Lame. They need to come out with an Improved Mount feat.
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I would REALLY like my Cavalier to have a griffon as his mount... (who wouldn't?) I also do not care if it took him a while to acquire it, as long as he gets it eventually.
I'm not saying our group gets on PERFECTLY well....we just know there are certain lines that must not be crossed. I mean honestly how easy can it be keeping peace between an elven assassin and a drow cleric of Lolth? They are almost REQUIRED to hate each other.
1: Play a wizard.
Well the kicker is that we have a houserule that each player gets ONE re-roll per night...and he chose not to use it. He was disarming the trap, then rolled a 1 (auto-failure) and then rolled again to confirm a critical failure. 3. The trap went off, turning him to stone.
That sucks for me, but that's what I originally thought. The passage in the DMG is not worded very well IMO.
We're playing a 12th level 3.5 party, and last session something happened that caused discussion and disagreement among the players.
Here's the problem. One player says that I am dead, because the con damage caused me to lose an additional 60 hp. The other player (who is also the DM but is trying to adhere to the rules as opposed to fudging it) found a passage in the DMG that says that even if you take enough con damage that the hit point loss would kill you, you still are alive with one hit point per hit die left (which in my case would be 12hp). Obviously if your con was reduced to 0 you would die, but what happens here? Am I still alive but weakened, or is it time to roll up a new character?
Whoa...sneak attack does not apply to iterative attacks? Really? So.....my gaming group has been doing it wrong for years?
Do I understand this correctly in that a rogue/wizard/arcane trickster with a caster level of 11 will be able to apply sneak attack damage to ALL THREE scorching rays under the correct circumstances?
I'm currently playing a swordsage in Shackled City. We're up to fourth level (although I AM a Thri-kreen, so technically I'm a second level swordsage) but I've encountered no problems so far, so I would agree with the previous poster in that it needs no changes to be compatible with Pathfinder.
Armor of etherealness and the obsidian steed figuring of wondrous power are two methods. Where can I find these magic items? Not near my books right now.
It will not be terribly difficult for the sorcerer to see me while I have a negative !!!FORTY!!! to my hide check, when I only had a plus 37 to begin with. The spell is a ten foot radius burst, does not target me specifically....and spell resistance does not apply. It also does not allow a save vs. the negative to hide. This spell is a *%$#ing nightmare. WAAAAAY overpowered if you ask me, at least for a second level spell.Not familiar with ring of greater counterspelling.
Ok, so I have a rogue/swashbuckler/shadowdancer who is part of an 18th level party. This party will soon be going up against their evil counterparts (also played by us).
Hide in Plain Sight is a great ability, but it won't guarantee you won't be seen after making an attack. I believe RaW says that if you try to hide after an attack then you do so at a -20 to your hide check. Hide in Plain Sight just means you get to make that attempt a lot easier, as opposed to jumping into a bush.Actually, that isn't true at all. The only place that rule comes into play is in sniping, where your struggling to maintain your hidden position, rather than attacking and revealing yourself, then hiding again while you move. Wow! If that's true, that's awesome! My 18th level rogue/shadowdancer just got a LOT more dangerous! Thanks, man!
1: No one said we were simply discussing core rules. And as you said, if we were playing Pathfinder instead of 3.5 (Wrill was around before we started playing Pathfinder), then he would simply have taken the Greater Feint feat. Since that didn't exist when I made him, he became an Invisible Blade. 2: That's the risk you take when you sign up to be the rogue. Just like choosing to become a great archer...watch out for those Wind Wall spells. Everyone has a weakness, everyone excels at something. That's why I love it! :D
Hide in Plain Sight is a great ability, but it won't guarantee you won't be seen after making an attack. I believe RaW says that if you try to hide after an attack then you do so at a -20 to your hide check. Hide in Plain Sight just means you get to make that attempt a lot easier, as opposed to jumping into a bush.
Wrill Marcalo is a high level rogue/invisible blade with dual-wielding feats, two daggers of speed, and the Surprising Riposte feat from Drow of the Underdark. If I hit you with one sneak attack after feinting, then you are rendered flat-footed. That means the rest are considered sneak attacks as well. :) We also use the 3.0 version of Expert Tactician, which states that you can make an extra melee attack against one opponent who is within melee and who is currently denied Dex bonus...such as by being flatfooted. Still, even with that houseruled 3.0 feat, that only adds ONE to his many in-your-face sneak attacks. And he's actually going to get nine, when he's finished.
This issue came up last night in game play. The party (9th level) was ambushed by a bunch of redcaps (nasty little b*stards). They got a surprise round on us and whacked us pretty good, and THEN they proceeded to get initiative over us as well. Essentially they each got to attack us twice before we got to react at all, and we were all flatfooted the whole time. Lovely. Basically from that point on it became a game of survival and avoidance, with each character trying to stay alive and protect their precious few remaining HP's (aside from our fighter who is a BEAST) utilizing their own unique skill sets.
To play a badass cleric, one needs only to use the wealth of new cleric spells presented in the Spell Compendium. Healing, heavy armor, D8 hit die, rogue base attack bonus, more buff spells than anyone, and now blasting like a wizard? How can that not be badass? I actually think they're TOO powerful.
I had a dwarven fighter named Leonidas Warbeard (YES, named after Leonidas of Sparta, but YEARS before that story was a movie). The Warbeard clan was so named for their penchant for tying iron blades, spiked rods, hooks and all kind of pointy metal nasties from their facial hair. Ol' Leo had all that and more dangling from his face...the very bottom of his beard was a small spiked flail. Thus was born the "Exotic Weapon Profiency: Beard Flail" feat. 1d6 damage, critical range 20, critx2, add one half of your strength modifier. For reasons that should be obvious, the trip attack common to other flails was not possible with a beard flail. ;)
I hear ya, Larry. But imagine MY conflicted feelings...I play the rogue in the good party as well as the vampire AND the yuan-ti in the evil party! Talk about roleplaying! I want the good party to win! But I want the evil party to win! But I want the good party to win! But...I.....want...... *thud*
Oh yeah, and I seem to have forgotten about CJ's werebear barbarian/frenzied berserker. Unless he can fly, I'm not too worried about him though.
The fighter AND barbarian/frenzied berserker are going to have their hands full with the ogre fighter/war hulk, and POSSIBLY a certain dragonkin barbarian. The rogue/swashbuckler/shadowdancer is going to have his hands full with the psychic warrior/elocator alu-fiend . The paladin/devoted defender is going to have his hands full with the vampire fighter/wizard/spellsword (or whatever I choose to finally make him!). Sounds like your druid/heirophant is gonna take on the lich wizard/cleric/mystic theurge one-on-one. Notice anything? That leaves our elven wizard/archmage, arguably the most powerful person in the whole party, with nothing to do! And personally I think you and she could possibly take out the entire evil party by yourselves, ESPECIALLY if we get the jump on them. I think the evil party might NEED to have my yuan-ti favored soul there, just to have a chance! Man, that sounds like a really epic battle when it's all typed out like that! :D
Don't know if this will be of any help to you, but I play with several groups of people who like versatility in their characters. In most of the campaigns I've played (and all of the ones I've run) we house-rule the Jack of All Trades feat. It makes all skills class skills, so you can put your points wherever you want up to normal skill levels. It can only be taken as a first level character, though. I've had some people say that's pretty powerful, but I've never had it come even close to breaking the game. So I want a sorcerer who can move silently, so what? Every point I put into move silently is a point I'm NOT putting into spellcraft or concentration.
Whoa...trading in his mount, turning ability, AND spells? That better have been one HELL of a sword! (Or heaven, you know what I mean). Do you remember any of the weapon's abilities?
Speaking of paladins....
"If it means so much to you, then have it." he said. And proceeded to hand over to her every gold piece in his possession. It was WELL over a hundred gold pieces, and we were still very low level, like second or third. The other player's jaw dropped, and Reynold simply turned his back and walked away. That action made the rogue ashamed of herself for perhaps the first time ever, and earned a deep respect for the paladin. He's always the first to defend and the last to doubt, and never hesitates to throw himself in harm's way if it will help someone. He weilds a flaming/shocking flail and a floating shield, and uses the Devoted Spirit variant class feature from Unearthed Arcana instead of a mount (horses aren't much use in a cramped dungeon!). He's also taking the Combat Focus feat chain from PHBII and the Battle Blessing feat from Complete Champion...he makes one heck of a healer, does nice damage, and is incredibly hard to put down!
Would you mind if I were to borrow this clan for my campaign? Maybe include King Leonidas Warbeard Scorge of a Thousand Orcs? I am honored that someone wants to use the Warbeard clan! Have fun with 'em, I sure have (and will continue to!)
You don't have to choose BETWEEN your babies, just mention some of them! I love my "children" as well, and have enough "favorites" to keep this thread going for a LONG time, as long as people remain interested. I probably have 70ish characters made up, between the 30 or so I HAVE played, and the 40 or so I have completely made up and WANT TO play.
Leonidas Warbeard (yes, named after King Leonidas of Sparta, but YEARS before 300 was a movie) is a dwarven fighter of 18th level. He wields a lucerne hammer and wears dark blue full-plate, with a hole in the helm for his beard to go through. The Warbeard clan earned their name from their reputation of tying hooks, barbs, spikes and whatnot from their beards during frenzied battle, a tradition that Leonidas proudly carries on. We even made a custom weapon for him, the "beard flail".
Here we go again.
Heh heh..."splat" book..... Sorry.
Ooooh! Speaking of knowledge, I really wanna play an Archivist, too. As an aside, I played a Shadowcaster and used an update (that I think Ari suggested) along with a hybrid of a "spellpoints" variant much like psions, or the alternate magic system used in Unearthed Arcana. It was quite effective and flavorful!
This list is too long. Swordsage, Factotum (especially with the Font of Inspiration feat on the WTC website), Cleric (I've never played one!), Binder, Beguiler, Rokugan Ninja, Inkyo, Shugenja and Wu Jen, Crusader, Knight, Jester, Swashbuckler, Scout, Ardent (I love psionics)!, and believe it or not I've never played a Wizard. I have over 20 characters I've played, and a list of around 40 characters I've made up completely and are ready to go at a moment's notice.
Like The Black Bard, I allow EVERYTHING 3.0-3.5 ever produced, whether it is from Wizards themselves or anyone else. Unlike The Black Bard, I have players who are simultaneously interested in making a cool story together AND creating very powerful combinations of classes/feats/spells/racial abilities, etc. Perhaps I was not clear enough. By saying my players are "interested in...creating very powerful combinations of classes/feats/spells/racial abilities, etc." I was trying to say that they DO attempt to exploit loopholes, any way they can...it just never "breaks" my game. I've always managed to keep under control. I never meant to imply that your players deliberately (or even accidentally) create weak characters. I have never actually heard of anyone doing that. Do not worry, you were not misinterpreted...I guess we BOTH could have been more clear with what we were saying.
Ah, Island of Blades....I THOUGHT that would come up. Still, to make the precision damage viable he had to take some serious rogue to get the sneak attack that high. That stance works best in concert with a pure rogue of some sort, to maximize the sneak attacks. So that's not just cheapness with the Tome of Battle, it actually REQUIRES core stuff to be taken advantage of.
I would really like to see the build of this gnome. The thing is, if it is a mix of 2 or 3 classes from ToB, then it would not have access to the higher-level maneuvers like a single-ToB-class 6th level character would. That, plus the maneuvers from one class should not stack with the maneuvers from another class, IIRC (meaning they should have to "refresh" each classes set of maneuvers a different way). What is the combo exactly that allows this medium BAB dual-wielder to do more consistant damage than a power attacking barbarian? And I trust the barbarian is using a 2 handed weapon to get the most out of power attack, yes?Any neat trick ANY Tome of Battle character may have can be done at MOST every other round...and only if you're a Swordsage or Warblade. The Swordsage must do nothing for a whole round to refresh even one maneuver (unless they have a feat which allows them to reset them all, but STILL by doing nothing for a round), and the Warblade refreshes its maneuvers by making a single, normal melee attack...NOT a maneuver. Also, any maneuver or stance in the ToB can be taken by any character of any class, through a feat (or chain of feats).
Like The Black Bard, I allow EVERYTHING 3.0-3.5 ever produced, whether it is from Wizards themselves or anyone else. Unlike The Black Bard, I have players who are simultaneously interested in making a cool story together AND creating very powerful combinations of classes/feats/spells/racial abilities, etc.
The parties I play in enforce no XP penalty when multiclassing anyway. I suppose we'd have to if we had munchkinesque cherrypicking, but my players and I have always have a good story reason behind the classes/PRC's we take.
Ahhh....then it looks like you might have to step into the DM shoes yourself. If there are other players who are dissatisfied as you are, they should jump at the chance.
At this point, I'd give it up for a loss. Get together (in private)with any other players that are similarly dissatisfied, and kill the cleric (or whoever else is being dumb). That sould solve both the problem of the stupid characters, and the problem of noone ever dying! Sometimes infighting happens in parties, and it may be good to know what side your bread is buttered on, meaning who you can trust to have your back.
I was running a small group (a Valenar Elf Ranger, Human Exotic Weapon Master, and myself as a Kalashtar Psion) through Whispers of the Vampire's Blade in Eberron. ***************************SPOILER ALERT******************************* Anyone who has played that module before probably realizes how infuriating it can be chasing Lucan and Grilsha, because they ALWAYS seem to have a means of escape. They got away when the party caught up to their coach, disappeared in the confusion after the masked ball in Zilargo erupted into violence, slipped away on a stolen skiff while the party was fighting off sky raiders on an airship, and even ran off in the midst of a battle with warforged on the lightning rail. By the time the party got to the the final showdown in the hobgoblin ziggurat their nerves were shot and they were fed up. They were determined not to let Lucan get away again, at ANY cost.
Him: "O.K., I let go."
The hole was approximately a 400 or 500ft. drop (don't have it in front of me), all the way through the ziggurat to the bottom-most rooms.
More reminiscing? Ok...I'll see what else I can remember. I know they were escaped lab mice, who grew to beyond human level capabilities, and had human level intellect.
Hahahaha, just remembered they weren't rats, they were 5 mice. We called it "Mouse Trap". We kept the whole "each one has his own unique weapon" thing, and they had cool bandana-masks (though they weren't color coded, they all wore black). I think the weapons they used were hook swords, kris blades, tonfa, kama knives, and a 3-sectioned staff.
TMNT and Other Strangeness was awesome! We played not AS the turtles, but in the world of the turtles...we had a group of five militant ninja rats. Their base of operations was a farm house. I think we called it "Rat Race". Most of the time we made up our own mutants and characters in the world, but every once in a while we'd have a cameo from like Bebop, Rocksteady, Casey Jones, Scumbug, Panda Khan or somebody like that. We were like fourteen, it was great! Palladium games like this, Rifts, and Robotech got me started on roleplaying!
One character I'm DYING to play is a thri-kreen swordsage...he understands common but refuses to speak it. His partner is a halfling wizard/force missile mage who has to translate his speech for the rest of the party...
I had a badass harssaf monk once...I miss that character. I am also quite fond of centaurs, flinds (a nastier gnoll? Sold!), and elans (I love psionics...and redheaded chicks!).
With ONE SPELL (Divine Power), a cleric has the base attack bonus of a fighter, a +6 to strength, and +1 hp per level. And UNLIKE Tenser's Transformation, he CAN STILL CAST. In heavy armor. With two good saves, healing ability, D8 hit die, fantastic buffing, and the WEALTH of new attack spells presented in books like the Spell Compendium, the Cleric DEFINITELY has the potential to be overpowered. I'm not even taking into account divine metamagic.
I'm not sure this "solution" would work for anybody else, but it works for myself and my gaming friends...
Play the Factotum class from Dungeonscape. They're quite potent now with the addition of the Font of Inspiration feat from the Wizards website. That way, your role can change whenever you want. Wanna be a frontliner? Put your inspiration points into attack and damage. Evoker? Done. Healer? Check. Sneaky-stabby type? You got it. Illusionist? Sure!
Edit: Oooooh, I just thought of a perfect race for this character! Changeling! With the changeling's shapeshift ability, each personality could even be of a different race or gender!
The way I envisioned it was a bent metal prong (the trigger) curving down from the side of the crossbow which could then be pulled by the pinky and ring fingers simultaneously. That way you'd have at least some manual dexterity left with the thumb, middle and index finger so you could reload a depleted magazine. (As a move action.)
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