Random DM nagging.

Anastasia · November 28, 2011, 01:08:33 AM

I'm looking at the Mantled Warrior ACF for Dana next level instead of another bonus feat. To do so she'd have to give up one of her planned level 15 feats, see below. If any of you are familiar with psionics, do you think this is a good trade? I'm looking at the physical power or pain and suffering mantles offhand.

14: Aasimar 0/Knight 13/Psychic Warrior 1//Fighter 8/Dwarven Defender 6
15: Aasimar 0/Knight 13/Psychic Warrior 2//Fighter 8/Dwarven Defender 7 - Feats: Psionic Dodge(15), Greater Weapon Focus(PW2)
16: Aasimar 0/Knight 13/Psychic Warrior 3//Fighter 8/Dwarven Defender 8
17: Aasimar 0/Knight 13/Psychic Warrior 4//Fighter 8/Dwarven Defender 9
18: Aasimar 0/Knight 13/Psychic Warrior 5//Fighter 8/Dwarven Defender 10 - Feats: ?(18), ?(PW5)

After this is the big question. What PrC, if any, for 19-20? More fighter? A psionic PrC, maybe? Lots of options here. Feats are left open at 18 for that reason.

Anastasia · November 28, 2011, 01:13:12 AM

Quote from: Corwin on November 27, 2011, 03:51:02 PM
Yeah, the phrasing's dumb and at times needlessly awkward, especially with the whole energy res part. Wardship is mildly interesting, Resolution is a waste of time and Disapproval/Revelation are pretty glorious. Disapproval looks like it could synergise nicely with my War domain prc (which I'm clearly going to cast from, even if my crit range is just 20/x3), and Relevation is basically Ascetic Mage-lite (which is itself Arcane Strike-lite) except against appropriate foes (ie EVIL). I like that thematically, and it'd be useful, too.

Wardship is fine, though the +2 to saves vs death magic isn't relevant to this game. Disapproval is wonky as hell, not sure what I think of it. Revelation is really good. It's not arcane strike good, but a divine spell for +x hit, in addition to +1 hit and +1d4 damage is still hugely respectable.

Let me rewrite these before anything else. Post will be incoming.

Anastasia · November 28, 2011, 02:07:26 AM

Shield of Resolution [General]
Prerequisite: Favored Soul level 5th
Benefit: Once per day you may add one half of your favored soul level as a resistance bonus to your saving throws. This lasts for one hour and is a supernatural effect.

Dropped the energy resistance shit for now. Let's compare it to a few things. I'll start with the granted power of the protection domain, as the two powers are not dissimilar in design. To quote:

Quote from: srdGranted Power: You can generate a protective ward as a supernatural ability. Grant someone you touch a resistance bonus equal to your cleric level on his or her next saving throw. Activating this power is a standard action. The protective ward is an abjuration effect with a duration of 1 hour that is usable once per day.

So on one hand you get only half the rate of the domain ability and the duration is the same. On the other hand, this ability lasts for the entire hour. It doesn't go away after one saving throw. That's quite potent, keeping up with the resistance spells as they appear. Eventually this ability trumps even greater/superior resistance, though it does take some time.

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Wardship I'm skipping a moment. I want to overhaul the entire damn thing. Why the hell would a favored soul reference a domain spell list? That's completely daft and entirely limited. I'd do it as a kicker to spells that grants any bonus to armor class. You cast 'em, the bonus they grant to armor class rises by 1. Nice but not overwhelmingly awesome.

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Again, what idiot decided to tie favored soul class features to domains? Bloody fucking hell. So basically this is meant to give you an automatic keen edge spell plus a kicker spell on a successful critical? Reading these, I'm reminded more of class features than actual feats. They feel like 'em, as if the author was trying to patch special feature empty dead levels of favored soul. This one in particular I'd rewrite as an ACF, probably to replace weapon focus or specialization, haven't decided yet. Could go either way or maybe both depending on how potent this is.

Alternate Class Feature: Strike of Disapproval

You hit the bad guys really hard and get magic, blah blah blah I'm not doing flavor for a mockup.

Class: Favored Soul.

Replaces: If you select this alternate class feature, you do not gain deity's (weapon focus/weapon specialization).

Benefit: You gain improved critical with your deity's favored weapon as a bonus feat. You need not meet the prerequisites for it. In addition, when you confirm a critical hit on an opponent, they are affected as if you had cast Doom on them. The save DC, duration and all other factors are identical to as if you cast doom yourself. You need not have Doom on your spell list for this effect to work.

At 10th level you can instead choose to gain the benefits of a divine favor spell on yourself when you land a successful critical hit.

At 15th level you can instead choose to gain an extra energy damage to your weapon. You gain 1d6 points for each element you have chosen for your energy resistance class power. For example, a favored soul who has chosen fire, cold and electricity would deal 1d6 points of fire damage, 1d6 points of cold damage and 1d6 points of electricity damage. This benefit lasts for 1 minute.

(Optional 20th level iteration goes here, whatever.)

This reads better to me and hammers out many of the issues with the previous feat. It's certainly interesting with a high crit weapon like a rapier or falchion.

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I'd rather you not take Strike of Revelation. The +1/+1d4 part isn't anything at all, but being able to trade off spell slots for +hit isn't something I want to deal with for a divine character. I'm concerned taking that would unbalance things and bring in a level of charop I'm unsure fits the current game setup. Right now I'm not prepared to rock the boat to that extent, especially as you gain higher level magic and more options for buffing.

Afina does have Arcane Strike and so does Ithea, but the former lacks power attack and tops off at two hits a round, while the latter has lower base hit, less higher spell levels to sacrifice to fuel it and is frankly playing a lower power level build than you are.

(As an aside, I checked the stats for hit percentage. You're at the bottom at 51%, though this past month hasn't been added yet. Further, your duel with Dana skewed your numbers several percentage points down. My perception is that you hit around Willim's rate, with Ithea a bit below and Afina above that. Afina's higher since she's rarely making normal iterative attacks, which cause more misses on the back end of them. Further, with your Robliar's Gambit routine you'll be getting your fair share of AoOs which will inflate your hit numbers back up.

Unfortunately there aren't raw damage numbers. I suspect it's roughly Afina=Jaela>Willim=Ithea. Something like that, two tiers of damage dealing.)

Anastasia · November 28, 2011, 10:22:45 PM

Since you guys are sometimes controlling NPCs in battle, I'm going to post their planned builds in this thread. There are the plans and guidelines I have set up for them. There aren't set in stone, suggestions and pointers more than welcome.

Adrian:

Spoiler: Show

Misalea:

Spoiler: Show

Dana:

Spoiler: Show

Tannin:

Spoiler: Show

Arrel:

Spoiler: Show

Lief:

Spoiler: Show

Crystal&Hope: [spoiler]

14: Pixie 4/Ranger (Mounted Combat style variant) 10//Paladin of Freedom 14
15: Pixie 4/Ranger (Mounted Combat style variant) 11//Paladin of Freedom 14/Defender of the Natural World 1 - Feats: Fey Knight(15), Celestial Companion(DNW 1) (Note: Crystal will retrain fey knight into sacred vow at level 15, so she'll shift fey knight to this feat.)
16: Pixie 4/Ranger (Mounted Combat style variant) 12//Paladin of Freedom 14/Defender of the Natural World 2
17: Pixie 4/Ranger (Mounted Combat style variant) 13//Paladin of Freedom 14/Defender of the Natural World 3
18: Pixie 4/Ranger (Mounted Combat style variant) 14//Paladin of Freedom 14/Defender of the Natural World 4 - Feat: Nemesis(18)
19: Pixie 4/Ranger (Mounted Combat style variant) 15//Paladin of Freedom 14/Defender of the Natural World 5
20: Pixie 4/Ranger (Mounted Combat style variant) 16//Paladin of Freedom 14/Defender of the Natural World 6

Build continues until she finishes defender. She might not continue it into epic, too far ahead to figure out. She sort of wants paladin of freedom 15 for +1 smites at some point, or at least to pick up extra smiting. This could replace Nemesis depending on how her role solidifies.

Hope doesn't have a full build, but I am planning out his feats. Awaken Frightful Presence(18), Great Ability(Constitution(21), Quicken Breath(24), Recover Breath(27), and see from there. Great ability may be omitted depending on how Hope's con shakes out. He needs 19 for quicken breath. Recover breath is arguable as well, epic ability focus for it may appeal more.

Corwin · November 29, 2011, 05:18:58 PM

Referencing this post of the rules, the Combat section.

http://www.soulriders.net/forum/index.php/topic,101726.msg1023333.html#msg1023333

Quote
We use CMD and CMB from Pathfinder as well as the added modes of combat maneuvers, with the following exceptions:

- We keep 3.5's size modifiers for CMB and CMD.

- We keep the 3.5 style of combat maneuver feats with a few tweaks, see up in feats for more information.

- Tumble is now an opposed check against the target's CMD.

- Provoking an AoO and taking damage from it does not disrupt a combat maneuver. This changes certain maneuvers, such as grapple. This does not apply if the effects of the AoO would render you unable to continue the combat maneuver, such as putting you at -1 or lower hit points or applying a status condition.

- You may lift an enemy with a CMB vs CMD check, this provokes an AoO from the target unless you are already grappling them. You may throw them 5ft per 5 points of strength you possess, assuming you have the requisite strength score to lift them. They take falling damage equal to the distance they were thrown.

We're using the CMB/CMD a bit differently, so can we write this out in the rules to reflect it?

CMB = Base attack bonus + Strength modifier + special size modifier + temporary attack bonuses (haste, charge, heroism, knowledge devotion, arcane strike, smite and any other bonuses to hit)
CMD = Base attack bonus + Strength modifier + special size modifier + Dexterity modifier + miscellaneous modifiers (circumstance, deflection, dodge, insight, luck, morale, profane, and sacred bonuses to AC)

And if this isn't correct, a clarification would be great.

Anastasia · November 29, 2011, 11:58:12 PM

That looks right, I'll add it. I'm also considering adopting Pathfinder's size modifiers for CMB/CMD instead of the 3.5 ones we kept at the time. Any opinions there, guys? 3.5 is +4 for every size category over medium and -4 for every one below medium. Pathfinder's modifiers are as follows: Fine –8, Diminutive –4, Tiny –2, Small –1, Medium +0, Large +1, Huge +2, Gargantuan +4, Colossal +8.

I think this mainly impacts Yuth down the line? I don't think most of you have size shenanigans and it would help ease CMD bloat.

Anastasia · November 30, 2011, 12:20:47 AM

I didn't ask this at the end of last session, so I'll ask now: Did you all have fun today? I did overall, despite a headache and a distinct case grouchiness. I don't think it was any of your faults, happened to wake up in a bad mood and things never corrected themselves. That said, I still do have some comments.

- When I make a ruling on something and tell you to go on, just go on. I'll revisit it later. Speaking of, expect the rulings about smite and other things to be posted about tonight.

- When I ask you a question, be explicit in your answer. Yes/no works best. Maybe I was just muddy-headed today, but I felt like it was slow torture getting answers out of people over trivial stuff.

- #thecauldron. Join it when sessions start and don't leave 'till the session is over. Keep track of what your powers do and what buffs you have. The more you know your powers, the more likely you are to get the most of them. The bad guys don't fuck around and they don't hold back, a forgotten modifier or bonus could end up with your character dying. If you're even less fortunate, your soul will be trapped and damned to Baator for all eternity. You don't want that, do you? Keep track of your buffs to minimize the chances of a diabolical bad end.

- If you have a situational modifier to saving throws, I wholeheartedly recommend making a note of it by your saves. This makes it much harder to miss. For example, Adrian gets a +1 vs sleep and petrification since he's a dragon cosplayer now. So see this:

Saves: Fort +21, Ref +12, Will +16 (+1 vs paralysis and sleep)

See? Hard to miss! I don't care how you format it as long as you get your saves correct and get 'em out quickly.

- If you're going to try a combat maneuver and you aren't sure what it falls under, just go ahead and execute it and roll. Note any modifiers to possible relevant types of maneuver and I'll adjudicate it after. Helps speed shit up rather than spending a few minutes discussing how it may hash out. Also, if you flagrantly fail your CMB check I don't need to bother looking it up right away, so things move smoother. (Hopefully you don't fail them, but y'know.)

- Filmarous used the Crimson Scourge PrC from Cityscape. As one of its powers it grants immunity to nonlethal damage. As a regenerating creature, almost all damage is nonlethal. I had a weakness added to help alleviate it, as it was a fairly dirty trick on its own. With his necklace his damage reduction needed silver, anarchic and good to bypass and deal lethal damage, or spells with the good and chaotic descriptor. Destroying his necklace (named undefeated, can you follow the naming theme?) reduced his damage reduction to good or silver for one round as well as stunned him. Excellent call on sundering the shit out of it, guys. The pain devils 'promoted' into erinyes being killed by destroying it was just a bonus. I was wondering if Merc or anyone else who got the info pack would've noted 4 pain devils and now 4 helpers. I'm glad you guys figured him out so well, he could've been a terror and a stopper if you guys hadn't picked up on that. Well done.

Anastasia · November 30, 2011, 12:22:57 AM

Oh yeah, one more thing. In the future when you guys spread out, I'm going to want a pattern and exact distances in feet. Today's session had fumbling and dicking around since it was unclear. My fault there, I should've gotten those before I moved things on.

Anastasia · November 30, 2011, 12:39:40 AM

Re: Smite evil on objects.

RAW, the text does not distinguish about the targets of smite evil except in one case. The text is bolded below, emphasis mine.

Once per day, a paladin may attempt to smite evil with one normal melee attack. She adds her Charisma bonus (if any) to her attack roll and deals 1 extra point of damage per paladin level. If the paladin accidentally smites a creature that is not evil, the smite has no effect, but the ability is still used up for that day.

This implies that you can only smite creatures, but it's not conclusive proof. A check of the 3.5 FAQ and the Rules Compendium hasn't turned up any relevant rulings. There's some circumstantial evidence in other feats that smite isn't meant to apply to combat maneuvers - smiting power, for example. I do believe the intent is that smite evil is meant to smite living creatures only, or at least creatures period. That said, I feel smiting an evil object with sunder is entirely thematic and reasonable, so I'm going to say this ruling stands as called during session. A houserules note has been added.

Re: Number of attacks per round that can be smiltes.

I've been running smite evil as a once per round thing, though I've never had reason to codify this. So let's check the rules real quick. There's nothing definitive and there's a fair deal of bait. Mmmm. Smites are a limited enough resource that I see no problem with using more than one per round. Go for it. Houserules note to be added momentarily.

Merc · November 30, 2011, 02:19:05 AM

I had fun today, though my current laptop isn't very convenient for gaming (I'm too used to having multiple windows open together, and the irc browser for android only allows one window at a time) and having to pause and switch to that set-up was meh.

I considered just trying to dispel magic on the necklace, and left that option in case I didn't return in time, but I was happy enough to join in on sundering attempts when considering caster level checks.

I hadn't actually made the connection between the pain devils and erinyes being related, I don't really tend to think about that sort of 'promotion'. >_>

So yeah, I was pretty surprised by them shriveling up and dying with the necklace.

Anastasia · November 30, 2011, 02:43:48 AM

Quote from: Merc on November 30, 2011, 02:19:05 AMI hadn't actually made the connection between the pain devils and erinyes being related, I don't really tend to think about that sort of 'promotion'. >_>

This is admittedly a gambit on Filmarous's part. You don't promote into the form of an erinyes, they're all born from other erinyes. Unlike most fiends, erinyes reproduce commonly and breed true. While it is possible a noble devil such as a Duke of Hell or higher could change one into that caste, it's not standard. Filmarous had them shifted to that form to throw off suspicion of that. With how a devil's mind works, he assumed anyone with a brain would see 4 pain devils and figure things out. So he changed them to erinyes and figured that no one would put it together. After all, to him, everyone knows erinyes are born and there's no way they could be connected to that pain devil story. To be honest he was still paranoid that someone might figure it out anyway, but he's a devil. They're all paranoid on some level, even if they don't show it. What they might do with this knowledge is an unanswered question, but if nothing else I'm sure Filmarous could concoct many predictions about it, and make plans to compensate.

Edit: This is really just to give you an idea of how devils think. While many of the lower grunts like the bearded devils on the Astral fight and little else, they're often complex creatures beneath the surface. Layers and layers of things, which may not even be understood or appreciated when you kill 'em. Filmarous had several contingency plans prepared, yet one of the more obvious ones he neglected and failed to have an obvious defense against. Pride cometh before the fall, perhaps?

Ebiris · November 30, 2011, 03:28:24 AM

I'm down with Pathfinder size modifiers to CMB. The existing ones really emphasise size over strength/skill, and while leverage might matter a lot for grappling it shouldn't matter at all for sunder/disarm/bull rush.

I admit, the positioning headaches pissed me off quite a bit since I had everyone's position clear in my head when we started only for that to become irrelevant during the fight as shit just got made up or ignored. Felt like I was penalising myself by having Afina actually spend the time moving from her position towards the battle when Willim just ignored it. Other than that it was at least satisfying to kill some devils even if our actual target eluded us.

Corwin · November 30, 2011, 07:08:34 AM

We can use whichever size mods now, a large part of my objections in B2 came from it suddenly affecting my build midgame. If you want to move entirely to the pathfinder model of one grapple check per round, that's fine too.

Yuthirin · November 30, 2011, 12:25:29 PM

Quote from: Corwin on November 30, 2011, 07:08:34 AM
If you want to move entirely to the pathfinder model of one grapple check per round, that's fine too.

This would make things a lot easier for me to sort out in my head. I'm all for this.

It would keep me from asking the same question every couple of weeks and drastically slowing down game time.

Anastasia · November 30, 2011, 03:04:35 PM

Posting this in here so not to sully up Eb's thread.

QuoteOf course executions are contingent on us getting a full-proof method of killing devils for real. But the planes are a big place so that shouldn't take long.

Do you have any ideas on how to do this?

Soulriders 5.0: Legend of the Unending Games

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