Arelian's page

Well, I first thought of this thing whilst playing a witch. Craft Wondrous and the two spells I mention are all available to a witch, at least, as of 3rd level.

The normal effect of Nereid’s grace grants a deflection modifier to AC equal to one's CHA bonus (temp & permanent, I believe), lasts for 1 round/level, and requires no visible armor (either no armor, or armor is glamoured / disguised / etc.).

Ah, wait - doesn't a Ring of Protection require your level to be three times the deflection bonus? Is that it? What else am I missing as regards CL?

I rarely 'construct' new magic items and I haven't yet found anything that feels like what I'm trying to do, so I'm looking for some feedback.

The feel I am going for is to instill a dose of fear (demoralize) and harness the result to ward the wearer from harm.

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Banshee’s Mask
Aura faint necromancy and enchantment; CL ? (at least 3rd)
Slot head; Price ? gp; Weight 1 lbs.

Description: This unsettling mask is faintly suggestive of an elven face, possibly female. Its carved and oiled wood segments are marked with countless tiny grave-mark symbols and linked together with ivy vines. Even simply gazing upon one who wears such a mask is unsettling and uncomfortable.

When worn, this mask grants the wearer +2 to Intimidate for attempts to demoralize an opponent. Further, when the wearer successfully demoralizes an enemy in battle (during the wearer’s first or any subsequent initiative action), the wearer gains a deflection bonus equal to their Charisma modifier for a number of rounds equal to the enemy's HD (include only Charisma inherent to the character, not from spells, items, etc.). This effect ends immediately if the demoralized enemy dies.

Donning the mask takes a full round action and imposes a -4 penalty to Diplomacy and Handle Animal skill checks until removed.

Construction
Requirements Craft Wondrous Item, Nereid’s grace, cause fear, ??; Cost: ? gp
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The skill modifier (+2) would be a baseline of 400gp. As the cheaper power, it would get the x1.5, yes?

The deflection bonus would range from +1 to +4 (_possibly_ more at higher levels), so the baseline cost could range from 2K - 32K. Where do people suggest I start the baseline cost for this? The 'source spell' is a rounds/level duration. The SRD says that a skill check may reduce the cost by 10%, but what effect should the other parameters have on the cost?

Feedback?

Well...

"A person has a terminal velocity of about 200 mph when balled up and about 125 mph with arms and feet fully extended to catch the wind."

http://hypertextbook.com/facts/JianHuang.shtml

Bloomfield, Louis A. "What is Terminal Velocity?" How Things Work. University of Virginia. 23 December 1999.

I ran up an Excel sheet to see how many rounds it would take and what height would be needed. My numbers don't feel right, so I'm gonna dig into it to see where I went wrong...

Looks like I'm the lone Yank just yet, but the wife & I are living near Banbury for the next three years. I started gaming back in 1980 with the D&D blue book boxed set and have played and/or run D&D (all but 4th edition), Star Frontiers, GURPS, Champions/HERO, Twilight 2000, Villains and Vigilantes, Gamma World, Battletech, Cyberpunk, ShadowRun (1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 5th), Earthdawn, Paranoia, Whitewolf (Changeling, Vampire, Mage, Werewolf - tabletop and live-action), d20 Modern, Role Master, Space Master, Star Wars (d6 & d20), d20 BESM, d20 Cuthulu, Call of Cthulhu, Rifts, Marvel Universe Roleplaying Game, Warhammer Inquisitor (the RPG), Mechwarrior, Mekton, Toons, Top Secret, Star Trek (1983 version), and a hand-full of custom systems. I've also been in the SCA, Dagorhir, and Amtgard.

Right now I'm running a slightly hybridized Pathfinder game across five towns, four timezones, and two continents. It's great to be able to game with some really good friends, but I'd love to find a face-to-face game in our local area.

When I run, I like to come up with a general idea for a game (setting/theme/scope) and then tune it to work with what the players want to run, especially because most of the time my players are new to the gaming system or even to gaming.

When I play, I just look for fun, creativity, and even-handedness from the GM.

Also, good use of non-lethal damage. For a low-level party, that seems to me like a good way to make the encounter challenging without making it too deadly. Although one fall...

If it comes down to it, you can use plant life as a saving grace. Hitting several smaller branches or trees (that cannot support a character's weight) on the way down could turn lethal falling damage into non-lethal. *whap-whap-whap-whap-THUD!-groan* The fall can take them out of the fight without killing them, but they could easily become prisoners while unconscious. Heck, make it X hp non-lethal per branch and have the player roll 3d4 or 2d6+2 or something for the number of impacts on the way down. For each 5 hp of non-lethal they take, subtract 1d6 from the lethal falling damage.... or something like that.

How would a blowing snowstorm affect the utility of an invisibility sphere? Would snowflakes turning invisible as they entered the sphere increase the chance of noticing it?

I like it. Regardless of the original concept intended to lead up to it, I can envision a number of different scenarios that could use all the work you've done on this thing. Minor tweaks and cosmetic changes are all I'd need to make.

Something I use as a house rule for combat is that if one specific attack would take a being's HP total from a positive value down to less than -1, then their new total is -1. This only applies to straight-up HP damage (weapon hits, fireball, magic missile, etc...), and the NPCs get it as well. For example, though, if three magic missiles hit one target and the first one takes the target to -1, then the other two would crank the target's total on down towards -10 and death (or if one attacker gets multiple attacks...).

I still keep the Death By Massive Damage rule, and if the damage would normally have killed the being out-right they cannot stabilize without outside intervention. This decreases the chance of a PC or major NPC getting killed by One Lucky/Unlucky Roll. On the other hand, PCs and NPCs can still coupe de grace or simply take a single thwack at a downed foe, surviving opponents left for dead can come back with vengeance in mind, and opponents spared from death can make for interesting gaming (mercy + Charm *whatever* are very convincing). ...and for PCs or NPCs that really don't deserve to live, well, a 10% chance to stabilize can be pretty slim...

I built a Warlock 2 / Rogue 1 character for a 3rd level campaign and had a blast while it lasted (three sessions). Sneak attack + Quicker Than The Eye + Hideous Blow + maximum Concentration Skill ranks & Combat Casting got really interesting.

In slightly more practical terms, striking with the face of the shield is much more in keeping with a bull rush or overrun attack when you're dealing with non-spiked shields. Striking for bludgeoning damage is generally more effective when punching or swinging so as to strike a foe with the rim of the shield. I really do think that someone who has spent the extra cash to add spikes to a shield should be able to choose between the two strictly damage-type options (spiked or non-spiked shield damage) when they are proficient with the type of shield.

Think of it this way... If you get hit by a door that someone accidentally slams open into you you are a bit more likely to get knocked down than knocked out, compared to getting shoved (hard) into the edge of the door. Another analogy is to compare hitting someone with the flat or the edge of a 1" x 12" board swung just as hard either way. The edge focuses the force applied into a smaller area (like the flat of a dull sword vs the edge).

The concept of a spiked shield is like adding a big nail to the middle of the board, which will probably hurt a humanoid more than getting hit with the narrow edge of the board, but not so much against a skeletal opponent.

I recently ran an encounter set in Sharn for characters who aren't from the Eberron world. They had just finished a job that ended with them arriving in Sharn and collecting on their wages. The group semi-scattered to learn more about the world they are now in, make some money, etc.., when one of them was approached by a moderately highly placed House adimistrator. His head of security had discovered that someone wanted to steal a shipment due to be picked up by emissaries of the Undying Court (I've established the UC as People You Really Don't Want To Piss Off) in just under two weeks. Unfortunately, the rogue of the party had just gotten himself hired as a lookout by the to-be Heisters...

They chose to stop the heist - more money, and they liked the idea of being in favor with the House in question & the UC. Some good investigation & a little undercover work followed, which probably kept them from a complete disaster.

They'd been able to walk over a few bad-guys by merit of either dice rolls, great ideas, or a combination of both, so the Heist was a big jolt to them. They were pretty sure someone was to be snuck in inside a crate and asked the on-site mage on the security team to check for life-signs in the crates (she used Detect Thoughts).

The assault opened up with a Warforged & a Mind Flayer coming out of a crate - the W-F had been rendered dormant by a timed, custom-made infusion, and the M-F used its telepathy & high Will save to avoid detection. The M-F dropped people right and left with its Mind Blast and the crate team made for the two key-holders (two are needed to open the secure vault, and one was a traitor). Meanwhile, two 'sniper teams' (each: one rogue with heavy repeating crossbow with "scope" and five True Strike + Sniper's Shot bolts, one dual-wielding fighter) had LOS on the 'cargo door' to the warehouse, and four 5th level rogues were swooping in on gliders. And ALL of them looked exactly alike! (A male half-elf in a particular set of clothes...)

The whole thing lasted at least 10 rounds. Most of the party was down for at least 3/4 of the fight overall from Mind Blast, but the security team and a strategic Wall of Flame combined with the attackers' objective kept them too busy for foe a coupe. The party finally got the upper hand by the skin of their teeth, so the attackers started bailing...

Two of the rogues in gliders didn't even make it to the fight - the Wall had cut them off. The other two bolted and bailed out the cargo entrance (350 ft above the ground) and used Featherfall talismans. The traitor tried the same thing but botched his Wisdom check to get the timing right (*SPLAT*). One sniper was caught by a wizard with Flight and a successful Charm - he was convinced to hand over his crossbow and go after his buddy. The wiz used the crossbow (with a True Strike bolt) and nailed the other sniper. Both sniper team fighters got away by running for it. The M-F had failed save & SR vs Otto's Irresistable Dance and gotten schwacked to negs, so they had him, and the W-F got gang-tackled by the security team.

Okay - lots of detail, but I hope they properly explain things so folks see how I set things up...

The attackers had no real interest in specifically killing anyone, they really just wanted the cargo. The M-F sucked out the second key-holder's brain to use Consume Memory (custom feat) so they could open the vault. The illithid was the only one willing to fight to the death because no cargo = no antidote (to an augmented implanted Slaad egg).

Items based on a few 1st level spells made a huge difference in this scenario and took it up a notch. Heavy bolts with Sneak Attack damage from a few hundred feet away were a real shock, Disguise Self tokens to made ALL of the attackers look the same, and Featherfall tokens to help them make their escapes...

Image how useful and challenging it would be for a lich with a Ring of Misdirection to use Disguise Self on itself and Disguise Self tokens on assorted undead and construct minions as the good guys closed in... Toss in some invisible baddies for good measure, even. That makes it much easier for the villain to escape if so desired.

Check out the Giants In The Playground website ( www.giantitp.com ) - there's a nice twist on the use of Knowledge skills, and the author also gives a helpful perspective.