Say I have a party that, due to a complete lack of Vancian casters, doesn't have access to regular Resist Energy or Protection from Energy spells. Nor the psionic versions. And they're expecting to occasionally face dragons, NPC blaster casters, etc.
Equipment that gives energy resistance is ridiculously expensive, and has never been worth it IMHO.
How big a problem is this? Any suggestions on how to shore up this party-wide weakness?
I had one idea. My Dragonfire Adept has an extra feat that isn't especially necessary for her build. I was thinking of spending this feat on Draconic Aura ... but I don't have the book Dragon Magic, so I had a couple questions about how this would work.
First, I know that the Dragon Shaman has an aura that grants energy resistance (Resist 5 for each "plus" of its aura, right?). But some D.S. auras (e.g. Vigor) aren't available through the Draconic Aura feat. Is energy resistance available through the feat?
If so, which kind of energy does a feat-based aura protect you from? (Wishful thinking: any energy that matches any breath weapon of your own, switch between options as a swift action ...) Do you just pick one when you take the feat?
If that's how it works ... is it worth a feat to give my whole party Resist Fire 20 (or less, at lower levels)?
Don't know about the aura questions, but I can help with the others.
First off, it may not be a big deal if there's a lot of rogue-types in the party that can reliably evade large energy blast attacks anyway. If there's no casters, you've got what? Mostly Fighter and Rogue classes? Is healing a problem for you guys, too?
For items to help, MIC has clasps of energy protection, which help a little bit and aren't too expensive (augment crystals). I think it also has a cloak to ignore the first 10 points of any energy type damage you face each day. SpC has Mass Resist Energy as a level 3 spell for clerics and druids. This means at later levels it is quite affordable to buy scrolls of, or even a wand and have someone with use magic device activate it. Min. CL is 5, you may as well get a CL 7 version, for resistance 20, at that point.
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First, I know that the Dragon Shaman has an aura that grants energy resistance (Resist 5 for each "plus" of its aura, right?). But some D.S. auras (e.g. Vigor) aren't available through the Draconic Aura feat. Is energy resistance available through the feat?
Yes: choose one of acid, cold, electricity or fire when you gain the aura. You grant resistance 5 per one point of bonus you'd normally grant.
Cheers, -- N
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The final question remains: Is a full-party fire (?) resistance aura worth my feat? (I imagine fire would be the most practical resistance to pick ...)
Surprisingly, SotS, there is no one in the party with Evasion. The party makeup is a Warblade, a Factotum, an Ardent, and a Dragonfire Adept.
The things you were recommending are (more or less) the options I was thinking of before the Draconic Aura idea occurred to me. Clasps of Energy Protection are an important option to be using some ... but they do have some annoying limits, and getting a Greater Clasp of each kind for each character would be pretty expensive in total (15k gold per character). Cloaks of Elemental Protection, since they only cost 1.5k even if they're added to another magical cloak, are definitely worth it for every character ... but blocking 10 damage/day isn't going to solve the problem. I'd thought of having the Factotum prepare Mass Resist Energy every day, but getting a wand of it (divine version) as well is definitely something to keep in consideration.
Again, the question then becomes whether it's worth taking a Draconic Aura (fire resistance) feat, even if I'm going to have a wand/spell that can be used for the same effect anyway.
As far as healing goes ... it shouldn't be too big of a problem:
The primary method of healing is a nifty little combo the (Azurin) Ardent has: the Vigor power, the Shape Soulmeld (lifebond vestment) feat, and eventually the Psycarnum Infusion feat. Healing this way is slow and not practical in combat, but extremely efficient: 9 or 10 HP healed per Power Point spent.
Beyond that, there are always Wands of Lesser Vigor.
When emergency in-combat healing is necessary, the Ardent will have a Healing Belt by level 3 or 4. Eventually eveyone else will probably get healing belts too.
And at level 5+, the Factotum can help out -- he has a decent WIS and would love to use Opportunistic Piety.
Finally, at level 14, the Ardent will pick up the Mend Wounds power and be able to do in-combat healing about as well as a Druid.
i'd give them fair warning, but if they decided to ignore this or push their luck, don't feel too bad about a TPK.
for instance, if it's painfully obvious to even them that they're lacking any real fire resistance, have villagers bemoan some cult of fire-worshippers, massive swaths of scorched or burnt rock or forests, or let them see towers of oily smoke off in the distance - something to hint to them that they may be encountering fire soon. if they ignore all of this and decide to "rambo" their way through, they'll discover that spells like combust, fireball and scorching ray can be pretty deadly.
if i sound cold-hearted, i am, but only toward stupid people and players. chances are though, that they'll pick up on the hints and either steer clear, or look for other options, which can be a great way to introduce characters and plot hooks. ultimately, what they're doing is dangerous, but maybe you could let them 'hire' an NPC mercenary, or have two of them take leadership to hire some really unoptimized 'healbot' clerics?
It would be a bizarre extreme for a party to not have access to Resist Energy through a wand, or the equivalent. Save those pennies.
But really, that is only useful against things like dragons, because the energy type can easily be anticipated with proper preparation. Does practically nothing against blasters, as they can always surprise you.
This party is already has a lot of ranks in the "Suck It Up Until The Enemy Is Dead" skill. Their notable weakness is not in fighting dragons, but against things like undead that could be hitting them with ability drain and negative levels.
Dragons only kill you the old-fashioned way. I do not see a problem.
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