Tome Game: The Fall of Pun Pun

[PhaedrusXY]

I'm running a PbP Tome game that includes a bunch of my own house rules here. The PCs started out as ECL 7, and the premise of the game is that Pun Pun has screwed up the world and they are trying to find a way to go back in time and kill him/his grandma/whatever before it happens. I'll add stuff here occasionally, but since it is a PbP, you can read as much about it as you want. I'll post NPC stats here and there once the combats including them are over, also.

[Judging__Eagle]

I was actually thinking of how to build a character that can do this; take down Pun-Pun. Something along the lines of being immune to most effects, by becoming undead, attacking Pun-Pun's biggest weakness; stuff like having a set amount of HD.

With 'arbitrary' stats; you can't attack via touch, normal attack, SoDs, beat in skill or ability checks. The problem is that stuff like Enervation isn't 'energy drain'; and you need to bypass spell resistance. Since Pun-Pun rolls with "immunity to spells that allow for SR below 4th level", you need to roll in either scrolls, or use higher level spells slots (at least that's my understanding).

Then I saw the thread.

We're getting the mcguffin to kill Pun-Pun. That's a lot easier than having to face a creature that can make traps as a free action. It's one thing to face a creature you can't kill, hit, affect with saving-throw related powers, etc.

I'll have to look at the rules for the game closely before I know what I'd try. 'Maybe' an Elf Grapple-zard with a Rogue Cohort to kill things that my Wizard grapples.

[Kaelik]

Wow JE, it's like you have no fucking clue what you are talking about.

If Pun Pun works at all, it works because it can grant itself literally any ability in the game, and it gets as many Divine Ranks as it wants.

It's a God. See "Research a spell called "Kill Drogar the Dwarf Barbarian No Save" as a free action."

[Nicklance]

Sounds interesting.

[Username17]

Pun Pun already got killed. The author was asked to fight the Wish and the Word, so he assumed Golem-based Magic Immunity and dared them to use a Word on him. And then, because Golem Immunity doesn't work on Supernatural Abilities, he fucking died.

Pun Pun is stupid. It was made by a very retarded reading of a very retarded rule by someone who isn't nearly as clever as h thinks he is. The fucking end.

-Username17

[Lago PARANOIA]

Have I mentioned how much I hate kobolds?

I don't hate the race or the concept, but as I have mentioned in the past the only reason why people use them is so they can go 'ha ha you died to cannon fodder JERKING OFF IN YOUR FACE SPPRRRLT'.

There's absolutely no reason for Pun Pun to be a kobold other than this factor, so I'm already

[PhaedrusXY]

Wow, you guys are just a barrel of fun. They wanted a campaign based on time travel, and I thought this sounded like a fun premise. I don't intend for them to ever actually fight Pun Pun himself. He's just a plot device, obviously. Instead of "Save the world from X", it's "The world is totally fucked up because of X. Now figure out how to undo it." With MOAR time paradoxes.

[Josh_Kablack]

What irks me about Pun Pun is that the Illithid Savant did the whole "I can have an infinite number of infinite loops and therefore every ability in the game" sooner and the CharOp boards ignored it.

That aside, once you mention Divine Rank, you are firmly into the realm of macguffins and magical tea party and the rules have ceased to matter - because if your DM uses the "rules" from DDG, then most gods exist in their own personal persistant timestop taking infinite actions each and every round and incapable of suffering the effects of anything that happens in realtime - or within the timestops of others.

And that aside, Ultima I was pretty awesome back in the day. Have fun killing Mondain before he became immortal.

[Bill Bisco: Isometric Imp]

Illithid Savant requires DM Fiat. And I see that Frank is still sore about the Wish and the Word, and Pun Pun

[CatharzGodfoot]

None of that shit matters. All that matters is that a party go back in time and gank some weak-ass kobold psionicist.

[Lago PARANOIA]

Illithid Savant requires DM Fiat.

And Pun-Pun doesn't?

God, I hate that name. It reminds me of Jar-Jar. And I just got over hating kobolds as a DM penis extension, too.

[PhaedrusXY]

Encounter 1: The Goblin War party

Three 3rd level goblin fighters (using my homebrew fighter class)

Fighter 3
Feats:
Fast as Lightning- Immediate action attack at full BAB
Expert Parry- Immediate action parry 1 attack
Combat Alacrity-extra attack on a standard action attack
Wolfpack Tactics (Combat feat): At this level, they gained: If any ally is flanking an adjacent enemy, you are too. And can take an AoO on an enemy that's damaged by an ally once per round
Mounted Combat (Tome)

Stats: Str 13 (19 buffed), Dex 14 (12 buffed), Con 14, Int 10, Wis 12, Cha 6
HD 3d10+6 (21 hps)
AC 17 (15 buffed)
Attack: +6 (1d8+1), +10 flanking (from barghest's feat), +7 javelin (1d6+1)
buffed: +11 (1d10+9+2d6fire), +15 flanking, +8 javelin (1d6+7+2d6fire)

Saves: F5, R3(2),W2

goblins have MW chain shirts and glaives. Have MW javelins readied before fight. Also MW saddles (+2 ride).
Ride +12 (11).

Two 3rd level goblin bards

Dragonborn Goblin Bard 3
Stats (buffed): 12(18) Str, 12(10) Dex, 15 Con, 10 Int, 8 Wis, 11 Cha
HD: 3d6+6 (16)
AC: 16 (10+4 armor) (14 buffed)
Attacks: +4 longspear (1d6+1) [buffed +10 (1d8+9+2d6fire)]
Saves: F3, R4(3), W2
Feats: Dragonfire Inspiration, Song of the Heart
Skills: Knowledge (History, Dungeoneering, Arcana, Planes, Nature) +5, Know (Religion) +4, Perform +7 (5r+2circ)
Skill Trick: Collector of Stories
Bardic Knowledge: +5
Equipment: chain shirt, MW longspear, sling, MW instrument, wand of CLW (27 charges)

Spells:
0th: Dancing Lights, Detect Magic, Message, Prestidigitation, Ghost Sound, Mending
1st: Inspirational Boost, Silent Image, Alarm

This bard's Inspire Courage adds +2d6 fire damage to everyone's attacks

Goblin Savage Bard 3
Stats: 12(18) Str, 12(10) Dex, 15 Con, 10 Int, 8 Wis, 11 Cha
HD: 3d6+6 (16)
AC: 16 (10+4 armor) (14 buffed)
Attacks: +4 longspear (1d6+1) [buffed +10 (1d8+9+2d6fire)]
Saves: F3, R2(1), W2
Feats: Obtain Familiar, Song of the Heart
Skills: Knowledge (Local, Dungeoneering, Nature) +5, Hide +11(6), Listen +8 (6) Perform +7 (5r+2circ), Survival +5
Skill Trick: Collector of Stories
Bardic Knowledge: +5
Equipment: Badge of Valor, chain shirt, MW longspear, sling, MW instrument, wand of CLW (23 charges), scroll of Silent Image
Spells:
0th: Dancing Lights, Detect Magic, Message, Prestidigitation, Ghost Sound, Mending
1st: Inspirational Boost, Silent Image, Alarm

This bard's Inspire Courage dds +3 to hit and damage to everyone's attacks

Familiar: a bat http://www.d20srd.org/srd/monsters/bat.htm

5 Worgs: as in SRD before buffs

After buffed w/Enlarge, Bull's Str, and IC
Str 23, Dex 13, large size
HP 30
AC 11
Attack: Bite +11 (1d8+12+2d6fire), trip +14 (vs. 10+str+BAB+size)

1 greater barghest with two crusader levels

Unbuffed
Size: Large
HD 9d8+2d10+55+11 (51+55+11=117)
AC: 30 (10+9nat+4dex+8armor-1size)
Saves: F16, R11, W14
Stats: Str 20, Dex 19, Con 22, Int 18, Wis 18, Cha 18
BAB/Grapple: 11/20
Attacks: Large guisarme +19/+14/+14 (2d6+11)
+16/+9/+9 (2d6+11) w/Stone Power
+20/15/15 (2d6+11) w/Stone Power and flanking
Large Bow +18/+13/+13 (2d6+9)
and bite +12 (1d8+2)
+7 (1d8+2) w/Stone Power
+11 (1d8+2) w/Stone Power and flanking

Planned Tactics (this didn't happen...): The barghest and his minions use Mass Invis. to ambush enemies. They buff silently while waiting or stalking with Mass Enlarge, Bull's Strength, Rage, and Blink on the Barghest.

Suprize round: Barghest takes the highest initiative of one minion via WPT, and activates Leading the Charge, granting them all +6 damage. They charge, and set up flanking, all gaining a +4 to hit. The worgs attack first, hoping to trip and make it easier for everyone. The goblins use Combat Alacrity to get 2 attacks each, but save their immediate actions.

Round 1: Barghest activates Thicket of Blades. Everyone attacks.

Buffed with Mass Enlarge and Bull's Str
Size: Huge
HD 9d8+2d10+55+11 (51+55+11=117)
AC: 28 (10+9nat+3dex+8armor-2size), Touch 11, FF 25
Saves: F16, R10, W14
Stats: Str 26, Dex 17, Con 22, Int 18, Wis 18, Cha 18
BAB/Grapple: 11/27
Attacks: Huge guisarme +24/+19/+19 (3d6+19+2d6fire)
+19/+14/+14 (3d6+19+2d6fire) w/Stone Power
+23/18/18 (3d6+18+2d6fire) w/Stone Power and flanking
Huge Bow +20/+15/+15 (3d6+12+2d6fire)
and bite +14 (2d6+6+2d6fire)
+9 (2d6+6+2d6fire) w/Stone Power

Defenses: DR 5/-, 10 THP/round (w/-5 attack penalty), Thicket of Blades

Offenses: Flanks anyone allies flank, gains +4 from flanking and so do allies, one AoO against an enemy hit by an ally once per round

Items: Large magic guisarme (+1/3 enh, so +4), Boots of Dex (+1/3, so +4), Belt of Con (+4), Large composite magic bow (+3 enh, made for 20 str, 2d8+8 dmg, 140' range inc.) with least weapon crystal of returning, magic chain shirt

Crusader Maneuvers (IL6):
* 1st level (5, all readied thanks to 3 rounds of not using any): Defensive Rebuke (DS3 1 prereq, swift, boost, enemies attacking allies provoke), Vanguard Strike (DS1, no prereq, std, if attack hits allies gain +4 to attack target till next turn), Revitalizing Strike (DS3, 1 prereq, std, heal 3d6+7 to one ally w/in 10 ft), Stone Vise (SD2 no prereq, std +1d6 dmg, Fort (DC 12+Str) or movement is 0 for 1 round), Bonecrusher (SD3 no prereq, std, +4d6 damage and target suffers +10 to confirm crits afterward), Leading the Charge (WR1, no prereqs, swift, stance, allies that charge gain +IL to damage)
* 2nd level: Thicket of Blades (DS3 1 prereq, swift, stance, all movement provokes)

Cha to Will saves

Feats: 1, 3, 6, 9, 1 bonus from taint (a PC used this BS, so I figured I would too. )

Wolfpack Tactics [Combat]
Benefits: This combat feat scales with your base attack bonus.

* BAB+0: If an ally is flanking an opponent you are in melee with, you are considered to be flanking that opponent also, and get all the normal benefits of flanking.
* BAB+1: Once per round you make make an Attack of Opportunity on an opponent damaged by one of your allies.
* BAB+6: If one of your allies is flanking an opponent, you are considered to be flanking that opponent also, even if you are using a ranged attack.
* BAB +11: You may change your initiative order to act on the same initiative count as one of your allies. This free action must be taken after initiative checks are rolled, but before regular rounds begin. It lasts for the entire combat, or until you ready or delay your action, just as if you had initially rolled this initiative roll.
* BAB +16: You may step in front of an attack directed at one of your allies that is within your reach as an immediate action. You take the damage from the attack instead of them, or if it is a non-damaging attack you are affected instead of them. Any resistances or immunities you have against the attack apply normally. This can work against rays, but not against area attacks.

Expert Tactician (Tome): (+4 flanking for you and allies, feint as immediate,
make difficult terrain as move, count as being 5' from position for flanking)

Stone Power (take up to -5 attack, gain 2x temp. hit points for 1 round. Can use w/normal attacks or Stone Dragon strikes)

Extra Granted Maneuver

Great Fortitude [Combat]
You are so tough. Your belly is like a prism.

Benefits: This is a combat feat that scales with your Base Attack Bonus.

* +0: You gain a +3 bonus to your Fortitude Saves.
* +1: You die at -20 instead of -10.
* +6: You gain 1 hit point per level.
* +11: You gain DR of 5/-.

Skills (copy/paste from MM, except Concentration): Bluff +16, Climb +17, Concentration +20, Diplomacy +8, Disguise +4 (+6 acting), Hide +10*, Intimidate +18, Jump +21, Listen +16, Move Silently +14, Sense Motive +16, Spot +16 Survival +16 (+18 following tracks), Tumble +16

So I figured I'd use these guys as a group of ambushers, but it turned out that one of the PCs has freakin' radar from the Path of Blood feat (vampire with 250' telepathy + Mindsight). So it's kind of hard to ambush them. So instead, the PCs were asked to go kill this camp of goblins. I had the barghest and the 5 goblins and worgs inside an Enveloping Pit before combat, so all they could see on their "radar" was about 50 goblins, but they suspected a barghest from the info they'd gained from their "quest-giver".

I described the bat familiar to them via Mindsight, and they were really curious. So the party stealthers snuck up on it, and then decided to kill it because they knew it would see and report them. Of course, this alerted the goblins to their presence, so all hell broke loose. The warmage fireballed the village and killed a bunch of mooks, and they all worked their way up slaughtering goblins on the way.

One of the PCs successfully intimidated the barghest, even with me using Rich Burlew's diplomacy modifiers, but they asked too much in the deal, and the barghest wouldn't go along with it. So then the real fight broke out. During the "negotiations", all of the 1st level goblins climbed into the Pit, though, and so during the "real fight" they were not in the picture at all.

The guy with Path of Blood also has had a pet ghoulish were-tiger from the Feast Unknown feat. That guy led the charge... and was immediately slaughtered by the goblin's readied actions before he could even land one attack. The goblins and barghest had used the three rounds during which the PCs were slaughtering mooks to buff with Mass Bull's Strength, Mass Enlarge Person (house-ruled to affect anything), and Mass Invisibility, along with one of the bard's Inspire Courage (the other bard was running Countersong... because the "pet-master" also has a harpy and a bunch of cloakers for crowd control... So the +2d6 fire damage in the stat blocks wasn't applied).

The PCs were a bit cowed, but continued the fight. The Tome Monk 6/True Fiend 1 is proving to be a hell of a tank, and the Assassin can dish out some crazy damage, if he spends a round studying. So can a Fighter/Rogue/Swordsage in the group, and she is insanely sneaky.

The fight is still going, but they've pretty much wiped out all the goblins and got the barghest down to about 2/3 of his hit points. The monk tripped him and they wailed on him, but he's proven to be quite resilient. So I had him Dim Door right behind the Warmage, and that's where things stand now.

With the homebrew + tome feats, bardic IC, and buffs from the barghest, the goblin fighters were actually nasty as hell. Even without proper weapons to beat the weretiger's DR, they easily slaughtered him before he could even land a blow. I think each of the feats I used is ok by itself, but all together they allow them to get something crazy like 4 attacks per round (they're level 3, and using 2-handed weapons). Of course... one Fireball/Glitterdust/whatever and they all fall like a house of cards. But decent feats + buffs does make even low level mooks a force to be reckoned with.

[PhaedrusXY]

One of the PCs wanted to be a "time demon", so he's a Choker Conduit of the Lower Planes (took the Otherworldly feat to be an outsider), with access to a custom Time sphere I made. I am not sure what I'm going to grant as the 7th level spell/power, if we make it that far, but here is what we're using for the moment.

Time
Special: Three times per day, you can activate any power from this Sphere as a swift or immediate action, regardless of its normal casting time. Also, you can terminate any effect you create from your Sphere prematurely as a Free action.

SLAs granted
Deja Vu (not mind affecting)
Haste
Slow
Time Hop
Anticipatory Strike
Temporal Acceleration
(Greater Teleport? Reflavored as just traveling really fast? Or Greater Dispel Magic? Something else? Hold Monster that's not Mind Affecting?)
Time Hop, Mass
Time Regression

[Judging__Eagle]

Hmm, here's an idea for a character.

A Fiendish Brute character, with Fiendish Invis (Invis by breath); that has extra arms, and hits fights like a 'giant' rogue. Using more str and mutiple attacks to deal damage, not SA dice.

1 Fiendish Brute 1 [PoID: Bite Attack, Baatezu] [Stealthy]
2 2 [Sting of the Scorpion]
3 3 []
4 4 [Multi-Attack]
5 5
6 6 [Fiendish Invis: by Breath] [Large Size]
7 True Fiend [Taanari] [Extra Arms]

8 feats in 7 levels
4 natural attacks (1 bite, 2 claw, 1 Sting)


+3 to 2 stats [FB 6]
+9 (3+6) natty armour [FB 6]
2 claw attacks [FB 1]
Bite [PoID]
2 hands [Extra arms]
Sting attack [SoS]


Immune to:
Fire [PoID]
Poison [PoID]
Electricity [True Fiend]

An other idea would be a less direct character of some kind. An undead spellcaster/bard with their 7th lvl in Master of Snake Mountain, or something.

[Kaelik]

Dip one level of Monk for Slam.

And because of how slam works, you can use any BAB over 6 you get.

Slam/Bite/Claw/Claw/Stinger/Claw Claw/Iterative Slam.

[PhaedrusXY]

I already have NPCs/monsters generated for their next several encounters. I just can't post them yet, because some of them might actually lurk on here and see them. But yeah, good ideas...

The most recent development is that the sneaky fighter/rogue/swordsage tried to tumble up to the barghest after he'd DD'd and she ate an AoO that would have killed her. The "Time Demon" used an immediate action Time Hop on her to save her from it.

The barghest then hit the Warmage with Revitalizing Strike, taking the mage down to about 15 hit points and the barghest back up to about half. I think the PCs are like at this point. They started trying to negotiate with him again.

[Bill Bisco: Isometric Imp]

Illithid Savant requires DM Fiat.

And Pun-Pun doesn't?

God, I hate that name. It reminds me of Jar-Jar. And I just got over hating kobolds as a DM penis extension, too.

No he doesn't

[Kaelik]

Illithid Savant requires DM Fiat.

And Pun-Pun doesn't?

God, I hate that name. It reminds me of Jar-Jar. And I just got over hating kobolds as a DM penis extension, too.

No he doesn't

Yes it does.

While different versions are differently stupid, the current most blabbed about Pun Pun calls on Pazuzu, then asks Pazuzu (an NPC) to grant him a wish. And that wish is for a Candle of Invocation.

He then uses the Candle to do mutliple wishes:

1) Another Candle
2) To be treated as "a scaled one of Toril" for all effects. Even though he is explicitly from Greyhawk and not from Toril, aka a wish effect not included in the wish effect list.

then comes getting a monster and manipulate form.

But fuck that, if you want to use a wish not in the established wish list, why not just wish to have the manipulate form ability?

And that's before getting into how asking for manipulate form to grant an ability that doesn't exist anywhere in any role is bullshit.

[Username17]

...or that getting any specific abilities out of Manipulate Form requires DM Fiat. It doesn't say "dumpster dive through all of D&D and get an ability of your choice from any list." It says that you can grant "an ability" and the sample abilities include A +2 Bonus to fucking Listen Checks!

Manipulate Form, combined with size changing, is very explicitly a method for gaining unlimited Strength, Constitution, and Dexterity, at an incredibly slow rate (for unlimited power loops, recall that Artificer Skill Dancers upratchet every 3 minutes) that involves being actually unconscious for almost all of it.

It's broken, but so what? It's just a fucking unlimited Strength loop. It's no more interesting than that. It just happens to be stapled to a totally fucking ludicrous interpretation that gaining "an ability, such as oily skin or large ears" could include fucking god powers on the grounds that the ability to reform time and space with your will is somehow like being slippery and getting a racial bonus to Escape Artist.

What the fuck?

-Username17

[PhaedrusXY]

In an old thread on the WotC boards, we came pretty close to reproducing the whole "gain every ability in the game, and infinite stats" thing using only core rules. You can definitely do it with Core + Psionics. The thing that winds up with all that shit technically isn't you, though (it's a Similacrum of a bunch of fused beings). But if you control the "god-thing", what's the difference? That also excluded all the deific crap, because that isn't in the core rules anywhere, and we were limiting ourselves to that. (The thread was called "Breaking the Core").

And anyway... in the game I'm running, which is what this thread is supposed to be about... as entertaining as you guys are... Pun-Pun is just a plot device, as I said already. I don't really give a fuck if anyone things it's "legal" or not. I used it because I knew everyone would recognize it, I thought it would be funny, and it is a good excuse to play around with time travel shit, because of course there is no way a group of 7th level characters could go fight some dude with infinite everything and made-up abilities like "I Win!". (Unless you let them go crazy with chain Wishes with no limits, like is explicitly possible in the core... but we're using Tome rules. So that shit is out.)

[PhaedrusXY]

They finally beat the barhgest and his minions with no casualties, and I let them heal back up and then sent a crazed volodni stormlord after them. Instead of just nuking him do death immediately as I thought they would, they tried to use more "clever" tactics and wound up having to flee with one member at -8 hit points. I stuck an Enveloping Pit in the barghest's loot so they can all teleport around in it, and also gave them a flying carpet just for fun. They haven't ID'd the flying carpet yet, or even figured out that it is magical.

Another player is going to join to replace the one guy that never really got started. He will be a draconic cleric of Io or Chronepsis that is focusing on self-buffing and divination.

The party has found out about the McGuffin that will let them travel through time, and are heading to ask an aboleth where to find it. The barghest told them about the aboleth during negotiations for his surrender, but decided that they were asking too much of him and tried to turn invisible and escape.