Characters

[Cheiromancer]

Periapt of Inscrutability. I like that. Is there a stone that protects against necromancy? We still need to approve the death ward/ability damage item. Is there a stone especially for spell resistance?

Re: Lutz

I don't think he loses his Dex bonus to AC when he is flat-footed (uncanny dodge). And the attack bonus wants to come out as +71. 4 (giant) + 25 (Barbarian) + 26 (Str) -1 (Large) +1 (Focus) +16 (bonus). How did you get 68? Also, terrifying rage affects everyone up to twice his hit dice; 31 to 62 HD opponents are potentially shaken.

I think that Terrifying Rage might be broken; allowing the mask might be a bad idea. I also think that Half-fiend might not be such a great template for exploiting DevCrit. The LA it requires could more profitably be spent on more levels of Barbarian.

To illustrate this idea, I present Lutz's half-brother, Brech.

Brech lacks many half-fiendish advantages; he can't fly, he has no SR or natural resistance to energy, etc. However he does have a few more ways of hitting enemies (he penetrates more more kinds of DR, hits incorporeal and concealed opponents better), and has Fast Healing in case something bypasses his Regeneration. And some ranks of Swim in case he should find himself in water. It would be a shame for a CR 46 opponent to drown in a raging river! And although he can't fly, he can jump 100+ feet with a 5-ft. running start, which is often just as good. His DevCrit is a little bit better, and his Terrifying Rage always drives his brother away screaming. His equipment is deployed a little differently, but is more or less the same.

Enough blather.



BRECH (ECL 46)
Troll Barbarian 36; Large Giant; HD 6d8+108 plus 36d12+648; hp 994; Init +14, Spd 70 ft.; AC 64 (-1 Size, +6 Dex, +24 armor, +10 shield, +5 natural, +10 deflection), touch 25, flat-footed 64; BAB +40, Grp 68; Atk +75 (2d6+46/15-20, +11 ghost touch cold iron large falchion); Space/Reach 10 ft./10 ft.; SA Rage, rend; SQ Darkvision 90 ft., DR 13/-, evasion, fast healing 3, improved uncanny dodge, low-light vision, mighty rage, regeneration 5, scent, tireless rage, trap sense +12;
Fort +57 Ref +36 Will +31; Str 58 Dex 23 Con 47 Int 14 Wis 13 Cha 14

Ability mods: Str: +24, Dex +6, Con +18, Int +2, Wis +1, Cha +2

Skills: Balance +34, Climb +80, Intimidate +77, Jump +100, Listen +33, Spot +46, Swim 38, Tumble +48

Skill points: 9 x 4 + 36 x 6 = 252

Balance: 6 +6 (Dex) +2 (Synergy) +20 (Boots) = +34
Climb: 36 +24 (Str) +20 (Boots) = +80
Intimidate: 45 +2 (Cha) +30 (item) = +77
Jump: 38 +24 (Str) +2 (Synergy) +20 (Boots) +16 (Speed) = +100
Listen: 32 +1 (Wis) = +33
Spot: 45 +1 (Wis) = +46
Tumble: 18 (cc: 36 pts) +4 (Synergy) +6 (Dex) +20 (Boots) = +48
Swim: 14 + 24 (Str) = +38

Feats: Blind-Fight, Cleave, Damage Reduction, Devastating Critical (falchion) (DC 55), Dire Charge, Dodge, Fast Healing, Great Cleave, Improved Critical (falchion), Improved Initiative, Legendary Leaper, Overwhelming Critical (falchion), Penetrate Damage Reduction (adamantine), Penetrate Damage Reduction (silver), Power Attack, Superior Initiative, Terrifying Rage, Weapon Focus (falchion)

Terrifying Rage: Creatures who view Brech while he is raging must make a Will Save opposed by Brech's Intimidate check. Creatures with 41 or fewer HD who fail are panicked, those with 42 to 84 HD are shaken. The effect lasts for 4d6 rounds.

Raging: The following changes are in effect while Brech rages: hp 1162, AC 62, Atk +79 melee (2d6+52/15-20), Str 66, Con 55, Fort +61 Will +35. The Save DC to resist his Devastating Critical increases to 59. Brech can rage 10 times per day for up to 25 rounds. He is not fatigued afterwards.

Equipment (9,733,600 gp).
Girdle of giant strength +18 (1,266,400)
+12 cold iron large falchion (1,299,975)
+20 mithral chain shirt (1,701,100)
+8 animated heavy fortification adamantine heavy shield (778,015)
Amulet of health +16 (919,200)
Cloak of resistance +14 (648,800)
Ring of protection +10 (600,000)
Peridot of Inscrutability (480,000)
Boots of Swiftness (350,000)
+5 Tomes (all 6) (825,000)
Ring of elemental immunity (fire and acid) (720,000)
Mask of fearsome visage +30 Intimidate checks (90,000)

461,500 gp remains. (Something to give magical flying? That periapt thingie to protect against ability damage and negative energy? A SR item?)

Str 58 = 15 (base) + 12 (racial) +5 tome + 8 levels + 18 item
Dex 23 = 8 (base) + 4 (racial) +5 tome + 6 item
Con 47 = 14 (base) + 12 (racial) +5 tome + 16 item
Int 14 = 12 (base) – 4 (racial) +5 tome + 1 level
Wis 13 = 10 (base) – 2 (racial) +5 tome
Cha 14 = 13 (base) – 4 (racial) +5 tome

saves 5/2/2 +12/6/6 + 8/8/8 + 14/14/14 + 18/6/1 = 57/36/31


[edit] Have you noticed this thread about wounding arrows and heavy fortification?

 

[Sepulchrave II]

Periapt of Inscrutability. I like that.

Peridot.

Is there a stone that protects against necromancy? We still need to approve the death ward/ability damage item.

Not directly. Chalcedony and diamond both have properties against undead (diamond's entry is 'invulnerability vs. undead.') Jet's entry is 'soul object material,' which is vague, but intriguing.

I think that Terrifying Rage might be broken; allowing the mask might be a bad idea.

Agreed - I think any save opposed by a skill check is a bad idea. DC = 10 + HD/2 + Cha modifier is a more natural pattern for any fear effect. Maybe Terrifying Rage allows 10 + HD/2 + Str Modifier - otherwise, the feat isn't going to be worth taking for a Barb. Or 10 + ranks in Intimidate.

I also think that Half-fiend might not be such a great template for exploiting DevCrit.

I hadn't anticipated such a punitive LA - which I'm still uncertain of, btw. Still, we'll stick with it for now and see where it goes.

Edit: The half-fiend template is effectively +11 for a troll barbarian. This is simply too high.

I'll make the necessary modifications to his stat block.

 

[Cheiromancer]

My mind saw "peridot" - really, it did. I don't know why my fingers typed "periapt."

The half-fiend LA does seem high; it seems wrong to charge for DR 10/magic when it is superseded by DR 10/-. Or for SR when it is capped at 35. Or for blasphemy when the caster level is so low. But still, it is worth something.

How many Barbarian levels would you have to add to Lutz to make him as strong as Brech? I'm thinking that, except for Terrifying Rage, he's not that much weaker. If in fact he is weaker- I think his strengths are just in different areas. If LA +11 is too much, is LA +4 too little? I think 7 more levels would make Lutz obviously superior.

[edit] I'd say Lutz should get 3 more barbarian levels. This will bring the attack roll to a comparable point with Brech; less likely to hit, but more damage if he does hit. Fewer feats, but more advantages from the template: blasphemy, horrid wilting, natural flight etc. are not inconsiderable advantages; Brech has to spend a significant amount of treasure to replicate them.

SR I'm still troubled about- how about we uncap the SR gained by the half-fiend template when class levels are involved?

In summary, I am proposing that Half-fiend be +8 LA for the purpose of devising high level characters. Almost the mid-point of the Krustian +11 and the Wotcian +4. Does that sound reasonable?

 

[Cheiromancer]

Speaking of Half-fiends, is there any special template for the offspring of a half-celestial paladin and a chthonic succubus?

Are we going to see any more detailed stats (or at least races and levels) for Temenun, Yeshe, Idyam, Sibud, Jahi, Naatha, Dhatri, Prahar, Rishih, Guho and Choach? That would be way cool.

I was alarmed to hear that these 11 spellcasters could together weave a spell with a spellcraft DC of 3000. How, using the ELH system, could they manage that?

 

[Sepulchrave II]

In summary, I am proposing that Half-fiend be +8 LA for the purpose of devising high level characters. Almost the mid-point of the Krustian +11 and the Wotcian +4. Does that sound reasonable?

Yes - belatedly. Sorry I didn't catch the question earlier. I wonder if 2/3 of UK's values would work across the board with templates?

Are we going to see any more detailed stats (or at least races and levels) for Temenun, Yeshe, Idyam, Sibud, Jahi, Naatha, Dhatri, Prahar, Rishih, Guho and Choach? That would be way cool.

Eventually, when I get them nicely tidied up.

I was alarmed to hear that these 11 spellcasters could together weave a spell with a spellcraft DC of 3000. How, using the ELH system, could they manage that?

Mostin was exaggerating for dramatic effect - or maybe he was using a different scale. They could hit about DC 1800, including SDAs contributed to the ritual.

Storm of blood would be a [weather] aggregate jacobean-style.

It was never entirely ELH-compatible; it looks like this:

Storm of Blood
Necromancy [Death]

Spellcraft DC: 73
Components: V,S
Casting Time: 1 standard action
Range: 0 ft.
Area: 2-mile radius emanation
Duration: 20 rounds
Saving Throw: Fortitude half
Spell Resistance: Yes
To Develop: 657,000gp; 26,280 XP; 14 days; Seeds: Energy (Weather, DC 25) + Slay (DC 25) + Afflict (DC 14) + Fortify (DC 17); Factors: Increase to 20d4 negative levels (+72 DC); 1-action spell (+20 DC); Mitigating Factors: -110 DC. Various iterations available.

Creatures within the spell's area suffer 1d4 negative levels per round (save for half) every round for 20 rounds.

The visual effect of this spell is impressively gruesome.


It would be interesting to try and emulate it using the jacobean method.

 

[sithramir]

Epic Magic

Sep,

I've read your story hour but not kept up with all the extra Epic things you've worked on. Decided to skim over some things while i'm on vacation. I've avoided DMing for my group (others have been doing so) and we're soon to get back to some old characters who are now at 17th level which hopefully will go epic since I love higher level play in general. Apologies for the info you probably don't need:

Question: Are you now using everything from the updated 3.5 Epic rule updates for your game and in these comparisons? I saw your listing of feats and I'm assuming it was only new feats and the few you've made changes to (I noticed several that didn't look different)? You also talk about allowing full BAB past level 20 in lieu of the Epic rules for this. Why have you done this? Does it not work out balanced in your opinion?

I've got a nasty little character who's a rogue/wizard who will be hitting Epic levels and I want an opinion of someone practiced at Epic. My last epic campaign as 3.0 with few battles so I know the rules but not what's unbalancing. Just a brief though on Epic play would be great.

Also, my character is a Fey who will be most likely making an epic enchantment spell which I saw some potentially used in your campaign just recently. Do you have that written up? I'd love to see it. I want to create an enchantment that will allow me to do something but alter everyone's memory en masse that something ELSE happened. It will probably have to be a smaller area to be doable or maybe some kind of weather cloud mix that affects any who walk into it..Any ideas/suggestions? Have you something similar that I haven't seen on the boards?

Oh and DO NOT change the half-fiendish troll. Maybe you can make up for the LA with items at that high of a level and such but it's the FLAVOR. You don't tremble at the mere mention of a measily troll barbarian but when it's a half-fiendish troll barbarian that's when the true fear kicks in! Just my humble opinion.