Cale Noor's page

I have to admit, I take to the shepherd role very easily with Andrus. He leads, but mostly because the others don't care to. If someone suggests a better option, he will take it, but absent of that, he keeps moving forward.

Being the so-called "leader", Andrus allows me to be in on the decision-making and calling the shots, which I as a player enjoy. I can do other roles, but someone needs to be the one holding the group together.

Now that I have removed the range 5 problem and retrained my luck dailies (as they were not very useful so far and probably won't be later either), Andrus should be more fun to play. That is the problem with a theme, it can trap you into a bad power selection or two. the Divine Fortune with the feat boost should have been enough for my theme. I am going to look for a power that allows allies to gain saving throws since we obviously need it.

One of the new special implements allows some of the clerics powers to go to 7 range :)

I suppose I could get the superior implement feat. i always do for my wizards and sorcerers. that +2 to certain energy types stacks with other bonuses like the one from arcane reserves. i have a wizard who can do 12 hp of force autodamage with his magic missile spell. 14, if he uses his encounters first. at level 5, no less. thanks to the energized [force] element of the pertified orb or the guardian staff. 2+4 for the spell, +2 for energized, +2 for implement enhancement, and +2 for bracers of perfect shot (since MM is a ranged basic attack). add to that wizard's fury (cast mm as a minor) and it is 24 or 28 autodamage every round for the entire encounter. having this gem of an at-will means I can focus on encounters and dailies that do more controlling (sleep, icy terrain, etc) and not worry about the damage. to be honest, i was kind of hoping Andrus wouldn't make it so I could pull him, my stone fist monk, or my "Stormchilde" sorcerer out and play one of them. But it wasn't meant to be. I also made a halfling swashbuckler rogue based off of Reepicheep from the Narina movies. (with a little Puss in Boots thrown in) I think he would be awesome to play. I even have his favorite catchphrases and attitude down. Someday. *sigh*

Maybe next time. :(

Did you fill your missing spot? I noticed a notice on the gamer connection page that stated back on the 7th that you might need a new player. I would honored to be considered. (I love Star Wars)

What role do you need? I have been wanting to play a StarWars game for a long time. It's still Star Wars 3.5, right?

I like to play scoundrels and scouts and of course, jedis.

I have a question, Rosey. Say if Kel escapes the cube next round (standard) and tries to climb the wall and fails (no stairway on this end). Can I use my turn to drop the rope to him (minor) and pull him up(str check?)? Or how can I help him up? Could I drop the rope to him and then fall off the other end, pulling him up and taking falling damage?

I just don't want him in the squares behind the cube where the cube can engulf him again. If he escapes, can he determine which square he is in or is it just the closest one? I kind of figured he would escape to nearest free sq or I6. But if he could escape to any sq, he could escape out and move away.

Thanks everyone for your input. I think it will help. As we continue the adventure, try to find ways to connect with the other characters. I think it builds a better game and makes it more enjoyable for everyone. 'Nuff said.

And note, Davi, that the "dwarf without a beard" is forgeborn, so has no hair at all . . .

Kitherra has NO HAIR? Like that dwarf monk from Neverwinter Nights? WOW! That's a different image than what I was thinking (mostly 4E dwarven women pictures).

Amy, I want to get to know Kitherra's personality and how she sees herself as a female in a group of guys. Obviously, you don't want us hitting on you. ;) Does she poo-poo Andrus's chivalrous behavior or does she like it, because she is not used to getting that kind of treatment? Is she proudly bald or does she cover her head (with a helmet, a hat or a head scarf)?

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And Pat, cool with me. Loose, it is. It was you and me, then, and you mostly know Zareth through me. (maybe you drank with us once) When I got to Winterhaven, I met up with you and the two of us decided to go adventuring together. We then met Kel and Tenja, who maybe introduced us to Kitherra and then I dragged Zareth in at the last minute. We've done a few things and become pretty good friends.

I like Kel's new backstory, Xabulba.

Just a couple more questions to answer-
Why does he hang out with us?
Did he know Tenja growing up?
Are you cool with being considered Tenja's "little brother"? Or do you want a different relationship?
Do like to take point in party order? Or rear-guard? I can see you doing both.

Gah. Blocks of text... Will... fading...

Okay, really, I see Zareth as a charming man. (Link mostly unrelated) If he likes you, he's as sophisticated a gentleman you can ask for. If he doesn't, then he still acts as charming as ever, but with a distinct sense that he could make you think someone just put an ice pick in your head. Sure, he's vindictive, but at least he's polite about it. Now that I think about it, he is turning into a bit of a Byronic hero.

As for the connection with Andrus, that's fine by me. Sure, Zareth acts like a bit of a hellion at times, but it's good to have a friend to get drunk and discuss man's place in the cosmos with. As for the first adventure, I was actually thinking that you/rest of the party got into the adventure then basically forced him to come along for arcane support. After that, one thing lead to another, a stage got burnt down and he's stuck with the group.

Works for me. So I'll be the spokesperson, then? Zareth sounds a little too self-absorbed to care what others think of him. Or what they think of the group. That way, you can play him as you like and not have to worry about group dynamics. Fair enough?

One of the things I most like about pbp as a medium is that it allows characters to evolve in a very organic way. By all means build as much or as little backstory as any of you want, but don't feel compelled to sort out every detail right now. Sometimes stuff just comes up during in-game conversation :)

The flavour on this one is coming through in the game thread already, for example - and that makes me happy. Hopefully, you too.

I just don't want a repeat of last game. we had some very interesting characters, but no connection, besides kel, kelgan, and I (from the previous game). I am willing to let some things develop over the course of the story, but I want a backstory that pulls the party together. It is one thing to say everyone is friends, but unless you know how or why, it is meaningless. When the stuff hits the fan, who are you going to trust?

Rev

And Andrus is positive, not happy. good-natured and optimistic. it's a fine line, but happy makes him sound like one of the seven dwarfs.
i'm just saying.

Andrus is so good-natured, he doesn't care how the DM describes him.

Between them, Reason the super-tiefling and Kia the girl-scout can heal the entire party without breaking a sweat. I need to do something about that at some point.

Waves. Waves of opponents. Start with minions. LOTS of minions. like 20 or 30 of them. Then move up a ranged controller with a couple of brutes for protection. Or a row of archers with 3 or foot soldiers to block for them. Then another wave of minions. Then a solo or something.

How are they at moving through difficult terrain? I remember a giant spider/ettercap encounter you pulled on us in Spellguard that was almost impossible. And it all had to do with difficult terrain. Ettercap webspinner and giant spiders and even a phase spider, I think. It was worse than that vampire with the cool personality.

Actually, it's not just male tieflings. Most of the non-elf/eladrin male avatars are pretty... well, sucky. They are all grim and ugly or old. The ones I like are either women or elves. But I didn't want to play an elf cleric. less skills, less int (because you build with the racial bonus, not against it), and less feats. And I wanted both greater divine fortune (to make that use of channel divinity actually useful) and power of luck (to make lance of faith more critical) and the skill power for faith healing. I juggled the elf stuff and couldn't make it work. I was going to be more woodsy and be a nature cleric, but the cleric powers do not lend themselves to that theme. (everything is radiant this and that) I guess it would be cool to be an archer cleric (to harken back to the old days of 3.0), but there is like one or two ranged weapon clerical powers. Lame.

Basically, I can commiserate with you, Davi. I'll pretend that purple tiefling girl is a studly tiefling guy. And never call you "darling". :)

So Amy and I and Davi and Detritus are all taking the Swift Jaguar feat, yes? And Pat and Xabulba are taking the guild feat grasping magpies to boost Kel's thievery, yes?

Only if all four of us take that feat do we get the full +5 to initative. Otherwise, it is less.

By the by, Amy, Swift Jaguar caps at +5 (+2 for the feat and +1 if another person with this feat is within 10 sq- max +5) all of the tribal feats cap at +5. but I can still use an extra +5 for initiative, it is just not as good as you indicated. That brings me to a respectable +7 at level 5.

Detritus meant Kelgan, not Kel. And Kelgan is a defender, so if Davi still wants to play him, he can and then Detritus can choose a controller if he wants. Personally, I like the idea of another defender. My cleric is a non-melee type. He's no pacifist, but he will shoot his lance of faith more often than not.

I like the tribal feats. Swift Jaguar, Enduring Mountain, Watchful Owl or Courageous Heart would be my choices. (In that order) I suck at Init, Enduring Mountain makes us stronger as a party (better healing), Watchful Owl boosts Perception, and Courageous Heart makes us more fearless. These are also easily explained because we have gotten used to each other over the years and it has strengthened our group dynamic. I think we should all take the same one. To maximize our bonus.

Andrus, my cleric, as far as skills go is good at Perception, Insight, Arcana, Religion, and Heal. He is high Cha (16) and high Wis (19) so he is average on all the other Wis and Cha based skills. (+5 or +6)

Okay, I've got one, but I don't know how good he is. I went with a Luck theme so we can use Tymora or Avandra. I got the Skill power feat, so he can use healing word twice/encounter, cure light wounds (daily), and faith healing(daily). And Sacred Flame grants temp hp. We should be pretty healing strong. He's going to be pretty reckless, trusting in his goddess to make it all work out. Maybe not reckless, but eager to test his luck by doing dangerous tasks. And he's looking for some brave people to help him do so.

Rev, I wouldn't mind a dungeon crawl for a change.

I could be a cleric. The only time I did one of those was in a Epic level game and it was the Epic I didn't like, not the cleric. Let me fiddle with the concept and see what I can do.

I've been meaning to try a new character anyway. (My heart hasn't been into Hobbes lately) I would be glad to reboot to a new story. I was sick of the Spellplague anyway. (unless the new story is about the Spellplague as well, lol) I can have a new character ready within an hour.

Since the advent of 4E, FR is a brand new world. I am not completely attached to playing there. We can go Eberron or a general DnD world, just not Dark Sun or Ravenloft (I don't like those worlds).

And Detrius is more than welcome from me.

Did we lose TGZ? (aka Erik the bard)

I updated Hobbes, Rosey. I picked an area burst fire spell for level 9, retrained my level 1 daily to dazzling ray (targeted spell that does radiant damage), and I changed my focus from dagger to staff implement.

I hope you don't mind. It means my implement focus feat is staff, not dagger and I changed my dagger feat (the one that lets me do ranged basic attacks as melee attacks) to improved initative. And I traded my wyrmtooth dagger+2 for the staff of ruin +2 that I wanted. That means I don't get any extra bonus to attack, just an extra +2 to damage for all my powers instead of just the ranged basic ones. I then sold my bracers of perfect shot, since they don't stack with the staff of ruin and I bought a pair of Arcanist's Glasses. Hobbes calls them his "cheaters". He only wears them when he is actively doing an Arcana check. (He thinks they make him look dorky)

If you want my new CB sheet, let me know.

Davi, I think the brawler style has a lot of potential. Instead of using combat challenge and combat superiority to hold an enemy in place, you literally hold them in place, i.e. grab. There are also a lot of hit and grab powers and hit and punch powers and even a hit and trip power. I doubt your damage potential will go up, but you might be more 'sticky'. And because you will be doing two things during your turn, you open yourself to missing more often. Like a tempest fighter. Extra attacks only mean something if you actually hit with them.

I ordered my copy of MP2 on Amazon and got it on Tuesday, so I am still looking through it.

I think the brawler style actually makes it worth it to get the improved grab feat (for the +4 feat bonus to grab attacks). Since I tend to favor two-handed weapons, that feat is a waste for my builds. But it is perfect for a brawler.

I didn't want to clog the main thread with MP2 talk.

To bolster my argument, I went back and reread the "Be Familiar" article that came out at the same time as Arcane Power. According to the Design & Development article about familiars, the article was written at the same time as the section in the book and is equally as important. In the description text of that article, the example talks to his skull familiar in Common and the skull talks to him in the arcane language. Just like I have been doing. So we'll keep going the way we've been going. :)

Yeah, Hobbes needs to rest. I had to use all my dailies and my encounters. In fact, the only power I didn't use was my Burning Spray (at will close blast) and my Elemental shift (util 2 power).

Rev, is it alright if I talk to Cassandra without always using the special arcane language? It's not RAW, but I like being able to talk to her, make asides, have one-sided conversations. I'll have her always talk to Hobbes in the special langauge(aka meowing), but what's the fun of making pithy comments when no one else can hear them? Cassie can't understand anyone else's language, just Hobbes. If it becomes an issue down the road, I will be willing to change it, but I think it works the way I have been doing it so far. Let me know.

OR I was thinking... Perhaps she understands him while in passive mode, due to their physical connection, but when she is in active mode, they have to talk aloud because they are not connected. Just a thought. Whatever you think is fine with me. Like I said, familiars in 4E are useful merely as guards and scouts, nothing else. I like the roleplaying aspect best.

Take care, man. Saving a fictious town doesn't compare to saving a real person. Good luck.

Surely would. That hits. Blasted fighters and their blasted marks. Grumble grumble.

I told you we needed a REAL fighter. That what I call sticky. :)

On a different note. I think that the Paizo dice roller hates me.

It loves Hobbes, so far. But I know what you mean. I appreciate that Rosey is okay with hand-rolling at home. It doesn't necessarily mean better results, but it makes you feel better to know it was actually rolled instead some computer algorithm.

Awww... That's too bad. Still, 14 yrs is a very long time, especially for cats(and dogs). I know that's NOT a consolation, but it is the reality. :(
Well, enjoy the time you have left with him.

Sorry, that's all I got.

How is your cat, Rose? Is it fatal? I hope not.

Did you like that, Rosey? I used the familiar to 'remind' me of something that I would not have expected to know due to an unskilled check. Cool, huh? I think I really like having a familiar. It has much more uses than I originally thought.

Brujo and Perigia - make sure you're up to date and fully statted (NOT the CB cut and paste) in your profiles if you would.

Caine, Snagg's cloak gives a +2 to Fort/Ref/Will and has a daily power I'll need to cross check unless Cale has it stashed somewhere and can remember before I find it and post. Got the file - many thanks. You also need to update your profile as above.

Just click on Snaggle's profile. It's still there, right? If not, it is listed in game on page..... 19. Reposted for your convenience.

Resplendent Cloak
Level: 8
Item Slot: Neck
Enhancement: +2 Fortitude, Reflex, and Will

Property: You and each ally within 10 squares of you gain a +2 bonus to Will against charm, fear, and illusion attacks.

Cale Noor wrote:

Xabulba wrote:

Macavity, Bustopher Jones, Mr. Mistoffelees - Quaxo, Blackpaw, Mr. Scruffy.

Girl cat, black short hair, with blue eyes, Think your typical black cat but with blue eyes instead of yellow

(but thanks for inputting)

How about Nocturne, Phantom, Azurette, Casandra.

I like Cassandra, or Cassie for short. "Sassy" Cassie. I like it. Thanks, Xabulba. And it fits with his longer names, too.

Macavity, Bustopher Jones, Mr. Mistoffelees - Quaxo, Blackpaw, Mr. Scruffy.

Girl cat, black short hair, with blue eyes, Think your typical black cat but with blue eyes instead of yellow

(but thanks for inputting)

Too many K-names, Rosey, so I am changing mine. Let me think about it tonight and get back to you tomorrow. I have a few standard names to fall back on. I am also altering the backstory, slimming it down like we talked about. I will have everything fixed by tomorrow. (Including the avatar and profile) I have a good feeling. We needed the fighter. Not sure of the assassin. Can she pick locks? Oh, well, we'll see how it goes.

Remember what I said, Rosey. If one of the new recruits does not want to be a true fighter, then they can be a sorcerer and I will take the fighter role. Not a warden, not a paladin, but a fighter.

On a personal note, do you think Pat would like to come back? I always liked playing with him. I don't converse with him, so I don't know his status.

And I am always in favor of balancing our guy/girl ratio. But expecting to find a reliable female gamer who isn't our DM is unrealistic, but I still hold out hope.

That's all my stated preferrences.

No offense to Hopeless or Rad, we've been together awhile, but we need to recruit. At least one player, maybe two. And please for the love of pete, make one of them a true fighter. We need stickiness from our meleers. If one of the recruits would prefer to play the sorcerer, I would be glad to take the meat shield role. I only chose the sorcerer to balance out the melee-heaviness of the paladin and warlord. (and swordmage and bard)

Like when Dave left us for awhile, we brought Perigia back when he could join us again. I propose we do the same for our ertzwhile companions. Rather than you having to DMPC them so often, Rosey.

That's just my opinion.

Whatever everyone else wants to do is fine with me. But if I had my choice, either our buds need to post more regularly or we will have to replace them until they can.

Rosey,

You should have my email with my write-up. As well as my ideas for a background. I like the government agent part of it, but I think I went too far with the whole 'spy' thing. A sorcerer would not make a good spy, too dangerous. I think it would be better if the Dragons were more like the sorcerer-equivalent of the Simbarchs and the War Wizards. That way we have the special training, but don't slide over into roguish or bardish territory. I will keep the lute and the musician cover however, or at least the amateur lute playing. He can do it to "impress the ladies" but Erik should be frustrated by his lack of skill.

I like the "trying to prove himself" motivation. He could be wandering around looking for trouble so that he can then ride in and save the day. I might even make him bigger than life. Boisterous, full of himself a bit. Prone to exaggeration and bold-face lying. I don't know. I guess I am all over the map on this one. A little help, maybe?

Yay! Then my sorcerer's damage quotient should be excellent, if he hits. And it fits my elemental theme, fire, acid, and cold. I am almost finished. I just to finish the writeup on the background. I have a loose idea, but have not written it down yet.

Rosey,

I have a question. The descriptions for Dragonfrost and Acid Orb state that they can be used as a basic ranged attack. The description for the Bracers of the Perfect Strike say that they give a +2 to damage on basic ranged attacks. The Character Builder interprets this as a +2 for damage on these at-will powers. Do you concur with this assessment? Because Dragonfrost is alright with the cold and the push, but Blazing Starfell is the only area burst at-will a sorcerer gets and it is radiant so it is quite effective against those pesky undeads. even without the extra cosmic magic effect and the minimal base damage (1d4, smallest for an arcane power), it is tempting. I need the fire blast spell to keep people away and protect myself if they get too close and acid orb is a range 20. So without the extra damage bonus, I might consider the area burst. But what is the difference between a basic ranged attack and an at-will that can be used as a basic ranged attack anyway? I think that is why the CB gives the +2 for those powers. Let me know what you think.

And with Str as a secondary attribute, his melee basic attack won't completely stink, either.

I just have one question, how much 'stuff' does a level 7 character get? I looked for wealth by level rules and can't find them.

Oh, so you wanted me to write it up, ok? Got it. We'll go with the dragon magic sorcerer. We have a lot of melee, but we don't have much in the way of magic and ranged. I think it could a better fit. I will write it up this weekend and get it to you before Monday. We will still be finishing this plot up by then. Between the beholder and whatever else is waiting for us, I figure I have until then. I will come up with the background but you will have to help me fit it into the next plot.

O.K.?

Yes, Rose?

Well, you said to post my new character ideas. My two favorite ones are the female dwarven battlerager, with warhammer and shield. Helja Hammerfist, I believe I called her. I haven't played a dwarf in a while and the battlerager is an interesting build.

The other one is a greatsword fighter with plate armor. I don't have all the details worked out yet, but I want to be able to stand in there with the heavies in combat. (I read the Dragon article and it got me thinking about this)

Both of these would give me the combat challenge feature, which would make us more sticky in combat.

OR

and I just thought of this. Aglarond sorcerer, human dragon magic build. One of the Simbul's forgotten "children", part of the program the Simbul set up to raise up magical weapons to fight against Thay. She would test all the kids in Aglarond and when she found a likely candidate, she would move them into the palace and teach them magic. Simbul's been gone for many years, no one knows where, but she left the training program in place. This character would be one of those trainees. Read the fluff section on the Simbarch of Aglarond paragon path (FRPG) for the gist of what I am saying. While the paragon path is for wizards, given Simbul's makeover in 3E as a sorcerer, it seems likely she had a program for them, too. Part of an elite spellcaster unit called the Dragons of Aglarond. Although I would not get my bloodlust satisfied with this character, it is a striker and with the Str bonus and the Arcane reserves feat, we are talking about +5 for most of the at-will damage at range.

Well, that's what I got so far. What do you think? (Everyone who wants to, please chime in! I welcome all opinions, no matter how stupid-just kidding.)

That you did, that you did. That was some kind of combo you just did. Very impressive.

I will say this, Rosey has set up a very intersting moral dilemna. Volkath obviously doesn't see himself as evil, just committed to the Dreamer's cause. His actions thus far, from his perspective, were necessary to achieve his goals or rather the Dreamer's goals as told to him by Perigia's sister. The Dreamer himself, in the dream skill challenge, referred to what Volkath was doing as a good cause. So in the back of my mind, I am constantly debating our course of action. At first, when we were with the pilgrims and we were viciously attacked, it was a simple 'stop the evil cult and return the artifact' kind of mission. Then she starts dropping these clues that perhaps it is more complicated than that. Finally, she has Volkath make a direct appeal to Perigia on behalf of her sister. Kudos, Rosey, Kudos. You have me doubting myself while I continue to complete the original mission.

I think for my next character I will make a female dwarven battlerager. Or maybe a dragonborn or human greatsword fighter. Being a rogue is just not cutting it for me in combat. Sure I can dish out 46 hp in damage in a single round, but then I took 40 hp of damage back in enemy attacks. Since things are not looking very good for us, I thought I would start thinking about my next character. Also I have been reading the fighter essential articles in Dragon and are eager to take a stab at playing a fighter.

I just wrote a two page (at least) stream of consciousness post that took too long to complete and so was eaten by the board when I posted it. In it, I talked about fighters and rogues, how much I enjoy playing Snaggletooth, and analyzed our fighting style- particularly mine own and came to a couple of conclusions.

1. I need to stop charging into combat in the first round. Despite my first strike ability, I do not have the hp or the AC to survive this kind of pummeling.

2. As a party, we don't deal enough damage per attack and we don't absorb enough attacks. Our AC and defenses are not high enough. I don't know how to correct this, but it is a problem. These berserkers have really brought this out. We are in the midst of a slugfest and our opponents have better defenses and better attacks. Or seem to, anyway. We will see. If these seers can summon more berserkers like the other one could, we are in major trouble.

All is not lost, there is hope. We have two leaders and a paladin. But if we keep missing and they keep hitting, poor Snaggletooth and his friends will not survive this battle and I will have to finish up Helja Hammerfist's backstory and bring her on-line. Or maybe Darien Blake, former corporal of the Waterdeep Guard. I really need to get some sleep. This insomina really sucks.

I agree, TGZ, so which one of you guys wants the magic cloak. Speak up. I had Snaggletooth wear it until someone else claims it. Rosey is chomping at the bit to get going, so let me know if you want it.

So, we've got some magical treasure, people. a +2 weapon that can target Will instead of whatever defense the attack regularly makes and a +2 defenses cloak which helps everyone against charms and illusions. [u]Of course I want them both, but that wouldn't be fair.[/u] Perigia got the amulet and the weapon from the south table and I got the cloak from the north statue. Dave is pretty much set on the amulet and I am cool with that, since we couldn't have gotten it as easy without Perigia.

Who's already got a defenses boosting item? Erik does, that's it. So we've got four people who can benefit from it. (Caine, Brujo, Leo and Snaggletooth) Do you want to roll for it? (using IC to be fair) Or is somebody going to give up their claim.

As I said, the rest of you have +2 weapons, only Snaggletooth and Erik don't. Can I PLEASE have the will attacking weapon? I don't mind being targeted by spellplagued. (that and the projects murderous thoughts while attacking are the two drawbacks)