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This is my second game with a Skull & Shackles homegame that needed a sit-in. The first time I played, my poor Heavens Shaman got squished and the party got beat to a pulp. This week, a couple of the regular players were back in the mix and we continued the mission of clearing out the island and searching for the Eye of Serenity.
Sorceror 10
Life Oracle 10
Witch 10
Barbarian 8/Rogue 2
Since a Shaman would be redundant given the caster-heavy party, @redward advised me to go with a beatstick.
I decided to build an Arcane Bloodrager tank. The keys of the build would be using a wand of Shield, choosing Protection from Arrows & Displacement when raging and aiming for a respectable AC--high enough that even when raging the primary attack only had 50% chance of hitting (and the iteratives much less) with Displacement hopefully nixing any hits.
And with that, I created Nonono the nodachi-wielding Bloodrager--whose personality and mannerisms were based on Dikembe Mutombo's performance in the Geico commercial ("No no no--not in my house!")
Nonono
Male Half-Orc Bloodrager 9/Fighter 1
CG Medium humanoid (human, orc)
Init +4; Senses darkvision 60 ft.; Perception +0
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Defense
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AC 26, touch 15, flat-footed 24 (+9 armor, +2 Dex, +2 natural, +1 deflection)
hp 113, 143 (raging)
Fort +14 (+4 vs. hot or cold environments and to resist damage
from suffocation), Ref +7, Will +5, +7 (raging)
Defensive Abilities uncanny dodge, orc ferocity; DR 1/—
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Offense
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Speed 40 ft.
Melee +1 furious nodachi +17/+12 (1d10+10), +21/+13 (1d10+24) (raging w/ power attack)
Bloodrager Spells Known (CL 9th; concentration +10):
2nd (1/day)—mirror image, glitterdust (DC 13), alter self, ablative barrier
1st (3/day)—vanish, expeditious retreat, true strike, magic missile, enlarge person (DC 12), feather fall (DC 12)
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Statistics
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Str 22, Dex 14, Con 18, Int 7, Wis 10, Cha 12
Base Atk +10; CMB +16; CMD 31
Feats Deathless Initiate, Diehard, Disruptive, Endurance, Eschew Materials, Furious Focus, Ironhide, Power Attack, Raging Vitality, Spellbreaker
Traits fate's favored, reactionary
SQ blood casting, disruptive bloodrage, fast movement, arcane bloodrage, bloodlines (arcane)
Combat Gear Jingasa of the fortunate soldier (1/day), Amulet of natural armor +1, Belt of physical perfection +2, Cloak of resistance +2, Ioun stone (clear spindle), Ring of protection +1, Wayfinder
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Selected Special Abilities
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Bloodrage (24 rounds/day) (Su) +4 Str, +6 Con, +2 to Will saves, -2 to AC when enraged.
Damage Reduction (1/-) You have Damage Reduction against all attacks.
Deathless Initiate Not staggered while using Diehard; gain +2 on melee damage rolls
Disruptive +4 DC to cast defensively for those you threaten.
Disruptive Bloodrage (Su) +2 to DC for enemy spellcasters in threatened area.
Fate's Favored Increase luck bonuses by 1.
Ironhide You gain a +1 natural armor bonus due to your unusually tough hide.
Spellbreaker If an enemy you threaten fails to cast defensively, they provoke an AoO from you.
OFFENSE: Raging & Power Attacking = +21/+13 for 1d10+24
DEFENSE: Raging (Prot Arrows / Displacement) & Shield spell = AC 28
1 Level of fighter to pick up one more feat. Deathless feats to fight to the bitter end.
I went to the game straight from work and literally walked in the door as the party was rolling initiative. Oh my!
In the ruins on the island, the party had entered a room with 2 Cyclops and a Giant Cyclops.
I roll low and sit at the bottom of the order, which buys me time to settle in.
The Sorceror tosses a Haste while the Oracle channels (apparently the Barbarian was still hurt from the last game). The Giant Cyclops critically hits the Barbarian with a boulder for long range pain. I Wand of Shield myself, rage for Prot Arrows/Displacement and move up with the Barbarian to engage the incoming pair of mook Cyclops AKA Mooklops.
The Sorceror casts Displacement on the Barbarian. The Barb full attacks and finishes off one of the Mooklops. The Giant Cyclops AKA Bosslops charges in and, thanks to Displacement, misses the Barb. The remaining Mooklops and I trade blows, my Displacement canceling out some of his hits.
The Sorceror casts fly and seeks higher ground. The Witch Misfortunes the Bosslops and the Oracle casts Blind on the Bosslops, only to have him make the save. I only take one swing at my baddie and slowly work my way to help the Barbarian. The Mooklops flanks and misses me.
The Bosslops, frustrated by missing on the Barbarian due to Displacement, swaps to attacking Oracle. The Oracle is not happy about this.
The party focus fires the Bosslops as the Sorceror and Oracle drop scorching rays. I finish off my Mooklops just before the now-enlarged Barbarian demolishes the Bosslops.
Yarrrrr, pirate victory!
Quoth the GM: "If you guys didn't have those displacements, you would have been effed."
Except for one or two hits, my high AC and Displacement allow me to ragetank. Bad rolls (low single digits) and crappy positioning on my part kept me from doing any significant damage this fight.
Main reaction: Holy crap! In one round and I had 3 buffs up and STILL had move action left.
Second thought: I'm not really doing anything with my swift/immediate actions.
Both the Barbarian and I cringe because we know what this could mean for our weapons.
Once again, I roll low at go last in the combat.
The Sorceror makes his knowledge checks and gives us the low down on the Columns then casts Displacement on the Barbarian. Still flat-footed, a Column crunches me. The Oracle begins a summon. The Witch flies up and begins poring over his spellbook for spells that will work on the Columns. The Barb swings away on a Column, his weapon taking minor damage. I rage for Prot Arrows/Displacement and attack my Column. Luckily, I escape any weapon damage.
The Sorceror casts Magic Missile. The GM and I share a look--the Sorceror just learned last round it was immune to magic spells that allowed spell-resistance. (facepalm)
Minor hiccup aside, the Witch Ice Spears a Column that is then smashed the Oracle-summoned Anklyosaurus. The Barbarian switches to back up weapon and helps me with the remaining column, both our weapons accruing minor damage. Luckily, the Anklyosaurus charges over and finishes the fight before our weapons break.
Yarrrrr, dinosaurrrrrrr victory!
After the casters pull out some mending cantrips to patch up our weapons, the Sorceror earthglides about the ruins, scouting possible paths. He passes into a room where he makes a Will Save (success) and then a bright eye/gem/thingy shoots an Enervation at him and misses. The Sorceror reports back to us and we move to the dome/room/temple place.
By the door to the interior, we find Cyclopean writing saying something to the effect of "You must blind yourself to truly see." After some discussion, the Oracle volunteers to cast Blind on himself. The Barbarian offers his potion of Cure Blindness/Deafness for the Oracle to carry as a cure. We tie a rope around the Oracle and off he goes inside.
Upon entering, he makes his Will save (against what, we still don't know). Then, while blinded, he gets hit for TWO negative levels by Enervation.
He presses on, stumbling with a single digit touch AC to the altar.
He gets hit again! The GM rolls a d4. Another TWO negative levels!
We ask if he wants us to pull him back outside. The Oracle decides to go for it and blindly soldiers on to the altar.
Blasted by another Enervation! Another negative level!
He's almost at the Eye!
To both our horror and joy, The Oracle eats yet one more Enervation and one more negative level!
But he has the Eye.
And that's when the Giants attack.
The Giants, which the Oracle couldn't see due to blindness, emerge from the corners of the room. One of them smack him--already down 30 HP from the negative levels, he's in a bad way.
The party moves into the room to save our buddy from the (undead?) giants! The Oracle blindly starts working his way out of the room. While the Witch flies in and drops a hex on a Giant. I rage/Wand as usual and, with the Sorceror, and burst in to the rescue...promptly failing our Will saves and suffering a Slow effect.
So, that's what the Will save was for. Blerg.
The Barbarian enters and makes his save...but eats a critical hit from Giant, getting both diseased and critically staggered.
So, to recap, one round in and we have a self-blinded party member with 6 negative levels, a staggered Barbarian, and a slowed Sorceror and Bloodrager.
We decide to retreat and take the fight out of the room.
The Witch flies out, the Barbarian staggers out and the blind Oracle stumbles out. The slowed Sorceror uses his single action to cast Fire Snake to cover our retreat. I take a 5' step towards the door to block it and declare total defense, boosting my AC to 34.
The Giants full attack me.
Between my AC and displacement, not one blow lands.
ARCANE RAGE TANK! AAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHH!
Everyone makes it outside and prepares for the Giants to exit. I cast Mirror Image and prepare to facetank the Giants at the door...but they do not leave the room/temple.
From the outside, the Oracle channels and the Sorceror fireballs and the encounter is mopped up handily.
The GM handwaves the clearing rest of the Island as the other battles are minor fights and we've accomplished the main goal of securing the Eye.
Turbo boost, KITT!
Being able to spin up 4 buffs (Rage/Prot Arrows/Displacement/Wand of Shield) in one round was heady to say the least. This is my first play test for the Bloodrager and it blew my mind how easily it could tank. The rolls weren't with me tonight, but I was raging for 1d10+24 damage with a 18-20 crit range (I didn't threaten a crit once in any of the encounters--sigh). I could have easily dominated encounters had rolls been in my favor, scarily so if I had improved critical or keen on my weapon.
I wouldn't advise that, Michael...
I almost feel like a dum-dum for taking the Deathless feats as the Displacement miss chance and the Shield spell boost to AC kept me well insulated from damage. Raging, I have 143 HP. The lowest I got was 91 HP. With good AC and always selecting Displacement for your bloodrage, Arcane might be the defacto faceragetank bloodline.
What are my options, KITT?
I almost toyed with taking Arcane Strike for a feat. There was nothing chewing up my immediate/swift action economy, so the idea of every round declaring arcane strike for +3 to each hit was appealing. With haste and a nodachi, those attacks and crits would pile up. In fact, I'm surprised Arcane Strike is not a class ability or universally in bloodline Bonus Feat pools since the idea of angrily using your arcane energy to do more melee damage seems absolutely in line with the class.
SUGGESTION: Replace Fast Movement with Arcane Strike at L1. This will help separate the the Bloodrager from the Barbarian AND give it an ability in line with its conceptual space/flavor.
What do these buttons do?
I didn't get a chance to use my mage-killer abilities either. I really wanted to step into a caster's face and see how the Disruptive Bloodrage/Disruptive/Spellbreaker trifecta would have played out. I primarily play PFS and it often features caster baddies. I'm not sure how strong the +6 to the cast defensively concentration DC to enemy casters ability is without sitting down and mapping it out. Typically you face boss casters 2-3 levels higher than you with casting stats to match.
If I think of anything else, I'll add it later tonight/tomorrow morning.
I was the blind, reckless Oracle.
I spent most of the night focused on applying the many, many debuffs (6 negative levels, Blind, -2 Str and -3 Dex) to myself to be able to pay too much attention to Nonono's actions.
I did however, note the GM's reactions.
I think I counted three incredulous, "wait, he can do what?"s. As written and built, I'm fairly certain the GM would ban the Bloodrager in home games.
The on-demand Displacement seemed particularly frustrating. I'm guessing if we had encountered any casters and Nonono's disruption had gone off the GM's head would have exploded. I should note, though, that since Sammy came in last minute, there wasn't really time to sit down with the GM and go over the character and class to properly set expectations.
Still...
A Sorcerer gets three 2nd-level spells at level 4, and only knows 1. An Arcane Bloodrager gets access to the effects of really good 2nd-level spells like Blur or Resist Energy for 10 + Con Mod rounds per day. And he can pick between four of them. As a Free action. Insanely good. But this has probably already been discussed to death in the boards.
I normally spend a good portion of our combats keeping everyone healed. With the Bloodrager evasion tanking, I was getting by with Life Link and the occasional Channel or Cure spell, giving me the freedom to take more offensive actions. Which is fine, but normally such a character would be a high-Dex, Feat-intensive build or a heavily-armored, slow-moving Fighter. He was also able to (theoretically) lay out some decent damage as well while moving at 40ft/rd unbuffed and casting spells.
I'd be interested to see how other Bloodlines perform.
Thanks for the feedback! I recently tested a quite different bloodrager myself at level 11, and liked reading about your impressions, especially since most other reports are of low level play. I think it's great that our respective bloodragers seem to differ so much in play, while both seem very capable in comparison to most other full BAB classes. Means the designers differentiated at least the Abyssal and Arcane Bloodlines successfully, I think.
Just a little nitpick:
DEFENSE: Raging (Prot Arrows / Displacement) & Shield spell = AC 28
/snip/
I take a 5' step towards the door to block it and declare total defense, boosting my AC to 34.
With +4 from total defense, shouldn't Nonono's AC be 32? Or did I miss something?
I think I counted three incredulous, "wait, he can do what?"s. As written and built, I'm fairly certain the GM would ban the Bloodrager in home games.
Seriously? The DM thought the bloodrager was OP in a level 10 party with a witch and a sorcerer?
To me, that sounds very weird, to say the least. Though I do think the bloodrager can access some flashy stunts, the Arcane bloodline appears to be one of the most powerful bloodlines, and Nonono does seem to be hard to kill, the class is just no way near the same power levels as the witch or the sorcerer (at least beyond the earlier levels). Do you think the witch or the sorcerer have considerably less optimized builds or are less optimally played than Nonono here? If so, I guess that might be a reason why the DM reacts to Nonono when played side by side with those, despite being classes 2-3 tiers above the bloodrager.
The on-demand Displacement seemed particularly frustrating.
Yeah, the on-demand thing is powerful, even more so at lower levels, but I still think the DM's impression must've been biased by the particular opposition in question lacking any counter measures. I mean, it's a spell the sorcerer could've gotten as a bonus spell and cast on the party tank since 6th level in virtually every tougher melee fight, and it's negated by spells from 1st level and pretty common monster abilities and magic items.
Out of curiosity, how do you think the DM would've reacted if Nonono had been more opted for damage and chosen on-demand haste instead?
I'm guessing if we had encountered any casters and Nonono's disruption had gone off the GM's head would have exploded.
Perhaps. But I believe at least dedicated and not stupid casters also tend to prioritize not being visible within melee threat range when they cast, regardless of disruption et al. (I somewhat question the usefulness to cost ratio on the disruption chain unless added to a serious reach build.) And I guess it's more likely a dedicated caster just would've countered/dispelled the displacement or used spells which it doesn't protect against.
I should note, though, that since Sammy came in last minute, there wasn't really time to sit down with the GM and go over the character and class to properly set expectations.
I think this may explain much. From what I've gleaned about the encounters, I suspect quite a few variants of straight barb would've been able to wreck havoc on a much larger scale. Do you think it would've been more expected and seen as less incredulous if it had been a bloodrager doing ridiculous amounts of damage while refusing to die, more like a "typical" barb?
A Sorcerer gets three 2nd-level spells at level 4, and only knows 1. An Arcane Bloodrager gets access to the effects of really good 2nd-level spells like Blur or Resist Energy for 10 + Con Mod rounds per day. And he can pick between four of them. As a Free action. Insanely good. But this has probably already been discussed to death in the boards.
Yes, I agree it's a bit too much at that early level. The number of spells available should've been limited to one at level 4 and then scaling, like some other bloodrager powers, up to the full number over six additional levels or so, IMO.
I normally spend a good portion of our combats keeping everyone healed. With the Bloodrager evasion tanking, I was getting by with Life Link and the occasional Channel or Cure spell, giving me the freedom to take more offensive actions. Which is fine, but normally such a character would be a high-Dex, Feat-intensive build or a heavily-armored, slow-moving Fighter. He was also able to (theoretically) lay out some decent damage as well while moving at 40ft/rd unbuffed and casting spells.
Well, replace Nonono with for example a level 10 cleric built for a similar damage prevention role - you can probably find a good such build here - and try to (theoretically) replay the scenarios. I'm certain the cleric would have a much larger impact on the party's success than Nonono had or would be able to, unfortunately. So if the bloodrager makes your DM worry about class balance, I'd seriously recommend him to order Sammy to start cheating on his die rolls so Nonono might keep up... :D
I'd be interested to see how other Bloodlines perform.
Me too. Especially at mid levels when the class starts to differ more significantly from the barb.
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With +4 from total defense, shouldn't Nonono's AC be 32? Or did I miss something?
3 skill points in Acrobatics--I always try to squeeze them in even on the most skill starved frontliners ("If you have 3 or more ranks in Acrobatics, you gain a +3 dodge bonus to AC when fighting defensively instead of the usual +2, and a +6 dodge bonus to AC when taking the total defense action instead of the usual +4.")
(I somewhat question the usefulness to cost ratio on the disruption chain unless added to a serious reach build.)
Absolutely agree. Normally, I wouldn't pick those feats. Only reason I chose it for the playtest was the fleeting hope I could use it.
Yes, I agree it's a bit too much at that early level. The number of spells available should've been limited to one at level 4 and then scaling, like some other bloodrager powers, up to the full number over six additional levels or so, IMO.
That's a good call--the Arcane bloodrage buff spells are earned like regular spells and pool grows as you level. You have to make a tough choice on what buff spell(s) you choose at L4, L8, etc but you gain more flexibility as you level and learn more.
To me, that sounds very weird, to say the least. Though I do think the bloodrager can access some flashy stunts, the Arcane bloodline appears to be one of the most powerful bloodlines, and Nonono does seem to be hard to kill, the class is just no way near the same power levels as the witch or the sorcerer (at least beyond the earlier levels). Do you think the witch or the sorcerer have considerably less optimized builds or are less optimally played than Nonono here? If so, I guess that might be a reason why the DM reacts to Nonono when played side by side with those, despite being classes 2-3 tiers above the bloodrager.
The player of the witch entered into a gentlemen's agreement to use the Slumber hex only in emergencies. If we were selecting new characters, a Witch would probably be banned, or at least strongly discouraged.
The Sorcerer is a blaster, so not as game-breaking as they can be.
Out of curiosity, how do you think the DM would've reacted if Nonono had been more opted for damage and chosen on-demand haste instead?
Well, the Sorcerer opened most combats with Haste, so it would have been redundant. He also cast Displacement on the Barbarian. I'd say it was the action economy more than anything that threw him off.
Do you think it would've been more expected and seen as less incredulous if it had been a bloodrager doing ridiculous amounts of damage while refusing to die, more like a "typical" barb?
I do. But I think that's the case for most GMs. In general, a martial dropping something with a ton of damage is seen as doing it "the right way" while a caster getting off a SoS/SoD is "cheap." No judgment on that, just my experience to date.
Well, replace Nonono with for example a level 10 cleric built for a similar damage prevention role - you can probably find a good such build here - and try to (theoretically) replay the scenarios. I'm certain the cleric would have a much larger impact on the party's success than Nonono had or would be able to, unfortunately. So if the bloodrager makes your DM worry about class balance, I'd seriously recommend him to order Sammy to start cheating on his die rolls so Nonono might keep up... :D
Perhaps, but for a little more perspective, our group has struggled throughout most of the AP. I'd say the biggest reason is that, for the most part, we've really only had one guy doing the damage and taking the damage. Having an off-tank and additional DPR (in MMO terms) made a really big difference. So it was a big swing from our normal experience. I agree that a character built to fill a similar role may have had a similar effect. The Bloodrager happened to do it very well.