How naive of me to think I had a good build going. Really the only thing I can say in its defense is that some posters seem to be forgetting that the to-hit numbers are before dex modifiers (don't ask me why I did that, it was late), so we can mentally add +5 to each one of those.
Still, after looking at everybody's suggestions, it looks like a Shatter Defenses build is just straight-up a better direction in every way. Just 4 feats to get off the ground - Weapon Focus, Power Attack, Cornugeon Smash, Shatter Defenses - you can be setting up your own sneak attacks as soon as you hit BAB +6. And no need for CMD checks either. Better yet, Shatter Defenses makes people actually flat-footed, so Sap Master would actually function reliably in this build. And then TWF as normal.
Also, can we take a moment to talk about the Ninja's Invisible Blade technique? 1 round / level of Greater Invisibility for 1 ki point? Like I get that the Roguish types need all the mechanical help they can get (y'all have driven that one home for me), but it really seems like when you hit that point you'll never have to spend a round visible again. Kind of guarentees that you'll be sneak attacking forever, which funnily enough makes the vanilla ninja *way* more powerful than the Unchained Rogue. As far as I can tell, anyway.
So in my revised build, I'm thinking Ninja 10 (with the Shatter Defenses build), immediately grab Invisible Blade, and then 10 levels of whatever. Maybe more ninja? Slayer (for their BAB progression)? Maybe I'd take a dip in Arcanist and get Arcane trickster?
I don't know. Are there better ways to be reliably getting sneak attacks?
Here's how I built the most munchkin (kitsune) rogue I could:
The idea: This guy (let's call him 'the Drummer') can use Vulpine Charge to make a full attack at the end of a charge, (provided he started in human form), Quick Dirty Trick to replace the first attack with a dirty trick (to blind, of course), and get Sneak Attack on all subsequent attacks that round, (which is 7 attacks for his two weapons, plus bite).
I combined this with Sap Master to double the damage of each sneak attack, for a grand total of 104d6+96 precision damage per round (granted all but 8d6 of that is nonlethal). If a more lethal approach is required, the Drummer can just as easily switch to daggers (or something else) for 56d6 precision damage per round. And this is ignoring the regular damage dealt by the daggers themselves. Also, Greater Dirty Trick means that the enemy will need to take a Standard Action to remove the effect, effectively shuts him down from being any sort of threat to the PC in what little time it has remaining.
All of this is assuming that you're in human form when you make the charge, and that the GM will permit you to make a dirty trick to blind with your hands full—say, by flashing your bushy tail(s) in the enemy's face, or by using some gismo in your sleeve to fling sand at him. Or kick water from a puddle, catch his (or your) cloak with the tip of the sap and fling it to his eye level. There are a lot of options.
If you prefer hands-free, you can just as easily switch out a Rogue Talent for Stage Combatant (a feat which lets you opt for nonlethal damage without that -4 penalty) and build with brass knuckles instead, which would make it easier to do dirty trick shenanigans with your hands. Or, if you could instead get Improved Unarmed strike, and fight with one (or both!) of your hands completely free (I'm pretty sure you can use TWF with unarmed attacks). This has the disadvantage inherent in all natural attacks – you can't really pimp out a regular ol' unarmed strike with magic – but at the same time, there's something appealing in the idea of this guy reliably putting out more DPR than a monk, with his bare hands....
Anyway, here's a feat progression table that I whipped up. Note that I made this with the Unchained Rogue and Brawler archetype of the Fighter, but they're not central to the build. Also, sometimes you'll see Drummer getting a feat too many when he gets an even rogue level. In these cases, Drummer used the Rogue talent to get that feat.
2 saps, (before Dex bonus) +16/16/11/11/6/6/1/1. (+1 Weapon Focus, + 1(and +3 dmg) from Close Combatant (Brawler thing))
bite (also before dex bonus) +14, if in kitsune form.
As for Rogue Talents: anything that augments Sneak Attack is cool. Crippling Strike, especially, is nice (lets you deal 2 Str damage when you make a sneak attack). With that in effect, on top of the regular damage, our pal Drummer will be dishing out 14 Strength damage per round, on top of everything else!
Cloak and Dagger Style, and its prerequisites (Weapon Focus and Vital Strike) are not necessary to the concept either. One could replace them with something else if they preferred.
Anyway, that's the build. Thoughts?
tl;dr: You can use Quick Dirty Trick to make a whole bunch of sneak attacks in one round, without needing anybody else to set it up. With Sap Master, you can double that damage for some spectacular numbers. With Vulpine Charge, you can even do it as the attack from a charge.
More mythic levels then presently exist. That have abilities that would actually change the dimension of the fight. Which will never be printed for Fighters ever, especially if things like Crane Wing get nerfed.
I'm completely serious about this. Casters don't even roll dice at the highest level of play.
Oh my. Do you think that still applies to 16th and 12th levels?
So say there's a typical lvl 20 wizard (or cleric), and a typical lvl 20 fighter. If they fought to the death, I think we all know who would win (spoiler alert: it's not the fighter). So my question is: how many mythic levels do you think the fighter would need before you considered it a fair fight? And what if they're both, say, 16th level? 12th? Discuss!
Okay, so my PC's began to work through the dungeon today.
After some reasonable span of deliberation, they successfully solved the first puzzle. They were impressed with the ambiance; so far so good!
The second puzzle, however, was much tougher. I have two mathematicians in my party, who worked on formulae to solve the problem, while a third member duplicated a prop I made and tried to trial-and-error the process itself. They struggled for the longest time, until I decided it was time to intervene. I allowed one of the player to make a Religion check to recall a series of impromptu myths about Ashara, the moral of these myths being: "Ashara likes to trick people with illusions! Remember: when dealing with her, things are not always as they seem." And then one of the party members cast Detect Magic on the door, and I told him that the door had an illusion cast on it. After he made a check to disbelieve, he saw that the rings were actually in a significantly different, significantly easier position than where he had previously believed them to be. And that's how they solved this puzzle.
If both sides die, what is the effect of a raise dead on the character?
Well, if that happened in my campaign I would rule the character and the beast are never truly divorced from each other during the sequence in the pool, which means that bringing back the character would mean bringing back the curse as well. That being said, I consider lycanthropy to be a curse which is fundamentally inflicted on the body, not the soul. Hence, if a character was brought back with a reincarnate spell in a new body, I would probably rule that the lycanthropy remained in the old body, essentially curing the character. But I would certainly understand a GM ruling otherwise.
Hi guys and gals! This a 4-room dungeon I made for the 2-3rd level PCs in my Kingmaker campaign, although it could conceivably be placed anywhere, and converted to work with any level of PC's with truly minimal work. This dungeon is on the short side; it was my intent that the search for the elusive cure would constitute the majority of the PC's efforts. I made this dungeon because two of the PC's in my party contracted lycanthropy at level 2, and I wanted to offer some alternative means of dealing with it, besides "pay an exorbitant sum to a mid-level Cleric" or "suck it up". So here it is!
The dungeon itself is modeled after a hybrid shrine to Ashara (an Empyreal lord, and a patron saint of good-aligned lycanthropes) and the Green Faith. As such, it has recurring themes of water, silver, Druidic architecture, and the triumph of mind over matter. It only phases into existence during a New Moon, disappearing during the next dawn.
In my campaign, the temple is situated in the back of an abandoned temple to Erastil / bear den, as described in "The Stolen Lands". But - again - it would work anywhere.
The rooms proceed one after the other, as follows:
Room 1:
Spoiler:
The bear's cave appears more or less as it did when you first entered, but with one major difference. In front of the far wall is what appears to be a faintly glowing, semi-transparent mirror, running sheer from floor to ceiling, and from wall to wall. Closer inspection reveals tiny twinkling fish, no longer than a man's finger, flitting around on the other side of the mirror.
Anyone touching the mirror immediately discovers that it is actually a perfectly vertical wall of water, although supernaturally cold to the touch. Anybody attempting to walk into the water is immediately repulsed and suffers 1d10 points of cold damage.
The first time somebody touches the water, three elven women appear in the mirror's reflection, walking up the stone steps into the cave (These women exist only in the reflection). These women are all in the image of Ashava, wearing dark gowns that sparkle with starlight, and wearing wreathes of moth in their braided hair. These women begin to dance and sing, and their sound reverberates throughout the cave. They sing the same words, first in Sylvan, then in Celestial, then in Druidic, repeating their song constantly until the next sunrise (barring PC interference, as seen below), at which point they disappear, one by one, as the light of dawn shines through the temple's entrance and falls upon them.
The words that they sing are translated as follows:
"We crouch by the mountains, and wake with the breeze,
And join hands and dance to the rustling of trees,
By day we are many, tonight we are none,
Our legs cannot carry, yet with horses we run.
What are we?"
The correct answer is "Shadows". If an incorrect answer is offered, one of the women sadly shakes her head, turns, and disappears down the stairs. Additionally, the wall shudders and contorts madly, soaking all in the room for 1d10 points of cold damage. When the last woman turns away, the wall collapses completely, dealing 2d10 points of cold damage to everyone in the room and rendering the puzzle impossible until the next new moon, at which point it resets. When the word "shadows" spoken, a circular aperture forms at the bottom of the wall - a door, of sorts - revealing a darkened set of stairs leading down.
Room 2:
Spoiler:
The twelve-step staircase descends about ten feet - they are extremely dusty, although there are two sets of recent, Medium-sized footprints leading down, one significantly larger than the other. A DC 15 Perception check reveals multiple sets of older disturbances to the dust. A DC 25 Survival check reveals them to be old footprints, which belong to the same two people as those who left the fresh set - apparently, these two walk down and up the steps each month.
As soon as a PC reaches the bottom of the stairs, the hallway is illuminated with silvery dancing lights. This reveals a hallway, about 40 feet long, with the same mirror-like water for walls. At the far end is an ornate copper door, green with oxidation, which has no visible cracks, openings, or hinges. The footprints continue past this door.
Set into the door are three concentric rings, each inlaid with the eight cycles of the moon, depicted in white and black marble. The outermost ring has a full moon on top, The middle has a gibbous moon on top, and inside has a new moon on top. In the exact center of the rings is a circular indentation, about the side of a gold piece, carved in the center with the image of a starburst shining from behind a crescent moon. (A DC 28 Knowledge (religion) check is required to recognize this indentation was build to accommodate an archaic holy symbol of Ashava, an Azata Empyreal Lord. Above and below the rings are the symbols (written in both Celestial and Druidic) of Darkness and Shadows, respectively.
The three rings constitute a puzzle; the goal of the puzzle is to align the three wheels with each other.
-Touching the inner wheel will cause it to rotate two moons counter-clockwise, and the outer wheel one moon clockwise.
-Touching the middle wheel will cause it to rotate 1 moon clockwise, and the outer wheel to rotate 1 moon counter-clockwise.
-Touching the outer wheel will cause it to rotate 3 moons counter-clockwise, and the inner wheel to rotate 1 moon clockwise.
Just as with the first room, the reflections are not empty. There are two more elven women dancing, one inside each of the hallway walls. Behind them are floating sixteen bronze medallions, eight on each side. These medallions are perfectly shaped to fit into the indentation in the middle of the door.
Whenever a PC touches one of the rings or otherwise causes it to move, one of the elven women touches a medallion, which promptly turns into water and splashes down to the floor.
If the PC's fail to align the moons in 16 turns, the last medallion turns into water, and the mirror walls immediately collapse into the hallway, revealing bare mortared walls behind and dealing 2d10 points of cold damage to everybody present, and the PC's will not be able to attempt this puzzle again until the next new moon.
If they do align the moons, the water immediately drops into the rock floor, leaving the hallway completely dry, and depositing all of the remaining bronze medallions onto the ground. Placing a medallion into the door indentation will cause the three rings to spin around at an incredible speed, before fading away entirely. The rest of the door then splits in half, disappearing into either wall and dropping the medallion on the ground.
If they align the wheels with the new moon on top (and, thus, the full moon at the bottom), the symbols above and below the rings begin to glow silver, and the medallions soon follow suit. By the time they hit the ground, the medallions have been transmuted from bronze to silver. In addition to being more valuable, these silver medallions will impart a special bonus to the final fight.
Room 3
Spoiler:
This is a small, roughly circular, natural chamber, approximately 30 feet in diameter. In the far end is a pool of crystal clear water, approximately 10 feet x 10 feet, although it is so deep that it is impossible to reach, or even to see, the bottom. The walls are covered with thick green moss, and the ceiling is studded with twinkling, illusory lights, not unlike stars (a DC 15 survival check notices that they are indeed arranged like the constellations in the night sky). This provides some illumination, but the majority of the illumination is provided by a series of white, spherical paper lanterns which hang from the ceiling and sit on the floor - there are 24 such lanterns total. Surrounding the room are 8 standing stones, each inlaid with the druidic symbol for one of the phases of the moon.
Occupying the room is a dark-haired elven woman wearing a black gown, and a muscular and hairy half-orc wearing black breeches. They are standing over the fountain, and are lighting another lantern together.
The elf, Yallandra, is a cleric of Ashava, and the half-orc, Daverar, is a druid. They have a starting attitude of Indifferent towards the PC's. They are surprised to see the PC's, but they remain cautiously gracious unless the PC's make them Unfriendly, attack, or otherwise provoke them. (their statistics are listed below, should things ever come to blows.)
The first thing they do is welcome the PC's and inquire of the PC's why they have come. They are satisfied with most answers, although they become Unfriendly if one of them suspects that a PC is lying about their motives, or if the PC's seem aggressive, violent, or claim to be looking for loot. Conversely, they become Friendly towards anybody who identifies as a druid or expresses an interest in paying homage to Ashava. They will also become Helpful towards any character who admits to being a lycanthrope and professes a desire to tame their bestial natures (see below), and to any non-lycanthrope PC's who are committed to helping any such lycanthrope to do so.
Yallandra herself is a natural werewolf, and Daverar is an afflicted werebear, both with complete control over their bestial natures. Because of the stigma associated with lycanthropes, they are reluctant to divulge this to the PC's unless they suspect that one (or more) of the PC's are lycanthropes themselves. If asked, they identify themselves as tenders and guardians of the shrine, and of the pool, which has the same healing properties as the pool outside the temple of Erastil. But their main purpose is to assist any good-aligned lycanthropes who enter the shrine intending to use the pool's special powers to tame their bestial natures (although none besides them have ever done so during time as guardians). If the couple feel uncomfortable telling the PC's (and thus don't), a DC 20 Sense Motive check will reveal to the PC's that there is more to the shrine that they are telling.
If the PC's seem unsure where they are, or if asked about this location, Yallandra will inform the PC's that they are in a sacred shrine of Ashava, the True Spark, who is a powerful Azata, and the patron of the bereaved and the lonely spirits. Daverar is quick to remind Yallandra that the primal power of the Green Faith is at least as strong here, and twice as old, as the influence of any celestial.
Unless their attitudes are Unfriendly or lower, the couple will tell the PC's that the pool is holy water, and that anyone drinking from the pool will be given healing and strength. This is only partly true; while most characters can benefit from the effects of the cure light wounds spell (CL 4) once per day by drinking the water, any lycanthrope (barring those who have completed the pool's trial to tame their bestial nature) who drinks the water immediately vomits it back out and becomes sickened for 1 round. The couple offer a communion cup of this water to the PC's as a part of the worship ceremony, but also as a means of determining whether any of the PC's are lycanthropes.
If none of the PC's are identified as lycanthropes, the ceremony continues uneventfully until the sunrise, at which point the couple go their separate ways. But if one or the more PC's is revealed to be a lycanthrope, the couple immediately stop the ceremony, identify themselves as lycanthropes, and offer to help.
They explain that the pool is capable of allowing a lycanthrope to confront their own bestial nature, be they natural or afflicted, and attempt to "tame the beast which dwells inside", or alternately (for afflicted lycanthropes) to "purge the curse altogether". But the cleansing is extremely dangerous - there is a real possibility that the PC's will instead succumb to their bestial natures, in which case it shall become their unfortunate duty to see the characters "put down".
If the PC's express interest, they can elaborate. Undertaking the trial involves a lycanthropic character (or characters) immersing themselves completely into the pool. Their essence will then be projected into a pocket dimension, as for the astral projection spell (leaving the body underwater, in a state of suspended animation), and be split into two parts: the man and the beast. Whichever wins will return to the body as master of the other (if it allows the other to return at all). Anybody who submerses themselves with on Ashava's medallions goes with her special blessing.
Once a PC is in this pocket dimension, there are only two ways to escape intact: to render the PC's bestial self unconscious and force it to swallow the PC's medallion (which will ensure your mastery over her bestial urges, and is only possible if the PC wore a medallion into the pool) or else to kill it outright (which will purge the PC's lycanthropy altogether).
Like the act of getting here, this final test is one of mind over matter; as such, there are ways intelligent PC's can gain an edge over their foes, but the couple cannot say what - it's different each time.
It should be noted that this is only available to lycanthropic members of the party. If non-lycanthropes are determined to help, though, Yallandra offers a way - she licks a dagger and offers it to the PC. Willfully cutting themselves with this dagger will allow the PC to forgo the Fortitude save to contract lycanthropy, and allow them to partake in the trial as normal. However, the couple will not allow any PC to leave after they have cut themselves with Yallandra's dagger until they undertake the trial - any PC who tries to do so may have to fight them if she wants to escape.
Room 4
Spoiler:
This is a pocket dimension, accessible only when a lycanthrope submerges herself into Ashava's pool as part of the new moon ceremony. It appears to be a flat disc, 80 feet in diameter, with four standing stones, 10 feet wide and 5 feet tall, evenly spaced along its edges. The disc itself is overgrown with grass and ancient cobblestones marked with text in Druidic, Celestial, and Sylvan. Beyond lies an eternal, starry expanse. In the center of the disc is a circular pool, 10 feet in diameter and 2 feet deep, which counts as difficult terrain but bestows a cure light wounds effect (CL 4) to any creature which spends a full-round action drinking out of it (this provokes an attack of opportunity). Reading the cobblestones on the ground (a full-round action which provokes an attack of opportunity) will identify the healing properties of the pool, and will indicate that the four standing stones hold some power over the moon overhead.
The moon overhead is truly giant - large enough to loom over the entire platform. Anybody who falls off the edge of the platform will simultaneously be seen falling from the edge of the moon above, and will land on the edge opposite of that which he fell off, potentially taking damage as though he fell 30 feet (3d6).
The moon is a waxing crescent when the PC's first arrive. Each round, the phase of the moon changes. By default, the moon will advance by 3 phases per round, although touching different standing stones will change this rate. Touching the northern- and easternmost stones will increase the rate of the moon's change by 1- and 3 phases per round, respectively, and touching the southern- and westernmost stones will decrease the rate of the moon's phase changing by 1 and 3 phases, even allowing the moon to phase backwards.
The PC's begin prone, on one edge of the disc. Their enemies, who are statistically identical to them, begin prone on the other side, in their hybrid forms. During this encounter, the PC's will not have access to hybrid or animal forms gained through lycanthropy. Conversely, these are the only forms their enemies will have access to.
This is essentially a battle of personalities; as such, while on this plane, the PC's may add their Charisma modifiers to all attack and damage rolls made against their own counterparts. Additionally, the PC's enemies suffer a -1 penalty to attack rolls against any PC who is wearing one of Ashava's medallions. If a PC is wearing a silver medallion, any enemy adjacent to that PC becomes sickened instead.
The phase of the moon above also has an impact on the battle; while the moon is full, the PC's enemies gain DR 5/-, in addition to any other damage reduction they may possess. While the moon is completely dark, it is the PC's themselves who gain DR 5/- instead. In addition, when the moon is full, the entire battlefield is naturally under bright illumination, and is dark under the new moon. All other phases of the moon grant shadowy illumination.
The lycanthropes are not lacking for cunning; that being said, they generally prefer to attack their own counterparts, unless a better option presents itself.
If the PC's motivations are not at odds with that of any lycanthrope (such as an indiscriminately violent werewolf, or a Lawful Good werebear), that lycanthrope shows no interest in attacking that PC (perhaps even exhibiting friendly behavior, if the personalities are compatible enough), unless the PC attacks first. If this results in a stalemate, the PC reawakens in the pool after spending 1 hour in the ring, in the exact condition as she was upon entering. Otherwise, nobody will leave the ring for as long as the fighting continues.
If both the PC and the lycanthrope die in the fight, the PC's body floats to the surface of Ashava's pool, dead. If the lycanthrope survives but the PC does not, the lycanthrope effectively takes over the PC's body, bursting from the pool in non-human form and behaving under GM control. If the PC survives but the lycanthrope does not, the PC emerges from the pool in human form, immediately losing all powers, abilities, and subtypes relating to their lycanthropic nature - essentially become normal people once more.
If the PC renders their lycanthropic counterpart unconscious and places her medallion in its mouth, the lycanthrope's jaws immediately clamp down upon the medallion, causing the lycanthrope to briefly spasm and convulse. Assuming the PC survives the rest of the encounter, they awaken in the pool, in hybrid form, with their amulet clamped in between their jaws. From this point onward, the PC will never lose control due to lycanthropy, and may change shape with a DC 10 constitution check, regardless of whether the lycanthrope is natural or afflicted. This will quiet any lycanthrope's bestial side substantially, often calling for alignment changes. However, the trauma is also great - when an afflicted lycanthrope does this, she permanently gains one negative level (which will keep her power level consistent with the rest of the party's). In addition, the creature emerges from the pool with the Exhausted condition, and with the same number of hit points as the PC (or lycanthrope) had at the end of the encounter.
Yallandra
Spoiler:
YALLANDA (HYBRID FORM) CR 2
XP 400
Female elf cleric 2 of Ashava
CG Medium humanoid (elf, shapechanger)
Init +2; Senses low-light vision, scent; Perception +6
DEFENSE
AC 14, touch 12, flat-footed 12 (+2 Dex, +2 natural)
hp 13 (2d8)
Fort +4, Ref +2, Will +6; +2 vs. enchantments
DR 10/silver
Immune sleep
OFFENSE
Speed 30 ft.
Melee bite +2 (1d6+1 plus trip and curse of lycanthropy)
Ranged mwk composite longbow +4 (1d8)
Special Attacks channel positive energy 4/day (DC 12; 1d6)
Domain Spell-like Abilities (CL 2nd ; concentration +5)
6/day - Touch of Darkness
Touch of Good
Cleric Spells Prepared (CL 2nd; concentration +5)
1st—(DC 14) bless, divine favor, faerie fire (D), shield of faith
0th (at will)—(DC13) create water, detect magic, mending, virtue
D Domain spell; Domains Moon, Redemption
STATISTICS
Str 12, Dex 15 , Con 12, Int 13, Wis 17 , Cha 12
Base Atk +1; CMB +2; CMD 14
Feats Blind-Fight, Combat Casting
Skills Diplomacy +5, Heal +7, Knowledge (nature) +2, Knowledge (religion) +5, Perception +6, Profession (healer) +7, Sense Motive +7, Survival +4
Languages Common, Elven, Celestial
SQ aura, change shape (human, hybrid, and wolf; polymorph), elven magic, lycanthropic empathy (wolves and dire wolves), weapon familiarity.
Other Gear metal holy symbol of Ashava, masterwork longbow, 20 silver arrows, 1 dose of alchemical silver, mwk silver dagger, spell component pouch.
Daverar
Spoiler:
DAVERAR (HYBRID FORM) CR 13
XP 600
Male half-orc druid 3
NG Medium humanoid (human, orc, shapechanger)
Init +0; Senses darkvision 60 feet, scent; Perception +8
DEFENSE
AC 12, touch 10, flat-footed 12 (+2 natural)
hp 29 (3d8+12)
Fort +5, Ref +1, Will +7
DR 5/silver
OFFENSE
Speed 30 ft.
Melee bite +4 (1d6+5), 2 claws +4 (1d6+7 plus grab)
Ranged mwk silver throwing axe +3 (1d6+2)
Domain Spell-like Abilities (CL 3; concentration +7)
7/day - Acid Dart
Predator's Grace
Druid Spells Known (CL 3; concentration +7)
2nd — (DC 16) barkskin, bull's strength
1st--(DC 15) entangle, goodberry, magic fang (D), speak with animals
0th (at will)—(DC 14) detectmagic, know direction, light, resistance
D Domain spell; Domains earth, fur
STATISTICS
Str 16, Dex 10, Con 15, Int 11, Wis 19, Cha 10
Base Atk +2; CMB +5; CMD 15
Feats Power Attack, Toughness
Skills Climb +7, Handle Animal +4, Heal +8, Intimidate +3, Knowledge (geography) +4, Knowledge (nature) +6, Knowledge (religion)+1, Perception +8, Profession (lumberjack) +8, Spellcraft +4, Survival +10, Swim +7
Languages Common, Druidic, Orc
SQ change shape (human, hybrid, and bear; polymorph), lycanthropic empathy (bears and dire bears), nature bond (2 domains, earth and fur), nature sense, orc blood, orc ferocity, trackless step, weapon familiarity, wild empathy +3, woodland stride
Other Gear 5 silver masterwork throwing axes, 3 doses of alchemical silver, metal holy symbol of Ashava, spell component pouch.
Tactics
Spoiler:
The first thing the two do if combat breaks out is shift into their hybrid forms. If they sense that combat is approaching, Daverar will attempt to cast barkskin, bull's strength, and magic fang in that order, while Yallandra will attempt to cast bless, shield of faith, and [i]divine favor, in that order. After this, Daverar prefers to use [i]entangle and close in in melee while Yallandra prefers to hang back with her arrows, healing Daverar when necessary. Both prefer to focus their fire on one PC, giving priority to those with silver weapons, in order to level the scales quickly.
Hope you enjoy it! Anybody is more than welcome to use whatever parts of this they may fancy, and [i]please don't hesitate to offer any feedback or advice you might have.
So I'm looking for an alternate game system for a campaign I plan on running. I was wondering if somebody could recommend me a system they prefer.
These are some of the ideas I had which I would like to see:
First off, I want to hew close to the idea that characters get better at skills by actually doing that skill - one becomes a better blacksmith by working at her anvil, not by stabbing kobolds until she gets to level up.
Also, I'd like combat to be dangerous at all times - I'd like somebody to be able to try to put an arrow in someone's face, or a dagger in the back, and have that actually perform as expected, instead of simply dealing some damage (this doesn't just go for called shots, either).
I'd also like to provide depth to martial combatants by acknowledging the different roles of martial arms and armaments - a dagger can slip through cracks in platemail, a man in a shortsword will have a difficult time charging a man with a halberd, and a man's chainmail is useless against a heavy iron club.
These are just examples, of course, given to evoke the general feel of what I'd like to see - kind of (if you'll excuse the reference) a Ghost Recon or Rainbow Six to Pathfinder's Battlefield or Call of Duty. If that makes sense.
The campaign I'm envisioning would probably have a slower character advancement, mechanically speaking (although that's an easy fix for any system), and might not necessarily feature magic, at least in a form useful for combat. So you needn't worry about that.
IMC, I'm likely to put it in the Tors because they are very familiar with the Temple of the Elk and most of the Narlmarches. Additionally, nobody in the party is a lycanthrope, so it's not a pressing concern. I've been looking for more material for VV so this is totally something I could include there, just with enhanced hazards.
I'm glad you saw some value in it! :) You're more than welcome (along with everybody else) to use however much of it you'd like, and in whatever capacity you'd like to use it. I'd still love to get more feedback by anybody who's had the chance to look it over, though!
I'm glad you guys appreciated the feedback! Rereading my post, I think I came off a little too negative; I just want to know that I really appreciate the work you guys do, and there's a lot of great stuff going on ,both with the SM class, and with others! And @Raiderrpg, I will be sure to show him the Trick Blade - it looks right up his alley!
Just so you know, I've also got a guy having a great time with a Vanara (ARG) Furious Fist (monk/barbarian). At first he was kind of thrown by not being able to Flurry while raging (and thus having a lower BAB while raging, which the increased ability scores don't quite cancel out, along with a lower damage output), but then he starting thinking of rage as more of a mobile melee tactic.
Still, I was tempted to have the FF use his class level in place of his BAB while raging, to compensate for the lower damage output; if he has to deal with fewer, slower attacks while he's in a rage, my reasoning went, they had better be friggin' terrifying! But I eventually sided with you guys, and didn't; his character was doing just fine without the houserule. And anyway, the boosts to Str and Dex boost his AC and skills (dramatically at later levels), and the higher damage helps with bypassing DR, and with the coup de grace. So, I think you guys got it right
We really like the archetype; it's a lot of fun! Plus, it really feels like it should - a particularly aggressive monk, who was absent when they taught the "peace and harmony" thing at monk school, but has some of the raw hurtin' power of the barbarian.
Again, you guys are doing great work here, and I'd love to contribute when I get the chance.
I don't know if this is precisely the correct place for this, but I have some brief feedback for the Shadow Magus - one of my players made up a Dancing Dervish SM.
My player was going for a magic ninja feel; to him, that means magic spells, plus rogue skills and sneak attacks. But he quickly found out that the SM was tragically outclassed by the Magus in combat, and the Vanish spell plus one rank in Stealth could more or less simulate any and all class features the SM had to offer (this is at level 5).
I mean, to be fair, the Magus is more than a little OP at level 5 - by using Spell Recall in conjunction with Spell Combat, Spellstrike, and shocking grasp, the Magus can trade 1 point from his arcane pool to dish out over 7d6 damage over a full attack. I guess I can't blame you guys for being leery of introducing that level of power into a level 5 character (the SM can still do this, but without Spell Recall, he's looking at maybe once per day, or twice, tops), but it really bums me out that it renders the SM's sneak attack utility completely obsolete.
This is because, even without that terrifying 7d6 figure to compare itself to, Shadowstrike is just plain weak; regardless of whether or not you can deal 7d6 with a level 1 spell, trading in a level 2 spell for 2d6 points of damage is kind of a silly trade.
So I guess if I had one complaint about the archetype, it's that its sneak attack ability is so worthless. Barring a solid incentive to flank, the build really encourages the player to behave exactly like a straight-up magus, but be worse at it while doing so.
Fortunately, I think the fix is easy enough; buff the sneak attack. That would not only bring its power level in line with the magus, but also encourage the player to play his character like he should - opportunistic, backstabbing ninja glory!
There are a few ways that I can think of that would make the sneak attack desireable again (although you guys are the pros at this, not me). One would be to give the SM the exact same Sneak Attack as the Ninja, but bar the ninja from using sneak attack with spell combat. This would make Sneak Attacking a SM's modus operandi, but give the SM the option of unleashing that 7d6 when he really needs it. Yes, this is more powerful than a regular ninja in combat - but to be fair, it's less powerful than a regular magus. So it works out!
The other option would be to have the Sneak Attack only work with Spellstrike, but instead of replacing the spell with minor damage, it enhances the attack with the listed amount of damage.
Honestly, I think the power level is behind the straight Magus to the point where the SM could get a sneak attack for free without being OP by magus standards; otherwise, you could make the SM pay 1 Chakra per sneak attack, although with MAD as bad as the SM's, that's gonna hurt a lot at the lower levels. Or, the SM could spend 1 Chakra to buy the ability to sneak attack for a number of minutes, similar to (or perhaps instead of) the straight Magus's ability to enhance his weapon, as listed under the Arcane pool.
So that's that. Wow, that grew quickly! I don't know if you guys are all that interested in revisiting old concepts, but there it is :) I hope you guys can see where I'm coming from.
Here's a summary/tl;dr of the dungeon and the idea behind it.
I made it because I have two afflicted lycanthropes in my party; this dungeon offers afflicted lycanthropes the opportunity to reverse their lycanthropy, or even master it and make it a boon. In the adventure we're running ("The Stolen Land", Kingmaker 1), I have it under a temple to Erastil, only accessible under the new moon, although it could easily be uprooted and planted wherever the GM wishes.
Room 1 - entry-room; barred by an impassible wall of water. PC's must solve a riddle to advance.
Room 2 - hallway. PC's must solve the opening mechanism on the door (3-ring puzzle). Their performance here will have an impact on their options in the final fight.
Room 3 - Shrine with 2 non-hostile lycanthrope NPC's. Possible social challenge. Contains pool of healing. NPC's brief the PC's on the final fight; the PC's must fully submerse themselves in the pool to enter a pocket dimension where the fight will be, similar to the astral projection spell.
Room 4 - small pocket dimension - PC's fight lycanthrope versions of themselves, in hybrid form. Battlefield has a central strategic point (healing fountain). There is a puzzle built into this encounter involving managing the phase of the moon overhead; Clever PC's can use this to gain an upper hand against their bestial selves.
This dungeon is strongly tied to Ashava (an empyrial lord), and the Green Faith. Imagery pertaining to water, silver, dancing, and the moon are common.
I'd love to get some feedback, and see what the community thinks!
In my campaign, two of my PC's (level 2) have contracted lycanthropy. So I devised a small, puzzle-based mini-dungeon, placed beneath the Temple of the Elk (Area J, "The Stolen Land") and only accessible during the night of a new moon. They will have to do some research to learn of it. This mini-dungeon will allow brave and clever PC's to cleanse themselves of their bestial nature, or even master it entirely, although at great risk.
I thought I'd share it with you all, and see what everybody thought. I couldn't find anything on these forums that offer a way for PC's to deal with being an afflicted lycanthrope, so here's something to change that.
ROOM 1
Spoiler:
The bear's cave appears more or less as it did when you first entered, but with one major difference. In front of the far wall is what appears to be a faintly glowing, semi-transparent mirror, running sheer from floor to ceiling, and from wall to wall. Closer inspection reveals tiny twinkling fish, no longer than a man's finger, flitting around on the other side of the mirror.
Anyone touching the mirror immediately discovers that it is actually a perfectly vertical wall of water, although supernaturally cold to the touch. Anybody attempting to walk into the water is immediately repulsed and suffers 1d6 points of cold damage.
The first time somebody touches the water, six elven women appear in the mirror's reflection, walking up the stone steps into the cave (These women exist only in the reflection). These women are all in the image of Ashava, wearing dark gowns that sparkle with starlight, and wearing wreathes of moth in their braided hair. These women begin to dance and sing, and their sound reverberates throughout the cave. They sing the same words, first in Sylvan, then in Celestial, then in Druidic, repeating their song constantly until the next sunrise (barring PC interference, as seen below), at which point they disappear, one by one, as the light of dawn shines through the temple's entrance and falls upon them.
The words that they sing are translated as follows:
"We sit and we slumber, and wake with the breeze,
And join hands and dance away under the trees,
By day we are many, tonight we are none,
Our legs cannot carry, yet with horses we run.
What are we?"
The correct answer is "Shadows". If an incorrect answer is offered, one of the women sadly shakes her head, turns, and disappears down the stairs. Additionally, the wall shudders and contorts madly, soaking all in the room for 1d6 points of cold damage. When the last woman turns away, the wall collapses completely, dealing 2d6 points of cold damage to everyone in the room and rendering the puzzle impossible until the next new moon, at which point it resets. When the word "shadows" spoken, a circular aperture forms at the bottom of the wall - a door, of sorts - revealing a darkened set of stairs leading down.
ROOM 2
Spoiler:
The twelve-step staircase descends about ten feet - they are extremely dusty, although there are two sets of recent, Medium-sized footprints leading down, one significantly larger than the other. A DC 15 Perception check reveals multiple sets of older disturbances to the dust. A DC 25 Survival check reveals them to be old footprints, which belong to the same two people as those who left the fresh set - apparently, these two walk down and up the steps each month.
As soon as a PC reaches the bottom of the stairs, the hallway is illuminated with silvery dancing lights. This reveals a hallway, about 40 feet long, with the same mirror-like water for walls. At the far end is an ornate copper door, green with oxidation, which has no visible cracks, openings, or hinges. The footprints continue past this door.
Set into the door are three concentric rings, each inlaid with the eight cycles of the moon, depicted in white and black marble. The outermost ring has a full moon on top, The middle has a gibbous moon on top, and inside has a new moon on top. In the exact center of the rings is a circular indentation, about the side of a gold piece, carved in the center with the image of a starburst shining from behind a crescent moon. (A DC 28 Knowledge (religion) check is required to recognize this indentation was build to accommodate an archaic holy symbol of Ashava, an Azata Empyreal Lord. Above and below the rings are the symbols (written in both Celestial and Druidic) of Darkness and Shadows, respectively.
The three rings constitute a puzzle; the goal of the puzzle is to align the three wheels with each other.
Touching the inner wheel will cause it to rotate two moons counter-clockwise, and the outer wheel one moon clockwise.
Touching the middle wheel will cause it to rotate 1 moon clockwise, and the outer wheel to rotate 1 moon counter-clockwise.
Touching the outer wheel will cause it to rotate 3 moons counter-clockwise, and the inner wheel to rotate 1 moon clockwise.
Just as with the first room, the reflections are not empty. There are two more elven women dancing, one inside each of the hallway walls. Behind them are floating sixteen bronze medallions, eight on each side. These medallions are perfectly shaped to fit into the indentation in the middle of the door.
Whenever a PC touches one of the rings or otherwise causes it to move, one of the elven women touches a medallion, which promptly turns into water and splashes down to the floor.
If the PC's fail to align the moons in 16 turns, the last medallion turns into water, and the mirror walls immediately collapse into the hallway, revealing bare mortared walls behind and dealing 2d6 points of cold damage to everybody present, and the PC's will not be able to attempt this puzzle again until the next new moon.
If they do align the moons, the water immediately drops into the rock floor, leaving the hallway completely dry, and depositing all of the remaining bronze medallions onto the ground. Placing a medallion into the door indentation will cause the three rings to spin around at an incredible speed, before fading away entirely. The rest of the door then splits in half, disappearing into either wall and dropping the medallion on the ground.
If they align the wheels with the new moon on top (and, thus, the full moon at the bottom), the symbols above and below the rings begin to glow silver, and the medallions soon follow suit. By the time they hit the ground, the medallions have been transmuted from bronze to silver. In addition to being more valuable, these silver medallions will impart a special bonus to the final fight.
ROOM 3
Spoiler:
This is a small, roughly circular, natural chamber, approximately 30 feet in diameter. In the far end is a pool of crystal clear water, approximately 10 feet x 10 feet, although it is so deep that it is impossible to reach, or even see the bottom. The walls are covered with thick green moss, and the ceiling is studded with twinkling, illusory lights, not unlike stars (a DC 15 survival check notices that they are indeed arranged like the constellations in the night sky). This provides some illumination, but the majority of the illumination is provided by a series of white, spherical paper lanterns which hang from the cieling and sit on the floor - there are 24 such lanterns total. Surrounding the room are 8 standing stones, each inlaid with the druidic symbol for one of the phases of the moon.
Occupying the room is a dark-haired elven woman wearing a black gown, and a muscular and hairy half-orc wearing black breeches. They are standing over the fountain, and are lighting another lantern together.
The elf, Yallandra, is a cleric of Ashava, and the half-orc, Daverar, is a druid. They have a starting attitude of Indifferent towards the PC's. They are surprised to see the PC's, but they remain cautiously gracious unless the PC's make them Unfriendly, attack, or otherwise provoke them. (their statistics are listed below, should things ever come to blows.)
The first thing they do is welcome the PC's and inquire of the PC's why they have come. They are satisfied with most answers, although they become Unfriendly if one of them detects that a PC is lying about their motives, or if the PC's seem aggressive, violent, or claim to be looking for loot. Conversely, they become Friendly towards anybody who identifies as a druid or expresses an interest in paying homage to Ashava. They will also become Helpful towards any character who admits to being a lycanthrope and professes a desire to tame their bestial natures (see below), and to any non-lycanthrope PC's who are committed to helping their lycanthrope companions to do so.
Yallandra herself is a natural werewolf, and Daverar is an afflicted werebear, both with complete control over their bestial natures. Because of the stigma associated with lycanthropes, they are reluctant to divulge this to the PC's unless they suspect that one (or more) of the PC's are lycanthropes themselves. If asked, they identify themselves as tenders and guardians of the shrine, and of the pool, which has the same healing properties as the pool outside the temple of Erastil. But their main purpose is to assist any good-aligned lycanthropes who enter the shrine intending to use the pool's special powers to tame their bestial natures (although none besides them have ever done so during time as guardians). If the couple feel uncomfortable telling the PC's (and thus don't), a DC 20 Sense Motive check will reveal to the PC's that there is more to the shrine that they are telling.
If the PC's seem unsure where they are, or if asked about this location, Yallandra will inform the PC's that they are in a sacred shrine of Ashava, the True Spark, who is a powerful Azata, and the patron of the bereaved and the lonely spirits. Daverar is quick to remind Yallandra that the primal power of the Green Faith is at least as strong here, and twice as old, as the influence of any celestial.
Unless their attitudes are Unfriendly or lower, the couple will tell the PC's that the pool is holy water, and that anyone drinking from the pool will be given healing and strength. This is only mostly true; while most characters can benefit from the effects of the cure light wounds spell (CL 4) once per day by drinking the water, any lycanthrope (barring those who have completed the pool's trial to tame their bestial nature) who drinks the water immediately vomits it back out and becomes sickened for 1 round. The couple offer a communion cup of this water to the PC's as a part of the worship ceremony, but also as a means of determining whether any of the PC's are lycanthropes.
If none of the PC's are lycanthropes, the ceremony continues uneventfully until the sunrise, at which point the couple go their separate ways. But if one or the more PC's turns out to be a lycanthrope, the couple immediately stop the ceremony, identify themselves as lycanthropes, and (unless they are Unfriendly or Hostile)offer to help.
They explain that the pool is capable of allowing a lycanthrope to confront their own bestial nature, be they natural or afflicted, and attempt to "tame the beast which dwells inside", or alternately (for afflicted lycanthropes) to "purge the curse altogether". But the cleansing is extremely dangerous - there is a real possibility that the PC's will instead succumb to their bestial natures, in which case they will be "put down".
If the PC's express interest, they can elaborate. Undertaking the trial involves a lycanthropic character (or characters) immersing themselves completely into the pool. Their essence will then be projected into a pocket dimension, as for the astral projection spell (leaving the body underwater, in a state of suspended animation), and be split into two parts: the man and the beast. Whichever wins will return to the body as master of the other (if it allows the other to return at all). Anybody who submerses themselves with on Ashava's medallions goes with her special blessing.
Once a PC is in this pocket dimension, there are only two ways to escape intact: to render the PC's bestial self unconscious and force it to swallow the PC's medallion (which will ensure your mastery over her bestial urges, and is only possible if the PC wore a medallion into the pool) or else to kill it outright (which will purge the PC's lycanthropy altogether).
Like the act of getting here, this final test is one of mind over matter; as such, there are ways intelligent PC's can gain an edge over their foes, but the couple cannot say what - it's different each time.
It should be noted that this is only available to lycanthropic members of the party. If non-lycanthropes are determined to help, though, Yallandra offers a way - she licks a dagger and offers it to the PC. Willfully cutting themselves with this dagger will allow the PC to forgo the Fortitude save to contract lycanthropy, and allow them to partake in the trial as normal. However, the couple will not allow any PC to leave after they have cut themselves with Yallandra's dagger until they undertake the trial - any PC who tries to do so may have to fight them if she wants to escape.
ROOM 4
Spoiler:
This is a pocket dimension, accessible only when a lycanthrope submerges herself into Ashava's pool as part of the new moon ceremony. It appears to be a flat disc, 80 feet in diameter, with four standing stones, 10 feet wide and 5 feet tall, evenly spaced along its edges. The disc itself is overgrown with grass and ancient cobblestones marked with text in Druidic, Celestial, and Sylvan. Beyond lies an eternal, starry expanse. In the center of the disc is a circular pool, 10 feet in diameter and 2 feet deep, which counts as difficult terrain but bestows a cure light wounds effect (CL 4) to any creature which spends a full-round action drinking out of it (this provokes an attack of opportunity). Reading the cobblestones on the ground (a full-round action which provokes an attack of opportunity) will identify the healing properties of the pool, and will indicate that the four standing stones hold some power over the moon overhead.
The moon overhead is truly giant - large enough to loom over the entire platform. Anybody who falls off the edge of the platform will simultaneously be seen falling from the edge of the moon above, and will land on the edge opposite of that which he fell off, potentially taking damage as though he fell 30 feet (3d6).
The moon is a waxing crescent when the PC's first arrive. Each round, the phase of the moon changes. By default, the moon will advance by 3 phases per round, although touching different standing stones will change this rate. Touching the northern- and easternmost stones will increase the rate of the moon's change by 1- and 3 phases per round, respectively, and touching the southern- and westernmost stones will decrease the rate of the moon's phase changing by 1 and 3 phases, even allowing the moon to phase backwards.
The PC's begin prone, on one edge of the disc. Their enemies, who are statistically identical to them, begin prone on the other side, in their hybrid forms. During this encounter, the PC's will not have access to hybrid or animal forms gained through lycanthropy. Conversely, these are the only forms their enemies will have access to.
This is essentially a battle of personalities; as such, while on this plane, the PC's may add their Charisma modifiers to all attack and damage rolls made against their own counterparts. Additionally, the PC's enemies suffer a -1 penalty to attack rolls against any PC who is wearing one of Ashava's medallions. If a PC is wearing a silver medallion, any enemy adjacent to that PC becomes sickened instead.
The phase of the moon above also has an impact on the battle; while the moon is full, the PC's enemies gain DR 5/-, in addition to any other damage reduction they may possess. While the moon is completely dark, it is the PC's themselves who gain DR 5/- instead. In addition, when the moon is full, the entire battlefield is naturally under bright illumination, and is dark under the new moon. All other phases of the moon grant shadowy illumination.
The lycanthropes are not lacking for cunning; that being said, they generally prefer to attack their own counterparts, unless a better option presents itself.
If the PC's motivations are not at odds with that of any lycanthrope (such as a serial killer werewolf, or a lawful good werebear), that lycanthrope shows no interest in attacking that PC, unless the PC attacks first. If this results in a stalemate, the PC reawakens in the pool after spending 1 hour in the ring, in the exact condition as she was upon entering. Otherwise, nobody will leave the ring for as long as the fighting continues.
If both the PC and the lycanthrope die in the fight, the PC's body floats to the surface of Ashava's pool, dead. If the lycanthrope survives but the PC does not, the lycanthrope effectively takes over the PC's body, emerges from the pool and behaves under GM control. If the PC survives but the lycanthrope does not, the PC emerges from the pool in human form, immediately losing all powers, abilities, and subtypes relating to their lycanthropic nature - essentially become normal people once more.
If the PC renders their lycanthropic counterpart unconscious and places her medallion in its mouth, the lycanthrope's jaws immediately clamp down upon the medallion, causing the lycanthrope to briefly spasm and convulse. Assuming the PC survives the rest of the encounter, they awaken in the pool, in hybrid form, with their amulet clamped in between their jaws. From this point onward, the PC will never lose control due to lycanthropy, and may change shape with a DC 10 constitution check, regardless of whether the lycanthrope is natural or afflicted. This will quiet any lycanthrope's bestial side substantially, often calling for alignment changes. However, the trauma is also great - when an afflicted lycanthrope does this, she permanently gains one negative level (which will keep her power level consistent with the rest of the party's). In addition, the creature emerges from the pool with the Exhausted condition, and with the same number of hit points as the PC (or lycanthrope) had at the end of the encounter.
Yallandra
Spoiler:
YALLANDA (HYBRID FORM) CR 2
XP 400
Female elf cleric 2 of Ashava
CG Medium humanoid (elf, shapechanger)
Init +2; Senses low-light vision, scent; Perception +6
DEFENSE
AC 14, touch 12, flat-footed 12 (+2 Dex, +2 natural)
hp 13 (2d8)
Fort +4, Ref +2, Will +6; +2 vs. enchantments
DR 10/silver
Immune sleep
OFFENSE
Speed 30 ft.
Melee bite +2 (1d6+1 plus trip and curse of lycanthropy)
Ranged mwk composite longbow +4 (1d8)
Special Attacks channel positive energy 4/day (DC 12; 1d6)
Domain Spell-like Abilities (CL 2nd ; concentration +5)
6/day - Touch of Darkness
Touch of Good
Cleric Spells Prepared (CL 2nd; concentration +5)
1st—(DC 14) bless, divine favor, faerie fire (D), shield of faith
0th (at will)—(DC13) create water, detect magic, mending, virtue
D Domain spell; Domains Moon, Redemption
STATISTICS
Str 12, Dex 15 , Con 12, Int 13, Wis 17 , Cha 12
Base Atk +1; CMB +2; CMD 14
Feats Blind-Fight, Combat Casting
Skills Diplomacy +5, Heal +7, Knowledge (nature) +2, Knowledge (religion) +5, Perception +6, Profession (healer) +7, Sense Motive +7, Survival +4
Languages Common, Elven, Celestial
SQ aura, change shape (human, hybrid, and wolf; polymorph), elven magic, lycanthropic empathy (wolves and dire wolves), weapon familiarity.
Other Gear metal holy symbol of Ashava, masterwork longbow, 20 silver arrows, 1 dose of alchemical silver, mwk silver dagger, spell component pouch.
Daverar
Spoiler:
DAVERAR (HYBRID FORM) CR 13
XP 600
Male half-orc druid 3
NG Medium humanoid (human, orc, shapechanger)
Init +0; Senses darkvision 60 feet, scent; Perception +8
DEFENSE
AC 12, touch 10, flat-footed 12 (+2 natural)
hp 29 (3d8+12)
Fort +5, Ref +1, Will +7
DR 5/silver
OFFENSE
Speed 30 ft.
Melee bite +4 (1d6+5), 2 claws +4 (1d6+7 plus grab)
Ranged mwk silver throwing axe +3 (1d6+2)
Domain Spell-like Abilities (CL 3; concentration +7)
7/day - Acid Dart
Predator's Grace
Druid Spells Known (CL 3; concentration +7)
2nd — (DC 16) barkskin, bull's strength
1st--(DC 15) entangle, goodberry, magic fang (D), speak with animals
0th (at will)—(DC 14) detectmagic, know direction, light, resistance
D Domain spell; Domains earth, fur
STATISTICS
Str 16, Dex 10, Con 15, Int 11, Wis 19, Cha 10
Base Atk +2; CMB +5; CMD 15
Feats Power Attack, Toughness
Skills Climb +7, Handle Animal +4, Heal +8, Intimidate +3, Knowledge (geography) +4, Knowledge (nature) +6, Knowledge (religion)+1, Perception +8, Profession (lumberjack) +8, Spellcraft +4, Survival +10, Swim +7
Languages Common, Orc
SQ change shape (human, hybrid, and bear; polymorph), lycanthropic empathy (bears and dire bears), nature bond (2 domains, earth and fur), nature sense, orc blood, orc ferocity, trackless step, weapon familiarity, wild empathy +3, woodland stride
Other Gear 5 silver masterwork throwing axes, 3 doses of alchemical silver, metal holy symbol of Ashava, spell component pouch.
Tactics:
Spoiler:
The first thing the two do if combat breaks out is shift into their hybrid forms. If they sense that combat is approaching, Daverar will attempt to cast barkskin, bull's strength, andmagic fang in that order, while Yallandra will attempt to cast bless, shield of faith,[i] and [i]divine favor, in that order. After this, Daverar prefers to use [i]entangle and close in in melee while Yallandra prefers to hang back with her arrows, healing Daverar when necessary. Both prefer to focus their fire on one PC, giving priority to those with silver weapons, in order to level the scales quickly.
I'm sure there are a few typos and misspellings, a long with some disorganization; I haven't had a chance to edit yet. So please, take it with a grain of salt :).
Also, bear in mind that many of these numbers are designed with level 2-3 characters in mind (and to be a stiff challenge for them); these numbers could be easily adapted to suit a higher-level adventuring party.
Anyway, that's the dungeon I made; I hope you enjoy it!
You know, I looked over Heroes of Battle, and it really doesn't give rules for actual mass combat, that I could find. It just suggests that you simulate it by pitting "maneuver elements" of maybe 5-10 creatures against each other and calling its outcome indicative of the entire army's, and that's only when the PC's are involved. It recommends that you simulate the entire battle ahead of time (presumably by pitting the encounter groups of NPC's against each other), but again that's assuming the PCs are simply in the armies. If they are moving the armies around themselves, all of that would quickly become irrelevent.
So I'm still looking for a wargame which attaches stats to entire fighting groups, and gives rules for their attrition, routing, etc. A D&D-compatible setting would be ideal, but I'm mostly interested in seeing the mechanics of attack, defense, etc. And when Ultimate Campaign comes out, I might mix and match rules :)
I've used some of the Total War games in the past for this sort of thing. Could try and reskin some of the units perhaps. My players loved it.
Total War, as in the computer game? Intriguing. But problematic. I don't know much about the series (Map editor? Modding community?), but I think it's a bigger departure from the D&D shtick than I'd be comfortable with. I'd love to get a hold of something tabletop-ish with a similar idea, though.
Odraude wrote:
If you want to wait a month, Paizo is publishing Ultimate Campaign, which are going to have revamped rules for both mass combat and kingdom building from Kingmaker.
That... slipped completely under my radar. But It looks awesome! Checking that out, for sure.
JohnB wrote:
you could cut sheets of paper into regiment sized pieces and use them to represent the troops, then move those around the table.
Yeah, I was thinking of that too (but cardboard, not paper). Historically, tacticians have laid out battle plans with blocks of wood on a map, so I don't see any reason why this shouldn't work.
So far, the rules for mass combat as laid out in 3.5's Heroes of Battle seem like the best bet, except that it assumes that the players will be grunts in the army, not as tactical commanders. I could probably make it work, but it's not ideal. It looks like Ultimate Campaign may be more up my alley, but it's too early to tell.
So I'm putting together a Kingmaker campaign, and I, like many others, feel like the mass combat systems leave something to be desired.
To make the "military commander" aspect more memorable, I figured I'd ditch (or at least, heavily modify) the rules as presented. Hence the title. I'd like to segue into wargaming rules.
But I'm not interested in dropping hundreds of dollars, I don't care about painting the figures, or anything like that. See, for the regular, non-wargaming combat encounters, I'm planning on running the encounters digitally (MapTool or http://www.pfrpg.com.au/ ), or else just laminating maps and writing on them with expo markers, sans-minis.
So, does anybody have any tips on a system I can use? And is it possible to do it digitally?
That is a very cool story. Consider it borrowed from!
Have you added any ramifications for having a thieves' guild freely operating in the city? I would think an increase to corruption and unrest would be appropriate. Of course, a pt thieves' guild come with its own advantages as well!
I'll introduce some more NPCs of mine own shortly (you may recognize a few common points with your own). But there are some really cool ideas coming here! You guys rock!
@Solspiral: Hey, those are neat. I like how they're thematic characters. I might use the idea of the Abadar politician - I can see him trying to get agents into PC leadership positions, who might try to divert the kingdom's interests for the church's. And the cleric is a smart choice, too. It's an interesting decision to make her a cleric of Asmodeus, as opposed to, say, Iomedae, who seems like a natural fit (but is admittedly less interesting). I get the "contracts" bit, but I figured Asmodeus would be all over exploiting "weak" people. But then again, Asmodeus is the more memorable of the two.
@Othniel Do you have much intrigue with Brevoy to the North? It's got a lot of political intrigue, but I think the countess would give an interesting new dimension to the political field - a rogue element, so to speak.
@Duskrunner: Is she your royal assassin? Or is that position occupied by a PC? I'm interested to see how her story is tied to the PC's. Have you ever had her acting at odds to the PC's interests?
I'll get to this thread... I've got some NPCs you might dig.
Feedback for yours:
Horace of Golka is interesting. Were I to use him I might create a side quest to where the dwarves can be rescued. The dancing lady plot seems like a great spot for that, as there's room in that keep and you could say add a 4th critter with a few sorc levels and charm person to upgrade that encounter to something more memorable.
I'm assuming you mean a Charm monster besides the lady herself, correct? If I'm understanding you correctly, you're suggesting that one could add an encounter where some fey is controlling Horace, and the PC's have to kill the monster to set him free. Or would Horace himself be the monster?
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Bion would be hard to use. He'd rather read a book than deal with adventuring, thus when are the PCs going to interact with him. You'd have to force a situation where he has knowledge the PCs need to seek him out or give him a motive like a lead on his mom's location so he seeks them out. He'd also be easy for Lady N to seduce as there's a specific bit about their attraction to a certain type in the entry about them...
Oh, you're right! I didn't even think about the business with lady N. I'm mostly attached to the weird connection between him and the Rogarvian throne. The way I was going to have it turn out, Bion's mother was somehow responsible for the Rogarvias' disappearance, just as Horace was for the dwarves, but because of Bion's unusual bloodline, the spell didn't target him.
I had always meant for him to be something of a reluctant hero, dragged in to politics he wanted no business with. And you're absolutely right, it'd be hard to get him to sign off on anything beyond perhaps "study at the Wizards' Tower". Which I might do. Or maybe I'll just rework the character. Make him a 200 year-old philosopher-wizard, a fairy-town elder of sorts. That would fit in with the Rogarvian timeline better, and it sounds like somebody more amicable to a leadership position. And I'd imagine an elder faun would be tougher for N to seduce, anyway.
Hey, thanks for the feedback! I'm a big fan of the stuff you've been posting on the Kingmaker boards, so I'm really looking forward to seeing your NPC's!
Alright, I'm prepping a Kingmaker campaign, and one of the things I want to do is insert some additional NPC's into the first adventure, so the PC's will feel like they have some options when appointing leaders.
I'm sure I'm not the only person with this idea; I thought we could have a DM idea-swap to populate the region.
Here are some ideas of mine:
Horace of Golka: (N Dwarf expert 2 / witch 2)
Once a dweller in the Golushkin mountains, young Horace's life was changed when he was approached in a dream by a powerful fey from the First World, who offered him power and gave no mention of a price. The naive dwarf accepted, and enjoyed a few short months of ease - until the winter solstice of the same year, when he awoke to find that every dwarf in the mountain, save for him, was gone.
Horace intuitively understands that their disappearance is his fault to some degree, and that knowledge has given him nightmares for years. Recently, however, his nightmares have been focused increasingly onto the stolen lands, and the poor dwarf has been drawn like a moth to a candle.
I like this guy because it's an interesting concept - you don't see a lot of dwarf witches - and because he's an easy way to foreshadow Narissa's coming, which is something this AP DESPERATELY needs.
Bion: (NG faun expert 2 / adept 1)
Bion appears to be a typical faun, although still very young. Bion's mother was a wizard who was living among a community of fairies (Perlivash and Tyg being members of said community) as a sort of anthropologist. Her mother has disappeared long before the start of the adventure, but not before she had instilled in Bion a deep and abiding love for reading and learning from books. Compared to the fairies, Bion comes off as mature and serious, and would much rather be reading than pranking.
If you want to make things even juicier, one could even make Bion's mother a direct descendent of House Rogarvia (according to the background, Rogarvia disappeared over 100 years ago; you could account for this by shortening that period drastically, or by citing fauns' long,elf-like life-spans, or handwaving in some First-World-interefering-with-time shenanigans). Yes, it's kind of a hassle, but I just know my players would be all over the possibilities of knowing a real, live Rogarvian! Such as he is.
So what about you guys? Did you make any exciting NPC's?
Oh, there we go. I'll just swap out Suggestion with Lesser Geas. Thanks, guys! This is my first posting on this forum, and you guys have just been great.
Nah, wrest control of the character for an encounter. Let the player roll and act, of course, but make sure they understand their character's mindset has changed. They move to protect their "new friend" in whatever capacity is called for- they don't become mindless minions of the caster, but they act in accordance to the flavor of the spell(s) the OP listed. It's a great opportunity for fun all around.
And a well-placed Dispel Magic can work wonders.
Have fun with it! Scare them with the flavor of the campaign. None of these are permanent effects, and if you want to see a group band together, Dominate the tank and let the casters figure that one out- it'll be FUN!
We did it in Serpent's Skull and everyone had a good time.
Ok, that's a relief; it's good to know that other DM's are taking over their players (short-term) and it works out ok.
But my question still stands long-term - what if the PCs get charmed into doing a quest they don't want to pursue? That doesn't sound like fun for the PC's, so I'd need to:
a) convince them to do it ooc,
b) have the charm effect automatically fail, or
c) I don't know, any ideas?
I think the best way to deal with it is to make sure the PCs know that they will encounter it. Give them hints in game and give them the means to prepare for it.
This can ad a different element to the encounter, avoiding the domination. If they can stop it from happening they will already feel they've accomplished something. If one of them gets dominated it'll be easier for them to accept and deal with since they knew about it.
Adding little objectives within encounter does wonders for the PCs.
Hope this helps!
Ugh! That's really good advice, and its really simple, and I'm kind of kicking myself for not thinking of it right off.
So for a named monster, I could maybe plant a journal (or something) about how a previous party fought and got a member dominated, and they used x gizmo / technique to overcome it?
And how does one break a domination in their ally anyway?
And then, for random, nonspecific fey encounters, I could just have an NPC duck in ahead of time and be like "look out for fey mind-control beams kthx". Right?
There is one problem, though: at one point, an NPC tries to mind-control the PCs into doing a quest that they don't necessarily want to. How should I do this if they don't want to do the quest? Should I try to convince them to do it ooc?
Thanks for all the input by the way, this is great!
So I've been preparing a published campaign (specifically, Kingmaker), and have run into a problem. See, Kingmaker involves dealing with quite a few fey creatures, which means that charm / suggestion / dominate magic is, as published, set to be a relatively common weapon against the PC's.
Normally, I NEVER do anything mind-affecting to my PC's, because wresting away PC control seems risky, at best. In fact, I'd assumed that the general consensus among DM's was to avoid brainwashing PC's completely, which is why I was so surprised to see specifically called for in a professorially published AP.
I've been trying to brainstorm some graceful ways to do this: one potential solution would be to offer the affected PC an appropriate amount of EXP or Hero Points to follow the monster's orders, but that brings its own set of complications.
Or maybe I'm just worrying too much and taking PC control isn't such a bad thing after all. Thoughts? Opinions? Suggestions?
