I get Erasmo’s concerns. But given that VoA did tell us he’s busy for a bit, I’m willing to give it some more time and cross my fingers that we’ll be able to pick up the pace.
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Covered in burning tar, Melkzadyk has the presence of mind to shake it off before casting Resist Energy (Fire) and moving 30 feet farther away from the rest of the party. Oww.
Melkyzadyk looks back and forth rapidly, having heard nothing. He says "Scatter, we don't want to all get caught by one breath weapon."
"I...can fly. But it would be rather conspicuous."
I'm still here, but I'm not one of the teleporters! Likewise.
"It would be best if I rely on another at the moment, as well." Melkyzadyk says, glancing between Rahlmaat and Ethulfel.
Melkyzadyk nods. "We would be fools to assault so powerful and canny a foe unprepared. But let us waste no more time talking about preparing, but do it and assemble posthaste."
The three save-boosting ones would come in handy, not sure what my fourth pick should be. Polish would be good, but I don't actually wear armor or carry any weapon or shield. Likewise, Sharpen Weapons won't work for me. Maybe swarm-proofing? I do have a magical robe that I guess could receive the reinforcing it talks about.
"Should probably also make sure we're prepped to resist enchantment spells, given who's the boss over there."
I'm back. Catching up on everything now.
Hey y'all, my aunt passed away sunday. Thursday I'm flying to Florida for her funeral, won't be back until next sunday, and tomorrow I'll mostly be packing/getting things in order for the trip. Bot me as needed. Or find some distraction that Melkyzadyk needs to take care of for a few days.
"Ugh. Time magic is such a mess. It might be better for everyone if we make that paradox that Ethulfel mentioned."
Melkyzadyk begins stacking a plate with various meats and cheeses. And a glass of warm milk. "What they said." he says, gesturing to the others with a turkey leg, before taking a chunk out of it.
Melkyzadyk shrugs and follows Arykiel.
Melkyzadyk nods to Rahlmaat. "I certainly have the time. I would say, though," he says, looking around the group as a whole "that we should be cautious about just strolling into Xin-Shalast. If Sorshen has become someone else, she might not be so gracious a host. Only very foolish pray walks directly into the dragon's gullet."
Well. Perception is the only one of those I could possibly have made. That’s…concerning. I mean, I’m not built as a skill monkey, but even so…
I don't recall which one I was was counting as the bonus, but I was figuring on switching Ancient Draconic, which seems like it'd make sense as a background feat too. Just figuring I'd check, I wasn't sure that sentence would still apply once we'd started playing or only before. Thanks!
It's a little bit late, but I'm annoyed about not being able to roll all the Knowledges. I'm a millenia-old dragon, I should know at least a little bit about everything! Can I swap a feat out for Breadth of Experience (despite my 3pp race not being one of the listed ones)? I'm definitely over 100.
A elf approaches the group, silver-haired, but of indeterminate age.
Melkyzadyk sat, as he often sat, high on a mountainside, overlooking one of the few passes through the Barrier Wall. Mostly, he watched nature. Occasionally, he watched caravans. Rarely, he plotted the best approach to totally destroy an incursion of evil demon cultists from the Garundi jungle. Today, there was little to see. But he had no other particular duties. His latest regent could run Lastwater without his help, usually. That was the point of her office, to free him up to do other things. And to keep the humanoids from knowing that a dragon actually controlled the town. That tended to scare them. he grew tired of explaining that he wasn't one of those dragons, and that they had nothing to fear so long as they obeyed his laws. Easier to rule in the shadows. Even here, on the mountain, he spent most of the time in his elven form. Few people looked twice at a lone elf in the wilderness. *Brave heroes, I implore your aid. Sinlord Kazsethil has returned, establishing complete dominion over Larisen. Travel to Paragon’s Torch if you wish to learn more.* He glanced left and right reflexively, even as he realized the sending was inaudible to anyone but him. A Sinlord is back? Well, that can't be good. He knew sending was a fairly simple spell for any accomplished caster, the really interesting part was knowing that someone had contacted him in particular, and done so directly. Curious. Most curious. A Sinlord would be a great challenge for him alone, but the message had said "heroes", so surely others were being contacted as well. Unfortunately, he knew few of the sort of spells that would allow him to observed the proffered destination without traveling there. One obvious solution, I suppose. he thought. He stood up and began walking back to town. His regent would need to know he would be gone for some time, and he needed to gather his tools.
I changed a few spells based on discussions upthread: Replaced Shocking Grasp, Icy Prison, and Mass Icy Prison with Protection From Evil, Vampiric Shadow Shield, and Aroden's Spellbane. The middle one's probably the weakest, I just like the idea of leaping into melee, then any time I get hit the other guy takes damage and I heal some. May not be the most effective method of healing, admittedly. But on the other hand, no SR or save, so my DCs don't matter. (Still open to changing that one if someone knows a killer 5th level spell I don't have yet.) I have no idea what a Taninim's RP are, or what I'd take to lift them to 15 if they're under it.
Just taking a quick look, your DCs seem really low to me. According to the benchmarks, anything less than 31 isn't going to land against most enemies even when targeting their worst save. This might be okay for blasting spells, since unless they've got evasion you'll still do half damage, but spells like mass icy prison might be wasted picks. Although I dunno, even on a success it still entangles enemies, and that could be useful? :) Anyway, sticking to blasts is probably good for you. I don't have any criticisms! :D Yeah, honestly I noticed while building that they seemed low, but I don’t really know any good ways to boost spell DCs, other than Spell Focus and Greater, and a feat for +1 seems like a raw deal. I mean, also pumping Charisma, But I’m already near the top of the guidelines. That’s also probably the fact that I mostly play martial sand gishes coming out, and indeed most of my feats went to combat or boosting skills in various ways.
I don’t often play full casters, much less level 20 full casters. So if anyone wants to look at my spells and offer advice I’m open to it. As is I’m probably a bit heavy on blasts, (I’m a switch hitter! Stay at range you get the Polar Ray/Chain Lightning/a Breath Weappn, etc, close and you get 6 natural attacks from a full-BAB dragon!) though I suppose I could be the party blaster and let our other full casters handle other roles.
At this level, expensive components are always something to keep in mind. Diamond/Diamond dust, etc.
Does oath of candor require you to divulge the truth, or could you remain silent while I lie to someone, if it was in our interest? If you (all) do need to disclose the truth, I’ll probably drop my ranks in bluff (and maybe pick up the oath too). As a dragon who routinely masquerades as an elf, or else hides behind human facades as the unseen power behind the throne, I’ll be keeping my bluff ranks. Way too easy to get caught having to answer honestly “Are you really an elf?” Or something if you’re sworn not to lie.
Melkyzadyk is actually rather reclusive. He mostly stays in or around his town in southern Osirion, though he does keep having to fend of Angazhani cultists trying to come through the mountains and the like. It at least keeps him from getting bored. Sometimes he goes farther afield to broker deals between lawful dragons, or dragons and non-dragon governments. That's most likely where you'd have encountered him if you're not Osiriani. He also often uses his Humanoid Form ability to appear as an elf of indeterminate age with silver-gray hair. Sometimes when he gets bored he'll wander Golarion (or other planes) as an elf for years, or even decades, until whoever he left in charge has need of him back home. But if you met him in elf form you may not know he's actually a dragon (though anyone at this level probably has truesight, etc etc). His epic deed and mythic ascension came with his near single-handed defeat of the Sky Pharaoh and destruction of his pyramid. He actually ate the Sky Pharaoh, which gave him both PHENOMENAL COSMIC POWER and a terrible case of mummy rot. He's better now. Be careful eating mummies, they're worse than puffer fish if not cooked thoroughly.
In character, Melkyzadyk would probably get along best with Rahlmaat and Amon-Hotep, as they're all Osiriani of similar alignments. I don't have a great handle on what a Prodigy is, or how spheres casting works, so that party might be somewhat lacking in Divine casting, with only a paladin, unless Rahlmaat can fill that. But does appear to have plenty of Arcane casting (two sorcerers and a wizard!), martial prowess (a fighter and a paladin), healing (paladin), lots of skills, etc.
Done. Will try to have recommendations in today.
Mythic: Dual Path Archmage/Champion for me.
Ok, this is Ouachitonian's submission. (Just in time for Christmas!) Melkyzadyk is a dragon, the offspring of a forbidden union between a blue and a tarnished silver (his color is intermediate, kind of a blued steel). Or, mechanically, a Taninim Fighter (Scaled Juggernaut) 20/Sorcerer (Trueblood) 20 (those are both taninim racial archetypes from the In the company of Dragons book). He also has the Draconic Hero archetype, which is how he grew to such great size. But between the Lithe Movement draconic gift and the Belt of the Weasel, I figure he can fit anywhere a medium creature can. Probably. Also he can change shape and take a humanoid form indefinitely if he wants. I took the Climbing Master mythic ability, not because it's all that powerful, but because if he's tall enough to almost reach the ceiling, then he can stand on the ceiling and almost reach the ground. Leaves more room for the rest of the party on the ground. In building him, I tried to stick as close as possible to the benchmarks (though when you account for gestalt and mythic, he does reach a bit into the Expanded Chart someone posted the other day), but also to stick close to his origins: I used the stats, feats, skills, spell choices, etc of blue and silver dragons as a guide. He did deviate somewhat from those, I wasn't slavishly bound to them, but I definitely took some stuff I otherwise wouldn't have to fit closer to those stats. Items also were in part chosen to push the dragon feel (Eyes of the Dragon was a no-brainer), but also to cover for weaknesses and add stuff I couldn't get via class or feat (Ring of Evasion, Ring of Freedom of Movement, Minor Cloak of Displacement). All in all, he should be a lot of fun. Why has no one heard of such a powerful dragon? Mostly he lays low and rules a town in southern Osirion from behind a series of puppets. It's the blue dragon in him, he doesn't do publicity. But he did have a hand in defeating the Sky Pharaoh! |