Starbuck_II
Explorer
Never dump Con if a Caster. That is a rule.
fatal flaw: low hitpoints
- Thread starter Herzog
- Start date
Never dump Con if a Caster. That is a rule.
pawsplay
Hero
D'oh! This looks like it could be a job for regular Toughness. Frankly, you may not need a lot of advice. I quote The Last Starfighter:
What do we do now?
Now? Now, we die.
pawsplay
Hero
Not at the cost of their life.
sacrificing HP off an arcane caster without con bonus before rolling HP falls outside of what I'd call "calculated".
Looks like he fell for a Nigerian hit point scam.
Nebten
First Post
This would be the Min part of Min/Max'ing. Let's just hope that you take them out before they kill you. =v)
Then again, I'm surprised you made it to level 7. Of course if you didn't start your game at level 1 thru 6, it would make sense why you min/max'ed your character so. After playing a level or 2 with such low hit points, you might not think what you did was such a great idea after being ko'ed for a majority of the combats =v).
Then again, I'm surprised you made it to level 7. Of course if you didn't start your game at level 1 thru 6, it would make sense why you min/max'ed your character so. After playing a level or 2 with such low hit points, you might not think what you did was such a great idea after being ko'ed for a majority of the combats =v).
Sounds like a stereotypical Paper Tiger Wizard to me! Ain't nothin' wrong with that! "Who cares about the health of the body- The Art is what matters!"
Learn Reduce Person- it will give you a size bonus to AC and a +2 Dex boost.
Learn Displacement- it will give opponents a 50% miss chance
Learn Interposing Hand- it will give you cover.
And so forth.
Learn Reduce Person- it will give you a size bonus to AC and a +2 Dex boost.
Learn Displacement- it will give opponents a 50% miss chance
Learn Interposing Hand- it will give you cover.
And so forth.
aboyd
Explorer
I think the sentiment here in the thread is that you reconsider that choice.
However, I just gave a player of mine a cohort with 8 hit points at 5th level, and so I'm familiar with items to keep a character alive.
First, you might consider Repelling Gauntlets, from MIC. They work as an immediate action to interrupt someone who is running toward you to attack. As soon as they get near, they must make a Dex save and if they fail they are pushed back 10' and they lose leftover movement.
Similar, although not an immediate action, are the Bracers of Repulsion. They operate like a wave of force, driving anyone near you back by 5 feet. This is very useful when you end up with someone too close, and you know you'll incur an AOO when you try to run. So you blow everyone back, and then run screaming, no AOO.
A Transposer Cloak will allow you to swap positions with an ally. I've used this in combat many times to save a life — the hurt person teleports to where someone unattended stood, while that same unattended person is suddenly in your old position. Generally, this ends up being the cleric. He's off to the side blessing the party or whatever, but he's got armor and a mace, so he's OK to go toe-to-toe with your attacker for a round while you recover in safety.
A Brooch of Stability will auto-stabilize you if your HP drop to -1 or lower. Or you could use the same item slot for an Amulet of Tears, which gives you 12 temporary non-stacking HP for 10 minutes.
Finally, from Complete Scoundrel, you can use the Panic Button items. For example, the Panic Button of Escaping allows you to teleport away as a swift action. It doesn't occupy an item slot, either.
That may be the consensus, but I don't have a problem with the choice.
Another option?
Wear armor and either:
1) learn Still Spell,
2) focus on spells without somatic components, or
3) take feats that let you channel spell energy into other (usually Supernatural) effects.
Herzog
Adventurer
All good advise. I won't be responding to all of it, but here is the gist:
-The character concept revolves around draconic feats as well as metamagic feats. Replacing those with 'life saving' feats breaks the concept.
Even if that means having a character with a better chance of survival, it's simply not an option. (I'm still roleplaying, not optimizing)
-I've already invested in spells like mirror image, baleful transposition, etc. to increase my chances of not getting hit. There might be more optimal choices, and I will be on the lookout for those (referring back to this thread, as some good options were given).
I had False Life selected, but replaced it later with another spell (can't remember which one right now). I thought it provided not enough hp (1d10+1/lvl isn't that much) although I now realize that could, on average, double my hp pool...
Maybe I'll buy it as a scroll and attempt to learn it in one of the first sessions....
-Wearing armor isn't really going to improve things. I've already got an AC of 18 (using mage armour) or 20 (using greater mage armour) increased to 22 or 24 with shield.
-I've been looking at the various magic items (hadn't looked at complete scoundrel yet, thanx!) but a lot of those items from the MIC only function 1 to 3 times per day. Good for a one-time save, not secure enough to consider as your backup.
-automatic stabilizing is nice, but won't help me when I drop to -10 or below. I really need something to avoid that first.
-miss chances work good against targeted attacks. However, I'm currently more concerned about area attacks (fire ball, ice storm....) and how to avoid those. Some item that gives Evasion comes to mind (I think I saw one, but it was rather pricy) and Improved Evasion would be even better (haven't seen that one yet)
one final remark:
I didn't really 'dump' my Con score. It just happens to be one of the penalized Kobold scores.
-The character concept revolves around draconic feats as well as metamagic feats. Replacing those with 'life saving' feats breaks the concept.
Even if that means having a character with a better chance of survival, it's simply not an option. (I'm still roleplaying, not optimizing)
-I've already invested in spells like mirror image, baleful transposition, etc. to increase my chances of not getting hit. There might be more optimal choices, and I will be on the lookout for those (referring back to this thread, as some good options were given).
I had False Life selected, but replaced it later with another spell (can't remember which one right now). I thought it provided not enough hp (1d10+1/lvl isn't that much) although I now realize that could, on average, double my hp pool...
Maybe I'll buy it as a scroll and attempt to learn it in one of the first sessions....
-Wearing armor isn't really going to improve things. I've already got an AC of 18 (using mage armour) or 20 (using greater mage armour) increased to 22 or 24 with shield.
-I've been looking at the various magic items (hadn't looked at complete scoundrel yet, thanx!) but a lot of those items from the MIC only function 1 to 3 times per day. Good for a one-time save, not secure enough to consider as your backup.
-automatic stabilizing is nice, but won't help me when I drop to -10 or below. I really need something to avoid that first.
-miss chances work good against targeted attacks. However, I'm currently more concerned about area attacks (fire ball, ice storm....) and how to avoid those. Some item that gives Evasion comes to mind (I think I saw one, but it was rather pricy) and Improved Evasion would be even better (haven't seen that one yet)
one final remark:
I didn't really 'dump' my Con score. It just happens to be one of the penalized Kobold scores.
Physiker
First Post
I'd suggest to learn Mirror image instead of invisibility or displacement.
It's self only but only a 12.5% chance (at best) to hit you.
Where as displacement gives only a 50% miss chance and invisibility will join displacement after the first enemies can beat a 40 spot check.
Charm monster could give you a meat shield which at least absorbs some attacks. But it's a level 4 spell, so out of reach at the moment.
I don't know if hitpoint increase is the way to go, and I would consider to improve AC first, so perhaps the mithril buckler and similar items ?
It's self only but only a 12.5% chance (at best) to hit you.
Where as displacement gives only a 50% miss chance and invisibility will join displacement after the first enemies can beat a 40 spot check.
Charm monster could give you a meat shield which at least absorbs some attacks. But it's a level 4 spell, so out of reach at the moment.
I don't know if hitpoint increase is the way to go, and I would consider to improve AC first, so perhaps the mithril buckler and similar items ?
