[3.5]Bear Cavalry into Royal Canadian Bear Force?

[oxybe]

i'm currently playing a level 16 dwarven druid who enjoys his bears. nothing like a good mauling to get the blood flowing, eh? anywho, any good spell out there for druids that allows me to turn my Bear Cavalry into the Royal Canadian Bear Force?

i've got Wind Walk that would allow me to "dive bomb" by dropping a group of animal growth'ed bears on top of people, but i would rather cast it on my party instead.

alternatively, i would have the wizard cast mass fly on us... if we had one. other then me we have a cleric for full casters.

i can't think of any mass flight type spells other then wind walk :smallfrown:

[mikej]

!

i'm Canadian and that is pure awesome.

Mass, Fly ( real drag without a Wiz ) is basically the best solution I can think of. Could someone use UMD a scroll of it?

[Cieyrin]

A chain (http://realmshelps.dandello.net/cgi-bin/feats.pl?Chain_Spell,CAr) reach (http://realmshelps.dandello.net/cgi-bin/feats.pl?Reach_Spell,CD) Air Walk would get all your bears free flying, though that's a 9th level spell, which you're one level away from casting. You could pull it off with a Chain Metamagic Rod (which costs 108,000 gp, according to Complete Arcane) and just have to pick up Reach Spell as a feat and then increase your bears' fly speeds with Gusts of Wind, as appropriate.

Them's my 2 coppers. Take as you will.

[hamishspence]

Urskans from Frostburn are possibly the closest things to intelligent bears in D&D (probably modelled on the armoured bears in His Dark Materials).

I can just imagine ships with the Cloud Keel enchantment, or airships, manned (or rather, beared) by Urskans.

I like the notion of a flying ship, with a big cannon, and Urskan gun crews.

Just so I can have the captain shout just before the battle:

"Bring all bears to gun!"

:smallbiggrin:

[Eldariel]

A chain (http://realmshelps.dandello.net/cgi-bin/feats.pl?Chain_Spell,CAr) reach (http://realmshelps.dandello.net/cgi-bin/feats.pl?Reach_Spell,CD) Air Walk would get all your bears free flying, though that's a 9th level spell, which you're one level away from casting. You could pull it off with a Chain Metamagic Rod (which costs 108,000 gp, according to Complete Arcane) and just have to pick up Reach Spell as a feat and then increase your bears' fly speeds with Gusts of Wind, as appropriate.

Them's my 2 coppers. Take as you will.

Magic Item Compendium halves the Chain Metamagic Rod costs; for some reason they cost more than Quicken as written, which is a +4 level adjustment vs. Chain's +3.

[oxybe]

well, it's too late to pick up the feat at this point and there's too much of a time crunch in-game to go to our friendly town (lack of teleportation... no wizzie) to get items. i'm actually amazed that our group is planning to get a night's rest and give the enemy time to recuperate.

tomorrow's session we're going out of the town cruddy town and assaulting the true enemy base. i'm planning on doing a less then subtle assault on them and a quick way to literally drop my team ready for combat on them would be nice.

currently here's current my plan:


Wind walk in morning, wild shape into dire bear
go to enemy base, on the way cast Owl's Insight (+1/2 insight mod to wis, it goes from 26 to 34. lasts for exactly one hour)
shoot off a Fire storm on the base when near. it will deal 16d6 damage, in an area comprising on 32 10ft cubes. save DC 29 reflex [10+lvl 7 spell, 12 wis]. this should kill the mooks and leave the main guys wounded
"land" on roof & start turning off the gaseous form. this will take 5 turns. begin casting summon nature's ally 8 for 1d4+1 dire bears on roof
if it doesn't collapse from having the bears summoned (a dire bear is 8000 pounds (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/monsters/direBear.htm)), cast mass bull's strength on group of bears, self + my companion (a dire bear, Ursa). if paladin has mount out (a rhino), cast on it too.
now cast animal growth on me, Ursa and the summoned bears. if paladin has mount out, cast on it too.
at this point there should be at minimum 60-150 tons of angry (animal growth multiplies weight by x8. each bear is 64000 pounds heavy and 24 feet long), 43 str bears on that roof, with possibility of an only slightly smaller rhino. i hope the roof collapses at this point.
wind walk's reversion to a solid form should be nearly worn off at this point so start floating down, have survivors mauled by bears. cast greater magic fang+share spell with Ursa
FEAR THE ROYAL CANADIAN BEAR FORCES AND THEIR PARATROOPERS OF DOOOOM


spells used:
1 lvl 8 - Summon Nature's Ally VIII
1 lvl 7 - Wind Walk
1 lvl 6 - Mass Bull's Strength
2 lvl 5 - Animal Growth, Owl's Insight (spell comp)
1 lvl 3 - Greater Magic Fang

of course at this point the cleric will be doing whatever buffs & casting he feels necessary, as will the pally.

this leaves plenty of slots open for other spells

[Cieyrin]

The only problem I see is that you can't cast spells while affected by Wind Walk, as its per Gaseous Form, which disallows casting and attacks, as well as supernatural abilities like Wild Shape, so you'd have to Owl's Wisdom and Wild Shape before Wind Walking over there.

I'd also recommend Superior Magic Fang over Greater, which is in the Draconomicon and I believe the Spell Compendium, which gets you Greater Magic Fang on all your attacks for a 5th level Druid spell, I'm fairly sure.

Good luck storming the fortress otherwise, though! :smallbiggrin:

[Renegade Paladin]

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v350/RenegadePaladin/Politics/BearsThreat2.jpg

:smallbiggrin:

[Melamoto]

Sounds to me like A: You already have this thought out, and B: You couldn't really get any preparations ready at this point even if you knew what to do.

[AstralFire]

I predict that this shall bear grizzly results. I hope it's a kodiak moment.

[Suzuro]

I predict that this shall bear grizzly results. I hope it's a kodiak moment.

Just so you know, I hate you.

No, I'm just kidding. Only not.


-Suzuro

[TengYt]

I predict that this shall bear grizzly results. I hope it's a kodiak moment.

It's sure to create a pandamonium at the very least.

[The Dark Fiddler]

It's sure to create a pandamonium at the very least.

Pandas aren't bears though, are they?

[AstralFire]

Pandas aren't bears though, are they?

Their precise nature is the cause of a number of hulla Baloos in the biological community. :smallbiggrin:

[Haven]

...I caniform believe you, AstralFire.

[Zuki]

You'd better believe it. As far as honeyed words and horribilis puns go, he's bear-ly scratched the surface. I saw one the other that had me wincing and c-ursine in pain.

[AstralFire]

Now you're bruining it.

[Coidzor]

If their weight alone doesn't take it out, I imagine having them concentrate on attacking where the roof attaches to the walls would finish the job.

Depending upon how/where/out of what the fortress is constructed.

[HamsterOfTheGod]

Cloudwalkers is a 7th level druid spell from Spell Compnedium that is essentially mass air walk for 1 hour/level. You can see a description online here http://www.crystalkeep.com/d20/rules/DnD3.5Index-Spells-Druid.pdf

[oxybe]

i checked over cloudwalkers and while the time is only 10 minutes per level, that's still almost 3 hours at CL 16. more then enough time to bear~ er... barrel through the building.


so walk near building, transform
cast Owl's Insight (+1/2 insight mod to wis, it goes from 26 to 34. lasts for exactly one hour)
begin casting summon nature's ally 8 for 1d4+1 dire bears
cast mass bull's strength on group of bears, self, ursa and i'll make sure paladin has mount out and cast on it too.
cast animal growth on me, Ursa, the summoned bears & paladin mount.
cast greater magic fang+share spell with Ursa. buddy up.
cast couldwalkers affecting party
at this point there should be at minimum 60-150 tons of angry bears heading towards that roof, with the only slightly smaller rhino.
shoot off a Fire Storm on the base when near to weaken living creatures inside.
FEAR THE ROYAL CANADIAN BEAR FORCES AND THEIR PARATROOPERS OF DOOOOM


alright. that seems like a plan i can go behind, plus it allows the use of the "Flying V" formation except with huge-sized dire bears instead of planes.

i can just see the GM's face as this ridiculous scenario goes on... :smallconfused:

what i enjoy probably the most is i still have my baleful polymorphs/finger of death that i can cast at ridiculously high DCs if the physical assault actually fails.

[AstralFire]

The official warcraft term is 'rawrbombing.'

[oxybe]

i never heard that term. then again, i never played druid in WoW or with a "serious business" group. i was more of a laid back, rogue guy.

[AstralFire]

Rawrbomb was a silly thing you only did when you were bored. Flightform, moonfire something, shift to bear - CHARGE BEFORE YOU HIT THE GROUND.

There's also a kittybomb, but I don't like cats and that's more recent so it doesn't count.

[Draken]

Makes me remember the few slow fall air assaults I performed in my time.

More often than not, doing that results in a dead mage, shamefully.

[Renegade Paladin]

Makes me remember the few slow fall air assaults I performed in my time.

More often than not, doing that results in a dead mage, shamefully.
It's much more fun with a gryphon-riding paladin and a ring of feather falling. Much less squishy. :smallamused:

[arkol]

cast animal growth on me, Ursa, the summoned bears & paladin mount.


Being a dwarf you don't qualify as a target for animal growth.

[Set]

I think it's time to dust off that line of research that led a 'mad wizard' to create the owlbear, and get it right, by creating owlbears *with wings.*

Griffons are so last century, after all.

[oxybe]

at the point i'm casting the spell, i've wild shape'd into a dire bear which gives me the "animal" type (wild shape acts as polymorph, which bestows the creature's type onto me).

[Draken]

at the point i'm casting the spell, i've wild shape'd into a dire bear which gives me the "animal" type (wild shape acts as polymorph, which bestows the creature's type onto me).

Latest wildshape errata changed it. You remain your original creature kind.

[arkol]

Actually...no.



Wild Shape (Su)
At 5th level, a druid gains the ability to turn herself into any Small or Medium animal and back again once per day. Her options for new forms include all creatures with the animal type. This ability functions like the alternate form special ability, except as noted here.




The creature retains the type and subtype of its original form. It gains the size of its new form. If the new form has the aquatic subtype, the creature gains that subtype as well.

[oxybe]

ah. didn't check the errata, going strait from the PhB right now.

[pasko77]

Being a dwarf you don't qualify as a target for animal growth.

Why not?:smalltongue:

[Cieyrin]

Just means the cleric has to Enlarge you instead. He has Strength domain, right? I also stand by going with Superior Magic Fang over Greater, as that means you and your animal companion will be hitting that much more often and, if he can Pow, he'll be hitting that much harder, too, if you exchange the difference in BAB for it. Definitely worth the 5th level spell slot that takes up.

[Jalor]

Okay, my next character for a 3.5 game is going to be a Druid with bears. Consider your character concept stolen; it is the sincerest form of flattery.

[oxybe]

he's actually really fun but we tend to fight in small enclosed spaces where even fitting both me and ursa is difficult, so i really don't get the opportunity to go all-out as often as i would like.

this is one of those corner cases where all the pins are lined up right and there happens to be a hulking hurler nearby with a moon on hand.

as for the cleric, he's a pelorian so no Strength domain i'm afraid. unless he's west coast orthodox pelorite, which means "pelor at the beach with a tan and righteously buff bod". i believe the domains are Sand, Sun, Surf and Strength. either way, having me be super-huge isn't that important and might actually serve as having the enemies target the much larger bears instead.

[Draken]

Pelor does offer the strength domain. Your cleric friend just didn't take it, apparently.

[Coidzor]

Sun and strenght. The only domains that both fit with the Burning Hate and his more... pleasant guise...