Bestiary Bash: Assassin

[Curaigh]

Wow is it really only two weekends away?!?

Time to start thinking (if you havnae already) of Bestiary Bash Characters. As stated materials will be provided, but if you can bring some things you gain my gratitude. If you got them bring dice, mini (s), monster character, and a copy of the Bestiary. If you are using a critter from Bestiary 2 or 3, you MUST bring that book (I dinnae have a copy yet :) For simplicity you can just bring a copy of the page of your critter. If you want to create a second character it will help me and those new to the game. Sound good?
FIRST YEAR
SECOND YEAR

The line in front of Shadowshell was not long, only a half dozen creatures stood in front him. Each pulled something from a dried skull and stepped into the portal. His ears popped when the creature disappeared. When his turn arrived he stepped into the portal, his innards tried to escape south, and found himself in a dark, grey-stoned hall. The tunnel stretched out to either side of him and he could see a dark place where another tunnel joined.

Spoiler:

The arena has many maze like tunnels surrounding a large open place (range will be an advantage in one, a disadvantage in the other). In the middle of the open space is a second set of mazes holding a fountain of dark, thick liquid. A boon if you should make it there. Default lighting will be dim, ceiling height 20’ feet.

Shadowshell looked at the coin in his hand. Of all the creatures he had seen over the last few days: wings, tentacles, paws, hands, hooves; the symbol did not resemble any of them. Nor did it look like a name that might be giant, draconic, or infernal. There were several creatures he did not recognize, maybe his target was one of them?

Spoiler:

RACE: From the Pathfinder Bestiary choose a monster with a CR equal to 4, 5 or 6. Undead, elementals, golems, plants and dragons are not allowed. Their abilities are unbalanced for their CR, at least for the way this combat works. Only one Misfit Monster fits the CR, it is allowed as well.

A blast of energy hit somewhere down the hall and its heat washed over him. Shadowshell pulled his blade from its sheath and dipped scaled fingers into the pouch at his side. One of the targets had access to the arcane. He would need to be careful.

Spoiler:

CLASS: Choose a class from the Pathfinder Core Rulebook with the aim of getting into the assassin prestige class. APG, UM, UC classes (except the gunslinger) are also ok, provided you bring the book with you. No prestige classes (yet). Class level will be 6, 5, or 4 so adding level and CR equals 10. You must take the prerequisites for the Assassin from your class build first. Some races/class combos might prohibit this, so please be aware.

Spoiler:

ABILITIES & FEATS: Keep it simple: use the numbers from the monster’s stats. However if you need to raise an ability by 2 to qualify for spell casting drop your con by 4. Don’t forget the additional point at level 4. Monster feats should be the same as well, but if the race has a general or combat feat (such as two-weapon fighting) and you want to trade it for a different general or combat feat respectively (such as point-blank shot) that is OK.

The giant creature’s weapon crashed into his chest. He felt the energy of his armor warm against his chest and felt glad for the extra protection. He slipped his blade high, hoping for better luck against his opponent’s armor.

Spoiler:

EQUIPMENT: Equip yourself with whichever +1 light or medium armor you wish. Arm yourself with a +1 weapon if you wish or give one natural attack a +1 magical bonus.[spoiler]
Blood covered his robes, stuck to his scales and dripped from his blade. It had been a good fight so far. Shadow Shell felt pride in his performance so far. Then he also felt the blade in his lower back.
[spoiler]OTHER RANDOM GOODINESS: Max HP for racial hit dice, average HP for class dice. Every contestant will have Fast Healing/DR against almost all attacks. The assassin’s target will not have this advantage. (If Shadow Shell fireballs critters A, B, and C, and his target is C, A and B will take very little damage.) This means as the GM I will be tracking all HP. Perception checks will be important not only to find the target with your mark, but also to see if they took damage.
Please keep balance in mind. In order for this to be fun for everyone, there should be an equal chance of everyone winning. One-shots spoil the fun. Min/maxing could end the game too quickly (one way or the other) and is strongly discouraged.
Finally I will award characters a potion every so many rounds. These will mostly be cure, but might also include an offensive or defensive spell.

Again if you make up an extra character, it will help me and others. I will have at least three characters ready to go. I am sure I missed something (and I barely even hit preview before submit). You can check the previous threads for related questions, but please feel free to ask here (or gmail me at scott a janke) We have a full table and I am look forward to the carnag…ahem… fun!.

[Rebis Ouroboros]

So we're rewuired to only use creatures from the Bestiary, and not Bestiary 2 or 3? I son't have the books themselves, but I could print up the pages needed from my pdf copies, if that helps,
Also, is multiclassing allowed?

I;m thinking of a creature from the Bestiary 3, along with a Core Rulebook class/Ultimate Combat class to play.

WOuld that be okay?

- Rebis

[Rebis Ouroboros]

Please disregard the message from the idiot, above.
Having just gone through the previous years messages, he couldn't find the necessary ruling on Bestiaries 2 and 3, and how the other classes are allowed, as well. Also, the EDIT button is not appearing for him.
The question still stands, however, is multiclassing allowed?

- Rebis Ouroboros

[Balodek]

Making up some characters for this, wan't to double check a few things.

1. By going to CR 10 this means we'll have more than class levels plus CR, for example a Faceless Stalker Rogue would actually be a level 7 Rogue with 5 HD of Faceless stalker for a total CR of 10.

2. With a +1 Weapon and +1 Armor I assume we're to ignore all other gear as it will be provided in the arena rather than bother with magic item stacking and min/maxing and average wealth/level. Would it be acceptable for a spell caster to take an amulet of natural armor +1 or something similar or just don't give them armor?

More questions as I think of them.

EDIT: I see 1 was answered in the first thread I just wanted to make sure that is still how we're doing it.

[Rebis Ouroboros]

I've got a question about gear, also. If I "turned in" my +1 weapon for two masterworked weapons, would that be a problem?

- Rebis Ouroboros

[Curaigh]

Rebis Ouroboros wrote:

Please disregard the message from the idiot, above.

Having just gone through the previous years messages, he couldn't find the necessary ruling on Bestiaries 2 and 3, and how the other classes are allowed, as well. Also, the EDIT button is not appearing for him.
The question still stands, however, is multiclassing allowed?

- Rebis Ouroboros

Sorry Bestiary 2 & 3 got cut from my post. Like the APG/UC/UM they are ok if you bring a copy. If your copy of the appropriate page from non-core books is watermarked it is Ok. (I want to support the people who support us :)

Personally I hate cherry picking. If you take one level of a class for single ability, it will over-complicate things. if you take 3 rogue/3 sorcerer because you want to be a sneaky force-missile launcher, that is ok.

Balodek wrote:

Making up some characters for this, wan't to double check a few things.

1. By going to CR 10 this means we'll have more than class levels plus CR, for example a Faceless Stalker Rogue would actually be a level 7 Rogue with 5 HD of Faceless stalker for a total CR of 10.

2. With a +1 Weapon and +1 Armor I assume we're to ignore all other gear as it will be provided in the arena rather than bother with magic item stacking and min/maxing and average wealth/level. Would it be acceptable for a spell caster to take an amulet of natural armor +1 or something similar or just don't give them armor?

More questions as I think of them.

EDIT: I see 1 was answered in the first thread I just wanted to make sure that is still how we're doing it.

1. I am not sure what you mean. Faceless stalker is a CR 4 (even though it has 5 HD.) You could then add 6 levels of rogue for a total of 10.

2. Aye ignore all common gear, with the exception of torches none of it should be needed. If an amulet of +1 NA would be better than +1 robes for your character go for it.

Rebis Ouroboros wrote:

If I "turned in" my +1 weapon for two masterworked weapons, would that be a problem?

+1 weapon AND a masterwork weapon is how that should work. :) If you want more weapons than that they will be normal.

If all else fails: KISG (keep it simple gamer)

[Balodek]

Curaigh wrote:

1. I am not sure what you mean. Faceless stalker is a CR 4 (even though it has 5 HD.) You could then add 6 levels of rogue for a total of 10.

6 levels of Rogue added to a CR 4 creature is actually only CR 9.

With further reading I think I understand. Are you using the rules for Monsters as PCs from the Bestiary, which is to take the CR and add class levels until they're 10? If that's the case I'll knock a class level off the creatures I'm creating. So far I've whipped up 6 or 7 with printed pages from the Bestiary they're from and a printout of the class rules if it's not a Core Class.

[Curaigh]

Aye, Monsters as PCs from the Bestiary. In any case as long as we all do it the same it should be no problems of imbalance. :)

Just out of curiosity what rules make it a 9?

[Balodek]

I'll go searching for the official text when I get a chance but the first class level doesn't count towards CR. A level one human is CR 1/2, for example, and a level 2 is CR 1.

[Curaigh]

bump, just in case