Indeed it was fun. Thank you for having me here, I had a blast. Happy gaming to everyone.
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Just want to say that I'm here, and hope that all goes well.
Still not fighting at the top of his form, Caldariel continued to lash out. He blamed his sluggishness on the aquatic environment. It was easier to do so than to hold himself to account.
I'd hate to see the campaign die. It's well run, and it's the kind of campaign that really requires that kind of quality GM attention. While I am making an international trip soon, I'd personally want to keep going. But if we do stop, or even pause, please keep me in mind should you wish to restart at some point.
Arani was dead. It shook Caldariel to see her go down. While he did not really know anyone here quite that well, it was a reminder of how this was a life and death struggle. His attacks were not quite as accurate as they otherwise might have been, as her brutal death gave him a moment's pause. But the moment passed, as he focused back on the task at hand. Mourning would have to come later. He was a good enough doktor to know a fatal wound when he saw one..
I came in later to this campaign, so I haven’t seen that. That being the case…try sacrificing a dice, or making a dice jail. Back in my warhammer days it was always wise to appease the dice gods.
Your last full attack was a 12/4/8 to hit
Your dice rolls seem fine to me. The issue is that you have a dual wielding character who has no dual wield features. You have a weak Paladin archetype. You have the option to rebuild. And yet you keep complaining about dice rolls being too low. I say: Accept that difficulty happens by terrain just as much by AC. Sometimes it stops us in our tracks. Last encounter Caldariel was screwed over. It happens! Accept that dice rolls can be low. Be it wizards missing scorching ray, or enemies making all their saves. Or someone enchantment focused fighting undead. I’m just…sorry. But I can’t feel bad about bad dice rolls. Or unfavorable terrain. If you want to fix build issues then do so. If you want a new character then do so. But I just really don’t see anything worth feeling sorry over
"Good!" Caldariel exclaimed, as his fist connected with the back of a skum's head. "Saves us the effort of hunting them down." He had a good feeling about the situation. Between being better prepared and Falina's magic, he was certain that this would become a watery tomb for their aquatic foes.
Well, sorry to see you go. I hope that in your future games the dice are kinder to you and that you have the tools for dealing with unfavorable terrain.
Lvl 5: 10.5k WBL
T'chazzar has: 2x mithral shortswords (6k), +1 chain shirt (1k), +1 ring of protection (2k) and some cash. So he is at about 9.5k. Caldariel has: Belt (4k), liquid glass handwraps (800), +1 armor (about 1.5k), ring of protection (2k), +1 buckler (1k) and cash (1k). Quick math puts Caldariel at about 10k...more with healing gear. But I really think that is best considered for the party. <shrugs> Arani has: +1 shadow studded leather (2kish top of my head), +1 Composite Longbow (2.5kish) and lots of arrows (god if I know...maybe 1k?) and 1k on hand. So she has roughly 6k right now. Faline has...the least. A whip, a cloak and some wands. If anything, Caldariel has the most loot. Especially if his healing gear is counted. -------------- Anyways. Just eyeballing things, I see everyone as being behind WBL. Which makes sense to me. This is a rebellion against a powerful dictatorship. The group scrapes by whatever it can get while trying to avoid detection. It makes things harder, yes. But it's also thematic. -------------- I think that some of the frustration, to be honest, is the build. T'chazzar has Str13 Dex17. He uses Dex to hit, yes, but he uses Str for damage. This leaves you at 1d6+2 damage (+1 str, +1 enchantment). That is very low for Lvl 6. Most of his damage comes from smite evil, but that is a very limited resource. +3 hit (cha) and +6 damage (lvl). So when smiting, you go from +11/+6 (1d8+2/19-20/x2; piercing) to +14/+9 (1d8+8/19-20/x2; piercing). Unasked for advice. Only read if you want to: To put this in perspective...a lvl 1 Monk with a masterwork temple sword and power attack. Str18. +5/+5 (1d8+6/19-20/x2). Even with smite evil, T'chazzar's damage is just too low. --------------- Now, my unwarranted advice? If you want to dual wield, what you need are ways to push the damage up without using your smite evil. I would advise respeccing from Gray Paladin (6) into: (2) [url=https://www.d20pfsrd.com/classes/core-classes/paladin/archetypes/paizo-paladin-archetypes/virtuous-bravo-paladin-archetype/]Virtuious Bravo Paladin (2) [url=https://www.d20pfsrd.com/classes/hybrid-classes/slayer/archetypes/paizo-slayer-archetypes/deliverer/]Deliverer Slayer (4). (3) Paladin (3) Sanctified Unchained Rogue (3). This is just to get Dex to Damage with both weapons while dual wielding. The archetype does nothing until lvl 4, which you don't really need to take. But the flavor is there. With the first option you dump dual wielding. Trade the second sword for a buckler. This nets you...
To hit: +6 (BaB) + 3 (Dex) + 1 (WF) + 1 (Enchantment) = +11/+6
------- With the second option, you get to be much better at dual wielding. You get access to ranger combat styles (great free feats that ignore prerequisites), sneak attack (an extra 1d6 really helps) and deliverer abilities (lvl 10 is when it really pays off. A straight +2d6 damage against nearly all enemies is wonderful). I personally use Paladin (2) Deliverer Slayer (rest) when playing wrath of the righteous. The damage is very solid with Shield Master and I love having great AC. ---------- With the third option, your build will remain pretty similar. But you get +2d6 sneak attack (that is a *HUGE* damage spike, and you get dex to damage with both weapons while dual wielding! And you only lose 1 point of BaB! You can even use your lvl 2 rogue talent for an extra feat. So this nets you free weapon finesse, free weapon focus, and all of the extra damage on top of it. It's really hard to beat this from a pure numbers point of view, as this is grabbing you an extra 2 feats. --------------- Basically what I'm getting at, is that T'chazzar is not going to have any real damage spikes from what I can see. Even if he was at WBL he would probably remain frustrating. Dual Wielding in pathfinder is really hard to pull off. I've only seen a few builds that due to very well, and sadly paladins are just not that good at it. But with some changes to the build, he can become very effective, even with low WBL
You have 15HP left, two enemies around you, and a bunch of attacks to make. So don't give up! And if you are feeling unhappy with your character's mechanics, I (and I'm sure the others) would be happy to give you some advice.
Caldariel found his head stuck to the corpse of the skum he had killed. He barely ripped it free in time to meet the next one that came at him. Dodging more by luck than anything else, he swiped at it with a closed hand, aiming for it's neck. It was made purely out of reflex, with the elf moving in, hopefully getting with in it's reach so that it would be hard to use its weapon effectively.
Being much better prepared, Caldariel moved with a surprising amount of speed. Shooting through the water, he went in head first, slamming his head into that of the skum. His horned mask cut deep, causing the water around them to run red.
Empowered by his mask, the elf eagerly heeded the call for decisive action. Swimming as it though he was born for it, he gave his all to the pursuit.
I am *BEYOND* stupid. I completely forgot that my archetype gives alter self at min/lvl. So Caldariel has 6 minutes per day of +2 strength and 30ft swim speed. My god...such a dumb mistake to make. At least I finally caught it...right?
If nobody is going to claim it, then Caldariel will claim the ring of protection +2, paying for it out of his share of the rest of the loot.
Caldariel listened to the arguments and sighed. He appreciated Setrona's assistance, but hated that it was needed. "I am loathe to say it, but I believe that Setrona is right. We need to get into contact with Captain Sargaeta. If we can all get potions that would allow us the 'touch of the sea', as mariners put it, then we could turn the tide on this damnable mage. Hopefully catch it by surprise as well. Another option that we could do is a wand which summons arcane monsters. A squid or two, to grapple the mage, would come in handy, would it not?"
"Yes, and I almost passed the Starstone Test." Caldariel said, annoyance and frustration in his voice. "Either way, it doesn't matter. Let's just get out of here before that wizard comes back with reinforcements."
”Sadly, I am beyond useless down here. As much as it hurts my ego, it is best for us to leave while it is possible for all of us to do so.”
Enchanted such as he was, there was nothing Caldariel could do. Raging at his impotence all he could do was slowly move after the enemy.
Given the magic that slowed him down, Caldariel couldn't attack. All he could do was get into position.
Finally Caldariel got the dust out of his eyes. He didn’t reign to say anything back. Rather he called out ”Surround it! It’s the only way to take it down.”
Slowed to a crawl, Caldariel took the full brunt of the spell. Left blind, all he could do was stop and try (in vain) to clear his eyes. "I can't see..." Caldariel said. "Just...wait...damnations..."
Feeling as if though he were moving through molasses, Caldariel could only slowly stagger after the creature. So long as it remained in water and took small five foot steps, he was essentially helpless and was unable to harm it. It was a less than ideal situation.
Unable to truly unleash himself upon the creature due to the water, Caldariel managed to throw a single punch. It was a decent one, at least, as he gave as good as he got. Better, even, thanks to Jessibel’s magic.
Caldariel continued towards the mage, showing no signs of hesitation.
Caldariel took off swimming after the creature, heedless of any risk. He had come close to catching it, and he certainly did not want to let it escape. Not before he felt its blood run freely through his hands. There was much he wished to do it and not much time available…
Using combat maneuvers in place of AOO
Uncaring of whether it left him open to harm, Caldariel did all he could to prevent the creature from fleeing. Seeing it go for the secret door, he attempted to knock it down, so that his comrades would have a chance at stopping it.
With the creature falling, Caldariel took the opportunity to charge forward after the spellcaster.
Caldariel dodged out of the way...mostly...from the lightning bolt. While it still singed him, it meant that he was in no way able to take advantage of the caster fleeing.
With the other creature attacking him, he was barely able to get to his feet, dodge it's attack, and get in a single counter punch. While the exchange could have gone better, it was also true that it could have gone much worse.
Caldariel moved up to attack, but stumbled as the bolt of lighting hit him head on. He still attempted a punch, but it was far from what it could be, given his lost momentum and the sudden pain.
"Ah, good, good. Let us proceed."
"Should we not investigate?" Caldariel said. "If they are indeed summoning an ancient evil beneath our town, then letting them finish their plans could lead to a less than ideal outcome."
The elf couldn't speak aboleth, but it didn't bother him that he couldn't tell what they were saying. They had attacked while he had his mask on, which meant that he was not inclined to accept their surrender either way. He continued to attack without hesitation. He was only willing to stop if one of the others made it clear that it was something he had to do.
Caldariel tried to repeat his earlier success, but found it hard to replicate. They were not fighting at an even level, so getting a solid blow with his hands, or the horns of his mask, was not exactly easy to do. His best bet, it seemed, as with his feet. A fighting style that wasn't what he was used to.
Caldariel grinned behind his mask, as the creatures came out of the water to attack them. Given that he was on firm footing, he was able to time his counter attack. He waited until the skum made it's move. Once it was within arm's reach, he reached out and grabbed it. Pulling it towards him, he delivered a chitin-shaking headbutt, and then brought his knee up in a further effort to crack it open.
[b]"Yes.{/b] Caldariel responded. Given that they were already in the water, there was no need to clean any blood off of himself. As such, he moved forward, taking point as the group moved on.
Caldariel operated in the water with poise and grace. He was so focused on the fight, that it barely registered to him that he was not on solid ground. He feinted with his cestus, only to come in with a vicious headbutt with his horned mask.
Heads up: I will be on vacation from Sat - Sat
Finding it impossible to punch under water, Caldariel used the sharp edges of his cestus and the horns of his mask different than what he was used to. Rather than punching, he sought to puncture and pierce, aiming for pressure points, as well as the eyes, throat and groin. Any place that would cause either the most damage, or pain.
Caldariel went out and purchased for himself a cestus. It was more cumbersome than what he was used to, but he reasoned that if there was a chance of fighting underwater, then he would need something that could do damage even without having too much force behind it.
Much obliged. Loot lists can take awhile to make
Resurfacing, Caldariel reported his findings to the group. He was no Wizard, so he hoped someone with that specialty could provide guidance.
With his mask on, Caldariel was spoiling for a fight. With a curt nod he went forward, eager to explore further.
”There are no ways forward but this. Either we solve this puzzle or we retreat.” Caldariel said. ”And I do not fancy speaking with that ghost again. If nobody else wants to chance it, then I will give it my best shot.”
"Ah yes, dibs." Caldariel said. "The gentlemanly way of resolving property disputes." He looked away from the capstone. He was a doktor, not an engineer, an architect or a mage. "Let us go to the room across the hall. It is more productive than staring in slack jawed awe like dwarves seeing the ocean for the first time."
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