Slight spoilers ahead for City of the Spider Queen.
So my party is doing fine so far. My character (Sor8/Celestial Mystic 4, she's lovely and has a Lantern Archon as a familiar) is really fun to play and does fine in combat.
As we walk into this room (temple) the archon Detects Evil and notices 3 glows in the ceiling. We walk into the room (while I keep an eye on the ceiling) and halfway there it all goes pear shaped.
I succeed on saving throw (vampire? mind-flayer? someone's probing!) while our druid fails and stands still. A vampire appears, the webs on the ceiling move apart and a black ooze falls right on top of me (I forgot to ask where the cracks in the ceiling were so I could NOT stand beneath them.. major error apparently).
I cast Wings of Cover (although I wasn't actually allowed since it was a suprise round... according to the DM) so the slam attack didn't work but I ended up engulfed by it anyway and rolled badly on the initiative roll. Next round 75% of my gear (cloak of charisma +2, Robe of Mysterious Conjuration (10k!!), vest of resistance +3, ring of true seeing (not my own!) and ring of feather falling) is gone.
I cast Baleful Transposition with the pudding and our monk switching positions, move back between my allies.
Then of course a undead drider falls on my head.
How much can a lawful good woman (I'm male, help me out) devoted to the teachings of Celestia take?
It feels extra bad because we might have messed up some rules but I don't think we'll undo anything (undo sucks.. how tempting it may sound though I'm not going to ask for it). Next time we'll continue and I'll have to think of a way to keep playing my character without her dieing.
I need a shoulder to cry on!
I need a shoulder to cry on!
I am sorry. Try to console yourself by creating a great character next time.
I tell you, these stories about black oozes and gelatinous cubes makes me want to pull out my old Forgotten Realms 3.0 campaign setting and create a cleric with the Slime domain so that I can turn oozes. Or better still, I'll make an EVIL cleric who can rebuke them, and have them attack my enemies!
I am sorry. Try to console yourself by creating a great character next time.I tell you, these stories about black oozes and gelatinous cubes makes me want to pull out my old Forgotten Realms 3.0 campaign setting and create a cleric with the Slime domain so that I can turn oozes. Or better still, I'll make an EVIL cleric who can rebuke them, and have them attack my enemies!
I actually think she's already great :)
too bad she's in her undies now.. :s
[insert pithy jab at all the 'let the dice fall where they may' / 'character death is needed for verisimilitude' crowd here]
[Insert my foot punting the poodle's ass here]
[Insert my foot punting the poodle's ass here]
How original. Just like 'Gygaxian Naturalism'.
RPG Superstar 2009 Top 32, 2010 Top 8
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I've two I'll share.
1) Being charged by mind flayers. My rogue pops off the 9HD fireball from the necklace of fireballs. Unfortunately the party's other rogue was invisible, sneaking in for a backstab...
2) My 2e psion, using id insuation to keep stunning a great wyrm red (dragon mountain) I lost count. Breath weapon to the face. (DM was a jerk anyway.
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1) Being charged by mind flayers. My rogue pops off the 9HD fireball from the necklace of fireballs. Unfortunately the party's other rogue was invisible, sneaking in for a backstab...
Against the Giants. Everyone in the party had Dust of Disappearance, it seemed, and they all went invisible, leaving the Cleric and the Wizard (apparently) alone. I (the Cleric) show up in the banquet room, with a dozen giants, and the Wizard throws a Confusion spell to buy us some time. Naturally, we didn't see the Fighter, Ranger and Rogue, who had snuck into the room invisibly and were getting ready to gank the Giants, and the Confusion spell affected the lower HD targets (i.e. the party) first.
Chaos ensues. My Cleric puts up a Blade Barrier to keep the Giants from beating the Cleric and Wizard to a meaty paste, and the Halfling Rogue, whose player is *furious* with the Wizard for casting Confusion just then, rolls 'attack caster' and is all psyched. He runs for the casters and makes it through the Blade Barrier with 3 hit points left, but is unable to get an attack.
The next round, he rolls 'wander away' and steps back into the Blade Barrier and dies horribly.
The Cleric grabs the unconscious Wizard (who has been hit with three giant boulders in the meantime) and Word of Recalls out.
This was our second encounter in the adventure, the first being the effortless ganking of a sleeping guard.
I actually think she's already great :)
too bad she's in her undies now.. :s
Ack! Sorry to hear that, and from hearing about all the equipment she lost sounds like she is mid to high level... a point where you're better off dead than naked, your performance permanently lags behind the rest of the party. =(
Does she have item creation feats? That would help her recover faster at least partially if she manages to get her party mates to chip in whatever they can spare.
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Black Puddings SUCK!
We were playing a homebrew game and ran into Gelatinous Cubes. Problem was we were in a boat in a lagoon and suddenly we got stuck on something. We jumped out onto a nearby rocky outcropping and were trying to figure out what was going on. Just as our Cleric was about to stick his head under the water the Rogue noticed the boat was dissolving. She told the Cleric and the we all realized he was about to stick his head into a Seawater Gelatinous Cube! He dodged that death by the skin of his teeth and some lucky guesses by the girl playing the rogue.
Oozy stuffs are just nasty!
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My trusty black pudding Mr. Inky defeated an elephant in open battle before falling victim to a fire elemental at last year's Green Blood on a Black Rock.
Ack! Sorry to hear that, and from hearing about all the equipment she lost sounds like she is mid to high level... a point where you're better off dead than naked, your performance permanently lags behind the rest of the party. =(Does she have item creation feats? That would help her recover faster at least partially if she manages to get her party mates to chip in whatever they can spare.
No creation feats in the party. We have some spare items, but all minor stuff I think but I expect some heavy fighting real soon... yaiks. Ah well, I'll just be a very careful sorcerer this time.
I actually think she's already great :)
too bad she's in her undies now.. :s
You say that like it is a bad thing. ;D
You say that like it is a bad thing. ;D
my fellow players were quick to gather around her somehow... pervs!
nothing to do with the circle of protection vs evil she has from being a Celestial Mystic, I'm sure.
That logic might not apply, if you're playing a "Red Sonja" style of game. Have you seen the latest Order of the Stick?
"I once sold a winsome young lass a leather headband that was more effective than plate."
That logic might not apply, if you're playing a "Red Sonja" style of game. Have you seen the latest Order of the Stick?
"I once sold a winsome young lass a leather headband that was more effective than plate."
But that goes to what I said about "."
my fellow players were quick to gather around her somehow... pervs!
It could be worse, at least they haven't tried anythig yet...
they wouldn't dare
they know what she can do
they've seen her spells
they know her lantern archon likes her
they know the lantern archon will hurt them
>)
I hope
they wouldn't dare
they know what she can do
they've seen her spells
they know her lantern archon likes her
they know the lantern archon will hurt them>)
I hope
They could have been gathering around you to protect you. As you noted, your Armor Class just dropped precipitously.
They could have been gathering around you to protect you. As you noted, your Armor Class just dropped precipitously.
preposterous
AC didn't even drop I think :)
my saving throws did though, bloody drow/flayers/vampires/undead (WHAT kind of of adventure is this anyway? One could get hurt down there with creatures like that running around)
They could have been gathering around you to protect you. As you noted, your Armor Class just dropped precipitously.preposterous
AC didn't even drop I think :)
my saving throws did though, bloody drow/flayers/vampires/undead (WHAT kind of of adventure is this anyway? One could get hurt down there with creatures like that running around)
Was your armor destroyed?
You did say you were in "your undees."
although I'd like to try a sorcerer in full plate one day, she was just wearing a robe (of mysterious conjuration I think)so no AC loss there.
Although she did just put on a pair of gloves of dexterity +2 so -1AC. Nothing Shield (spell) can't fix.
All-on defensive spell casting from now on. Greater Mage Armor is already on, with Shield, Mirror Image, Invis and Wings of Cover I'll have to take it easy with the fireballs :D
I hope
I hope so too... if I were you I'd keep that lantern archon watching over my sleep however, you wouldn't believe the kind of party members you can get stuck with sometimes.
I hope so too... if I were you I'd keep that lantern archon watching over my sleep however, you wouldn't believe the kind of party members you can get stuck with sometimes.
Luckily the lantern archon does exactly that because what you insinuate would be so wrong... O_o
Luckily the lantern archon does exactly that because what you insinuate would be so wrong... O_o
I like lantern archons, they're faithful and don't have naughty thoughts or... at least, if they do, they have no physical bodies to act upon them.
Luckily the lantern archon does exactly that because what you insinuate would be so wrong... O_oI like lantern archons, they're faithful and don't have naughty thoughts or... at least, if they do, they have no physical bodies to act upon them.
Absolutely awesome!
Good luck with the further adventures... I'm sure your archon will be the perfect gentleman; that's kind of it's raison d'etre, innit?
You'd think the Underdark would get cleared out eventually, but those oozes and slimes just kind of keep on coming.
Have fun with it!
Absolutely awesome!
I fail to see how is losing all your magical equipment to a black pudding awesome, I'd say that's tragic.
Ehm... giving it a second thought, perhaps I wouldn't feel so comfortable with a creature watching me twenty-four/seven with only the gods knowing all the things it must be thinking... there is a reason why I keep shying away from learning Detect Thoughts.
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My most gratuitous defeat came in a low level game my DM ran for new players to try out D&D. My Scout had scraped his way to 6th level, when out in the forest the party encountered a dire tiger. He got the only surprise round attack with his bow and missed. On it's turn it Pounced and took him to -8. That seemed to be the running theme of the game, get knocked unconcious and have to be saved...
My most gratuitous defeat came in a low level game my DM ran for new players to try out D&D. My Scout had scraped his way to 6th level, when out in the forest the party encountered a dire tiger. He got the only surprise round attack with his bow and missed. On it's turn it Pounced and took him to -8. That seemed to be the running theme of the game, get knocked unconcious and have to be saved...
well until now I think I was doing most of the saving, except once maybe... when that mindflayer was quite close to slurping my brains out...
maybe
A former party was investigating a ruined castle. They were all high-Dexterity characters: rogue, ranger, even a warlock and wizard who relied upon the stat for decent AC. They met a black pudding and rolled for initiative.
The pudding beat all of them.
A former party was investigating a ruined castle. They were all high-Dexterity characters: rogue, ranger, even a warlock and wizard who relied upon the stat for decent AC. They met a black pudding and rolled for initiative.
The pudding beat all of them.
In 3.X? I'm not the least bit surprised. I always thought that one little problem with the d20 system is that it's... well, d20. A d20 means that the randomness of the dice will make MUCH more difference than an ability score. I always felt that a lower die, as used in previous editions, would be more appropriate for initiative. Even Improved Initiative gives a pretty small bonus, considering.
Even Improved Initiative gives a pretty small bonus, considering.
I beg to differ, a +4 on a d20 is already 1/5th of the total, which isn't precisely something to sneeze at, that without counting Dex modifier (even a 12 already makes that total +5, 1/4th of the total). In addition, there's plenty of modifiers in 3E to allow crafty and creative players to get away with a lot of things, compensating for the randomness (the end of "season 1" in our Absalom swashbuckling game was marked by the heroes assassinating in his chariot an asmodian bishop whose level doubled the APL... yeah, I know I keep using that example time and time again, but I like it and it has the plus that it gives "fair and balanced" advocates a fit, so I'll keep using it). Batman quoted this pretty nicely, can't remember whether it was in a comic or the animated series: "I could die any day, it may be Joker or Two-Face, or a very lucky thief".
On the other side, games where the stat minimizes the die are nice, and gives your degree of skill its due credit, but they tend to create a "glass ceiling" effect I've come to dislike.
well until now I think I was doing most of the saving, except once maybe... when that mindflayer was quite close to slurping my brains out...
maybe
Mindflayers, black puddings... somehow I think I won't enjoy the underground trip my comrades and I are due soon.
I beg to differ, a +4 on a d20 is already 1/5th of the total, which isn't precisely something to sneeze at, that without counting Dex modifier (even a 12 already makes that total +5, 1/4th of the total). In addition, there's plenty of modifiers in 3E to allow crafty and creative players to get away with a lot of things, compensating for the randomness (the end of "season 1" in our Absalom swashbuckling game was marked by the heroes assassinating in his chariot an asmodian bishop whose level doubled the APL... yeah, I know I keep using that example time and time again, but I like it and it has the plus that it gives "fair and balanced" advocates a fit, so I'll keep using it). Batman quoted this pretty nicely, can't remember whether it was in a comic or the animated series: "I could die any day, it may be Joker or Two-Face, or a very lucky thief".
I remember an episode of the animated series, called "I am the Night," where he says something like that.
As to your main point... well, whether +4 is significant is debatable. It's borderline. I know one player who adamantly insists it doesn't make much difference. But rather than quibble that point, I might mention that the original point was about Dex bonuses only. And you need an 18 to get +4.