The White Fire Gauntlet


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The White Fire Gauntlet
Designed to test both combat and non-combat utility of classes. If this is accepted as a standard test, it can help to compare a playtest class vs another build of the same class, vs another playtest class, and/or vs a non-playtest class who's balance in the game is known.

Please conduct each combat test with a party of 5, consisting of
Valeros, Fighter 7
Harsk, Ranger 7
Seoni, Sorcerer 7
Seelah, Paladin 7
And a character of your choosing at level 7.

With this data, comparing the new Occult Classes (or any future playtest) should be more simple and comprehensive.

Components
The Mook Test
The Flying Mook Test
The Shooting Mook Test
The Magical Mook Test
The PVP Test
The Skill Gauntlet
The Utility Gauntlet

This test is designed for an Epic (CR+3) Challenge for your party of 5 lvl 7 characters. It will test your abilities to the limits, and you may not survive every step. If you are unable to complete a particular step of a test, mark it as taking the maximum amount of time and proceed as if you had succeeded.
Each step of each test will be limited to a 20-round time limit. This is partly because many characters can accomplish nearly any task given enough time. In theory, with several weeks to reach a goal, selling loot to ask a Wizard for help would be a viable way to accomplish something if it didn't involve a time limit. For combat situations, this represents the rest of the party. If a combat lasts over 20 rounds, it is likely that more party members would have accomplished the goal far more quickly. Please feel free to assume a full heal and a full night's sleep after each section.

Scoring
During combat, please note your % chance to hit the target, your DPR on a successful hit, and the distance at which you can accomplish this DPR consistently. This helps to prevent Dice Bias in small sample tests. List the techniques and strategies you have employed, the number of times you hit and were hit, and the damage you took and dealt. If you defeated the enemies within 20 rounds, mark success and how many rounds it took. If you were defeated within 20 rounds, mark failure and the number of rounds survived. If you survived to 20 rounds, mark draw and continue.
During non combat testing, please note your average success rate, the number of rounds it took to complete each step of the event, and the total time it took you to complete the gauntlet.

The Mook Tests

Basic Mooks:
CR5 Cyclops x 6
We've chosen Cyclops for a basic Melee creature, smart enough to at least improvise an attack strategy, with no ranged or magic attacks and no particularly remarkable traits.
The room is 60 feet tall, 100 x 100 squares. Plenty of room to maneuver around. From the 3rd column of the room's squares, you have a 5 foot wall that runs down the left side of the room, with an opening at the top and bottom each 10 foot wide, so that the Cyclops could get around the wall and run down the side of it.
You have a similar wall on the opposing side of the room, this one going all the way to the ceiling. There is a platform, 20x20, at the top center of the room against the wall. It is 15 feet high, and accessible via all three sides having a laddered construction. There is a pit in the center of the room which drops 40 feet, it is likewise 20x20.
The lighting conditions in the room are normal, with the exceptions of behind the low wall and in the pit being dim, and behind the larger wall is dark.
These Cyclops will begin with 2 on the platform, 1 each at the northmost point of the two side walls, and 1 at each side of the pit. They have an Int of 10, so please remember that they will use strategy where possible.
You may begin play anywhere within 20 feet of the south wall, and may roll a stealth check to enter unnoticed.

The Flying Mooks:

Reset the stage and begin again, with these creatures.
Giant Hornet x6
They begin in similar positions, hovering 20 feet off the ground in each case, which puts the two on the platform 35 feet off the ground floor. These are not intelligent creatures, and will relentlessly attack from the first turn until dead.

The Shooting Mooks:

NPC Ranger These appear in the same locations as before, and will act as a team with tactics and logic appropriate to a defensive scouting party encountering a threat to their village.

The Magic Mooks:

Large Air Elemental
Large Earth Elemental
Large Fire Elemental
Large Ice Elemental
Large Lightning Elemental
Large Water Elemental
One of each elemental. This will test your ability to handle DR, immunities, and situations where varied tactics may be used against you. For the purposes of this test, while the elementals will each INDIVIDUALLY use strategy to attempt to kill you, and will not attack or actively interfere with another elemental's attempts, each is considered a separate enemy team and there is no communication or coordination among them. You may picture this as a friendly race between the elements to see who can kill you first. Please remember that it is not necessary to kill them all. As a benchmark test goes, surviving for 20 rounds doing the best you can to deal and avoid damage is as good a comparison as how long it takes to kill something.
If you look at each of the starting locations for previous Mooks, they will begin play from left most mook to rightmost mook in the order : Air, Lightning, Fire, Water, Ice, Earth. This is chosen in no particular order, but is to standardize the positioning.

The PVP Test:

Using the same arena, but with no platform in the north center, please directly compare any two characters. They each begin within 20 feet of the north or south wall, aware the opponent is in the room, but receive a stealth vs perception check as before. This is to help better guage classes who use stealth to their advantage in battle as a standard. Again, please remember that this is a 20 round or to the death match. It is designed to show survivability, damage, and combat utility. This will not likely be a balanced match with certain classes, but showcases the unique style of the class being tested and displays problem solving ability as a factor of martial prowess.

The Skill Gauntlet:

Here's the scenario. You are in a long hallway with many doors, and must reach the other side. You will be given instructions for each section of hallway. The doors unlock automatically after 20 rounds of occupancy, so if you are unable to complete a task you will be able to proceed. Unless the task of the room is specifically to break, unlock, teleport through, or otherwise interfere with the door itself or similarly called for, such actions cannot be taken. At the end of the hallway, please add your total time in rounds. This is not a test of cleverness and workability, this is designed exclusively to test skill checks in a hypothetical situation. You get to use powers and abilities beyond your skill checks in the next test.
All DC's are 25. By level 7, a person who is designed to easily do a particular skill would have (+4 for stat Mod +10 Points +3 for class +possible miscelaneous) as many as +14 or more to the roll. I'm suspecting a closer average for a well balanced character is that they will get +10 on at least a few of these, making them not impossible for the most part. In fact, all you really need to be technically able to do it is a +5, and taking 20. These non-combat situations require you to use only the playtest character.

You hear the announcer yell overhead "Climb the rock wall! Swim across! Lift that Rock! Are you sweating yet? We're just getting started!"
Climb

Swim

Strength check

Endurance check

Total Score for Strength

The door opens to reveal another hallway.
"Alright, so you're going to need more than that to get out of this facility, Soldier. Put on your big girl panties and let's see some hustle! Jump the pit! Do you see the tripwire? Don't let it trigger! Put on those shackles and take them back off! Put them in a pocket and don't let me see which one! Sneak up on that Hippogryph! Ride it down the hallway! Get it to take off, and show me a loop the loop! Now backflip off of it and catch this rubber ball in the air!"
Acrobatics

Disable Device

Escape Artist

Slight of Hand

Stealth

Ride

Fly

Dexterity Check

Total Score for Dexterity

"Alright, alright, so you didn't break your neck. I've seen better. Now let's see if you can keep your ears clean while you do it! There's a box to your left, and one to your right. I'm telling you to trust me, you want to open the box on the left. If you believed me, you just got shrapnel in your face. The other box is a med kit, for real this time. Patch yourself up. If you didn't, good for you! List off the stuff in the box and what it's for. When you get done, look around. There's a tile with a crack in it, behind that is a map. Time for a little graffiti, trace the fastest path, and the safest path, from coast to coast. Now tell me what you do for a living, because you'd need money for a vacation like that! While we're at it, which came first, the chicken or the egg?"
Sense motive

Heal

Perception

Survival

Profession

Wisdom Check

Total Score for Wisdom

"Okay, so you think you're smart now huh? Let's see how smart you are! There are three gems, keep the most expensive one. Make something useful with it! Write an instruction book for this thing you built, in another language! There are a series of books on the table beside you. Give me a synopsis of each one! What is the enchantment on the book about magic? Take this IQ test!"
Appraise

Craft

Linguistics

Knowledge Arcana

Knowledge Dungeoneering

Knowledge Engineering

Knowledge Geography

Knowledge History

Knowledge Local

Knowledge Nature

Knowledge Nobility

Knowledge Planes

Knowledge Religion

Spellcraft

Intelligence Check

Total Score for Intelligence

"On your right is a table of inks and powders and such. On it is a territorial parrot. Convince the parrot to let you use the desk! Now make yourself look like me! That's not good enough, what do you think I look like? Now I'm angry, calm me down! Use that wand of disguise to do a better job! So you really think you did a good enough job? Make me think you think it's perfect! Excellent, now we can be friends at a party, assuming you can dance or play an instrument! Okay, so you clearly have a few skills. Now give me a reason to fear you, and I might consider letting you out of here! I don't know, I bet you can do better than that, let's see if you can be personable enough to live in the outside world without my help first."
Handle Animal

Disguise

Diplomacy

Use Magic Device

Bluff

Perform

Intimidate

Charisma Check

Total Score for Charisma

"Congratulations, you made it to the back door! Took you long enough, slacker. Of course, now you've got a problem..."

Total Score for The Skill Gauntlet

The Utility Gauntlet:

For this section of the test, please list as many ways to bypass each obstacle as you feel are reasonable for your character. Also include whether this ability could potentially get the rest of the party through the challenge. This is not a skill check challenge, it is a question of using your own mechanics, equipment, loot, spells, and creativity to make the people testing you feel dumb. They put you through this big long annoying hallway already, and now you just want out. If you have a solution to the whole situation, or more than half the tests, such as teleport or planar gate, please list it at the end of this section under "Big Problem Solvers". Once listed there, you may safely continue to list everything that individually applies to a give portion of the test. For space reasons, please see "The Skill Gauntlet" for the list of challenges, and write your answers to each problem in the same section, in the blank area near each skill.

The last door opens into a long hallway with a rock wall directly ahead of you, identical to where you began...

Big Problem Solvers

Please also make sure to post your build information down below here!!! It's hardly a fair comparison if we can't see how your character is designed.


Seems interesting enough. Going to use it to test some minor changes in the character I used last time. Also corrected what I think was a math error in Empowered + Vital Strike

The Build:
Arashi
Human
Str: 10
Dex: 24
Con: 24
Int: 12
Wis: 12
Cha: 7

HP: 138 – 30 Nonlethal
AC 31 (+3 Natural Armor, +7 Armor, +2 Enhancement (NA), +2 Deflection, +7 Dex)
Fort: +16, Ref +16, Will +6
Initiative: +9

Traits: Reactionary, Pragmatic Activator
1 Toughness, Spell Penetration, Extended Range
2 Slick
3 Weapon Finesse
4 Kinetic Blade
5 Infusion Specialization: Form, Weapon Focus (Kinetic Blast)
6 Kinetic Whip
7 Combat Reflexes, Expanded Element (Air- Air Blast)
8 Infusion Specialization: Form, Extreme Range
9 Vital Strike
10 Kinetic Form

Belt of Physical Might +4
Bracers of Falcon’s Aim
Ring of Protection +2
Amulet of Natural Armor +2
Cloak of Resistance +2

Movement: Land 30ft, Fly 60ft (Perfect), Fly +20
Senses: Darkvision 60ft, Perception +17

Cold Blast: +16 (Touch)
5D6+6, 7D6+9 (Empowered)

Air Blast: +16
5D6+15, 7D6+22 (Empowered)

Cold Whip: +15/+10 (Touch)
5D6+6, 10D6+12 (Vital Strike), 7D6+9 (Empowered), 14D6+18 (Empowered Vital Strike)

Air Whip +15/+10
5D6+15, 10D6+30 (Vital Strike), 7D6+22 (Empowered), 14D6+44 (Empowered Vital Strike)

Blizzard Blast (2 Burn) +16
10D6+20, 15D6+30 (Empowered)

Blizzard Whip (2 Burn) +15/+10
10D6+20, 20D6+40 (Vital Strike), 15D6+30 (Empowered), 30D6+60 (Empowered Vital Strike)

Other Skills
Stealth +20
Use Magical Device +14

Note: I am assuming Vital Strike amplifies Empowered, because Empowered modifies the damage of the blast itself rather than being an additional effect. Not entirely sure on that front, but that's my reading. All stats assume Kinetic Form (Medium Air Elemental) is active at all times, and Shroud of Water has been increased by 1 AC by taking 1 Burn

Mook Test: Worth noting that the Cyclops does have a ranged attack, a Heavy Crossbow. However, since its inclusion seems to be dependent on it being melee-only, that's what I'll assume.

The short version: Arashi wins easily.

The long version: Arashi enters the room and makes a Stealth check (17 on the die, total 37). The Cyclops roll 13, 14, 4, 17, 12, and 5. Highest is a 28; Arashi enters undetected.

During the surprise round he moves directly upwards 60' (Fly check DC 20; Arashi cannot fail).

Assuming the wall is smooth, the Cyclops cannot possibly close distance since they lack ranged skills. Arashi may destroy them at leisure. He targets the one closest to the ceiling-high wall with an Empowered Extreme Range Air Blast, rolls an 11 and deals 50 damage.

This will be repeated for twelve rounds, using his Air Blasts to deal initial damage and spreading it over each Cyclops for the first five rounds. The best move for the Cyclops is to retreat behind the high wall at the far end, which would force Arashi to move to engage them-- but he can easily do this without slowing his damage rate; each Cyclops should drop in two attacks. If time was of the essence he could use Blizzard Blasts, which should one-shot each Cyclops when Empowered-- Arashi can fire three before hitting his Burn cap.

Flying Mooks: I would say that you would probably do better to refrain from using third-party content in a test.

The short version: Arashi wins easily.

The long version: The mooks still can't hurt Arashi. With a +9 to hit, they only hit on a natural 20 unless three die within 50' of a fourth (which means they hit on... 19-20). Meanwhile, Arashi's Empowered Air Blast is a one-shot kill on average. Six round win.

Shooting Mooks: Frankly not significantly different from the hornets. While hypothetically capable of hurting Arashi, a +12 to hit means they need a 19 to break his AC, and if Arashi felt the need he could spend a point of Burn to upgrade his Shroud of Water and change that to natural 20 only. Utilizing Air Blasts (they're guaranteed hits) means Resist Energy becomes useless. Each Ranger can take one average-damage Empowered Air Blast and stay upright in single-digit HP, so twelve rounds to win.

The only real danger is if the Rangers all ready actions to fire when Arashi Empowers his blast and one of them hits in that moment, but even then this amounts to only 10 nonlethal damage and is a rare occurrence, so the Rangers have little to no chance of victory.

The Magic Mooks:

The Air Elemental is by far the largest threat due to its Whirlwind ability. It will have to be disabled first. Arashi rolls for stealth, 16. Enemies roll 9 (Air), 5 (Lightning), 12 (Earth), 5 (Fire), 8 (Ice), 7 (Water). Arashi takes the first shot to alpha-strike with a Blizzard Blast. 19 to hit is huge overkill against the Air Elemental's AC, 69 damage is a nice high roll that only barely manages to knock it into unconsciousness... but it does.

Positioning is such that none of the grounded elementals can close, making the Lightning Elemental the only immediate threat. It closes the distance and uses a Slam attack, which needs an 18 to hit... and rolls a 17.

Arashi Vital Strike Air Whips the Elemental; 4 to hit is sufficient and 64 damage knocks it out. Then he moves 60' upward.

Second verse, same as the first. The Earth Elemental can save itself by going underground and stalling for time, and Arashi would need to move away from the wall to stop the Ice Elemental from climbing after him, but Arashi can pick the rest off at his leisure.

I'll have to come back for the rest due to time constraints. Anyone else who jumps in on this, feel free to use Arashi for your tests.


It is worth noting that the Iconics are built on the 20 point buy system. For custom characters with other point buy systems or rolled stats, your results may not be balanced with respect to the other party members. Please note the system you used to determine your ability scores, as well as any home rules you have included in the test. Thank you very much!

@kestral287 I am so sorry, I set this one up and then talked to Mark. His advice led to a pretty big change. Still, I'm loving your test so far with Arashi, I really was expecting this to be at least a little bit difficult. :)
Can't wait to see how he handles the utility half of the Skill gauntlets. Would like you to use the updated bit for the utility section, if possible, where you determine if your way around the check would help a hypothetical party as well.


Yeah, figured that change was coming after reading the Kineticist thread. It served my purpose of validating Air Blast though, so all good.

Five characters... I'll have to come back to that one, maybe after I mess around with some of the other new classes.

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