Racial HP vanished when we moved from Beta to Pathfinder Core..so I make it that you should have 4/66 hp presently.
Thank you Set..could everyone else please double check their combat stats..You'll be hitting 10th level after this combat and things start to get a bit OTT from that point.
I'd also like to sound you all out on the possibility of my using Mythic Adventures to beef up the major figures of the Opposition..some off them just call out for a mythic template.
Thanks, Wellard! I'll update the profile.
Bill, yow! Stunned for 3d4 and it's an AoE. Can you do anything to boost the DC? That is a killer ability.
Sorry Esteriande..you are not close enough to attack in the surprise round as you would have to move more than 5 feet.
Actually, you can make a partial charge (one movement distance) as a standard action if a full round action is unavailable (last paragraph here).
If you are able to take only a standard action on your turn, you can still charge, but you are only allowed to move up to your speed (instead of up to double your speed) and you cannot draw a weapon unless you possess the Quick Draw feat. You can't use this option unless you are restricted to taking only a standard action on your turn.
Just for future reference...
The point it moot anyway as the troll will now just stand and gape for nine rounds whilst the party kills him
In fact that Mind Blast could almost class as a Mythic level attack.
Yeah, Bill, but you didn't get smacked by him! :-P
We're a bigger than average party with some serious melee power. Naria's been buffing us well and contributing damage-- Marak's been focused on support. Inikai's been helping in a number of ways depending on who he's currently bound to. There haven't been many fights that have really stretched the group.
I say bring it on, Wellard. Fun for you and fun for us.
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So do we have to actually roll the troll to death or can we just describe the carnage and move on.
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Rogues -- finding traps one way or another.
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On one odd note, I'm kind of sad. Romon at -4 hp could finally use resiliency to good effect. And the leap had set him up for a good back-stabbing, which he hasn't gotten off in ages.
I'm taking a couple of days away from this game to think...the fact that you disposed off a major encounter in the surprise round has left me somewhat disheartened as I'm sure you will appreciate.
I have to consider whether this campaign is still fun for me given the way you steam roller everything you encounter.
All I can say is that the psionic blast from Psionics Unleashed is a 3rd level power and stuns for one round only. 3d4 rounds? Wayyyy excessive.
The main issue is our action economy. In my games at home I have regularly a party of 6-7 characters in the field, and I'm running standard enemies. I seldom make them tougher, but I often give the party more of them. For example, for a CR10 encounter such as this one I'd have done one of a couple of things:
1) arm the troll with a displacement item, so we have to work twice as hard to kill him (and incidentally, that stun I'd only let last one round).
2) give him a partner, not as powerful but still nasty enough to divert attention and soak some damage.
3) have a second group of trolls attack the party from behind while the heavy hitters are diverted with the troll in front.
I considered options 2 and three..and off course could have made him epic..but for what is nothing more than a side adventure..it wasn't really worth it..besides there's no loot to be found here beyond what you took from the Ettin and yes that's a way excessive power for Inikai..in fact it's probably a game breaker as it is so..1d3 rounds of stun in future ok
I'm taking a couple of days away from this game to think...the fact that you disposed off a major encounter in the surprise round has left me somewhat disheartened as I'm sure you will appreciate.
I have to consider whether this campaign is still fun for me given the way you steam roller everything you encounter.
I know exactly how you feel. And whatever you decide is cool.
I know I hate modifying encounters -- I run APs instead of homebrew because I don't have the time any more.
Here's some stuff I do instead -- I've pulled out some encounters, especially if they feel they've been shoved into the AP just to provide a few more XP so the party can level before reaching the next boss fight. In a RL game I would leave them in because they don't take any time, but most combats in PbP are a RL week at the least. Like the wererat fight you didn't do in Crimson Throne.
I add stuff. Stuff that looks cool -- like the leukodaemon in our Crimson Throne. How could they put that monster in back of the magazine and not use it in the AP! Of course, I did custom nerf it to "lesser leukodaemon".
Oh-- and if you need a sabbatical -- by all means take one. DMing is hard work. I've taken a month off at some point in all the games I run. Announce a hiatus and take a break.
I tweak the monsters. Make some harder, make some easier. Or better, leave the stats the same and change the packaging. It's quicker, and just requires some fluffy verbiage.
So feel free to change some things for your own amusement. I certainly don't need a rote presentation of the AP author's work.
Also, if you need a sabbatical -- take one. DMing is hard work. I've taking a month off at some point in every PbP I've run. I'm sure everyone here will return. This is a great game.
On another note: don't fret wealth by level. There was a recent advice thread about adjusting APs for large parties. Fake Healer advised against changing anything, especially treasure. His point was that the party would fall behind a little in experience and equipment, but that the larger party size compensates and all is still fair. I'm not sure I agree 100% about character level because of the increasing lethality of monsters , but on the wealth side I think he may have an excellent point. If the total party wealth = 4 x WBL for an individual then they should have the tools for level appropriate encounters. Everyone might not be able to damage the ghost, but someone should be able to.
I totally understand your frustration from a DM's point of view, and share it as a player as well. It's great fun to play a powerful PC and all, but at the same time it can quickly become not-very-fun to easily steamroller every encounter. Dabbs and Thom both present some great suggestions and I have no doubt a DM of your skill can come up with as many more as you need. And yes, by all means, after your Years of hard work on this game, you certainly deserve as much time off as you wish. As has been said, I'm quite sure you'll all be here when you're ready to return all fresh and enthusiastic again.
On another note, I think I'll have to completely redo Ali's sheet as it's a bit of a mess. Some places looks like she's still 7th lvl, some 8, I don't think there's anywhere that indicates she's 9th, but I'm not sure.
So, while I'm doing this, let me ask you all your opinion on my Wild Druid. After all this time playing alongside her, how does it work as a class? I guess technically in Pathfinder it would be an Archetype, I created her before PF archetypes existed. She's based of the Shapeshifting Alternate Clas Feature (from PHB II 3.5) and she's so different than the regular PF Druid I'm not sure how all the differences would fit in/on and archetype.
By the way, while I'm thinking of it, does anyone know of any good templates for making PF archetypes?
And so what about the class itself? Overpowered? Weak? Just right? Anything you think for sure should go? Or maybe should go, or be changed? Anything added? Your opinions and insights will be greatly valued and appreciated.
Since it seems like we may have some time, I'll work on getting Ali and her sheet back into tip-top shape.
Cheers!
Khaladon, I don't play with many druids so it's hard to say where the balance lies. So let me say this -- Ali has been a real power in melee. Although she's had her moments, I don't think she's outshown Muchorak or Esteriande in damage delivery. In my opinion her spell use has been quite secondary. So the class feels about right.
Of course she's a blast to play with too. Fun RP. That's a huge bit.
Welllll..we could go back to the 'Scent is not a superpower' argument but we have spent too much time on that over the years as it is.
Otherwise Ali is not obviously over powered..she holds her own in melee and doesn't really deliver much more damage than the rest off the party when it comes to that..
In fact the real damage dealer come 15th level will be Romon..when he gets to three attacks a round with 8d6 sneak attack damage a hit.
Anyway I've reviewed whats ahead and things might be about to get tougher for you by an order of magnitude. So I'm a happier bunny.
Glad to hear it.
What?!
Nice post, Bill, for a couple reasons.
This skull thing has me thinking....
Would you rather unload a truckload of bowling balls or a truckload of dead babies?
Is this the joke with the pitchfork? Gosh, that's, like, 30 years old!
Next you'll be with the Mary, Mary jokes and the Mommy, Mommy jokes... :)
Older.
Mary, Mary jokes? I do not believe I am familiar with the genre.
How do you use a pitchfork with bowling balls? That makes no sense.
Also, Marak's point about the undead never taking revenge on villains is a good one.
Bill, subtle won't work over the interwebs. ;-p
And Set did have a good point. Although there is one notable exception from this very AP.
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Just checked on line, apparently they were called 'Mary Jane' jokes, normally. My little hick town called them 'Mary, Mary jokes.'
'Mary, Mary was swinging on the swingset, and some boys were pointing and looking. Her friend says, 'Those boys are looking at your panties!' and Mary, Mary just laughed and laughed, because she wasn't wearing any.'
'Mary, Mary was walking on the beach, and she saw a man out in the water screaming 'Help, Help!' as a shark swam around him. She laughed and laughed, because she knew that shark wasn't going to help him.'
Generally, that's how they end, with Mary laughing and laughing because she's totally missed the point.
How do you use a pitchfork with bowling balls? That makes no sense.
Also, Marak's point about the undead never taking revenge on villains is a good one.
Already answered that one in character...:D...and actually it does make sense: a spirit haunts places familiar to it, or the place where it was slain, not the place where a body-part might be. A skull alone can't make undead (usually) and the spirit is likely elsewhere, so skulls are perfectly safe.
<Looks shocked and innocent>
"Devlin". That was priceless.
Poor Wellard, you have to make the devil capable of outwitting our resident ne're-do-well. Good luck.
Well, Wellard did that easily. Romon is DENIED!
And yeah, my boy is a little tacky.
So, Dabbler, what were you thinking? Step in the magic circle 'cause the devil implies you're chicken? Even Marty McFly figured out not to rise to that bait.
What? Rogue-boy jumped in there to push her out. It's still true love.
Not the brightest move on his part, but he's agitated. If it were anyone else in the party, he'd have thought to just cover part of the circle.
I am really curious what prompted Esteriande's action. Dabbler plays her as a pretty deliberate person. Stepping in the magic circle just looked all kinds of dangerous, especially because Devlin suggested it.
So, Dabbler, what were you thinking? Step in the magic circle 'cause the devil implies you're chicken? Even Marty McFly figured out not to rise to that bait.
No, connecting the clues: we were told the sluices usually opened and no-one knew how. The devil was connected to the machinery of the dam. There was nothing in the other circle. Ergo, something in the other circle would power the dam...as the devil had survived millenia, it was fairly sure that whatever happened wouldn't kill Esteriande, but she's not the kind of person to let another take her risks for her.
Anyone got a restoration spell? :D
Ahhh. But the devil was still there. Why not let him power the dam?
Because his life energies were too low to activate it alone thee needed to be another living being in the remaining circle..anyway you released him which was his object.Ok it will take years decades for him to recover from the effects but..what the hell..lol
I'm looking forward to seeing how Dabblers Psionic group deal with this when they get here.I believe they are heading for a certain clock Tower at the Moment
Ahh. Still it was risky. Anything that could contain and drain a demon like that might empty a person like a slit wineskin.
Kudos on getting it right, Dabbler.
Well, it was easy to guess OOC when we saw two circles and only one demon...realising how Esteriande would work it out was harder! Of course we could have just summoned a creature into one of the circles, but I felt Randy would go for the heroic approach.
Posting now-ish
Just realized that against this construct might be worthwhile to actually, finally, level Ali up to 9th! : P
9th???? You should be 10th level now..we did that after the troll 'fight'.
Check my posts for September 17th
Oops! Really??
Um, my bad, I'll get that done tomorrow-ish.
Actually, Ali's whole sheet needs to be redone. It's a complete mess. It's also 5+ years old! Was started when Pathfinder was in it's infancy and still converting from 3.5 and there has, of course, been lots of changes since then. Just been procrastinating the rehall, but it clearly needs to be done.
PS. please remind me, we're still doing 2/3 hp per level right? And I think there was some kind of racial hp when we started, but that doesn't exist anymore??
Look like a few others are still level 9 too? Or just didn't change their tag line yet?
yes we are still doing Hp as per PFS standard and Racial HP vanished with the end of Beta.
... +5 skill ranks (1 Spellcraft, 1 Perception, 1 Diplomacy, 2 Knowledge - Arcana), +1 4th level spell / day and +1 5th level spell / day.
Is that all? I got 11 skill ranks.
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... +5 skill ranks (1 Spellcraft, 1 Perception, 1 Diplomacy, 2 Knowledge - Arcana), +1 4th level spell / day and +1 5th level spell / day.
Is that all? I got 11 skill ranks.
Meh. 2 for cleric, 2 for being way smarter than ye average cleric, and 1 for being hoo-man.
And I forgot my FC bonus into hit points again. Dur. Every level I have to add my hit points up all over again and wonder why they are never what I think they should be... So 102 hp, not 92 hp. (5 for level, 2 for con, 1 for Toughness, 1 for FC, 1 for extra Con from Belt of Health +2)
Obviously I didn't say it appropriately. My point : 6 more skill ranks against a 4th level and 5th level spell?
And to be fair I left unstated the extra d6 to sneak attack and the huge jump in trapfinding from +2 to +3 that I received.
Fortunately I can use my benes all day.