Epic D&D campaign (still recruiting)

[Nephtys]

I am having fun, I just want to keep my character alive so I can have even more fun when the game starts. I know it seems like I'm munchkining, but that's just because I'm so obvious posting about it. It's those who don't need to ask questions we should worry about, if we should bother worrying at all. I won't unbalance the game, I'm simply not skilled enough.
The good thing about fighter characters is that they pretty much play themselves. Once the game starts I'll be able to concentrate on the RP. For now I mainly want something that will work, be useful and stay alive. That's not to say I'm not working on a kick-ass backstory, mind you.

 

[Nephtys]

Neph - Don't forget that size increase and Mass increase are not on a one to one scale. Mass jumps faster.
Look at halflings - An average 3' halfling weighs about 34 pounds. If you were to just double that you'd get a 6' tall person weight 68 pounds... Rediculously underweight. So the weight is multiplied by FOUR instead of just two, giving you 6' tall 136 pounds - A kinda skinny tall guy, but not rediculous.
This concept is shown again and again in spells that alter size (Enlarge/reduce person, Righteous might, Giant Size)

Now take into account that Mariliths aren't just 'big people', they're demonic half-snake women with 6 arms who are INCREDIBLY built (Natural 28 str/18 Con). They're masses of muscle, despite the fact that they may not look it.

Edit: And if we multiply 136 by four we get 544, which seems to fit pretty good. Multiply it with 8 and it's 1088, which is not far from what I suggested though a bit on the heavy side.

Though perhaps it's a bit silly to discuss realism. If we consider the existance of demons realistic why should their weight be what breaks our suspension of disbelief?
However, the added length of a marilith is mostly snake and snakes are not known for their girth. The weight system in DnD has always been a bit off.....
--
Besides, her weight makes it harder for me to find an appropriate mount to summon, which I need for the added move action which will let her use a full attack against a mobile enemy.

 

[Shayuri]

A marilith...with a mount?

*boggle*

...

*still boggling*

Hee hee.

Well, good luck with that.

Though I will say this with respect to mounts and followers...given the premise of the game, it makes sense we wouldn't start with things like this. Familiars, even animal companions, are a bit more of an intimate connection, and I could see something like that coming back with us...but it seems like we'd need to procure followers, cohorts and mounts once the game started.

Then again, I guess the same argument could apply to our possessions too. Hm. Oh well.

 

[Jemal]

... You're getting a mount for a 20 foot long snake-demon lady?
Hmm, well even though I think thats silly, lets figure out the math..
4000 pound Large creature.
The mount would have to be huge (One size category above the rider), and most mounts are quadrupeds.. So normal carrying capacity would be X6(Huge Quadruped), meaning for 4000 pounds to be a light load, it would require a Strength score of 32 (Light load: 4,152)
So if the DM doesn't decide to lower the weight, you would require a Huge Quadruped with 32 Strength for a mount.

If your weight were halved to 2000, you would require a huge quadruped with a strength of 27(Light load: 2076).
At 1200 pounds (Your suggestion, though I think it's rediculously underweight. ) your mount would need a strength of 23.

Not sure what you were planning on 'summoning' as a mount, but a quick gander through the MM got me the following creatures that fit your criterea (Huge quadruped)
Behir: Str 26(Technically not a quadruped though, more of a centipede)
Bulette: Str 27
Retriever: Str 31
Dinos: Elasmosaurus(Str 26), Triceratops(Str30),
Hydra: Str 23
Cauchemar Nightmare: Str 31
Giant Crocodile: Str 27
Elephant: Str 30
Various Dragons and Huge Insects

Alternatively a Gargantuan creature such as Roc, Purple Worm, or older dragons could carry you at any of the listed weights with ease.

My biggest question is how you're planning on long-term summoning and control of one of these creatures as a mount..

**
Also, PLEASE delete that picture, I ask as a personal favour, I can't even scroll past it to read posts without becoming naseous. Normally I have no problem with overweight people, but that picture is revolting, and I fail to see how it in any way helps the discussion.

 

[Nephtys]

She can Use Magic Item to cast Summon Monster IX from a scroll. Colossal Fiendish Spider ftw . It can already carry much more than her 4000 lbs, so that's not an issue. It will obey her commands and she has the stat bonuses to be able to ride it. But I want to be able to use something less over the top.

Jemal, it's done. But just imagine, at 4000 lbs she should be looking like that.

 

[Jemal]

I am having fun, I just want to keep my character alive so I can have even more fun when the game starts. I know it seems like I'm munchkining, but that's just because I'm so obvious posting about it. It's those who don't need to ask questions we should worry about, if we should bother worrying at all. I won't unbalance the game, I'm simply not skilled enough.
The good thing about fighter characters is that they pretty much play themselves. Once the game starts I'll be able to concentrate on the RP. For now I mainly want something that will work, be useful and stay alive. That's not to say I'm not working on a kick-ass backstory, mind you.

I'm not worried about you munchkining or ruining the game, I'm just saying that It's my belief that it's pretty pointless, and leads to a way of thinking that tends to turn epic games into all-or-nothing. As I stated previously, if the DM wants you dead, you're dead. If he doesn't, he's not going to use things that have a very specific "If you don't have the counter to this ability you're dead".
EXAMPLE:
Blasphemy CL 40 would kill EVERY one of us who isn't evil (I don't think anybody's evil aligned, just playing 'evil creatures who're morally ambiguous'.). The casters SR check would likely be 50+ (None of us are going to have that SR). So anybody who's not specifically designed to be immune to it would be dead.
WHY would he do that? I don't think he would, and if any DM DID do something like that, I would gladly leave the campaign for one where the DM cares more about telling the story than killing the PC's.


Also, as a spellcaster I always use my companions as a 'testing board' for how effective my spells are going to be, making the assumption that the opponents will be about on par with the PC's.
Under that assumption, if my party is all covered in immunities, I must assume that the badguys will be too, rendering much of my repertoire useless and forcing me into that same "find the one spell that instakills your opponent that he's not immune to" thinking.
If I wanted to play like that, I'd just mords + Twinned Intensified Force Orb everything to death, at which point why make the rest of the character? Everything beyond Maxing out that one trick is just fluff.. Might as well just be playing a statless/Diceless roleplaying system and go by the "no god moding" rule. Now granted, those can be fun, but the thing I like about Epic D&D is that you can do so much with it yet you still have the stats to back it up.

 

[Jemal]

Neph, I must disagree about the fatness. (Although at this point the argument is kinda moot as it's the DM's call, I'm just sharing my opinion, pls don't take it as an offense, I just like beating dead horses)
Speaking of horses.. Lets take a look at them.
clydesdale - 6 feet tall, 8-9 feet long, 2000 pounds
Marilith - 9 feet tall, 20 feet long, 4000 pounds.

Clydesdales are not FAT, they're loaded with muscles. The marilith is Bigger than a Clyde, and arguably even more butch (Being able to bench press over two tonnes!).
True you could point out that she's not built in the same shape as a horse (she's more long than tall wile the horse is square), but then I point out that most of the horses size is taken up by its legs, which account for very little of its mass. Lets look at just the torso of the horse. It's about 6' long, 3'X2', and weighs say 1800(I can't see its legs/head weighing much more than 200 pounds).. That's 36 cubic feet of muscle, weiging in at 50 pounds per cubic foot.
The Marilith, even if you just assume her as 20' long, 3X2 wide, ignoring arms/head (Which I think is an underestimation), she would have 120 cubic feet. Now, assuming she's built HALF as solidly as that horse, that gives us 25 pounds per cubic foot, or 3000 pounds. And that's on the Low end of what I think is an underestimation of her size.


In essence what I'm getting at is that I think you're viewing her as a human with a snake tail, wheras I'm looking at her as a 9' tall butch demon whos lower half is a 20' long scaley coil of muscles.

She can Use Magic Item to cast Summon Monster IX from a scroll. Colossal Fiendish Spider ftw . It can already carry much more than her 4000 lbs, so that's not an issue. It will obey her commands and she has the stat bonuses to be able to ride it.

You also realize that it would only last for 17 rounds, right? It's something that you'd have to spend the first standard action of every combat doing, in order to gain a move action...
And then there's the question of whether or not snake lady can even 'sit/mount' the thing.

But I want to be able to use something less over the top.

Probably a good idea, I just had an amusing image of a Marilith riding into combat on a Fiendish spider shouting "I'M NOT EVIL I SWEAR!!"


I still say if you're looking for mobility, Belt of battle + Quicken SLA: Teleport make more sense and are just as(If not more) effective.

 

[Nephtys]

Neph, I must disagree about the fatness. (Although at this point the argument is kinda moot as it's the DM's call, I'm just sharing my opinion, pls don't take it as an offense, I just like beating dead horses)

Me too, and no offense taken. I wouldn't be posting like this unless I enjoyed the discussion, and the outcome is not really that big a deal. The Belt of Battle is in, it's just nice to have a backup.

 

[Jemal]

Excellent I love these type of discussions.. Well, not specifically "how fat is this creature", but I think you get the drift.

 

[Vertexx69]

@ nephyts - Think of it from the serpent side. The biggest anacondas only have a ten inch diameter and weigh in at the thousand pound mark. Think of it at the 24 inch diameter mark for 17 feet of lower body and there you go.

@ Jemal - I put the knowledge DCs throughout my background (10-40), then lined them them up by DC low to high. Then I added the d20s and reordered them low to high again which threw my original order out the window.