General chatter

[Anastasia]

When you shapeshift into a form other than your own, you gain natural weapons (and reach with those weapons) as described below. These natural weapons gain an enhancement bonus on attack rolls and damage rolls equal to 1/4 your druid level, and at 4th level and higher they are treated as magic weapons for the purpose of overcoming damage reduction.

I forgot about this, so +1 to hit/damage for Myann's shapeshift forms. I don't know if Neph factored it in to his, but his +1 verminbane bonus is better right now anyway.

[Ebiris]

Porridge replacement stats:

Ebiris: 17, 16, 15, 14, 14, 11

[Anastasia]

Graveyard topic is up. Eb, could you move Porridge to there? Also, and I don't need an answer now, but what are y'all doing with his gear? Up to y'all to do what you feel's right, but if you keep some/all of it, let me know.

Eb, if you have an opinion here, feel free to let it be known.

[Ebiris]

Build a shrine in his honour incorporating his belongings and yearly sacrifices on Porridge day, including a ritual re-enactment of fighting the dragon.

[Anastasia]

Okay. Ysvoldae isn't going to get the full gold for her level. However, she'll get a few other perks to compensate in the style of the game. I'll post about those once I do a sheet audit. Just a heads up now.

[Anastasia]

Ysvoldae sheet audit is a go.

HP checks out.
Attack isn't done, but that's reasonable since no gear yet.
Remember that we're using variant turn undead here. That means she'd turn for 3d6 points of damage to undead (and 3d6 healing to allies) within 30ft. The DC would 15.
How'd you get favored enemy (undead) up to +6? I figure you put your level 5 boost into it for +4, but where does the other +2 come from?
Saves check out.
Could you walk me through how you got to your total stats after level+racial mods? I think I have it but I'd like to be sure.
Skills check out.
Feats check out. Since you're dealing with a heap of bonus feats, could you have a list of where they all originate somewhere?
There's not going to be much use for Auran. Elementals exist but you probably won't see many. Just a fair heads up.
What ACFs/sub levels are you using? I know you're using champion of the wild for bonus feats, and maybe elven sub levels for ranger?

Looks good otherwise, pending spells and gear. Speaking of gear, Ysvoldae will start with level 4 PC wealth, 5,400 gold. This is the same as what the others started with.

For the rest, roll 3d100 and post the results here.

[Ebiris]

Elven ranger gives +3 to favoured enemy if you choose undead, goblins, or some drow related thing, and it increases +3 when you're given the opportunity to increase it. It also mods different skills than regular favoured enemy.

rolled stats: 17, 16, 15, 14, 14, 11

Abilities: STR 17, DEX 16, CON 14, INT 11, WIS 18, CHA 14

Welp, first off strength should be 15. Dunno how that slipped by.

17 went to wis, 16 went to con (-2 for elf), 15 went to str, 14 went to dex (+2 for elf), 14 went to cha, 11 went to int.

bonus feats as follows
Point Blank Shot - Elf Domain
Track - Ranger
Rapid Shot - Ranger Combat Style
Endurance - Ranger
Manyshot - Ranger Combat Style
Precise Shot - Spell-less Ranger

I'm rejigging some skills which may see Auran excised.

[19:01] <@Ebiris> roll 3d100
[19:01] * +Hatbot --> "Ebiris rolls 3d100 and gets 130." [3d100=33, 57, 40]

[Anastasia]

Yeah, I thought something was off with those stats but I wasn't 100%.

33

Ysvoldae once found an abandoned cabin. It was raining so she used it to rest the night. That night, her trance was broken by a glowing, spectral image before her. Before she could react, it touched her forehead. After that the image faded. Whatever it did wasn't clear, but occasionally attacks just fly away from Ysvoldae. Little things miss her, as if deflected by a shield. She gains a +1 deflection bonus to armor class.

57

After having her baby, the trial toughened up Ysvoldae. She gains a +2 bonus to hit points.

40

Long days of traveling alone and surviving have made an impact on Ysvoldae. She gains a +3 competence bonus to survival checks.

[Anastasia]

Porridge: A post mortem.

So Porridge died. His story comes to an end against a dragon in its High Season, his soul going to where-ever mortal souls go in this campaign. I'd like to take some time and talk over what I thought about him and some related things. I'm not aiming for any great coherency here, but more of covering whatever I feel is relevant. Rambling and sudden topic shifts should be expected, y'all. That all said, let's get to talking about Porridge.

---

I liked Porridge a whole lot. Eb's last two PCs had been Veserya and Afina, neither of which are remotely like Porridge. The contrast was rather refreshing - a blunt, manly and no-bullshit character that didn't give much of a fuck. It was always enjoyable to see him take a licking and come up spitting defiance (and teeth) at whatever hit him. I felt it suited the setting well. You don't survive in the Vastwoods if you can't take a few licks, especially if you don't have ways of magical healing.

As an aside, y'all are fortunate to have ready healing resources. Most groups in the Vastwoods would have had a far harder time against the half-dragon horde with only natural healing plus possible herbal supplements. The dragons were a terrifying force with your resources. Imagine how nasty they would be to people who aren't as blessed as all y'all. The dragon was badass as fuck in context of the setting, but you were all able to overcome that. But I digress.

Anyway, as I was saying, Porridge was a tough bastard. A tough, manly bastard. That summarizes him rather well to me. His orc upbringing shined through until the end. It's a pity he never got to interact with orcs in a meaningful way. I was planning an orc-related arc next, but that's been shuffled back for reworking. Between Porridge dying and some spoilery factors, it doesn't really fit right now. I don't consider this a spoiler, since it's fully reasonable IC to expect to deal with orcs sooner or later.

In closer to home matters, I was planning Eltia to flirt with him coming up. I had gotten the impression Porridge wanted something there, as besides Myann it's more or less a sausage party. The Missus is married, Em is some form of jailbait and no other female characters have come by quite yet. She took a little bit of a shine to him earlier, but she wasn't in a situation to really show interest. I figured it would be a nice thing to add in the downtime after the group came back from dragonslaying. Alas.

---

Mechanically, I think Porridge worked. He needed more HP considering the abuse he took, something I was beginning to work towards. He got a small HP boost and DR 1/- against the dragon. I was a little leery of wild shape later on, as the damage output you can get from larger and nastier creatures feels like it might've broken the scale we're working with. Worries about wild shape being broken isn't new, at least. I'm so glad I usually houserule shapeshift for druids instead of wild shape. It's sooooooo much easier to deal with as a DM. But wow, I'm digressing again. I need to stop doing that or I'll never get anywhere.

So right, Porridge and wild shape. He wasn't going to be a spellslinging, wild shaped, natural spell druid terror. Wild shape alone is an incredibly potent ability and worth dedicating a build to. Tossing rage onto it is just icing.

---

As far as PC deaths go, Porridge is my favorite yet. It's hard to go wrong standing tall against a dragon. As Eb noted, it beats the hell of how Shamal died. For Neph's sake, she died to a hoard of shocker lizards. Eb misread the line describing how many there were. Something like that he thought there were only 3 and there were 13 or something. Zap. It beats Janson's demise too. While I view Janson's demise as heroic, Senaril's viciousness and how it really ruined Sylvie mars that one. For Neph's sake again, Janson was cornered by a psychotic, cannibal Sharran dryad and slain in combat. She was worse than Vastwoods fey, which should say all that needs to be said. When you're a harder case than those fucks, you know you've gone hardcore. There I go again, digressing! Dammit.

Afina sort of died. I don't view hers as a true death so I won't count it here. You could argue this one but whatever.  To cut out another digression and get to the point, Porridge tops all of those. He died how he lived - facing down something huge, fighting until the end and trying to give back as good as he got. That's a good note to go out on.

Happy hunting in woods that are far less homicidal than the Vastwoods, Porridge.

[Ebiris]

I missed the 'four' that prefaced 'dozen' when Shaman died.

Also it wasn't just fighting the dragon that made it satisfying, but that the very last action he took was pushing it off of Feather. That's a heroic sacrifice!

His mom is gonna suck in comparison.

[Anastasia]

Oh right, I forgot the exact circumstances of that. I have a lot of sympathy for that death since it was pure human error that fried Shamal.

The entire last battle was satisfying for Porridge, I think. He figured out the dragon's gimmick, saved Feather and went down swinging. It's a good death no matter how you slice it.

Ysvoldae is going to be something. It's a tough legacy to live up to.

[Anastasia]

Preview: Myann's magic.

These are some of the spells I'm working on for Myann's sorcery. Some of these are going to replace spells from fey bloodline; fey power in the Vastwoods is inherently transformative so her bloodline would adapt to match her magic. These aren't final, I'm going to be reviewing them before they see use. I suspect levitating blockade and jump block will go down a level, if nothing else. Levitating blockade is borderline 2/3 RAW so I erred on the high side. Review indicates it's not really worth being higher level than levitate.

By the way, if any of you want custom material, feel free to let me know. I don't mind working something up for y'all.

Mass Blockade
Conjuration (Creation)
Level: Drd 3, Rgr 3, Sor/Wiz 3
Range: Short (30ft + 5ft 2/levels)
Effect: 1 5ft cube of wood/level
Duration: 7 rounds

This spell functions as improved blockade, except that it conjures one block per caster level. Blocks may appear stacked on one another.

Levitating Blockade
Conjuration (Creation)
Level: Drd 3, Rgr 3, Sor/Wiz 3
Range: Short (30ft + 5ft 2/levels)
Duration: 7 rounds

This spell functions as blockade, except that the block may appear anywhere within the range of the spell. This block floats and may be positioned anywhere the caster chooses. The block can support up to one ton of weight. Any more and the block falls.

Jump Block
Conjuration (Creation)
Level: Drd 4, Rgr 4, Sor/Wiz 4
Range: Short (30ft + 5ft 2/levels)
Duration: 9 rounds

This spell functions as levitating blockade. In addition, this block is extremely bouncy. If leaped on as part of a jump check, it grants a +30 bonus to that check.

Block Rain
Conjuration (Creation)
Level: Drd 4, Rgr 4, Sor/Wiz 4
Components: V, S, M
Casting Time: 1 standard action
Range: Short (30ft + 5ft 2/levels)
Effect: Rain of 5ft cubes of wood in a 20ft radius
Duration: Instantaneous
Saving Throw: Ref partial
Spell Resistance: No

This spell conjures a rain of cubes of wood, much like a blockade spell. Creatures within the radius of this spell suffer 10d6 points of damage and are knocked prone. A successful Reflex save halves the damage and negates being knocked prone.

Fire Mushroom
Evocation [Fire]
Level: Sor/Wiz 3
Components: V, S, Special
Casting Time: 1 standard action
Range: Close (25ft + 5ft/2 levels)
Target: One creature
Duration: 1 min/level (D)
Saving Throw: None
Spell Resistance: No

For the duration of this spell, the target can emit orbs of fire as a standard action. These orbs require a ranged touch attack and have a range of 50ft. A successful hit deals 4d6 points of fire damage. Whenever the target next takes damage, the damage is negated and this spell ends.

If the target is under the effects of the Super Mushroom and Fire Mushroom spells at the same time, he loses the benefits of this spell first.

Special

This spell can only be cast by a creature that has a bond to mushrooms, such as a fey mantle relating to mushrooms.

[Nephrite]

Speaking of custom spells, I was considering a few for Gildas that might fit the theme of his "Get in the middle of the enemies and take hits (or avoid them, as his case has been...)" mentality.

Something that gives temporary HP and also maybe a bonus to AC while the temporary HP persists would be neat and unique, I think.

Is there any way to boost Animalistic Power up a level and make its enhancement bonuses stack on top of shapeshifting? I know Druids get that one at 2 anyway, but it's pretty useless to me in its current form. Not that I need EVERY SPELL EVER RARRR to work in Shapeshift, I'm just trying to find things to supplement it without breaking other things. I'd be fine with making an original spell that maybe combines Bull's Strength and Barkskin that also functions in shapeshift.

[Anastasia]

Speaking of custom spells, I was considering a few for Gildas that might fit the theme of his "Get in the middle of the enemies and take hits (or avoid them, as his case has been...)" mentality.

Something that gives temporary HP and also maybe a bonus to AC while the temporary HP persists would be neat and unique, I think.

A combo AC booster and temp HP is probably beyond 3rd level spells. One or the other is certainly possible, but both is generally beyond the scope of that spell level. Past that I'd need to sit down and do some homework to figure out what comes close to that.

Is there any way to boost Animalistic Power up a level and make its enhancement bonuses stack on top of shapeshifting? I know Druids get that one at 2 anyway, but it's pretty useless to me in its current form. Not that I need EVERY SPELL EVER RARRR to work in Shapeshift, I'm just trying to find things to supplement it without breaking other things. I'd be fine with making an original spell that maybe combines Bull's Strength and Barkskin that also functions in shapeshift.

To stack with shapeshifting, you'd need to change the bonus type. Spells with stat bonuses that aren't enhancement are rare on the ground - stacking those to get super-high stats is a concern. I'd look at it another way. Instead of that, look into spells that boost your attack rolls, damage rolls and AC. For instance, popping a divine favor would be +2 to hit/damage at your level for a minute and would work in shapeshift since it's a luck bonus. It's not a druid spell, but the point is that there's more than one way to do what you want.

So let me do some homework and come up with some things that get the results you want. I need to bone up on the druid spell list to do that. I'm being fairly creative and loose with spell effects this game, so I'll cook something or another up.

[Anastasia]

Part 1. These are three takes on the first spell idea. The first is a baseline. It's probably a bit weak for a 4th level spell, D&D values temp HP higher than you'd think. The next two trade factors in exchange for lowering it to third level. Let me know what y'all think of these and if you like any of them, Gildas. We can work from there. The flavor's generic on purpose, that can be modified last.

If y'all think I'm under-gunning these, say so.

Baseline spell.

Nature's Energy
Abjuration
Level: Drd 4
Components: V, S, DF
Range: Touch
Target: Living creature touched
Duration: 10 min/level
Saving Throw: None
Spell Resistance: No

When you touch a living creature and invoke this spell, you fill them with nature's unchecked vitality. The creature's skin becomes bark-like, giving them an enhancement bonus to natural armor. This is identical to barkskin. In addition, the energies involved fill them with a surge of vitality. The creature gains 1d10 temporary hit points, +1 per caster level (maximum +10). For example, a seventh level caster would grant 1d10+7 temporary hit points with this spell. Any remaining temporary hit points vanish when the spell's duration expires.

This one is a short term spell. It's only good for a single battle.

Nature's Energy
Abjuration
Level: Drd 3
Components: V, S, DF
Range: Touch
Target: Living creature touched
Duration: 1 rd/level
Saving Throw: None
Spell Resistance: No

When you touch a living creature and invoke this spell, you fill them with nature's unchecked vitality. The creature's skin becomes bark-like, giving them an enhancement bonus to natural armor. This is identical to barkskin. In addition, the energies involved fill them with a surge of vitality. The creature gains 1d10 temporary hit points, +1 per caster level (maximum +10). For example, a seventh level caster would grant 1d10+7 temporary hit points with this spell. Any remaining temporary hit points vanish when the spell's duration expires.

A Myann style version.

Nature's Energy
Abjuration
Level: Drd 3
Components: V, S, DF
Range: Touch
Target: Living creature touched
Duration: 10 min/level
Saving Throw: None
Spell Resistance: No

When you touch a living creature and invoke this spell, you fill them with nature's unchecked vitality. The creature's skin becomes bark-like, giving them an enhancement bonus to natural armor. This is identical to barkskin. In addition, the energies involved fill them with a surge of vitality. The creature gains 1d10 temporary hit points, +1 per caster level (maximum +10). For example, a seventh level caster would grant 1d10+7 temporary hit points with this spell. Any remaining temporary hit points vanish when the spell's duration expires.

When the temporary hit points from this spell are expended, the spell ends.