Locking up a ToB warrior

[Icewalker]

I'm looking for a rather specific bit of mechanic to fit with a series of events.

There is an ogre locked up in a prison. He's a high-level crusader, locked up in the anti-magic block. He is easily strong enough to bust down the bars of his cell, which is why they are specially designed such that they are coated in razors.

Now, after a jailbreak begins, and the anti-magic field goes down, I want him to use the Stone Bones strike in the form of punching out one of the bars, cutting up his hand, but giving him the DR to just break down the others without trouble, then using the one he knocked over as an improvised weapon.

How can I make it such that the removal of the anti-magic field allows him to do this, without letting him do it earlier?


I'm also up for alternate solutions as a whole: the real goal is just that I want him to get out of his cell after but not before the anti-magic field goes down, and I want him to use one of the razor bars as an improvised weapon.

[Sstoopidtallkid]

He could also do it with a dinner plate or similar, and would be better with the bar if he has a Warblade level and EWP.

[Nerd-o-rama]

Maybe he's not waiting for the AMF to go down. Maybe he's just waiting for the jailbreak to begin in order to cover his escape. Maybe he doesn't have the strength to knock down the bars without a magic strength-boosting item he smuggled in.

Sadly, there's no such thing as an Anti Martial Field that you could use, nor would that really make any sense. I guess he could be restrained in some way that requires an outside power source (some kind of gravity-affecting spell tied to a magic item in the room above/below/next to his cell?), and that could be the thing that switches off to allow his escape.

[RTGoodman]

I don't have ToB handy, but don't the various martial adepts have to spend five minutes praying/meditation/exercising to ready maneuvers and whatnot? Maybe there's something that prevents him from doing that (a sling stone every time he starts, etc.), but that goes away when the anti-magic goes away. That's sorta forced, though, so I don't really like it.

EDIT:

Maybe he's not waiting for the AMF to go down. Maybe he's just waiting for the jailbreak to begin in order to cover his escape. Maybe he doesn't have the strength to knock down the bars without a magic strength-boosting item he smuggled in.

Or that.

[Sstoopidtallkid]

If he's taken Martial Study(Shadow Stride/Jaunt/Step), they wouldn't work in an AMF, but would let him teleport outside the bars, too.

[Eldariel]

He has a Strength-increasing blessing on him. The AMF suppresses it. That or the Crusader has a branded weapon nearby he can't only summon because of the AMF (if he doesn't have Improved Unarmed Strike, he can't really break stuff with bare hands).

EDIT: Sstoopid, they're Ex as far as I know.

[Icewalker]

Strength boosting item seems like the best method. Smuggled in some ring of strength in his tangled beard, not knowing they were taking him to the AM block.

The prison break as cover makes sense, but he could always bust out of his cell then free everyone else, starting one himself, so no reason he wouldn't wait.

Thanks everyone!

[Sstoopidtallkid]

He has a Strength-increasing blessing on him. The AMF suppresses it. That or the Crusader has a branded weapon nearby he can't only summon because of the AMF (if he doesn't have Improved Unarmed Strike, he can't really break stuff with bare hands).

EDIT: Stoopid, they're Ex as far as I know.

Su, like most of the Shadow Hand and Desert Wind stuff.

[Nerd-o-rama]

He has a Strength-increasing blessing on him. The AMF suppresses it. That or the Crusader has a branded weapon nearby he can't only summon because of the AMF (if he doesn't have Improved Unarmed Strike, he can't really break stuff with bare hands).

EDIT: Sstoopid, they're Ex as far as I know.

Some of the flashier Shadow Hand and Desert Wind maneuvers, including those mentioned, are specifically tagged as (Su).

Also, the more I think about it, the more I like a magical restraint system originating outside his room. Not a lot he can do if he's pinned to the floor ceiling by Reverse Gravity...until some yutz smashes the Font of Reverse Gravity.

[Eldariel]

Su, like most of the Shadow Hand and Desert Wind stuff.

Quick check through ToB and errata reveals no statement in them making them Supernatural. Every maneuver that is Su states so - they don't.

[Douglas]

For his escape to result directly from the AMF going down, there would have to be some additional form of restraint that he cannot defeat without using some supernatural ability he has. This additional restraint would have to either be enough to contain him all by itself or be incorporated into the bars somehow.

Hmm, perhaps the bars are also superheated (non-magically) and would burn him too much, but he has the Flame's Blessing stance (through feats, maybe?) and plenty of ranks in tumble. Doing it with feats, Martial Study would even make tumble a class skill for him, making it possible to reach the higher levels of fire resistance without multiclassing.

With this situation, when the AMF is up he could try using Stone Bones to beat the razors but he'd still get badly burned - and Flame's Blessing is supernatural and therefore not available. When it's down, he can use Flame's Blessing to get lots of fire resistance, allowing him to ignore most or even all of the bars' heat.

You'd need to make the bars hot enough to do serious damage on contact so he can't just soak the damage with his hp, but you probably don't want him to have that much of a boost to his weapon once he breaks out. Set it up so the bars are heated externally, and make a chart for how fast they cool down - and how fast their bonus fire damage decreases - once detached.

Alternatively, he could break out of his cell at any time but is convinced the guards are too tough for him to beat on his own. The AMF coming down is incidental to the fact that a major prison break is going on, he sees the odds shifting against the guards, and decides he might be able to either beat them with the new help or escape while they're distracted.

[Darrin]

Now, after a jailbreak begins, and the anti-magic field goes down, I want him to use the Stone Bones strike in the form of punching out one of the bars, cutting up his hand, but giving him the DR to just break down the others without trouble, then using the one he knocked over as an improvised weapon.

Mountain Hammer makes more sense than Stone Bones. Mountain Hammer ignores DR and hardness.

As far as the AMF... if he doesn't know the maneuver and only has access to it via a magic item such as a Stone Dragon Belt (ToB p. 150), then he can't use Mountain Hammer/Stone Bones until the AMF goes down.

I'm also up for alternate solutions as a whole: the real goal is just that I want him to get out of his cell after but not before the anti-magic field goes down, and I want him to use one of the razor bars as an improvised weapon.

I'm confused... you want him to get out of his cell "after but not before" the AMF goes down? Sounds like he needs a TARDIS for that.

Anyway, you could just have him drugged (non-magical rufie or whatever) and by an amazing coincidence the drugs wear off just when you want them to, before the AMF goes down or whatever.

[Fishy]

He works for the BBEG, who goes for the 'sadistic monster' school of employee relations. When she 'recruited' the ogre, she also hit him with enough permanent ability drain to his INT to turn him into a vegetable- then gave him a modified Circlet of Intellect.

"You work for me, because I know the command word that turns this off. Understood?"

This worked fine, until he was later captured by the local authorities and hauled into an AMF, where he promptly lost sentience again. He's entirely capable of carrying out an escape plan: except that he isn't able to form one. And he doesn't understand the concept of 'escape'.

Probably too specific for what you need right now, but I just enjoyed the idea.

[Proven_Paradox]

You could have him manacled or something--the manacles are connected to whatever keeps the AMF field up, and when it goes down, they release. Then he can use Foehammer/Mountain Hammer and such to get out with no problems. While bound, he can't punch anything, so he can't use his maneuvers to just get out.

I personally like the "waiting for a jailbreak to cover his getaway" suggestion--fits just fine as long as the guy is marginally intelligent. Other solutions are going to seem somewhat contrived I think.

[ChaosDefender24]

Or, put him in a sort of permanent forcecage only with metal bars underneath the force. He can't break down the bars as long as force is in the way, but once the AMF goes up, the force field goes down.

[Douglas]

Or, put him in a sort of permanent forcecage only with metal bars underneath the force. He can't break down the bars as long as force is in the way, but once the AMF goes up, the force field goes down.

That's going the wrong way. He wants the absence of the AMF to make it possible for the ogre to escape.

[Zeful]

Strength boosting item seems like the best method. Smuggled in some ring of strength in his tangled beard, not knowing they were taking him to the AM block.

The prison break as cover makes sense, but he could always bust out of his cell then free everyone else, starting one himself, so no reason he wouldn't wait.

Thanks everyone!

Except they wouldn't send him to the AMF block if he smuggled a ring in and didn't use spells. If his strength boost was a permanent magic item tattooed to his skin (using some of the psionic tattoo rules for it's size and transmission and such) then I could see them locking him up in the AMF block, he's now weakened enough so that he could be manacled to the wall and would need the STR boost to get free (i.e. he's 3 away from the chain's break DC assuming a 20 on the check). The AMF goes down and spends the first few seconds trying to break free and then punches out the bar.

My 2cp.

[Irreverent Fool]

He is kept in a catatonic state by an ability drain. One of his stats (other than Con) has been permanently drained to 0. Charisma would be good.

In order to interrogate the prisoner, they have wrapped him with a cloak of charisma +2. Rather than go through the trouble of putting it on and getting in harm's way every time, they have left the cloak on the ogre's catatonic body.

As long as he remains in the AMF, the cloak is inactive, leaving him unable to act. Ability drain is not a magical effect that is canceled by an AMF.

As soon as the field is down, he comes to.

obnoxious
sig

[FMArthur]

He's a Kensai with his unarmed strikes magically enchanted.

[Irreverent Fool]

He's a Kensai with his unarmed strikes magically enchanted.

But he's not.

[FMArthur]

Make him into one is what I meant.