Welcome all.
Rebuild yourselves in any way you want. Level 5. Standard gold and level appropriate items (i.e. one each of a level 4, level 5 and level 6 magic item). Mundane equipment for free.
The basic premise is that you have been adventuring for a few years, but have come together possibly fairly recently to start making a real name for yourselves. Some of you may be old friends, others you may only recently have met, but you have chosen to work together.
With that in mind, I'd like to try something - feel free to reject it if you want :D
I've always liked the look of the Guild and Tribal feats in CB, but have never found a spare feat slot to use them in. As a free feat, you may each take one. Take a read and see what you come up with. Very obviously, this will work best if you discuss among yourselves which will be the most useful to you.
You'll be starting off in the walled town of Winterhaven in the Nentir Vale. You are specifically looking for work, but are finding it difficult. People seem a bit edgy about the term "adventurer" - as though they've had a bad experience in the recent past.
Yay! Pasting from previous . . .
Sounding like a mostly new party.
Xabulba is looking at a striker.
Cale might be leaning leader.
Detritus is open.
Davi is open.
Amy hasn't posted yet, but currently has a striker who hasn't seen much play.
Does that sound right?
In a party of six, two healers is nice. At least one defender, of course. Controller is more optional.
Assuming Xabulba and Amy play strikers, I'll look at sticking with Urlag the warlord, then, with some rebuilding. Else, I'd call the second striker role, with a melee ranger.
As far as the bonus feats (Thanks, Rev!) . . .
We certainly don't all have to take the same ones, but we should coordinate some to try to at least take them in pairs.
Guild Feats:
The Thievery, Acrobatics, Streetwise, and Athletics feats get the extra benefit when an ally aids you. So they're mostly useful when both people are trained. The Bluff and Stealth feats both give extras just for allies having the feat (Bluff, "Furtive Signals," looking particularly useful, actually).
Tribal Feats:
The tribal feasts, on the other hand, don't require any action by the ally -- just to be within 10 squares. One possible approach would be to shore up weaknesses in our skill distribution -- e.g., Thievery to give whomever has it the best shot, or Stealth or Perception to give even the untrained a better chance. Of course, Enduring Mountain (adding to healing surges) is useful for anyone.
Thoughts?
Very cool on the extra feat. I personally think the Tribal is more useful because of the all the time bonuses.
I have an idea for a controller and a defender that I have been kicking around, because it looks like those are the two roles most likely to be needed.
The tribal that givse initiative is kind of interesting :)
The CB won’t let me add an extra feat. :(
I don't want to down level Arrika, I'll keep her at 9 in case I need a high level character for something. Pat, I've been wanting to try Runepriest, so why don't you go with the ranger.
Thanks, Amy. Will do -- I almost never play strikers, so this will be fun.
Xabulba, click the little 'house' icon above the "Feat Choice Checklist" (bottom center of the Feats tab) to get an extra slot.
Xabulba is looking at a striker.
Cale=Cleric at least that is what was listed on the prior post
Detritus is open.
Davi is open.
Amy=runepriest
Pat=striker looking at melee ranger
Does that look right so far?
Thanks Pat.
Ok I got Kel as a straight ranger. without the cleric stuff getting in the way I was able to focus more on a Ranger/Theif roll. So for tracking and foraging in the outdoors and dungeons, we should be ok. traps and locks are coverd also.
Kel is also going to be a lot more moble now in the new build.
Rev what is your email again so I can send you the new Kel.
Looks right. Fleshing out:
Xabulba - Kel, Ranger with Thievery - still ranged? (striker)
Pat - Urlag, melee Ranger with spiked chain (striker)
Amy - Runepriest (leader)
Cale - Cleric (leader)
Detritus - ?
Davi - ?
As long as one of the blanks goes to a defender, we should be in good shape. We've got healing and damage output!
Urlag, in his current incarnation, is good (+9 or better) at Acrobatics, Athletics, Dungeoneering, Perception, and Stealth. Not especially good at anything social or intellectual.
If Kel is interested in Grasping Magpies, Urlag would be good enough to fairly reliably aid for +4. Otherwise, Enduring Mountain, Four Winds, Swift Jaguar, or Watchful Owl all sound good.
Spoilered email for anyone who wants to send me their pcs.
Davi gets first choice especially since Kel is a defender. Do you all want a controller after the defender we obviously need, or is another striker good? Just looking for opinions from everyone for the last two slot make up.
Kel is a ranged striker.
I like the tribal feats. Swift Jaguar, Enduring Mountain, Watchful Owl or Courageous Heart would be my choices. (In that order) I suck at Init, Enduring Mountain makes us stronger as a party (better healing), Watchful Owl boosts Perception, and Courageous Heart makes us more fearless. These are also easily explained because we have gotten used to each other over the years and it has strengthened our group dynamic. I think we should all take the same one. To maximize our bonus.
Andrus, my cleric, as far as skills go is good at Perception, Insight, Arcana, Religion, and Heal. He is high Cha (16) and high Wis (19) so he is average on all the other Wis and Cha based skills. (+5 or +6)
Detritus,
Kelgan is the defender, not Kel. Can't imagine how you could mix those two!
My opinion is that either controller or striker would be fine. I'd be the last to deny that controllers have their uses, but striker-heavy parties are a lot of fun, too -- especially in terms of speeding things up in a pbp.
Detritus,
Kelgan is the defender, not Kel. Can't imagine how you could mix those two!
My opinion is that either controller or striker would be fine. I'd be the last to deny that controllers have their uses, but striker-heavy parties are a lot of fun, too -- especially in terms of speeding things up in a pbp.
Forgot there was Kelgan and Kel :)
Detritus meant Kelgan, not Kel. And Kelgan is a defender, so if Davi still wants to play him, he can and then Detritus can choose a controller if he wants. Personally, I like the idea of another defender. My cleric is a non-melee type. He's no pacifist, but he will shoot his lance of faith more often than not.
It's Amy. I'm up, profile ready.
I'd go with the initiatve tribal feat. It would give us all +10 if we all took it
Kith can quasi defender with 22 AC, amazing minor action burst second wind, and plenty of resists. No marking ability, yet, though I may in the future MC into fighter.
Also, one note as people build: I took the Rousing Warhammer for my weapon. Whenever I attack, all allies I can see can stand up as a free action, so prone is a negligable worry for us.
Rosey: I'll be sending the character file your way.
A Female Dwarf *tear*, if we all decide to go with that huge init feat, it would make a controller even more useful for getting the controls in place earlier.
A Female Dwarf *tear*, if we all decide to go with that huge init feat, it would make a controller even more useful for getting the controls in place earlier.
My first try was shifter, but Rune Priest doesn't have many feats for it, and the shifter feats didn't really seem to work with it. So, I flicked to dwarf and it came together much nicer. At six, I'll either take toughness or MC fighter for marking and be better able to 'off tank' if we need that.
I'm pretty pleased with how she turned out and am eager to see her in play.
By the by, Amy, Swift Jaguar caps at +5 (+2 for the feat and +1 if another person with this feat is within 10 sq- max +5) all of the tribal feats cap at +5. but I can still use an extra +5 for initiative, it is just not as good as you indicated. That brings me to a respectable +7 at level 5.
Here's my cleric- Andrus Blake from the church of Avandra.
"He sees himself as the shepherd of the group and loves being an adventurer. He likes to travel and make positive changes for a better future. He's a upbeat kind of guy, always looking for the good in situations and people. He's not athletic and not agile, but he is very perceptive and insightful. He wasn't the most diligant student around, but he studied well enough to learn the basics of both magic and religion. He prefers learning from experience than from a book."
That's the gist of it. Details are in my profile. (details on powers and magic items are coming) Depending on how the group dynamics are, I can either make him the un-offical leader of the group or the strong right arm of the group leader. He sees his job as keeping the group safe and together. If no one else is going to be the one who takes the lead, I can do this. I sort of did that with Hobbes. But Andrus is not a brash and outspoken sorcerer. He is a healer. So if you want to be the one who takes the lead, who speaks for the group when needed, speak up. Otherwise I will have to, as I hate it when nobody does.
(Ignore the smug expression, I couldn't find a better avatar)
Amy, I had a build very much like that when I was looking at replacing Urlag entirely! Rousing Warhammer and all.
Urlag-the-ranger's initiative is already +10, so Swift Jaguar would get him up to <i>fast</i>. I'll wait for Xabulba to chime back in if he thinks he'd want to go the Grasping Magpies route (just for the two of us); otherwise I'll add Swift Jaguar.
And yes, Detritus, getting an extra +5 on init (even if Kel and Urlag don't participate) is pretty nice for a controller. Get those minions while they're still clumped!
Assuming they ever are clumped ...
You really don't have to remind me of that, Rev! But thank you . . .
Profile updated, save for free feat.
@Pat I was going to go with the grasping magpies to boost Kel's thievery.
Ok, I'll do the same. I didn't train thievery, but the assist roll will be at +7 (DC12). So 80% chance of +4 vs. 20% chance of -1.
The build mostly jumped out. Not a lot of power choices, after all, for the PH3 classes and after taking so she came together quickly as more of a front line, dish it out, battle healer. Probably toughness at level 6 for a feat, and maybe heavy shield at some point, too.
I have to say I'm a little bouncy, I really want to see if she plays the way I expect she will
A bouncy heavy armored female dwarf, why do I keep thinking of a female version of Pwent from the Dark Elf books.
Davi gets first choice especially since Kel is a defender. Do you all want a controller after the defender we obviously need, or is another striker good? Just looking for opinions from everyone for the last two slot make up.
You're the new guy, choose whatever you want. I got plenty of defenders and controllers sitting around, so I can deal with whatever you choose.
I will go with the only way to end a tie in my head the good old fashioned way.
1=swordmage, 2=warden, 3=wizard
Warden it is :)
I will go with the only way to end a tie in my head the good old fashioned way.
1=swordmage, 2=warden, 3=wizard
1d3Warden it is :)
Wardens rock.
I have played a wizard and love them, but I have been dying to play both of the other two. So I am quite happy with the roll fate has given.
Wardens rock.I will go with the only way to end a tie in my head the good old fashioned way.
1=swordmage, 2=warden, 3=wizard
1d3Warden it is :)
Yes, yes they do. So, I'll be back soon with a Wizard. (So many races with bonuses to Intelligence...)
Wardens. Unkillable tanks. Blast them. I cannot kill Amy's warden and I've been trying for over two years.
So Amy and I and Davi and Detritus are all taking the Swift Jaguar feat, yes? And Pat and Xabulba are taking the guild feat grasping magpies to boost Kel's thievery, yes?
Only if all four of us take that feat do we get the full +5 to initative. Otherwise, it is less.
So Amy and I and Davi and Detritus are all taking the Swift Jaguar feat, yes? And Pat and Xabulba are taking the guild feat grasping magpies to boost Kel's thievery, yes?
Only if all four of us take that feat do we get the full +5 to initative. Otherwise, it is less.
Yes I will be taking it.
Wardens. Unkillable tanks. Blast them. I cannot kill Amy's warden and I've been trying for over two years.
Offer some special goodies to the rest of the group and we could help. ;)
One Tiefling illusionist coming soon.
Also, you know how many good male Tiefling avatars there are in on this site that aren't laughing devils, or at least more infernal than I'd like? None. Hence Violet McEffeminate here.
I'll also take swift jaguar.
As for warden's being unkillable, Whiteclaw only got her burst healing move at 9, we've just always had great healing in that group. And, I thought Whiteclaw was gonna buy it a couple times :)
Between them, Reason the super-tiefling and Kia the girl-scout can heal the entire party without breaking a sweat. I need to do something about that at some point.
Actually, it's not just male tieflings. Most of the non-elf/eladrin male avatars are pretty... well, sucky. They are all grim and ugly or old. The ones I like are either women or elves. But I didn't want to play an elf cleric. less skills, less int (because you build with the racial bonus, not against it), and less feats. And I wanted both greater divine fortune (to make that use of channel divinity actually useful) and power of luck (to make lance of faith more critical) and the skill power for faith healing. I juggled the elf stuff and couldn't make it work. I was going to be more woodsy and be a nature cleric, but the cleric powers do not lend themselves to that theme. (everything is radiant this and that) I guess it would be cool to be an archer cleric (to harken back to the old days of 3.0), but there is like one or two ranged weapon clerical powers. Lame.
Basically, I can commiserate with you, Davi. I'll pretend that purple tiefling girl is a studly tiefling guy. And never call you "darling". :)
So, we have the following:
Andrus Blake - the happy human cleric (Cale)
Urlag - the arrow slamming half-orc ranger (Pat)
Kel - the sweetly amoral elf ranger (Xabulba)
Kitherra Darkforge - the bouncy dwarven runepriest (Amy)
Zareth Edremont - the delicately hued teifling illusionist (Davi)
Thumpy McTankbot - the yet to be revealed unkillable warden (detritus)
Looking good to me. I'll get you up and running some time tomorrow if everyone is good with that.
I'm using a souped-up dungeon adventure to get us started and we'll see where we go from there.
Between them, Reason the super-tiefling and Kia the girl-scout can heal the entire party without breaking a sweat. I need to do something about that at some point.
Waves. Waves of opponents. Start with minions. LOTS of minions. like 20 or 30 of them. Then move up a ranged controller with a couple of brutes for protection. Or a row of archers with 3 or foot soldiers to block for them. Then another wave of minions. Then a solo or something.
How are they at moving through difficult terrain? I remember a giant spider/ettercap encounter you pulled on us in Spellguard that was almost impossible. And it all had to do with difficult terrain. Ettercap webspinner and giant spiders and even a phase spider, I think. It was worse than that vampire with the cool personality.
They don't have many weaknesses, but the main point about the Rune Stones crew is that they've been together a very long time indeed (from level 3 for all the current group and they're now rapidly approaching paragon). That makes them extremely efficient as a party with a lot of well synergised powers.
Mini-onions are wonderful at the table, but I made the mistake of running some minion-summoners for the Tomb of Horrors test drive we did last month. Two separate groups with the same encounter and the same map. Each group confronting monsters capable of summoning up to five minions a round. Which they dutifully did. At one point, I was rolling for 40 minions and the updates made my brain burn.
Urlag - the arrow slamming half-orc ranger (Pat)
Chain slamming, thank you!
I was thinking chain. My fingers just got it wrong :)
Zareth Edremont - the delicately hued teifling illusionist (Davi)
"At least get the name right."
Vaguely in-character bits aside, I've just about finished filling out my sheet. I love those diabolic summons from Dragon from both a crunch and fluff standpoint, but dear lord I hate typing them out onto my sheet.