Running a Game

Stories about games that you run and/or have played in.

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Orion
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Running a Game

Post by Orion »

I'm running a one-shot 6th level Tome game this weekend. It's set in the Skylord's Tears, for which this board already has a thread. The players:

Aasimar War Angel (Fiendish Brute) 2/Fighter4. He has wings and extra arms, and flies around dual-wielding greatswords.

Player 2: Probably Conjurerer 6 or Necromancer 6, but possibly some other caster

Player 3 has a Half-Dragon Dire Ape Fighter 1 (using some half-dragon variant he found with LA = 1). It's kind of a weird concept, but I crunched some numbers and it's not overpowering. However, I'm trying to convince him to run a Half-Orc Half-Dragon (trollman version)2/Barbarian4 instead.

Questions: How to give the group some healing power? Maybe a Tome verison of Arcane Disciple for the wizard? Maybe some kind of Celestial healing feat for the War Angel? Maybe Leadership? (That one just now occurred ot me)

Fiendish Brute is looking honestly pretty underpowered, especially by comparison to half-dragon. The one thing it has going for it is that it's Natural Armor and Strength increases are innate, not magical. Still, it gives less BAB, HP, Skill points, and immunities. And no breath weapon.

ETA: The Natural Armor/Armor stacking rules also hamper the effectivenes of Brute levels.

Both of the players have asked for Shocking weapons, but there's no Book of Gears write-up. Would Fort or be staggered be an appropriate minor ability for "shocking?"
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Re: Running a Game

Post by Username17 »

Both of the players have asked for Shocking weapons, but there's no Book of Gears write-up. Would Fort or be staggered be an appropriate minor ability for "shocking?"


That seems reasonable.

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Orion
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Re: Running a Game

Post by Orion »

More issues:

Over on the campaign thread, I was looking for a Kobold casting class. I think I found it: Elementalist is very much what I was going for.

That said, I wonder how complete and viable the class is. I have two issues:

First, I don't know where a lot fo these spells come from, like binding winds, earth bind, earthen grace, wall of sand, wall of water, and of course summon elemental.

Second, I wonder it's really viable at all levels. Entangle alone makes it level-apropriate at one and two and MAYBE three. The second-level spells are pretty decent and the familiar is good when you get it, though nothing here that compares to a Wizard... sixth brings hird-level spells, and some very nice ones.

Form 7-10, however, you get neither spells that compete with a real caster nor worthwhile class features, and at higher levels the spell list is dreadfully, dreadfully thin.

Finally, Improved Summoning is not defined, though I don't really play at the levels where that would matter.

Is this close to being a viable class?
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CatharzGodfoot
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Re: Running a Game

Post by CatharzGodfoot »

Boolean at [unixtime wrote:1198010100[/unixtime]]
First, I don't know where a lot fo these spells come from, like binding winds, earth bind, earthen grace, wall of sand, wall of water, and of course summon elemental.

http://crystalkeep.com/d20/rules/DnD3.5 ... ame.pdf[br]:)


As for their power, I think you're underestimating the worth of advanced learning. The Wu Jen spell list in particular is really nice. If you want to make sure that you get it at the same time as your next spell level, just take one PrC level. You'll delay some of your badass high-level abilities, but around level 5 or 6 it looks pretty attractive.
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Re: Running a Game

Post by SunTzuWarmaster »

I recommend 2 Healing Belts (Magic Item Compendium) for solid in-combat and out-of-combat healing. All of this for 750 gp. Make sure that the <insert town representative here> gives them 1 or 2.

3 charges/day:
1 charge = 2d8 healing
2 charges = 3d8 healing
3 charges = 4d8 healing

Also +2 on healing checks (IIRC), but no one cares.

This item makes a cleric-as-a-healer fairly irrelevant very early on.
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Orion
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Re: Running a Game

Post by Orion »

Thanks. My normal tactic would just be to bury them in found wands and potions, but first I need one of them to take UMD, and with Book of Gears I'm trying to de-emphasize consumeables anyway.
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Orion
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Re: Running a Game

Post by Orion »

The Dire Ape player has changed his concept.

He's now playing a Tiefling Assassin5/FireMage1

The idea is to make fire bolt death attacks for 13d6...

Pick up greater teleport as a feat, UMD as a skill (healing wands!) and we're on our way...

Speaking of which, Frank, any chance of haring what you had in mind for the mroe roguish armors? Padded, Leather, and Cord are all incomplete...
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CatharzGodfoot
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Re: Running a Game

Post by CatharzGodfoot »

My suggestion is make it up yourself or use spiderweb or brigandine.

The law in its majestic equality forbids the rich as well as the poor from stealing bread, begging and sleeping under bridges.
-Anatole France

Mount Flamethrower on rear
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Win Game.

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Orion
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Re: Running a Game

Post by Orion »

Could someone PM me the Dread Necro write-up? I'm AFB at the moment...
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Orion
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Re: Running a Game

Post by Orion »

Also, why are Aasimar and Tieflings excluded from the aligned attack boilerplate every other freakin outsider gets?

And do the natural weapons granted by Fiend feats deal evil damage?
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Re: Running a Game

Post by Judging__Eagle »

B/c it was assumed that Evil fiends would be in the class.

Change it to Good if you changed the class into War Angel. Bing, bang, and you're done.
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Orion
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Re: Running a Game

Post by Orion »

That's not the issue. I'm wondering what one has to do to get their attacks to be aligned in the first place.
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