NOOOO!!!
Blackball ... *shudder*
And for the record ... no, better not even take a chance on that p- comment you made Yasha - I have no intention of getting anywhere near that particular landmine, even in defensive posting.
Considering what I've heard it does to Kyuss, however, that's a whole lot better than the standard result of *pouf*, which I've thought should do some kind of disintegration damage or something.
Of course, there is the minor detail of mushing that dangerous thing around ... no thanks, I'll take my chance with a different set-up for my character.
I think someone, much like that old DM liked the Destructo! effect too much for those things. If they are going to set up Disintigrate to do the effect that it does now, should not also the Sphere get a proper treatment too?
I think someone, much like that old DM liked the Destructo! effect too much for those things. If they are going to set up Disintigrate to do the effect that it does now, should not also the Sphere get a proper treatment too?
It should - by my estimate as an artifact - do the disintegration damage of its caster level, no SR (it's an ARTIFACT), no save (it's an ARTIFACT). From what I recollect of the thing's terrible Speed and great risk in use, if le Magi fooks up his control, he goes away. If Kyuss commandeers it (even though the PC magi has the talisman it is possible), the party is in a whooole lotta trouble...
Tis true. I really haven't looked at it since then. But I am going to sit down and try attune my brains to Allens.
Just so you know Allen, my reading of Dawn of a New Age has been light thus far. Mainly just a gisting of it. I think I know which limitation you mean, but I am going to sit down and nail it for sure, since now I wonder if I didn't miss something.
Yasha, check out the round immediately following Kyuss' arrival for battle. You'll get the drift. And I can't for the life of me, figure why the author felt the need to impose the penalty...
Kyuss has options on how to deal with a sphere of annihiliation, should one be present. So also do Wormdrakes, and I fully plan to have any one of several Wormdrakes get rid of a Sphere, well before the group even gets it to Kyuss.
Yasha, check out the round immediately following Kyuss' arrival for battle. You'll get the drift. And I can't for the life of me, figure why the author felt the need to impose the penalty...
Kyuss has options on how to deal with a sphere of annihiliation, should one be present. So also do Wormdrakes, and I fully plan to have any one of several Wormdrakes get rid of a Sphere, well before the group even gets it to Kyuss.
Presuming our 40-watt bulbs of brilliance successfully illuminate and the cerebrally-challenged amongst our group recognizes the dooflichie for what it is (and are able to capitolize on it). A prospect I find to be rather highly dubious at this moment in time.
Of course, that presumes as well that they press on past thier inevitable mega-narfing from the business end of Dragotha's chompers ... let alone his breath weapons and spells ...
I do look forward to the showdown awaiting us, in spite of the grave risk to Cardinal Tiberium. It'd be a shame to have gone to the trouble of naming him ...
Speaking of 40-watt bulbs - you gonna have one of your baddies DOMINATE the Frenzied Berserker ? (Preferably as a follow-up to the breath weapon of da Boss and a Mind Fog and perhaps a battery of Greater Bestow Curses...)
Yeah I know what you're talking about Allen. Totally asinine, why?
There are a few others too in my opinion, the last one under Part 5 in particular I think needs a slight adjustment in its effect.
Agreed Yasha. Don't even get me started. I'm already giving thought to Kyuss' revamped spell list. My players are using spells from every WoTC book they can get their hands on, so soon shall I.
I've wavered in this Killer AoW campaign from my usual prohibition on some of the 3.5 books/supplements in what I will/won't allow in the game. In the last four campaigns I've run since 3.0/year 2000, I've let the group have the PH/DMG/Arms & Equip, and the first four Complete Books ONLY. I've caved occasionally and allowed one particular player (Haru) to use the idiotic psionics book, and another player who plays completely inadequate characters to use Spell fire from the Forgetable Realms book. Other than that, the rest is usually prohibited.
In this campaign, I've gotten more generous, mainly because I think my players have figured out by now, that the more 'Munchkin'ed-out' their character is, the faster he's going to get disembowled by the nearest bad guy. And after repeated PC deaths, they are starting to like the idea of playing a standard/by-the-book character. Novel idea, isn't it...
You know, scrap what I just wrote. Who am I kidding, my players aren't learning anything.
Present Cases in point: Hexblade 2.0 (Dragon-thingie), Half-Minotaur Frenzied Beserker, Druid Half-Vegtable/Half-something, Half Transvestite Were-Hampster/Quarter Dragon Feral Templated Primate/Quarter...
That's it. I'm utterly WIPING THEM ALL OUT on the 13th. Period.
You know, scrap what I just wrote. Who am I kidding, my players aren't learning anything.
Present Cases in point: Hexblade 2.0 (Dragon-thingie), Half-Minotaur Frenzied Beserker, Druid Half-Vegtable/Half-something, Half Transvestite Were-Hampster/Quarter Dragon Feral Templated Primate/Quarter...
That's it. I'm utterly WIPING THEM ALL OUT on the 13th. Period.
LoL.
Sir Hexen Ineptus = feral critterdragonthingie-duskblade
Brutard = half-minotaur barbie/frenzied bwaazerker/warhulk, not sure if is feral or not
She-durah = feral druid shapeshifter self-propelled kindling melee machine
Not sure wtf to expect to belly up to the table next session or not, besides - if I'm lucky - the Clerics Three. (myself, dwarf cleric/fighter and cleric o' divine metamagic)
Torsin Tightbutt's grey elf wizard/archmage
We can expect 3 broke-arsed characters, 1 turning machine and the archmage in all likelyhood - whether or not the DivMM cleric, the dwarf cleric and anyone else bothers to show is a tad up in the air atm...
PLEASE JUST KILL THEM!!
Actual kill them and cast Unname on their corpses, or Soul Destruction, one of those, NO RESURRECTIONS! Make them Spawn, make them dead....it doesn't really matter.
I agree with you too, you would have thought they'd have learned. But No, they have just gotten more wild....and here I thought you were giving plenty of hints and incentive. Ugh....
Oh and for Kyuss, if you really really want to be cruel...let me know if you don't mind Turin hearing and I'll write it in. Chances are Turin, this one really wouldn't matter if you heard it. It doesn't make Kyuss unkillable, but pretty much guarantees TPK/D. Thats the problem with Min-Maxing a Hero-Deity.
Turin excepted, I become more and more disgusted withyour party as time goes on. I know you both share some players, but even Turin's sunday STAP isn't that bad. There is always the possibility that they have decided to be 'mildly antagonistic' players and are specifically creating characters to get on your nerves. Not a good idea for a player to do, but I have seen someone do that. They were toasted quite quickly...so maybe it didn't work to well.
Anyway, again, Kill Them, Quickly, Expidiently, Unmercifully, and if possibly Permanently.
PLEASE JUST KILL THEM!!
Actual kill them and cast Unname on their corpses, or Soul Destruction, one of those, NO RESURRECTIONS! Make them Spawn, make them dead....it doesn't really matter.
I agree with you too, you would have thought they'd have learned. But No, they have just gotten more wild....and here I thought you were giving plenty of hints and incentive. Ugh....
Oh and for Kyuss, if you really really want to be cruel...let me know if you don't mind Turin hearing and I'll write it in. Chances are Turin, this one really wouldn't matter if you heard it. It doesn't make Kyuss unkillable, but pretty much guarantees TPK/D. Thats the problem with Min-Maxing a Hero-Deity.
Turin excepted, I become more and more disgusted withyour party as time goes on. I know you both share some players, but even Turin's sunday STAP isn't that bad. There is always the possibility that they have decided to be 'mildly antagonistic' players and are specifically creating characters to get on your nerves. Not a good idea for a player to do, but I have seen someone do that. They were toasted quite quickly...so maybe it didn't work to well.
Anyway, again, Kill Them, Quickly, Expidiently, Unmercifully, and if possibly Permanently.
Permadeath without a VERY cooperative, and very high level, cleric to toss off a true rez (per character) is quite guaranteed in the lair of Dragotha due to the carcass-narfing properties of the place.
And I am rather certain that Cardinal Tiberium pretty much dislikes the mutard characters - if he can get away with it, he'll obliterate them along with Dragotha. (@#!! NG alignment, muttergrumble)
Your cleric is Pelorian right?
Check out the Article in the Messageboards at Wiz about Pelor, the Burning Hate!
Your cleric is Pelorian right?
Check out the Article in the Messageboards at Wiz about Pelor, the Burning Hate!
But ... that would mean I have to go ... there ... to the Border Far Realms ...
Yes...but if you haven't read the article/rant, its well worth it. There is a link to it from one of the thread up on here somewhere. ALL Pelorians should read it. Tis the Secret Gospel of the Burning Hate.
Found it - wow! Great stuff :)
And lest you think I jest . . .
Pelor, of the Burning Hate
Veeerry interesting indeed ... very interesting, and many thanks for the linky, since I am lazy and not fond of WoTC's forums overmuch.
I do have two of those Dawnstars btw ... seems I'll be needing them soon enough ... like in 2 days ... ^_^
Once you finish checking out the link that Carborundum so thoughtfully provided. Let me know what you think.
I have to admit...its a compelling argument. Perhaps one that might give you the leverage you need with Allen to allow the spontaneous CE alignment shift.
Found it - wow! Great stuff :)
And lest you think I jest . . .
Pelor, of the Burning Hate
The Water Man returns to the Killer AoW thread, greetings:)
Once you finish checking out the link that Carborundum so thoughtfully provided. Let me know what you think.
I have to admit...its a compelling argument. Perhaps one that might give you the leverage you need with Allen to allow the spontaneous CE alignment shift.
Oh, now wouldn't THAT be a priceless thing ? " It's ok if my alignment shifted to Chaotic Evil Allen, 'cause Pelor's old-school write-up was as a demon lord back when. The 3e 'church' is nothing but a huge sham ... now, gimmie thier loot, I nuked 'em all fair and square... "
No, thats when you reveal that Dragotha has been your animal companion all along. j/k (not trying to offend Dragotha when you are facing him today)
I can't wait to hear how this session goes....its going to be SOOO good.
Allen! DEATH FROM ABOVE!
In today’s session (I can't even remember what number we're on) of the Killer Age of Worms campaign, the PC’s fought Dragotha. There were FOUR (4) Player Character Fatalities. And at the end of the game session, the PC’s were STILL fighting Dragotha and several minions when we left off. It AIN’T OVER YET FOLKS. I scribbled down notes as to the round-by-round & blow-by-blow action in the encounter.
I found the scripted spells for Dragotha rather lacking, so I changed many of them. Dragotha had the following spells precast prior to combat beginning: Anti-Life Shell, Scintillating Scales (gives him a Touch AC of about 56), Immunity to Energy (Sonic & Acid), Ironguard, Divine Favor, Shield of Faith, Haste, Contingency, Lifeward (also has an item with this property), Stoneskin, Spectral Hand, Displacement, False Life, and three scrolls: Superior Invisibility, Breath Weapon Substitution, and Breath Weapon Admixture). As their were Seven PC’s of 18th and 19th level, I had the 18th level cleric which I had used in Kings of the Rift (the Dragon riding cleric) and Mahuudril available to use. I opted to go with Mahuudril only, but I raised her to 16th level Sorcerer from 14th. The ENTIRE room and about 80 feet in the hallway had been covered with Dimensional Locks in preparation for the battle. No One was teleporting in or out.
Round 1: When we left off last session, the PC’s all took standard actions and moved together up to about twenty feet outside the entrance to Dragotha’s room. Mahuudril (who was also present) dropped a Horrid Wilting spell that did 66/33 hp damage to 6 of the 7 PC’s (Turin the Mad had Greater Spell Immunity up and Unfortunately selected Horrid Wilting as one of his spells, and thus took no damage). Dragotha then acted. Dragotha had previously cast a Breath Weapon Admixture spell from a scroll. He was positioned just over the entranceway to his chamber under the effects of a Spider Climb spell. He merely popped his head into the entranceway and used a Quicken Breath Weapon, and did 141 HP Acid & 141 HP Sonic Damage (total 282 hp damage), and DESTROYED the Dragon-folk (formerly Hexblade), the Rogue8/Assassin10, and the Incarnate Player characters, turning all three into puddles of bloody acidic-goo, which were sonically splattered all over the passageway. The other four PC’s present made their saving throws and took Zero damage due to the evasion bonus from Bucknard’s Fragment. Dragotha used his Standard action to drop his Repulsion spell which didn’t affect a single character, and then moved. Lastly, a number of 3 HD Shadows attacked the group through the floor. These were primarily designed to deal with the PC Half-Minotaur Frenzied Beserker, who was not in attendance today.
Round 2: Turin the Mad blasted the shadows out of existence, and then cast Revenance on the Dragon-thingie PC. The PC Elf Wizard/Archmage cast Mass Heal on the PC’s and on Dragotha, who having an item granting him Lifeward, laughed at the Elf Wizard. The Warlock PC used a targeted Dispel Magic-like ability on Mahuudril, which failed utterly. The now-Revenance’d Dragon-thingie PC flew around and looked for Dragotha (who was still under the effect of a Superior Invisibility). Dwarf Cleric #3 attempted to breach Mahuudril’s Anti-Life Shell (unsuccessfully, ha ha ha:) Mahuudril drops a Sudden Maximized Horrid Wilting on the group, but only two PC’s (Warlock & Dwarf Cleric #3) are affected. Dragotha dropped a Horrid Wilting on the group also, nearly taking out the Warlock.
Round 3: Turin the Mad (19th level Cleric) used a Mass Heal to patch everyone up. Elf Wizard used a Sunburst spell to blind Mahuudril and do minimal damage to Dragotha. The PC Warlock used a Greater Dispel Magic-like effect to knock out about 66% of Mahuudril’s precast spells (including her Anti-Life Shell). The Dragon-thingie PC attacked Dragotha, and all four of his attacks bounced off Dragotha’s Anti-Life Shell:D Dwarf Cleric #3 melee’d with Mahuudril. Mahuudril (blinded) successfully cast Cone of Cold to no effect. Dragotha then Power Attacks the Dragon-thingie PC Duskblade 17 for the scripted 25, hits with all but one attack, and KILLS HIM OUTRIGHT, dropping him from full HP to below –10 in one round. I didn’t even need my hasted attack:(
Round 4: Things were starting to look good for me when Turin the Mad dropped a Mordenkainen’s Disjunction on Dragotha, scrapping his Ring of Spell Turning, but more importantly EVERY ONE of his precast spells, at which time, I knew I was in trouble. The PC Elf Wizard cast Greater Dispel Magic and successfully suppressed Dragotha’s +5 Amulet of Mighty Fists. The PC Warlock Vitriolic Blasted Dragotha. The Dwarf Cleric #3 again attacked Mahuudril for another 93 HP damage. Mahuudril then cast Greater Dispel Magic (overcame the Blindness problem) and blew out many of Dwarf Cleric #3’s precast spells, and there was much rejoicing:P Dragotha then used his Deathwind breathweapon on the PC Elf Wizard, Warlock, and Turin the Mad. The damage nearly killed the PC Elf Wizard and Warlock but both survived.
Round 5: Turin the Mad (already buffed to the gills) melee’d with Dragotha and did 218 points of damage in one round—no I’m not kidding. Elf Wizard used a Mass Heal to get everyone back up to full health. PC Warlock used a Vitriolic Blast, but failed to penetrate Dragotha’s Spell Resistance. Dwarf Cleric#3 melee’d with Mahuudril. Mahuudril Teleported Out. Dragotha (whom I deemed to be in trouble) Greater Teleported out to recast many of his spells. Dragotha would teleport back into the chamber to continue the fight in about 12 rounds, but the PC’s had already scooped up some treasure and themselves teleported out to recuperate.
That ended Battle #1. The PC’s having teleported to the Free City, bought a few things, Got the deceased characters raised/made new characters, spell’d up, and 24 hours later teleported back to begin Battle #2.
The group teleported in near the entrance to Dragotha’s room, and found the room empty, save for a note, which told them that the villains and all the treasure were “downstairs waiting for them.” The group, under the effect of very brief Buff Spells hurried downstairs quickly to try to combat the bad guys before their precious Buff spells wore off. The group made their way into the entry hall with the pillars and the fountain statue of Kyuss, broached the front doors, and found Mahuudril and two other minions (1 a surviving Avolokaia cleric from one of the Mordenkainen’s Magnificent Mansions and the other was the 18th level cleric who rode the Dragon in Kings of the Rift—a homebrewed villain of mine—instead of Venk, who I have never liked nor used. The three villains were staggered along the natural bridge that crosses the sea of Green Slime. Dragotha’s treasure was spread out all over the bridge. Dragotha himself was again waiting just outside the front door, using a Spider Climb spell and ready to incinerate the PC’s.
I failed to take detailed notes of Battle #2, but in the two rounds that have passed thus far, three of the seven PC’s are still inside the entry hall. Dragotha did get one breath weapon into the entry hall and affected all PC’s save Dwarf Cleric #3. Of the four that have ventured outside, Turin the Mad flew into the air and has engaged Dragotha in melee. Dwarf Cleric #3 has attempted to use Silence and a well placed Wall of Stone on Mahuudril, but failed on both accounts, and will be the first to get hosed when we resume. The PC Dragon-thingie moved out just enough to be in range of what I had in mind for him. The Incarnate PC (not even sure what this guy is or what he can do—I think it’s a PC from the Tome of Magic book—but I already killed his PC in the first Battle with Dragotha:)
The PC’s have done 270 points of damage to Dragotha, but then the things took a turn for the worse for the PC’s. In round 1, the 18th level evil Cleric NPC used a Miracle spell (paying the 5,000 XP) to cast a Mordenkainen’s Disjunction. That Disjunction spell was immediately Counterspelled by the Elf Wizard PC. However on Round 2, just before we finished for the day, Dragotha read a scroll of Mordenkainen’s Disjunction successfully and Turin the Mad rolled a NAT 1 on his Counterspell check. All 15+ of Turin’s Incredible spells all went POOF. As did Dwarf Cleric #3’s 8 or 9. Most importantly the Spell Resistance 36 that ALL of the PC’s had courtesy of Turin the Mad went POOF, Bye-Bye. Turin the Mad, under the effects of a Fly spell at the time, then immediately plummeted down into the Sea of Green Slime.
That’s where we left off Folks. I don’t think Turin’s out of the picture by any stretch. Join me in two weeks for (what I hope will be, Heaven help us if it isn’t) the Conclusion of the epic battle with Dragotha and company.
It just occurred to me that the Dragon-folk/thingie Player Character died TWICE in a total of ONLY THE FIRST THREE Rounds of Combat. And both times from full HP (200) to below -10. That's got to be some kind of record...
Hey Allen, maybe now isn't the time to point it out, but Vitriolic Blast ignores SR. I would normally be worried, but its not as though Turin is going to use this against you.
Your Warlock is just as stupid as the Hexblade. That ability is the thing that makes Vitriolic Blast so nasty. But Turin knows this and agrees with us I'd say.
Great session it sounds like. The Mordenkainen gambit in the sscond battle...priceless. Turin the Green Slime cleric? Even better. I agree though, he is so not out for the count yet.
Dragonthingy...three round doubledeath. That probably IS a record. And on such a beloved character too. I am sure there are other nasty creatures weeping their despair that they will not be the ones to eat/kill him.
You did mention Raising/Making characters? Who permadied, anyone? Or is it still the same lineup? Keep us/me posted. All in all though...killer session. 4 Deaths already, and the battle isn't even over.
Good Morning Yasha, you're an early riser. The Warlock's use of the Vitriolic Blast was able to bypass SR when used. The time in question, he used some sort of variant, the exact name and type escapes me, as I'm not overly familiar with the Warlock class. It apparently required SR, and he failed his check. That was worth pointing out however.
The player of the Rogue/Assassin has scrapped that character and brought in a Fighter. The player in question is the only teenager playing in the group, but I must say, is an extremely mature player who plays by-the-book PC's and at times I hate having to kill him off, as he's one of only several non-Munchkin'ing players who use standard characters. His Rogue/Assassin got oblitterated along with two of the others (one of whom is not over the top either, the Incarnate character-played by the player who formerly played the Gnome Tinker Artificer, (though I'm ashamed to admit that I allowed a character class from Gooberon in the game).
Regarding Turin, I suspect that the encounter(s) ultimately have not gone quite as he hoped or forsaw. Me either for that matter. That is usually the case when running high powered/high level adventures. It is an incredible headache to try to calculate all the variables that the PC's can bring to bear. It is for this reason ALONE that I welcome 4th edition, so that we can start from scrap. As for Turin, he's now got three problems, First, he's got to get out of the Slime (likely easily accomplished), Second, he's got to get the slime off of him before joining the ranks of the slime species (probably also likely, assuming that he isn't somehow immune to the slime as he is many other hazzards... Third, and most problematic, he's got to attend to problems #1 & 2, and cannot immediately try to re-spell up himself and his witless cohorts (with the exception of Dwarf Cleric #3). This "window of opportunity" could give me the opportunity to wipe out the other PC's, and leave Mr. Turin all by his lonesome:D
The wipeout of the three PC's by Dragotha yesterday was delicious, I admit:D
As of yesterday, we are at an even SEVENTY (70) PC kills through the entire campaign through the unfinished battle with Dragotha and friends. Likely more PCK's yet to come.
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Well, you're certainly back and on form :)
I had to go dig out my old Dungeons after reading the words "sea of green slime" and almost losing my coffee in delight! We've never played AoW so I'm not really familiar with the setup of this encounter.
Good luck Turin, and the rest of the party - you'll need it when taking on this lot! Especially when they're guided by an Allen Stewart probably fueled by sleepless nights and dirty nappies!
Regarding Turin, I suspect that the encounter(s) ultimately have not gone quite as he hoped or forsaw. Me either for that matter. That is usually the case when running high powered/high level adventures. It is an incredible headache to try to calculate all the variables that the PC's can bring to bear. It is for this reason ALONE that I welcome 4th edition, so that we can start from scratch. As for Turin, he's now got three problems, First, he's got to get out of the Slime (likely easily accomplished), Second, he's got to get the slime off of him before joining the ranks of the slime species (probably also likely, assuming that he isn't somehow immune to the slime as he is many other hazards... Third, and most problematic, he's got to attend to problems #1 & 2, and cannot immediately try to re-spell up himself and his witless cohorts (with the exception of Dwarf Cleric #3). This "window of opportunity" could give me the opportunity to wipe out the other PC's, and leave Mr. Turin all by his lonesome:D
The warlock tried for a different eldritch blast that - as most of them do - have to go through SR to be effective is all. He rolled a nat 7 IIRC, which was insufficient to punch through the SR in question.
The whole day didn't go anywhere near as I would have thought as of the beginning of the multi-session encounter gambit with Dragotha. First, I didn't expect so many of the former participants to suddenly sprout yellow bellies and not bother showing up any more. (Not long at all before tackling Dragotha, we had 10 or 11 regulars - now we have 4 or more fewer participants.) Second, I really didn't expect our fellow PCs to wuss out on laying the smack down on Dragotha when he popped back in.
Trying to do the most I could, I expended an ungodly amount of my prepared spells on buffing my fellow PCs that next day. When I have time, I'll post the total list of spells I had precast, should there be sufficient interest.
As things presently stand - we are well aware that Dragotha has both Life Ward spells and an item of Life Ward at his disposal - Cleric 3.0's situation is dire. I'll have to check the DMG write-up on green slime before determining said character's next set of actions. Presuming that the immunity to disease is sufficient to thwart the stuff's CON damage, there is still the matter of removing it from his person - easy enough to do, albiet VERY painfully, although I shall endeavor to do so in a fashion that simultaneously removes the stuff from the character AND damages one or more of the bad guys. (And I do have a method to deal with the CON damage should the disease immunity be insufficient, it's just eating up more of the cleric's actions to deal with it.)
To be honest, given the presence of so many high-level NPCs along with Dragotha himself, I expect Cleric 3.0 to die horribly the next session, as his defenses are largely gone and irreplacable in the tactical situation the party is presented with. It's all part of the game, so I'm fine with that - throwing that one particular nat 1 was the straw that broke the camel's back in a literal sense - I needed a mere nat 8 to (via ring of greater counterspells) counter the DC 28 necessary to thwart the Disjunction, which is what trashed my whole set up. I had a 65% chance of successfully countering the disjunction, so this time it was a simple matter of the die having rolled against me, no more, no less.
No offense Allen, but an AC of 58 is only possible to deal with because of Bucknard's fragment. I had ONE round of being able to hit him reliably, and that went out the window when he was down a measly 20% or so of his hit points (with at least 700 or so remaining hit points, why he chose to bail still remains a complete mystery to me) and elected to chicken out of the first encounter with the party.
IMO, he could have easily annihilated the remaining characters in short order - he'd already dispatched the primary melee fighter - by next munching on the wizard. The incarnate was already dead along with poor Scott's character and Sir Ineptus' critterblade, the warlock would have been a Cleave or an afterthought blow via haste and likewise become worm poop with the wizard and the dwarf cleric was no significant threat to him at all, as he was busily tangling with the other worm-sorceress. That would have taken at most 3 rounds to get rid of, I might have dealt enough to give him cause to worry in those 3 rounds - except that he would have moved a sufficient distance to deny the full-round attack sequence required to deliver such damage.
In short, I might have gotten a full-round attack in every OTHER round for four rounds, none of which would have been as damaging as the opening salvo by any means. Given the Life Ward item, the most powerful tools in the characters' arsenal are butt worthless for dealing with Dragotha, moreso on the first day than the second.
And how exactly did he replace his +8 bracers that were disjunctioned again in a mere day ? I'm pretty sure he doesn't have half a dozen spare sets of those lying around.
I know Carborundum, I am going to dig out Into the Wormcrawl Fissure so that I can start following the progress of the battle through the dungeon.
And Allen, Turin...immune to green slime...why would that not suprise me. That boy has too many tricks up his sleeve to count it would seem. But maybe this time you caught him with one he didn't expect.
It seems like munchkin players just don't understand that a Rogue 8/Assassin 10 is an extremely nasty character. Maybe not the best choice for the latter part of Age of Worms, but still a nasty and varied mix of abilities. I don't blame the guy for switching now though.
As for my being up so early...I normally have to rise at 2:15 am on work days. Last night was not a work day. I slept a few hours and then inexplicably woke with a slight headache and mostly awake. I had to get up and do something until I could fall asleep again...burning the late night Paizo.
Worst thing was the dream was one about gaming and joining a new group. I don't remember all the details, but I woke up at the DM saying that I couldn't play a Rogue/Shadowdancer. The fatal words I woke to were "That class is too CORE...too WEAK for this game." Quite a nightmare.
And I DID NOT make this up I really did have this dream last night.
Na no Daa!
Turin, there you are. Rather sticky situation we have here. The Natural 1 roll for the counterspell, Urk! Bad luck.
Hey either way this just makes the battle all the more fulfilling if you win. Nothing wrong with a desperate fight for survival.
But considering that Cleric 3.0 seemed to be the one who hurt Dragotha the most last battle, he is probably going to be the target of choice. Yeah, I am going to guess he dies before he can get the whole slime issue taken off. Either that, or they think the slime will do him in and leave him to his fate. Thats your chance as I see it. You know what to do.
Interesting scenario though...
Na no Daa!
Turin, there you are. Rather sticky situation we have here. The Natural 1 roll for the counterspell, Urk! Bad luck.Hey either way this just makes the battle all the more fulfilling if you win. Nothing wrong with a desperate fight for survival.
But considering that Cleric 3.0 seemed to be the one who hurt Dragotha the most last battle, he is probably going to be the target of choice. Yeah, I am going to guess he dies before he can get the whole slime issue taken off. Either that, or they think the slime will do him in and leave him to his fate. Thats your chance as I see it. You know what to do.
Interesting scenario though...
Oh, no disagreement there. I had a 'budget' (man, I do so hate the dependance on magic items in 3e) to work with, and given the clearly demonstrated necessity for disease immunity in the adventure path, a periapt of health or like item was simply a requirement for character survival. I worked that budget to the hilt, so this is for the character's motivation a literal do or die encounter.
Obviously, so much gp only goes so far, due to the general nature of most of our foes throughout the campaign arc/adventure path dictating the overall 'focus' of the character's gear load-out. And bluntly, I didn't expect to need more than 2 days' game time to deal with Dragotha at all.
Dragotha's INT and sheer ranks of Spellcraft (not to mention Allen's general tendency to assign Greater Arcane Sight to his BBEG's - and to be honest to metagame, as with Mind Blank up there was NO way possible to know that my character was the source of the Mass Spell Resistance in game) will readily tell him that (a) pretty much Cleric 3.0's entire wad was blown with that Disjunction, (b) the Green Slime below will definitely either occupy my attention for at least one or more likely 2 rounds OR dissolve me outright, and (c) that even WITH the Bucknard's fragment there is no way the cleric can hope to damage him in melee combat nor with pretty much any spell in his arsenal after losing so much. Detect Magic and its many variants simply do not give anything in the way of precision information - you get relative strength (spell level), school or schools (abjuration ad nauseam) and that's it. Only analyze dweomer gets around that to a degree - and it requires a pretty obvious arcane foci even for a dragon (monacle), and even it doesn't bypass a Mind Blank.
All that having been said, yes, I'm in the drink and up a creek at the present moment. All in the way the game plays sometimes - more frustrating than anything else is all.
Yeah....at least Allen works within rules and you just had a bad break.
Try to salvage, don't give up in spite of frustration and see what you can sleight of Hand out of your nether regions. Can't really expect more than that. I'm sure you've had characters in worse situations than this in Allen's games before (I would assume at the very least)?
Think of it this way too...while death may loom imminent, at least Allen didn't just say "You die" My old DM tried that a few times, though I did manage to survive by a lot of luck, some ingenuity and a little skill. Even if it did mean I was out of the fight. I'll post that story on some other thread.
Assuming Turin can get out of the Slime, I expect a Cure Disease will kill the slime. I don't think that Immunity to Disease will save a PC against Green Slime, and it certainly won't save a PC's equipment.
The rationale for the Disjunctions was quite simple. An extremely confident Dracolich has his entire lot of precast spells wiped out, and the same joker who did it then proceeded to beat him like a red headed step child for 200+HP in one round. I had no knowledge that Turin couldn't do that every round, and the Dracolich certainly does not. Furthermore, Turin dished out an incredible can of death and destruction on the Blue Dragon in Kings of the Rift, who was the last opponent that Turin "really went after" and I assumed more of the same was in store for Dragotha. Before the Disjunction in Battle #1, I had no option of teleporting out, but the Disjunction cast by Turin then gave me that option when all the Dimensional Locks were wiped out. Could I have beat the rest of the group in battle one as Turin implies. I don't think so. Even if you (Turin) couldn't do quite as much damage each round, I don't think that any reductions would have been significantly less. Secondly, with your SR, I couldn't realistically effect you with spells, and with your AC of SIXTY (60), in Battle #1 against Dragotha, I don't think I could have hit you reliably unless I NEVER Power Attacked you, in which case, it would have taken me AGES to whittle down your hit points, only to have them restored via Heal Spells whenever needed. No, I think that bugging out was the necessary course of action. It also set up another battle (#2) which will likely produce even more total kills between the two:)
I think you handled it pretty well Allen.
Dragotha may be an old old arrogant Dracolich who has been around for about 2500 years or so, but arrogance only goes so far.
Personally I think anyone who gets hit by a Mordenkainens Disjuntion is going to seriously rethink the wisdom of a fight. Especially after getting hammered in one round the way Dragotha got hit. Oh, and Turin had an AC of 60!?
O.O
I'd have run to take some time to think too. If Dragotha, who would of course start out with power attack, can't hit the bugger, especially if he is not even coming close, that would be worrisome for him.
I'm pretty sure Cure Disease does for the slime too, I just am not cracking the books to check it at the moment.
I think it went good. First fight essentially ended up as a weighing battle, Dragotha got the idea of just what he is facing. So for fight number two, he calls in more backup and is going to try things a little differently and more cautiously.
Ultimately, the Dracolich certainly did not know who fueled the PC's Greater Spell Resistance, but he did know that in current Battle #2, no bad guys spells were reliably getting through, and that the same PC that dropped the Disjunction in Battle #1 was now beating on him in battle #2. I think that was plenty of incentive for Disjoining Turin's character specifically, though I also caught two other PC's in the Disjunction also, and that provides additional justification.
Turin's chances to beat Dragotha to death were further enhanced by Turin's Belt of Battle which gives him several extra FULL round actions per day which could (and would) have been used to deadly effectiveness.
The Bracers were an oversight. I had +4 Bracers on stand by, and Dragotha's AC will be reduced by 4 when we begin next time. If you (Turin or if Tom did likewise) missed any hits by 4 or less, I'll gladly allow you to apply the correct damage retroactively.
On another item that Turin mentioned regarding yesterday's fight with Dragotha, I definitely empathize. I sent Multiple e-mails to all group members (more than I have ever sent before a game session previously) in an effort to get a very large turn out. That was admittedly done to help get a larger kill count:) for my part. But would have given the PC's an even better chance. That being said, Dragotha is scripted for 4 PC's of 19th level. There were 7 PC's present, all of which were 18th or 19th level (save the Feral Duskblade Dragon-thingie who was 17th plus his template). The addition of the Worm/Sorcerer, and later the Cleric were I likely necessary. Ultimately, if Turin made his Counterspell check, we're not even having this conversation. Bad Luck screwed him. I empathize completely. I'm highly disappointed at several of the players for failing to pan out, specifically Chipples, the Resident Artist, and Evil M. The others we had an expectation would not make it. I'll talk with you more Turin about this at length in the coming week.
As a side note, I'd hate to be a player in Turin's Savage Tide #1 today, as I expect that the death count is going to "Climb ever higher" today, given the events of yesterday...
Frustration...the mother of DM Killcounts.
Thats true...not to mention that its the less mentally endowed of the two groups playing today.
And yes, I agree, if the Counterspell had succeeded, this conversation would be nonexistant. Just that fact alone tells you that this was just luck.
Speaking of STAP, when is Turin starting your group on the AP? I know its slated for Saturdays, but when are you guys kicking off TINH?
Personally, I am looking forward to seeing your group go through it moreso than the Sat Group.
Oh, and what are you bring to the table character-wise?
I think Yasha that you refer to the less cognitively-blessed players, who are in the Sunday crew. If you want a body count than the current Sunday game is your cup of tea. It is my hope to limit casualties to a minimum in the Saturday group.
November 17 is the expected start date for the 'Saturday Tide'. If the fight with Kyuss himself drags out as long as the fight with Dragotha is taking, then perhaps later, but as Kyuss basically wins if the PC's retreat, I think only 1 fight is likely there. Unless it is a near/total TPK and the players want to come in with fresh characters (with maybe one or two surviving ones from the last fight who recruited 'help') to save the day.
Ultimately, the fight with Dragotha may end up with Turin bugging out to get help and things ending in a final Battle #3, which in some ways might be a fitting end to this titanic clash of forces; not to speak of creating a legend told amongst gamers for decades to come...
As much as I have enjoyed GM'ing the Age of Worms, I'm ready for a break, specifically from GM'ing HIGH LEVEL adventures using the 3.5 system rules. I'd GM anything up to about 15th level anytime, but the complexities of high level play are draining on me as a GM. I imagine Turin will lament much the same in about 12 months from now.
Yeah you're right, I was thinking of the fact that you guys did AoW yesterday and thought Saturday STAP. My humble apologies, I slept badly last night, as previously stated.
I mean of course, the Sunday STAP Turin is running right now.
Oh and believe me, I know the feeling, once you get to 8th level spells or thereabouts it starts getting really tough to keep the battle and situations scaled properly.
Supposedly that is one of the things that will be fixed for 4th ed (who knows...?), there will no longer be those jumps in character power at certain points.
Still though, what are you going to play in the 'Saturday/Smart-Folk/Competent-Folk' STAP? Or has it not even been discussed yet?
The two other players in the scheduled Saturday Tide and I have yet to sit down and formally discuss class selections. I have corrosponded with one of the two however. As myself and the two others are likely the three with the brains and adequate understanding of the rule mechanics, we will likely end up playing a Cleric type, a Wizard type, and a Ranger type. The other Players will likely fill in at the Fighter types. Reason simply being that if the Wizard or Cleric isn't in regular attendance, then things can go downhill very fast, and some of the players slated for the Saturday Tide have left much to be desired of late in their attendance. I think that may change for the better when Saturday S.T. begins, as it will be "new" and give the players a break from my heavy handed crap week in and week out:)
Given a choice, I'd play a Duskblade/Fighter that goes Knight of the Chalice, but I'm not thrilled about having to take 1 level of Cleric. I could go Duskblade/Ranger, but I don't recall off the top of my head if Ranger is a Clerical/Divine spellcasting type. If not, than I'm back to square one with having to take a level in cleric. If I opt not to go with Knight of the Chalice, then I'll likely do Ranger/Fighter for four levels each and then continue with Ranger exclusively. I'll likely go for Ranged Combat as the preferred mode of attack and leave the grunt work to the less frequent attending players. They can get plastered weekly while I stay safe and shoot from a distance.
One other thing on the fight with Dragotha, I really believe that the PC's had both battles WON, HANDS DOWN. One blown spellcraft check was what may cost the group the second battle. Battle #3, if there is one, who can say. I'd expect Turin to come in with even more artillery, and I'd anticipate that such a fight would be lengthy, but pretty much a foregone conclusion in favor of the PC's.
The Ranger is a Divine spellcaster.
I know what you mean about the epic levels. I have a friend who is utterly enamored with ultra high level play (he says he has a campaign planned for level 54 characters. If at all possible I will never play in that campaign. By the 16th or 17th level characters get so powerful that it just isn't as fun any more. Things take to long and I have a hard time seeing how such a powerful character fits in the world. I'm rather fond of the 15th level or lower stuff too.
Yeah what Arctaris said. If you can, go with the Ranger/Duskblade-->Knight of the Chalice. That would make for one interesting combination. Some nice arcane artillery and not to mention that the divine spells for a ranger once you reach the higher level spells are quite good, epecially for a ranged combat-type. That should turn out to be a very very handy character. Not a combo I had ever thought of, but hey. Then again, what is the prereqs for Knight of the Chalice? I'm going to have to look.
WOW! No feat requirements, just skills and some Clerical spells. Now I need to check and see if Protection from Evil is on the Ranger spell list. That is the spell required.
URK! Might have to rethink that Allen. Prot from evil is not on the Ranger Spell List, and that spell is specifically required for the class.
Intewesting.
I don't blame Dragotha per se for dropping off a Disjunction at this point ... I just resent the simple rotten luck of getting a nat 1 on that particular counterspelling die roll is all. As said, and wholly acknowledged, it was simple bad luck on a die roll that has done me in for all practical purposes. And it wasn't a blown Spellcraft check - that nat 1 was on the dispel check to stop the Disjunction cold.
I'll see what I can do - but with no Word of Recall prepared and no spare spell scrolls (since those are what went *pouf* along with the Infinite Scrollcase that stored them thanks to the Disjunction) - Cleric 3.0's chances of success are wedged rather firmly between slim and none.
I'm looking up that particular chamber description now ... and I think I may be in worse trouble than I thought ...
Yep, although I actually do not have the mag with me tonight (since the hamstermobile was dropped off overnight for repairs), I am in deep, deep kimshee. Although I do not know how deep the green slime is outside the Tabernacle mountain proper, I'm pretty sure it's deeper than the 40 feet of it I just auto-feather-falled through. This means I went through EIGHT 5ft patches of green slime, taking 8d6 CON damage during my 'slow descent'. Assuming statistically average die rolls, Cleric 3.0 just took 28 CON damage. Seeing as how no legal item gives outright immunity to ability damage all the time, and that the character's CON is 20, Cleric 3.0 just ... dissolved into goo, never to be seen again. Even the spectacular destruction of his stuff (which is really wicked to watch 2 Dawnstars go BOOM) was wholly masked and muffled by the sea of green slime.
So, Allen's Age of Worms has 71 player character kills to its name. *Sighs*
For the curious, this is the list of buff-spells Cleric 3.0 *bamfed* into the Tabernacle of Worms with for Fight #2 with Dragotha:
All caster level 24 (26 if Conj.-Healing) & maximized to due using his last cube of Incense of Meditation while preparing his spells for the day.
* (24 hour durations)(some are normally 24 hrs, others are due to using Prayer Beads of Karma when casting):
Magic Vestment +5 (on normally +4 armor), Death Throes, Undead Bane Weapon (unarmed strike), Endure Elements, Energy Immunity: acid, cold, fire and sonic, Triadspell x2 (Searing Light x2), Mind Blank (scroll) cast AFTER all other buffs were cast.
* (4 hour+ durations):
Fortunate Fate (162hp HEAL to self when triggered), Spell Resistance = SR 36, Spell Turning : 10 levels, Protection from Electricity 120 pts, Resist Electricity 30, Ebon Eyes, Freedom of Movement (scroll), Delay Disease (backup to the Phylactery), Neutralize Poison, Mass Fly (from Torsin Tightbutt, 3 hour or so duration).
* (22 minutes' rough remaining duration):
Shield of Warding, Blindsight - Greater, True Seeing, Nightshield, Sheltered Vitality.
* (13 remaining rounds' duration upon *bamfing* into the Tabernacle - was down to 2 remaining rounds' before the Disjunction):
Undeath's Eternal Foe : self, Cleric #3, Incarnate, Assassin; Holy Aura (all), Mass Death Ward (all), Mass Spell Resistance = SR 36 (all), Recitation (all), Righteous Wrath of the Faithful (all), Mass Conviction (all), Delay Death (self), Righteous Might (self), Divine Power (self) & fully "charged" divine focus (shield) for the quartet of turn attempt-buffing spells from Complete Champion.
All told, 42 total spells were disjoined.
When all was said an done, prior to the Disjunction, Cleric 3.0 was:
AC 56, 58 vs undead (ff 51); Touch AC 38, 40 vs undead (ff 33)
Init +12; Fort +33/Refl +33/ Will +37; DR 15/evil;
234 hp not counting temporary hit points.
Improved Unarmed, Superior & Versatile Unarmed Strike with permanent +5 Greater Magic Fang spell and alla buffs, vs undead only, totalled out as follows (including the bonus best-AB attack w/ Righteous Might):
+46/+46/+41/+36/+31 doing 6d6+23 per hit. Deduct 2d6+2 damage and deduct 2 from the AB's for non-undead foes. Bypassed adamantine, cold-iron, silver, good-aligned and magical DR, default damage type of bludgeoning could easily be swapped (via Versatile Unarmed Strike) to either Slashing or Piercing as necessary. Carried silvered weapons (morning star, spears, javelins and arrows) for back-up and replacement to fellow PCs that lost thiers. Had 2 Dawnstars for the "go BOOM when broken" blast radius effects. Lost 1 Sun zappy thing to the Disjunction. Everything else bought the farm in the green slime, although upon his permadeath - which losing 28 CON due to Green Slime IS a permadeath - saw his gear self-destruct. Between the damage from the slime and the enchantments keyed to his life force ... *pouf*, nothing survives, the dawnstars explode (to no effect at all that far down), the game goes on.
^_^
Oh, and btw, on Day # 2, I'd completely depleted the Belt of Battle prior to engaging Dragotha, so the presumption of guaranteed whooping of dracolich kiester is incorrect.
Given how he completely avoided dealing melee damage as a general rule to Cleric 3.0, my primary method of dispatching him (via his OWN damage by way of BoED Retributive Amulet) was of no significant value.
In either case, the point is now moot. :P
You see what I told you folks, Turin's characters are the bane of my attempts at sadistic GM'ing. The guy's too bright for his own good, and far too bright for my bad guy's own good...
You see what I told you folks, Turin's characters are the bane of my attempts at sadistic GM'ing. The guy's too bright for his own good, and far too bright for my bad guy's own good...
Why Allen, whatever could you mean by that ? Makes an innocent face.
That's way too much math- no wonder people get tired of high level gaming. Recipricol Gyre would have been real hell on your character- except that with spell turning it would have likely been turned back against you. Though if Dragotha is smart and he is, he might realize you have spell turning and then burn it off by casting stuff that would buff him and have it bounce back to buff himself with it. Once he'd used your spell turning up buffing himself then reciprocial gyre might have creamed you- though your spell resistance is pretty high. However, good old Mordenkeinan's disjunction is a quick way to make whack all those buffs and make bog you down with a half hour of calculations.
For the curious, this is the list of buff-spells Cleric 3.0 *bamfed* into the Tabernacle of Worms with for Fight #2 with Dragotha:
All caster level 24 (26 if Conj.-Healing) & maximized to due using his last cube of Incense of Meditation while preparing his spells for the day.
* (24 hour durations)(some are normally 24 hrs, others are due to using Prayer Beads of Karma when casting):
Magic Vestment +5 (on normally +4 armor), Death Throes, Undead Bane Weapon (unarmed strike), Endure Elements, Energy Immunity: acid, cold, fire and sonic, Triadspell x2 (Searing Light x2), Mind Blank (scroll) cast AFTER all other buffs were cast.* (4 hour+ durations):
Fortunate Fate (162hp HEAL to self when triggered), Spell Resistance = SR 36, Spell Turning : 10 levels, Protection from Electricity 120 pts, Resist Electricity 30, Ebon Eyes, Freedom of Movement (scroll), Delay Disease (backup to the Phylactery), Neutralize Poison, Mass Fly (from Torsin Tightbutt, 3 hour or so duration).* (22 minutes' rough remaining duration):
Shield of Warding, Blindsight - Greater, True Seeing, Nightshield, Sheltered Vitality.* (13 remaining rounds' duration upon *bamfing* into the Tabernacle - was down to 2 remaining rounds' before the Disjunction):
Undeath's Eternal Foe : self, Cleric #3, Incarnate, Assassin; Holy Aura (all), Mass Death Ward (all), Mass Spell Resistance = SR 36 (all), Recitation (all), Righteous Wrath of the Faithful (all), Mass Conviction (all), Delay Death (self), Righteous Might (self), Divine Power (self) & fully "charged" divine focus (shield) for the quartet of turn attempt-buffing spells from Complete Champion.
All told, 42 total spells were disjoined.
When all was said an done, prior to the Disjunction, Cleric 3.0 was:
AC 56, 58 vs undead (ff 51); Touch AC 38, 40 vs undead (ff 33)
Init +12; Fort +33/Refl +33/ Will +37; DR 15/evil;234 hp not counting temporary hit points.
Improved Unarmed, Superior & Versatile Unarmed Strike with permanent +5 Greater Magic Fang spell and alla buffs,...