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My prediction of empowered scorching ray vs. orbs is: Empowered Scorching ray is significantly better than an orb of fire at levels 7-9--as long as spell resistance isn't a factor and fire resistance isn't common, AND you don't care about the orb of fire's secondary effect (which is potentially...

Starting at 11th level, you should be looking at empowered orb of force and empowered orb of fire (energy substituted as necessary). At 9th and 10th levels, you're right that core metamagic doesn't really help the orbs, though it does help evocations and it's not a fair comparison if you don't...

My take is that failing to account for the impact of metamagic feats and energy resistance are major flaws in the methodology. IME, damage focused arcane spellcasters make extensive use of metamagic feats. The normal 5th level area damage spell for a 9th-11th level wizard is not cone of cold...

Here's a more interesting question. Given what we now know about the feat, who benefits the most from it: Paladin Bard Cleric Favored Soul Healer Shugenja Archivist Druid Sorcerer/Wizard/Warmage with Arcane Disciple: Healing My guess is as follows: 1. Favored souls and clerics benefit from it...

I think you misunderstand. It doesn't matter if the BBEG kills one or even 3/5 PCs or even TPKs the group. He will still have very little use for the reserve healing feat in most campaigns because he will either not need healing enough for his action to be profitably spent on healing a little...

The big difference between what the reserve healing reportedly enables characters to do and the existing reserve feats is that the existing reserve feats are mostly useful during combat. Unlimited 5d6 firebursts are combat actions and, as such are less effective than 10d6 fireballs or 10d6...

Unfortunately, this is a feat without any real "they can do it too" mitigating power. Bad guys typically live four one to ten rounds after opening hostilities with the PCs. On the few occasions where bad guys do escape, they typically use some of the PCs treasure (potions, scrolls, etc) before...

Justin's link has a lot of good suggestions. Here are a few more: 1. Don't let every PC's turn become a group discussion. Cast fireball on the orcs. No, haste us. He can't do that, we're not all within 30 feet. Well then leave the archer out. No, leave yourself out; the archer's is the most...

The better question is probably how many of them could afford to use an action in combat to drink a potion of blur. Being immune to the rogue doesn't help much if the fighter/wizard kills you before you can do anything to them.

I think your math is a bit off. As hong points out, damage is more likely to be something like: 3.5*7 (sneak attack) + 3.5 (weapon) + 3.5 x2 (holy) +3 enhancement +2 strength. for an average of 40 damage on primary attacks, 38 on off-hand weapon. (Or maybe 34.5 if the character only has a single...

What level rogue are you talking about? 4th-6th? On a 14th level rogue, that's more like: Primary attack: make a Fort 37 or be staggered! (And 2 points of strength) Off Hand attack: make a Fort 36 or be staggered! (And 2 points of strength) Iterative attack: make a Fort 44 or be staggered...

Sure. But it doesn't make it useless. 1. A lot of characters take only 1-4 levels of monk. 2. Some people play 3e with 3.5 additions (like 3.5 haste) 3. The math is the same for rapid shot An approximation of the math would show average damage reduced with the -1 flurry when 18s and 19s are...

To build on firelance's post, the general rule is: Do I have a full attack action? I want to flurry. Do I only have a standard attack? I can't flurry. However, that doesn't consider haste effects or stunning fist/ other single attack effects. Haste makes a significant change in the effect of...

This is pretty much my attitude--except there are some times when I don't tell the PCs the DC that Razz doesn't mention and there is one set of conditions where I will frequently tell the PCs the DC. The time I don't tell PCs the DC? When it's a situation that the PCs may not be aware of...

I'm looking to get a group together to play either Scourge of the Howling Horde, Dragondown Grotto, or both. What I need to know before I start scheduling them, however, is about how long it takes to play them. Has anyone here run or played them? If so, how long did they take you? And were...

Back to the original point, one of the best series of puzzles I've seen recently was in a Living Greyhawk module. The puzzles/traps were a part of a test for the students of a particular martial art and that context both made them make sense and made their solutions appropriate (though not...

Good to hear from you. Both of these facts explain a lot. Also, the original poster noted that the cleric archer is a multiclass ranger/cleric which doesn't help matters--in terms of straight-up fighting power, a ranger/cleric is generally a few steps behind a straightforward cleric archer...

Yeah, that's pretty much my take on it. Core only fighter. Not gonna do it. Core only paladin. Again, not gonna do it. Core only rogue. Again, not gonna do it. Core only bard. Probably not (but mostly because I'd need enticement to play a bard to begin with). Core only barbarian. I could...

I marked the 20-50% of combats, based on the wording which seems to indicate provoking AoOs in order to accomplish something else rather than provoking AoOs in order to provoke AoOs. Here's why, based on character (from a lot of different campaigns, some of whom haven't seen play in over a...

The fantastic adventures mods all worked out to something like this approach. Here are some of my takes: 1. When it works, it can work very well. Allowing the combat to develop slows it down and allows for it to be a story of its own with the dramatic elements of introduction, rising action...