Plots & PlacesPost your PCs and NPCs for others to reference and enjoy. This is also an alternate location for long-term campaign and plot development. These can be system neutral or relate to any game or system.
It would seem to me that to challenge high-level groups you need to resort to strategies that involve less raw power and more ingenuity. PirateCat, you definately seem to keep your players on their toes. Playing with the language itself is always fun, and so is playing non-magical tricks. Who was it who came up with the wight dragon? (Wulf???) This is the perfect example of turning things on their head. Personally, I have very little experience as a DM (two games), but I aspire to ravage my players with monsters that are well within (and below) their own power level by being sneaky. PirateCat, being the DMing genius you are, probably have no problem with this sort of stuff... Little late to make suggestions for the dragon fight at this point, but I will wait for more idea to filter through the thread... Sorry for no paragraphing, hehehe... Until next time.
__________________ -Kaodi
Good name in man and woman, dear my lord,
Is the immediate jewel of their souls.
Who steals my purse steals trash; 'tis something, nothing;
'Twas mine, 'tis his, and has been slave to thousands;
But he that filches from me my good name
Robs me of that which not enriches him
And makes me poor indeed.
-Iago, Shakespeare's Othello, Act III. Scene III. Lines 180-186.
I would simply do something evil like send a Zombie Dragon after the HEroes and have him act as a diversion with a guy with a quickened Impolsion memorized.
__________________ The Golden Rule of DMing: If something sounds too good to be true, odds are you're not reading it close enough.
See this is why the Saint of Killers is my personal favorite Angel of Death
I am forever mixing up peoples' name. Sorry Andy Collins, it was your wight dragon.
On another note, I wonder what you could do with ghoulish ogres...
On another note, somewhere down the line it would be nice to have an encounter where the bad guys counter the Defenders holy energies with their own unholy energies, thus preventing mass destruction by turning and positive energy.
On another note, I hope you have something deliriously evil planned for this year around Hallowe'en.
On another note, what to do with those damn ogres...
On another note, since ogres are big and strong, and ghoulish ogres ought to be almost as big and every bit as strong and stronger, you could use an ogre " football team " ! Now, now, before you dismiss this idea as being completely lame (and I wouldn't blame you, I am beginning to lose my mind again), consider the sort of fun you could have if you could succesfully charge, bull rush and grapple the Defenders before they had a chance to use their holy powers. A ghoulish ogre shaman carrying a staff with a darkskull attached, casting spells to either strength his team or make it more difficult for the Defenders (I guess he would be the coach, hehe).
On another note, I am sure you are getting tired of notes, so I will say good-bye for now. Looking forward to any feedback.
-Kaodi
__________________ -Kaodi
Good name in man and woman, dear my lord,
Is the immediate jewel of their souls.
Who steals my purse steals trash; 'tis something, nothing;
'Twas mine, 'tis his, and has been slave to thousands;
But he that filches from me my good name
Robs me of that which not enriches him
And makes me poor indeed.
-Iago, Shakespeare's Othello, Act III. Scene III. Lines 180-186.
Originally posted by RangerWickett Out of the same book, Pcat, you could make the Dwarf bard/loremaster a Red Smile Assassin. I know it wouldn't fit, but hey, it's a prestige class for assassin jesters!
Too bad bards aren't very usefu allies for an army of undead. I don't know if I've ever seen an undead bard before.
My suggestion: some time before this campaign ends, have the Piggy animate and attack them. Just put the piggy on the battle mat, and have at them. It gets bonuses based on how much change is in it.
Hmm, thing is, couldn't you have a variant on bard performances skewed towards the negative side of things? Horrible haunting songs of the failures and corruption of past would-be heroes, sapping the morale and determination of the PCs, dirges which wound the spirit of our heroes... makes for an interesting duel, if there's any bards with the heroes, Song, CounterSong, continuously, while the battle rages on...
You don't have to buff the zombies, you can sap our heroes
How often do you give your big bad monsters characters levels, PirateCat? I've often thought that if a creature like a dragon gains power through aging, often enough a more industrious wyrm might come along and actively improve their skills and abilities (who knows, maybe you did this with the dragon the Defenders just fought). A big nasty dragon doesn' t necessarily have to be bigger to be nastier once you add in some levels in fighter, cleric, wizard, etc, etc, etc.
__________________ -Kaodi
Good name in man and woman, dear my lord,
Is the immediate jewel of their souls.
Who steals my purse steals trash; 'tis something, nothing;
'Twas mine, 'tis his, and has been slave to thousands;
But he that filches from me my good name
Robs me of that which not enriches him
And makes me poor indeed.
-Iago, Shakespeare's Othello, Act III. Scene III. Lines 180-186.
Interesting question. The dragon they fought was straight dragon, no special levels... but then look at something like the trillith, with psion levels aplenty. Usually my humanoid beasties have levels, the rest don't.
I'll post Kellharin on here once I dig up his full stats.
More goodness coming, too. Is a 16th-19th lvl dungeon crawl an option? Find out! As soon as life calms down a bit, I'll finish the next update and post Kellharin.
Originally posted by kibbitz Hmm, thing is, couldn't you have a variant on bard performances skewed towards the negative side of things? Horrible haunting songs of the failures and corruption of past would-be heroes, sapping the morale and determination of the PCs, dirges which wound the spirit of our heroes... makes for an interesting duel, if there's any bards with the heroes, Song, CounterSong, continuously, while the battle rages on...
I homebrewed a critter along this line recently. Being a fey, it's not all that germane to the Defenders current situation, but maybe you all will enjoy it:
Any chance of seeing the "supporting cast" NPCs -- Splinder, Glibstone, that deep gnome scout (name?).
Great idea! Priggle's prestige class is by our own Claudio Stampas, and is featured in Fiery Dragon's Creature Collection 2. As a rule, Svirfneblin are fairly depressed, and Priggle is a fine example. He's convinced that nothing will go right, that his people are doomed, and that everyone has it in for him. He belittles his own abilities, and (partially due to his feats low key and contemptible target) people usually never take him seriously or believe his competence. It continually irritates him.
Feats:
• Exotic weapon proficiency (gnome hooked hammer)
• Weapon focus (gnome hooked hammer)
• Sagely (all knowledge skills are class skills)
• Low key (+2 to disguise & hide checks; look plain & normal)
• Contemptible target (enemies ignore you until you attack)
Class Abilities:
Dual hammer, home below +2, weak spots +3d6, uncanny dodge (dex bonus to AC, cannot be dodged), master of the hooked hammer, no object too hard 10, destabilize, deconstruction
• Dual Hammer (Ex): When wielding the gnome hooked hammer as a double weapon, the Combat Miner fights as if she possessed the Ambidexteriry and Two-Weapon Fighting feats, incurring only a -2 penalty on her attacks.
• Home Below (Ex): The Combat Miner's familiarity with moving, working, and Fghting underground, whether in natural (i.e.,
a cavern, a burrow) or worked (i.e., a dungeon) environments, grants her the listed competence bonus to AC, attack rolls, and skill checks. This extraordinary ability is not active when the Combat Miner is simply indoors.
• Weak Spots (Ex): Owing to her extensive knowledge of mining and structures, the Combat Miner adds the indicated amount of extra damage whenever attacking or attempting in some way to damage an object.
• Master of the Hooked Hammer (Ex): At 3rd level, the Combat Miner gains the Weapon Specialization feat for the gnorne hooked hammer. If she already took this feat for this weapon, the bonuses stack.
• No Object Too Hard (Ex): Starting at 3rd level, the Combat Miner gains the extraordinary ability to ignore the hardness rating of an object when attempting to attack it. At 3rd level, therefore, the Combat Miner's attacks against objects ignore a hardness rating of 5 or less and deal damage normally. At 6th level, the Combat Miner's attacks against objects ignore a hardness rating of 10 or less and deal damage normally, and at 9th level her attacks ignore a hardness rating of l5 or less and deal damage normally.
• Destabilize (Sp): Upon reaching 4th level, the Combat Miner gains the spell-like ability to affect the consistency of earth- and stone-based structures in a manner equivalent to the soften earth and stone spell, although she can affect worked as well as natural earth and stone. She can use this ability a number of times per day equal to her Intelligence modifier.
• Deconstruction (Ex): At 6th level, the Combat Miner gains the extraordinary ability to inflict critical hits upon objects.
Spell-Like Abilities: Svirfneblin have no special skill with or resistance to illusions, but they can use blindness, blur, and change self each once per day. These abilities are as the spells cast by a wizard of the svirfneblin’s character level (save DC 10 + spell level).
Nondetection (Su): Svirfneblin have a continuous nondetection ability as the spell.
Svirfneblin Traits (Ex): These are in addition to the basic gnome traits, except where noted here.
• Stonecunning: Like dwarves, svirfneblin receive a +2 racial bonus to checks to notice unusual stonework. Something that isn’t stone but that is disguised as stone also counts as unusual stonework. A deep gnome who merely comes within 10 feet of unusual stonework can make a check as though actively searching and can use the Search skill to find stonework traps as a rogue can. A svirfneblin can also intuit depth, sensing the approximate distance underground as naturally as a human can sense which way is up.
• Darkvision up to 120 feet.
• Spell resistance of 11 + character level.
• +2 racial bonus to all saving throws (already figured in).
• +4 dodge bonus against all creatures (no special bonus against giants) (already figured in).
Skills: Svirfneblin receive a +2 racial bonus to Hide checks, which improves to +4 in darkened areas underground.
Magic items:
Cloak of Stoneblending (+10 to hide)
Boots of Leaping (+5 to Jump)
Gloves of Climbing (+10 to climb)
Potion of endurance
Potion of bull’s strength
2 potions of cure serious wounds (3d8+5)
2 potions of invisibility
+1 Light Crossbow
+2 gnomish hooked hammer (both heads enchanted)
+1 leather armor (old & battered)
Gear:
Not much, but all the important things that you can easily carry on your body.
Last edited by Piratecat; 25th October 2002 at 03:23 PM..
I homebrewed a critter along this line recently. Being a fey, it's not all that germane to the Defenders current situation, but maybe you all will enjoy it:
Originally posted by RangerWickett Too bad bards aren't very useful allies for an army of undead. I don't know if I've ever seen an undead bard before.
Bards aren't good allies for the undead? Why do I have a funny suspicion you'll be revising that opinion whenever the Defenders finally meet Telay again...
Quote:
Originally posted in the Zip File at the beginning of the story hour Velendo casts discern location to find Telay, and discovers that she is deep underground in the Underdark. Worried, he does a sending to her, and she reports back that she is thoroughly enjoying herself and experiencing all kinds of new sensations. She sends her love to Nolin, not seeming angry, and promises to see him soon. This seems a bit out of character for the hard-bitten Telay, but they shrug and are pleased to know that she is alive and well.
That doesn't sound ominous to anyone else? Have they dealt with Telay somewhere that I missed?
You know, good old Telay, who studied spellcasting under the lich, Hagiok. Who was also investigating the White Kingdom. Who was a former lover of Nolin (whose relationships, as we all know, never cause him any trouble).
That Telay.
. . . . . . . -- Eric
PS -- Who could it be who would be clever enough to manipulate the Defenders, but would still find it entertaining to send wine and flowers to the Defenders. What class would make the best "Puppetmaster"?
PS -- Who could it be who would be clever enough to manipulate the Defenders, but would still find it entertaining to send wine and flowers to the Defenders. What class would make the best "Puppetmaster"?
Wow...
ummm....
wow.
If this is the case, hats off to PC for being such a rat-bastard, and to Pyske for figuring it out on so few clues.
In fact, even if it's not the case, hats off to Pyske for a darn good 'conspiracy theory'.
Deconstruction (Ex): At 6th level, the Combat Miner gains the extraordinary ability to inflict critical hits upon objects.
..does it apply to constructs and/or undead? Which book is this in* - I've an interest in options for this type of character if I ever restart my campaign.
Secondly, Telay.. Unless Ive missed something, there's only been indirect references to her, like the one quoted above. Has she turned up in any of the Defenders of Daybreak threads?
* I know I've seen the answer to this within the last two weeks, but just can't place it.
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