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<blockquote data-quote="Greenfield" data-source="post: 7152846" data-attributes="member: 6669384"><p>There are two casters in the current party of five who have the Resistance/Protection spells available. That doesn't mean that they start out the battle with the spells up, nor that they begin the day with them selected, nor does it mean that they take the time out of combat to hand protections to other PCs. And spare the spells for NPCs? Not going to happen.</p><p></p><p>(Their current NPC companions are an Orc war party of a dozen or so, with a low level Shaman among them, who they met on the road. The Orc settlement was hit and over run by minions of the Big Bad of the campaign, so this one of those cases where "The enemy of my Enemy..." can still be a treacherous pain in the ... foot.)</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Agreed, Intelligence doesn't mean any skill at Spellcraft. Neither does it mean, however, that it's completely clueless either. This is the most advanced Arrowhawk in the book, with a Fiendish template added. It sees grounded opponents, it's naturally going to blast from a distance. And the monster write up says that they will go their entire lives without touching ground. It is 100% against their nature to come down where the big guy with the Scythe can go chop-chop on them. When he starts taking significant damage, and he sees that his lightning is becoming less effective, he leaves, content that he gave them a whupping.</p><p></p><p>Good tactic? Summon Monster III, Celestial Hippogriff, and put the Paladin of Freedom on it. He's got all the mounted combat feats, has a magic lance, and can dish out a real solid wallop when he hits. That can effectively ruin the opponent's "happy place", his general immunity to melee. </p><p></p><p>Magic Weapon can enhance a bow, or a whole bundle of the javelins that the Orc allies are throwing in waves. Make the ranged weapons they have effective.</p><p></p><p></p><p>The first time they fought the Arrowhawk they were in a keep that was guarding a pass. All the guards were either dead or missing. It struck at night (It has Darkvision to 60 and a Lightning range to 50, so night is a good time to strike). The Paladin was on watch, as was the Cleric. The Paladin stood his ground atop that tower and traded shots. His bow wasn't magical, so he's going a D8 against a monster with a 10 point DR. </p><p></p><p>Second encounter, nobody had prepped Magic Weapon or anything like it, so the Paladin lit up his flaming sword and went for the ride by slash. Scored a Critical, even with the 20% miss chance because of the bird's height off the ground. The Fiendish thing meant that the flame part of the damage didn't count (doesn't multiply with the crit), but he put some fear of God into it. It flew up to 35 feet, to avoid any more of that sword, then took to blasting the Paladin. Only 2 D8 of damage, but as a ranged touch, at +19, it's pretty much guaranteed to hit. </p><p></p><p>The Ranger/Druid threw the 2nd level Energy protection/resistance on himself, then charged in close to fire up at point blank range (PBR is 30 feet and it was 35 feet, but the archer is taller than five feet so...).</p><p></p><p>The battle field was on a narrow mountain trail with a canopy of trees overhead. The party had a sort of deal with their temporary allies: Travel/active from midnight until noon. They're on the north slope of some mountains, so the daylight issue doesn't become a real problem for the Orcs until the sun gets pretty high. This attack took place during the night time portion of their "day".</p><p></p><p>The Arrowhawk had to spend a round maneuvering down through the canopy. By the book, full grown Oak trees grow to 60 feet tall with a crown that's 40 feet wide. I figured the canopy came down to about 40 feet, so 35 was as high as I figured a Large creature could fly without running into branches. </p><p></p><p>The monster was only able to spot them because, with several humans in the party, they were carrying light sources.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Greenfield, post: 7152846, member: 6669384"] There are two casters in the current party of five who have the Resistance/Protection spells available. That doesn't mean that they start out the battle with the spells up, nor that they begin the day with them selected, nor does it mean that they take the time out of combat to hand protections to other PCs. And spare the spells for NPCs? Not going to happen. (Their current NPC companions are an Orc war party of a dozen or so, with a low level Shaman among them, who they met on the road. The Orc settlement was hit and over run by minions of the Big Bad of the campaign, so this one of those cases where "The enemy of my Enemy..." can still be a treacherous pain in the ... foot.) Agreed, Intelligence doesn't mean any skill at Spellcraft. Neither does it mean, however, that it's completely clueless either. This is the most advanced Arrowhawk in the book, with a Fiendish template added. It sees grounded opponents, it's naturally going to blast from a distance. And the monster write up says that they will go their entire lives without touching ground. It is 100% against their nature to come down where the big guy with the Scythe can go chop-chop on them. When he starts taking significant damage, and he sees that his lightning is becoming less effective, he leaves, content that he gave them a whupping. Good tactic? Summon Monster III, Celestial Hippogriff, and put the Paladin of Freedom on it. He's got all the mounted combat feats, has a magic lance, and can dish out a real solid wallop when he hits. That can effectively ruin the opponent's "happy place", his general immunity to melee. Magic Weapon can enhance a bow, or a whole bundle of the javelins that the Orc allies are throwing in waves. Make the ranged weapons they have effective. The first time they fought the Arrowhawk they were in a keep that was guarding a pass. All the guards were either dead or missing. It struck at night (It has Darkvision to 60 and a Lightning range to 50, so night is a good time to strike). The Paladin was on watch, as was the Cleric. The Paladin stood his ground atop that tower and traded shots. His bow wasn't magical, so he's going a D8 against a monster with a 10 point DR. Second encounter, nobody had prepped Magic Weapon or anything like it, so the Paladin lit up his flaming sword and went for the ride by slash. Scored a Critical, even with the 20% miss chance because of the bird's height off the ground. The Fiendish thing meant that the flame part of the damage didn't count (doesn't multiply with the crit), but he put some fear of God into it. It flew up to 35 feet, to avoid any more of that sword, then took to blasting the Paladin. Only 2 D8 of damage, but as a ranged touch, at +19, it's pretty much guaranteed to hit. The Ranger/Druid threw the 2nd level Energy protection/resistance on himself, then charged in close to fire up at point blank range (PBR is 30 feet and it was 35 feet, but the archer is taller than five feet so...). The battle field was on a narrow mountain trail with a canopy of trees overhead. The party had a sort of deal with their temporary allies: Travel/active from midnight until noon. They're on the north slope of some mountains, so the daylight issue doesn't become a real problem for the Orcs until the sun gets pretty high. This attack took place during the night time portion of their "day". The Arrowhawk had to spend a round maneuvering down through the canopy. By the book, full grown Oak trees grow to 60 feet tall with a crown that's 40 feet wide. I figured the canopy came down to about 40 feet, so 35 was as high as I figured a Large creature could fly without running into branches. The monster was only able to spot them because, with several humans in the party, they were carrying light sources. [/QUOTE]
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