The second thing is to increase the caravans offensive ability. now the rules say that for every ballista that is added to the caravan it gains a +1 to its attack roll, I assume to a max of +5. How ever although ballista are more advanced then bows they are still nothing compared to the technological advancement represented by black powder weapons. Besides Shalelu would never let Tollin live it down if he put something on the wagons that resembled a bow, even if only a little. So I want to make swivel guns that can be mounted on the wagons. A swivel gun is basically a very small cannon that was mounted on a swivel that was then attached to the railings of ships for anti-personal combat. I don't see why one or more could not be mounted on the caravan's wagons. There are however no rules for swivel guns in the books.
I'm not asking for anything different from what a Ballista would do for the caravan. I simply wish to have the exact same thing done with a black powder weapon. Its just cooler :)
Please let me know what you think of these ideas.
Ok, who told the GM he was allowed to sleep?
Tollin:
1) Unless I have misread the rules, cooks and Efficient Consumption cannot bring a Caravan's consumption below that minimum level, but scouts and spellcasters can.
2) The price of Enhanced Undercarriages cannot be reduced by building them yourself. Caravan rules are separate from the regular skill and equipment rules (I am also, for example, not allowing people to buy wood and canvas and use it as "repair materials".) However, as a roleplaying endeavor, you could certainly build Enhanced Undercarriages for the same cost as it would have taken to purchase them. As a wainwright, you already have the skill necessary for this.
3) There are rules for Siege weapons. I will look them up and get back to you on that.
Ok that sounds fine for the enhanced undercarriages. as for the black powder weapons for the wagons like i said nothing special, just going for flavor.
does anyone know if you can do a ranged disarm, even if it takes a feat?
The only way I can think of off the top of my head is the archer fighter archetype. I did a quick feat search, and no go. Will look more closely tomorrow, k?
As a gunslinger, you will effectively get a ranged disarm ability at 7th level (Targeting deed, arms).
...targeting deed...that is a true fact.
** spoiler omitted **
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Mechanically, I liked that it gave several new formulae at each level, rather than clustering low and heavily duplicating what he already had. Since I can't guarantee that we'd ever get such a "perfect" gift again, and Hrithik may never see another spellbook or formulary as treasure, and the "buy scrolls in town" method is slow and expensive, I was going for "have a good variety from "go" at each new formula level". Since I didn't figure I could go for 20k+ tomes, and it came in around the price point of ring of sustenance (the "boring" leader at that point), it stood out among those parameters, and flavor text put it over the top.
That said, you can apply flavor text to anything you give, and I'd be pleased as punch with any history-book-cum-formulary that doesn't waste tons of space duplicating a dozen formulae Hrithik already paid good money for. Go crazy.
(if price is an issue ... as in "that is worth too much" ... you can always shave formulae out of the book to drop the price, or just whip up a spell list of "eerie perfection" of your own. Spellbooks are handy that way - it's just like a bunch of scrolls that can't be used as scrolls, with massive amounts of flavor tacked on. If you were custom-listing, having all 6 of the attribute boosters at 2nd formula level would be nice.)
I don't think there are a lot of flexed conversations still ongoing right now, but just in case --
I will probably reset Flex Time every time a castle level is fully explored and you go on to the next one.
Once the current fight is over, you will probably explore the rest of the ground floor level in pretty short order, so if there is anything outstanding, you might want to consider beginning to wrap it up.
Internet at my father's is... spotty to put it mildly. I'll try to post when I can.
::sticks tongue out at Tollin::
hmpf.
Note -- as speech is not an Action, stunned characters can still talk. This would also apply to nauseated characters, etc., but I suppose not unconscious or paralyzed ones.
Random note: Today was a good day.
Tollin, I've been looking at the rules for Vehicular Mounted Black Powder weapons, and your idea as it currently stands isn't going to be possible ... the main reason is that the rules specifically state that a Light Ballista is the ONLY weapon that can be mounted on a caravan wagon; all heavier mechanical weapons and all black powder weapons aren't allowed.
Beyond that, every vehicular-mounted black power weapon requires a crew of at least 2 to operate, and at present you're the only person in the group who has the slightest idea how to operate one.
As an alternative to a vehicular-mounted weapon, one possibility might be having Tollin at some point build one of the larger one-person non-siege weapons that requires a bit of set-up for a stand or little two-wheeled carriage to fire without the person firing falling over, such as a Double Hackbut or a Culverin. If you set one of those up nightly, it would not specifically add mechanically to the Caravan's defense, but I would take into account its effect when the Caravan is attacked, as I do with the Caltrops Myriana spreads out nightly around the camp. And of course, like the Caltrops, you could still in theory use them as weapons in non-Caravan combat if an appropriate situation even comes up.
(Oh, they did tell Tollin about the Caltrops, right?)
(Oh, they did tell Tollin about the Caltrops, right?)
If not, I'm sure he's had a chance to learn about them first-hand. Or first-foot.
just wait till Lio gets glyph of warding, and then explosive runes... muhahahaha! also, need to get more parchment and ink... :)
just wait till Lio gets glyph of warding, and then explosive runes... muhahahaha! also, need to get more parchment and ink... :)
Dear Load. She's going to turn into our very own Varsuvius.
Dear Load. She's going to turn into our very own Varsuvius.
Sure glad I'm not the halfling in the party.
Sure glad I'm not the halfling in the party.
I think I'll be fine as long as I stay away from being Chaotic Evil, and don't take any levels in Ranger or Barbarian.
I think I'll be fine as long as I stay away from being Chaotic Evil, and don't take any levels in Ranger or Barbarian.
You have the animal companion. (Granted wolf not cat...)
So I shouldn't expect Tollin to start fireproofing a wagon and building a chimney so that Rhost can slave over a cookfire all day? Or maybe just a little brazier on wheels that's pulled along by the last wagon in the caravan....
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just wait till Lio gets glyph of warding, and then explosive runes... muhahahaha! also, need to get more parchment and ink... :)Dear Load. She's going to turn into our very own Varsuvius.
Right next to all of Myriana's caltrops will be little notes on shiny paper. People picking up those sheets of paper will see some beautiful elven calligraphy in Liothonae's hand:
i prepared explosive runes this morning
My guess would be Thassilion actually.
Or evil shapeshifter of doom....
From sweet vacation's rest I come
to play the game once more,
to wear the guise of fighter dumb
and wade into the gore.
My friends on stage, they do converse
to my great obfuscation,
in matchèd rhyme and measured verse!
A curious situation.
But Hrunndalf knows of lyric lore
a precious tiny little,
he mostly tends to shout and roar
and spray around the spittle.
Useful enhancements would be Shock, Frost, etc. While Frost seems most fitting for a Northerner, it would actually be useless against cold-resistant monsters one might find in the North, so I'd probably prefer Shock.
Or evil shapeshifter of doom....
Quick! See if he knows the password!
the Lio does not rhyme... nor talk much during combat.
and although i have written more bad poetry and prose that i care to remember (being a literature major will do that to you), i do not think i have ever managed to write anything that even remotely rhymes.
and back to the glyphs and runes... i'm gonna need so much powdered diamond and gold...
...although going off Lio's back story, the pretty calligraphy would be in Thasselonian ;)
From sweet vacation's rest I come
to play the game once more,
to wear the guise of fighter dumb
and wade into the gore.My friends on stage, they do converse
to my great obfuscation,
in matchèd rhyme and measured verse!
A curious situation.But Hrunndalf knows of lyric lore
a precious tiny little,
he mostly tends to shout and roar
and spray around the spittle.
=hero
Dear Load. She's going to turn into our very own Varsuvius.
i don't know about that.. Lio's int isn't nearly that high, she doesn't have a familiar, and she's definitely a she. :P
I think, in terms of total damage dealt and total risk to the party, Nevakali here may be the toughest foe you guys have yet faced.
Looking at the map, however, I would not offer good odds on her long-term survival right now.
Note -- it has been pointed out to me that Readying an action now changes your initiative. If you wait to disrupt a spell, for example, your initiative changes to that "spell disrupting moment" on all subsequent rounds. You do not have to declare a "ready" on each round after the first. I will handle it that way from this point on.
(One obvious and interesting effect is that in the rounds following a first readied action, it is now possible to take full-round action attacks to disrupt spellcasting, previously not really possible under the rules.)
Spellcaster with area of effect spells that remove people from combat rounds? Nah, I can't see how that would rack up the damage count. :)
Makes us very happy for the burst healing of Pathfinder clerics.
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I think, in terms of total damage dealt and total risk to the party, Nevakali here may be the toughest foe you guys have yet faced.
Looking at the map, however, I would not offer good odds on her long-term survival right now.
Especially since after a 5' step West on Hrithik's part, everyone in melee with her on her south side is going to flank her.
I'd offer, however, that the Whatever It Is able to cast freaking dimension door is the toughest foe we've faced ... we're just lucky it was too crazy to gang up on us with simultaneous area blasts or attack any of us while we were stunned. Quick train to TPK if it did.
To paraphrase the AP:
"Although [the Whatever It Is able to cast freaking dimension door] and the four [things on the stage, all attacking together would normally] constitute a CR [oh dear god that's high] encounter, [the fact that the Whatever It Is able to cast freaking dimension door is also freaking insane is] a significant advantage for the PCs."
Tollin, I've been looking at the rules for Vehicular Mounted Black Powder weapons, and your idea as it currently stands isn't going to be possible ... the main reason is that the rules specifically state that a Light Ballista is the ONLY weapon that can be mounted on a caravan wagon; all heavier mechanical weapons and all black powder weapons aren't allowed.
Beyond that, every vehicular-mounted black power weapon requires a crew of at least 2 to operate, and at present you're the only person in the group who has the slightest idea how to operate one.
As an alternative to a vehicular-mounted weapon, one possibility might be having Tollin at some point build one of the larger one-person non-siege weapons that requires a bit of set-up for a stand or little two-wheeled carriage to fire without the person firing falling over, such as a Double Hackbut or a Culverin. If you set one of those up nightly, it would not specifically add mechanically to the Caravan's defense, but I would take into account its effect when the Caravan is attacked, as I do with the Caltrops Myriana spreads out nightly around the camp. And of course, like the Caltrops, you could still in theory use them as weapons in non-Caravan combat if an appropriate situation even comes up.
(Oh, they did tell Tollin about the Caltrops, right?)
No one told Tollin about the caltrops. Its a good thing that he is scared of the woods at night and NEVER leaves the campsite until morning. Oh course that night we had that really spicy dish was quite a trial for poor Tollin.
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Tollin is going to start building, if GM allows enhanced undercarriages for all the wagons in the caravan. probably going to have to increase some skills to do so.
I'd recommend spending the time/money on wagon reinforcements or siege weapons before undercarriages. We don't get any benefit at all from undercarriages until every single wagon has an undercarriage, which could take weeks of work and cost 3000-3500 gp after we bump caravan size (my vote for Caravan Feat also).
By contrast, each wagon that gets reinforcements immediately gains 10 hp, usable right then and there, for 500gp of work. Likewise with the combat bonus from ballistas. Tollin could work his way through the caravan at whatever pace he wanted, but we'd get benefits as he went, rather than in a big lump delayed to the end.
(Also, it will be easier to scrape up 3 or 4 thousand gold pieces to do all the undercarriages at once in a few levels than it is now. :-) )
Man in the Back said Everyone Attack! and it Turned into a Bigbird Blitz!:
No! Not Big Bird! What would Snuffleupagus say?
I was going to explain to Kalimac that Snuffleupagus does not actually exist, but apparently that has not been true since 1985.
Tollin is going to start building, if GM allows enhanced undercarriages for all the wagons in the caravan. probably going to have to increase some skills to do so.I'd recommend spending the time/money on wagon reinforcements or siege weapons before undercarriages. We don't get any benefit at all from undercarriages until every single wagon has an undercarriage, which could take weeks of work and cost 3000-3500 gp after we bump caravan size (my vote for Caravan Feat also).
By contrast, each wagon that gets reinforcements immediately gains 10 hp, usable right then and there, for 500gp of work. Likewise with the combat bonus from ballistas. Tollin could work his way through the caravan at whatever pace he wanted, but we'd get benefits as he went, rather than in a big lump delayed to the end.
(Also, it will be easier to scrape up 3 or 4 thousand gold pieces to do all the undercarriages at once in a few levels than it is now. :-) )
I would be fine with reinforcing the carriages now instead of building the enhanced undercarriages. Tollin wold not be involved the ballistas, that is a primitive technology :p
I would be fine with reinforcing the carriages now instead of building the enhanced undercarriages. Tollin wold not be involved the ballistas, that is a primitive technology :p
The Technic League in Numeria has robot warriors right now, primitive black-powder gunman!
(All right, admittedly they don't know what they ARE, or how to BUILD them, or how to completely CONTROL them, but they do HAVE them.)
Note -- it has been pointed out to me that Readying an action now changes your initiative. If you wait to disrupt a spell, for example, your initiative changes to that "spell disrupting moment" on all subsequent rounds. You do not have to declare a "ready" on each round after the first. I will handle it that way from this point on.
(One obvious and interesting effect is that in the rounds following a first readied action, it is now possible to take full-round action attacks to disrupt spellcasting, previously not really possible under the rules.)
I wouldn't interpret it that way. A full attack takes time, you can't time it as precisely as a single attack. The rules say that your initiative changes to immediately before the creature you interrupted, i.e., in the following rounds, you go first, then the other creature. You don't interrupt their subsequent actions unless you ready again.
I think your interpretation would make feats like Step Up (or just simple cornering) too powerful against a caster.