How did 'Righteous Might' affect your game?
- Thread starter Marimmar
- Start date
Elrik_DarkFury
First Post
-Try not to throw everything you've got at a time(one single huge combat).Split encounters so that they aren't that difficult but continuous and fairly demanding,steadily exhausting your characters' resources.
-Throw different situations that require different cleric spells.(if all the cleric has to do is to kill giants,then he will load with Righteous might and divine power and will outshine others.But if he has to prepare a bunch of restoration ar a spell resistance then his chance to use the combo everytime in each combat will be significantly reduced.
-And about the BBEG,try not to throw a single very strong opponent.Reduce his power a bit and support him with a force of weaker ones.If all of your pcs attack the same opponent,no matter how strong he is,his chances to survive more than a few rounds are few.
A week ago i had a party of 4 players (level 7) attack an orc fighter(level 7) and a wizard (level 5) .In a straight combat this was going to be very easy for the party.However i had them fight a few encounters before they face the BBEG and there where 12 ogres in front of him when they finally found him.Even though the players got to play first they couldn't charge the orc fighter from the first round(and thus easily killing him).The evil wizard cast something to damage the party and the orc fighter damaged one of the players a lot without exposing himself so much(remember there are ogres everywhere around him).The combat was fun and i didn't use difficult opponents for my players.
It is always in your hand to control your players,and if nothing works,a good talk can do miracles.
I think it worths trying before you use the errata.Nobody likes to see his favored spells-powers beeing reduced like that.(you can use it anyway if nothing works)
_________________
The Wizard
-Throw different situations that require different cleric spells.(if all the cleric has to do is to kill giants,then he will load with Righteous might and divine power and will outshine others.But if he has to prepare a bunch of restoration ar a spell resistance then his chance to use the combo everytime in each combat will be significantly reduced.
-And about the BBEG,try not to throw a single very strong opponent.Reduce his power a bit and support him with a force of weaker ones.If all of your pcs attack the same opponent,no matter how strong he is,his chances to survive more than a few rounds are few.
A week ago i had a party of 4 players (level 7) attack an orc fighter(level 7) and a wizard (level 5) .In a straight combat this was going to be very easy for the party.However i had them fight a few encounters before they face the BBEG and there where 12 ogres in front of him when they finally found him.Even though the players got to play first they couldn't charge the orc fighter from the first round(and thus easily killing him).The evil wizard cast something to damage the party and the orc fighter damaged one of the players a lot without exposing himself so much(remember there are ogres everywhere around him).The combat was fun and i didn't use difficult opponents for my players.
It is always in your hand to control your players,and if nothing works,a good talk can do miracles.
I think it worths trying before you use the errata.Nobody likes to see his favored spells-powers beeing reduced like that.(you can use it anyway if nothing works)
_________________
The Wizard
Marimmar
First Post
I already got some feedback and it seems that the cleric player herself is not bothered by errataing 'Righteous Might' (she thinks it's too powerful). So that won't pose a problem to me anymore. 
As for combat tactics the road to the near TPK was at first a battle against 2 young blue dragons (out to raid a white dragon's lair) EL 10, not very tough for a level 11 group, then they stupidly engaged two dwarven spectres guarding a lost dwarven valley where they truthfully answered that they came to raid some dwarven tombs - scratch 4 levels from the wizard - and then faced the Mature White Dragon CR 11 and all died except for the wizard who fled from the start of the battle and had to travel for almost 5 weeks to gather enough funds from allies to cast three true ressurections.
I thought that the party bought the farm this time but they managed to surprise me by being quite creative about how to get their stuff back. The dragon was no match for the prepared party, even with just mundane equipment. At least their coffers are drained, the dragon got away and they are indebted to a power figure which will lead to some further adventuring. The hoard will definitely not cover the expenses of the ressurections.
~Marimmar
As for combat tactics the road to the near TPK was at first a battle against 2 young blue dragons (out to raid a white dragon's lair) EL 10, not very tough for a level 11 group, then they stupidly engaged two dwarven spectres guarding a lost dwarven valley where they truthfully answered that they came to raid some dwarven tombs - scratch 4 levels from the wizard - and then faced the Mature White Dragon CR 11 and all died except for the wizard who fled from the start of the battle and had to travel for almost 5 weeks to gather enough funds from allies to cast three true ressurections.
I thought that the party bought the farm this time but they managed to surprise me by being quite creative about how to get their stuff back. The dragon was no match for the prepared party, even with just mundane equipment. At least their coffers are drained, the dragon got away and they are indebted to a power figure which will lead to some further adventuring. The hoard will definitely not cover the expenses of the ressurections.
~Marimmar
Elrik_DarkFury
First Post
Happy to hear you solved your problem .
Also happy to see pcs in troubles by rat-bastard DMs.
__________________
The Wizard
Also happy to see pcs in troubles by rat-bastard DMs.
__________________
The Wizard
Ah, yes, the "Ten Feet Tall and Farting Fire" combo. Yes, the errataed version is not quite so nasty, but it's still very sweet if you play a cleric. But, in our game, it hasn't been too disruptive, because you don't always get a chance to buff before a big combat -- and, as others have pointed out, doing this without pre-combat buff time takes you out of the combat for two rounds.
Best way to keep it from breaking your game, IMO: either (a) give the party a fair number of combats involving sudden surprise, or (b) give the party several combats in one day, without the chance to rest and regain spells.
Yes, the errataed version is not quite so nasty, but it's still very sweet if you play a cleric. But, in our game, it hasn't been too disruptive, because you don't always get a chance to buff before a big combat -- and, as others have pointed out, doing this without pre-combat buff time takes you out of the combat for two rounds.Best way to keep it from breaking your game, IMO: either (a) give the party a fair number of combats involving sudden surprise, or (b) give the party several combats in one day, without the chance to rest and regain spells.
Last edited:
I actually agree with Thanee on this one, the balance changes to Might went a little far. I think lowering the DR was fine, but for a 1 round/level duration spell at 5th lv granting +3 to hit, +4 to damage, 2 hp per level and DR is ok. Divine Power which is one level lower usually grants +2 BASE ATTACK BONUS (could give your cleric an added attack) +3 to hit and damage and 1 hp per level. The 5th lv spell grants the DR and some more hp and a little bit more damage, but Divine Power grants a larger bonus to hit. Everyone knows that bonuses to hit are more valuable than bonuses to damage.
Sure Divine Power and Rightous Might turn your cleric into a melee machine, but how long can you swing away before your other party members need your healing skills or restorative magics? At the teen levels battles can swing a lot from round to round depending on the magics used both by the party and against them. Clerics are vital for making your party last longer, and they can't do that from the front line (lots of luck if your combat cleric is struck down and you don't have any healing).
Sure Divine Power and Rightous Might turn your cleric into a melee machine, but how long can you swing away before your other party members need your healing skills or restorative magics? At the teen levels battles can swing a lot from round to round depending on the magics used both by the party and against them. Clerics are vital for making your party last longer, and they can't do that from the front line (lots of luck if your combat cleric is struck down and you don't have any healing).
