Babkas Hammerheart's page

"Aye, ye got really lucky this time, lassy." Babkas smiles, confident that the girl is innocent. "I'm with this guy 'ere," he gestures to Antinous, "I wouldn't expect to get so lucky a second time. I tell ya what you can do though. How about ya be there on the sidelines while we, the Champions of Gabil-Nala, win this year's festival so ya can cheer us on! How's that sound?"

Gabil-Nala = Great Path, for those who speak Dwarven. *Pulled it out of a dwarven lexicon he found on Google*

Babkas jumps for joy as the spider dissappiers, "That'll show ya, comin' to our dimension." Babkas nods with a harumph. He gives a weak parting kick to the spider as it's dissappearing, before he notices the rest of the party attending to the girl. He takes a stand behind Antinous Demonte, measuring the girl's words himself.

Sense Motive 1d20 + 25 ⇒ (14) + 25 = 39

"Oh boy... Laddies, I donna think I brought a big enough book for this'un!" Babkas exclaims as he dodges out of the way of the spider's leg. His movements become more sinuous, despite his stout frame. He'll work on keeping the spider just where it's at, and wait for the proper moment. Whenever he spots an opening, he goes for the beast's eyes, those large blue orbs, trying sweep a kick and some debree into them to blind the foul beast.

"So I guess I'll jus' borrow the school's!" When and if Babkas gets the advantage, he holds his Meteor Hammer in one hand and then reaches over to the nearby table with the other. He attempts to lift the table--books and all--and slam it down on the spider. Legs down, not to crush it, but to trap it. Only once he's exhausted his options will he start going after the blasted thing with kicks and elbows, trying shut it down before it can harm his allies.

Babkas doesn't need an invitation. As soon as he hears the explosion he rushes towards it, full-speed!

He sees the girl, and assumes the more magically inclined members of the party will handle her. No, he focuses on his body, strengthening his skin with the wisdom of fine granite before rushing headlong into the room, hoping to hold off whatever foul beast besieged the girl. He pulls out his trusty home-made Meteor Hammer, swinging it around his body as he rushes into the room.

Spending a point of Ki to get Barkskin as my standard action. Note that I do not have Mage Armor or Greater Magic Weapon, so -4 AC from what I have listed and other penalties to attack I'll factor in. Then moving until I see whatever is going on, and then just move right next to it ideally setting up flank and preventing it from moving out of the room.

Initiative: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (2) + 3 = 5
Acrobatics: 1d20 + 19 ⇒ (7) + 19 = 26 to avoid AoO

Babkas exits with the rest of the party. He moves aside as the other party--the competition--bursts into the room. He waits for them to go in, jaw a bit agape, then turns around in a huff. "Tha nerve of dem! Ya see tha? Just barreling in here loud and obnoxious like tha own the place. Oh boy, I'm gonna enjoy beating their faces into the pavement." Babkas grins and punches one fist into the other.

"The library? Now I aint much one for books, I admit, but if this Dyson Fordyce won before I can reckon a reason for lookin' into him..." Babkas pauses, and looks to the wizardly man. "Ah, wait... What'cha gonna do if we all wanna go in like, different places? I dunna think you can keep up with all us, now can ya?" He laughs.

Sense Motive: 1d20 + 25 ⇒ (5) + 25 = 30 is this man keeping an eye on us for our benefit or to keep us from something? If the latter, I'd like to keep an eye on his behavior to see what he doesn't want us to do.

Babkas had found a seat in the room as they waited. His earlier outburst had robbed him of most of his energy. Now he was putting on his proverbial game-face, waiting, meditating, contemplating. He knew he'd need all his cunning to get through this.

Tessara returns and Babkas is riled from his contemplation with a loud groan. He hops off the chair and follows the group out towards the headmaster, and he listens to his speech. Towards the end of it, Babkas was visibly getting antsy, fidgeting in place. He couldn't wait, that was for sure.

"Bah! I won't get a lick o' sleep tonite, you realize? Hah, s'pose that's a problem enough beer'll solve, right lads?" Babkas lets out a hearty laugh. "T'be honest I barely know what to expect in that marble hell but I'm lookin' forward to it--forward to finding Dogis and making sure a Hammerheart wins this blasted thing. And make sure you get a proper display for our pictures and stuff after we come back, up thar wit' the important people. Don't be stingy, now! Hah."

Sense Motive on the Headmaster: 1d20 + 25 ⇒ (6) + 25 = 31

Dearest Heldra,
It's coming to the end of the season and I fear that once again the breaching ceremony will pass me over. Most of my other leads have grown as cold as a yeti's backside, so I'll be returning home to you soon. Contained with this letter should be some of the gold I got from fighting off those bandits. Please prepare a big dinner for when I get back! I really miss your cooking out here.

Love,

Knock-knock-knock-knock-knock! There's a loud rap on the door to his room, interrupting his writing before he could sign it. "Oi, jus' a moment, jus a momen'... Keep your britches on!" Babkas gets down from his writing desk and meanders over to the knock. He peeks out the chest-high peep hole to see who it was, "Ahem, one second."

He grabs his hat of the rack on the wall and puts it on his head. He gives it a tug and out from under the hat clothes seem to fall and somehow knit themselves over him. His face slowly changes shape as he runs for a mirror to watch his handiwork. By the end of it he looked about ten years younger with a fancy red robe on. He opens the door and greet the young lady, "Why, hello there."

She curtsies and begins her little speech. Babkas looks on and nods, at first, but quickly registers what the young woman is saying. "Wha? Yes... Yes! YES!" Babkas jumps so high in his excitement that he very nearly lodges his head in the ceiling of the inn. The bump sobers him up enough to rush into his room and grab his already packed bags, leaving the door open. "I thought that scrawny bastard was gonna leave me outta tis again! Oh, but not this time, no sir. The breaching festival, Dogis always says he did that it was even tougher'n the Dwarven olympics" He starts rambling on as he starts equipping everything. "Why he always... Dogis is my son, by the way, partook in the festival aboooout... Uh, forever ago."

A tug of the hat causes Babkas to assume his normal adventuring appearance, the hat itself a taking on the form of a hood around him. "Ye have no idea what this means to me lass... thank ye. " Babkas smiles at the girl and nods, "But lets go. No time to waste. And if you see him before me do me a favor and give that scrawny bastard of a magician a big wet one on me!" He lets out a bawdy laughs and holds out his hand, waiting to be teleported.

Shurikens can get a lot more than +2 Attacks. Nothing stops you from going TWF with Shuriken either. You can wind up with 7 attacks per turn, by level 10! Although the penalties to-hit might make it prohibitive. And Pressure Points is where it's at. Honestly, I proffer DEX damage to STR, most things have very little DEX from what I've seen, and less DEX = less AC = more hits.

Hrm... What are all the ways to deny someone their Dex to AC at a range? Even Feint doesn't work, sadly.

Darn it Cattoy, I was so going to mention him. But you beat me to it ;_;

Forging the Mind and Body is a good reason.
A Dwarf training to be a scout or runner might pick Monk.
A Dwaf who's profession doesn't allow weapons at all times might pick monk (Bodyguard to a delegate, for instance).
A Dwarf who, probably because of some punishment can never wield nor forge a weapon again.
Happens to be a tradition in your Dwarf's village/monestary. You wouldn't go against tradition, right?
Dwarf might be from one of the oriental-themed areas, either because dwarves are normaly there or it's an oddity.

Thank ye. ^_^

Switched the pictures. Somehow I managed to put them in the direct opposite order they were supposed to be in. :/

And with that, I believe my sheet is officially done. If Mathpro allows me to get a +5 Intimidation item, I'll switch out the Haversack and a Tree Token for it.

Also, I got a wand of enlarge person with 10 charges on it. I'm going to give that to... someone who can cast it. Like, the only thing I get from it is the 20ft reach, really (it doesn't stack with Greater Hat of Disguise), so I'll only really want it if I have to hold down a huge, flat plane with no choke points. But it'll be really good in those situations. I fully expect to not run out of charges on this adventure.

@Royston: Huh... good catch. My apologies.

Updated... lots of stuff. I traded in Dangerous Curiosity for an Heirloom Weapon, complete with fluff. If you don't like Heirloom Weapon, Mathpro or don't think I should have it, I'll take Quick Learner instead (though I'd like to keep the fluff, if you don't mind).

I wound up re-organizing my feats and giving up Binding Throw to complete Snake Style! This'll solidify my position as Tank and give me the opportunity to spend Ki/Swift Actions on other stuff, potentially. It also lets me justify Hamatula Strike later on down the road, if the game goes that far.

Added pictures for my Appearance (thanks to the relevant artists, who are not me). I should probably add one to my name, so it shows up when I post.

For skills, I traded in UMD for Survival, per Iorec's suggestion. You never know! We might have to survive on that demiplane for a while.

My items are... very different, largely in response to available buffs. I'll give a small tweak to fit in the 2.5k Intimidation item if I can have it. Will probably give up the Haversack and something else for it, since I have enough strength to carry stuff (especially since no heavy armor!) and everyone else has one.

@Iorec: Overland flight is to supply Hours/Level flight. That lets us avoid pressure-triggered traps, move around in 3 dimensions, and prevent the enemy from being out of our reach. That -said-, if we decide to go that rout It's really something that should be cast on the whole party. If we want overland fight, I'd suggest everyone casting their own copy of it and then Jorge and Royston each casting it once more to snag us. Otherwise, for more situational uses of Flight, the Fly spell is better.

Oh! And you should look at the miracle that is the Greater Hat of Disguise. Small size, +2 Dex, disguising yourself as stuff, all for 12k. I just found it.

Hey Iorec! Welcome to the thread. :) The DM already explained everything to me early in this thread, so you get to benefit from my newbishness (I'm in that position there with ya). Also! Since you're the Rogue and I'd be supporting you skill-wise, is there any skill you'd particularly like me to cover / like support in? I'm looking to replace UMD (which you have as well, I believe?)

@Rodolpho: Overland Flight, please. It's basically required at this level, sadly.

@Royston: Nice Spell Penetration. I believe Iorec should have UMD as well, but I'll keep it (TWO back-ups!) if there's no other skill that needs to be covered. :)

@DM Mathpro: May I please have a +5 Competence Bonus to Intimidate item for 2.5k? That seems to be the standard price for items that grant skill bonuses like that. Alternatively, can move the location of Circlet of Persuasion to somewhere (probably wrist, to make a Bracelet of Persuasion!) else? Multiplying the cost by 1.5 (4,500*1.5=6,750) if necessary.

Excellent! Thanks, Gerald. I notice Jorge, conceptually, has a focus on buffing too. And Desriden's character is a cleric--traditionally also great at buffing. You guys should decide amongst yourselves who casts what buff so we don't get terribly many duplicates. I'll be appreciative either way.

@DM: Hopefully this is acceptable? Also discovered I was accidently giving myself less HP and a feat!

@Desriden: Glad you could join us! I'm playing a neutral character, but keep in mind I'm a monk. I can take quite a beating from magical sources before I have to sweat. As an example, I have a will save of +20 and SR 24 against Holy Smite! I'm not sure, but I think you can even deliberately choose to fail vs my SR if you need to?

@Group: I suddenly find myself with a 9th level feat to spend. I'm actually not terribly attached to Binding Throw, although it's better than nothing, and sometimes useful. I'm gonna cover this tomorrow, and am open to suggestions.

Also, I question the usefulness of UMD in a party with so many spellcasters. I may switch out Dangerously Curious. Can anyone think of a useful skill they'd like me to have or another good trait to replace it with?

I'll also take a better look at the spell lists then. It's too early to be conscious of the ramifications.