I'm playing a Thri-kreen swordsage, and my roommate is playing a halfling wizard multiclassing into force missile mage. The idea was to have me carry him on my back in a little basket, and for him to blast our foes with magic missiles while I shred them with melee attacks. How would you wonderful people play this? Ideas, suggestions, and things to keep in mind would be greatly appreciated!
I'm playing a Thri-kreen swordsage, and my roommate is playing a halfling wizard multiclassing into force missile mage. The idea was to have me carry him on my back in a little basket, and for him to blast our foes with magic missiles while I shred them with melee attacks. How would you wonderful people play this? Ideas, suggestions, and things to keep in mind would be greatly appreciated!
In my mind there are a couple of problems with doing this. D&D mechanics doesn't really work with having two people share a square. That aside since he is still trying to be effective so maybe the +4 AC bonus from soft cover. Granted he should probably use STill Spell since his movement is hindered on your back.
I really like the idea but feel it should take a couple of feats on each of their parts for it to work correctly.
Oh and Master Blaster. ;)
EXACTLY!
"Who runs Bartertown?" hahahahaha
I was thinking of some variant of the swarmfighting feat or something, but I just don't know. I was also wondering how this would effect line of sight for the magic missiles....
First thought, if I DMed that game, I'd treat the halfling like he was constantly in mounted combat and I'd make you burn a feat to fight while you are being mounted.
maybe he'd take a little penalty there for the cumbersome basket rider on his back.
ok, a pen that would be negated by a feat.
I'm playing a Thri-kreen swordsage, and my roommate is playing a halfling wizard multiclassing into force missile mage. The idea was to have me carry him on my back in a little basket, and for him to blast our foes with magic missiles while I shred them with melee attacks. How would you wonderful people play this? Ideas, suggestions, and things to keep in mind would be greatly appreciated!
I'd grant the soft cover when riding your Thri-kreen, but as the Thri-kreen will be in battle this should count as violent motion at the least with the appropriate Concentration check (DC 15+spell level, poss DC 20+spell level if also casting defensively).
Line of sight & line of effect are more difficult to judge, being relatively higher the wizard should be able to achieve both relatively easily, BUT if the foes are small or smaller & up close and personal there may be some difficulty in seeing them due to his "mount's" size, possibly granting them cover against him too.
Hope this helps
Use the rules for riding an intelligent mount. The thri-kreen only has to worry about encumbrance. The halfling, on the other hand... every time he casts a spell in melee he has to make a Concentration check for casting while riding and another for casting on the defensive.
I agree with David;
The Thri-Kreen need only worry about encumbrance...
The Halfling would need concentration checks for all of his casting and he would lose all Dex bonuses to his AC - although he would gain a bonus for using his 'mount' as cover, I would treat to hit rolls that barely miss (i.e., by less than 4) as hitting the Thri-Kreen instead (if such a roll is high enough to beat the Thri-Kreen's flat-foot AC), since the attacks are all being directed to the same square.
- Alternate Rule: Assume that the Thri-Kreen is actively dodging blows meant for the Halfling... Apply the Thri-Kreen's Dex bonus to the Halfling's flat-foot AC; all other melee combat rules operate as if they were a single entity (Bull Rush, Overrun, etc.) with the Thri-Kreen's stats.
Missing the Halfling doesn't excuse the mount from being in the way; I would apply this rule the same way a rider using his mount as cover would jeopardize his mount.
Also...the Halfling would need to be strapped into his basket to avoid severe jostling from the likely unrehearsed coordination needed to cast or act from being mounted; perhaps taking a riding combat feat would negate any penalty. Any and all mounted combat/casting rules would apply to the Halfling.
M
I like where you guys are going with this. Thri-kreen worries about encumbrance (with a racial plus 30 to jump, plus jump being a class skill, I'm not TOO worried...), but the halfling loses his dex modifier to armor class, gains cover from "mount", and must use mounted casting rules/feats. Otherwise I'll treat them as one entity as far as movement and reach are concerned. Sound good?
I don't know if the halfling could negate a hit on my thri-kreen with a ride check, but it would be REALLY cool if he could! I'm going to have to bug my DM about that....
Does the halfling get to make ride checks to negate hits on the thri-kreen, by using the mounted combat feat? I've always wondered about situations like that...
The rider yells, "Goblin, 9 o'clock!"
IMO, if you're constrained enough to lose your Dex bonus, you're constrained too much to use somatic components. I'd let him keep his Dex bonus and not give him cover - just like any other rider (in this case Dex might represent his ability to hide behind his friend).
This isn't the first time a "Master Blaster" situation has been proposed. Usually, a player is looking to abuse the game in some fashion, so I typically don't support the idea. However, since this thread seems to be looking to actually balance the tactic with the rules, I'll try to contribute.
You're talking about two creatures fighting in the same square. That's called squeezing and bestows a -4 to AC and attacks, I believe. I'd allow a feet which would negate these penalties. Also, there's a difference between the simple weight of a halfling, and the space it takes up as it tries to be useful in a combat from a basket on your back. I'd impose a series of penalties like those of carrying a medium load, regardless of the actual weight. I would allow this to be overcome by purchasing a specially made harness/saddle; it would need to be expensive enough to represent an actual sacrifice on the PCs' parts relative to their expected wealth-per-level (assuming your DM follows such guidelines). And yes, the halfling would need to be making Concentration checks to cast on your back. Depending on the rig he's attached to you with, there might be some spell failure chance as with armor (if his movements are hampered). I'd allow the spell failure to be overcome by the aforementioned saddle, but the Concentration checks are just going to have to be dealt with.
I would allow the halfling to benefit from the thri-kreen's bonus from fighting defensively or taking total defense, if he should ever do that (but not vice-versa, though I think that situation would be rare anyway).
Just remember the balance factor must be maintained. It should be clear that this tactic is suboptimal or arguably takes more effort than it's really worth to pull off. Otherwise, "halfling cavalry" would start popping up everywhere, and that could have undesired implications for a game/setting. But, if you're still willing to roll with the idea just for the coll factor/RP (if that's what you're going for), despite it's inefficiency, more power to you!
Problem solved. I spoke with the DM about it, and showed him this thread. Halfling will get all of the negatives of being mounted, but none of the benefits (meaning he can't use a ride check to negate a hit on me), although he WILL get cover from my thri-kreen. I will get the benefit of having a never-missing magic missile slinger watching my back, and alerting me to threats I otherwise wouldn't see.