Bizarre Tactics & Combos
- Thread starter Magic Rub
- Start date
Neither of these is very "bizarre", but they are effective:
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A 9th level druid combination:
Use Summon Monster V to call up 1d4+1 creatures from the Summon Nature's Ally III list.
Then cast Animal Growth on your animal companion and three of the summoned creatures. (I prefer Dire Weasels, your mileage may vary.)
Very vicious. Can be made worse by using the various animal buff spells from MoTW.
At 20th level, you can use the same trick to make 1d4+1 very large, very angry Dire Tigers.
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Stack up the damage-inflicting, movement stopping spells. Spike Growth, Spike Stones and Briar Web make sure that anyone leaving the area of effect is going to seriously feel the pain. For each five feet they move through the area, they take 1d8 + 1d4 + (1d4 + 1/2 caster levels). And they're going to be making three reflex saves per round -- one to avoid the briar web, and the other two to avoid having their speed dropped by 1/3.
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A 9th level druid combination:
Use Summon Monster V to call up 1d4+1 creatures from the Summon Nature's Ally III list.
Then cast Animal Growth on your animal companion and three of the summoned creatures. (I prefer Dire Weasels, your mileage may vary.)
Very vicious. Can be made worse by using the various animal buff spells from MoTW.
At 20th level, you can use the same trick to make 1d4+1 very large, very angry Dire Tigers.
--------------------------------
Stack up the damage-inflicting, movement stopping spells. Spike Growth, Spike Stones and Briar Web make sure that anyone leaving the area of effect is going to seriously feel the pain. For each five feet they move through the area, they take 1d8 + 1d4 + (1d4 + 1/2 caster levels). And they're going to be making three reflex saves per round -- one to avoid the briar web, and the other two to avoid having their speed dropped by 1/3.
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Simple but effective.
We were recently moving down a cylindrical cavern when we were accosted by a cryohydra. When the hydra stepped out onto the ledge, it gave, plummeting the hydra (and us had we not been flying) to the bottom.
I pulled out a huge rock that I had shrunken days ago (shrink item) and dropped it. we estimated the rock to be about a ton (it was 5'x5'x10'). That's 10d6 on its own (d6 for every 200 lbs. DMG), it dropped for about 100ft adding d6 for every 10ft.
Shrink Item Rocks!
We were recently moving down a cylindrical cavern when we were accosted by a cryohydra. When the hydra stepped out onto the ledge, it gave, plummeting the hydra (and us had we not been flying) to the bottom.
I pulled out a huge rock that I had shrunken days ago (shrink item) and dropped it. we estimated the rock to be about a ton (it was 5'x5'x10'). That's 10d6 on its own (d6 for every 200 lbs. DMG), it dropped for about 100ft adding d6 for every 10ft.
Shrink Item Rocks!
carpedavid
First Post
Haste, hold person, and coup de gras...
This is something that I'd like to use against my PCs. A hasted cleric could, in one round, cast hold person on someone that she was 5' away from (avoiding an AoO).
Assuming that the hold person spell took effect, she could then take a 5' step, and use a full round action to exectue a coup de gras on the now held, and therefore, helpless character.
I picked a cleric because they're actually useful in combat, and therefore likely to do enough damage on the coup de gras that it might actually be deadly. Hitting the held creature isn't a problem, as the attack automatically succedes.
The only trouble I see is that hold person, as a 2nd level cleric spell, has a pretty low save DC, and therefore isn't as likely to be effective against my PCs, who are, on average, 5-6 level. Against a party of 3rd level characters (3rd level being the minimum level a cleric would need to be to cast hold person, and therefore an appropriate enemy for the PCs), I think this tactic would be more effective.
There is another twist that one could use to make this more deadly:
The cleric could be equipped with a wand of hold person, allowing her to cast the spell on someone who was adjacent without provoking an AoO, and making the number of times she can try this effectively unlimited during the encounter. She would also need to have quick draw, to switch from the wand to her weapon as a free action.
Comments?
DMG
This is something that I'd like to use against my PCs. A hasted cleric could, in one round, cast hold person on someone that she was 5' away from (avoiding an AoO).
Assuming that the hold person spell took effect, she could then take a 5' step, and use a full round action to exectue a coup de gras on the now held, and therefore, helpless character.
I picked a cleric because they're actually useful in combat, and therefore likely to do enough damage on the coup de gras that it might actually be deadly. Hitting the held creature isn't a problem, as the attack automatically succedes.
The only trouble I see is that hold person, as a 2nd level cleric spell, has a pretty low save DC, and therefore isn't as likely to be effective against my PCs, who are, on average, 5-6 level. Against a party of 3rd level characters (3rd level being the minimum level a cleric would need to be to cast hold person, and therefore an appropriate enemy for the PCs), I think this tactic would be more effective.
There is another twist that one could use to make this more deadly:
The cleric could be equipped with a wand of hold person, allowing her to cast the spell on someone who was adjacent without provoking an AoO, and making the number of times she can try this effectively unlimited during the encounter. She would also need to have quick draw, to switch from the wand to her weapon as a free action.
Comments?
DMG
Tyrrell
First Post
First a questionable rules interpretation. unseen servant is used by a 1rst level sorcerer to load one of his 2 heavy crossbows every round. The sorcerer uses a move equivelent to switch weapons each round and shoots to make a stanadard action.
Now a less questionable rules interpratation.
Player: "As a free action my arcane caster drops their tower sheild. I cast a spell and as a move equivelent I pick up the tower sheild again."
DM "I hate you."
Now a less questionable rules interpratation.
Player: "As a free action my arcane caster drops their tower sheild. I cast a spell and as a move equivelent I pick up the tower sheild again."
DM "I hate you."
Scroll-Smack
I had submitted this character for use in the Chicago Gameday's 10th level Free-for-All Brawl. Unfortunatelly, I got sick that weekend and couldn't make it.
The idea was to make a 10th level character and duke it out with the other PC's. We had 49000 GP to spend. Last man standing won.
Went with a halfling Rogue and put an 18 into Charisma. The rest of the stats were mostly meaningless. Took Improved Initiative, Quick Draw and Skill Focus: Use Magic Device. Main skill was Use Magic Device, Decipher Script for Synergy bonuses, etc. For my 10th level Rogue ability, selected Skill Mastery and put one of my picks in Use Magic Device, allowing me to take a 10 in the skill, even though UMD normally doesn't allow it. Spent some of my money on a Heward's Handy Haversack (Free Action to pull an item from the Haversack according to the FAQ) and a few random items like Boots of Speed. Everything else went into scrolls.
My strategy was to rely on UMD (Skill Mastery and taking a 10 allowed me to automatically successfully cast 9th level scrolls with the DC 34 check) and the Heward's Haversack to chain together spells like Time Stop, and Horrid Wilting and pretty much wipe out everyone before anyone else had a chance to go. I had enough money to dish out over 100d8 damage to everyone in the encounter, so long as no one character was more than 60' from the rest, and the Time Stop spells ensured that I would never have to worry about another player getting a turn and killing me because I could just chain them together. And if all else failed, I had a Shapechange scroll so I could turn into the Tarrasque with his +35 natural AC and just eat people. Or maybe a Remhorraz so I could dish out 10d10 damage to people with Improved Grab.
OK, so I admit that this was less of a tactic than an exercise in total, complete munchkinism. But that sounded like the point of a free-for-all slugfest anyway. <g>
So, anyone who went to the Chicago gameday earlier this month remember what character won?
As far as a more realistic tactic goes, we were playing through the Bastion of Broken Souls and were getting mauled by the encounter with the invisible casters, the Half Dragon Dire Bear, and all the other stuff in it. My monk/henshin mystic character was able to use his Bracelet of Friends (the best 4500 GP you wil ever spend) to save two characters from an unbeatable Grapple situation (our big damage fighter and our wizard) with the partial action from his Boots of Speed, then use his normal action to run over to where the wizards were (after suceeding in the DC 20 spot check) and pull his opened Eversmoking Bottle out of his glove of storing, immediately filling that part of the room with smoke and preventing the casters from killing my party members. I was then able to use Blindsight 5' radius and my Listen skill to home in on the casters and other hidden baddies and wipe them out one by one because they had a huge miss chance due to the smoke and I didn't because of my Blindsight.
Moral of the story: the Bracelet of Friends will save your party. Believe me.
I had submitted this character for use in the Chicago Gameday's 10th level Free-for-All Brawl. Unfortunatelly, I got sick that weekend and couldn't make it.
The idea was to make a 10th level character and duke it out with the other PC's. We had 49000 GP to spend. Last man standing won.
Went with a halfling Rogue and put an 18 into Charisma. The rest of the stats were mostly meaningless. Took Improved Initiative, Quick Draw and Skill Focus: Use Magic Device. Main skill was Use Magic Device, Decipher Script for Synergy bonuses, etc. For my 10th level Rogue ability, selected Skill Mastery and put one of my picks in Use Magic Device, allowing me to take a 10 in the skill, even though UMD normally doesn't allow it. Spent some of my money on a Heward's Handy Haversack (Free Action to pull an item from the Haversack according to the FAQ) and a few random items like Boots of Speed. Everything else went into scrolls.
My strategy was to rely on UMD (Skill Mastery and taking a 10 allowed me to automatically successfully cast 9th level scrolls with the DC 34 check) and the Heward's Haversack to chain together spells like Time Stop, and Horrid Wilting and pretty much wipe out everyone before anyone else had a chance to go. I had enough money to dish out over 100d8 damage to everyone in the encounter, so long as no one character was more than 60' from the rest, and the Time Stop spells ensured that I would never have to worry about another player getting a turn and killing me because I could just chain them together. And if all else failed, I had a Shapechange scroll so I could turn into the Tarrasque with his +35 natural AC and just eat people. Or maybe a Remhorraz so I could dish out 10d10 damage to people with Improved Grab.
OK, so I admit that this was less of a tactic than an exercise in total, complete munchkinism. But that sounded like the point of a free-for-all slugfest anyway. <g>
So, anyone who went to the Chicago gameday earlier this month remember what character won?
As far as a more realistic tactic goes, we were playing through the Bastion of Broken Souls and were getting mauled by the encounter with the invisible casters, the Half Dragon Dire Bear, and all the other stuff in it. My monk/henshin mystic character was able to use his Bracelet of Friends (the best 4500 GP you wil ever spend) to save two characters from an unbeatable Grapple situation (our big damage fighter and our wizard) with the partial action from his Boots of Speed, then use his normal action to run over to where the wizards were (after suceeding in the DC 20 spot check) and pull his opened Eversmoking Bottle out of his glove of storing, immediately filling that part of the room with smoke and preventing the casters from killing my party members. I was then able to use Blindsight 5' radius and my Listen skill to home in on the casters and other hidden baddies and wipe them out one by one because they had a huge miss chance due to the smoke and I didn't because of my Blindsight.
Moral of the story: the Bracelet of Friends will save your party. Believe me.
Hannibal Barca
First Post
Cloudkill + Solid Fog.
James McMurray
First Post
Tyrrell said:
Happily inform the player that picking up an object is indeed a move-equivelant action. Unfortuanetl, so si "ready a shield". They are holding a shield but have not have time to place it firmly enough.
silvertable81
First Post
Steal the mage's Spell Component Pouches from their belts. They better have some spells memorised with no Material Components.
