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<blockquote data-quote="Leatherhead" data-source="post: 7009558" data-attributes="member: 53176"><p>Clerics have a long and sorted history in D&D regarding what they should do. As the Third Class made, they served as a kind of "patch" to the existing rules. In fact, you should probably read the oral accounting of how clerics came into being <a href="http://blackmoormystara.blogspot.ca/2011/01/bishop-carr-first-d-cleric.html" target="_blank">here</a>. Which basically says that Clerics existed to hunt the vampires that were running around ruining the game at the time. Why am I bringing this up? Firstly, because it's funny. And secondly because there is another role that clerics have besides hunting undead and healing: Being the Anti-Caster. Clerics have long had access to spells that hose other casters over, such as <em>Silence</em>.</p><p></p><p>Yeah, the Hand of Yurtrus is an amazing anti-caster trump card of the Orc tribe. All of it's spells and abilities are geared up for this purpose. Well, except a few of the cantrips that is. And it's helper minions, the Nurtured Ones, are perfect for helping them out in this task.</p><p></p><p><em>Silence</em> and <em>Blindness/Deafness</em> are hardcore anti-caster stop buttons. A particularly unobservant caster might not even realize that they are in a zone of silence until after they try to cast a spell. Blindness/Deafness does not require concentration, targets Con (something the back line and squishy mages tend to lack), and gives anyone attacking the poor blind target advantage on attacks, which is super keen when you want to kill them fast. <em>Inflict Wounds</em> gets even better once you realize it's a Spell Attack, and has a +4 to hit instead of the normal +3 the Hand uses normally. It's the tactic the Kobold Scale Sorcerer wishes it could pull off.</p><p></p><p>The Nurtured Ones exist to be shock troopers in the most pure sense of the term. They <em>Aggressively</em> run past the front line, using an action to dash for an awesome 90' (I think, the wording is weird) of movement in the first round if they must, eating any OA's so that the Hand or other units can slip by without drawing them, and have just enough HP to live though the suicide rush. After they get on top of the back line, you have 4 options:</p><ol> <li data-xf-list-type="ol"> They claw targets until they die (exploding is a free action!) Adding a bit of damage for the long haul.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol"> They kill themselves immediately, which can force a retreat. (not the best option imo)</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol"> They grapple the casters or ranged back line units, keeping them inside the zone of <em>Silence</em> for as long as possible, or tied up so that other units can get to them. This tactic is very scary to fight against, for obvious reasons.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol"> They wait until one of the PC's goes down, and then immediately kill themselves. Their damage will cause a death saving throw failure, and the poison will prevent them from being healed back up to 1 hp. An incredibly brutal tactic as Charles noted.</li> </ol><p></p><p>All told, the worshipers of Yurtus are an excellent addition to the orc tribe, shoring up a few of their most glaring weaknesses.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Leatherhead, post: 7009558, member: 53176"] Clerics have a long and sorted history in D&D regarding what they should do. As the Third Class made, they served as a kind of "patch" to the existing rules. In fact, you should probably read the oral accounting of how clerics came into being [URL="http://blackmoormystara.blogspot.ca/2011/01/bishop-carr-first-d-cleric.html"]here[/URL]. Which basically says that Clerics existed to hunt the vampires that were running around ruining the game at the time. Why am I bringing this up? Firstly, because it's funny. And secondly because there is another role that clerics have besides hunting undead and healing: Being the Anti-Caster. Clerics have long had access to spells that hose other casters over, such as [I]Silence[/I]. Yeah, the Hand of Yurtrus is an amazing anti-caster trump card of the Orc tribe. All of it's spells and abilities are geared up for this purpose. Well, except a few of the cantrips that is. And it's helper minions, the Nurtured Ones, are perfect for helping them out in this task. [I]Silence[/I] and [I]Blindness/Deafness[/I] are hardcore anti-caster stop buttons. A particularly unobservant caster might not even realize that they are in a zone of silence until after they try to cast a spell. Blindness/Deafness does not require concentration, targets Con (something the back line and squishy mages tend to lack), and gives anyone attacking the poor blind target advantage on attacks, which is super keen when you want to kill them fast. [I]Inflict Wounds[/I] gets even better once you realize it's a Spell Attack, and has a +4 to hit instead of the normal +3 the Hand uses normally. It's the tactic the Kobold Scale Sorcerer wishes it could pull off. The Nurtured Ones exist to be shock troopers in the most pure sense of the term. They [I]Aggressively[/I] run past the front line, using an action to dash for an awesome 90' (I think, the wording is weird) of movement in the first round if they must, eating any OA's so that the Hand or other units can slip by without drawing them, and have just enough HP to live though the suicide rush. After they get on top of the back line, you have 4 options: [LIST=1] [*] They claw targets until they die (exploding is a free action!) Adding a bit of damage for the long haul. [*] They kill themselves immediately, which can force a retreat. (not the best option imo) [*] They grapple the casters or ranged back line units, keeping them inside the zone of [I]Silence[/I] for as long as possible, or tied up so that other units can get to them. This tactic is very scary to fight against, for obvious reasons. [*] They wait until one of the PC's goes down, and then immediately kill themselves. Their damage will cause a death saving throw failure, and the poison will prevent them from being healed back up to 1 hp. An incredibly brutal tactic as Charles noted. [/LIST] All told, the worshipers of Yurtus are an excellent addition to the orc tribe, shoring up a few of their most glaring weaknesses. [/QUOTE]
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