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So a friend of mine is a subscriber to the adventure paths, and is currently running the Hell's Vengeance AP. He was saying that his group enjoyed playing the bad guys so much that they're likely going to do Way of the Wicked. He's already got plans to use various bestiary monsters from the Hell's Vengeance AP, and let me in on which ones from the last book (Hell Comes to Westcrown) he's going to use in Book 3 (and also in the beginning of Book 4 because his players sometimes require a push so they don't TPK themselves).
Once the part makes it to the top, he suggests a mote archon swarm. He figures he'll probably have two going after his party. At higher levels swarms are inconsequential because they just don't have the hp, but these most certainly do.
To give his players a true sense of fear, when the winter ends, and Book 4 truly begins, he's going to have 500 sergeant troops marching towards the vale. He knows his players will think that they can wade in there and take each military guard by themself and continually use widened area effect spells and Great Cleave, so better to have troops invade instead. I agree. There is a difference between saying "There's 10,000 soldiers headed your way" and "There's 1000 sets of troops headed your way." It's subtle, but it's enough OOC information to make the players have their characters be less suicidal. At least for the moment.
So, thought I'd share our little conversation.
Oh Come on, being able to go all God of War/Dynasty Warriors with soldiers just being flung all over the place can be fun once in a while. :)
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For those running the game and your party is only just starting this book, if you have a witch, wizard, or sorcerer, consider giving or at least informing them about a spell on page 5 of Divine Anthology. You'll know it when you see it.
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Well, my guys are onto book 3 now. They've recruited the Duergar - the Dread necromancer's Intimidation checks of 40+ made the necessary impression :)
They told Dessiter to go chase himself, though politely, since they were worried about being scried at that time.
Then they found the medusa. They somehow decided that what she really wanted was forgiveness and promised her it was possible to restore the temple and get back in the good graces of her god by helping them. Then the vampire wandered through her spells and gaze, grabbed her and started draining. When she was weak the half-orc monk got out his cooking pots and started a fire in the middle of the temple. "We only need her gaze, not her legs... which look very tasty." He's been eating many an opponent, sharing with Grumblejack.
Round about the time the orc had his way with her on the altar I decided she'd had enough and would rather say sorry than he violated and mutilated any more. Her goddess finally accepted, she discorporated and several forms began to appear in the corners of the Temple, which began to show some more of its former glory.
(By this point it had been more than 12 hours of play without combat, so it was about time.)
So - what can I hit them with as divine retribution? I'm thinking of some sort of ghost celestial lions, about CR8 or 9 each, but am open to suggestions :-DD
My player considered making the medusa his bridesmaid as he didn't know too many people who could take that role xD
A much more lighter take on the relations with the medusa.
Then he had an elegant wedding with an unicorn served as the main dish. Just a small delicatessen.
He's not evil, just misunderstood xD
(But they'll all understand when he becomes the ruler of everything xD)
You haven't been posting a campaign journal for all of us to enjoy, carborundum ....
btw, what's the deity or portfolios of deity that the medusa discorporated to?
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There is one, but I've been writing it in Dutch. You could always try Google translate :-)
It's HERE if you're interested.
It's the Goddess of Beauty so basically a minor power at the minute, with spheres of beauty, art, love and music. I guess the same domains as Shelyn - Air, Charm, Good, Luck, Protection. None of the characters is a worshipper, so I can happily swap something out.
There is one, but I've been writing it in Dutch. You could always try Google translate :-)
It's HERE if you're interested.It's the Goddess of Beauty so basically a minor power at the minute, with spheres of beauty, art, love and music. I guess the same domains as Shelyn - Air, Charm, Good, Luck, Protection. None of the characters is a worshipper, so I can happily swap something out.
I suggest celestial metal birds of pretty death, if birds are the deity's sacred animal. Flavor the text accordingly. :)
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Well, the pretty lionesses of shiny death were murder-fied in short order. Everybody happy. The group wandered off in their undead-powered Flintstone wagon. No, seriously, it has foot-holes for the built-in zombies.
They set up a cold camp near the entrance to the Vale and the vampire went on an undetectable alignment reconnaisance in bat form. He spotted the shapes on the roof and the gong.
The current plan is to hang invisibly above the watchtower, drop a silence on the gong, and then cast cloudkill. If the doors are all closd inside that could be less effective than they expect, or superbly lethal
What do you folks think?
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Well, the pretty lionesses of shiny death were murder-fied in short order. Everybody happy. The group wandered off in their undead-powered Flintstone wagon. No, seriously, it has foot-holes for the built-in zombies.
They set up a cold camp near the entrance to the Vale and the vampire went on an undetectable alignment reconnaisance in bat form. He spotted the shapes on the roof and the gong.
The current plan is to hang invisibly above the watchtower, drop a silence on the gong, and then cast cloudkill. If the doors are all closd inside that could be less effective than they expect, or superbly lethal
What do you folks think?
My guess is that it won't be as effective. They'd need to time it right for it to be truly effective. That said, there's nothing stopping the vampire from opening all the doors. Cloudkill doesn't immediately disperse or anything.
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Nice! I've found John Hawkins' statblocks so they could be sorely tested soon. Thanks again for sharing!
They are a scary bunch of optimizers, you're right Kevin!
If you find you cannot find a particular statblock and would like it pm me. I still have all the hero labs files , apart from the end of book 6 which I am still working on.
Surgery has delayed the completion of my campaign|
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Thanks Mr. Hawkins! I have HeroLab myself but have never got round to using it for more than my own PCs. I'm not even sure I would know how to get a monster in it! (Two small kids = not enough free time)
Would you consider mailing them/ throwing them on dropbox? My email is foolish.child at gmail. Then I can import or just open them - I think? Or are they linked to your license?
News from the front: The gang got their invisible helicopters ready (invisibility sphere + zombie lillend/ gorgimera) to airlift the assault force to the roof. The dread necromancer flew on, and cast a spirit wall behind the fort to scare any escapees back to the kill zone.
Unfortunately, while there were 8 undetectable alignments on the party and NPCs, there were none on the undead - so the watchers woke up instantly.
A zombie wyvern engaged one, while the other was able to critically zap the lillend while it flew over. An 84 point searing light still wasn't enough to down the fortified undead beastie and the dread necromancer pilot got to repairing it on his way to place the spirit wall.
On the roof were the rogue/ bomber, the half-orc monk (disguised as a wall guard), the cleric of Asmodeus, the vampire hexblade and fiendish Grumblejack. For the watchers, I used kevin_video's idea of the soulfire template and it breathed fiery light - blinding the cleric and Grumblejack! The monk raced down the stairs and intercepted the gathering troops. With an excellent bluff (and seven Sense Motive rolls under a five) he sent them down the stairs to help against "the attack there", before charging after them and knocking them clattering down the stairs!
And that's where we left it - the dread necromancer is slowly returning to the rooftop atop the lillend, the captain and the troops are trying to get organised, and the rooftop is a melee! In the corner, the rogue is sawing away at the gong ropes, in a silence, with an adamantine dagger.
Get well soon JohnHawkins!
I'll sort something out and pm you with a link to the files, may take a couple of days.
I am pretty much recovered now,but the campaign has been on hold since May as I have been away from home while recovering. Hope to finish up in August/September
Thank you, sir! :P
https://drive.google.com/open?id=0BzZD-zu_ifR8WXlQRE9NRjBRNlk
Has my files for book 3 and 4, I'll try and add book 5 and 6 later
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Thanks a million! These are excellent!
UPDATE
My guys slaughtered the Watchers while keeping them penned in and silenced. They worked their way down accompanied by the Vampire Spawn, with only the captain being a minor speed bump. The golems were discovered, and many plans were discussed from the guardroom.
In the end they set a few large zombies outside the portcullis, raised it halfway and started poking the golems and dropping the portcullis, until one got itself stuck under the falling gate. Cue battering it into smithereens, then repeating on number two.
Next week: the Vale is open, the army starts its march!
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Attention Mr. Hawkins :-)
With the pfsrd Pathfinder Packs installed, almost everything now works - except I'm getting the error that Mitra the Shining Lord isn't available ...
One or more selections on 'Acolytes of the Serene Order' couldn't be loaded. They may require content that isn't available to this Hero Lab license, or user content that isn't currently loaded.
'Mitra the Shining Lord' can't be loaded without 'Way of the Wicked AP
Now, I've found the whole PFEncounters FMG WOTW thing in the Herolab Updates, but I can't find the "Way of the Wicked AP". Is it one of your own, or do you know where I can find it?
Fingers crossed!
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Six months later...
My group has destroyed the opposition in the Vale, wiped out the deserters/ escapees, shored up the gates and manned them again, killed the Peri and then the Phoenix before negotiating his retreat from Talingarde (with eggs).
Thanks again to @kevinvideo and @JohnHawkins for all the ideas, opponent tweaks and stats!
The group has left Sanctum for the Cathedral, with huge zombie crocodiles pulling a small flotilla of rafts. On the rafts...the party and approx 80 hostages from the town. The plan is to use them to handicap the defenders, and also for (3.5 Spell Compendium) Consumptive Field and Mass Death Knell shenanigans.
The Legion Archons completely ignored the threat, stating their clear orders - no-one gets in. So now I have two questions:
1) What do you guys think the Leonal will do when confronted with such a hostage situation? Maybe just leave the plane? Fight anyway?
2) How about entering the Maze with tens of hostages? Navigating would be tricky, for a start! Maybe I could just deny anyone under 3rd level entry to the maze? "Door? What door?"
Hope you guys have some ideas!
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Hey man, how's things?
I'd love to hear your take if you get the time to get back into it. My main dilemma is the extent to which LG opponents would be stymied by hostages. Maybe they'd decide the greater good is more important and hope the hostage gets their reward in the next world. Tricky.
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Six months later...
1) What do you guys think the Leonal will do when confronted with such a hostage situation? Maybe just leave the plane? Fight anyway?
2) How about entering the Maze with tens of hostages? Navigating would be tricky, for a start!
Hope you guys have some ideas!
I've the following suggestions
1) The Leonal could simply appear and Spam Holy word, which should not affect the hostages, and use his wall of force to easily divide the character's forces. I'm incline to believe that the hostages shall be checked by your players cohort, so this could be quite dangerous for them since the would be immediately confronted by both the leonal and the blink dogs.
2) Since the nature of the maze, which if i recall can be overcome only by doing certain actions, unless your characters took their time to actively bind the hostages and force them to walk blindfond and with a candle in their hands, i would simply remove them from the equation. Have them lost forever in the maze, except for an handful of people (3 to 5) with your characters can carry with them as shields.
Also, i believe that killing any of the hostage in such place, unless some kind of desecration is made during the act, should generate some kind of effect, possibly even empowering the defenders of the second fire. But if your pcs spills their blood in an appropriate manner, their deaths could be made as a curse to weaken the labyrinths power, or even removing its defenses for a while.
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Hey man, how's things?
I'd love to hear your take if you get the time to get back into it. My main dilemma is the extent to which LG opponents would be stymied by hostages. Maybe they'd decide the greater good is more important and hope the hostage gets their reward in the next world. Tricky.
Not great. Pretty broke, job's not paying much, and got severe writer's block after I got deathly ill back in December which put my latest project two months behind. Brain's not functioning like it used to for whatever reason.
I think Pnakotus Detsujin has the right idea for suggestions.
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Damn, I hope that turns around soon :(
Pnakotus' suggestions are great! I'd forgotten about the wall of force when I started wondering about this - that would save a load of people straight away.
Having some sort of visible effect - ghlowing energy leaving body and "charging up" the labyrinth might put a stop to their shenanigans quickly too - unless, as you say, they make a proper sacrifice of it.
I'm looking forward to this now. Unfortunately the flu wave has caught us, so it'll be a few weeks. You folks probably get notifications for this thread, so I'll be sure to post an update.
Attention Mr. Hawkins :-)
** spoiler omitted **
Sorry for not replying, in August I was still recovering from surgery and had bad internet connection so I missed this. I got the Way of the Wicked stuff from the Community User content, there are instructions for setting Hero labs to download this data in the Lone Wolf Forums.
For your hostage situation Mithra is very militant in the setting and this is a vital holy site. I don't think the defenders would kill the hostages and would try to rescue them but if the PC's kill them then those who died are in heaven as martyrs so just kill the pc's to avenge the dead,
Holy word can be devastating the Leonal when I used it almost killed 5 pc's and cohorts because they all ended up with bad negative conditions
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So, starting with the Leonal fight - she can see what's going on and separate the party from the hostages with wall of force, before splitting the party and trying to pick them off.
Did you all just have a huge, empty room? I was thinking about having the inside be grassy around the edges, with nice long reeds. Maybe a stream in the middle to annoy the vampire. Obviously still a great fire pit and plenty of sturdy feasting tables, but ... nice. Sparkly. Natural. Tiny fairies or inoffensive floating lights, a few pseudodragons or faerie dragons for atmosphere...and distraction.
What do you think? It's the entrance to a demiplane, I'd like to give them a feeling of coming into somewhere pure, and defiling it.
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So, starting with the Leonal fight - she can see what's going on and separate the party from the hostages with wall of force, before splitting the party and trying to pick them off.
Did you all just have a huge, empty room? I was thinking about having the inside be grassy around the edges, with nice long reeds. Maybe a stream in the middle to annoy the vampire. Obviously still a great fire pit and plenty of sturdy feasting tables, but ... nice. Sparkly. Natural. Tiny fairies or inoffensive floating lights, a few pseudodragons or faerie dragons for atmosphere...and distraction.
What do you think? It's the entrance to a demiplane, I'd like to give them a feeling of coming into somewhere pure, and defiling it.
I'd say make it illusionary. It'd still have the sound, smell, look, and maybe even feel of a real meadow. Given how the scenario is presented I can't see Mitra allowing an actual entrance to the a demiplane being on the Material Plane. He'd want things contained and structured. That'd be the lawful way. He's not without allowing comforts of home though. Just not literal comforts.
I did not use any terrain or complicated tactics I expected the leonal to be a speed bump but Holy word was devastating.
For various reasons several characters present were less than 5 HD behind my Leonal and every time it used Holy word they were paralysed for at least 1 round and out of the fight if they failed their save, as well each time it cast the pc's were blind for between 1 and 8 rounds. This totally crippled them , I had 4 of 5 characters incapacitated from wounds or paralysis and 1 blinded pc with enough hp for 1 round of combat when he got lucky with 2 crits in 1 round and avoided the miss chance for blind to drop it.
However emphasizing the purity and holiness of the whole sight sounds like a good idea, maybe some white lambs or deer
Lions with lambs?
"How do they keep lambs with the lions?"
"Simple, they keep adding more lambs"
https://ibb.co/c2yZSH
that is how I setup the room. Or I plan to setup the room rather. My players are well out of paralyze range.
I just realized this post was here so I am going to post my questions:
So my players are about to embark on this adventure. I only have one original party member left from book 1, and we're salvaging this play group fairly well.
The party is level 11 at this point,and a party of Seven players - but I have a few questions, some thoughts, and anything you want to add.
Maps
Why are their no player maps!?! (More a question for Gary)
Timeline -
I believe this takes place late summer and will possibly last until the very last day of winter. Just verifying on that.
Minions -
(Question for Gary, but anyone really)
And the battle of saint's bridge. It refers to minions a lot which I did read means things that are not core supporters. Grumblejack, Trik, medusa. But are these battle supposed to be the PCs AND NPCs such as GJ, Trik, Vampires? I keep thinking these are the minions but the book explains in different places that they are separate.
I was going to run this as the player's as one group, commanding bug bear leaders, the vamps, duergar, the ogres, medusa, trik, golem and other's
But if these are not considered minions, what are you to do with them? If they are considered minions, I have a hard time believing that Both ogres, medusa, and the vamps as a team could not wipe out some of these encounters. I know some of this is suppose to be railroad play which is fine.
Battle of SB continued:
How did your party handle it? Did you have to expand the number of creatures? Did you have the minions/MINIONS come with them?
Minions extra:
What do they do the rest of the time? Do you let them come with the Players? Say to fight the Phoenix? I had not planned on it.
As of right now this is who is considered "trusted"
Grumblejack
Rocket (ex imp familiar from another character death)
Posca the Merchant (they converted him)
Artephius, Alchemical Golem
Titus “Trik” Rackburn
Carnatheria Rex
hellhound
A couple level 3 torture master archtype inqusistor's (through clever roleplaying) they managed to convert/train while in the horn.
Dessister
They don't have the hounds except 1, I was considering letting them get an advanced Nightmare - Carnatheria Rex, Cauchemar
a nessian hound
and advancing Rocket the imp, with advanced tempalte, demon contract template, and making him a consular.
Did anyone turn him down?
The arena -
I'm banning clear magic use, and I've upped the the CR of some of these monsters. I was going to add a little flavor of the healing cleric detecting magic and using more magic to laugh at the pc who still has the circlet on, a subtle hint of it's true nature.
Sidebar Quests -
Anyone actually use these? Besides the arena? I've got mini adventure in the making for
Evil Spell Book Price 35,698gp
This infernal and aged looking tome contains the following arcane spells:
Level 1 - Undine's Curse
Level 3- Excruciating Deformation
Level 4 - Infernal Healing, Greater, Contagion, Fleshworm Infestation
Level 5 - Hellfire Ray
Level 6 - Genius Avaricious, Hellfire Ray
Level 7 - Tomb Legion
Level 8 - Summon Meladaemon, Tomb Legion
Level 9 - Scourge of the Horsemen, Summon Derghodaemon, Summon Greater Demon, Summon Erodaemon, Summon Thanadaemon
The Organization rules:
I have added a lot more to this, because frankly the default version is lacking imo and doesn't scale well.
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1uwL3fOom-6FIWTrYX542aKxkbsK-iG07B_zNAHF nFeQ/edit?usp=sharing
Thoughts? Anyone else change this up or just get rid of it?
Medusa -
How did you party go about "collecting" her.
Iris of Ghastenhall
What did your player's choose?
Vampirism
Did anyone in your party take this option? What happened?
Storm Giant
I was planning on jumping them near the first attempt of coming at the garden. I was going to circle them with the ROCs and have the giant leap down onto them and smash their little boat (if they take one to the place) and start the battle in the water. Only way I could think of Balancing a possible 9 vs 3 battle.
Maze/garden
Since we use roll 20, I'm going to let them literally start walking through it and blank it out and move their characters around just to give it that extra "lost" feeling.
Catherdral questions -
I've changed the Cleric's spell list because it seemed like he was not that prepared.
(Some of the changes are already reflected in his stat block I'm trying to prepare him for when they arrive to this point)
Earnan MacCathlain, Lord-Abbot of the Order of St. Macarius CR 14
XP 38,400
Male human cleric 15
LG Large humanoid
Init +6; Senses Perception +20
DEFENSE
AC 25, touch 11, flat-footed 23 (+6 armor, +2 Dex, +2 shield, -1 Size, +6 Natural Armor)
hp 97 (15d8)
Fort +9, Ref +8, Will +14
DR 10/Magic , SR 17, Frightful Aura (Shaken 30ft, strike you frightened 1d4 rounds)
OFFENSE
Speed 20 ft.
Melee longsword +14/+9/+4 (1d8+2/19-20)
Special Attacks channel positive energy 7/day (DC 21, 8d6), divine
presence 15 rounds/day (DC 21), holy lance 2/day (7 rounds)
Domain Spell-Like Abilities (CL 15 th ; concentration +19) touch of
glory 7/day, touch of good 7/day
Cleric Spells Prepared (CL 15 th ; concentration +19)
8 th —frightful aspect, holy aura D
7 th — Summon Monster 7 (4x azata) holy word D (DC 21), Repulsion
6 th —blade barrier D (DC 20), greater dispel magic, heal (2)
5 th —dispel evil (DC 19), flame strike (2) (DC 19), Wall of Blindness (1), true seeing, Summon Monster 5 (2x hound archons) (1) right
eous might D
4 th — freedom of movement, holy smite D (DC 18), Calamitous Flailing (3), Blessing of Fervor (1)
3 rd —Wrathful Mantle, dispel magic, magic circle against evil D , prayer, protection from energy, searing light
2 nd —aid, align weapon, bless weapon D , lesser restoration, shield other, spear of purity (DC 16)
1 st —bless, comprehend languages, detect evil (2), divine favor, protection from evil D , shield of faith
0 (at will)—detect magic, light, read magic, stabilize
D domain spell; Domains Glory, Good
TACTICS
During Combat The Lord-Abbot is first and foremost a spellcaster. He carries a largely ceremonial longsword and he isn’t bad with it but almost never uses it in a serious fight. He has a
high perception and likely will hear the PCs coming from a mile away. That means he will be ready for them. He casts frightful aspect, true seeing and his scroll of greater spell immunity on himself. He uses holy word in the first round of combat and then uses powerful attack spells like blade barrier and flame
strike to great effect. He spares no resources. He will use everything in his power to win this fight. If wounded, he is quick to restore his own wounds using heal. He will not retreat from this chamber nor flee the battle. The ritual he is conducting has to be done here. If the tomb of Saint Macarius is desecrated, all his work will have been for naught. If our villains retreat, the Lord-Abbot will not follow. He returns immediately to his work. He realizes that they will almost certainly come back but he cannot help that. Morale Lord-Abbot MacCathlain fights to the death.
STATISTICS
Str 20, Dex 14, Con 14, Int 14, Wis 20, Cha 14
Base Atk +14/+8/+3; CMB +17; CMD 30
Feats Channel Smite, Combat Cast, Extra Channel, Improved Channel, Improved Initiative, Leadership, Selective Channeling, Turn Undead, Weapon Focus (longsword)
Skills Diplomacy +20, Heal +23, Knowledge (religion) +19, Sense Motive +23, Perception +20, Spellcraft +19
Languages Celestial, Common
SQ aura
Gear Scroll of flame strike (2), scroll of greater spell immunity Ot er Gear breastplate, healer’s kit, heavy steel shield, wooden
holy symbol of St. Macarius, longsword, headband of mental
prowess +2 (intelligence and wisdom, perception skill), key to
his room (2-4) and the treasury (1-19)
Paraphrasing stuff about angels blog and so forth
So I think what I am going to do is, have the encounter be the advanced ara mathra linked many pages back and then have Mithra shine a blast of fire through the cathedral ceiling and have him rise as a Sunlord with Archangel Template / advanced.
Lots o stuff
My group just finished the series after about 4 1/2 years of regular play; every week for the first two thirds, then averaging about every week and a half for the last third.
I am very curious about your alternate rules for the Organization. We thought it was a brilliant and compelling idea. It added much to out game, while not side-tracking the main play into endless hours of "management". However, we agree it is lacking, but we never altered it.
Alas, your link to the google doc isn't working. Could you give another try?
Hmm weird lets try this:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1uwL3fOom-6FIWTrYX542aKxkbsK-iG07B_zNAHF nFeQ/edit?usp=sharing
Bear with me on the progress. My player's have not even gotten a chance to use it. I plan on changing it as I see fit and I made it with the idea that you don't HAVE to have leadership in the game to use it. You just assume the group as a whole has attracted people.
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Hmm weird lets try this:
Bear with me on the progress. My player's have not even gotten a chance to use it. I plan on changing it as I see fit and I made it with the idea that you don't HAVE to have leadership in the game to use it. You just assume the group as a whole has attracted people.
Fixed the link for you. The forums don't like long links. They tend to add spaces where there aren't any.
Just going to post the updated sheets if anyone wants them for some of the npcs.
With seven players you need to increase the size of all of the opponent groups as you have more players than expected.
I gave all my players cohorts as well as their trusted minions, I then limited the active group to number of players +1 characters and gave them a lot of side quests and they used mixed groups of cohorts and main characters for each battle.
They had a vast list of converted npc's and other minions most of which were deployed as off camara spies and infiltrators.
By the end of the campaign the main party was 1 Grave Kiht, 2 vampires , 1 weretiger, 1 devil bound
cohorts 1 weretiger, 1 half fiend ogre, 2 devil bound, 1 vampire and their minions included many vampires and werewolves
My boosted stats for all encounters should be in the various threads I built them to contest a very dangerous party, for you I would also add more creatures for instance for the Storm giant I would make it 3 or 4 Rocs . In particular for a fight like that where the players get to make one fight per day pull out all the stops normally attrition reduces their availability of their best spells etc for each fight when you get one fight in a day the players go Nova and are more dangerous than the rules suggest
The problem is, I got a lot of feedback that combat was sluggish, boring and not great when they all had cohorts :(
With 8+ on each side of the screen, especially if any of them are at all moderately complex to 'operate' ... oh yeah.
So for the battle of saint's bridge. I decided to replace the 10 elite archers with these. Since I allow advanced firearms and gunslingers.
I've always changed the terrain, so instead of an open 300+ foot field, it's maybe 70ft away, but they are on cliff faces shooting down.
The white squares are the shooters
I also swapped out the volley of arrow with three shots from the stated fireballs from the priests.
HACKBUT MILITIA
CR 6
XP 2,400
Male advanced young human gunslinger 6
None Medium humanoid (human)
Init +4; Senses Perception +12
DEFENSE
AC 22, touch 16, flat-footed 16 (+4 armor, +4 Dex, +2 dodge, +2 natural)
hp 64 (6d10+18)
Fort +8, Ref +9, Will +5
OFFENSE
Speed 30 ft.
Ranged double hackbut +1 +18/+13 (2d12+5/x4)
Space 5 ft. by 5 ft.; Reach 5 ft.
STATISTICS
Str 19, Dex 18, Con 16, Int 15, Wis 17, Cha 12
Base Atk +6; CMB +10; CMD 26
Feats Death from Above, Far Shot, Gunsmithing, Point-Blank Shot, Rapid Reload (Double Hackbut), Weapon Focus (Double Hackbut)
Skills Acrobatics +9 , Bluff +5 , Climb +11 , Diplomacy +2 , Disable Device +3 , Disguise +2 , Escape Artist +3 , Fly +3 , Handle Animal +5 , Heal +7 , Intimidate +5 , Perception +12 , Ride +6 , Sense Motive +4 , Sleight of Hand +6 , Spellcraft +3 , Stealth +3 , Survival +12 , Swim +11
Languages Common
SQ bonus feat, bonus grit (6x), gunslinger battered gun (battered musket), gunsmith, grit, nimble, bonus feats, gun training, gun training choice (double hackbut), deeds, deadeye, gunslinger's dodge, quick clear, gunslinger initiative, pistol-whip, utility shot, skilled
Gear chain shirt, double hackbut +1
SPECIAL ABILITIES
Bonus Feat Humans select one extra feat at 1st level.
Bonus Grit (6x) Gunslinger: Add +1/4 to the number of grit points in the gunslinger's grit pool.
Gunslinger Battered Gun (Battered Musket)
Gunsmith At 1st level, a gunslinger gains one of the following firearms of her choice: blunderbuss, musket, or pistol. Her starting weapon is battered, and only she knows how to use it properly. All other creatures treat her gun as if it had the broken condition. If the weapon already has the broken condition, it does not work at all for anyone else trying to use it. This starting weapon can only be sold for scrap (it's worth 4d10 gp when sold). The gunslinger also gains Gunsmithing as a bonus feat.
Grit (Ex) A gunslinger makes her mark upon the world with daring deeds. Some gunslingers claim they belong to a mystical way of the gun, but it's more likely that the volatile nature of firearms simply prunes the unlucky and careless from their ranks. Whatever the reason, all gunslingers have grit. In game terms, grit is a fluctuating measure of a gunslinger's ability to perform amazing actions in combat. At the start of each day, a gunslinger gains 4 grit points. Her grit goes up or down throughout the day, but usually cannot go higher than 4, though some feats and magic items may affect this maximum. A gunslinger spends grit to accomplish deeds, and regains grit in the following ways.
Critical Hit with a Firearm ~ Each time the gunslinger confirms a critical hit with a firearm attack while in the heat of combat, she regains 1 grit point. Confirming a critical hit on a helpless or unaware creature or on a creature that has fewer Hit Dice than half the gunslinger's character level does not restore grit.
Killing Blow with a Firearm ~ When the gunslinger reduces a creature to 0 or fewer hit points with a firearm attack while in the heat of combat, she regains 1 grit point. Destroying an unattended object, reducing a helpless or unaware creature to 0 or fewer hit points, or reducing a creature that has fewer Hit Dice than half the gunslinger's character level to 0 or fewer hit points does not restore any grit.
Nimble (Ex) Starting at 2nd level, a gunslinger gains a +1 dodge bonus to AC while wearing light or no armor. Anything that causes the gunslinger to lose her Dexterity bonus to AC also causes the gunslinger to lose this dodge bonus. This bonus increases by +1 for every four levels beyond 2nd level (to a maximum of +5 at 20th level).
Bonus Feats At 4th level, and every four levels thereafter, a gunslinger gains a bonus feat in addition to those gained by normal advancement. These bonus feats must be combat or grit feats.
Gun Training (Ex) Starting at 5th level, a gunslinger can select one specific type of firearm (such as an axe musket, blunderbuss, musket, or pistol). She gains a bonus equal to her Dexterity modifier on damage rolls when firing that type of firearm. Furthermore, when she misfires with that type of firearm, the misfire value of that firearm increases by 2 instead of 4. Every four levels thereafter (9th, 13th, and 17th), the gunslinger picks up another type of firearm, gaining these bonuses for those types as well.
Gun Training Choice (Double Hackbut)
Deeds Gunslingers spend grit points to accomplish deeds. Most deeds grant the gunslinger some momentary bonus or effect, but there are some that provide longerlasting effects. Some deeds stay in effect as long as the gunslinger has at least 1 grit point. The following is the list of base gunslinger deeds. A gunslinger can only perform deeds of her level or lower. Unless otherwise noted, a deed can be performed multiple successive times, as long as the appropriate amount of grit is spent to perform the deed.
Deadeye (Ex) At 1st level, the gunslinger can resolve an attack against touch AC instead of normal AC when firing beyond her firearm's first range increment. Performing this deed costs 1 grit point per range increment beyond the first. The gunslinger still takes the -2 penalty on attack rolls for each range increment beyond the first when she performs this deed.
Gunslinger's Dodge (Ex) At 1st level, the gunslinger gains an uncanny knack for getting out of the way of ranged attacks. When a ranged attack is made against the gunslinger, she can spend 1 grit point to move 5 feet as an immediate action; doing so grants the gunslinger a +2 bonus to AC against the triggering attack. This movement is not a 5-foot step, and provokes attacks of opportunity. Alternatively, the gunslinger can drop prone to gain a +4 bonus to AC against the triggering attack. The gunslinger can only perform this deed while wearing medium or light armor, and while carrying no more than a light load.
Quick Clear (Ex) At 1st level, as a standard action, the gunslinger can remove the broken condition from a single firearm she is currently wielding, as long as that condition was gained by a firearm misfire. The gunslinger must have at least 1 grit point to perform this deed. Alternatively, if the gunslinger spends 1 grit point to perform this deed, she can perform quick clear as a move-equivalent action instead of a standard action.
Gunslinger Initiative (Ex) At 3rd level, as long as the gunslinger has at least 1 grit point, she gains the following benefits. First, she gains a +2 bonus on initiative checks. Furthermore, if she has the Quick Draw feat, her hands are free and unrestrained, and the firearm is not hidden, she can draw a single firearm as part of the initiative check.
Pistol-Whip (Ex) At 3rd level, the gunslinger can make a surprise melee attack with the butt or handle of her firearm as a standard action. When she does, she is considered to be proficient with the firearm as a melee weapon and gains a bonus on the attack and damage rolls equal to the enhancement bonus of the firearm. The damage dealt by the pistol-whip is of the bludgeoning type, and is determined by the size of the firearm. One-handed firearms deal 1d6 points of damage (1d4 if wielded by Small creatures) and twohanded firearms deal 1d10 points of damage (1d8 if wielded by Small creatures). Regardless of the gunslinger's size, the critical multiplier of this attack is 20/?2. If the attack hits, the gunslinger can make a combat maneuver check to knock the target prone as a free action. Performing this deed costs 1 grit point.
Utility Shot (Ex) At 3rd level, if the gunslinger has at least 1 grit point, she can perform all of the following utility shots. Each utility shot can be applied to any single attack with a firearm, but the gunslinger must declare the utility shot she is using before firing the shot.
Blast Lock: The gunslinger makes an attack roll against a lock within the first range increment of her firearm. A Diminutive lock usually has AC 7, and larger locks have a lower AC. The lock gains a bonus to its AC against this attack based on its quality. A simple lock has a +10 bonus to AC, an average lock has a +15 bonus to AC, a good lock has a +20 bonus to AC, and a superior lock has a +30 bonus to AC. Arcane lock grants a +10 bonus to the AC of a lock against this attack. On a hit, the lock is destroyed, and the object can be opened as if it were unlocked. On a miss, the lock is destroyed, but the object is jammed and still considered locked. It can still be unlocked by successfully performing this deed, by using the Disable Device skill, or with the break DC, though the DC for either break or Disable Device or the AC increases by 10. A key, combination, or similar mechanical method of unlocking the lock no longer works, though knock can still be employed to bypass the lock, and the creator of an arcane lock can still bypass the wards of that spell.
Scoot Unattended Object: The gunslinger makes an attack roll against a Tiny or smaller unattended object within the first range increment of her firearm. A Tiny unattended object has an AC of 5, a Diminutive unattended object has an AC of 7, and a Fine unattended object has an AC of 11. On a hit, the gunslinger does not damage the object with the shot, but can move it up to 15 feet farther away from the shot's origin. On a miss, she damages the object normally.
Stop Bleeding: The gunslinger makes a firearm attack and then presses the hot barrel against herself or an adjacent creature to staunch a bleeding wound. Instead of dealing damage, the shot ends a single bleed condition affecting the creature. The gunslinger does not have to make an attack roll when performing the deed in this way; she can instead shoot the firearm into the air, but that shot still uses up ammunition normally
Grit
Proficiencies
Skilled Humans gain an additional skill rank at first level and one additional rank whenever they gain a level.
So these previous conversations about Ara Mathra have got me thinking. Here is how I plan to let loose this battle on my players.
1. The encounter will start as normal. It will be Ara Mathra with probably from the posts earlier in this thread, but with a +3 shield made of solid gold. As his armor will be made of solid gold.
2. He will of course attack with everything he has. I'm not going to listen to the book on this. He should be well versed in his enemies now.
3. Once defeated I'm going to give the party a fairly decent break (like 5 mins OOC) then I'm going to announce about 2 mins later in game...
4. The place starts to shake. The cathedral windows above that let the light in shatter and the dark cloud of red sky from earlier part as a brilliant shining light almost focuses on this start shaped area.
5. from the holes made from sheking descend 12 brilliant balls of energy that as they slow their fall they turn into these:
12x Muse They will not battle nor can they be affected by anyone in the party. They are absolute divine summons of mitra who is answering Ara Mathra's call to this region of is devoted followers.
6. Music Begins to play from the Muse. With an instant a beam of searing light strikes the corpse of Ara Mathra and will send the party back to the door of the cathedral. However, the light is so intense and vibrant even from the distance they can see everything happening.
7. I describe to the party that they cannot move. They are paralyzed with something beyond any time and space. Even in these agents of malice's heart they experience the good and love and caring that come from this god.
8. Ara Mathra's Body will rise and begin to disintegrate. The music will go on like this. I'll continue to describe more and more details as the music gets louder and faster. Telling a story of the Muse and what instruments they play.
9. The music will fade out and become silent. I'll describe to the party the the paralysis has fade and the ashes of the former angel become to swirl and form back into an Sunlord. Except he will have complete inspiration from all of the muse around him. That’s 12 different Bardic Performances / Spells to buff ara mathra Sun Lord-The-Reborn at any given time
10. This Music will start and I’ll begin describing to the players that he Sizes himself up and begins to posture himself. He moves faster and faster to where it seems his arms are blurrying, when in reality when he stops he has four arms and four wings (I know it only says he has normal wings, but that isn’t as cool). He will clang his weapons together as a white fire engulfs them.
11. He will beckon the party to come forth and receive their sanctified cleansing.
12. Once defeated it will appear as though the muse will fight, but I will have the sky close and a similar show of force by Asmodeus to assimilate them and then the same dark red snow will fall into the Cathedral and become silent.
The Vale will be theirs.
TLDR: Ara Mathra is buffed, dies, Muse come out play music, Sun Lord takes Ara Mathra’s place, sing sing, fight fight.
EDIT: I know it seems like a lot, but this party of mine by this time will prbably be level 13:
Arcanist, Warpriest, Inquisitor, Dread Necromancer, Sorcerer (storm born), Druid, and a Firbolg Barbarian (level 7 or 8 probably).
I have to make it epic :)
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Cool stuff! I've a dread necromancer in my party too, and a vampire Hexblade, a mad bomber rogue ghoul, a scary monk and a straight
How do you handle the necromancer controlling undead?
I'll be running the blink dogs tonight. I've made them Celestial and given them a Rogue level each. As far as I can see, they can blink their way to flanking positions through walls and party members, attack with flanking (smite evil ftw) and then dimdoor away. Every single round.
They can even drop the blink as a free action to attack without miss chance, then activate it again before moving/ dimdooring. (Am I right?)
I imagine a few quickened channels and a fear aura fom the necromancer will cut them down to size in absolutely no time though.
Think I owe you guys a few updates, the fight with the leonal was fairly epic :)
For the Ki-Rin I shall be using my daughter's My Little Ponies.
*chuckling* That should make for some fun visuals. :)
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Can't wait!
Last night they decimated the blink dogs. I'd given them the celestial template and boy do all those smite bites add up!
I'd given Sirius some loot (it's been a while) - magical rings hanging from his collar - but they got rid of him with a dispel good!
I enjoyed letting them know they'd banished the loot to another plane :D