Cold Rider

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My concern is when facing very-low power opponents, no matter how many of them there are. A lot of vermin types have a hard enough time doing 1 point of damage. Being able to ignore monsters is in my mind a bad thing.

I had a character in a LARP that had a 1 point DR effectively, and the organizers sent a horde of rats, which could only do 1 point of damage.

The battle was just silly, and dreadfully tiring :P


Mee Three unfortunately

Spoiler:
Introduction

The Druid's gift lay heavy in his hand. This seed, a powerful token of their loyalty, would deliver them the Grey Keep, and the road to Diobel would be open. The keep which protected the road would serve to block it as well, severing its link to Absalom. The Druids had promised that the seed would spell doom for the defenders, one and all, all it needed was the earth in the keeps courtyard.

Stealthily slung, the seed landed in the earthen courtyard as planned, and with terrible swiftness, grew into a mass of powerful tendrils. Caught unaware by the strangling vines, the defenders were quickly enmeshed. Also from the seed sprung a dryad of dread visage. She surveyed the scene, hesitated but a moment, and commanded the vine to finish the job. The screams of the defenders made even the Chelaxian soldier outside cringe.

Explanation:
Unique item which contained a Dryad and a gargantuan Assassin Vine. The Vine has been diminished by time and drought to a size the PCs can handle.

Summary

The Grey Keep has long been shunned, even by adventures seeking wealth, for the keep is enshrouded top to bottom by thick, thorny vegetation. However, recently uncovered evidence has suggested at least one important Andoran weapon may remain within the Keep. The PCs are contacted by the society and directed there to retrieve the lost item, and any others they should find.

The pathfinders arrive at the keep and see that due to the unusually dry weather, the verdant protection is dry, a skeleton of its original form. As a result, it has become occupied by a harpy and a few charmed goblins. The PCs will find the most obvious opening - a recently collapsed wall, trapped by a primitive but deadly dead-fall trap. Shortly thereafter, they will be resisted by the harpy. Entering the keep, they will see the stark visage of dozens of skeletons, hanging in masses of dried vines and gleaming in the cold moonlight.

Should they capture the harpy or one of the goblins, they can get a little information. Having lost a few goblins to the active vine below, the hateful critters will try to direct the PCs there to the treasures below, but will desperately avoid going down themselves.

The Dryad is dwelling below, in the cooler, moister underground levels. She is corrupted, hateful and dangerous, but will speak with the PCs from the cover of darkness. Deeper, the PCs find tunnels full of pale vegetation – the assassin vine itself. Overcoming the plant will grant them access to the object of their mission -– Andoran weapon, Taldor Shield. Upon exiting, the PCs will be set upon by mercenaries sent to retrieve the items.

Act 1 The PCs attempt to gain entry and find their progress blocked by traps. EL 3/5/7
Act 2 The PCs encounter a Harpy plus goblins dependent on tier. Combat, possible role-play. EL 3/5/7
Act 3 They encounter the Dryad. Possible role-play or combat. EL 3/5/7
Act 4 The PCs attempt to recover the items from the Vine. Pure Combat EL 4/6/8
Act 5 Leaving the underground, the PCs are attacked by mercenaries. EL 3/5/7

Conclusion

The PCs, having defeated the Vine, and survived the following ambush, have recovered items of value to the Society. Perhaps from the Dryad or surviving mercenaries, they may have some useful information as well. This keep can be repopulated and the trade route reopened.

Faction Missions

Cheliax Recover a sample of the Mother Vine, ideally some of the seeds or perhaps even the Dryad. The Cheliax know how the keep fell, of course. Preventing others from finding out would be a bonus.

Osirion Peaceable contact with the Dryad yields useful information, both against the Cheliax and the Andorans.
Taldor Some of the troops where Taldor mercenaries, including a rogue chieftain. Retrieve the shield of the chieftain who fell there, or identify whose family he was from.
Andoran Find out how the keep actually fell. Find out who specifically.
Qadira Clearing the keep will promote trade, and Qadira is ready to seize the opportunity. Facts that can embarrass the other factions would be very welcome.


Thanael wrote:

That's how i read it too. It reminds me of the 2e Bard's Blade Kit. (I think there was also a nonweapon proficiency in Al'Qadim similar to it)

And this is precisely why i think DD being a prereq for Stunning Defense and Deadly Stroke does not really make any sense.

Reminds me of the old Raiders of the Lost Arc bit where Indy shoots the guy performing this feat. There's a failed roll...


logophylia wrote:
Marcel Goulard wrote:

Heck, I got the bloody date wrong. Here's mine:

Gloves of the Stonemason

Wow !

I REALLY like the gloves - they are a unique item, useful without being too powerful ... NICE !

I would not have priced them NEARLY that high simply for a price vs. utility standpoint myself though - Marvelous pigments create any non-magical inanimate object instantly for only 4K and a +2 weapon is 8K.

Playing with the math a bit - make it a CL 5 item (minimum for stone shape as a cleric spell - per the SRD "An item is only worth two times what the caster of lowest possible level can make it for. Calculate the market price based on the lowest possible level caster, no matter who makes the item") and you get a straight 3*5*2K gp = 30K for a continuous use item, BUT it's got the limitation of 1 cubic foot of stone per minute (discount of 10% maybe? after all the spell is instantaneous - so 27K). Maybe throw in a 3/day limit on the thing (16.2K GP) and a max of 10 + 5 cubic feet per day (as per the spell base - to avoid any abuse issues). Could even make it cheaper by requiring a Craft: Stonemason skill to use, but I think it more fun in the hands of informed amateurs ...

The wording on the mace effect is a little iffy - do you mean it acts a a +2 weapon, or that it allows you to bypass DR/ magic ?

If a +2 weapon, then 4*2K = 8K, then reduced by about 30% per special requirement on the target's behalf =5,600.

If bypassing DR/ Magic, then maybe the equivalent of a +1 discounted as oer above, or a total of 1,400.

I happen to like the +2 Mace idea, so Id price the total item at 16,200+2,100 (1.5 * 1,400) = 18,300 or thereabouts. Which, oddly enough, puts it right in the same range as a Mattock of the Titans (23,348 for the Mattock) - a rather similar item in many respects, but much more powerful as a weapon and less useful than the more finesse-able gloves.

Sorry if my walkthrough above is too much, but I want to yoink these for my game and I thought that I'd post my...

Am glad you liked it! This is my first attempt at pricing a D&D item, so I appreciate the feedback.

The idea on the damage was simply that the wearer could fight stone contructs/gargoyles/etc as if they were soft clay, so a simple punch would do mace damage. The +2 was meant to indicate what the wearer could hurt as opposed to a bonus to hit/damage. Am more familiar with 1st Ed rules then the newfangled systems :P

The continuous effect was selected to allow the wearer to dig tunnels for as long as their endurance could hold out.


Heck, I got the bloody date wrong. Here's mine:

Gloves of the Stonemason

A pair of finely crafted leather gloves of utmost softness. The leather does not appear to
be that of any identifiable creature.

Normal stone provides only as much resistance to the wearer's hands as would soft clay. Only a small area of stone is effected at a time - a whole wall would not soften and collapse at the touch of these gloves. The user can make holes, remove fittings with ease and even cut pillars. They do nothing to reduce the mass of the stone worked with, so it is quite possible for the wearer to be injured or killed when working with large amounts of stone. The user may manipulate up to 1 cubic foot of stone per minute.

The wearer may make unarmed attacks as if armed with a mace against stone-based life forms, and is treated as +2 for determining what the wearer can effect.

Manufactured materials such as glass, and brick are not effected by the gloves – only natural stone.

Moderate Transmutation, Cl 8th, Stone Shape. Price 64 000gp

(oh, and on pricing, a continous 4th level spell is pricey indeed!)

Owen Anderson wrote:

Oh shoot. I thought the deadline was midnight!

Oh well. Here's what I was working on, for posterity.

** spoiler omitted **