The Gaming Den

So, after some 8 months, i'm playing again. The problem is, i play with tards. The game is fun, but their characters aren't. A bunch of gobbos are a big big problem. Warlocks, knights and favored souls are most of the party.

So you see the problem, i want to be able to do a lot in an encounter, but to do it with stealth, a character that is mean and badass, but in a way that tards won't get it. I guess wizzards are out, and so are clerics and druids. What now? A bottle chuckin' rogue?

What books are being used?
What houserules are in place?
What's the DM's stance on material from outside the standard sources used?

No, actually, you could probably do it with a wizzie, cleric, or druid. You just throw down some terrain and let the tards kill all of them so they feel like they're doing something.

What level is the game at?

Isn't a flask rogue even more spectacular than a status-effect wizard? I mean, the SE wizard might take all the enemies (effectively) out of action with Slow, or split the enemy force in half with Solid Fog, but the flask rogue is rolling huge piles of d6s every round. Even when the wizard is being more effective, rolling a huge pile of d6s gets attention in a way that preventing damage doesn't.

Two Bears and Cleric are both probably bad ideas, though, and you'll be asked to heal people if you take them.

Battlefield Control Wizard could be the way to go. Sure, you're pretty much taking care of things yourself, but other people are doing the actual killing - you're simply arranging things so that the enemies come at them one at a time while blind and hopping on one foot. So they won't feel useless in the way that a horde of bears or triple-digit damage would make them feel useless.

If you want to be nice, arrange things so that your spells won't completely take out a monster, just most of the way. Instead of trapping it inside the Acid Fog until it dies, for instance, you can place the Acid Fog so it manages to finally escape with just enough HP to be stabbed by someone else.

If allowed, a beguiler may also work well.

IGTN wrote:Isn't a flask rogue even more spectacular than a status-effect wizard? I mean, the SE wizard might take all the enemies (effectively) out of action with Slow, or split the enemy force in half with Solid Fog, but the flask rogue is rolling huge piles of d6s every round. Even when the wizard is being more effective, rolling a huge pile of d6s gets attention in a way that preventing damage doesn't.

Two Bears and Cleric are both probably bad ideas, though, and you'll be asked to heal people if you take them.

The idea, I think, is to make a character who gets along with the others. Solid Fog-type thinking would be just the thing to contribute to the party AND let everyone else feel like they're doing something.

Yeeees, i belive that would be it. I simply Grease and Solid Fog and Slow stuff, and THE PARTY does the rolling, teh important stuff.

I did have a look at the beguiler, but that would be too much, with me walking arround and diplomancing everything and rulling the world. Maybe next time.

And party lvl is 3.

Battlefield control wizard is the way to go: Stinking cloud instantly wins fights, but it looks likes everyone else was a contributor - they did all the damage right?

Incidently, this makes sleep a better spell than colour spray.

I actually had a party member do this in the red hand of doom campagin. I've never seen one spell (stinking cloud) used so many times to such great effect - but yeah, the rest of the team really does feel like they are contributing despite the fact that have like 5 turns to beat the entire enermy team to death.

You can actually do much the same if you go Druid and then never bother to bust out the transformations and melee moves. briar web is a death sentence, but it does damage so slowly that it doesn't "look" like a death sentence.

While you have the option of going off and becoming Raptor Jesus, you can stealth it up by just prepping all the battlefield control spells instead. If it ever comes time for the Velocirapture you can become a second stage Sayjin and demonstrate that you don't need Krillin anymore - but in the meantime you can cheerlead for the Z warriors.

-Username17

FrankTrollman wrote:you can become a second stage Sayjin and demonstrate that you don't need Krillin anymore - but in the meantime you can cheerlead for the Z warriors.

Ultimate example of what not to do when RPG'n.

Similarly, no game should end up a series of 1v1 brawls while the heroes complain about losing.
Seriously. Teamwork, people (not you, the Saiyans & Friends).

I'm gonna play a lurk. It's an average class that can deal INT dmg. Good enough for me. And if i pair that with a gnome or a halfling, nobody will take me seriously

okay, everything went the wrong way, party still sucks, but now we have a hexblade, a scout and a ranger. it's a theme, get it, wilderness...allright. so, i'm a dwarf druid. first time ever. what am i supposed to do untill lvl5? my strenght is non existent, my dex also, other stats are there, but we won't jump up'n'down from hapiness.

so, what is a druid supposed to do before he gets wild shape? and what about feats, i know i have to take that one that lets me cast in wild shape, but what bout others?

josephbt wrote:okay, everything went the wrong way, party still sucks, but now we have a hexblade, a scout and a ranger. it's a theme, get it, wilderness...allright. so, i'm a dwarf druid. first time ever. what am i supposed to do untill lvl5? my strenght is non existent, my dex also, other stats are there, but we won't jump up'n'down from hapiness.

so, what is a druid supposed to do before he gets wild shape? and what about feats, i know i have to take that one that lets me cast in wild shape, but what bout others?

Summoner druids work well. Take Greenbound Summoning if you can get it, or SF (conjuration) and Augment Summoning, and have fun.

You have animal companions. Take wolf. Use a club or something. Go for flank attack.

Or use your so-so buffs, tank out with Barkskin and Flame Blade for some easy hits.

You can spam hippogriffs out of SNA 2, right? Those things are money.

Also, dropping a single entangle basically makes you the MVP in pretty much every battle ever. It's a lot like web that works outside instead of inside, but it is one level lower and has double the radius. If they let you use briar web, you pretty much don't ever need another spell ever.

-Username17

I must be missing something with briar web. It creates difficult terrain and deals minor damage, 1dmg/5feet of movement. What's so great about it?

If you're using the Spell Compendium version, yeah it's worthless. That's because it omits the paragraph where it acts like entangle and does 2d6 of thorny piercing damage to creatures caught in it every single round they attempt to escape (whether they succeed or fail). If you are forced to use the Spell Compendium version where it's just a larger area of summon caltrops as a 2nd level spell - then don't even bother and switch up to a lesser extend rod and spam creeping cold when you want to actually kill people. DOTs are normally pretty lame, but a 6-round 15 die cold attack is worth considering as a 2nd level character - save for half or no. And the Spell Compendium version really comes through for you here because it doesn't just do 3d6 for the final four rounds, it specifically does 1d6 cumulative per round, so the extended version is a 21 die attack, albeit one with a fair amount of setup time. I suggest backing it up with something to create difficult terrain and then running.

-Username17

josephbt wrote:I must be missing something with briar web. It creates difficult terrain and deals minor damage, 1dmg/5feet of movement. What's so great about it?

You seem more inclined for CoDzilla.

There's a Druid spell that turns you in to a wolf, somewhere...

Formulas for a level 3 dwarven druid:

Formula 1 - Big Axe.
1 - Take a cool animal companion (wolf), preferrably with a cool status effect (trip).
2 - Carry a big axe like a real dwarf, with 2 hands.
3 - Flank.
4 - Power Attack away your giant bonuses to hit (+2 flanking, +4 prone)
5 - Congratulations, you are easily among the most effect melee characters at this level.

Formula 2 - Combat Immunity
1 - Get a rod of Lesser Extending (you want this for a wide variety of reasons)
2 - Extend a Hippogriff.
3 - Weild ranged weapons.
4 - Congratulations, you are immune to most combats.

Formula 3 - Proxy combatant
1 - Take Rpid Suimmoning (if DM is a dick and doesn't allow 1 Std. action summoning)
2 - Attack things like you are a dwarven fighter (biggest weapon/armor you can get).
3 - When in melee combat with monster, take a 5' back, summon a monster in your place.
4 - Let monster finish guy off while you find anohter sucker.

Formula 4 - Battlefield controller
1 - Cast Entangle.
2 - Get some throwing axes, this is going to be a while.
3 - If another situation arises, see 1.