for the first time, hearing about Lord Gunter and the siege on Brindol, beginning her training as a Warpriest, seeing how her friend, Toby McCally had age when she hadn’t, learning about the existence of Storm Giants, forging her first piece of armor, her brother’s wedding, the birth of her niece, first fight with Korn about her worship of Kord, receiving her Greatsword (Tempest) after her initial Warpriest training had finished, arriving in Brindol for the first time.
2. Goals and Ambitions
As a heavy influence in her life, she wants to meet Lord Gunter, but because of her own merits, not just on request. To that end she has ventured to Brindol to seek out success and renown worthy of notice to her mentor.
She wants to craft a set of armor inspired by the God of Storms, one that any warrior *cough*or cleric *cough* would be proud and honoured to wear into battle. She has many sketches and ideas, but currently lacks the abilities. (Her feats and skills will go towards this goal, in some part)
Over the course of the game I want to see Ingra achieve her goal of meeting Lord Gunter by becoming a powerhouse on the battlefield and a master smith. I’d like her to see some of the old dwarven ruins, and pull motivation and inspiration from that. Having her interact with non-dwarven races will be great for her growth to, I’d like her to be able to go back to Hammerfist Hold claiming a friend in many races, because currently she’s very naïve when it comes to them.
3. Secrets
Despite growing up surrounded by dwarves that hate giants, after researching for her holy armor of Kord that she aims to make, she stumbled upon a verse that shook her to her core:
Eldest children of sea and sky, storm giants are benevolent colossi who tower over almost all other giants in size, strength, and glory. They garb themselves in armaments that match their imperial beauty, and are masters of all they survey. Wind and water thrum in harmony with the thunderous beating of storm giants’ hearts, and their atonement to the natural world is so strong that the goliaths’ moods are often reflected in their very surroundings, the calm winds and raging tempests that follow them indicative of their fickle manner.
From that moment, she has been in awe of Storm giants, and wants to witness them in real life. It’s almost a worship that rivals that of Kord, for these creatures must been strongly tied to her god if what she has read is true.
Of course, if anyone found out she had such reverence for a type of giant, she worries how they would react, so she keeps it to herself while dreaming of these untameable manifestations of lightning and thunder.
While her family’s name doesn’t tie to Kord, it does tie to Storm Giants. It must have occurred as far back as when the lost dwarven kingdom existed for the stigma of such a thing to have been forgotten in the dwarven community, but the dark grey hair and occasional manifestation of elemental resistance against electricity are the ever-present sign of that relation. Whether it is in the blood from a conception or magic is up to DM because I have the Tolkien idea that a Dwarf can’t have babies with anyone other than another dwarf, but I like the idea of having that link. Can come up with other secret if I need to. Not even sure Storm Giants exist in this universe.
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4. Relationships
Orgin Stormstone – Ingra’s older brother. He is like her, but more. Very dwarf. Very closed-minded. Loves his family and little sister to pieces and has a habit of bringing up embarrassing stories from when she was younger, normally involving him trying to teach her something. He is 15 years older than Ingra, so they are close for dwarf siblings. He is a miner at Hammerfist Hold, and advises her on metals and other prospecting and appraisal tasks. He has a 10 year old daughter, Kotri, who, much to his hidden dismay, idolises her aunt far more than her would like., particularly since one of the young dwarf’s favourite terms has become ‘Oh my Kord!’. His wife, Yessa, thinks it’s hilarious, but never shows it.
Toby McCally – a human merchant that travels between Brindol and Hammerfist Hold trading supplies and buying ore and wares. Probably Ingra’s only connection to the outside world, which is why he got stuck escorting her to Brindol in the first place. It was with him that she had her first racial shock. They met just before the siege on Brindol, both young, she was 24 and he was 25.
Now she looks at her friend and can see age, he is still only a year old, and yet she can see the signs of human aging she has heard about, wrinkles, grey hairs, slower movement. She is in her prime, still young by dwarven standards. She doesn’t really know how to process this information yet, that her effective childhood friend, at least it was her childhood, will be gone before she reaches her mid-life.
Korn Bronzebeard – Hailing from one of the oldest houses in Hammerfist Hold, Korn finds Ingra’s habit of being less than traditional as something that endangers the whole community, and has made it his personal vendetta to either change her ways, or make the rest of the community see how much of a threat she is.
They grew up together, but he never understood her way of thinking. She was a dwarf, and surely should think and act like a dwarf. Both from influential families, she was a perspective partner for him, and her actions threw him off so badly that it was a personal affront to him and his family, at least in his mind. He sees her going to Brindol as the perfect opportunity to sow his ideals.
He isn’t a bad person (dwarf) it’s just, deep down, as a traditionalist, her way of life is frightening and threatening to all that he loves, and all that he believes his family, her family, and the dwarven community should represent. To him she is the bad guy, and needs to be dealt with.
5. Quirks, Mannerisms, or Memories
Ingra carries a small, metal ball, about the size of ping-pong ball, around with her everywhere. Whenever she gets nervous, or needs to think, she polishes it, or rolls it around in her fingers. It was a baby toy her brother made her, too big for her to choke on, and made from ore he dug up himself. She’s adapted it, so she can wear it in her hair securely, so it’s easy to access, and she also sees it as a way of displaying where she is from. She gazes into it sometimes, thinking of her family, her future, or maybe her holy armor.
Ingra chews the inside of her mouth when she’s getting impatient. Needless to say, she chews her mouth a lot. It starts with her just biting her lip, which many see as meaning something else, be it interest or uncertainty, she’s just getting fed up with whatever is, or isn’t, happening. This leads to her habit of interrupting people on a regular basis, or just leaving.
Being a dwarf from a dwarven community, she has a lot of misconceptions about the workmanship of other races. As such she tests most things before using them; rattling a chair, examining cutlery, rocking a table. Then she’ll exclaim her findings as if they were complimentary, or helpful advice. She’ll be amazed with ‘human ingenuity’ and be genuine in a way that almost always gets seen as insulting.
