Doran Blackdawn's page

5) The PCs stumble upon a well-run and peaceful settlement in the middle of the wilderness that is run by a Vampire. The vampire holds a lottery which everyone in the village enters by default. If they 'win,' they are devoured by the vampire. Everyone in the settlement knows this and seems okay with it, since the vampire protects them from outside influences.

Why yes, yes I do like that short story.

hmmm, 'caster level' may or may not be a "numeric effect" but damage has to be, yes?

to clarify the goal is to prove this right, not wrong, that is what I meant by debate class

Too bad, then, that you're essentially trying to get the class to prove the sun is green.

I'm running a campaign where a PC is playing a Half-Orc Fey Sorcerer.

He was born and raised in the Feywilds and joined their police force. His name is Brigg Johnson. FPD.

The amount of hilarious things he has done with the first level Laughing ability alone is more than enough for me to say that Fey is the best.

Mechanically? Arcane, sure, but who the hell cares about mechanics when your Sorcerer PC goes around "interrogating" people with bars of soap in burlap sacks, and making their friends laugh uncontrollably?

He even ran into melee combat, sucked up an AoO, used the ability on my BBEG and single-handedly won the encounter.

EDIT - Maybe it's just my friend who's overpowered.

Yar.

3: Weapon Finesse is also on the list of pre-reqs because thematically you are combining two things that normally don't combine: Scimitars and Weapon Finesse. If you want to learn a unique fighting style that melds two different things, you need to able to do those two different things competently first.

EDIT: semi-ninja'ed. But I will point out again that my point #3 (which hasn't been mentioned by the others) is (imo) a really good and important point to consider.

This is true, and I do also think it's an important point. I also agree that it makes sense feats like Combat Expertise require 13 INT. :)

Oh, herp derp, I read that feat like six times and I missed "melee attack and damage rolls" every time.

Well how silly I feel.

Still, thanks a lot everyone! :p

Weapon Finesse isn't useless to your character, since you can still use it on things like daggers or rapiers or other Weapon Finessable weapons, but yes, it's no use for your scimitar fighting at all other than to help you qualify for the feat you want.

So to be completely clear, a Dervish Dancer with a 16 DEX would get +3 to Damage and +0 to hit while using a Scimitar?

Thanks a lot for the prompt reply! :D

Hey all, quick question about Dervish Dance:

One of the prerequisites is Weapon Finesse, and you're obviously required to use a Scimitar with the feat, so what is the ruling on using Weapon Finesse with a Scimitar? It isn't light, but wouldn't the fact it's a prerequisite for Dervish Dance imply that you could use a Scimitar with WF? I mean, why have a prerequisite feat that would be useless to your character, right?

Anyway, some clarification would be great! Thanks a lot for any replies!

Thanks for the replies, everyone! I'm going to rule with the James Jacobs post in mind, personally, but this is an interesting thread regardless! :)

Hey all, quick question:

In the book, it says that to cast a Somatic spell, you need one free hand to gesture. A Heavy shield is too much for this, definitely, but a light shield lets you "use your hand to carry [items]."

Could a Cleric use a Light shield and cast spells with a weapon in their other hand?

Conversely, what if I as a DM ruled that a Cleric's holy symbol could be on their shield? Would that work (to obsolete the use of a Divine Focus?)

Thanks!

Thanks for the posts, everyone! Giving me lots to think about :)

Hey all, got a question here.

It seems to me that Spellcraft isn't a great skill, but I know for a fact I must be missing something. Everyone always goes on about how casters need Spellcraft and I guess I want to know why.

Here's what I'm thinking. Please prove me wrong:

The reading of Spellbooks and Scrolls can be handled by a free casting of Read Magic, so I don't see this as extremely relevant. I guess Identifying spells as they're being cast could definitely have uses, but it doesn't seem like a huge deal. Crafting a Magic Item is definitely useful if you plan on going this route, but we could then debate the importance of crafting magic items in the first place.

This leaves Identifying Items which is obviously necessary, but does that justify maxing the skill out every level? What about if there are two casters in the party? Do they both need it?

Why is Spellcraft so necessary?

Came in here to post Silent Image/Create Pit, came out with Hideous Laughter and Aqueous Orb. Awesome.

This one is obvious, but very useful:

Spark + Pyrotechnics

Depends on the situation, but if you catch your opponent flanked or in any other situation where sneak attack is possible, it would be #1.

Excellent, just what I wanted to know. Thanks a lot!

Hey all, sorry for the newbie question, but I'm DMing a campaign in a few days and just wanted some clarification!

The following is true about Sneak Attack:

For a 15th level Rogue using two one-handed weapons,

1) The Rogue has 4 attacks. He gets to apply sneak attack damage to each strike (8d6x4)
2) The Rogue is using two weapons. He gets two sneak attacks (one sneak attack per arm) (8d6x2)
3) The Rogue only gets her damage added to one full-attack action (8d6)

I was under the impression it was the first, but the rules on Sneak Attack are a little hazy.

Thanks for any replies!

Just a quick question about this ability;

It says it needs four rounds of continuous performance, so does this mean that the effect triggers after four rounds is up? For example, I start the ability, then four rounds later get the healing?

Or does it mean that I can have any Bard song going for four rounds, after which I can use this ability?

Also, what are the costs to pay this skill? It doesn't seem to have any, but that seems too good. Does it count against the daily round limit of Bard songs?

Thanks for the info all!