Test Your Might 8

[afroakuma]

Keld Denar, prepare to die!


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[/table]

Same characters' positions, I assume? Roll initiative. For the sake of observers, please use the [roll] function.

In front of you is a massive, oozing blob of flesh, with two dessicated arms reaching and grasping from its forward bulk, where a large, black, watery extrusion jiggles and twitches. A lolling, drooling maw splits the base of this pile of blubber, which is supported on a scrabble of many blackened, humanoid arms. Blisters and inflammations riddle its gray flesh.

To its left and right are vaguely humanoid shapes, though fierce and bony. Both wear outfits of a coarse black cloth. Their hair is sparse and matted heavily to the skull.

[afroakuma]

For convenience, I'll roll initiative now.

[roll0]
[roll1]
[roll2]

[Keld Denar]

BTW, I forgot to rerig Keld's feat, so I'll just make it Improved Init...lol.

With Chained Nerveskitter from Vist.
[roll0]
[roll1]
[roll2]
[roll3]

Which Knowledge is it to ID these? Planes? Arcana? Religion? Dungeoneering?

And yea, that positioning is good.

[Keld Denar]

Last 2 should be Keld, then Traj.

[afroakuma]

Which Knowledge is it to ID these? Planes? Arcana? Religion? Dungeoneering?

It seems illogical to have to tell you. But, anything to expediate matters. Planes.

I should warn you, due to the nature of these creatures, there is an ad hoc +10 to the DC.

[afroakuma]

Traj
Vist
Liam
Y
Z
X
Keld

Initiative order.

[Keld Denar]

[roll0]

Traj will do his buff up round, Insp Boost, DFI, then Badge of Valor. No movement.

Vist will cast Viscid Glob on the guy on the right.

He's probably flat footed
[roll1]
If this hits, he owes me a reflex save, DC24 (yay spell focus!)

Circlet of Rapid Casting for 1 charge, launching a Ray of Clumsiness at the big farker in the middle.

[roll2]

Liam delays.

Your turn.

[afroakuma]

Is the Planes roll good for all three?

Your touch fails. The glob sails harmlessly past.

Your touch succeeds. Caster level check for the ray of clumsiness, please.

[Keld Denar]

[roll0]

Can't reduce Dex below 1.

[afroakuma]

CL check? Would be nice. :smallsmile:

[Keld Denar]

He's got a FF touch AC higher than 12? Thats surpising, but whatever.

[roll0]

[afroakuma]

Not very surprising. Deflection, luck, untyped etc. all work for flat-footed.

Spell hits. -6 Dex.

Planes question: answer?

[afroakuma]

Keld? Need to know if that Planes roll was to apply to all three.

[Keld Denar]

Bah, internet failed again...continue on tomorrow morning!

Ok, I got the DC, I get their names.
If I beat the DC by 5, I want special vulnerabilities, if any.
If I beat it by 10, I want special qualities, if any.
If I beat it by 15, I want DR, if any.
If I beat it by 20, I want special attacks, if any.

And you use the same roll for each type, assuming that the 2 little ones are the same kind of thing?

And with that, its your turn.

[afroakuma]

The large one is a Haemorragon, a loathsome extraplanar monstrosity.
It has no special vulnerabilities.

The smaller ones are Athlioi, malevolent extraplanar creatures of the same race as the Haemorragon.
They have no special vulnerabilities.
They are completely immune to mind-affecting attacks.

(I don't owe you every single special quality, do I? Because I doubt it.)

[Keld Denar]

Nope, just 1 per 5 points.

So...what are they gonna do?

[afroakuma]

The two athlioi advance 20 ft. each and raise their hands menacingly.

[roll0]
[roll1]

[afroakuma]

Both successful.

[roll0]
[roll1]

...grr bloody forums.

[afroakuma]

Trying again.

[roll0]
[roll1]

Edit: Awesome.

[Keld Denar]

I'm assuming this is a summoning similar to the one that Tanar'ri get?

I'm like, 80% sure that its a full round action...might want to look that up?

Unless of course, its different.

[afroakuma]

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[/table]

I had to retable this.

"The new creatures look like horribly abused human children, with dead-looking flesh and spurs of bone protruiding from all angles. They cower in dread as they appear."

Check if you like; SRD didn't mention it, so it should be standard.

EDIT: See, now I'm the one at work. :smallfrown:

[Keld Denar]

I think it says something similar to "as Summon Monster N" or something, which are full round actions. I could be mistaken. Probably so.

Regardless, Knowledge Planes check to ID these:

[roll0]

Unless they are undead, then add 3 to that result. (yay skill focus?)


LOL1...could have been an attack roll....

EDIT:
Whats Fatty McFatterson gonna do? Sit there and look fat?

EDIT2: I just asked the question over on the main forum...someone might be able to look it up for me us! lulz

[afroakuma]

Ahhh, you're correct. Fine, they don't move, and the summon is closer to Fatty's position.

These are Polytrotoi, the basest of the race of creatures before you.

EDIT: Same priorities for Knowledge results?

[Keld Denar]

Yea, same priorities.

Are they still Knowledge: Planes?

EDIT:
And, if its a full round action to summon, then they have to spend their whole turn summoning, and the things show up at the beginning of their summoners next turn and can take full actions then. Thus, they won't be around quite yet.

[afroakuma]

Yep. Same race, as indicated.

Okay, so:

Special vulnerabilities: none

Special qualities:
• immune to diseases.

Edit: okay, well now you're just being picky.

Fine. In that case, you don't know where they're gonna show up or anything about them, or even that they summoned. Doom on you.

[afroakuma]

[roll0]

Yeah. Secrecy.

[afroakuma]

Alright, fatty got what it wanted.

d6

This many of whta it wanted.

But you don't know that. :smallamused:

[afroakuma]

d'aaahaahah

[afroakuma]

Okay.

I am now calm.

The roller, the forum and the storm-whacked internet connection will now work.

[roll0]

[Keld Denar]

My turn again?

Keld taps his Circlet for 2 charges, and then casts Recitation(swift) and Righteous Wrath of the Faithful (standard).

Liam delays to the end of the round, going first in the new round.

NEW ROUND!

[afroakuma]

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[/table]

"The new creatures look like horribly abused human children, with dead-looking flesh and spurs of bone protruiding from all angles. They cower in dread as they appear."

"In front of the writhing, pustulent mass appear five terrible humanoids, broken and wounded. Each bears a gash in its gut through which viscera extrude, and bears horrible scars. Their mouths are lampreylike, surmounted by two expressionless, beady eyes. Two antlers protrude from each cracked brow."

Knowledge them if you like.

[Adumbration]

A sidenote: Oooh, boy, you're screwed.:smallamused:

Carry on.

[afroakuma]

Oh, you like that? :smallamused:

[Keld Denar]

NEW ROUND!

Liam delays...he knows better than to try to do **** while the casters are shananananananananananananiganing.

Traj will also delay.

Vist will cast Teleport, touching Liam, Traj, and Keld (self +3). He teleports himself and party in formation so that Liam ends up in L5.

Then Vist will cast Quickend Melf's Unicorn Arrows (PHBII pg.119), targetting Y with all 3 attacks. No save, no SR.
[roll0] [roll1]
[roll2] [roll3]
[roll4] [roll5]

Each successful hit results in a bull rush. My check is automatically 21 due to the spell description. So, you roll 3 checks to resist bull rushes. If I win by 1-4 points, you get pushed away 5', if I win by 5-9 points, you get pushed 10', if I win by 10-14 points, you get pushed 15', and if I win by 15-19 points, you get pushed 20'. Do this 3 times, pushes are cumulative for the number of hits. Its a [Force] effect. Isn't that a ****ing awesome spell?

Traj comes out of delay, initiating Pouncing Charge and charging to M3 attacking Z
[roll6] [roll7][roll8]
[roll9] [roll10][roll11]
[roll12] [roll13][roll14]
[roll15] [roll16][roll17]
[roll18] [roll19][roll20]

Liam comes out of delay, and pouncing charges to J4, provoking an AoO, and attacking X. Liam rages and flurries, PAing for 2.

[roll21] [roll22][roll23]
[roll24] [roll25][roll26]
[roll27] [roll28][roll29]
[roll30] [roll31][roll32]
[roll33] [roll34][roll35]

If X can cast spells or has any spell-like abilities, add 1 to hit and
[roll36]
[roll37]
[roll38]
[roll39]
[roll40]
damage to each hit due to Favored Enemy and Weapon Bond (Ranger and Occult Slayer respectively)

Also, any hits force a concentration check, DC15 + damage + effective spell level to prevent them from losing their full round action summons. Also, MUA's bull rushes result in "violent movement" which forces a DC20+spell level concentration check to distrupt casting.

That means I think you owe me 16 concentration checks :P

Got all that?

Your turn!

[afroakuma]

In that case;

tinkered.

Standard action summon.

Care to revise, now that you're facing a fleet of scaries?

[Keld Denar]

tinkered.

Standard action summon.

Bah, it cheats us precious...its cheats us!!!!

Revising tactics. Man, I put like, 30 minutes into that post...

[afroakuma]

*shrug*

A) I have a reasonable justification,

B) Your uber-optimized characters aren't exactly playing fair either

C) there's no way I'm letting you get away from the evil I just pulled.

[Keld Denar]

Vist will cast Evards Black Tenticles at the corner of HI and 78, extending 20' in all directions.

1d20+21

And I don't remember if there is SR on EBT...crapo.


Liam will delay until after the monsters.

Traj will delay until after the monsters.

Your turn.

[Keld Denar]

Fail grapple...
[roll0]

and in case there is an SR check.

[roll1]

wow...fail rolls....

[afroakuma]

No, there is not. You're in the clear. Adumbration, I can feel your smirk.

As the tentacles materialize, Vist feels his connection to the spell energies grow stronger and more forecful. Then the force turns to a strong pulling. Slowly, he feels his own magical energy pouring through the link, becoming grossly depleted.

Enjoy a -16 to your CL for the next 24 hours, Vist. :belkar:

Alrighty.

[afroakuma]

Polytrotoi roll (Upper left to lower right, horizontally first)
[roll0] - Grappled
[roll1] - Grappled
[roll2] - Grappled
[roll3] - Grappled
[roll4] - Grappled
[roll5] - Grappled
[roll6] - Grappled
[roll7] - Grappled
[roll8] - Grappled
[roll9] - Grappled
[roll10] - Grappled
[roll11] - Grappled
[roll12] - Grappled
[roll13] - Grappled
[roll14] - Grappled
[roll15] - Grappled

New guys: (Upper left to lower right, horizontally first)
[roll16]
[roll17] - Grappled
[roll18]
[roll19] - Grappled

[afroakuma]

*awaits rage*

[Keld Denar]

Wow, cheaty...I should have figured...

[afroakuma]

I was really hoping you'd try something like that.

And no calling cheats; you even had advance warning from Adumbration. Should have suggested a certain amount of caution.

[Keld Denar]

There is no counter to that, is there? Not even like, Heal?

[afroakuma]

Not that I can think of offhand. You'd need a spell that specifically restores magical connection to something.

What do they use to fix dead magic areas in FR?

[Keld Denar]

Uh...Wish? Farkifiknow.

So, if you have a negative CL, can you still cast instantaneous spells that don't have level dependant variables?

PS, its still your turn.

[afroakuma]

Yep; wish.

[Keld Denar]

Anyway, EBT does [roll0] damage to anyone grappled. As long as its there, might as well get some mileage out of it...

[afroakuma]

I'm sorry; the lousy work Internet and the forum jamming are slowing me.


You can cast a spell at a lower caster level than normal, but the caster level you choose must be high enough for you to cast the spell in question

So, no. You're boned.

Y begins a muttering drone that sends a shiver down your spines. The ground seems to twitch very slightly, but his magic has not yet resolved.

Z double-moves to N14.

X can't get past the tentacles, so it double-moves such that the center of its body is on O2. A viscous, bloody substance covers evervything it passes over.

[Keld Denar]

Can you check real quick to see if Wall of Stone is close or medium range? That determines a lot of my next actions. Can you get onto d20srd?

[Adumbration]

It happens to be Medium range: 100 ft + 10 ft/level, with an effect of stone wall whose area is up to one 5-ft. square/level.

[Keld Denar]

Ok, couple minor things. A, I never equipped any of my casters with weapons. Could I give my wizard a simple non-magical sling? I usually equip them with one, but made the characters in a hurry to start the challenge.

Regardless, Issendir pulls down his IWIN stone (standard) and throws it into orbit around Keld's head (move).
[roll0] the trapped guys all take this much from the grapple.

Traj initiates Pouncing Charge moving to M15, making a full attack against Z.
[roll1] [roll2][roll3]
[roll4] [roll5][roll6]
[roll7] [roll8][roll9]
[roll10] [roll11][roll12]
[roll13] [roll14][roll15]

Keld casts a Wall of Stone with [roll16] and positions it on the lines to the right side of Traj was, and where Keld is, behind Keld and Vast, and on the left sides of Vast and Liam. Double thick.

Liam readies an action to attack anything that comes within axe range.

You're go.

[afroakuma]

IWIN stone? ...disturbing name.

What squares is the wall of stone occupying?

Sure, give your wizard a sling, provided it's not going to let you do some sort of evil trick that I don't know about yet.

Is it? Or is it just to throw rocks with?

As Traj approaches the athlios, he feels a crushing sense of misery and despair. Crushing despair plus cancel every morale bonus he's currently holding, will you?

[Keld Denar]

That depends on whether or not DFI is a moral bonus. IC is a moral bonus, but DFI is just untyped fire damage. I wouldn't mind losing the RRotF though. I'll do it if I get to keep the DFI, otherwise I'll stay put. How far is the aura?

And if you read Wall of Stone, its only a few inches thick, no reason it can't occupy the space between my squares and the squares around my characters.

And no, I'm just gonna throw rocks with the sling.

[afroakuma]

What is RRotF, anyway?

Aura hits him 30 ft. out.

I wanted to know how far up it reaches.

[Keld Denar]

How far up what reaches?

RRotF is Righteous Wrath of the Faithful, cleric5 spell from Spell Compendium. Its basically Haste with a +3 bard song minus the movement increase.

EDIT:
So, whats the verdict on DFI? Does the dispair cancel the DFI, or not?

[afroakuma]

If RRotF specifically states that it is a morale effect or is based on emotion, then it dies.

Dragonfire Inspiration... I'm inclined to say it's gone because it seems to derive off of enchanted motivation giving a supernatural link to draconic power. If someone wants to argue that, though, I'm willing to listen.

The despair cancels rage, bravery, heroism etc. so take all of those into account. Heroics is, I believe, immune, because it's not morale-based.

[Keld Denar]

Does it suppress it, or dispel it? Also, since Traj doesn't have any source of bonus damage OTHER than DFI, he's gonna stay put if you rule that way. Thats cool? EDIT: It is called Dragonfire "Inspiration" so I'd say you aren't that far off on your ruling. He will sense the aura, and then back up back to his starting space and ready an attack to hit whatever closes on us.

WEEE! With 2 characters effectively worthless, its now 2 against...a lot! I'm liking my odds because due to the Law of Conservation of Ninjitsu, the fewer ninjas present, the more powerful the individual ninja. Liam is SUPREMELY POWERFUL!

Oh yea...and RAWR!

[afroakuma]

:smallamused:
Does it suppress it, or dispel it?

Dispels morale-based buffs.


Also, since Traj doesn't have any source of bonus damage OTHER than DFI, he's gonna stay put if you rule that way. Thats cool? EDIT: It is called Dragonfire "Inspiration" so I'd say you aren't that far off on your ruling. He will sense the aura, and then back up back to his starting space and ready an attack to hit whatever closes on us.

Glad to know that it's fair. If he charged, then I'd have to rule that he use the remainder of his full action to stop within the aura, unless he has some ability to sense the power of supernatural effects before experiencing them. Does he? You mentioned that he "sensed" the aura...


WEEE! With 2 characters effectively worthless, its now 2 against...a lot! I'm liking my odds because due to the Law of Conservation of Ninjitsu, the fewer ninjas present, the more powerful the individual ninja. Liam is SUPREMELY POWERFUL!

Oh yea...and RAWR!

Well, you're facing off against a horde of suffering incarnate (bleeding incarnate, two misery incarnate, five wounding incarnate and eighteen breakability incarnate, to be precise) so it's only fair that you be on the receiving end of some...

[Keld Denar]

No, but he doesn't have anything to sense it. I'd imagine that the aura of dispair is pretty great though, extending pretty far in all directions, with only mechanical penalties for being within 30'. Thus, he'd sense something is wrong and try to pull short. Unless its a curtain 30' all or nothing. Your monster, your call. If you think he can't pull up, then take +3 off of the attack rolls, and subtract all of the damage caused by the DFI, and that ends the turn. Your call.

PS, your move!

[afroakuma]

You have a point, they're bloody miserable things to be around. I'll leave him be.

Okay, so is this wall of stone still happening? Need to know.

[Keld Denar]

Gah, that actually kind of changes something else I was gonna do, since I was gonna have Traj rush out and engage one, while Liam stay back and defend. Since Traj was before Liam in init, can I change Liam's action to charge out and engage the nasty thing?

And yes, the Wall of Stone is SOOOO happening. Gotta protect my rear.

If it matters, Liams charge attacks would look like this:
[roll0] [roll1]
[roll2] [roll3]
[roll4] [roll5]
[roll6] [roll7]

And his location would be diagonal 1 down and 1 over from it.

EDIT:

Crap, Crushing Dispair should be -2 to hit, right? Take 2 off my attack rolls then. There should be some kind of save against that. Dwarves are never depressed, unless they are out of ale and all the women decide to start shaving their beards...

[Keld Denar]

Tert attack is a nat 20, thus should be a threat.

[roll0]

Hows that?

[afroakuma]

Give me a moment, I'm hugely multitasking.

[afroakuma]

Alright, assuming Liam's morale buffs are gone and he's attacking the athlios (Z) then we're good.

Flurry attack misses, Tert fails to crit.

And unless I miss my guess, Liam is now cut off from your party, as are Z and the fat one?

[Keld Denar]

The Wall of Stone is U shaped, boarding my little 10' starting block on the left, right, and bottom. Top is open to allow me to smash baddies as they funnel in. Walls are double thickness, btw, I got a high enough CL and I reduced the area covered enough.

I took out the RRotF and DFI bonuses off of Liam, but forgot the CD penalties, so with those added in, those are his final numbers.

Does he kill it? Please, for the love of god, does he kill it?

[afroakuma]

Sorry. It's alive. And it's not a fan of you.

Oh, actually... :smallamused:

Your secondary failed as well.

And...

Can I get two Fortitude saves from Liam?

[Keld Denar]

[roll0]
[roll1]

Note that these do NOT autofail on a 1, because of Steadfast Determination (PHBII).

[afroakuma]

Fine. You make that part safely. ...bloody high saving throws due to the preposterous number of PrCs that your imbecile has taken...

[Keld Denar]

3! Only 3 PrCs, and only 2 of them have good fort save. Its the 3 base classes that give +8 alone that helps. But hey, a melee character HAS to mutt himself out in order to best cover the bases he needs to cover, because he wasn't born with a class feature called SPELLCASTING.

And it really does create a glaring weakness in his reflex save, if you hadn't noticed, but this is an acceptable loss for me, because most reflex saves won't kill you in one hit.

[afroakuma]

Sure, but the melee-hosing ability in question doesn't require Ref saves.

I really need to hose his Fort and Will. :smallannoyed:

I'm going to be forced off for the next ~hour. :smallmad: Stupid visitors stealing my compy.

[Keld Denar]

Might be able to do 1 more round tonight before my internet craps out and we continue in the morning. You know what you are gonna do with your guys? Its your turn.

[afroakuma]

Alrighty, well. Liam's had his turn. What next?

[Keld Denar]

That was my guys turn. Keld made the wall, Vast transfered the stone, Traj met the aura and dropped back, and Liam tried to smash the baddy. Then Liam made some fort saves. Don't the rest of your guys get to do something?

[afroakuma]

Yup. Won't be till tomorrow, though. :(

[afroakuma]

Alrighty, the two tetromenoi in the EBT radius who weren't grappled try to get out by the quickest means available.

The athlios' (Y) spell-like ability goes off: creeping doom. Six centipede swarms. Those advance on your position.

The free tetromenos moves 30 ft. next to the athlios (Y) and casts an obscuring mist around them.

The haemorragon takes a double move to O10.

The polytrotoi regenerate.

The athlios next to Liam gestures with its hands. AoO if you like.

Liam is caught in a wave of listless night. Fort save DC 21. Failure, he becomes nauseated and exhausted; success he's merely fatigued.

[Keld Denar]

[roll0] [roll1]

And the fort save, which doesn't autofail on a 1.
[roll2]

[afroakuma]

Okay. He's still fatigued, mind you.

Your go.

[Keld Denar]

Liam full attacks, PA for 2 with Flurry, fatigue factored in.
[roll0] [roll1]
[roll2] [roll3]
[roll4] [roll5]
[roll6] [roll7]

Traj uses White Raven Tactics, moving Liam's Init to just after his, and granting him an extra round. Then Traj readies an attack against anything that closes, continueing his song.

Liam acts again from White Raven Tactics
[roll8] [roll9]
[roll10] [roll11]
[roll12] [roll13]
[roll14] [roll15]

Keld delays for now.

Vast attacks one of the nearest ungrappled Polytrotos with his sling.
[roll16] [roll17][roll18]

[afroakuma]

The athlios dies, its body bubbling into a sickly muck and leaving a cloud of foul vapors behind.

Crushing despair and the associated denial of morale effects on Liam persist for the next five rounds.

[Keld Denar]

Did I need the whole 2nd round of full attacks? If not, I'd take that action to move back into a more defensive position in my wall of stone shell.

Did Vast get revenge on one of those little bastards that stole his caster level? I know the 1 point of sling damage won't do anything, but the 6d6 fire should have some noticable impression!

[afroakuma]

You killed him on the flurry of the second round.

Yes, Vast managed to kill him. If I'd conned you into the sonic damage, you'd be cursing me right now.

Only seventeen left!

[afroakuma]

Oh, hold the phone: Does Vast even have LoS to them? Isn't he behind Traj inside the wall of stone?

[Keld Denar]

Allies don't block Line of Sight, though you could impose a -4 penalty for cover. Its still a 16, which should hit one of those pitiful little bastards. Plus, I'd give him a +1 karmic bonus anyway, or maybe a +16 karmic bonus, one for every spell level you drained from him!!!! RAWR.

lol

Anyway, Liam will 5' shift after his 2nd full attack diagonally back toward the party.

Your up!

PS, I'm totally gonna use those guys to hose over a few other people. Kind of reminds me of an encounter with a Mindflayer Monk surrounded by these little 3 HD monsters with huge DR who can project an AMF at will as a standard action each round. WHERE IS YOUR FOM NOW, LITTLE MAN!

[afroakuma]

Check out their brethren. Everything in that race screws you over somehow. The adikethentes are the most hated creatures in the universe - so they force you to attack them instead of something you'd rather target. Algedones are nastier than banshees.

[Keld Denar]

Put some of the Polytrotos around a Adikethente and watch AoE spells get drawn to them, and their caster subsequently nerfed. POW!

[afroakuma]

The haemorragon moves her bulky, oozing self to N13. Pustules swell on her body, erupting and spewing a vile, sticky black fluid at Liam.

Two Reflex saves, please.

[roll0], Reflex half
[roll1], Reflex half

[Keld Denar]

[roll0]
[roll1]
Tjats with the Crushing Dispair factored in.

Also, since its dead, although its effects are still lingering on Liam, if Traj were to enter the area, would he be affected? Like, is it tied to the corpse? Or just while it was living?

[afroakuma]

The aura's endemic to the creature; it couldn't rid itself of it if it wanted to - so it's tied to the corpse, yes. I assumed Liam would get away from it. If he won't, then it's gonna keep running on him.

Both saves failed, by the way. Enjoy the damage.

[Keld Denar]

Damage taken. What I wanted to know is if Traj moves up to where Liam is, will he be affected by the dead creature, or since it's dead, it won't be emitting the aura anymore?

What are the rest of your guys gonna do?

EDIT:
What damage type was that that I just failed against? It might matter.

[afroakuma]

The free tetromenos follows behind the centipede swarms, which enter all four squares of your little enclosure. AoOs as needed.

It also casts another obscuring mist, erasing both itself and half of the EBT area from view.

The escaping tetromenoi vanish into obscuring mist of their own, concealing more of the EBT.

Each takes the appropriate CL penalties.

You can't tell what the other athlios does, because you can't see it.

And yes, Traj will be affected.

[Keld Denar]

Any chance I can get an updated battlefield map? This is kinda complicated.

What kind of damage was it that Liam took? Was it some kind of elemental damage?

[afroakuma]

Non-elemental.

*sigh* Let me try to put this together.

This is going to be ridiculous.

[afroakuma]

{table=head]-|A|B|C|D|E|F|G|H|I|J|K|L|M|N|O|P
1|||f|f|f|f||||||||||
2|||f|f|f|f||||
3|||f|f|f|f|||||||||
4|||f|f|f|f||M|t|||||||
5|||||||t|t|M|t||||||
6||||||t|t|t|t|t|t|||||
7|||||P|P|P|t|t|P|P|P||||
8|||||P|P|P|t|t|P|P|P||||
9|||||P|P|P|t|t|P|P|P||||
10||||||||||||||||
11||||||||||||||||
12|||||||||||||X|X|X|
13|||||||||||||X|X|X|
14|||||||||||||X|X|X|
15||||||||||||||||
16|||||||S|||S||L||||
17|||||||S||T|S||||||
18|||||||S|V|K|S||||||
19|||||||S|S|S|S||||||
[/table]

[Keld Denar]

Heh...yea.

What do you mean non-elemental? Shouldn't it be like, acid damage or something? Being untyped is pretty strong, especially considering the only creature in the MM with untyped damage is a Balor, and only when they die. Just from a balance PoV.

Also, while I'll play under the rules now, I don't think that the Athlios' aura should still linger after death. The effects of being exposed to it, yea, but the emanation should not continue. Otherwise it leaves huge (30' radius!) dead zones in the battlefield. Just commenting for design purposes....

[afroakuma]

Very true. However, I suspect that if I alter that, Traj is going to do something very terrible to me, probably involving that bloody DI. Maybe I'll just install a timer on when the aura fades after death.

As to the blood; does it matter to you, at this moment, if it's acid damage? The answer is yes, because then you could use protection from energy or suchlike. Except it's not energy. It's a caustic liquid. Caustic means it's a base, non-energetic, unstoppable. Note that a trio of vrocks can do 20d6 untyped damage, so not just balors.

That map is still incomplete, but I assume you can follow that the swarms are where your party is, the tentacles are in a circle, and anything you can't see is under fog.

Fair?

[Keld Denar]

Very true. However, I suspect that if I alter that, Traj is going to do something very terrible to me, probably involving that bloody DI. Maybe I'll just install a timer on when the aura fades after death.
Yea, thats exactly what I was gonna do. Lots of things have abilities that negate different player abilities. Golems are immune to SA and most spells, for example, and a Quell can interdict a cleric/paladin to shut him off from his god for a short period of time. Having 1 player temporarily negated puts pressure on the rest of the party to eliminate the source of that negation. Players should be recognized for using tactics that identify and eliminate it quickly so that the negated player can go back to contributing meaningfully in an encounter. I don't have a problem with Liam's Crushing Dispair lasting for a couple rounds, or persisting through the remainder of the combat even, that was a risk he took to eliminate the baddie. I just don't think its fair that a PC continues to be denied his primary class ability even after the source of that negation is slain. Make sense? Like I said, I'll keep trying to fight, whatever you decide, but the whole point of this exercise is to analyze your monsters, and I'm just giving feedback.



As to the blood; does it matter to you, at this moment, if it's acid damage? The answer is yes, because then you could use protection from energy or suchlike. Except it's not energy. It's a caustic liquid. Caustic means it's a base, non-energetic, unstoppable.
Acid in D&D is a catchall for anything that is liquid and generally nasty. I know there is a difference in real life between an acid and a base, but in D&D, there isn't. I just feel that if PCs were prepared with energy resistance spells and abilities, they should be rewarded, not punished.


Fair?
I'm not trying to cheese it out, just offering commentary on what I feel is balanced or not. It makes little difference to me if my guys live or die. I'm not trying to prove that I'm better than you. I'm trying to look at the bigger picture, and I think these points are valid.

What do you think?

[afroakuma]

Yea, thats exactly what I was gonna do. Lots of things have abilities that negate different player abilities. Having 1 player temporarily negated puts pressure on the rest of the party to eliminate the source of that negation.

You're referring to whom? Your melee character who just singlehandedly slew a creature at +2 his ECL? I don't think he's all that negated.


I don't have a problem with Liam's Crushing Dispair lasting for a couple rounds, or persisting through the remainder of the combat even, that was a risk he took to eliminate the baddie.

Like I said, five rounds once he's out of the aura.


I just don't think its fair that a PC continues to be denied his primary class ability even after the source of that negation is slain. Make sense?

I (and many others) don't find DI to be fair or balanced in the slightest, especially when you obtain it without going the whole mile. Do note that I only stuffed it for Liam; it's working fine on everyone else. Or were you referring to Vast?


Like I said, I'll keep trying to fight, whatever you decide, but the whole point of this exercise is to analyze your monsters, and I'm just giving feedback.

And I appreciate that. Have it your way. Your ridiculously-damaging dwarf can do ridiculously more damage.


Acid in D&D is a catchall for anything that is liquid and generally nasty. I know there is a difference in real life between an acid and a base, but in D&D, there isn't. I just feel that if PCs were prepared with energy resistance spells and abilities, they should be rewarded, not punished.


Certainly they should, but at the same time, generic spells shouldn't be able to disable actual hazards to that extent. A vat of acid is not "energy," it's caustic doom. Had it spewed, say, tanglefoot bag goo on you, you wouldn't be protected by protection from energy.

Your point about the aura is certainly valid; I disagree on the blood, because that is the creature's primary attack mechanism. To have it become docile and harmless via such a simple, easy tactic is not, in my opinion, reasonable.

Not to mention, I know one of your guys has energy immunity armor. :smalltongue:

Anyways, the blood's always been untyped. I can make it piercing damage, or negative energy damage (that's a stretch...) but in the end that's what the creature's weapon is. It's not too different from if I gave a creature force damage (which is typed) except that force damage isn't a negative, it's a positive.

My point is this: as acid, the monster's blood presents no challenge, and therefore the monster itself presents no challenge, since its main attack, primary defense and battlefield control mechanism all revolve around its blood. I myself agree that it should be acid, but as long as acid is an energy type instead of a nonmagical hazard, it's just too easy to get around.

*sigh* Let's try it your way. The blood deals acid damage. We'll see how it goes.

Now I'm the one expecting a TPK. :smallannoyed: stupid flippin' Dragonfire Inspiration...

[Keld Denar]

Yea, Liam does have Energy Immunity enchanted on his breastplate, which he paid 15,000g for, 15k which he could have spent increasing his damage more. I do see your point though, although by extension, protection from fire would make a fire elemental encounter trivial, so fire elementals shouldn't exist? Or dragons for that matter?

Regardless, lets continue with the untyped damage. Liam took it.

And I think we are at a misunderstanding about the DFI aura. Traj still has it up, and its still affecting Vast and Keld because they are all outside of the aura. Liam doesn't have it, because he was cut off from its effects when he entered the aura. Thats fine. What I'm wondering though, is if I bring Traj out of the cave and engage the big blood blob, is his DFI gonna get snuffed out too, just because of his proximity to the slain Athlios? If so, hes gonna stay put, probably indefinitely, because his attacks can't even hurt it without them. He does 2d6+6 base damage with all attacks, like a rogue without sneak attack.

And if he didn't do DFI, he'd be doing normal IC, which would give Liam +6 to hit and +6 to damage, allowing him to PA for 6 more points comfortably, doing +18 more damage per hit, only 3 points per hit behind what the DFI gives. The only reason I opted for DFI over normal IC, is because without it, Traj would be a relatively worthless melee character.

Personally, I think DFI is a little OP as well. I think if you change IC to DFI, it should make it personal. That would allow a character like a Bardblade to be competative, but wouldn't accidentally raise the effectiveness of everyone around him by about 2 HD. But thats neither here, nor there.

So, can Traj come out to play without getting suppressed by the dead Athlios, given that Liam won't recieve the benefits of the DFI for another 5 rounds?

Also, Vast killed one of the Polytrotos. :P Nasty little bugger!

[afroakuma]

Yes, he can join Liam on the front lines.

I might add that red dragons have a hellish load of tricks beyond the fire breath. Elementals, well they are screwed, but it's a given that they literally are energy. Protection from energy against them is like protection from evil against a succubus. It's what's for dinner.

Alrighty, your go, I believe.

[Keld Denar]

Ok...my round.

Traj activates his Anklets of Translocation, teleporting 10' forward, then initiates Pouncing Charge to move to L14. There he full attacks. Weapon damage is normal steel and magic. Provokes an AoO.
[roll0] [roll1][roll2]
[roll3] [roll4][roll5]
[roll6] [roll7][roll8]
[roll9] [roll10][roll11]
[roll12] [roll13][roll14]

Liam 5' steps to M15 and full attacks with 2 points of PA and flurry. Weapon damage is adamantine and magic, but unaligned.
[roll15] [roll16]
[roll17] [roll18]
[roll19] [roll20]
[roll21] [roll22]


Vast will sling at the other ungrappled Polytrotos and then move 35' around the stone cave to L18. (35' move speed)
[roll23] [roll24][roll25]

BTW, the EBT grapple damage for the last round and then for this round is:
[roll26]
[roll27]

Keld will move to K17 (30' move) and then use Divine Ward (1 TU attempt) to cast his domain Cure Serious Wounds on Liam.

[roll28] * 1.5
40 damage healed.

And thats my turn.

[afroakuma]

Do note that there are four centipede swarms in the cave at this time.

That's 2d6 damage each to all three of them, plus being a distraction. Vast's gonna get penalized for the throw.

vs. Keld
[roll0]
[roll1]
[roll2]
[roll3]

vs. Vast
[roll4]
[roll5]
[roll6]
[roll7]

vs. Traj
[roll8]
[roll9]
[roll10]
[roll11]

[Keld Denar]

Distraction is not a problem for Kelds casting, he was outside of the cave when he cast (he wouldn't have LoS in the cave).

Vast's roll was high enough that he should still hit even with the distraction. Vast didn't take any real hp damage either, between the 16 temp hp from hero's feast and the 11 temp hp from Minor Shapeshift.

Traj took the damage and liked it. Hopes the little buggers burned their tongues on his firey goodness (doesn't actualy happen).

EDIT:
Those swarms are 10x10, right? I don't htink all 4 of them can occupy the same space at once. Might be wrong though.

[afroakuma]

They're 10x10, but they're swarms. They permeate. It's a wonderful thing.

[Keld Denar]

You gonna do anything other than hit me with swarm damage? Your big fatty still has actions, and those guys all hiding in the cloud do too.

[afroakuma]

Well, Fatty gets an AoO against Traj, first off. So that's a tail slap.

[roll0], [roll1] and grappled.

If I get away with that, Traj's little stunt is gonna fail.

[Keld Denar]

Sorry, between Punishing Stance and charging, you only needed a 4 or higher to hit Trajy boy, but you rolled a 2. Eat flaming shortswords!

[afroakuma]

Traj does Hit, Hit, Miss, Hit, Miss.

Liam does Hit, Miss, Hit, Miss.

For every hit, a 10 ft. cone of blood sprays out at the attacker. I assume Traj was in Liam's cones; was Liam in Traj's?

Anyway,

Traj:
[roll0] acid damage
[roll1] acid damage
[roll2] acid damage

Liam:
[roll3] acid damage
[roll4] acid damage

and as an immediate action, she'll pop another blister. 15 ft. cone, trying to catch as many of them as possible:

[roll5] acid damage, Reflex half

[Keld Denar]

Naw, Liam is attacking from the south of her (as you look at it) and Traj charged at the west side of her. They are 2 different quadrents of each other.

Also, Traj's attacks only do fire damage (he can't crack the DR) and the fire damage cauterizes the wounds. Thus, the only one who gets splattered is Liam.

[roll0]
[roll1]

and if she aims it south, she'll hit both Liam and Keld

[roll2]
[roll3]

Fail saves...now you see why Liam invested in energy protection. He couldn't even dodge a stiff breeze.

Damage taken.

Then what?

[afroakuma]

Naw, Liam is attacking from the south of her (as you look at it) and Traj charged at the west side of her. They are 2 different quadrents of each other.

She's very sad about that.


Also, Traj's attacks only do fire damage (he can't crack the DR) and the fire damage cauterizes the wounds. Thus, the only one who gets splattered is Liam.

Er, no it doesn't. Only negative energy kills that bloated, watery mess.

Tell Traj to savor the pain.

They both failed their saves, so much blissful sizzling comes their way.

My go?

[Keld Denar]

Bah, did you just change it? I could have sworn that fire and acid damage also had that effect. Anyway, Traj's saves

[roll0]
[roll1]
[roll2]

Yup, your turn!

[afroakuma]

She had had acid up there, until I realized that if her blood's acidic, then that's rather illogical. Not to mention they're resistant.

Oh, and there are no saves for the ones he got from hitting her. He takes all of it.

[Keld Denar]

Oh, ok. Sounds good. Keep going, I'm curious to see what this slut can actually do on a full attack :P

Slut.

PS, where the hell would you find a weapon enhancement that inflicts negative energy damage?

[afroakuma]

"Uses negative energy," I believe is the wording.

Weapons that drain levels or HP use negative energy.

[Keld Denar]

Hmmm, only things I can think of off the top of my head include the 9 lives drinker sword (major magic item or minor artifact), the vampiric upgrade from MIC, and any time you cast/channel a Vampiric Touch with a weapon attack such as from a Spellstoring weapon or Arcane Channeling.

Regardless, what else is she gonna do? I'm curious.

[afroakuma]

It's gonna be a while, I'm afraid.

But it will involve a grapple and some claw attacks.

[Keld Denar]

Lets see some claw attacks mang!

[afroakuma]

Alrighty, claws vs. Traj:

[roll0], [roll1] and Fort save
[roll2], [roll3] and Fort save

Miniclaws vs. Traj:

[roll4], [roll5]
[roll6], [roll7]

and tail vs. Liam

[roll8], [roll9] and improved grab.

[Keld Denar]

Traj
Miss

Hit
[roll0]

Miss

Miss

Liam
Miss

That it? My turn?

[afroakuma]

The die roller is out to get me. :smallfrown:

Traj hemorrhages. [roll0] Con damage.

[afroakuma]

Well, I think I should surrender at this point.

The tetromenoi are useless against a party this optimized; the polytrotoi did their job but didn't get Keld too; the remaining athlios can't do enough damage to be meaningful before getting splattered. Only the haemorragon can do anything at all, and that will consist of bleeding on your frontliners until they gut her (next 1-2 turns oughta do that.) She kinda needed this round, only the dice failed me in a huge way. :smallfrown:

[Keld Denar]

Yea, Traj was gonna boost Dancing Mongoose and make 6 attacks for about 36d6 fire damage which isn't mitigated. Keld was gonna Mass Cure Lite to fix most of the ouch, and Liam was gonna keep hacking.

What do you think of my APL10 vs EL14 fight?

[afroakuma]

It's amusing me so far.

My lamenti will never surprise anyone ever again if this keeps up, though.

[Keld Denar]

Yea, I have a couple recommendations already...

1) Add elemental resistances across the board for Lamenti. Maybe give the lesser caste of Lamenti Resist 5 to Sonic and Electric, medium Lamenti Resist 10 to Sonic and Electric, and greater Lamenti Immunity to Sonic + Electric. That would bring them in line with other outsiders like Angels, Demons, Archons, and Devils.

2) Need more DR. 5/Magic for even the least Lamenti, and then from about 10 HD and up, go 10/Lawful, and from 15 HD and up go 15/Lawful. I wouldn't worry about special materials like Cold Iron or whatever, and don't use the Good/Evil axis, except maybe for the couple evil ones.

3) Check over the SLAs. Some of them are really worthless and should be removed. Some of them are really good, and might be a little too powerful. Some should just be made constant across the board. For example, the Cheimothnes can cast Fog Cloud, but the Oimozon, one Caste up, can only cast Obscuring Mist. Just kinda odd, IMO. Minor nitpick.

Just things that you can't really see when you look at the stat block, but really come up in playtest. Hence, the whole reason to playtest, eh?