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Thanks, Charles.
I figured Deylah would know better than to use the Nimbus bow, because after speaking to the Olmans, they would have been taught about demons and their resistances. She was using her evil outsider bane bow against Khala.
Also, some further errata discussion:
I sent an email to Skip Williams, now serving as the Sage for Kobold Quarterly if I heard correctly, and asked him about webbing a creature then casting blade barrier on it. He said that a creature trying to avoid the blade barrier doesn't have to actually move 5' to avoid the blades, since the wall itself has no thickness. But I continue to interpret the spell a further way: Khala is a large creature, and if the blade barrier is cast down his center, he certainly has to move 5' to avoid it, which the web prevents until he can devote a full round to moving. So, for the most part, the playtest in my mind is still valid.
RPG Superstar 2013 Top 4, RPG Superstar 2011 Top 16
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You know I remember reading about the Web/BB combo in the playtest and thought off hand that it was very DDO (one of my friends plays and their group uses the tactic all the time web + wall of fire or BB). However in PnP, it's not really a valid tactic.
At worst the creature would get to make a Reflex save each round it was stuck in the area of the BB to take no damage, as if you cast it on them. Making a save does not necessarily involve movement, you could just be in a spot where the Blades of force don't converge completely. Area effect spells aren't uniform.
An immobile, vertical curtain of whirling blades shaped of pure force springs into existence. Any creature passing through the wall takes 1d6 points of damage per caster level (maximum 15d6), with a Reflex save for half damage.
If you evoke the barrier so that it appears where creatures are, each creature takes damage as if passing through the wall. Each such creature can avoid the wall (ending up on the side of its choice) and thus take no damage by making a successful Reflex save.
A blade barrier provides cover (+4 bonus to AC, +2 bonus on Reflex saves) against attacks made through it.
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Yet this has to be countered somehow by the rule that willingly passing through the wall guarantees damage. I figured there needed to be some sort of in-between. They could possibly take half-damage with a save while standing inside the wall if they can't move (which would make sense given the spell description).
I actually didn't check the spell description and assumed a creature would just take full if they couldn't avoid it. In most cases Khala would have ended up only taking half, so that would have changed the playtest a tad.
This thread has been a good read for me. My players are venturing to taboo island tomorrow, so Khala will be coming out to play in the near future. I look forward to the carnage.
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Elsewhere in the thread I mentioned that becoming a Large creature against the kopru would cancel their Improved Grab ability. This is untrue in the case of the kopru. Their stat block specifically states they can use Improved Grab on an equal sized creature or smaller. The Improved Grab ability in the MM states that Improved Grab only works on smaller creatures "unless otherwise stated". So, there you go. Large grappling kopru are nasty.
What is still somewhat unclear though, is the Constrict ability. The constrict damage is supplied in the stat block for the kopru, but the MM block for Constrict says "if the creature has the Improved Grab ability, constriction damage is dealt in addition to the damage from the weapon used to grab". I understand this to mean that if a kopru slaps you with a tail and grabs hold, you'll suffer the slap and constrict damage at the same time. What it doesn't explain is what happens afterwards. I took it to mean that on subsequent rounds, you continue to take tail slap and constriction damage with each grapple check. This may be untrue, so the constriction damage in Battle #3 may have been too much.
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RPG Superstar 2013 Top 4, RPG Superstar 2011 Top 16
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Elsewhere in the thread I mentioned that becoming a Large creature against the kopru would cancel their Improved Grab ability. This is untrue in the case of the kopru. Their stat block specifically states they can use Improved Grab on an equal sized creature or smaller. The Improved Grab ability in the MM states that Improved Grab only works on smaller creatures "unless otherwise stated". So, there you go. Large grappling kopru are nasty.
What is still somewhat unclear though, is the Constrict ability. The constrict damage is supplied in the stat block for the kopru, but the MM block for Constrict says "if the creature has the Improved Grab ability, constriction damage is dealt in addition to the damage from the weapon used to grab". I understand this to mean that if a kopru slaps you with a tail and grabs hold, you'll suffer the slap and constrict damage at the same time. What it doesn't explain is what happens afterwards. I took it to mean that on subsequent rounds, you continue to take tail slap and constriction damage with each grapple check. This may be untrue, so the constriction damage in Battle #3 may have been too much.
You would take both Slap and Constrict each round the Kopru wins grapple checks on it's turn.
Upon second review if the Enemy held immoble in a Web was in the Blade Barrier I would give Reflex for 1/2... Good thing you had Dimensional Anchor on him otherwise that'd be a waste of the web.
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RPG Superstar 2013 Top 4, RPG Superstar 2011 Top 16
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Hmm? Dimensional Anchor? Didn't memorize that one :)
Oops... I've been reading too many posts about fighting Khala! You used Greater Dispel to remove the Web & BB, but I would've likely used Teleport to put it between Khala and the PC's or just move to the opposite end of the room to force the PC's to reposition themselves (and screwing up their planned tactic).
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Khala was having such an easy time dropping their effects (he only needs a 5 on a d20), he was "enjoying" ruining their efforts. I usually allow my BBEG's little miscalculations in their tactics while they succumb to their vanity, especially in the case of demons. He rolled bad against the blade barrier and got nailed by it again.
Khala could easily frustrate the PC's by hitting them with an unholy blight or spittle and continuing to teleport around (sometimes landing near 2 or more PC's to force them to save against gaze attacks) but frankly I didn't want the playtest to go on for too long. Either Khala was going to rip them apart, or they would manage to work him down.
I can see where using the PCs' obstacles against them could help as well, but I consider that a "toying" behavior for a demon. It's certainly within Khala's range, but I guess I wanted to keep him in their face where he could do the most damage without giving them a chance to heal (every teleport he uses is a free round without getting attacked - but then again, so is using Dispel).