DM Nagging: It's pretty much my job

[Nephrite]

Am I correct with Dervish Dance that, say, if Kaja is simply moving in a circle (so I guess if we imagine it's a 3x3 square, that he's simply moving into the 8 squares around an opponent) that he can do so without any trouble? I.e. he takes a 5ft move to his left and keeps doing so around the opponent.

[Anastasia]

Am I correct with Dervish Dance that, say, if Kaja is simply moving in a circle (so I guess if we imagine it's a 3x3 square, that he's simply moving into the 8 squares around an opponent) that he can do so without any trouble? I.e. he takes a 5ft move to his left and keeps doing so around the opponent.

Correct, but note that any AoOs are provoked as normal barring anything that would prevent those. Also bear in mind he can't return to the same square in a dervish dance, so that's a factor as well.

[Nephrite]

Got it, that should be simple enough to utilize.

To make sure I further understand it - Kaja can activate it, move 150 feet to an enemy (get AoO'ed), full attack, then move 95 ft away from said enemy (and get AoOed a second time)? And this lasts... what, 18 rounds, something like that?

[Anastasia]

Got it, that should be simple enough to utilize.

To make sure I further understand it - Kaja can activate it, move 150 feet to an enemy (get AoO'ed), full attack, then move 95 ft away from said enemy (and get AoOed a second time)? And this lasts... what, 18 rounds, something like that?

Well more like move 150ft, take AoO as appropriate, make 5ft movements after each attack and finally move away.

And yes, it lasts 18 rounds. He can only dervish dance once a battle in the case of extended battles or if he end it prematurely.

[Nephrite]

And he can tumble during the 5ft moves (so it counts as 10 ft moved, I guess) to try and avoid the AoOs?

[Anastasia]

Yes, the ability notes tumbling is allowed.

[Nephrite]

Got it. I might have you run a mock combat at some point for me but I think I have the basic idea.

[Anastasia]

Sure, let me know if you do.

[Corwin]

I can handle anyone in my group, though it'd start from the next adventure if I am to do a decent job.

I agree with Eb in how things will work out. I've been aiming for 2-3 NPCs to bring along with me, since that seemed to be the right sort of balance. If I bring just one, the difficulty will likely need to be adjusted accordingly? Alternately, maybe I'll just do more collaborative quests.

[Anastasia]

I can handle anyone in my group, though it'd start from the next adventure if I am to do a decent job.

I agree with Eb in how things will work out. I've been aiming for 2-3 NPCs to bring along with me, since that seemed to be the right sort of balance. If I bring just one, the difficulty will likely need to be adjusted accordingly? Alternately, maybe I'll just do more collaborative quests.

We'll work it out, don't worry about it too much.

That sounds good. I'll probably run Donald and maybe Amaryl since I know them well, I'll see how it stacks up.

[Anastasia]

Okay, I'll work on more of those writeups tonight. I haven't had to run evening between Iddy being away and Neph being in a paired topic, so it's given me time.

[Iron Dragoon]

1. I'm going to look into y'all running more NPCs in combat. The flat truth is that right now and with the health I'm in, combat is by far the biggest effort. It's also the biggest stumbling block so spreading those out simply makes my DMing a lot easier. All of you, do you have any NPCs you particularly want to run in combat?

Whoever you want me to provided you're willing to go through how they work with me.

[Anastasia]

1. I'm going to look into y'all running more NPCs in combat. The flat truth is that right now and with the health I'm in, combat is by far the biggest effort. It's also the biggest stumbling block so spreading those out simply makes my DMing a lot easier. All of you, do you have any NPCs you particularly want to run in combat?

Whoever you want me to provided you're willing to go through how they work with me.

Cool. Let me get to yours after I've cleared out the others, since I've stacked up a lot as it is.

[Anastasia]

I'll probably keep Jessica for now since she's simple. The build boils down to applying SA, preferably as part of a team and/or unseen, anyway.

Syala

Much like Latha, Syala's a cleric at heart. Except she's a druid with monk abilities and OH GOD WHERE DID SHE GET THAT HAMMER? But seriously, the concept's the same on the surface. However, there are considerable differences. Syala's goal in any combat is to hit things hard. Preferably with her hammer or Wrath of the Elder Treant, but she's flexible and quite able to take a supporting role.

Blessing of the Twelve+62 (2d10+38 plus +2/+2d6 vs fiends plus 3d6 holy and 1 negative level (plus 9d6 and 3 negative levels on crit) plus stun x4)

Syala has one melee option but it's a solid one. She average about 50 damage a hit before boosts, power attack or any conditional bonus damage. In addition stun is excellent, and I'll go into why shortly.

She can mix up her attacks in a few ways.

Power Attack: Again, you know how this is. It's a 1-2 trade since she's two handing, so she gets a lot of damage out of it. Additionally, see the power stun feat below. This lets her jack the DC of her stun attack when she uses power attack. This makes it an excellent option to take someone out of the fight. The DC is 53 as it is, so it's not hard to get it in the range where it challenges most creatures.
Combat Maneuvers: Syala has improved grapple, so this is an option for her. Additionally she has epic tactical advantage, which lets her apply her favored enemy bonuses to CMB/CMD. This can open up situational options, so she keeps her eyes peeled for when something like that can turn the tide of a fight.

For ranged attacks Syala has two real options. The first is her spells, which we'll go into shortly. The other is divine blast. She uses this as a catchall when she doesn't want to expend a spell, can't decide which one is most suitable, the enemy has defenses it bypasses or long range combat is the order of the day. She defaults to it easily enough when melee isn't possible.

As far as spells go, Syala tends to use what she has set as her defaults. This isn't out of a lack of flexibility, but that so far she's found full spontaneous casting a little frustrating in combat. It requires a level of adaptation that while she'd be good at it, she hasn't internalized it quite yet. As a result she tends to default to a few familiar spells, but this is something she's working with. Her real problem is that she wants peak effectiveness, and doing that on the fly from an array of spells takes practice.

Syala's defenses are adequate without being exceptional. She only has a +4 armor bonus, so epic mage armor is an easy way to boost her AC 16 to 18 points. She relies on them and her almost impossible to beat damage reduction to see her through most threats. That and healing magic.

Syala also has divine shield, though she prefers to apply this just before battle.

Let me know what you think once you read her sheet and any questions, Eb.

Power Stun [Epic]
Prerequisites: Power Attack, racial stun ability, str 21
Benefit: When using power attack, the amount subtracted from your attack bonus is added to the DC of your stun ability. Furthermore, you can stun with any bludgeoning weapon.

[Nephrite]

I was looking for something else and realized this never got adjudicated. I also still need to work on some domain spells.

Celestia's Inspiration
Enchantment/Transmutation (Compulsion) [Good, Mind-Affecting, Sonic]
Brd 11
Components: V
Casting Time: 1 standard action
Range: 200 ft
Targets: All allies within 200ft
Duration: 1 round/level
Saving Throw: None
Spell Resistance: No

When you cast this spell, you channel the barest fragment of the inspiration one can find within Mount Celestia into yourself and your allies. Anyone affected by this spell is treated as being affected by Haste and Freedom of Movement, and they also gain a +7 insight bonus to attack and weapon damage rolls. Their weapons also count as Good for the purposes of overcoming Damage Reduction.