Gonna have to go with Magic Missle here.
First spell I ever casted, and I don't think I've ever had a Magic User without it.
Reliable and Scalable!
Quickened Dispel Magic is usually guaranteed a slot or two as well.
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Out of the class skills... only 1 is from an ability score that gets a bonus, and 6 out of the 9 are based in ability scores that receive penalties. That doesn't seem right IMO. The ability score mods look a bit unbalanced to me as well. And if they fear little, why don't they get a bonus? Otherwise, they fear as much as everyone else, excepting halflings who fear less.
Crumbles - I wouldn't call that kobold/goblin encounter a CR 4. You need to adjust it because the terrain was perfect the bad guys. It's no wonder they kicked your player's collective asses. You're right. It was CR 3 Kobold NPC + CR 1+1/2 worth of goblins. The terrain was perfect for the bad guys because the party was tracked and the terrain was selected by the Kobold; he was familiar with the cavern. Kobolds are not stupid, he basically set up the ambush as the players went down a dead end path in the dungeon; that's all included in being smart, skilled and lv 3 =) It was possible for the PCs to find out they were being tracked and set up, but they failed the skill checks. It was the final climactic encounter before lv 4. What screwed the party was the surprise round. I didn't expect it to be this bad: *thwap* Barbarian takes 5 (fails Save) and he's blind; *BOOM* Priest fails save goes deaf .... roll initiave >=) Yes, DM's make mistakes, but I made it up to them =) Just prior to that encounter they took out 3 bugbears and after that a troll (they had terrain advantage here), both with no problem!
What I don't get is how low CR zombies are I think they factor in the INT and WIS of 0, easy to Turn/Rebuke, and they have little to no ranged attack potential. But yeah, in a 20x20 room with no immediate exit the CR does seem a bit low. If you're having trouble with 15th level+ over-powered PC's, just use a combo I like to call "Enemy Wizards + Mordekainen's Disjunction". That spell en masse will ruin just about any occasion (ruins the mood and the game, too!) Also, try giving unique feats to Monsters, too. Like giving a Minotaur the feat that lets you Charge with one 90-degree turn... that's good for bypassing the fighters and Bull Charging the Wizard in the back.
After careful review, I think that the Trap the Soul question is correct in that it would have to be cast upon the phylactery rather than the Lich-Queen. However, I am not about to go changing the ending of the story to fit the rules when the way it happened was so incredibly exciting that it was better as a story-line. Yeah.. the actual answer is "whatever the DM says, goes", but I was just wondering what the general thought on the matter was. So can you Trap the Soul on a vampire then? As far as Sundering the Scepter of Ephelomon, take a look at the description of that item in the adventure and in the Planar Handbook. It states that the weapon can only be damaged by the claws of Bahamut or one of his chosen vassals. The paladin in my party WAS a Vassal of Bahamut. That is the ONLY reason why he was able to sunder the Scepter. It was also the main reason why the party even attempted to destroy the Lich-Queen in the first place...but that is another story entirely. Ah! I see the Paladin now! Great story, must've made for a climactic ending then!
Cold Steel, you're right. That's one of the few Dragon magazine's I own... I ordered it along with the Dungeon including "Lich Queen's Beloved" Yeah, it's good. Want to see more!
I once attacked a 14th level PC party with an EL 14 worth of Rust Monsters. Whatever it says about larger #'s being easier to handle than smaller #'s is not true for Rust Monsters =)
Yeah, I got one. Any monster +HD =) Strange as it may be, most of my PC's die to your typical dungeon monsters.. like hordes of Monstrous Spiders (at least 6 PC's) or Bugbears (so underestimated *shakes head*). BTW, I typically run low level games due to a lack of a constant gaming circle. I recall one NPC villain group that did a surprising number on the PCs. It was a Goblin war band tweaked to sneaking and ambush encounters led by a Kobold ranger/thief. For the Kobold, I kept his equip simple (plain even for melee) and loaded him with NPC gp value worth of Blinding arrows, and distributed some of his gold in Thunderstones to the various goblins. Using the Kobolds skills (not just a DM device), he set up an ambush that just started off bad for the PCs. In 3 rounds each PC was either deaf or blind, which made sneaking a breeze for the Goblins and sneak attack arrow shots constant. They were also attacked on all corners by covered/concealed archers far in the distant darkness. It went from really bad to worst and worst.. I had to intervene and fudge some rolls just to keep the party alive and roll the story onward. And it was like a CR 4 encounter vs. a group of 4 Lv 3 players. BTW, one cool thing about kobolds is they have 30ft movement even though they are small! If they saved well it may have been different. But when you're blind/deaf and surrounded....
Haven't watched mine with any gamer friends either.. everyone who has seen it though has had a blast watchin' it. Makes for a good group effort! We played at a party I threw last weekend and everyone was trippin' out when the party got wasted! =) So there are 2 All ok and 2 bad endings, and one happy happy ending?!? I thought there were only 4? I think there was a Demo CD that came with a Dungeon Magazine? Either that or I just got the Demo in the mail seperate, which the only reason I can fathom is because I have a Dungeon subscription... NE way, it's good. I got mine at Walmart, so you should be able to pick it up just about anywhere.
Scourge of World: D&D Interactive DVD Just thought I'd bring this up here since I got a demo copy with Dungeon Mag. Picked this up on a whim (never bothered to watch the demo) and I was really surprised! It was well worth the $$$. The graphics are good, the story is entertaining, and it's great for sittin' back with the friends. We're currently working it into a drinking game 8) I hope to see more products like these! There is definately room for improvement, but I know that with some criticism and support the future releases will get better and better. Good stuff!
First off, let me say I own and have read every Downer comic since #1. The plot is confusing and it seems to go no where fast, but it has some witty moments. It's no Mt. Zogon, however. IMHO, every Dungeon/Dragon comic strip should aspire to be as entertaining as Knights of the Dinner Table, by far my favorite strip of all time!
Since the Lich-Queen's spell resistance was almost impossible to beat, the mage in the party used a scroll from ages ago in party treasure: a Scroll of Trap the Soul. And, darn my dice, it came up a natural 1 on the save.... This brings up an interesting rules discussion: Can you "Trap the Soul" on a Lich? As I DM, I'd rule that it can't be done, and here's why - The Trap the Soul text says that it traps the life force, but under the Lich template it clearly states that a Lich's life force is kept in it's phylacerty (sp?). It's already "trapped" in a different location and not within the animated corpse. My ruling would be spell fizzle. Also, Question re: Scrolls; are material components consumed during the making of a scroll, or are they provided when you use the scroll? And can you Sunder a Major Artifact? Of course, you could always just disarm the lich queen and take the scepter!
Why even limited inspiration to Bards? It seems more realistic that the ever-hacking, never-failing Fighter is going to be raising greater morale and inspiring greater courage by downing three foes with one Great Cleave; not the "no good for combat" chatty, less than powerful spell-rogue (without sneak attack) Bard by plucking a few strings. What shall be the fate of Bards? See Downer #1! =P
#1 - Dragon Mountain Q - "How many times did you memorize Chain Lightning" A - "About half as many times as I memorized Death Spell"
Cleric. Easy question for me =) In my opinion, the class offers up the greatest range of in-class variety. Multiple dieties with multiple domains, greater possibility of adopting non-class skills as domain abilities, positive/negative energies, and a huge range of spells. There are so many different types of Clerics as well: War Clerics, Buff/Weaken Clerics, Turn/Rebuke Clerics (elemental turn/rebuke Clerics), Healers, etc, etc.. Good hitpoints, all the armor, shields, and self-healing and protection spells make them hard to kill; not only can they save themselves from almost anything, they can save any party member as well. Capable melee at low levels and of course flamestrike and other offense spells at higher levels. And all the important divinition/location spells. Immense range of tactics. Domain spells, Metamagic and Creation Feats, no spellbooks or learning from scrolls to deal with; you have access to all spells. Most important of all: Roleplaying opportunities!
Haven't had the chance to run the adventure yet, but it does seem to me that disarming the scepter (without a weapon, so you get it.. via a monk perhaps) would ruin the encounter entirely. Lich-queen loses immunity to fire and is staring down two red-dragons under your command... is that really how it would work out? |