I'll check it out o lurking Monolith of Water.
Whaddaya mean, Allen needs to whack Lenny first? -.^
I'll check it out o lurking Monolith of Water.
Whaddaya mean, Allen needs to whack Lenny first? -.^
Actually, Allen did just that - and ate 140d8 of force damage (7 contingent Death Throes, CL 20, total cost: 112,000 gp) with Lenny's untimely demise...
O.o
Sweet...I guess. I do like that spell. Death Throes.
O.o
Sweet...I guess. I do like that spell. Death Throes.
I had run out of ideas for contingent buff spells for dear ol' Lenny, so I filled in the rest with Death Throes. Sadly, he didn't even get to swing his Maul of the Titans...
Still want the character post ? Don't see the point (as he simply showed up, walked in .. and died...), but *shrugs*
LOL!
Thats awesome!
Just let me know the quick stats..
I.e. (CN male Lenny: Fighter 19) etc.
A Maul of the Titans? I had a character with one once, it appeared to be cursed though. He inherited it from 5 other characters whom had died by fumbling and critically hitting themselves. An old, NASTY, critical hit and fumble chart was used.
Ours was slightly different though, our DM had made it into a gauntlet, so the effect was much more dramatic.
Rodan rolls, and punches himself in the face....to death!
LOL!
Thats awesome!
Just let me know the quick stats..I.e. (CN male Lenny: Fighter 19) etc.
A Maul of the Titans? I had a character with one once, it appeared to be cursed though. He inherited it from 5 other characters whom had died by fumbling and critically hitting themselves. An old, NASTY, critical hit and fumble chart was used.
Ours was slightly different though, our DM had made it into a gauntlet, so the effect was much more dramatic.
Rodan rolls, and punches himself in the face....to death!
LoL, entertaining indeed ...
Male Orc Barbarian 19, STR 26, DEX 12, CON 20, INT 5, WIS 6, CHA 6
Alignment: Moronic Stupid (CN)
Items that mattered in play: 7x Contingent CL 20 Death Throes spells, all keyed to detonate at the moment he is slain.
And a Maul of the Titans - just 'cause it was the perfect tool to bash down doors, walls ... small buildings ...
Now you did it Turin.
A human(oid) bomb? Beware you brought into the game you can't unbring it.
Allen go to it. It's fair game now.
Here's the question, since Allen hasn't posted anything in the Obits yet, did you guys finish/win the battle with Dragotha yet?
In our current SCAP, we've had 6(?) deaths, plus a cohort (twice), by level 15, and most of them were from freakish crits or "anything but a 1" saves. And I wouldn't claim we're particularly well-co-ordinated, either. 0ur 'tactics' in the infamous Kuo-Toa temple seemed to follow the 'Headless Chickens On A Hot Tin Roof' stance...
Exactly what would you have done when that Mummy fled Kaile's turn (fluky 20 or what?!) I just didn't think that Aushanna would be quite so... persistent.
Still got to go back and kill her.
Anyway... I think I've finished trawling paizo for all your comments. See you Thursday!
In Saturday’s Thirtieth session of the Killer Age of Worms campaign, the Players completed their second battle with Dragotha, and began and
completed the third and final battle with Dragotha. Counting Turin the
Mad’s Cleric, (who technically perished during the previous game session, but was not included amongst the listed PC kills last time, and is thus being included as killed in today’s game session), there were EIGHT (8) Player Character Fatalities. This brings the total PC kills for the campaign to SEVENTY-EIGHT (78).
The second battle was quickly resolved after beginning this Saturday afternoon. We resumed at the tail end of the 2nd round of combat, which saw the 10th level Avolokaia cleric cast a Wall of Stone to again block the entrance into the Tabernacle of Worms, effectively cutting off the Dragonfolk Duskblade, the PC Warlock, and the Halfling Rogue/Assassin from the Elf Wizard and the Dwarf Ranger (new player in the group), who were still inside the Tabernacle entry hall. Mahuudril (who was airborne, under the effects of a Fly spell) then cast Avasculate and cut the Dragonfolk Duskblade’s Hit Points in Half. The round ended with the Dragonfolk Duskblade demolishing the 10th level Avolokaia cleric. The Duskblade (former Hexblade Player) however failed to notice that a certain Dracolich still under the effects of a Superior Invisibility Spell was only TEN feet away from him.
In the beginning of Round 3, the Elf Wizard (still in the Tabernacle, but who had already cast a Clairvoyance spell) cast a Sunburst spell, inflicting only minor damage to the Dracolich, but doing about 60 HP to
the 18th evil Cleric “Praetanis” (used in lieu of Venk) and blinding
him. On Dwarf Cleric #3’s action (who was self-entombed via a dome-formed wall of stone spell, under the effects of a Silence spell that he could not dispell) opted to bail on the encounter and threw his Portable Hole into one of his Bags of Holding, and deposited himself and a large chunk of the dracolich’s hoard which was in the ‘stone dome’ with him, into the Astral Plane. The player cited his character’s greed and the gloomy outlook for the encounter as his reasons for bailing. Although I found his action cowardly, he proved to be very prophetic in his decision, because immediately after his action completed, it was Dragotha’s action.
Dragotha moved 5 feet, and bit the already wounded PC Warlock, doing roughly 65 hit points to the Warlock, who had only 40 HP remaining, killing him instantly :D, and Cleaving through into the Halfling Rogue/Assassin, biting him successfully as well. On Dragotha’s first claw attack, he killed the Halfling Rogue/Assassin:D, and cleaved into the Dragonfolk Duskblade. Dragotha hit the Duskblade with his first claw attack, doing about 50 Hp dmg, -10 for stoneskin, his second wing attack doing about the same, and then scored a Critical Hit with his tail sweep doing 140 HP damage, killing the Duskblade in a gigantic, glorious, crushing hit:D:D:D Next, the evil Cleric cast Heal on himself (curing the Blindness) and then used Divine Meta Magic Quicken spell and Imploded the PC Incarnate Character. At that point, there was only the PC Elf Wizard and the Dwarf Ranger remaining. The Elf Wizard (having appraised the situation via Clairvoyance) opted to Teleport out and regroup. This ended battle #2, and set the stage for battle #3.
Battle #3 began three game days later, with the group teleporting into
the main cavern chamber. The PC’s teleported onto the bridge that
spans the Sea of Green Slime at the midpoint of the bridge’s length.
The PC’s were greeted by only the sound of the wrasping worms on the
lake’s shores. As it turned out, I made two critical mistakes that
likely would have changed the eventual outcome of the upcoming battle.
Rounds 1 through Rounds 7 saw the majority of the PC’s moving across
the bridge, waiting for the assault by Dragotha and his allies. Two
PC’s went airborne and waited/watched. The villains meanwhile were
invisible, flying, and precasting spells far away from the PC’s. Though
most PC’s ‘walked’ across the bridge, the PC’s were under the
effect of a Mass Fly spell. The player of the Dwarf Cleric #3 had
opted to retire his character and was playing a Fighter/Ranger. Also
present were the Halfling Rogue/Assassin, the Dragonfolk Duskblade, the Elf Wizard, the Dwarf Ranger, Dwarf Cleric #2 (back from an absence of
several game sessions), and Turin the Mad who was playing a Orc Fighter
named ‘Lenny’. I should have realized immediately what Turin was up
to, but I did not, and paid for it later…
By the end of the 7th round, the bad guys had cast the Buff spells that
they needed and were moving into position (all under the effects of
improved or superior invisibility). In Round #8, the Elf Wizard (who had
true seeing) cast Greater Dispel Magic on where she believed Dragotha
to be, incorrectly. The Ranger/Fighter (formerly Dwarf Cleric #3) who
was several hundred feet in the air, moved into position to fire
arrows. The evil cleric Praetanis moved (via Winged Boots). Dragotha moved into position. The Dragonfolk Duskblade drank an Elixir of Spell
Resistance (32). Mahuudril moved (via Fly). The Dwarf Ranger stayed put, as did Dwarf Cleric #2. The Halfling Rogue/Assassin searched through the treasure, as did Turin’s Orc Fighter (with a 5 Intelligence
score)…
Round 9: The Elf Wizard moved forward, using True Sight to locate bad
guys unsuccessfully. The Fighter Ranger cast protection from acid on
himself and stayed in place several hundred feet in the air, ready to
fire arrows. The evil cleric Praetanis moved into position to attack.
Dragotha, now in position breathed his Deathwind Breathweapon catching
four of the PC’s who were on the bridge (the Rogue/Assassin, Turin’s
Orc Fighter, Dwarf Cleric #2, and the Dwarf Ranger. As a result, the
Rogue/Assassin was BLASTED INTO BITS, and Turin’s Orc Fighter rolled a
‘Nat 1’ on his Save versus Massive Trauma, and DIED ALSO. Turin
however was to have the last laugh, as he had had Seven Death Throes
spells pre-cast on himself, which all went off immediately, and as there
is NO saving throw or Spell Resistance Allowed, Dragotha proceeded to
take 630 Hit Points of Damage. Here was where I made mistake #1, and
forgot to have both Turin the Mad and the Halfling Rogue/Assassin raised
as Dread Wraiths to aid the bad guys, as the deathwind breath allows.
That could have been a big help in what was to follow…
The Dragonfolk Duskblade moved into position. Mahuudril cast Avasculate on the Dragonfolk Duskblade and wiped out Half of his hit points. The Dwarf Ranger, unable to see any of the invisible opponents got up after being blown back (but surviving the Deathwind), readied himself for action. Dwarf Cleric #2 cast Greater Dispel Magic on Dragotha, but to no effect as Dragotha’s Ring of Greater Counterspelling ate it.
Final Round (10): The Elf Wizard cast Sonic Meteor Swarm on Dragotha
doing roughly 110 HP damage. The Ranger/Fighter descended and fired two
Bone Arrows at Mahuudril, and Mahuudril was killed by one of the arrows
(Mr. Jacobs neglected to give her Deathward, and I failed to note the
discrepancy), and Mahuudril plummeted down into the Sea of Green Slime.
Then I made the second and most critical mistake, I informed the
Dragonfolk Duskblade that he was the next player to go, but failed to
recall that both Dragotha and the evil cleric Praetanis were before him on the initiative order, and let him do his action. If I understand what he did correctly (Turin please clarify this when you can) he moved into Dragotha’s threatened space, his Elixir of spell Resistance allowed
him to broach Dragotha’s Anti-Life Shell (I was told I had to roll a
SR 32 check to keep the Dragonfolk Duskblade out) which I failed to do
successfully. The Dragonfolk Duskblade somehow used a Quickened action
to Polymorph into a 12-headed Hydra, and then used ALL of his spells as
a Free Action to Power a ARCANE STRIKE, which given that he now had 12
heads, and about a +60 bonus to hit, hit I believe most if not all
times, and did about 1,000 HP of damage total, destroying Dragotha
instantly.
I will save my complaining about the ridiculous properties of the Arcane Strike for subsequent posts, save to say that it is utterly ridiculous that any PC or villain can do that kind of damage in one round of attack(s) of damage that is untyped, is unaffected by SR, and does not allow any sort of saving throw. However, the Player of the
Dragonfolk Duskblade’s joy was extremely short lived. Immediately following Dragotha’s demise, the evil cleric Praetanis moved, and cast a Divine Metamagic: Maximized Horrid Wilting on the Dragonfolk Duskblade, dropping him to Negative 4 HP. However before Mr. Duskblade could finish his plummet down to the bridge, the evil cleric Praetanis cast a Divine Metamagic: Quickened Power Word Kill and DESTROYED the short-lived victorious Duskblade. :D:D:D
That was where we ended for the day. It was tacitly agreed that the evil cleric would not stick around to fight the four remaining characters, and Word of Recall’d out of the cavern ending the fight.
My regrets to James Jacobs, as your proud monster went down due to my
oversight on the initiative order, and the severely broken Arcane
Strike. If it’s any consolation Mr. Jacobs, Dragotha did personally
dispatch 10 player characters before meeting his untimely demise… I hope that’s some small consolation…
Our next game is scheduled for November 10, and the PC’s will begin Dawn of a New Age, as the showdown with Kyuss looms ever closer. See you then.
Now you did it Turin.
A human(oid) bomb? Beware you brought into the game you can't unbring it.
Allen go to it. It's fair game now.
It's dark George ... I can't see anything at all now George ... I can't feel my legs George ...
In our current SCAP, we've had 6(?) deaths, plus a cohort (twice), by level 15, and most of them were from freakish crits or "anything but a 1" saves. And I wouldn't claim we're particularly well-co-ordinated, either. 0ur 'tactics' in the infamous Kuo-Toa temple seemed to follow the 'Headless Chickens On A Hot Tin Roof' stance...
Exactly what would you have done when that Mummy fled Kaile's turn (fluky 20 or what?!) I just didn't think that Aushanna would be quite so... persistent.
Still got to go back and kill her.
Anyway... I think I've finished trawling paizo for all your comments. See you Thursday!
Methinks this post was somehow mystically transplanted from an SCAP thread somewhere ...
Wow! 78 deaths so far. I am amazed that:
1. You have managed to kill 78 PC's. Either the AoW AP is a lot tougher than I though, your players are very unlucky or they are making a lot of bad decisions. I don't see any other way that they could die so frequently.
2. The players keep coming back for more. Either they are gluttons for punishment, they are having too much fun to care or the constant deaths have become a challenge in itself for them. i.e. Lets see who can get their character to last more than 4 sessions.
Regardless of all that Allan, what are you doing that keeps the players coming back? If I had this high a death rate in my game I think my players would have left long ago.
Olaf the Stout
DAMN YOU ARCANE STRIKE!
I had always made my own rulings on this Feat, but I am definately making a specific House Rule to adjust this. That is utterly ridiculous. Sucks on the initiative snafu Allen. Definately looks like Dragotha put up one hell of a fight though, in spite of such funky tactics on the Dragonthingy's part. Arcane strike was never intended to be used that way...its that simple.
Actually its official, my new House Rule.
Any and all rules that are subject to interpretation at the table or away, shall be ruled upon as fairly as possible with respect and consideration given to the 'spirit' in which the rule was intended. Rules Lawyering will not be tolerated.
Bascially is some stupid print text says you can do that...well I will just look at my players and ask them, do you seriously expect me to believe that is what is meant by that rule? I won't tolerate lying about things like this from players either. ARGH!
/End Rant
Interestingly enough, I used to think, OMG what an arse. How do these people keep playing with this DM, etc etc. Maybe it was due to a previous DM who seemed to delight in taunting many players with "The answer is right in front of you" before TKPing us again. (In hindsight I think he got some serious perverted kicks, but thats another story).
However after reading the thread, and coming back to it each time a new post appears, and not to mention the fact that Mr Stewart has more players than I have seen in a lifetime, who come back each week, I have well and truly rescind my unvoiced arse comment.
Your game sir, is obvious testament to your love and your players love of the game. It does not always have good points, but it obviously has more than bad. I take my hat off to you and your team.
With all the character ideas I have floating in my head, I wish I was able to experience such a game. It maybe the only way I could ever get to play them all 8)
With all the character ideas I have floating in my head, I wish I was able to experience such a game. It maybe the only way I could ever get to play them all 8)
I am right there with you Tearlach. I'd love to take a seat at Allen or Turin's table for some blood and mayhem. Now if I can only figure out how to bend space and time...East Coast...too far...
I'm beginning to toy with the idea of the Online Gaming Tables, the free ones mind you, not the upcoming WotC monstrosity, so far a few look pretty nice. Now its just a matter of finding a DM that knows such a system.
DAMN YOU ARCANE STRIKE!
I had always made my own rulings on this Feat, but I am definately making a specific House Rule to adjust this. That is utterly ridiculous. Sucks on the initiative snafu Allen. Definately looks like Dragotha put up one hell of a fight though, in spite of such funky tactics on the Dragonthingy's part. Arcane strike was never intended to be used that way...its that simple.
Actually its official, my new House Rule.
Any and all rules that are subject to interpretation at the table or away, shall be ruled upon as fairly as possible with respect and consideration given to the 'spirit' in which the rule was intended. Rules Lawyering will not be tolerated.
Bascially is some stupid print text says you can do that...well I will just look at my players and ask them, do you seriously expect me to believe that is what is meant by that rule? I won't tolerate lying about things like this from players either. ARGH!
/End Rant
Actually Yasha, my Savage Tide crews will be informed when the time is right that Arcane Strike will be limited to the bonus damage dice that the attack limit caps at, and that each weapon to be buffed must be seperately so buffed. In essence, this makes the next 12-headed Hydra o' Arcane Strike nigh-impossible: to tack on a +17 AB/+17d4 arcane strike to all twelve heads would require 204 spell-levels' arcane power (17x12), far far in excess of anything any duskblade or hexblade can generate, and only remotely possible for VERY high-level sorcerors and wizards to attain AFTER firing off a Tenser's Transformation (to get the base attack bonus required). THAT sounds like the 'spirit' of the Arcane Strike feat to me.
This would have reduced the damage per chomp (all 12 of which legitimately scored home, the player's attack bonus math was spot-on) to 204d4 of bonus damage (averaging 520hp by itself, which would have remained sufficient to annihilate Dragotha in and of itself).
However, in order to simultaneously buff all 12 bite attacks, (since the only reason he scored a +60 AB *after* the +17 from Arcane Strike was due to the combative shard of Bucknard) he would have had to dilute his 93 remaining spell levels at 7 per head (leaving 9 unspent spell levels), reducing his AB to +50. Average dice rolls however would have delivered let us say 10 bites (he only rolled REALLY low twice), totalling 250 bonus damage hp (bringing Dragotha's damage total at this point to *I believe* 990hp after Lenny's 630hp and Torsin's 110hp), with 20d8+60 or so worth of actual chomping dice and STR bonus damage, with average die rolls generating about 150 hp more. The only possibility (assuming average damage rolls) of Dragotha's survival at that moment would have been that his DR 15/magic would have proven sufficient to absorb that 150 hp. (A simple stoneskin however would have absorbed 100hp of that..) There is a legitimate probability that the player neglected to arrange for some form of magic fang to take effect upon his many new sets of chompers as well, which would have (barely) kept Dragotha still ... erm, existing.
And for the record, natural weapons would be for each seperately stat-blocked weapon. Say, you have a bite, 2 claws, a gore and 2 rakes (with rend triggering off of both claw attacks successfully hitting). That is six seperate and distinct natural weapons. Multiple attacks by way of multiple bites are the same way, so the hydra-arcane strike combo-attack would work as outlined above. A Dragon (such as Dragotha) would use seperate channellings for his bite, each of the 2 claws, each of the two wings and his tail - again, six natural weapons.
I sorely wish I had thought of that Saturday ... :((
As a side note, I have the (current) best method of defense against such a monstrosity (barring a Disjunction) is actually rather simple: Contingent Anti-Magic Field, triggered at the moment of the Anti-Life Shell spell's being breached by an outside agent. In the example above, the moment at which the 'inbound' PCs 32 SR shrugged off Dragotha's caster level check (without Spell Penetration or better, he needed a nat 15+ to beat the SR 32) the anti-magic field springs into place. This (a) renders the arcane strike utterly useless, (b) returns the super-hydra to the character's natural form, (c) nullifies ALL of said character's gear inoperative, and (d) leaves him WIDE open for Dragotha's devastating melee prowess.
Now that I think about it, Dragotha firing off an anti-magic field in spite of any iteration of the group's existence from the first encounter to the third and then wading into melee would have been even more devastatingly lethal than all the other hat tricks deployed put together. No turn attempts ... no kablooie Lennies ... no stuper-swarms ... no magic anythings ... it would have been ruinously devastating to encounter so simple a defense mechanism the first time around ... Makes a mental note to himself for his next super-melee baddies in an underground environment.
Interestingly enough, I used to think, OMG what an arse. How do these people keep playing with this DM, etc etc. Maybe it was due to a previous DM who seemed to delight in taunting many players with "The answer is right in front of you" before TKPing us again. (In hindsight I think he got some serious perverted kicks, but thats another story).
However after reading the thread, and coming back to it each time a new post appears, and not to mention the fact that Mr Stewart has more players than I have seen in a lifetime, who come back each week, I have well and truly rescind my unvoiced arse comment.
Your game sir, is obvious testament to your love and your players love of the game. It does not always have good points, but it obviously has more than bad. I take my hat off to you and your team.
With all the character ideas I have floating in my head, I wish I was able to experience such a game. It maybe the only way I could ever get to play them all 8)
Welcome Tearlach! (Yes, poor Allen's home computer finally permadeathed on him, and it has no levels or CON...) Allen e-mailed me his posting detailing the mayhem for the 30th session this past Saturday, which I dutifully posted and (attempted) to edit to look at least a little better.
We do indeed love the game (having played for about 25 years now, a good portion of it with each other, although not nearly often enough does it find us both on the player's side of the monkeyscreen), not for the roleplaying aspect but for the 'cooperative-competitive blend' aspect that the game has always offered. I can get RP from a number of other game systems that, frankly, are designed better to reward good RP. Allen doesn't really RP per se/as a general rule - so the few times he really gets into character are a true pleasure to behold. Many, it seems, play to kill things, take thier stuff and gain xp or die trying. Which may well be why we so often find ourselves attracting players like moths to a flame...
Wow! 78 deaths so far. I am amazed that:
1. You have managed to kill 78 PC's. Either the AoW AP is a lot tougher than I though, your players are very unlucky or they are making a lot of bad decisions. I don't see any other way that they could die so frequently.
2. The players keep coming back for more. Either they are gluttons for punishment, they are having too much fun to care or the constant deaths have become a challenge in itself for them. i.e. Lets see who can get their character to last more than 4 sessions.
Regardless of all that Allen, what are you doing that keeps the players coming back? If I had this high a death rate in my game I think my players would have left long ago.
Olaf the Stout
Greetings good Sir Olaf!
As you may have observed, the key to keeping players coming back for more mayhem and dismemberment is to have fun doing it. If the game is not fun, it wouldn't matter if you gained 4 levels off of the very first kobold you fragged at 1st level, players would leave as fast as they come in. If your group has a good time, everything else is rather immaterial. Each of us as a GM has thier own little bag of tricks - the key is to add to that bag now and again from the other tricks one observes.
In many ways, Allen seems to primarily derive enjoyment of the game from the simplest of things: character survival, no matter what else happens, has always been (for us both really) a prime goal of the game. Can I keep Joe Fighter alive from 1st level onward ?
I suppose that some of that same attitude has rubbed off onto many of our players. Sadly, often it breeds powergamed or outright twinky-munckinned characters, although that varies widely in degree.
And you are correct, 'as written' the Age of Worms is pretty rough, make no mistake - and that seems to apply equally for all 3 of the APs. Allen has modified to suit his tastes naturally, as well as to attempt to conclude the entire gig by the latest of Thanksgiving in the States, preferably earlier.
Hope this helps a bit - until Allen can get his desktop replaced and up-n-running to do the talking himself!
Hi all.
Love the thread. We finished AoW a few months back, and it's been great reminiscencing with another way to go around things. =)
Have to ask though. Turin: How did you manage to set up several Contingencies? I've been pondering about it a while, and can't see how to get around the personal range and the part of the description:
"You can use only one contingency spell at a time; if a second is cast, the first one (if still active) is dispelled."
Br, Galli.
Hi all.
Love the thread. We finished AoW a few months back, and it's been great reminiscencing with another way to go around things. =)
Have to ask though. Turin: How did you manage to set up several Contingencies? I've been pondering about it a while, and can't see how to get around the personal range and the part of the description:
"You can use only one contingency spell at a time; if a second is cast, the first one (if still active) is dispelled."Br, Galli.
Greetings and on Allen's behalf, welcome to the thread Galli!
Craft Contingent Spell feat is an Item Creation Feat, and as such has its own independant limit upon how many spells can be 'hung' upon any given creature or character. (In this case, it is a pure limit of Hit Dice.) Since such a spell is four times as expensive as a scroll, it gets expensive to hang your full HD worth of them at a high character level and with a high CL/high SL effect. In each case I've made extensive use of this feat, I've racked up a "maximum load" of such spells to great effect. And of course there is a truly scary method of making use of this that has come to light since the past several sessions...
And of course a 'vanilla' Contingency spell can be hung right alongside of the Craft Contingent Spell 'items' (they are placed via an item creation feat, which defines them as magic items, not spells). Such spells emanate from the recipient if they have a burst/spread/etc area of effect. Many of the buff spells (such as Aura of Vitality) would also work with it, since there is no requirement to specifically target one's allies within range, merely that they are present. Haste is different (as are the Mass Cure spells, among others) in that they are multiple-target spells within a certain maximum distance of each other rather than an area of effect burst/spread/radius, so they are poor choices to make Contingent.
As a 'long term' character 'build' choice, it is a massive money sink, and generally not worth investing significant amounts of gp, xp and game time. For a short term character build, however, like builds done for a single encounter, it is an ideal method to rapidly effect a huge 'package' of buffs with a single triggering action... say, a buff spell that involves multiple targets within a certain maximum distance of one another...
Heh, I think I know what the "mad" stands for =). Anyway, I don't think that Galli or any other of my players need more ideas how to beat my cool BBEGs at the table. I mean they already grappled the hell out of Kyuss, sad moment I say. Well, maybe I should just adopt some of Alan's awesome style of mastering the game. And to Alan I must say I just loved what you did with Dragotha, you killed more with him than I managed to kill in the entire campaign. Keep up the good work!
Heh, I think I know what the "mad" stands for =). Anyway, I don't think that Galli or any other of my players need more ideas how to beat my cool BBEGs at the table. I mean they already grappled the hell out of Kyuss, sad moment I say.
Uuhh ... grappled Kyuss? His eyes blink in confusion. They grappled a semi-gawd? And didn't get devoured, brushed off by a freedom of movement or crushed like grapes? Isn't he Colossal?
If Dragotha's 14-count out-killed your campaign, you'll be equally disappointed to note my humble STAP has already tied with that kill count - and they're not even to the Isle of Dread yet...
And it's Allen, not Alan... we knew an Alan once, he was ... a mite daft one might say... poor slob... couldn't game his way out of a wet paper bag...
aw, sorry about the typo with the name, it was late night here =). No he isn't colossal. Not going to spoil he's stats over here, but I played him straight from the book, didn't give freedom of movement either. I actually didn't think they would really grapple him. And it was quite a big pile of grapplers there. Anyway, it was their last and only chance, so it was ok it worked. I like to have my players save the world =). Didn't alter any other monster in the campaign either, so there were very little character deaths. We have a quite different style of play, but after reading about these wonderful sessions, I'm starting to have some evil thoughts... ;)
Sweet. Thanks Turin. =)
Too bad that Complete Arcane is not allowed in our current campaign(s).
Can't wait to see what you're cooking up for Kyuss.
-Galli
PS. The "Turn like no cleric has turned before" PC is my favore thus far.
aw, sorry about the typo with the name, it was late night here =). No he isn't colossal. Not going to spoil he's stats over here, but I played him straight from the book, didn't give freedom of movement either. I actually didn't think they would really grapple him. And it was quite a big pile of grapplers there. Anyway, it was their last and only chance, so it was ok it worked. I like to have my players save the world =). Didn't alter any other monster in the campaign either, so there were very little character deaths. We have a quite different style of play, but after reading about these wonderful sessions, I'm starting to have some evil thoughts... ;)
Well, in light of it being a matter of sheer desperation on your players' part, I can certainly understand not having him pop off a freedom of movement. ^_^
I would make two points in response to your "didn't alter any ... monster in the campaign..." element:
1. Unless your group does the point-buy thing, odds are, your PCs are going to out-perform anything as-written by Paizo. Reason: they use average-Joe critter stats (sometimes mixed in with elite array, far more often not) and almost-always straight-average hit points per HD. Exception: Bullywug Gambit, a few of the baddies in the manor amazingly enough have above-average ability scores in thier primaries...
2. The benefit to such write-ups is simple: the GM can readily alter them with relative ease to better suit his/her/its tastes.
No worries Salama, each group has its own 'feel', that is the whole reason that the game is so much fun and (of course) is a substantial factor in why the game has endured for more than 3 decades in its many iterations.
Oh, btw: "Failure to alter BBEGs to account for the splatbooks your players have access to will result in massive BBEG stompage." Sounds like a gaming bumper sticker... ^_^
Sweet. Thanks Turin. =)
Too bad that Complete Arcane is not allowed in our current campaign(s).
Can't wait to see what you're cooking up for Kyuss.
-Galli
PS. The "Turn like no cleric has turned before" PC is my favore thus far.
Wow Galli, Complete Arcane isn't allowed? That rather robs ones BBEGs of the opportunity to whomp your PCs with some of that material. In response, what would be the 'splatbooks' permitted at your table?
The first 3 clerics were similarly built to achieve that goal (Turn like no Cleric has Turned before), with varying degrees of success. The first became a charcoal briquette, the second went home to make babies and the third took a green slime-jello bath. It was a laudible goal - and of course I made the singular mistake of telling Allen what I could do with that character and even suggested methods of dealing with the character in question as the dracolich. In hindsight, I should probably have kept my yap shut and saved the campaign a good 10 character deaths, including 2 out of my 3 thusfar.
As far as what is brewing for the end-game, I've not yet made up my mind. An "archer" fighter/arcane archer/order of the bow initiate would be (relatively) simple and straightforward, although ramping him up to achieve the necessarily obscene attack bonus is a tasking proposition. (Allen has let slip that worm-face has an AC on par or higher than Dragotha's...)
And of course there are the relative 'facts': Cleric #3 may or may not be in attendance, and now has a fighter/ranger riding around on a pegasus (having retired his cleric with a not-insubstantial pile of schwag and a sudden desire to make dwarven babies, which takes a while). Cleric #2 - who has escaped character death thusfar in the campaign - may or may not be in attendance either. That leaves as 'known factors' at the table Sir Ineptus, Torsin Tightbutt and myself, plus perhaps another Fighter (a new face at the table) a big maybe on 2 or 3 others who are very, very erratic in attending the games since Chapter 11 began for various reasons.
So, counting only on 'known factors' being in attendance generates a party comprised of a feral duskblade, a grey elf wizard/archmage, a fighter and myself. Plus maybe one cleric and the fighter/ranger on the SPFR. Yeah ... I'm not liking those odds too much ...
We had all the splatbooks allowed in Age of Worms. They had quite easy time in many fights, but there were few really difficult ones. Dragotha for an example. We're playing Rise of the runelords now, and I allowed only few splatbooks because their enemies don't have access to any of them. To balance a little bit, I gave them 28 point buy instead of the 32 we usually use. And there is only three players. I'll have to see how that one goes before I start to alter my baddies. But yeah, different styles, same amount of fun! =)
That is good advice for any of the APs: allow what was used in the BBEGs themselves, and the AP will take care of the rest.
Granted, it will probably be a meatgrinder (especially for point-buy characters *shudders*), but it does give incentive to think before hacking.
As long as the group has fun, roll with whatever works ! Game On!
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I just want to get a clarification on the Arcane Strike thing. After reading it again to make sure I didn't miss something, the text seems fairly clear to me that the player can use ONE spell and add a bonus to attacks equal to the spells level and damage equal to 1d4xthe spells level to all their melee attacks for that round. It is a free action to pour a spell into melee in this fashion. So how did duskblade hydra twink dump so many spells into melee in a single round? I would guess its because the effect is a free action, but even given that, I thought a character could only take one free action per round? Am I missing something? I never thought Arcane strike was all that broken, but I may need to reconsider given how this worked out.
I believe it is the 'munchkin' arguement. Because the feat doesn't say 'You cannot add more than one spell to this action.' There are people out there that interpret this to mean, add as many as you want. A poorly thought out ploy, but DMs don't catch it. That is one of the tough things about DM with material from books you either don't have or haven't given a great deal of time to assimilate the rules/feat/etc from.
The saddest part is that there are players out there who realize this and try to exploit this. Where the fun is metagaming like that?
I just want to get a clarification on the Arcane Strike thing. After reading it again to make sure I didn't miss something, the text seems fairly clear to me that the player can use ONE spell and add a bonus to attacks equal to the spells level and damage equal to 1d4xthe spells level to all their melee attacks for that round. It is a free action to pour a spell into melee in this fashion. So how did duskblade hydra twink dump so many spells into melee in a single round? I would guess its because the effect is a free action, but even given that, I thought a character could only take one free action per round? Am I missing something? I never thought Arcane strike was all that broken, but I may need to reconsider given how this worked out.
The key phrase of the feat is the phrase "free action", with the only other limiter stated being that the attack bonus (but not the damage bonus) caps at the caster's BaB.
The only 'free' action explicitly limited to once per round (per the PHB) are Quickened spells, which (relatively) recently were reclassified as Swift Actions. And that is were the cheese-twinky factor of Arcane Strike comes into play... the wording was not as precise as it needed to be for that specific feat...
So, are you guys playing AoW today? And if so, what are you going to bring to the endgame Turin? Lenny has, unfortunately, gone the way of the Dodo. Please tell me that no one is going to Res him... O.o
That being said, Allen, Kill. I will definately be interested to see if Kyuss tops Dragotha's kill count. Personally I think he will. Should be fun.
So, are you guys playing AoW today? And if so, what are you going to bring to the endgame Turin? Lenny has, unfortunately, gone the way of the Dodo. Please tell me that no one is going to Res him... O.o
That being said, Allen, Kill. I will definately be interested to see if Kyuss tops Dragotha's kill count. Personally I think he will. Should be fun.
AoW is slated for the 10th sadly, Yasha. Presently one may assume that the above-mentioned archer will be fielded next Saturday.
We have at most two sessions to bring Kyuss down - or, more accurately, two days' game time or less to bring ol' fishbait down...
True. Well after you guys all die there will be a perfectly good reason for Allen to convert 4th Edition Points of Light into Greyhawk. Its called the Age of Worms...a time of Writhing Doom. Writhing Doom is so catchy.
You guys are on a bit of a deadline for starting STAP #2 aren't you? The middle of this month or something wasn't it?
Methinks this post was somehow mystically transplanted from an SCAP thread somewhere ...I just didn't think that Aushanna would be quite so... persistent.
Still got to go back and kill her.
Anyway... I think I've finished trawling paizo for all your comments. See you Thursday!
Umm... I post without context. So I don't see anything I shouldn't.
True. Well after you guys all die there will be a perfectly good reason for Allen to convert 4th Edition Points of Light into Greyhawk. Its called the Age of Worms...a time of Writhing Doom. Writhing Doom is so catchy.
You guys are on a bit of a deadline for starting STAP #2 aren't you? The middle of this month or something wasn't it?
If I have my way, the next session will be the last Yasha.
Whether or not fishbait-breath cooperates is of course another matter...
That is exactly what I was hoping you'd say Turin. Though, I'll be honest, I don't know whether to cheer for you guys or for Kyuss.
So here is for hoping you guys are on the ball, and heres to hoping that Allen doesn't forget any of Kyuss' abilities, there certainly are enough that they get easy to forget.
Go Team Turin!
Go Team Kyuss! <--Allen
I just can't decide.
That is exactly what I was hoping you'd say Turin. Though, I'll be honest, I don't know whether to cheer for you guys or for Kyuss.
So here is for hoping you guys are on the ball, and heres to hoping that Allen doesn't forget any of Kyuss' abilities, there certainly are enough that they get easy to forget.
Go Team Turin!
Go Team Kyuss! <--AllenI just can't decide.
The downside to Team Kyuss winning is that Allen & I would no longer have a shared WoG. His would be overrun with brain-munching worms...
While the end-game of the Savage Tide is pretty bad, it isn't quite on par with an Age of Worms...
I'd be careful Turin...he does seem rather interested in the 'clean slate' possibilities of 4th edition so...perhaps brain-munching is not out of the question.
Heres the question then...Age of Worms+Savage Tide=??? Cthulhu? wtf?
Savage Wormswarm. *shudder*
Anyway...that train is now derailed. Forget I ever said it.
I'd be careful Turin...he does seem rather interested in the 'clean slate' possibilities of 4th edition so...perhaps brain-munching is not out of the question.
Heres the question then...Age of Worms+Savage Tide=??? Cthulhu? wtf?
Savage Wormswarm. *shudder*
Anyway...that train is now derailed. Forget I ever said it.
I'm fairly certain Allen, like many fans of the setting, is not quite willing to completely eradicate the whole place and scrape off the gunk that is left over. Come very close to doing so perhaps, but not quite to the point of utter armageddon... I think ...
That is exactly what I was hoping you'd say Turin. Though, I'll be honest, I don't know whether to cheer for you guys or for Kyuss.
So here is for hoping you guys are on the ball, and heres to hoping that Allen doesn't forget any of Kyuss' abilities, there certainly are enough that they get easy to forget.
Go Team Turin!
Go Team Kyuss! <--AllenI just can't decide.
Actually, if things go a certain way ... I'll be the last one standing ... ^_^
Oh no....
I'm making a request right now...you can wait until after Allen posts his obits and everything, but I am requesting a character perspective journal of this. I wanna know all the sordid details of this after it happens.
It appears the Killer GM is BACK ON LINE!!!
Welcome Allen...and do remember that it is Erik Mona day...become a cyclops and...
Party if you love Paizo!!
Oh...Kill them all!!!!!
What he said!
Oh no....
** spoiler omitted **
A character perspective journal for a one-session (or maybe two) wonder Yasha?
Yep. I'd be very interested at least for the endgame. Sounds like it shall be fun.