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In Bestiary 3 the Terra-Cotta Garrison has raise shield and shield block. How would shield block work? The troop does not even have equipment? I guess it could use the steel shield (Hardness 5, HP 20, BT 10) from the warrior but that seems weird since it only has 20 HP and BT 10?
https://2e.aonprd.com/Monsters.aspx?ID=1333
Just wonder how this works..I am thinking of just bumping up the all the shield numbers but not sure.
Not having a shield is an issue, yes, as is the question of how many shields would they have? How would damage be distributed? Is Shield Block simply a remnant from the base monster and not applicable?
And I'd note it's often not worthwhile to spend that action unless the shield(s) exemplary.
Oy.
It probably should not have the Shield Block nor Attack of Opportunity actions. There is an adventure path that uses them with some modification and it removes those reactions.
Weaknesses area damage 15, bludgeoning 10, splash damage 8Alchemist: "I've been waiting for this moment for so long... Who's usless now?!!"
Heh heh heh heh.
As a Bomber, I do so love swarms, and troops...
Keep in mind that Area Damage and Splash Damage are two separate weaknesses. Bombs do Splash, and Splash, despite having an area of effect, is not Area Damage. Basically, these folks are Weak to Splash and even Weaker to AoE spells. Fireballs decimate these folks. (Yes, that sound you hear is the blaster spellcasters cackling with glee.)
I suppose an argument could be made that a Mega Bomb (Alchemist L20 Feat) would trigger both weaknesses.
Well fireballs should decimate them since one represents many smaller creatures. If the same threat level were represented w/ separate creatures, the fireball would do far more than +15 damage!
I admit I was thinking about megabomb ( to the extreme, for the alchemist pleasure ), not considering that normal bombs just do splash damage.
So, once again, if extra damage is given to the alchemist, rest assured that double the damage would be given to spellcasters.
A mitigating factor is that the Bomber is likely to have a lot more Bombs than the spellcaster will have AoE spells. Not to mention that a Bomber can Strike up to 3 times a round, potentially doing Splash each time. (Against an even-level High AC opponent, a 3rd Bomb Strike will still splash on a 12+ even at the Alchemist's worst levels (13,14,16,20).)
So that would be somewhere between 8-24 points of Weakness damage in a round. The AoE spell would do more overall (hey, that's Spells vs Bombs for ya) but the Alchemist can still get more damage out of the Weakness.
Weaknesses area damage 15, bludgeoning 10, splash damage 8Alchemist: "I've been waiting for this moment for so long... Who's usless now?!!"Heh heh heh heh.
As a Bomber, I do so love swarms, and troops...
Keep in mind that Area Damage and Splash Damage are two separate weaknesses. Bombs do Splash, and Splash, despite having an area of effect, is not Area Damage. Basically, these folks are Weak to Splash and even Weaker to AoE spells. Fireballs decimate these folks. (Yes, that sound you hear is the blaster spellcasters cackling with glee.)
I suppose an argument could be made that a Mega Bomb (Alchemist L20 Feat) would trigger both weaknesses.
How about Directional Bombs? Would those still trigger the splash damage, or the area damage?
I am fairly sure that it wouldn't trigger both in any case.
A mitigating factor is that the Bomber is likely to have a lot more Bombs than the spellcaster will have AoE spells.
Yes, that is certainly true for me. I rarely have more than a couple of area spells prepared. And quite often they are lower level than my highest spell slots.
This may not hold true for spontaneous spellcasters. Especially Sorcerer. They may have a low level area spell such as Burning Hands set as a Signature spell - meaning that they could potentially use their entire allotment of spell slots of that level or higher on that one spell.
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A mitigating factor is that the Bomber is likely to have a lot more Bombs than the spellcaster will have AoE spells.Yes, that is certainly true for me. I rarely have more than a couple of area spells prepared. And quite often they are lower level than my highest spell slots.
This may not hold true for spontaneous spellcasters. Especially Sorcerer. They may have a low level area spell such as Burning Hands set as a Signature spell - meaning that they could potentially use their entire allotment of spell slots of that level or higher on that one spell.
Also some of us make a point of carrying AoE Cantrips for use against swarms & troops. Unless the enemies roll a crit success, you're spamming decent damage since the Weakness is typically significant. And now w/ Haunting Hymn, Divine & Occult casters can join in the fun too (and sonic has its own advantages).
Also some of us make a point of carrying AoE Cantrips for use against swarms & troops.
That's true. I had forgotten that Scatter Scree is technically an area spell - it just has a strange area. Spout would also work. I'm not sure that I would want to use Gale Blast though, but it would technically also work. I haven't checked through the non-Arcane cantrips, but there are probably some more in those.
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How about Directional Bombs? Would those still trigger the splash damage, or the area damage?
I am fairly sure that it wouldn't trigger both in any case.
Directional Bombs says, "instead of splashing all squares adjacent to the target, you can treat the target’s space as the first affected square of a 15-foot cone directed away from you ..." Though a cone is usually treated as an area that defines an area of effect, in this case I would rule that the the cone has splash damage rather than area damage, just like a regular splash deals splash damage rather than area damage in its area that is exactly like a 5-foot emanation.
As for the original issue of Terra-Cotta Garrison having Shield Block, Raise Shields, and an AC listing for shields raised without having any shields, I think that is an oversight in designing the troop units. The Bestiary 3 troop units don't attack normally, so though the Terra-Cotta Garrison would be illustrated as striking with longswords just like the Terra-Cotta Soldier, they don't actually carry swords. Likewise, the Terra-Cotta Garrison is envisioned as blocking with steel shields just like a Terra-Cotta Soldier but without the actual shields. The oversight is that the hardness to apply to the Shield Block and shield hit points to take excess damage come from the shields rather than the Shield Block ability.
For my own campaign where the PCs fought armies of hobgoblin soldiers, I created a Hobgoblin Formation, creature 9, a troop unit made of 16 Hobgoblin Soldiers. Hobgoblin Soldiers have wooden shields (Hardness 3, HP 12, BT 6) for their shield blocking, but that is totally inadequate at 9th level. Thus, I added the note "(Hardness 12)" after the Shield Block ability. I based the hardness 12 on Table 2-10: Strike Damage in the Building Creatures section of the Gamemastery Guide. Hardness 3 is 60% of the average 5 damage dealt at 1st level. Hardness 12 is 60% of the average 20 damage dealt at 9th level.
The Terra-Cotta Soldier's shield hardness 5 is 33% of the average 15 damage dealt at 6th level. Hardness 9 would be 33% of the average 27 damage dealt at 13th level. Therefore, I would add the note "(Hardness 9)" after the Shield Block ability of the Terra-Cotta Garrison. The non-existent shields don't need actual hit points. Monsters often leave out details for simplified gameplay, and the simplification here is that the imaginary shields don't take damage.
Directional Bombs says, "instead of splashing all squares adjacent to the target, you can treat the target’s space as the first affected square of a 15-foot cone directed away from you ..." Though a cone is usually treated as an area that defines an area of effect, in this case I would rule that the the cone has splash damage rather than area damage, just like a regular splash deals splash damage rather than area damage in its area that is exactly like a 5-foot emanation.
That makes sense. I'll plan for that effect then. If I ever decide to use bombs. And ever take the Directional Bombs feat.