3rd level siege wizards. What else can I add?

[Mathius]

So my PCs will be taking a cargo ship in the near future. I am goign to defend it with two ballista crews and two 3rd level wizards.

I am thinking Elves with the seige mage archatype.

S 8 D 18 C 10 I 16 W 10 C 10
Siege Engineer, point blank shot, far shot
1st: Longshot, alter self, (magic weapon/abundant ammo)
2nd: Cat's grace, glitterdust

The will also have a want of true strike with 12 charges each.

The will be using heavy ballistas and each can fire every other round. The will not open fire until they pc are within 1000 feet.

They should have total mod +4 dex, +1 BAB, +1 MW, +2 alter self, +2 cat's grace for a total of +10 before range. TS more then makes up for any range penalties and make hitting easy even and long ranges.

I am overlooking anything to make them more fearsome?

They will hit hard and true with each shot but I suspect that they will not be get off that many shots due to PC cleverness. I want each one to count. They have 1 2nd level spell to burn towards damage.

[AdamF]

Mathius wrote:

I am overlooking anything to make them more fearsome?

How about unseen servant crew to reload faster?

How about special ammo? My google fails me right now but I'm sure it's in the rules somewhere.

Enlarge Person so your wizards might wield the ballista?

Touch of combustion for flaming arrows?

Gravity bow? Longshot? Magic Weapon?

Arrow Eruption.

[GM_Solspiral]

scale this up for ballista bolts

[CLufaS]

I like the use of siege wizards (I think they're underused TBH) but I think you might be better served by throwing on a Springal instead of one of the Ballistas. It gives you more of a variety and functions as a deck-clearing weapon since a cargo ship is going to be more worried about being boarded than anything else. If it's ship to ship (seems like) how fast are the PC's likely to close?

Flaming weapons vs boats can be pretty vicious but adds urgency to get the combat over with, especially if the PC's have to put out fires AND worry about arrow volleys.

Gentle breeze works wonders for extending / slowing the combat pursuit if the attacker is using sails.

[Mathius]

Once the PCs get there the fight will be over so I thought the range factor.

Gentle breeze from a scroll is a good idea. I will have it add 20 feet to the ships speed.

Unseen servant is cool crew idea.

Gravity bow and arrow eruption will not help siege weapons.

Enlarge person is not needed since due to feats.

Touch of combustion would be interesting but might light the ballistas on fire.

[CLufaS]

I was thinking that the Ballista might entice the PCs and crew to take cover on deck or somesuch (I wouldn't be walking around with siege weapons whizzing by). The Springal is the same size and speed but gives you an indirect area effect. If you light those arrows it shoots on fire then you've got something that'll easily become the #1 concern as it could light the sails and rigging. That'll draw the PC's out or since it's indirect fire it'll actually negate the cover they're likely to take. It'll likely get less shots overall due to distance but will be far more effective when they do come into range.

[AdamF]

I'm glad I got one with the unseen servant.

IMO no reason you shouldn't use effects like gravity bow and arrow eruption and similar though to spice the encounter up.

I'm new at this posting so please excuse me if this formatting is wonky.

Gravity Bow wrote:

arrows or bolts fired from your bow or crossbow

Arrow Eruption wrote:

arrow or crossbow bolt you used

Siege Mage wrote:

a siege mage can bond with a single siege engine

Siege Weapon wrote:

A ballista is essentially a Huge heavy crossbow

I'll argue those spells work for your crossbow; A ballista is essentially a crossbow and that bond makes it as good as yours. Perhaps regardless couldn't those specialist wizard have researched new spells to produce the same effect for a ballista?

Gotta say, I do like the springal idea as well.

[eakratz]

Mathius wrote:

Gravity bow and arrow eruption will not help siege weapons.

Sure they could. Ballista fire bolts right? And besides you're the GM so you can rule it so. It'll seem crazy on the recieving end but as son as they reach the ship the Wizards will be toast anyway.

For added fun have a few flaming burst bolts mixed in.

[Mathius]

The springnal will see use. I am thinking of those other things as well. I need to be careful with what I do since once I do it the PCs can copy it for themselves.