So do I really want to punish them for doing such a great session? It wasn't the solution that I was expecting, but I couldn't think of a reason he'd refuse. They found out that he was hired by a third party that didn't want to be known, so he truly doesn't know who wants the kingdom to fall...
I say keep it! It sounds like you had a great session, and there are other ways to mess with the players over it. (My group hired him to go cause trouble back where he came from, so I understand entirely.)
You could always:
- Have someone come looking for G_ later. "What happened with the job, G_?"
- Have someone scry on G_ to learn about the PCs (hey, he's known, right?)
- G_ seems to flop around a bit. Someone could come and offer him a good deal of money to betray his new leaders...
But no, I wouldn't punish them for the great RP. Heck, you could even make G_ loyal to them now (they didn't kill him for treason, they gave him a job!). Of course, some people to the west are going to wonder where he got off to and why he never reported in. (Prime target for one of them "assassination attempts"...:)
Tonight, the group put the last three buildings in the Capitol city and got a huge xp boost and are now 6th level. They borrowed from the kingdom to buy a ship and had a dedication ceremony.
First they made an ally out of the Swamp Witch. Then they made it to the candlemere tower and had to run from a will o wisp. Upon realizing that it wasn't the only one, they made a note to come back someday better prepared.
So they made it to the lizardfolk village and immediately tried to make peace. Unfortunately they heard a child screaming because he was upside-down covered in honey and fire ants. They pleaded with the king but he insisted his "god" wants to make the boy suffer. He eventuay took them to the empty hut where the "god" resided, and wouldn't you know it... ANOTHER will o wisp! There was no way to run from this one without completely losing face in front of the lizardfolk, but they weren't shaken or sickened this time. With the exception of a few spells, how is anyone at 6th level supposed to hit an AC 30?? They wouldn't give up and managed a few natural 20's and because it didn't have fast healing this time, they got it down to 12 hp before it fled.
So with new allies in the lizardfolk, we had to stop...
MY GOD are those wisps a pain in the butt!
Yup - my PCs had similar dealings with the will-o-wisps. In fact, they're *still* trying to deal with the ones on Candlemere. They just reached 9th level and the cleric finally has 5th level spells. Unfortunately, being a CN cleric of Gorum, he cannot cast dispel chaos to rid the island of its blight. Perhaps I'll be nice and let dispel evil do the trick.
At level 4, the only way Will-O-Wisps survive contact with my party for more than 2 rounds is if they hide and the PCs fail to guess the square. They do have an inquisitor with true strike, but even without that their AC isn't that hard for the others.
Tangle foot bags are nasty against them. They wiegh enough to cause encumberance and max dex penalties, drastically reducing their AC.
Giving yourself cover from their attacks with Obscuring Mist is a good choice.
Tonight, the group put the last three buildings in the Capitol city and got a huge xp boost and are now 6th level. They borrowed from the kingdom to buy a ship and had a dedication ceremony.
First they made an ally out of the Swamp Witch. Then they made it to the candlemere tower and had to run from a will o wisp. Upon realizing that it wasn't the only one, they made a note to come back someday better prepared.
So they made it to the lizardfolk village and immediately tried to make peace. Unfortunately they heard a child screaming because he was upside-down covered in honey and fire ants. They pleaded with the king but he insisted his "god" wants to make the boy suffer. He eventuay took them to the empty hut where the "god" resided, and wouldn't you know it... ANOTHER will o wisp! There was no way to run from this one without completely losing face in front of the lizardfolk, but they weren't shaken or sickened this time. With the exception of a few spells, how is anyone at 6th level supposed to hit an AC 30?? They wouldn't give up and managed a few natural 20's and because it didn't have fast healing this time, they got it down to 12 hp before it fled.
So with new allies in the lizardfolk, we had to stop...
MY GOD are those wisps a pain in the butt!
Actually, my thought is that will-o-wisps aren't anywhere near as dangerous as they used to be in first and second edition. Given enough buff spells and the right feats, no AC in the world is unhittable at the appropriate level. My group ran into will-o-wisps a couple of times in the first module and got their butts kicked, so avoided them for a while. By 4th level, they could take an individual will-o-wisp (of course there are seven of them and they have pretty good rolled stats) relatively easily. They encountered the lizardman camp with its will-o-wisp (which I made advanced and gave max HP) "god" when they were 5th level and beat the snot out of him without too much difficulty. Candlemere Towere they left until the end of RRR and they were 7th level, and they went in and cleaned house. The key to beating them is spam magic missile spells and buff your fighters to the max. If someone has the Stag Lord's Helmet and can use its special ability, that is an absolute killer against will-o-wisps.
With the exception of a few spells, how is anyone at 6th level supposed to hit an AC 30??
MY GOD are those wisps a pain in the butt!
I accuse you of using out-of-date material. I made the same mistake myself in my game.
Compare:
Pathfinder
vs
3.5
With the exception of a few spells, how is anyone at 6th level supposed to hit an AC 30?
Not trying particularly hard:
Fighter 6, Human.
Base attack +6, Strength +4, Weapon Focus +1, Weapon enhancement +1. That's +12 already.
Throw in Haste, Bull's Strength, Bardic inspiration, you've got yourself a +16 at least. Hitting on a 14 or above for a creature that only has 40 hit points is pretty nice, especially since you only need to hit it about four times.
Not trying particularly hard:Fighter 6, Human.
Base attack +6, Strength +4, Weapon Focus +1, Weapon enhancement +1. That's +12 already.Throw in Haste, Bull's Strength, Bardic inspiration, you've got yourself a +16 at least. Hitting on a 14 or above for a creature that only has 40 hit points is pretty nice, especially since you only need to hit it about four times.
Aid-another, flanking... AC 30 isn't insurmountable.
Plus, as stated above, Willies only have an AC of 26 in Pathfinder. We aren't in 3.5 anymore, bretheren!
The Will O Wisp with the Lizardmen is advanced and has an AC of 30.
The other problem is their party composition. Only 3 players, and there's a Rakasta* Cleric, Eladrin* Wizard/Ranger, and Elf Ranger. No "meat shield" there... However, the Cleric has the Animal domain and has a Sabre-Tooth tiger companion, and the Ranger has a snow leopard. The Wizard/Ranger will eventually have a companion, too. Also there's at least one cohort coming in a few levels. So they'll eventually have more substance to the group, but they suck at hitting things right now.
They still have the Stag Lord's helmet, but it's so ugly, none of them want to use it. I think I might let them reshape it... lol
* This group was originally in a 4E game I did, but it fizzled away because no one liked playing anymore... I converted the Eladrin, Elf, Dragonborn, and Warforged from 4E into PF. The Rakasta were a huge part of my world background, so I brought them back for PF.
Use glitterdust against will-o-wisps, every time. Even if you don't blind them, they're no longer invisible, instead sparkling like a low-hanging disco ball. Besides being an all-around awesome spell, it doesn't allow SR, so it works on wisps when most everything else won't. That plus some resist energy castings to soak up the attacks, and a wisp becomes a speed bump.
Well the Fortress fell easily enough. Rigg rolled a 1 on his save against blindness then tripped over his own feet and the Urgosh wielding dwarf made mincemeat off him.
The Baobhan Sidhe was a lot more difficult..she managed to suggest to the dwarf that he should go away and leave her alone..enthrall two of the others and the cleric of Erastils bowshots were totally ineffectual.in the end it took the parties druid and his tiger 6 rounds to bring her down.. Call lightning and flaming sphere being the most effective tools he had..even then she still managed to bite him..if my dice rolling had been better then I could have had a TPK
The Will O Wisp with the Lizardmen is advanced and has an AC of 30.
Will-o-Wisps are misprinted in the Bestiary. You'll notice they have the Dodge feat, so a Will-o-Wisp should have 27 AC, and an Advanced Will-o-Wisp should have 31.
Anyone else here have the pleasure of dealing with resurrected unicorn councilors, reformed wangering giant wardens, and kobold cities?
Playing right now. They rolled a natural 20 during the diplomacy against Grigori. The next day they swayed him again with another good roll. Long story short, he's our Kingdom's new Councilor. haha
my players did...bad things...to Gregori. After a bard showdown in town square, the players got the crowd riled up and wanting to kill Gregori. he pops invisibility, tries to make a run for it and gets ghoul touched by the necromancer. she also uses invisiblity to haul his paralyzed ass back to the castle for some quality time in her playroom.
after two days of questioning (and several rounds of healing spells) they realize he's not gonna crack. not by conventional means anyways. so they make his end as painful and humilitating as possible and use a couple/few necromatic spells to interrogate his corpse.
so now they know Pitax is messing with him. they're trying to decide what to do about Pitax and just how they can get back at them for mucking with their kingdom.
Anyone else here have the pleasure of dealing with resurrected unicorn councilors, reformed wangering giant wardens, and kobold cities?
Thank god I have seen no Wangering Giants, but if you are having fun with it, does it matter?
If it is a problem, it seems like a situation where you need to say no to your players. How many people want to take advice from a talking horse, Or want a giant they may not trust to lead them? A possible solution would be applying penalties to them so that their exceptional stats are more in line with normal characters.And I have heard of some really amusing characters as leaders. An awakened owlbear general, lots of fae, Chief Sootscale and Mic Mek seem like the most common Royal Assassins (Kobold Cities are fairly common).
The only really wierd NPC for my group is one of the random traders. I initially introduced him as a random encounter when I rolled werewolf at level 1 durring the daytime. Now he is the Warden, and a fine choice. Its not the most public that he is a werewolf, but the PCs and the other leaders know.
Anyone else here have the pleasure of dealing with resurrected unicorn councilors, reformed wangering giant wardens, and kobold cities?Thank god I have seen no Wangering Giants, but if you are having fun with it, does it matter?
If it is a problem, it seems like a situation where you need to say no to your players. How many people want to take advice from a talking horse, Or want a giant they may not trust to lead them? A possible solution would be applying penalties to them so that their exceptional stats are more in line with normal characters.And I have heard of some really amusing characters as leaders. An awakened owlbear general, lots of fae, Chief Sootscale and Mic Mek seem like the most common Royal Assassins (Kobold Cities are fairly common).
We have Tyg-Titter-Tut (or as my 3 year old calls her, "Girl Bug") as our Spymaster and Perlivash as our Diplomat. They travel together, usually.
Chief Sootscale is our Royal Assassin.
The Kobolds are part of our society (though occasionally cause friction). We also have Rakasta (part of my campaign), Dragonborn, and a large band of Warforged. They made peace with the Lizardmen, and are in talks to help them make their own city.
My players are having a blast, and so am I. I love stuff like this...
Right now my players are trying to urge Chief Sootscale to merge his community with their own, as well as a faerie dragon (not Perlivash).
I have a short, and perhaps silly question. I remember reading somewhere that completing quests should award the players with XP. So far it kind of slipped my mind, so the PC:s are actually a bit low in level at the moment. We just started Rivers Run Red and they're around level 3 (some are level 4).
Anyway, do completing quests in Rivers Run Red award XP? and if so - how many?
(I did a search on the messagaeboards but couldn't find the answer to my question. My apologies if it has been up before)
I have a short, and perhaps silly question. I remember reading somewhere that completing quests should award the players with XP. So far it kind of slipped my mind, so the PC:s are actually a bit low in level at the moment. We just started Rivers Run Red and they're around level 3 (some are level 4).
Anyway, do completing quests in Rivers Run Red award XP? and if so - how many?
(I did a search on the messagaeboards but couldn't find the answer to my question. My apologies if it has been up before)
Each book offers XP for quests. Towards the beginning of the book, there's a small section regarding quests, right around the "Exploring the Greenbelt" section, I believe. I'm away from my books now, so can't give a page #. Be aware that each book gives different XP for quests, in a progression. RRR is, if I remember correctly, 1600 per quest (or 400 per PC).
Cheers,
ChrisO
I have a short, and perhaps silly question. I remember reading somewhere that completing quests should award the players with XP. So far it kind of slipped my mind, so the PC:s are actually a bit low in level at the moment. We just started Rivers Run Red and they're around level 3 (some are level 4).
Anyway, do completing quests in Rivers Run Red award XP? and if so - how many?
(I did a search on the messagaeboards but couldn't find the answer to my question. My apologies if it has been up before)
Each book offers XP for quests. Towards the beginning of the book, there's a small section regarding quests, right around the "Exploring the Greenbelt" section, I believe. I'm away from my books now, so can't give a page #. Be aware that each book gives different XP for quests, in a progression. RRR is, if I remember correctly, 1600 per quest (or 400 per PC).
Cheers,
ChrisO
Thank you very much! I just found the section about quest rewards and feel somewhat silly :)
And I have heard of some really amusing characters as leaders. An awakened owlbear general, lots of fae, Chief Sootscale and Mic Mek seem like the most common Royal Assassins (Kobold Cities are fairly common).
We recruited the Kobold Nakpik (though they like to call him nitwit). He is our Royal Assassin though his grasp on subtlty is a bit lacking. They had warned him he needed to be subtle and stay out of the public eye. They had a town meeting to announce the death of the Baron, the Magister and the High Priest and he strode into a full room of townies with an extravagant outfit on that included a brightly plumed hat and a horn to announce his arrival. Our Warden (elven ranger-rogue) pulled him aside and threatened him with bodily harm the next time he doesnt take his role seriously.
Now Nakpik is the cooks help at the Lion's Rest Inn while he continues his duties as our Royal Assassin.
The funny thing is Nakpik is quite intelligent (I randomly re-rolled his stats) and is "playing the fool" on purpose though the party hasnt picked up on it yet because his bluff rolls have been so good.
I'm not sure but maybe my players are just extra lucky, I DM for a party of 6, paladin of Erastil, druid of Erastil, rogue, bard, sorceress and a ranger, they are NOW at level 5, but at level 3 they took on a W-o-W and destroyed him...and at half strength as neither the ranger nor the sorceress were around.
Yeah, fine, I admit I had some poor rolls, and they had some great rolls, but still, the whole thing was over in about 2 rounds, the thing came out and decided it would be a good idea to hit the paladin, the druid came first on initiative and he cast entangle, followed by the paladin, this is that player's first time with fantasy rpg, but he saw a floating skull, said evil, and smote it, critical hit no less. The bard went for a song and the rogue managed to get around the W-o-W and hit him twice, with backstab.
When the W-o-W had his turn what did it do? turned invisible and ran off.
Now I get it, rolling a 1 for his initiative was bad news, especially when everybody else got good rolls, and the crit on a smite was even worse news, and let's not forget the 2 backstabs...BUT, what I mean to say is it was a lot easier than I'd expected...
Just send them some trolls - I was lucky to get four as a random encounter. Being kind, I set three trolls up having an argument about the recent kill of an elk and the trolls didn't notice them. So the PCs backed away only to be surprised by the fourth troll charging into their midst.
A lucky bite, two claws and the rend attack later and the paladin was down to 2 hp. Seeing him being reduced from full health to barely alive made the group actually go quiet really fast (the paladin in my group is the front line and power house).
Made them a lot humbler and me a smirking GM.
Ruyan.
Just send them some trolls - I was lucky to get four as a random encounter. Being kind, I set three trolls up having an argument about the recent kill of an elk and the trolls didn't notice them. So the PCs backed away only to be surprised by the fourth troll charging into their midst.
A lucky bite, two claws and the rend attack later and the paladin was down to 2 hp. Seeing him being reduced from full health to barely alive made the group actually go quiet really fast (the paladin in my group is the front line and power house).Made them a lot humbler and me a smirking GM.
Ruyan.
My party fighter charged the 2 headed troll. Troll returned fire, bite-bite-claw-claw-rend, str damage took out the fighter (who rolled poorly on most of his HP rolls). I think they finally realize that this is real, and not just a cakewalk (which it kind of has been so far).
So far I only managed to make them run away once, they were level 1, and met 4 trolls an early summer morning, they jumped their horses and ran for dear life, the trolls tried to follow, but, as you know, they don't move so fast.
The next time they met some troll (3 of them this time), they set up a perfect ambush, 2 trolls never even made it out of the Entangle spell the druid had cast, and the one who did barelly made it to the Paladin only hit him once, it hurt but not tha badly(they had set a field of bear traps, and the troll hit almost all on it's way) that troll wasn't long for this life.
*sigh* I need some better dice....
My players are soon to face the evil fey in the ruins, you know; the quickling Rigg Gargadilly.
As I understand it, I should really try to make use of his sneak attack ability, but if I understand it correctly he will not be able to use it unless he gets a suprise attack. If he moves away, and becomes invisible, that invisibility will fade if he runs in and makes another attack, since it's only active when he is standing still.
So, in round one I will probably be able to pull off a sneak attack, but for the rest of the fight he will only be able to make hits on the run, with his normal damage (which isn't that impressive).
How did you guys play this encounter?
Just check
the KM forum with the search function.
Also note:
Rigg's stat block:
Looks like a "1" got left out there. His attack should be +16 (+4 Base Attack, +9 Dex, +1 Weapon Focus, +1 magic, and +1 size bonus [Small]).
Ruyan
|
I have a question about the map. There are several hexes along the Western, Eastern. and southern borders that are like 99% on the map, in fact it looks like all they are missing are the black line borders. Are those explorable and able to be annexed? I ask because the rules say you can only explore hexes fully on the map.
I have a question about the map. There are several hexes along the Western, Eastern. and southern borders that are like 99% on the map, in fact it looks like all they are missing are the black line borders. Are those explorable and able to be annexed? I ask because the rules say you can only explore hexes fully on the map.
I think it's put there as a precaution so you don't "claim" another nation's land without knowing it. E.g. the three, four lower left hexes in the Greenbelt are within Mivon's borders if you overlap the Kingmaker maps with the Inner Sea Guide maps.
I wouldn't stop my players from annexing a hex because the rules said only full hexes are "legal" though. (In fact I have expanded the hexes to cover all of Pitax, Mivon and a good southern portion of Brevoy in case my players wanted to go off grid.)
I have a question about the map. There are several hexes along the Western, Eastern. and southern borders that are like 99% on the map, in fact it looks like all they are missing are the black line borders. Are those explorable and able to be annexed? I ask because the rules say you can only explore hexes fully on the map.I think it's put there as a precaution so you don't "claim" another nation's land without knowing it. E.g. the three, four lower left hexes in the Greenbelt are within Mivon's borders if you overlap the Kingmaker maps with the Inner Sea Guide maps.
I wouldn't stop my players from annexing a hex because the rules said only full hexes are "legal" though. (In fact I have expanded the hexes to cover all of Pitax, Mivon and a good southern portion of Brevoy in case my players wanted to go off grid.)
I agree that there is nothing "magical" about these hexes, and if the PCs want to go there, you should let them. Note, however, that Brevoy, Mivon and Pitax already have somewhat defined borders, and Baron Varn and Baron Drelev also have charters for exploration and settlement to the east and west, respectively. Encroachment on these existing claims will be met with concern by neighbors. In my game, we roleplayed out some fairly involved diplomacy to set borders and limits on exploration and settlement. Certainly once the players' Barony is established and begins expanding, the neighbors are going to want to establish some kind of agreement. If the PCs don't want to negotiate or are rude and aggressive, various neighbors may also decide that "aggressive negotiations" are called for, and launch a border war.
Rigg was a tough fight for my players.
First off -- my players have access to post-Kingmaker resources, and so, I rebuild NPCs so they do too. Rigg used the Bestiary 2 statblock with upgraded NPC antagonist stats, and I think a level of Fighter instead of one of those Rogue levels, so he could qualify for Dervish Dance from Inner Sea World Guide.
Rigg started out invisible, throwing a knife at one of the players and scoring max Sneak Attack damage, then moved out of sight (Stealth check, insane bonuses). The trouble was, Rigg has an insane Speed, which gives him insane Acrobatics, so he mostly hopped around making jump DCs without a roll and ignoring the Difficult Terrain. The Druid didn't care, but our mounted charger did.
From there, his routine was to Spring Attack in, slash a player (big damage thanks to Dervish Dance) then Spring Attack out, using the central room's walls as cover so he could Stealth again. This would probably have been a fatal strategy if the Wizard didn't Glitterdust him to deny all those +2d6 Sneak Attacks.
From there, he mostly darted in and out, chiefly avoiding the TWF Fighter because he was the only one with a Silver Weapon. The rest of them hardly ever hit him, and when they did, the DR reduced it to a near-pittance; meanwhile, he was dealing about what the Cleric could cure with each strike, except that he wasn't going to run out of stabs.
If I could have done the fight over, I would have had all three poison doses applied to his scimitar instead of just the one; I'd forgotten you can have multiples at a time. Still, with a party heavy on full spellcasting and damage optimization, it was nice to get in one good fight before it got shut down with a ridiculous initiative and save-or-lose spell.
Rigg was a tough fight for my players.
I was really looking forward to Rigg, but in the end he didn't pan out. It was a long, but boring fight. No one in the party had a good way of dealing with his stealth, (the inquisitor had ~25% chance to spot him, everyone else needed him to roll bad), and they didn't have a decent way of making him visible. Despite this, he was never a threat. Even flat footed, he has difficulty hitting my player's ACs, and then his damage is piddly, and was overcome by clw.
The fight took too long, with the players getting frustrated but fully healthy and just down a few 1st level spells. Alchemist fire ended up being his bane, getting crit by it by an alchemist and unable to hide with the burning, he was forced to stay still for a round (but not invisible) in order to not drop, which let the players hit him hard and drop him.
Even flat footed, he has difficulty hitting my player's ACs, and then his damage is piddly, and was overcome by clw.
Did you remember the errata to his attack bonus? I have difficulty seeing how +14 (if I remember correctly) is going to have difficulty hitting most PCs of that level flat-footed, unless they have some awesome ACs for their level. Will it hit everybody every time? No. Should it hit more often than not? Yes.
I agree that without sneak attack damage and poison, he can't outdamage what a dedicated healbot can repair each round. Which is why, being pretty smart, he would likely prioritize the cleric as a target.
In the end, though, I think this combat is designed to be more frustrating than deadly for the PCs. It is also designed to use up some resources before the much more potentially deadly encounter with the Stripper from Hell, as my players named her. If your players come out of it hating the quickling with a passion, and with a bunch of spells, cold iron arrows and other such things expended. The encounter has done its job.
Even flat footed, he has difficulty hitting my player's ACs, and then his damage is piddly, and was overcome by clw.
Did you remember the errata to his attack bonus? I have difficulty seeing how +14 (if I remember correctly) is going to have difficulty hitting most PCs of that level flat-footed, unless they have some awesome ACs for their level. Will it hit everybody every time? No. Should it hit more often than not? Yes.
I agree that without sneak attack damage and poison, he can't outdamage what a dedicated healbot can repair each round. Which is why, being pretty smart, he would likely prioritize the cleric as a target.
In the end, though, I think this combat is designed to be more frustrating than deadly for the PCs. It is also designed to use up some resources before the much more potentially deadly encounter with the Stripper from Hell, as my players named her. If your players come out of it hating the quickling with a passion, and with a bunch of spells, cold iron arrows and other such things expended. The encounter has done its job.
Yeah, I corrected the stat line. He still has issues hitting ACs in the mid 20s, especially once debuffs start. 2 failed will saves and he was sitting at -4 to hit, saves, and skill checks and -2AC.
The Dancing Lady could have been an issue, but only 1 PC failed his save (and obscuring mist stopped him from being affected). She really needs improved grapple or grab. They were afraid the 1 round she did 4 con damage to the only front line guy though.
Even flat footed, he has difficulty hitting my player's ACs, and then his damage is piddly, and was overcome by clw.
Did you remember the errata to his attack bonus? I have difficulty seeing how +14 (if I remember correctly) is going to have difficulty hitting most PCs of that level flat-footed, unless they have some awesome ACs for their level. Will it hit everybody every time? No. Should it hit more often than not? Yes.
I agree that without sneak attack damage and poison, he can't outdamage what a dedicated healbot can repair each round. Which is why, being pretty smart, he would likely prioritize the cleric as a target.
In the end, though, I think this combat is designed to be more frustrating than deadly for the PCs. It is also designed to use up some resources before the much more potentially deadly encounter with the Stripper from Hell, as my players named her. If your players come out of it hating the quickling with a passion, and with a bunch of spells, cold iron arrows and other such things expended. The encounter has done its job.
Yeah, I corrected the stat line. He still has issues hitting ACs in the mid 20s, especially once debuffs start. 2 failed will saves and he was sitting at -4 to hit, saves, and skill checks and -2AC.
The Dancing Lady could have been an issue, but only 1 PC failed his save (and obscuring mist stopped him from being affected). She really needs improved grapple or grab. They were afraid the 1 round she did 4 con damage to the only front line guy though.
Flat-footed ACs in the mid-20s are pretty impressive at that level, unless you are atalking about after buffs. My group would have only had one character (out of seven) who could boast that when they had the encounter. I also beefed Rigg up by giving him a couple of more rogue levels to compensate for the seven characters.
How did they hit him with the spells? Normally you need a trarget, and with spring attack, his speed and the terrain, he was usually able to hit and get out of sight each round he attacked. Then going invisible and waiting for the chance to get a sneak attack again. So only those who were holding action to get him had a shot at him. Eventually, they nailed him with a lucky crit and drove him off (minus his sword and a couple of fingers on his sword hand). My group was never really in any danger of "losing" to him, but they weren't able to do much to him either until that lucky crit.
Flat-footed ACs in the mid-20s are pretty impressive at that level, unless you are atalking about after buffs. My group would have only had one character (out of seven) who could boast that when they had the encounter. I also beefed Rigg up by giving him a couple of more rogue levels to compensate for the seven characters.
How did they hit him with the spells? Normally you need a trarget, and with spring attack, his speed and the terrain, he was usually able to hit and get out of sight each round he attacked. Then going invisible and waiting for the chance to get a sneak attack again. So only those who were holding action to get him had a shot at him. Eventually, they nailed him with a lucky crit and drove him off (minus his sword and a couple of fingers on his sword hand). My group was never really in any danger of "losing" to him, but they weren't able to do much to him either until that lucky crit.
Readied action doom, and a 20ft radius AoE that gives -2 to lots of stuff from the Ultimate Magic that I forget the name of. Their flat footed ACs were in the 20s for all but the evocation specialist druid, who was by far the least effective member in the fight (but critical against the dancer)
120 ft movement is all well and good until you realize that he is in difficult terrain and stealthing, for 1/4 movement. His stealth is not good enough to move normal speed without being spotted by the inquisitor, who is sitting on a +17 or so. He was still able to hide most rounds, but every once in a while he was spotted (and on the eventful round he rolled a 1 on stealth within throwing range and got crit with alchemist fire, he was not happy)
Flat-footed ACs in the mid-20s are pretty impressive at that level, unless you are atalking about after buffs. My group would have only had one character (out of seven) who could boast that when they had the encounter. I also beefed Rigg up by giving him a couple of more rogue levels to compensate for the seven characters.
How did they hit him with the spells? Normally you need a trarget, and with spring attack, his speed and the terrain, he was usually able to hit and get out of sight each round he attacked. Then going invisible and waiting for the chance to get a sneak attack again. So only those who were holding action to get him had a shot at him. Eventually, they nailed him with a lucky crit and drove him off (minus his sword and a couple of fingers on his sword hand). My group was never really in any danger of "losing" to him, but they weren't able to do much to him either until that lucky crit.
Readied action doom, and a 20ft radius AoE that gives -2 to lots of stuff from the Ultimate Magic that I forget the name of. Their flat footed ACs were in the 20s for all but the evocation specialist druid, who was by far the least effective member in the fight (but critical against the dancer)
120 ft movement is all well and good until you realize that he is in difficult terrain and stealthing, for 1/4 movement. His stealth is not good enough to move normal speed without being spotted by the inquisitor, who is sitting on a +17 or so. He was still able to hide most rounds, but every once in a while he was spotted (and on the eventful round he rolled a 1 on stealth within throwing range and got crit with alchemist fire, he was not happy)
Sounds like you have a pretty optimized group with good equipment. Tough to make any standard encounters in an AP challenging against that kind of group. If you want challenging you've got to up the difficulty. Adding the advanced template to Rigg or giving him a couple more levels of Rogue or a couple of levels of Fighter probably would have made him a more effective nuisance, which is all he is really meant to be.
My group isn't really optimized but they play very well tactically and there are seven of them so I gave Rigg two more levels of Rogue, which of course upped his Stealth and his sneak attack damage, among other things.
I'd kept his level, stats, what-not the same and given him a ring of freedom of movement, hm 40 grand on a CR6 creature - not very likely. Too bad.
Couldn't he just make insane jumps to move faster than 30 feet while stealthing in difficult terrain?
Also, he only needs to stealth his way towards the party, after attacking he will be visible and getting away fast to get out of sight is at a premium.
Ruyan.
Im not understanding the worth and weight of the owlbears barding. it doesn't add up at all according the the chart for armor for unusual creatures.
studded leather
price: 25gp weight 20 lbs
Huge nonhumananoid armor modifier
pricex8 weightx5
It should be?
Price= (25x8)+ 150 masterwork = 350 GP
weight= 20 lbs X 5 = 100lbs
How was a cost of 250Gp and 150 LBs achieved in the AP?
I'm curious as im upgrading the the owlbear and giving heavier barding and trying to keep track of WBL for the owlbear and pc's as well. So either the chart is incorrect, the AP is incorrect, or i'm missing something...
anyone got a take on this?
Honestly, WBL isn't going to take a major hit from the armor even with as a +1 suit. The treasure for the beast is on the cavern floor.
As long as you don't get TOO crazy with upgrades, the PCs will most likely sell the barding. In which case the PCs will take what they get for it.
(As I don't see finding a buyer for the barding as an easy feat)
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Rigg got off some good shots before he was forced to run for his life. His first hit was a sneak attack crit on the cleric, and I pulled the sever spine card. Cleric took 3d6 Dex dmg and became paralyzed from 0 Dex. The rest of the party chased him and he successfully fled after the Grimstalker and another NPC engaged.
So Rigg is on the loose, as is Dovan. I plan on having a villain NPC round them up and use them against the PCs. They might be leading an assassination squad or worse.
Has anybody mentioned that The Owlbear's Tactics mentions a Rend? It doesn't have a Rend. The base Owlbear doesn't have a Rend either.
For that matter, I recall that Niska's Tactics includes using a domain power she doesn't get for several levels.
What's the point exactly of building several cities? Aside from the one per city buildings(which are really really expensive), I see very little reason(aside from realism) to create more than one city.
And even the cities they can get freely, what point is there to invest any BPs in anything but one city?
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What's the point exactly of building several cities? Aside from the one per city buildings(which are really really expensive), I see very little reason(aside from realism) to create more than one city.
And even the cities they can get freely, what point is there to invest any BPs in anything but one city?
Aside from realism, and aside from the larger one per city buildings, it spreads out your cities. If a war erupts,(hint, hint) then your enemy takes out your one city and your country is crippled save wise. While the loss of one city of many can be dangerous, it will probably not destroy your kingdom.
True, yet I would like there to be other benefits of having additional cities. Realistically cities sprang up in areas of resource, or where land were bountiful. Perhaps flat-out bonuses for raising up cities close to natural resources, as they will be more easily tapped.
I've also put additional restrictions on cities as well, so PCs can get access to some cheap buildings. For example I've put some restrictions on the amount of dumps and other inexpensive but effective stat-raisers they can have, at least in one district. I've also limited them for starting up another district before the first one is filled.
This will let them build additional of these cheap buildings, as well as start off a new district.
Another idea is that you could have a zone of influence, a city being able to influence grids at a distance of X. Grids further away would either not be able to support farmlands/roads and other important structures, thus new cities would be required to spread your nation far and wide. A little like the Civilization PC games, lands not used by cities is just empty land, buffer zones for your cities, and potential fortifications for your military.