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I got great rolls for my latest character, str. Of 16 dex. Of 14 con. Of 14 wis. Of 17 int. Of 18 cha. Of 13, I chose human and added my +2 to my int. To bring the total up to 20 We just made 4th level and I added my ability bonus to wis. To make it an even 18. My party desperately needed a tank so I went with first level monk and 2-4 level magus-kensai. This combination makes my AC an amazing 22 naturally (+4 from wis. +2 from dex. +1 from dodge +3 from int. And a +2 from my feats, I took the aldoli dueling sword feat tree) all of that comes before my spells, I can cast shield to bring that total up to a 26 and I just took the magus arcana to allow me to cast mage armor which will take my ac up to a 30. My DM joked tonight that he was going to find a way to deny my dex bonus (have me trapped in a mud puddle ect.) Which would drop my ac from a pr-spell 22 to an ac of a 12. (Id loose my dex. Bonus, my wis. Bonus my dodge bonus and my int. Bonus) what can I do or what item should I try to get to avoid me loosing my dex. Bonus to ac? I can't wear armor, but we are in a good point in the game to head to town. Any help is very much appreciated!
get uncanny dodge somehow. it makes it impossible to lose your dex bonus. two level's shadowdancer would be easiest
You don't lose monk AC from flatfooted unless you are paralyzed, helpless, or otherwise unable to move at all.
So yeah, Freedom of Movement. I'd try to get Mirror Image. That spell gets stupidly broken with a high AC. Add in blur, displacement, or blink for a miss chance on top of your high AC. Get Crane Wing and Deflect Arrows to negate the first melee and ranged attack each round that manages to hit you.
And watch the monsters just ignore you completely because you're an ineffectual turtle that's impossible to harm but can't do much to them, either...
Why is DM picking on you?
I would hazard a guess and say it's the 30 AC. :)
If he's determined to hold you helpless, he probably can. That's the only circumstance in which you'd lose the Wisdom bonus, though. The Dex, Dodge and Int Bonuses are lost when you are flat-footed, so levels in Rogue, Barbarian, Shadowdancer or the like would give Uncanny Dodge. That would prevent being flat-footed. However, keeping you helpless would remove it all anyway.
It sounds like he was joking, so as long as you don't have any huge problems with the guy, I'd say don't worry about it.
Why is DM picking on you?
Because as a DM, it's very frustrating to have characters who try to munchkin defenses and become impossible to challenge, making it an arms race of "I WILL KILL YOU" and "nya nya can't hit me".
In fact it's currently the game I'm in with my DM right now :P
That being said, Mirror Image is another great defense spell (who cares if you lose your dex bonus, he's still only got a % chance to hit you).
If you are okay with further multiclass, I would throw my vote in for shadow dancer too.
Shadowdancer sucks for killing stuff, but it has a lot of defensive value, so I also agree on a 2 level dip. And if 3E material is allowed, Shadowdancer's pre-reqs line up pretty perfectly with this 3E feat:
Trying to land a blow against you can be a maddening experience.
Prerequisite: Dodge, Mobility, base attack bonus +6,
Benefit: The Elusive Target feat enables the use of three tactical maneuvers.
Negate Power Attack: To use this maneuver, you must designate a specific foe to be affected by your Dodge feat. If that foe uses the Power Attack feat against you, the foe gains no bonus on the damage roll but still takes the corresponding penalty on the attack roll.
Diverting Defense: To use this maneuver, you must be flanked and you must designate one of the flanking attackers to be affected by your Dodge feat. The first attack of the round from the designated attacker automatically misses you and may strike the other flanking foe instead; the attacking creature makes an attack roll normally, and its ally is considered flatfooted. If the designated attacker is making a full attack against you, its second and subsequent attacks function normally.
Cause Overreach: To use this maneuver, you must provoke an attack of opportunity from a foe by moving out of a threatened square. If the foe misses you, you can make a free trip attempt against this foe, and the foe does not get a chance to trip you if your attempt fails.
Note: In 3E, dodge was only on one foe at a time (which was terrible). So the cleanest way to convert this to PF is "choose one foe on your turn as a free action" instead of "the creature you're dodging." Unless your DM is ok with the negate power attack and diverting defense tactics applying to all foes you're dodging (any you're not FF against, basically). That'd certainly be awesome! :D
Also, check out Osyluth Guile and Combat Panache (conversion note: those skill requirements for Panache would be 5 ranks in PF) for ways to utilize your charisma bonus to AC.
I got great rolls for my latest character, str. Of 16 dex. Of 14 con. Of 14 wis. Of 17 int. Of 18 cha. Of 13, I chose human and added my +2 to my int. To bring the total up to 20 We just made 4th level and I added my ability bonus to wis. To make it an even 18. My party desperately needed a tank so I went with first level monk and 2-4 level magus-kensai. This combination makes my AC an amazing 22 naturally (+4 from wis. +2 from dex. +1 from dodge +3 from int. And a +2 from my feats, I took the aldoli dueling sword feat tree) all of that comes before my spells, I can cast shield to bring that total up to a 26 and I just took the magus arcana to allow me to cast mage armor which will take my ac up to a 30. My DM joked tonight that he was going to find a way to deny my dex bonus (have me trapped in a mud puddle ect.) Which would drop my ac from a pr-spell 22 to an ac of a 12. (Id loose my dex. Bonus, my wis. Bonus my dodge bonus and my int. Bonus) what can I do or what item should I try to get to avoid me loosing my dex. Bonus to ac? I can't wear armor, but we are in a good point in the game to head to town. Any help is very much appreciated!
Not sure if you're interested, but a 2 level dip in Barbarian (or Warblade from 3.5, IIRC) will get you Uncanny Dodge. Once you have uncanny dodge you can total defense all the time for a +4 dodge bonus that's active during the surprise round (effectively making you harder to hit when taken by surprise than otherwise; I call it "spider sense").
A lesser cloak of displacement grants a 20% miss chance pretty much 24/7, which is an extra layer of defense against all incoming attacks, which most every PC should have by higher levels. So while your AC may be poop while you're flat footed, you always have a 20% damage mitigation, and it's a second line of defense against incoming attacks when your AC is good (potentially negating natural 20 attacks as well).
He cannot dip Barbarian.
He cannot dip Barbarian.
Is there a reason he can't? You don't have to be lawful to retain your monk abilities. Unless the Kensai has some sort of weird loss of class features (I really haven't looked at it), there's nothing stopping him from becoming a barbarian and picking up Uncanny Dodge. It'd just be a matter of shifting from lawful to neutral.
Well, he'll nerf the Magus' spells, for one thing.
I recommend trading in the Wisdom and Mage Armor for Elven Chain. You'll keep your Dex and improve Action economy. If you don't like that, there's Ring of Protection, Amulet of Natural Armor, Bracers of Armor (which will also cut down on economy), Winged Fetish for +1 sacred vs ranged (but you need a cleric or Paladin with Channels to spare), and taking a knee or falling prone when ranged stuff is too much.
I get the idea OP is asking for Gear advice, what with the "we're headed to town" and all.
He cannot dip Barbarian.Is there a reason he can't? You don't have to be lawful to retain your monk abilities. Unless the Kensai has some sort of weird loss of class features (I really haven't looked at it), there's nothing stopping him from becoming a barbarian and picking up Uncanny Dodge. It'd just be a matter of shifting from lawful to neutral.
Also, a barbarian needs to be chaotic, yes? Not Neutral. Otherwise won't they give up their class abilities?
Also, a barbarian needs to be chaotic, yes? Not Neutral. Otherwise won't they give up their class abilities?He cannot dip Barbarian.Is there a reason he can't? You don't have to be lawful to retain your monk abilities. Unless the Kensai has some sort of weird loss of class features (I really haven't looked at it), there's nothing stopping him from becoming a barbarian and picking up Uncanny Dodge. It'd just be a matter of shifting from lawful to neutral.
Last I checked it was any non-lawful.
Hmmm...
Yep, any non-lawful. In fact, if all you wanted was uncanny dodge, you could dip 2 levels of barbarian for a quick +2d12 HD, +2 BAB, +3 Fort, fast movement and uncanny dodge, and then become lawful again if desired. The only thing you lose for being a lawful barbarian is rage, and while that is horrible for strait barbarians, on a dip it's not bad if you didn't want rage to begin with.
For a 2 level dip check out the
urban barbarian.
It let you use rage (limited as it may be) without reducing your AC (you can actually improve it by another 2)
Anyway, your AC is clearly gamebreaking for your level, unless you play in a ultra-optimized game.
No rage means no Rage Powers, too. If he's going to dip 2 levels of Barbarian, he might as well give up on Magus. He's already got a head start on Monk; for those same 2 levels he could have evasion (which he probably needs than a 30+ AC), full BAB, the fast movement, and better bonuses to all saves.
But personally, I think if he stuck with Magus for 3 levels, he likes Magus, and should keep at it. Part of keeping at it is probably taking the armor at some point, since his AC isn't leveling like a Monk's. Uncanny schmuncanny; it doesn't sound like he's the tank and he should simply avoid getting flanked.
No rage means no Rage Powers, too. If he's going to dip 2 levels of Barbarian, he might as well give up on Magus. He's already got a head start on Monk; for those same 2 levels he could have evasion (which he probably needs than a 30+ AC), full BAB, the fast movement, and better bonuses to all saves.
But personally, I think if he stuck with Magus for 3 levels, he likes Magus, and should keep at it. Part of keeping at it is probably taking the armor at some point, since his AC isn't leveling like a Monk's. Uncanny schmuncanny; it doesn't sound like he's the tank and he should simply avoid getting flanked.
Normal uncanny dodge is exactly what he's looking for. It prevents you from being caught flat-footed or losing your dexterity modifier to your AC unless immobilized or feinted. Improved Uncanny Dodge is anti-flanking, but with enough AC Improved Uncanny Dodge is a bit pointless since it's trivial to deny sneak attacks on a flank anyway.
I'm not sure how a few more levels of magus is really going to help him with his goal. Especially since his caster levels are already going to be pretty bad, as he's 2/7 HD of caster levels at the moment. Given that magi have stunted spell progression already, he doesn't gain a whole lot from being a Magi, especially since he relies on not wearing armor; making the Magi's armored arcana benefits nil.
He'd arguably be better off with some sort of eldritch knight dip instead. A monk 1 / barbarian 2 / wizard 3 / kensai 4 / eldritch knight 10 would actually probably be quite playable, and read to go as an unarmored tank. You'd have a good BAB, solid touch/flat-footed AC, access to defensive stuff like mirror image and stoneskin, etc.
But now I'm just musing. Goodnight. ^_^
As mentioned above DM is picking on me because of the 30 ac. Its a cat and mouse game we play where I build a nice aspect to a character and he tries to find flaws to it. Just the fact that he mentioned it means "figure out a way around it before next session because that's what im going to do" it is good to know that I don't loose wis. Bonus in a situation like that and freedom of movement might just do the trick. The problem with any armor is im not proficient in it unless I take a level dip, the problem with taking a level dip is I just made 4th level so any 1 or 2 level dips wont help me until further down the line. Its all good advice but I need something sooner than 4 to 5 sessions later. Basically my roll in the party is melee target. I stand in the front line doing melee damage boosted by my spells while the cleric/archer stands further back launching volleys of arrows at whatever I deem the most threatening and the other party member a gypsy witch sits in the back casting spells and throwing darts. As for the future I may have to check into the whole eldrich knight thing. But for the next session ill look for a ring or some boots of freedom of movement
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I have not seen bracers of armor on that list of yours. It's great, I would suggest you get them to ensure a high baseline AC.
Uncanny dodge as an ability might be what you want, yes.
Freedom of movement has already been mentioned as well.
Also consider a ring of evasion later in case you do not already have it.
All in all a two-level dip into shadowdancer will give you all those defenses.
And about the high AC: I had a PC in a game I was DMing once who also thought he was untouchable with his 34 AC. Well, when the Giant could not hit him, he just grappled him - a nasty surprise for him.
AC ist not everything, just be sure about that :-)
Oh, one more thing: One of the things I would do as a DM without trying to pick on you but as a general attack against casters and monks is to use touch of idiocy or feeblemind against you. To your build this would be a particularly nasty debuff, so you might want to watch out for that.
Mirror Image is the easiest way to help out. Heck you should do grab it anyway its too good for your current build to pass up.
But long term the people here are correct, you need to get uncanny dodge, or freedom of movement.
After looking into everyones advice and weighing my options, I think ill dip my next level into fighter taking combat reflexes as my 5th level feat and mobility as my fighter feat. (And get martial weapon prof.) Then jumping into shadow dancer from there for 2 levels to pick up uncanny dodge and evasion. Go back into magus for an additional 4 levels to get to 3rd level spells and continue on from there in eldrich knight
Why is DM picking on you?Because as a DM, it's very frustrating to have characters who try to munchkin defenses and become impossible to challenge, making it an arms race of "I WILL KILL YOU" and "nya nya can't hit me".
In fact it's currently the game I'm in with my DM right now :P
That being said, Mirror Image is another great defense spell (who cares if you lose your dex bonus, he's still only got a % chance to hit you).
If you are okay with further multiclass, I would throw my vote in for shadow dancer too.
LOL SOME DMS ONLY ATTACK AC?
LOL SOME DMS ONLY ATTACK AC?Why is DM picking on you?Because as a DM, it's very frustrating to have characters who try to munchkin defenses and become impossible to challenge, making it an arms race of "I WILL KILL YOU" and "nya nya can't hit me".
In fact it's currently the game I'm in with my DM right now :P
That being said, Mirror Image is another great defense spell (who cares if you lose your dex bonus, he's still only got a % chance to hit you).
If you are okay with further multiclass, I would throw my vote in for shadow dancer too.
He must lack experience. If a high AC makes you untouchable in adventures, then the adventure isn't even making use of 1/10th the resources that a GM and his NPCs have legal access to.
After looking into everyones advice and weighing my options, I think ill dip my next level into fighter taking combat reflexes as my 5th level feat and mobility as my fighter feat. (And get martial weapon prof.) Then jumping into shadow dancer from there for 2 levels to pick up uncanny dodge and evasion. Go back into magus for an additional 4 levels to get to 3rd level spells and continue on from there in eldrich knight
Unless your GM doesn't care, remember to roleplay out the level dipping. It's one thing I often see people forget is that Pathfinder and table top RPGs are not simply games of numbers. Really stop and look at your character and his concept, his background, personality etc. Find some justification for him being a monk/magus/figher/shadowdancer/eldritch knight. From a roleplaying perspective, you need to find ways to thematically link you abilities together. A person is not just going to be adventuring and decided to up and change his "career" one day to gain the benefits of another "career". The closest thing we have to level dipping in real life is mixed martial artists and multiple sport athletes. But even then, they aren't truthfully level dipping as a mixed martial artist is still a martial artist and an athlete is still an athlete.
I mean, try and summarize the classes you're thinking about taking in a sentence or two, and, from the perspective of the living, breathing, person your character really is, what reason does he have for gaining levels in different classes. Remember, from a character perspective, he doesn't see stats and class abilities, charts for save progression or anything like that. He sees a lifestyle.
So you would have a monk, a spiritually centered warrior that focuses on inner peace and self-perfection, decides to change his lifestyle to that of an arcane caster that mixes martial and magical might. Ok, I can see that.
Now your spiritually centered arcane martial artist changes his lifestyle once again to learn how to fight a little better and defend himself and his friends. Totally believable.
Ok, so your centered arcane warrior decides to expand his magical knowledge a little more and focuses back on that aspect to further his career and safeguard his future. Again, completely within the realm of reason.
Now your spiritually centered arcane warrior becomes a creature of stealth and shadows.. wait what? What could possibly triggered that life altering event? Did a stealthy character defeat him or show him the strength of a character that defeats his enemies by not being detected? You really need to find a reason for your character to take the Shadowdancer Prestige Classed based off your character background. As a GM myself, I do not allow level dipping unless the character can roleplay out his decision for taking such a level. A Paladin/Cleric is not going to be allowed to level dip a barbarian for the extra hp, rage, and fast movement unless he has a strong reason to be allowed to do so. Was his whole family killed off and he fell into a pit of anger and rage? Ok, buyable, but now you're not a Paladin.
A character build needs to be thought out not just from a mechanical level, but from a personal level based on the viewpoint of the character. You may have this awesome character idea that uses a few abilities from a few different classes that aren't thematically linked together, so you really need to roleplay out your characters personality, interactions, background etc. so he even has the option to take the diametrically opposed classes. If not, you simply can't take the class because your character has no reason to change his lifestyle. Especially to one that is so different than the one he was living before.
I guess he knows how his group wants to play that game pretty good. Or at least better than anyone here.
I dont like these comments comming up in every single optimization-thread. People who optimize are not retarded or socialy awkward people that are unable to understand how their group wants PF to be played. Maybe they are just focussing on numbers. Maybe he already made up a great backgroun story. But all this stuff is up to the player who knows his and his groups interests.
I've read a lot of optimization threads, but I've never seen anyone post about them being socially awkward. I've also never seen anyone post possible explanations on why the character is what he is. All anyone does is say, level dip here, level dip there, as if though picking a level was similar to choosing a meal at a buffet table. Hmm, how best to optimize the greatest number of flavors and texturally pleasant sensations in the least number of plates. That's really how I see a lot of the optimization threads that pop up all the time. The only time I really read them is for tips on what to watch for when a character tries to munchkin it up in a non-munchkin party, or possible methods of giving that BBEG a little extra oomph and making that encounter truly memorable.
Maybe you read that because that is what these threads are aiming for? Fluff is up to the players creativity... or to maybe its up to the groups style of play. But its not up to users in here that comment on questions about optimization. And reminding them to think of how they can justify their crunch kinda implies that they are not able to know what is good for their play and their group.
Its like "remember that you should use bright colors for your car" on a tuning board.
@Tels: While I agree with your statement about having a believable story to justify "dipping", it really depends on the situation IMO. Fluff is not equal to mechanics. To be more specific:
What does it matter if that character dips into Shadowdancer? He does not magically get "Shadowdancer" written on his forehead. 2 levels give him hide in plain sight, evasion, darkvision, uncanny dodge. These are abilities who could either have been there all the time and just not been used, or have developed due to a bloodline, training or whatever,
It's more difficult with a class that has specific entry requirements like "killed a devil alone in front of whitnesses" or such.
So though there should be some coherence, I am against limiting or pressing players like that. After all, he could just continue monk, increase his stealth and perform:dance and call himself a Shadowdancer :-P
I've read a lot of optimization threads, but I've never seen anyone post about them being socially awkward. I've also never seen anyone post possible explanations on why the character is what he is. All anyone does is say, level dip here, level dip there, as if though picking a level was similar to choosing a meal at a buffet table. Hmm, how best to optimize the greatest number of flavors and texturally pleasant sensations in the least number of plates. That's really how I see a lot of the optimization threads that pop up all the time. The only time I really read them is for tips on what to watch for when a character tries to munchkin it up in a non-munchkin party, or possible methods of giving that BBEG a little extra oomph and making that encounter truly memorable.
That's because someone is asking for mechanical advice, which is generally independent of fluff. It doesn't really matter if your character has one class or twenty if it's not conflicting with who your character is, and more than likely, it isn't going to.
I had a player in my Red Hand of Doom game who by 14th level was a wizard, a cleric, a rogue, a ranger, and an assassin. He seemed a bit all over the place but it worked for him, and nobody thought of him as the wizard/cleric/rogue/ranger/assassin, they thought of him as their ally. The guy who was there for them. The guy who always seems to have a little trick for everything, who was really sneaky, and was good at poking enemies in the spine from behind. The guy who had light bone-armor, which he added trophies too from the big monsters the party overcame (including a helmet made from a young dragon's skull they picked up after a fight).
Concept come first. Sometimes concept and mechanics interact. The OP wanted a way to be agile and notice junk coming like spiderman. Just happens that his build + 2 levels of barbarian would get him there, or going into shadowdancer as well. Doesn't mean his character isn't still going to have the same heart or character concepts.
In fact, I made a build once as something of a thought experiment that used about 10 base classes, that ends up quite playable, and wasn't even difficult to apply different types of fluff and or character conceptualizations onto to add the meat to the bones.
After looking into everyones advice and weighing my options, I think ill dip my next level into fighter taking combat reflexes as my 5th level feat and mobility as my fighter feat. (And get martial weapon prof.) Then jumping into shadow dancer from there for 2 levels to pick up uncanny dodge and evasion. Go back into magus for an additional 4 levels to get to 3rd level spells and continue on from there in eldrich knight
I would really check again if I were you if eldritch knight is what you want. Yes, you gain an improved base attack progression, which is nice, but you also lose a lot of the features of the magus class. I think these are quite nice and make up for your already diminished spellcasting, even more diminished through multi-classing and your max. level 6 casting.
I would, if I were you, consider these 6 options:1. Go on with magus and just accept that you will have some shortcomings, every class has. And AC is really just one thing, there are at least 10 more independent and legal and legitimate ways opponents can get you regardless.
2. Go urban barbarian for the uncanny dodge if you must. But remember that you cannot cast while raging
3. Take another level of monk, get dodge as the bonus feat, take mobility as your character feat and go into shadowdancer afterwards. Though you will have evasion twice, you will at least have reduced the penalty on your flurry of blows. Then continue magus.
4. Like #3 but take 2 levels of monk and, later, the monastic legacy feat to have your unarmed strike damage increase with your non-monk levels. This way you also get fat movement and your CMD and flurry bonus are both upped.
5. Do a two-level dip into bard archaelogist. The luck bonuses will come in handy, you get a different spell selection (healing!), and uncanny dodge. Then continue magus. This is better than #2 IMO.
6. If you do not really care about your magus progression, consider the dragon disciple PrC which will boost your melee abilities greatly. You can enter by a) archaelogist bard dip (for uncanny dodge, other bard dips are possible as well) b) sorcerer 1 level dip c) taking heighten and then preferred spell to get spontaneous arcane spell casting.
I consider #1 to be the strongest option of all for you, #5 the least disrupting. EK or the other options will weaken you significantly in the long run IMO.
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There are two ways people typically build characters. Make a concept up and build around it using stats or pick a class they like make a build and build a story around it. Either way works honestly and it's often better to go with the latter because the game has already built in options for you to play your character the way you want it to play.
Erm... Sanity check - Aldori Dueling Mastery gives you a +2 shield bonus to your AC... Shield gives you a +4 Shield bonus to your AC... I don't usually succumb to the temptation of Exotic weapon taxes - am I correct in thinking these don't stack? So you should have 28 AC fully buffed.
Next headache: Shield and Mage Armor can be dispelled, and you can be ambushed with them down. In fact, it's really easy to find ways to catch you without Shield or mage armor, especially since you only get 3 hours of mage armor and shield only lasts 3 minutes. (using your caster level.) Down to 22 again. Send in the save or sucks: ability damage, blindness, DC 5 acrobatics checks or fall prone, and it makes for a generally unpleasant picture.
Mechanics/Thematic thing: I would suggest asking to change to Monk 1/Staff Magus 3, and continue on the staff magus path.
You sacrifice your int to AC mod you've got going, but I really think that's why your DM is threatening to destroy you. Besides that, the path you're on now isn't going to scale very well. Where other tanks would get armor that gives them DR, Enhancement bonuses to AC, and other defensive mechanics, you're going to have a static shield AC, and your two best "AC" items share a slot: Monk's belt and +6 all stat belt. You're going to want to replace Mage Armor with a Mithril Chain Shirt. You can give that normal enhancement bonuses as it functions as a Masterwork Chainmail Shirt, but it also functions as a regular shirt for determining if you're wearing armor, allowing you to fully benefit from Monk AC.
You'd get flurry of blows with a quarterstaff, at level 7 you'd get your enhancement bonus from your quarterstaff as a shield bonus, at 11th level that would increase by +3 effectively giving you a full tower shield with a staff. At level 10, you can use a regular wizard staff as a quarterstaff of their CL/4 as it's enhancement level, which you could then combine with the Arcana that lets you use spell combat with wands and staves. One of the cheapest staves gives you 2 charges of freedom of movement, and you can restore charges to one staff per day by expending arcane points.
Additionally, you could spend your arcana points to increase the enhancement bonus of your staff, giving you a handy way to quickly improve your AC on the spot. Stockpiling some Shillelagh oil would also give you some extra cheap damage bonus.
It will be up to your DM if Flurry of blows and Spell Combat can be stacked. I read them as conflicting but your mileage may vary, since your DM seems pretty lax. You won't be using spell combat at will.
Now, if you decide to go this route, you can swap those Aldori dueling sword feat-taxes. I make Quickdraw and weapon focus as feats you can drop? I'd take Arcane Strike and Combat Expertise - Swift action AB bonus, make an attack and take an identical attack penalty to gain that much AC. It'd offset what you lose. Then just pick up Dodge as normal at level 5.
Lastly... work with the DM to establish yourself as the party's defender without trying to play arms race. AC is vs the opposition's AB, which he dictates, letting him choose whether this creature has a 100% hit chance or a 30% hit chance. The name of the game here is not Kobiyashi Maru, you are not trying to h4x0r the sim or die as gracefully as you can, but if you play arms race with the GM, his efforts to challenge you can quickly become a TPK. As long as you're "ahead of the party", he can throw upgrades your way to keep you in line with what he considers normal.