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Hey all,
I sat in with a group on Friday night that I'm going to join, and I was watching the fighter pretty closely. I'll be playing a fighter/monk for the last bit of Rise of the Runelords, and I wanted to make sure I'd be sufficiently different to stand out from his PC.
Anyway, the damage he was rolling was 6d6+22 or 24 with a greatsword, and he's a human, 13th level. The only puzzling thing to me was that he rolled a few crits over the course of the night, and when he did, he rolled 12d6 for damage. This is where I got confused. I have Vital Strike, Improved Vital Strike, and Devastating Strike for my character. This will allow me to roll 6d6 of damage for ONE attack, but the extra dice don't multiply on a crit. I didn't stop play or ask what was going on, and no one seemed to notice or care when he rolled so many dice. I also didn't want to call him out on it, since I didn't want to single him out or put him on the spot, but when I play in a couple weeks, I'll probably ask him and the GM what's up. I just want to make sure I know the rules so I can play the game correctly; I'm not looking to bust anyone's balls.
So, am I missing something? Is there a feat or trait that will allow a 12d6 roll on a crit with a human wielding a greatsword? No one cast enlarge person on him, and it was a medium weapon, so is this possible? Any help you can give me would be appreciated. Thanks.
I don't even know how he got 6d6. Were there any buffs on the weapon? Was it a homebrew weapon? That is all I can think of for a constant 6d6.
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Could just be weapon enchantments:
Greatsword 2d6
Holy +2d6
Vicious +2d6
Alternately could be flaming/shock instead of Vicious. Shouldn't double those on the crit though.
Additional Damage Dice: Some magic weapons deal additional dice of damage. Unlike other modifiers to damage, additional dice of damage are not multiplied when the attacker scores a critical hit.
3.5's mercurial greatsword I think would be 3d6 but -2 to attack, if he was enlarged that would go to 4d6, and lead blades would go to 5d6.. Every other d6 damage I can think of would not be mulitplied on crit, and this already requires a ranger wand and the ability to use it, and 3.5 equipment, on top of the enlarge buff.
I'd guess it's a homebrew item, house crit rules, or rules misreadings.
Is it possible his weapon had firey, frost, corrosive, shock effects etc... to cover all damage types, on it that would go off on a crit? At lvl 13 there is a good chance he would have some type of magic weapon. Instead of making it a +4 or +5 he might have decided to go with a enhancment bonuses. It is the only thing I can think of...
Ask the GM about any house rules when joining the game. It's quite a priority.
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No house rules. The GM allows anything in the Paizo books, but that's it.
I didn't ask him about bonuses to his weapon--I have a +5 holy greatsword, and it adds 2d6 damage to any evil-aligned creature, but that's it.
Anyway, I just want to know if there's anything I can do as a human wielding a greatsword to get that high damage consistently on a crit.
You could, ah, you know...ask him how he got it.
You could also be a magus and then intensify shocking grasp so you would do 20d6 on a crit plus weapon damage... if you want to be different than the fighter do it with magic... You could also use your arcane pool to add effects to your weapon. If you go 1 hander you could have a +5 longsword arcane pool it to give you flaming, firey burst, or bane etc... and then on a crit you would do 20d6 +2d6 weapon +2d6 flaming or whatever effect you stick on there. So potentially 24d6 on a crit... then that fighter will want to be like you. Also as a Magus at lvl 13 you have the same armor proficency and get some fighter abilities. Just an option... also with a fighter doing that much damage as long as its not nonstop fighting you could have the spells to constantly be using shocking grasps. If not check out a Ring of Wizardry to double your spells for a specific lvl. You might be more powerful than that fighter come lvl 13 if you crit and pace yourself.
Does the group allow 3E material? Getting bigger weapons and size increases to damage were easier back then. 6d6 base greatsword damage, x2 for 12d6 on the crit, is certainly possible in 3E, I'm sure. Without even any real thought, I'm able to get him up to 4d6 with Strong Arm Bracers (wield a weapon 1 size larger at no penalty) + Enlarge Person. Just one more effective size buff pushes that to 6d6, and I'm positive you could optimize further from that.
Although a greatsword is not a piercing weapon... If it were, would this do the trick?
Impaling Critical (Combat, Critical)
Your critical hits can skewer your foes.
Prerequisites: Critical Focus, Weapon Specialization with selected piercing melee weapon, base attack bonus +11.
Benefit: Whenever you score a critical hit with the selected piercing melee weapon, you can impale your opponent on your weapon. While your opponent is impaled in this way, each time he starts his turn, you deal damage equal to your weapon's damage dice plus the extra damage dice from your weapon's properties. As an immediate action, you can pull your weapon out of your opponent. If your opponent is ever outside your reach, you must spend a free action to let go of your weapon or pull it out of him. Your opponent can also spend a move action to pull your weapon out. When the weapon comes out, your opponent takes damage as if starting his turn impaled. While you impale your opponent with your weapon, you cannot use it to attack, and you must hold on to it.
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Actually, my character will be a 12th level fighter/1st level monk, and even then I only took the monk level because it fits my character's background story. I'm only using this character for one night, and then the group will be done with RotR, so it's really not that big of a deal.
I haven't completely decided on feats or classes, either. I'm using Hero Lab, so I've put together a lot of different builds. I could take the monk level or leave it. The only condition the GM gave us was to have a non-evil alignment.
Again, I just wondered if I was missing something, and I don't think I am. Thanks for all the help and ideas.
I would take 2 levels of monk for Evasion. Maybe even up to 4 levels of monk, since you're not losing any more BAB that way.
4th Level Monk is really the sweet spot as you get Ki by then. Go with Maneuver Master or anything that replaces flurry of blows for extra pawnage.
Ending the rotr with 13 level characters.... something isn't right, even going with the least powerful conversion of the final boss (there are quite a lot of him out there) you are in for a big surprise/very possible TPK.
How I can roll 6d6 with a single attack and then get 12d6 on a critical:
Large Falcata (-2attack, 2d6 19-20/x3)
Enlarge or Lead Blades: 3d6 damage
With Vital Strike (not imp VS) I get: 3d6+3d6 and on crit I get 9d6+3d6.
Now, I am not saying this is what he is doing. In fact, I doubt it (it is more likely that he is accidentally applying his vital strike dice to criticals). But the point is it is possible to get 6d6 that criticals to 12d6.
- Gauss
P.S. Yes, I realize you said it was a greatsword, medium weapon, and no enlarge. But if it was a weapon you only thought was a medium greatsword then perhaps it is possible. But, as I said, I doubt it.
Ending the rotr with 13 level characters.... something isn't right, even going with the least powerful conversion of the final boss (there are quite a lot of him out there) you are in for a big surprise/very possible TPK.
I finished RotR at level 16. Although, I'd imagine a larger group would be lower level, and OP didn't give a party size.
Does the group allow 3E material? Getting bigger weapons and size increases to damage were easier back then. 6d6 base greatsword damage, x2 for 12d6 on the crit, is certainly possible in 3E, I'm sure. Without even any real thought, I'm able to get him up to 4d6 with Strong Arm Bracers (wield a weapon 1 size larger at no penalty) + Enlarge Person. Just one more effective size buff pushes that to 6d6, and I'm positive you could optimize further from that.
Heavy Weapon (such as lead or other heavy metal)+ Strong Arm Bracers+ Monkey Grip. He'd be wielding a Huge sized Lead Greatsword, but it'd be 6d6 damage. Had a fighter in an old 3.5 campaign do that, it was pretty munchkin of him. (following 3.5 weapon size rules, couldn't find Pathfinder ones past Large)
Edit: Clarification