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Personally, I would not allow the golem to take 10, as the acid and it's legs burning would clearly be both danger and distraction. But other than that, yeah.But he's large sized and can easily reach the opposite sides of the chute.
Climbing a chimney (artificial or natural) or other location where you can brace against two opposite walls lowers the DC by 10. Having two perpendicular walls (a corner) to brace against reduces the DC by 5 more.
So, actually, the DC is only 15 for him. He climbs out automatically by taking 10.
Most valid point I've seen yet today.
Or
Round 1 - I cast Monstrous Physique II while my familiar casts Shield from a scroll; I might survive the first round if I'm at full HP
Round 2 - full attack with 6 attacks (Huge 4-armed gargoyle) using my familiar to Aid Another while flanking and my Outflank teamwork feat (the familiar has the Valet arch so it qualifies in teamwork) puts those 6 attacks at +21 to hit. I use my swift action to drop in Arcane Strike for +12 damage on each hit. The stone golem is an AC 26 so a 5 or better or 80% to hit.
So if my familiar didn't just kill itself and if my 6 attacks hit I'm inflicting 4d8 (claws) +1d6 (gore) +2d6 (bite) +2d6 from some acid gloves I'm wearing +72 for an average full attack of 97 damage. Now of course there's DR in there and I have to look up how Arcane Strike's "counts as a magic weapon" interacts with that if at all, but 97 damage is kind of respectable right?
Or I could drop it in a pit for sure.
That's a whole lotta added comparison to a single spell.
Only a large gargoyle and the damage is slightly off. All 6 attacks are d8s.
Second round assumes you're In front of the golem without having to move. Along with your familiar not having to move to get into a flanking position. And giving a full attack worth of successful aid another's where your familiar gets 6 attacks as well.
The math might be a little off.
I hadn't realized. Thanks for the heads up.
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Most valid point I've seen yet today.Personally, I would not allow the golem to take 10, as the acid and it's legs burning would clearly be both danger and distraction. But other than that, yeah.But he's large sized and can easily reach the opposite sides of the chute.
Climbing a chimney (artificial or natural) or other location where you can brace against two opposite walls lowers the DC by 10. Having two perpendicular walls (a corner) to brace against reduces the DC by 5 more.
So, actually, the DC is only 15 for him. He climbs out automatically by taking 10.
If golems had minds, I'd agree with you. But how can something with no intelligence (not zero, but a dash where its int score should be) be distracted?
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Or
Round 1 - I cast Monstrous Physique II while my familiar casts Shield from a scroll; I might survive the first round if I'm at full HP
Round 2 - full attack with 6 attacks (Huge 4-armed gargoyle) using my familiar to Aid Another while flanking and my Outflank teamwork feat (the familiar has the Valet arch so it qualifies in teamwork) puts those 6 attacks at +21 to hit. I use my swift action to drop in Arcane Strike for +12 damage on each hit. The stone golem is an AC 26 so a 5 or better or 80% to hit.
So if my familiar didn't just kill itself and if my 6 attacks hit I'm inflicting 4d8 (claws) +1d6 (gore) +2d6 (bite) +2d6 from some acid gloves I'm wearing +72 for an average full attack of 97 damage. Now of course there's DR in there and I have to look up how Arcane Strike's "counts as a magic weapon" interacts with that if at all, but 97 damage is kind of respectable right?
Or I could drop it in a pit for sure.
Ummm ... impressive, but my Magus keeps Grease and Glitterdust memorized. The entire party can safely pound on any errant golems in safety. Much simpler.
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If golems had minds, I'd agree with you. But how can something with no intelligence (not zero, but a dash where its int score should be) be distracted?
If we are going to use that logic, I would say it stems from the same source which allows them to "think" to climb out of the pit in the first place.
I don't see why people get so worked up about "tank" PCs having an AC which average melee foes can only hit with a nat 20. To me it doesn't seem that much different than a Rogue being able to evade a Fireball by rolling a 2 on his Reflex save. Rogues are good at avoiding AoE damage, and Fighters are resistant to melee damage.
If PCs with high AC are considered unsporting I wonder why using debuffs and battlefield control isn't considered unsporting too. Having an AC of 30 but giving the enemy a -8 to hit isn't that much different than having an AC of 38. Dropping a golem into a pit where it can't attack anybody is like having an AC of infinity. On the flip side, monsters can use flank, trip, aid another, awesome blow, etc to lower the bar on hitting PCs.
I think maybe it is supposed to be normal for high level combatants to have trouble landing solid blows on each other by just walking up and swinging. I thought that a recent high profile combat in a popular TV show looked like a good example of how high level combatants might use combat maneuvers and dirty tricks of various sorts to jockey for an advantage in a battle where it is otherwise difficult to score a telling blow.
Round 1 - I cast Monstrous Physique II while my familiar casts Shield from a scroll; I might survive the first round if I'm at full HP
Just FYI - you do mean the familiar casting shield on itself? It can't share-spells with you, nor can shield be cast on another.
If golems had minds, I'd agree with you. But how can something with no intelligence (not zero, but a dash where its int score should be) be distracted?Most valid point I've seen yet today.Personally, I would not allow the golem to take 10, as the acid and it's legs burning would clearly be both danger and distraction. But other than that, yeah.But he's large sized and can easily reach the opposite sides of the chute.
Climbing a chimney (artificial or natural) or other location where you can brace against two opposite walls lowers the DC by 10. Having two perpendicular walls (a corner) to brace against reduces the DC by 5 more.
So, actually, the DC is only 15 for him. He climbs out automatically by taking 10.
How would they figure out a better way to climb than just go up the wall? Damage (not pain) might make it more difficult to climb, but I don't see a mindless creature down there, waist deep in acid, contemplating how it could brace itself in the corner and use opposite walls for better leverage, etc.
Thanks for all of the info and advice on AC.
I think the problem I am having is that I am running an AP and was told by someone, somewhere that the APs were designed for a party of 5 characters built on (I think) 20 points, add to that the fact that my players are REALLY good at optimizing builds and I think I see my problem. It looks like I will need to redo a lot of the encounters at a +2 CL.
-Erich
Thanks for all of the info and advice on AC.
I think the problem I am having is that I am running an AP and was told by someone, somewhere that the APs were designed for a party of 5 characters built on (I think) 20 points, add to that the fact that my players are REALLY good at optimizing builds and I think I see my problem. It looks like I will need to redo a lot of the encounters at a +2 CL.-Erich
AFAIK APs are usually designed for 4 players.
Out of interest, are you running kingmaker? Kingmaker is infamous for being really easy and requiring a boost to difficulty.
Also out of interest, but how are you calculating CR? Remember that CR doesn't add together to determine final challenge: two CR 5 monsters is a CR 6 encounter, not a CR 10 encounter.
Also out of interest, but how are you calculating CR? Remember that CR doesn't add together to determine final challenge: two CR 5 monsters is a CR 6 encounter, not a CR 10 encounter.
That is incorrect. Two CR 5's is CR 7
Two 7's are a 9and it keeps going like that.
You can also figure it out by look the XP
The XP for two CR 5's is the same as one CR 7.
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Sure thing, I meant CR 7.