Shilsen's Eberron SH (Finished - The Last Word : 9/20/15)

[carborundum]

Thanks again, o bearded one!

That's helpful and reassuring in one paragraph. Ever think of working in education?

 

[shilsen]

Thanks again, o bearded one!

That's helpful and reassuring in one paragraph. Ever think of working in education?

Hell, no! I've seen what infests education and academia and it's scary! I'd much rather just be teaching

 

[carborundum]

LOL - yeah, me too!

Say, speaking of halflings with slings - didn't you run such an encounter once? Can you remember if you ever posted the stats of those nasty little monsters?

 

[shilsen]

Say, speaking of halflings with slings - didn't you run such an encounter once? Can you remember if you ever posted the stats of those nasty little monsters?

I think I did something with halflings using boomerangs once, but not slings. They were the Boromar enforcers that the PCs had to fight in an illegal arena. Is that what you had in mind? If so, let me know and I'll try to dig up the stats for you.

 

[carborundum]

Boomerangs! That was it! Thank you!

(Searches for boomerang and finds the stats in the Rogues Gallery thread)

I'm looking for lowish level stuff to challenge my PCs (9th level now) with sneaky tactics and interesting feats. Now to find that part of your story hour!

Basically, I'm rewriting an encounter in my Savage Tide game. The party arrive at a beach town/ trading post and it's under attack by raiders. Problem is, the raiders in the adventure are Rogue 1/ Fighter 1 - and that's not enough. A few halfling boomerang enforcers on the side will give me some fun!

 

[shilsen]

Basically, I'm rewriting an encounter in my Savage Tide game. The party arrive at a beach town/ trading post and it's under attack by raiders. Problem is, the raiders in the adventure are Rogue 1/ Fighter 1 - and that's not enough. A few halfling boomerang enforcers on the side will give me some fun!

Do you have/use The Book of Nine Swords? If so, rather than coming up with boomerang-user stats and such, I'd recommend using that book and some of the maneuvers, while describing them in-game as halflings using boomerangs.

For example, you could describe the Shadow Garrote (Shadow Hand 3rd lvl) maneuver as a halfling hurling a boomerang and striking a PC in the throat, or the Fan the Flames (Desert Wind 3rd) maneuver as a boomerang being hurled and bursting into flame as it sails towards the target.

That's something which I had already started doing in 3e and really like about 4e design philosophy - the idea that you can/should take the existing mechanics and throw your own flavor on it.

 

[carborundum]

Oh, that'll be hilarious! Thanks Mr. S - sometimes the answers are right at hand (or on the bookshelf) and you just don't see them.

What to do tomorrow - Writing the project evaluations I've been avoiding all week or statting up halfling warblades. Oh dear.

 

[shilsen]

Oh, that'll be hilarious! Thanks Mr. S - sometimes the answers are right at hand (or on the bookshelf) and you just don't see them.

Glad to help. I'm a big fan of the "mechanics = WotC; flavor = me" approach, so I tout it when I can.

What to do tomorrow - Writing the project evaluations I've been avoiding all week or statting up halfling warblades. Oh dear.

Write the evaluation, while sometimes taking a break for warblade creation? That's how I'm doing my grading now, taking breaks for 4e encounter-building.

On a slightly more serious note, I've got a couple of suggestions there too. I find that halfling swordsages work out nicer than warblades defensively, since they get more maneuvers, have better defenses with the use of both Dex and Wis, and the loss of BAB is compensated for by using touch attacks. Also, something which worked well for me in using the Bo9S is to just pick 3-4 maneuvers at most, since the NPCs will usually not get to use more (and ones they know but don't have prepared are irrelevant). Similarly, don't bother with skills besides the 2-3 you think might matter, which you can max out. The less prep the better, I always say.

 

[carborundum]

Cheers!

I ended up working more than D&D-ing but I promised the kids their evaluations tomorrow. Silly me!

Swordsages would be funky too - good idea, thanks! I was also thinking rogue/ninjas, just so they could disappear and reappear a few times before they die (but get sneak and sudden strike damage in each time first).

Now to rewrite the pirate gang as a special attack/recon squad, composed of ninjas, swordsages, duskblades and oh... lets say battle sorcerors. That bunch of 4th & 5th level enemies should be a proper welcoming committee!

 

[shilsen]

Swordsages would be funky too - good idea, thanks! I was also thinking rogue/ninjas, just so they could disappear and reappear a few times before they die (but get sneak and sudden strike damage in each time first).

Ninjas are a fun class. But if you want, you can do a reasonable facsimile using the swordsage too, picking a lot of Shadow Hand stuff, esp. Cloak of Deception and Assassin's Stance. Activate Assassin's Stance and use Cloak of Deception to get some sneak attacks off, and then next round, disappear into the shadows (Shadow Jaunt to a spot the PCs can't see and then move). Recover your Cloak of Deception maneuver next round and then pop back in for more sneak-attacky goodness (with Shadow Blade Technique and the touch-attack maneuvers ensuring that you hit). It takes a few rounds, but as long as you have a few of them alternating their attacks, plus some allies who stay in the fight constantly, it shouldn't be a problem.