Hethas' Gambit continued [top of rnd 8]

[seasong]

A slight side note: many of you are burning through your resources at an incredible rate. This may make the Champion Fight a kind of "no duh, don't do it" kind of thing, which I'd like to avoid.

I really hadn't expected so many of you to be expending yourself so gleefully to whack each other .

So... what would y'all say to this?

Last gladiator standing, if he chooses to fight the Champion:
1. Hit points restored to full.
2. Spell slots restored to full.
3. "Usable per day" abilities restored to full.
4. All currently active effects with a duration of 1 hour or less dispelled.
5. One full prep round before facing the champion.

Anything I'm missing? Anyone who doesn't want this? I can see arguments both ways, so I'm pretty ambivalent.

-seasong

 

[Jeremy]

Heh. Amazing the difference a diddling counter makes.

Hell yah! Restore them. That way we get a championship slugfest instead of a tired survivor gets clobbered by the huge AC/SR snake woman.

And that way it's no holds barred within the actually important deathmatch.

 

[seasong]

Heh. Amazing the difference a diddling counter makes.

Yeah, it does seem to have an effect.

Hell yah! Restore them. That way we get a championship slugfest instead of a tired survivor gets clobbered by the huge AC/SR snake woman.

Awww, you'll still get clobbered .

-seasong

 

[reapersaurus]

Wow - I'm now of the concern that I must have screwed up my build of Blaster somewhere, since even non-specialized cohorts seem to be better at Blaster's specialty than Blaster is, even in an AMF and with less points, gold, and levels to spend.

Either that, or my rolls are just sucky. (oh - I just looked at my email to you seasong - I didn't detail Blaster's +4 Size bonus to grappling, since both he and Unth are Large - you didn't add +4 Size bonus for Unth, did you? I'm sure you didn;t, I'm just checking for myself...)
It's funny how all the builds in the world could potentially be for naught, if the dice aren't equal (I'm sure #47 would agree, with his Initiative performance).

seasong - I just saw this avatar - It might have been on a vBulletin Forum, then I saw gamespy's huge avatar archive, but didn't find any I liked better. http://www.gamespy.com/avatars/

I hated having to leave Izad (trust me, he's not forgotten), but Blaster was left in the pool with no better move than to get close with a Reach specialist.
Of course, with no Rakes, and Unth getting a full attack coming up, I can only hope that he's not as good with his up close attacks as he is with his Reach weapon. I sure hope Unth can't get his Reach weapon into use, or this could be BAD.

Status question:
Unth is prone, and they are not considered grappling, and are 5' from each other - is that right?

Anyway, keep bringing the fun action on! When's the next ETA for inits, seasong?

 

[Saepiroth]

My little experiment in flight didn't exactly work like I planned... I was supposed to end up back with my old buddy Xiao Fung, but I made a mistake regarding physics. I guess gods that reshape reality at will don't pay much attention to conservation of energy!

Still, I think intentionally failing a save to not get blown away was an inspired means of escape, don't you?

 

[Jeremy]

Absolutely.

And if I might point out, Unth is one HELLUVA grappler.

 

[seasong]

It is a scissors-paper-rock situation with Unth and Blaster and Izad. Each has specific strengths. However, I think Blaster is probably the best overall grappler in the arena.

I may be getting a long lunch for my hard work this afternoon, so I'll try to get some more Inits out then.

 

[seasong]

Wow - I'm now of the concern that I must have screwed up my build of Blaster somewhere, since even non-specialized cohorts seem to be better at Blaster's specialty than Blaster is, even in an AMF and with less points, gold, and levels to spend.

Naw. But if you do some test builds of things that look similar to Unth (aim for high STR, good BAB progression), the reasons should become swiftly evident. And he's not really a better grappler in an overall sense.

Being good at grappling comes down to:
1) number of grappling rolls per round you can make
2) how high a grappling check you have
3) how much damage you can do once you succeed on a grapple check

Being good at (1) and (2) gives a good defense, but a sucky offense. Being good at (1) and (3) gives an adequate defense and adequate offense. Being good at (2) and (3) gives a good offense, but a sucky defense.

Being good at (1) gives an adequate escape mechanism, but a crappy overall defense. Being good at (2) gives an adequate initial defense, but a crappy escape mechanism. Being good at (3) only makes for a crappy grappler, so we won't discuss it too thoroughly .

Both situations (Izad and Unth) can be analyzed in terms of the above analytic tools, and it should swiftly be evident that neither of them are good for the long haul in a grappling situation with Blaster.

Of course, with no Rakes, and Unth getting a full attack coming up, I can only hope that he's not as good with his up close attacks as he is with his Reach weapon. I sure hope Unth can't get his Reach weapon into use, or this could be BAD.

Start praying . Although his being prone will likely have some impact on things.

Status question:
Unth is prone, and they are not considered grappling, and are 5' from each other - is that right?

Yes.

-seasong

 

[seasong]

Not as long a lunch as I'd hoped for, but... the invisible trio has finally really struck. Heh heh heh.

Init 21 - Tairnandon

Position unknown.

However, Duder hears someone chant something, and... it is too late. Vengeful, fiery chains wrap around the poor dwarf and bind him! Although he tries to escape before they truly enwrap him, all too quickly he is trussed up in the molten wraps (3 dmg, helpless).

Init 21 - Usasmir

Position easily guessed...

Omigawd yelps when something strikes her from behind, and then flails helplessly as an invisible force grabs and forces her to the ground. It is obvious she is struggling against a grappler of some sort... and equally obvious that she can't grapple to save her life.

Finally, she is pinned helplessly by the invisible force, still screaming, and blood seems to flow from her neck, only to fade in midair. She remains alive, but for how much longer?

 

[Jeremy]

Now the terror begins. Nice visuals seasong!