Mindflayer Themed Campaign (Recruiting Closed!)

[Inconsequenti-AL]

Figured Metaconcert might well be useful/interesting in the right situation. Felt rather mindflayer to me - like the mental image of a group of them floating around co-operatively crushing the minds of the weak?

Not got my books to hand, but - IIRC, the conductor gets all the powers of the participants - so as long as one of us has schism the conductor can use it?


On the way of party tactics: I feel we should get some chunky tough thralls as soon as we can. Feels like the right way to go?

Personally speaking, for Kelderen - I envisioned hit and run attacks. Mixed in with psionic attacks on apt. looking targets?

 

[Thramzorean]

Figured Metaconcert might well be useful/interesting in the right situation. Felt rather mindflayer to me - like the mental image of a group of them floating around co-operatively crushing the minds of the weak?

It is the quinsential psychic power, one of the few they have left, and it's a crying shame it isn't better managed. I have an epic level PrC for an home brew world idea where the entity from an epic level metaconcert actually becomes a super being and runs the empire...

Not got my books to hand, but - IIRC, the conductor gets all the powers of the participants - so as long as one of us has schism the conductor can use it?

Yep, but the new schism can't join the metaconcert. Those of us who schismed prior to the metaconcert formation could have the individual partial minds linked and added to the total but nothing after the manifestation. (that's my reading anyhoo)

 

[Thramzorean]

Heh, for your interest here's my e-mail to Customer Service at WotC.

Old issue that I/we hope you now have a standard reply for...

Can you please detail how metaconcert works properly.

Issues:
Q: Can any of the individuals in the metaconcert apart from the conductor act in any way?
A: I've always assumed only the entity can act, as directed by the conductor i.e. only the conductor is acting in standard manner. The rest just tag along in the pool unable to do anything bar move as a group as stated.
Q: There is nothing in the decriptor as to the manifester level or the key primary attribute DC of the power originating from the metaconcert
A: I've always assumed the conductor stats as being the logical route to base this on. The powers manifest from the 'entity' use the conductors manifester level. And the key primary attribute of the conductor. This attribute DC setting then has an added bonus from all the metaconcert members. It could be read that there is no key attribute DC and only the members bonus is used but that seems unbalanced if you have all the psionic characters involved out of action doing anything else. It is quite reasonable to have a single high DC power coming from such a union of psions. (IMHO)
Q: What is the issue with the saving throw DC of the 'entity'? This has me completely lost. It, as in the entity, has no stats, nothing to base any standard attack or defense on. I can only read that part as meaning the total metaconcert has an added bonus vs. something like dispell, where it is harder to dispel for having more members in the concert. That's only thing I can see that makes sense anyway.
Q: How does it work with schismed characters?
A: I've always assumed that each schismed mind partitioned brain can join a metaconcert as an individual member. The schism power wording is pretty clear on calling the partitioned mind an individual entity.

Clarification of the above and anything else in terms of other FAQ answers I and our gaming group will appreciate.

(One of my disappointments with the Complete Psionic was that this power wasn't re-addressed like others were. It's one of the few quintissential psionic powers left around and deserves having a good job made of it)

Thanks for your help!

And here's the reply.

Thank you for contacting us.

Unfortunately at this tiime, none af these issues has been addressed. SInce there are no ac tual rules that guide these particular situations, it is entirely up to the DM to rule. Complex rule interactions should always be, quite frankly, adjudicated by your Dungeon Master. However there are a few sources beyond the rule books that you and your Dungeon Master can use to determine the most usable and fun solution for your game.

You may want to start by checking out our FAQ and errata documents online at our website.

http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/rules

Many players and Dungeon Masters also read and ask questions on our message boards and chat rooms to discover what other Dungeon Masters have done in similar situations.

http://boards1.wizards.com/community_home.php

Your Dungeon Master is ultimately responsible for deciding how he/she wants to handle any such issue however, and with all the tools currently available it should be relatively easy to adjudicate this matter fairly, as well as in the spirit of making the game as fun as it can be.

I understand your frustration and am sorry I cannot help you further.
Take Care!
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Which was followed up by:

As a side note, I have submitted this for a possible FAQ entry.

My response is as follows:

I will contact Mark Jindra to see if it cannot be the subject of a Mind's Eye article

I'm not a nay sayer but this has to be the biggest duck and run for cover I've ever seen from CustServ

Nevermind, we'll just have to muck on...

 

[Thramzorean]

BTW, Inconsiquent-AL, it would be really useful for Kelderen to pick up touchsight as a power or have 3 or 4 tattoos of this. I'll let you work that one out from Tak's post...

@Wrahn : I think you've got a typo in your concentration skill total (18 not 13)

 

[Inconsequenti-AL]

Right!

I've made a couple of small changes - taken Mindlink and Touchsight powers...

On re-reading I can see the use of Mindlink more Touchsight just seems too cool not to go for!

Thanks for the pointers Thramzorean!

And that is an incredibly evasive answer - I'm rather impressed!

 

[Thramzorean]

Right!

I've made a couple of small changes - taken Mindlink and Touchsight powers...

On re-reading I can see the use of Mindlink more Touchsight just seems too cool not to go for!

Thanks for the pointers Thramzorean!

And that is an incredibly evasive answer - I'm rather impressed!

We'll be a very effective team operating in tandem. Do you see the specific tactic I have in mind? The clue's in your necklace of adaption.

 

[Lord_Raven88]

Hey guys I've been reviewing your character sheets as well as mulling over the Metaconcert and Schism powers.

I'll post the details tomorrow once I get back to work, I'll also look at getting the IC post up and running so you can start posting.

Thanks

 

[Inconsequenti-AL]

Hey guys I've been reviewing your character sheets as well as mulling over the Metaconcert and Schism powers.

I'll post the details tomorrow once I get back to work, I'll also look at getting the IC post up and running so you can start posting.

Thanks

Excellent news! Thanks boss.


Hehe - indeed I do Mr Thramzorean!

 

[Lord_Raven88]

I've reviewed your characters and below are what I've noted to date, no doubt I've missed a few things so if you notice anything strange let me know.

Wrahn:
Aclaum should have 121 HP (8+4+5+4+5+4+5+4 + 6+5 +5 =55 +55 Con +11 Feat = 121) not 120.
Mind Blast's DC should be 18 (10 +1/2 HD +3 Cha mod) not 17.

Also I'm ruling that a Ring of Sustenance will sustain an Illithids basic bodily requirements (no food or water required), however it doesn't provide the special enzymes that an Illithids gains from eating brains.

And finally an Elder Brain wouldn't allow you to 'worship' a non-Illithid deity, so change your story a little and chose Ilsensine instead.

Hero4Hire:
Thule should have 99 PP's everything else looks correct.

Kelderen:
Hit Points should be 82 [8+4+5+4+5+4+5+4 +3 +3+4 +33 Con] instead of 72.
Chameleon Skin cost 18,000gp not 10000gp

Voidrazor:
You need to include the Extraplanar subtype on your character sheet. Also from what sources are the cloak of night and nightstalkers boots taken from?

Thramzorean
Deduct 1 point from your wisdom score for your Shadow Sibling symbiot.
HP's should be 108 [8+4+5+4+5+4+5+4 +3 +5+6=53 +55 Con]
Saving Throws: I calculate your saves as being F+12, R+9 & W+14. can you please show how you calculated your saves incase I missed something.
I'm putting the Runehounds Cohort level adjustment at +5, since your character level is 18 the highest ECL your Runehound can be is 16. I'll leave it up to you to work out the particulars of your Runehound cohort.


Below are my thoughts on how the Metaconcert should work, let me know any suggestions or thoughts you might have regarding it.

Metaconcert:

• The entity has mental ability scores equal to the highest individual ability scores among all of the participants, and it's manifester related ability score (for DC purposes) is determined by the initiator of the Metaconcert power, and can't be changed during the duration of the Metaconcert power.
• The entities alignment is the same as the conductors.
• The entity has a power point total equal to the amount of power points initially allocated to it by each participant, the participants choose how much they are willing to allocate when this power is first manifested. This can range anywhere from zero up to their current full power point total. (PP's recovered will be based on the % of PP each participant allocated to the entity)
• As a move action any participant may choose to allocate more power points to the entity.
• The DC to resist the entities powers is based upon the entities manifester related ability score. +1 per participant as usual.
• The entity has a manifester level equal to the highest caster level of the participants, plus an extra +1 per participant.
• The entity has access to all of the psionic powers, psi-like abilities, skill ranks and feats that the participants possess, the use of these powers, skills and feats are based upon the entities 'own' ability scores. Also the entity has +1 competency bonus per participant on all skill checks.
• The entity is purely a mental construct of psionic energy as such it is only vulnerable to attacks/effects that require Will saves or effects psionic powers. The entity has a base Will save equal to the highest will save of the participants in the group. +1 per participant as usual.
• Participants must use a standard action each round to continue to participate in a Metaconcert. The participants must remain within a 20' radius of each other and as a group can they can move at a speed of 10' per round.
• If damaged, participants must succeed on a concentration check to maintain their participation in the Metaconcert.
• The entity acts on the same initiative count as the conductor, and begins to act in the round after the Metaconcert power is activated. The conductor decides what actions the entity takes on a round by round basis.
• Schism: If a participant has activated the Schism power prior to participating in a Metaconcert, then the Schismed participant still only counts as 1 participant. However the Schismed participant can use either of his two 'minds' to continue participating in the Metaconcert, this allows the other mind to act normally during the round.

 

[Lord_Raven88]

Greetings I've started the IC thread, so feel free to start posting.

When posting, can you each please choose a color for any "Spoken" or 'Telepathic' speach, at this stage I reserve the rights to blue and red

To enable us to distinguish between the two modes of communication please use speach marks " " for verbal communication and quotation marks ' ' for telepathic communication.

When posting in combat please include pertinent combat info like AC, HP's PP etc to enable me to resolve combat it quickly. Also I will be making all die rolls on your behalf.

At this stage I'll be aiming to post at least 3 times a week, if I'm away for any length of time I'll let you know.

Thanks

LR