macdaddy_o's page

Ok, thanks for the posts guys.

Up his defensive capabilities, lower his offensive.

Option 1:
I keep him as a sorcadin, but drop him to 11th level, so he won't have access to 5th level spells (i.e. Draconic Might). In addition, I will drop some of the stronger offensive capability feats and spells (Greater Mighty Wallop and Arcane Strike in particular; only use wraith strike when he has a single attack or at least don't max PA it when he uses it). Maybe drop boots of speed off him for something else, as hasted, he can do too much dmg (3 attacks + wraithstrike == dooom!).

He'll have 4 8th level human pirate backups. Two melee (Swashbuckler 3/ Fighter 2/ dervish 3) and two Ranged (Ranger 3, Scout 5). They all move around when attacking (vanthus will drop a haste on them in round 2), so that should keep them alive longer with full attacks being unavailable (hit & run).

Option 2:
Redo him as a Swashbuckler 3 / Fighter 2 / Dervish 6. This means he'll have a good AC and be able to run circles around the party (move of ~70 while hasted)while dealing out his damage and not being full attacked by anyone. I'll give him skill tricks to stand from prone and escape grapples (the Goliath is a tripper and the Dwarf is a grappler).

He'll have a greater invisible, flying, blurred, mirror imaged 8th level focused specialist conjurer and three Ranged pirates (Ranger 3, Scout 5). The wizard can drop an evard's tentacles, do the hasting on the pirates, have cast a prep spell or two on Vanthus prior (like displacement) and do some battle field control (benign transposition, grease, glitterdust, etc). He'll die to the warlock eventually (7d6 blasts will do that), but the blur/mirror image should make him last a bit longer.

The first version will allow him to stand toe-toe with the fighters while dealing solid damage (assuming he doesn't get perma-tripped by the goliath), while the 2nd version will be a little more frustrating for them to fight as he deals solid damage while weaving through them unhurt and making them rush about.

I had intended to add in an additional 4 CR 8 yuan-Ti to go with him (I couldn't think of any appropriate CR 8 demonic servants) with fly spells on them(give a wand of fly to the yuan-ti sorcerer); 2 with bows and 2 with HtH weapons.

But, after reviewing Vanthus, I am not so sure despite your comments.

My party currently consists of
1. Human Cloistered Cleric who will transition into Radiant Servant of Pelor
2. Human Warlock
3. Human Druid
4. Halfling going Rogue/Swashbuckler/Master Thrower/Whisper Knife
5. Goliath Barbarian/Fighter going into Totemic Demon Slayer
6. Dwarf Barbarian/Fighter going into Champion of Gwynharwyf
7. Human Duskblade (using reach weapon)
8. Human Warmage/Divine Oracle/Rainbow Servant

No dedicated arcanist!

The warmage should be able to cast Airwalk at 10th level. That will help get some into the air, and the warlock will be able to zap away for 7d6 with a chausible. All of that depends on them NOT being disabled via grappling tentacles though... which is unlikely (I doubt the druid or cleric will memorize freedom of movement).

Other than that, I don't see how the others will be able to handle someone flying above them them, casting down, and occasionally walloping them with a reach weapon. It would only take ~2 hits to kill any of the fighters, a full attack would be instant death, 1 hit would easily knock off half their health; and it would be nearly impossible for the fighters to hit back.

I have a party of no less than 8 PCs going through savage tide. We are currently in Kraken's cove. While there have been no PC deaths yet, there have been several very close calls.

I've been adjusting some of the antagonists and combats up a little in order to handle a party of this size. I've been prepping in advance to make things a bit easier down the road.

I'm looking at the final battle in Tides of Dread against Vanthus. I don't really like the way he is constructed (two weapon fighting is meh) and have re-done him as a Sorcadin. This fits with what I have been doing as the party "knew" him as a paladin in an intro adventure I ran prior to starting "There is no Honor". Only now, he has transitioned to a Paladin of Slaughter. :)

The printed incarnation is a CR 14 (11 levels +3 for half fiend. The aristocrat level doesn't count I guess). Since my party consists of 8 PC's I have added 1 to his CR by making him 12th level (Paladin 2, Sorcerer 4, Spellsword 1, Abjurant Champion 5, +3 from half fiend = CR 15).

I have given him very similar equipment to what is in the module (Lucern Hammer +3, Chain Shirt +3, Ring of Protection +2, Cloak of Resistance +2, Boots of Speed). However, with some choice spell effects he ends up with

AC 38 (Shield, Draconic Might, Haste, etc)
Init + 13 (nerveskitter, dex, improved init)
+21/+21/+16 for 4d6 + 13 (Greater Mighty Wallop increases dice from 2d4 to 4d6)
Fort: +22, Ref: +17, Wil: +19

Under the effects of: Draconic Might(12 minutes), Shield(24 rounds), Haste(10 rounds max), Greater Mighty Wallop(12 hours), Heart of Air(12 hours), Heart of Stone(12 hours), Displacement(12 rounds, assume 6 left when the fight starts) and mirror image(12 minutes).

Plus he has the Wings of Cover spell, which kills an attack, but prevents him from using Wraithstrike.

1st round: Evards Black tentacles on those on the ground, activate haste
2nd round: Move up and whack or cast Scorching Ray
3rd Round: Full Attack or repeat

One strike will easily do:
4d6 + 13 + 20 + 5d4(arcane strike) == 59.5 damage

If he ever gets off a full attack action, whatever he hits is DEAD.

I'm worried that perhaps I have over optimized this and made him an easy TPK. A 10th level fighter will have +10 BaB, +1 weapon, +6 from str is +17 to hit. Against a 38 AC, he would need a 20! Then throw in displacement and mirror image and its OVERKILL.

How much should I cut back on this? any ideas/suggestions?

I know what you mean TBA. Because I don't want something similar to happen, I am altering things a bit.

Rowyn will be with Levana from the first time the party meets her. She'll be giving "good" advice that will, in retrospect, be in her interest. When the party finds out about the lotus dragons and lets levana in on it, Rowyn will of course be there.... :)

so, it will "speed" things up. The party will get a note soon after, followed by an ambush. When they do get into the guild hall, everyone will already be on alert. Thus, I can setup a "plausible" prepared ambush in the hall.

That gives a good climactic fight, allows Rowyn to be the manipulator in the background, and increase her chance of escape so she can torment the PC's later; and they will be thinking, "Damn, we should have seen that coming.", so I can make them a little paranoid/on edge.

Of course, I still have yet to figure out how Rowyn will progress for her final segment....

If I do make Vanthus Gestalt, I'll probably do some variation of Paladin of slaughter/ sorcerer, spellsword, abjurant champ.

With the channel spell ability and arcane strike plus buffs, he would really be able to put on the hurt.

I think that path would be good for him, especially with how I plan on starting the campaign with a little prequel.

Thanks for the ideas TBA.

I am using 3.5 rules.

I considered converting to Pathfinder, but haven't run it before and have none of the books, so I decided to go the easy route...

I was currently planning on having Rowyn (with basic bard upgrades: Inspirational boost, Song of the heart, and melodic casting) along with 2 Gut Tugger clones, the Zombie Bugbear and 6 1st level rogues acting as practice dummies in the practice/throne room.

She would hang back and sing, giving +3 hit/dmg to all her minions; maybe using her wand(s)/spells. If things were going against her, she would escape into the board room, and release the Rhogodessa (give the winch a release lever for its chain) and get out of Dodge.

I think this would give them a pretty challenging fight, bordering on killing off some. 2 Gut Tuggers may be too much with the Zombie Bugbear, so I may drop it back to the one original.

I hadn't considered her replacing Bard with Sorcerer. If I did Rogue 3 / Sorcerer 4, I don't know that the few spells she has would be all that helpful.

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For Vanthus, I see what you mean about Gestalt, but I may not want to do that. May seem like cheating playing by different rules.

What sorcerer buffs were you using????? I could use some help to make sure I don't miss any. I have no trouble converting pathfinder spells to 3.5 that don't exist :)

I see you bumped him from 12th level to 14th level.

If I do a simple Sorcadin (Pal 2 / Sorc 4/ SpellSword 1 / Abj Champ 5 / "un"sacred Exorcist 2), he would be a "12th" level sorcerer and have a 6th level spell to fling around.

Give him a great sword or glaive (I'd rather have a 2-handed weapon for power attacking then 2-weapon fighting) and with a max power attack full round attack using wraith strike, it would hurt buckets, if not kill outright; then being able to throw up a wings of cover to deflect an attack, etc al. He should do well.

Later, I was planning on using the Death Knight template from MM II, but I may look over the pathfinder Grave knight for some ideas. Its similiar, but has some cool features added to it.

I am running Savage tide for around 7-8 PC's (yes, its large, but that's the size of the group)

I am not happy with Rowyn Kellani in either of her two appearances or Vanthus when he invades Farshore.

I think both are woefully under powered for what the PCs will bring to bear.

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1. Rowyn
I would like to keep her as a Bard/Rogue, maybe add a level or two, Give her melodic casting,

two Gut Tuggers and perhaps a few rogues/thugs.

Increase the size of the room, and maybe add in a Rhogodesha via some escape mechanism near the treasure room for when she makes her exit....

Of course, her chambers would have to be greatly increased in size. Which may not fit thematically? I think someone suggested doing it in the training room?

2. Rowyn on the Sea Wyvern
I need a lot of help changing this one and ideas on her build. Rogue/Bard/Assassin seems like it would fit, BUT, I'm not sure how bad arse she would be... and I want her to be BAD arse

3. Vanthus at Farshore
He is pretty pathetic in my opinion. I was considering either making him

- Pal/Sorc/SpellSword/AbjurantChamp
He can then be buffed up when he comes down, and as he has wings from the half fiend template, he could try to stay away and deal dmg from afar / single out targets. Basically try to divide and conquer.

or
- Warlock
With the grappling tentacles, vorascious dispelling, and Eldritch chain, plus a fell crucible, he could lock down some party members, keep his distance, dispel anyone that flies up, and keep doing ranged damage. He does the divide and conquer better I think.

Either way, he will need some minions to help prevent him from being killed in 1-2 rounds by the party. But I am at a loss of what minions to use, since I plan on having him fly down to them...

I would greatly appreciate it if you could forward them to me as well.

macdonald.keith.a+savagetide@gmail.com

Thanks

Great campaign log!

I really like the idea of the tuning fork replacing the tooth (which I thought was blech) and some of the other foreshadowing you did.

I will of course be stealing some of your ideas quite liberally. :)

Hi everyone,

I am starting a 3.5 Savage Tide campaign in the near future for 7 or 8 players.

Is there anything available like Redhand of Doom DM Handbook for Savage Tide? (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=171284)

I am trying to find advice, tips, where things need to be re-worked, etc. I was looking for any threads that have some detailed perspectives; basically as a way to reduce my total prep time and/or help me avoid pitfalls that I may not see until too late.

I checked out this board, but there are so many posts, its a little difficult to sift through them all. (I did go through about 10 pages of "A Madman GM's the Savage Tide" as it seems to be the best I have found so far).